"Hmm, I wonder what he was doing in the kingdom of Aloctona instead of preparing for the upcoming tournament?" Jessica pondered as she walked out of the building.
And when her driver, who was waiting outside the Hero Association building, saw Jessica leaving the building, he quickly opened the car's door and waited for her to get inside.
Jessica, however, suddenly stopped walking as the patch that covered her eye began to glow and she felt a powerful wave of energy coming from a distant location.
!?
She held her glowing eye with one of her hands while gazing in the direction of the strong wave of energy she was sensing.
She then quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out the keys and as soon as she pressed a button on the key, a bike appeared in front of her, driving itself.
Vroom! Vroom!
She then put on a helmet that she had taken out of her storage ring and rode off on the bike at a high speed.
Vroooooooooom!—
"...."
And while Jessica accelerated away from them, the secretary and the driver—who had been waiting for her to get in the car—stood there frozen in silence.
!?
"Oh no, not again! You idiot, get in the car already,"Jessica's secretary yelled as she dashed into the car.
***
[Phase 3 has been completed!]
[The Boss Monster Hydra has been slain.]
[Congratulations on successfully completing The Gate's Trial!]
[Congratulations on being the first team to finish the trial!]
...
...
...
The notifications continued to arrive in waves.
However, in the face of the notifications, Ares did not dwell; rather, he moved closer to the corpse of the Hydra, whose entire body had been scorched and darkened, and was in pieces except for one head of hydra, which remained intact even in the face of his powerful attack.
Ares took a moment to examine the severed head before starting to cut into the flesh on its forehead with his katana.
!?
Irethiel and Silvia, in the meantime, were just staring at him bewildered.
"...What is he up to now?" Irethiel muttered to herself in confusion as she watched Ares' actions.
"He wouldn't do anything unnecessary, so let's just wait until we figure out the significance of his actions," Silvia said.
"...."
"Anyway, what do you intend to do with that blue-haired woman? She may have witnessed your blood manipulation technique," Irethiel asked with curiosity.
"...Tsh, I wanted to kill her right here, but Ares won't let me for some reason," Silvia said, turning to face Alice, who was already staring at her with an horrified expression.
"...Perhaps he still has a use for her!" Irethiel remarked casually.
Ding!—
[A ability stone has been acquired!]
As soon as Ares extracted a small green stone from the forehead of the last remaining Hydra's head, he received a notification from his system.
And without further ado, he crushed the ability stone, which quickly radiated a green light before disappearing.
Ding!—
[New Ability Attained!]
"...The Ability stone?" Irethiel and Silvia uttered in unison as they noticed the green light emanating from Ares.
Nonetheless, they saw the massive gate notification in front of them before Ares could summon his status screen to check on his new ability.
[Gate Clear Rankings According to Contribution:
#1 Ares
#2 Silvia
#3 Alice]
[The Person With The Highest Contribution: Ares]
[Issuing The Rewards According To The Contribution!]
And as soon as I saw the gate announcement, my system sent me another notification.
Ding!—
[The Key To ___ Has Been Found!]
The moment I laid eyes on the obscure golden key that had been placed in my hands, a huge smile spread across my face, and after a brief examination, I quickly placed the key in my inventory.
As I turned to face Silvia, I noticed she was holding a similar ability stone, but it was red in color, in one of her hands which seems to be her reward, whereas Alice, who was still in fright, was holding a skill scroll.
!?
"How the hell does this ranking work? Why isn't my name mentioned anywhere when it's obvious that I should be at the top since I made the most contribution?" Commented Irethiel annoyed.
"Pfft, Maybe because you are Ares's slave, so your contribution might have been counted as his as well," Silvia said with a giggle.
"...."
After the sudden realization, Irethiel who was now sitting on my shoulder just looked blankly at Silvia.
And as I heard Silvia's response, I couldn't help but chuckle inwardly before shaking my head and ignoring the fact that the gate notification had mentioned our names.
"Silvia, why don't you use your ability stone?" I inquired of Silvia.
"Should I use it right away? What if the ability I gain is incompatible with vampires?" Silvia inquired, her gaze fixed on the red stone.
"You'll never know unless you try, right?" I replied with a smile, knowing that the rewards received in these gates are determined by the person's compatibility.
"Don't be a coward and use it already!" Irethiel exclaimed in a frustrated tone.
"...."
"...All right then," Silvia said as she crushed the stone and closed her eyes.
And the red glowing light surrounded her for a brief moment before dissipating.
Slowly opening her eyes, Silvia pulled a status scroll from her storage ring to check the status of her newly acquired ability.
Because unlike me, they have to check their skills and abilities using the status scroll.
"So, what ability did you acquire?" Curious, Irethiel enquired.
"...."
"...It says Hypnosis!" Silvia responded.
"Well, that's a pretty useful ability," I said while grinning and then turned to face Alice.
!?
"Ah what a coincidence, I've found the ideal subject for testing out my new ability!" Silvia looked at Alice and exclaimed with excitement.
"N-No, don't come near me, d-don't you dare come near me," Alice screamed, pointing her sword at Silvia as she became aware of our intentions.
Ignoring her screams, Silvia vanished from where she was standing, leaving flying bats in her wake, and reappeared behind Alice in an instant.
As Alice turned her head in sheer terror, she was met by Silvia's glowing red eyes.
"You will forget everything you have seen or heard since entering this gate!" Silvia said this while her eyes were still glowing red from the use of her new ability, hypnosis.
"I will forget everything I have seen and heard since entering this gate!" Alice repeated, her eyes also glowing red, before returning to their original blue color.
...
...
Silvia continued to brainwash Alice for a brief moment.
!?
"Huh? Why are you looking at me like that, Miss Silvia?" When Alice awoke from Silvia's hypnosis, she uttered in confusion.
"...I suppose it worked just fine," Irethiel remarked.
"Ah, Sir Ares, please let me help you clear this gate as well," Alice said with enthusiasm as she turned to face Ares and rushed toward him.
"...."
"...Don't worry, the gate has already been cleared," I replied, smiling.
!?
"...Eh, When did that happen?" Alice exclaimed, perplexed.
And we soon noticed that the gate that had vanished as we entered it reappeared behind us.
"Silvia, I believe you should give Alice the necessary information she needs to know before we exit the gate," I stated.
Because I have a feeling that someone important will be waiting for us outside.
"All right, leave it to me!" Silvia responded with a huge grin, while Alice was still staring at Ares, puzzled.
***