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The golden system panel was hanging in the air for a few seconds while the stairway behind the mural opened wider.

The Elite Undead Knight did not move forward at all, but instead lowered itself onto one knee again, its black sword touching the floor with a heavy scrape as silver light was spreading across the stone walls all around them.

For some reason, the world seemed to grow quieter at that moment.

BOOM!!!

The impact echoed through the hall, and silver runes lit up across the mural wall, the floor, and several cracked pillars at once. Words were burned into the stone one line at a time.

The sight of it was humbling and dreadful to behold.

[Kneel before the Dragon]

[Raise no blade against the Oath]

[The Gate opens only for the Loyal]

"We should ignore this and move quickly," Jayden said while looking toward the stairway with a cold expression. "More monsters could come from below at any moment."

Helen’s brows were pulled together at once.

"Old order trials usually punish disrespect. If we rush it, we might make things worse."

The giant Velhari laughed from near the center of the hall and pointed his chin toward the kneeling summon with an amused smile.

"Dead knights cannot demand respect," he said with open annoyance. "I am not kneeling to a corpse."

He stepped forward without lowering his body, and the moment his boot crossed the line before the mural, several statues along the chamber walls slowly turned their heads toward him. Their stone eyes were moving in a circle, each one stopping on the giant Velhari with a dreadful noise that made the skin on Zich’s arm tighten.

Zich noticed the danger right away.

He had no interest in testing how much this ancient chamber cared about pride, and he certainly had no desire to become the example of what happened to idiots with too much confidence.

Rules were cheaper than injuries, after all, especially inside places not too different from ancient tombs. So he dropped to one knee first.

Helen reacted a heartbeat later and knelt beside the broken stone step near him.

Varok followed soon after, his bone spear dipping to the floor as he lowered himself with a somber expression.

The giant Velhari still stood for one extra second, looking more irritated than afraid, before the pressure in the chamber snapped toward him in a sudden burst.

BOOOOM!!!!

An immensely powerful force slammed into his body from above, and the giant Velhari staggered with a grunt while blood leaked from his nose. His expression changed immediately, and only then did he kneel hard enough to crack the stone under his knee.

The moment he kneeled down, the pressure vanished as if it had never been there.

A faint pulse moved through the silver runes, and the first commandment shimmered brighter before fading into the wall like it had been satisfied.

Zich lowered his eyes while listening. Meanwhile, he still glanced sideways at the Elite Undead Knight.

The summon had also gone on its knees without being told to.

That alone told Zich everything he needed to know. The chamber did not care about pride or feelings. It only cared about obedience, and it was designed to punish disrespect.

[Raise no blade against the Oath]

At that moment, the second commandment flashed brightly.

Every weapon suddenly felt heavier in the hands of those holding them upright, and the effect hit the group all at once. Jayden’s sword dipped down, while Varok had to force his spear closer to the floor just to keep it from trembling too much.

Again, Zich noticed the Elite Undead Knight lowering its sword completely flat against the stone without slowing down even once.

’Its intelligence is far higher than Skinny, Blood Leech, and Silverback Grunt.’

The giant Velhari still held his sword a little too high.

Of course, the chamber did not hesitate to punish him. A crushing force slammed down on his shoulders from nowhere, and his face tightened hard enough to look as if he had eaten a bitter pill. He spat blood to the side, and his health was dropping visibly enough that even the others could sense it.

Helen shouted right away. "Kneel properly!"

The giant Velhari grunted while lowering his weapon further.

"Fine, stupid dead knights."

He knelt last, clearly annoyed, and the pressure eased again. The second commandment glowed once before the chamber accepted it.

[Raise no blade against the Oath]

[Accepted]

A new line of silver text appeared beneath it.

[The Gate opens only for the Loyal]

A silver flame suddenly appeared before each participant, floating at chest height while a system prompt flickered above every fire.

[Who do you serve?]

"The Player Association."

The one who spoke first was none other than Helen, and she sounded quite confident in her answer.

Her silver flame stabilized quickly, glowing clean and bright.

Varok lifted his chin slightly and said in a firm, deep tone,

"The Supreme Emperor of the Velharian Planet."

Following him, the other two Velhari also gave their replies, mentioning the Supreme Emperor.

The next person was Jayden. He hesitated for a moment longer than the others.

The pause was small, but Zich’s observation, as ever, caught it.

"The Smith Household," he declared finally.

His flame flickered a little before settling.

Zich was silent. The flame in front of him waited, and the longer he stayed silent, the more everyone else looked his way. Helen glanced toward him with open curiosity, while Jayden stared at him with a scowl as if he expected another smug answer.

After a long period of silence, Zich’s mouth finally moved.

"Myself."

The entire room suddenly got silent. His silver flame did not reject him right away. Instead, it changed color slowly, the light turning black red while the floating fire settled into a darker shape without losing stability.

[Truth Accepted]

Helen blinked once, clearly surprised by how simple his answer was.

As for Zich, he understood the result right away.

It was not loyalty to a kingdom, a guild, or a family that got him through the trial. The chamber had recognized his answer because it was honest, and perhaps because this place respected something as simple as refusing to lie.

Suddenly, right at that moment, Jayden’s flame flickered.

His expression changed a little at the same time, and Zich saw the instability before anyone else spoke.

At that moment, a new panel appeared above the chamber.

[Oath Trial Phase Two: The Dishonest Shall Bleed]

The moment they saw that, something shocking happened...

Jayden’s silver flame suddenly turned red.

...