Cosmic Peak

"Are you ready to play the game of [Truth & Lies]? Yeah, you are," said a humanoid goat monster caressing its goatee, "If you win, you will get 10,000 exp."

*poof....*

A smock covered the area in front of Aren before three monsters appeared that looked the same as the humanoid goat monster that spoke to Aren a few moments ago.

The three same humanoid goat monsters looked at Athan and grinned while caressing their beards, "you have ten seconds to say who among the three of us is real."

Hearing that, Aren raised his eyebrows and smirked as he pointed at the middle humanoid goat, "you are the real."

Aren saw 10,000 exp added to his stored exp. However, he was pleasantly surprised that his path exp was also filled up by 10,000.

*poof...*

The clones disappeared as the real goat monster spoke with a surprised expression, "how did you figure it out that quickly? You didn't even look at the other two beside me."

Aren and spoke, "you got the answer. I trusted my eyes, and I saw that the middle you was exactly the same as the one I saw before the smokescreen. I did not capture any abnormality when I compared you before the smoke and after the smoke. So, why would I confuse myself by looking at the other two when I already got the answer?"

"Hahaha, you got some powerful mental muscles, kid. Alright, here's your reward," the humanoid goat monster laughed and said before he took out a bubble filled with golden sparks out of nowhere and passed it to Aren.

"What is this?" Aren asked as he saw the bubble floating towards him.

"It's a life," the humanoid goat monster spoke as his smile slowly turned a bit dark, "by chance you receive a death penalty in any further tests, this bubble will burst instead of your life."

Aren's expression turned somber as he asked, "will I get more of such bubbles after passing the next tests?"

"I don't know. I gave you one because I was impressed," the goat humanoid monster said with a grin, "now off you go to the next test. All the best."

*poof...*

Aren frowned and started walking the stairs while thinking, 'how can I die here? From what I guess, this is surely a dream, but someone is forcefully showing me this dream. However, I can't just erase the possibility of dying while dreaming. After all, the one responsible for putting me here must be outside.'

Soon he reached the 20th step as a smokescreen appeared, from which a tiny monster came out.

This tiny monster was like a baby devil with red skin and horns and a spike in his tiny hands.

"Go and die, bahahaha," the baby-devil laughed, pointed the spike towards Aren's head at a shocking speed, and pierced into Aren's head.

Suddenly, Aren felt blank and dizzy as the scenery practically changed, and he appeared on a tiny island surrounded by water.

"Aren, did you catch fish to eat for today?"

Aren was shocked to hear the voice as he turned around and saw his mother.

"M-mom?" Aren's lips trembled as he uttered the word in a shaking voice.

Lorain smiled and nodded, "yes? Why are you suddenly behaving like that?"

Aren closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he knew that this was not true. His mother died, and he was on the quest to get strong to survive the despair so he could revive his mother.

"What's gotten into your Aren?" Lorain asked as she approached Aren and checked his forehead, "you seem to have a slight fever. Get some rest before trying to catch fish."

However, Aren opened his eyes that had turned cold as he spoke while looking around, "whatever bullshit you are playing, close it right now."

"Aren? What are you talking about?" Lorain asked with a worried expression.

"Gigigigi..."

A giggle resounded as the devil-baby appeared beside Aren floated while giggling.

"Kill your mother, and you pass this test," the baby devil said while giggling.

"K-kill? Why would my Aren kill me?" Lorain spoke with fear as she looked at the scary devil baby, "Who are you?"

Aren frowned as he looked at the extremely realistic Lorain. However, he knew that she was not real.

"What if I don't kill her?" Aren spoke coldly as he looked at the baby devil.

"Then you will die, bhahaha," the baby-devil laughed wickedly.

"Then make it fast," Aren spoke as he closed his eyes.

"Huh? You will fail this test and won't be allowed to participate in further tests as well. That bubble you received from the goatee won't work here because you are not going to die but will be removed from this test by the Witch Doctor altogether."

'Witch Doctor? So this is indeed her doing. But why? Hmmm, could the temple head have some hand in this?' Aren thought before he shook his head. He didn't want to think about it.

"Kill me. Make it fast," Aren said indifferently while his eyes still closed, 'I can recover my limbs with other methods even if this Witch Doctor doesn't help.'

"Why don't you want to kill her? It's not like she is real," the baby devil was dumbfounded. He had never met someone like this. It's frigging clear that his mom is fake, and he also knows that. But he is still not willing to kill her.

"Aren? What is going on? Why do you want to die? Please tell me what is going on?" Lorain spoke as tears appeared in her eyes.

She then angrily looked at the baby devil as her previous fear facing the devil disappeared, "why are you doing this? Get away from my son."

Aren opened his eyes as a smile appeared on his face. Looking at his mother, he spoke gently, "mom. We will be together again for sure. For sure..."

After saying that, Aren grabbed the pike from the dumbfounded devil baby's hand and pierced it into his heart without any hesitation.

"Aren!" Lorain loudly cried.

However, Aren felt blank as darkness appeared around him before he actually opened his eyes in reality and saw a clear sky.

"Boy, I thought you would perform well after seeing your first test, but you...," Lady Dee spoke as she looked at Aren while shaking her head in disappointment.

Aren stood up and transformed his Mobile Armored suit into a bangle in his left hand.

"She was clearly fake, so why didn't you kill her?" Lady Dee asked with some curiosity, along with disappointment in her voice, "I checked your mental prowess and willpower. Both are very powerful, and I had hopes that you would clear this whole test rather easily, unlike the wuss beside you."

Hearing her, Aren looked at his side and saw a map in a sparkling suit sleeping like a log.

Afterward, Aren looked at the woman in front of him and said, "do you have a son?"

Hearing him, Lady Dee was surprised and nodded, "I have a son and a daughter."

"Good. Did you test them with the same thing before or not?" Aren questioned with a plain tone.

"I didn't," said Lady Dee as she shook her head. However, she then snorted and said, "However, they would definitely pass the test."

"By killing the extremely realistic you, right?" Aren said with a scoff, "but I am not willing. I am not willing to taint my conscience by killing my own mother, even if she was fake and...already dead. Anyway, since I wouldn't die, then why should I try to pass the test by doing something like that?"

'I guess I fooled around enough, hehe. Cute young man,' Lady Dee thought as a smile slowly crept on her face, "Your mother was very realistic, right?"

Aren frowned and nodded, "yes."

"That was because she was real, not fake," Lady Dee grinned.

"W-what? No way. I was dreaming and woke up here. How could she be real inside that dreamy test? Also, she...is not alive anymore," Aren asked with confusion.

"She is real. The test I invoked brought her real soul into your dream, and she also must have the same dream as you, but she will just take it as a literal dream as I knocked her unconscious. I checked her location and she is at a pretty safe place. I don't know why you said she is dead, but she is clearly alive," Lady Dee spoke.

"What the fuck is going on?" Aren cursed with confusion, "I-I clearly saw her getting killed with the others...and...and..."

However, Lady Dee suddenly looked in the sky and smiled, "it seems that we have a guest here."

Suddenly, Aren's mind went blank and lost his consciousness as a draconic burly man with a powerful aura appeared behind him.

Tarrox.

…

On the other hand, Luna, Quinn, and Quinn's mother, Hemila, worriedly looked at Lorain sleeping on the bed.

Two maids entered the room and arrived at the bed as they asked what had happened.

"We have just finished our training, but while we were coming back, she suddenly fainted," Luna said.

Suddenly, the empress appeared in the room, right at the other side of the bed, as she looked at Lorain with a frown.

'That Witch…what is she doing with her soul? Hmmm, It has returned and hasn't been harmed, but why did she do that?'

…

"To what do I owe this pleasure, O mighty dragon?" The Witch Doctor spoke sarcastically to the uninvited guest.