The seventh trial was called "House of Ghosts".

The teams would have to reach a gate to enter the next trial. But between them and the gate would be bloodthirsty beasts.

So far so good.

But the trick lay in the fact that new beasts would form from the negative emotions the contestants felt.

Anger, fear, worry, panic, and others would lead to create new beasts and make it harder for the trial to be cleared.

If things get out of hand, then the beasts could defeat the contestants and they'd fail the trial.

Of course, using psychic power to forcibly control emotions was prohibited.

"Phew~ Clear your mind, enter the state of flow and fight," Prince Shak said to Sovereign Alban who nodded calmly.

They were standing at the entrance of a valley filled with monsters ranging from peak level 9 to Sovereign state.

The gate was at the end of the valley and as usual, flying or teleportation to the exit was prohibited.

After two minutes of meditation, Prince Shak said in a calm tone. "Fight!"

Sovereign Alban led the way followed by the hybrid. Prince Shak followed closely and the trio quickly advanced to the exit.

Sapphire Duchy's team lost its prince in the last trial and was forced to face the seventh trial.

They had to clear a forest to reach the gate. Like other teams, the beasts here too were mostly peak level 9 with a couple of Sovereigns.

So, Sapphire's Sovereign didn't take them seriously and slaughtered them quickly. Even though he tried his best to stay calm, his mind was filled with worry for the prince.

'Is the prince okay? Did anything happen to him? Is he even alive?'

As a result, even though he cleared 70% of the monsters and was just a few minutes away from the gate, new monsters began to pop up.

The Sovereign was quickly pushed back and the fight got prolonged.

'My aura is less than half. Damn it, the beasts keep coming! Can I get out of here? Dammit! Prince, why did you disappear? Why can't you pass that test? Ahhh!'

A beast exploited the Sovereign's distraction and ripped apart a chunk of his flesh.

The Sovereign screamed in pain and his negative emotions instantly spiked.

As a result, dozen more beasts popped up and the forest was now filled with more beasts than in the beginning!

The Sovereign lasted for a while but the Hybrid that was fighting emotionlessly from behind was quickly drowned in the horde.

The Emerald Duchy lost its Sovereign in the last trial.

As someone who remained calm even in adverse situations, Emerald Prince performed quite well in the seventh trial.

Despite not having a Sovereign in his team, he made a proper judgment and used his treasures.

The hybrid had no emotions anyway and wouldn't create new monsters. As someone who was called cold throughout his life, Emerald Prince was also able to keep his emotions stable.

So, as the Prince used his defensive treasures to ward off the Sovereign beasts, the two fought the peak level 9s.

It was a hard fight and took much longer than expected. But thanks to their perseverance, the two made it to the gate.

"Ha! Haaa! Huff!" Emerald Prince knelt in front of the gate as his entire body twitched in pain. He was injured everywhere and was a bleeding mess.

Even with his personality, an emotion called fear was slowly popping up.

"No!" Emerald Prince gritted his teeth and jumped into the gate. The hybrid followed.

Just a second later, a new monster popped up. Had the prince been just a second late, he'd have been eliminated.

"The negative emotions are the ghosts. So, it's called the House of ghosts," Varian motioned for the third turtle to enter as he explained.

The giant turtles shrank in size after coming here, yet they looked as vast as a village.

The air was filled with a heavy aura just by their presence. After all, their strength was at the very peak of the Sovereign state.

Thankfully, the creatures obeyed him even though they knew they might likely die.

In fact, Varian sensed a strong desire for death from all of them.

He didn't know what it was like to live for hundreds of millions of years and he certainly couldn't understand what they were feeling.

"How did this trial go?" After inspecting a turtle, Sarah asked.

"Sapphire Duchy is eliminated. Emerald Prince managed to win barely while Prince Shak's team won properly. It's not bad considering this trial eliminated 15% of the teams.

In other worlds, it takes a significant amount of negative emotions to create a beast. Here, it's ten times easier. It's hell mode.

Even then, two teams passed. If it's in other worlds, they could've easily cleared the trial. But anyway, they'll be gone in the next round."

"So, 97% of all teams are gone by now," Sarah pointed out three fingers. "The 3% that passed these seven trials should be best of the best. And none of them made it through the eighth trial?"

"Actually, less than ten made it through," Varian said with a weird expression. "And tada! They're all from the Deva Empire."

"Empire or a Duchy?" Sarah smirked. "I still can't wrap my head around the concept of a duchy, much less a kingdom."

"Me neither," Varian shrugged.

According to the System and the information he got, the civilizations without a Celestial wouldn't even qualify to be a Province.

And Province was the lowest grade for a civilization. Then came Duchy. Then a Kingdom. And finally an Empire.

It's ridiculous that their greatest enemy was at the bottom of the pyramid in the intergalactic hierarchy.

'And we're not even in the pyramid and call ourselves an Empire, woah!' Varian shook his head and waved at the turtles that were moving slowly. "Make it quick, don't be a turtle, oh never mind! Just hurry up, we need to go soon."

"Is the eighth trial over already?" Sia's voice full of reluctance sounded beside his ear.

Due to repulsion, she couldn't even touch him until recently. And when she could, it was Enigma who occupied her body. Then, things happened and Sia was busy getting the darkness power.

Counting since his birthday, it's been a year and a half since she couldn't touch Varian properly. So, if possible, she didn't want to go away from him.

"Sia, I'm not going anywhere," Varian said to comfort her.

"I don't know," Sia buried her face in his shoulder and relished the touch she got after so long.

'AmI obsessed?' Sia pursed her lips and hugged Varian tighter.

Maybe, no, certainly she's obsessed. But she's more than happy to be.

'Maybe no one will understand, this feeling...'

Varian felt Sia's erratic heartbeat and gently patted her on the head. He was happy and relieved that he could have contact with her, even though some repulsion still existed.

But right now, they had urgent matters to focus on.

Patting Sia's head gently, he said. "When we solve these dangers and grow stronger, we'll have all the time in the world,"

"Hm," Sia didn't let go, "Just a bit longer, just a bit..."