Deep beneath the Temple of Shadows, beside the high platform of the sacrificial hall, Meredith walked to Rachel's side, looked at her pale, withered face that hadn't eaten or drunk anything for a day and a night, and said softly, "What you need most right now is rest."

Rachel stood quietly beside the sacrificial totem, staring at the ground in the center of the hall, without saying a word.

Meredith found a clean spot to sit down, offered the baked goods he was holding to the other person, and then withdrew his hand when he saw that the other person didn't react: "'Trial of Fate' is the final test set by the gods. It measures the value of a soul in the face of absolute will..."

"You once said that two people returned safely?"

Rachel's sudden question startled Meredith for a moment.

“That’s right. In the years I’ve followed my master, I have indeed seen two people return from the seabed.”

Rachel's face was lifeless, but her eyes shone with an astonishing light: "How long did it take them to get back to the ground?"

"One took nine days, the other three."

"After they came back, did they mention how they got back?"

"Those who pass the trial, whoever they are, will remain silent when asked about the world beyond the Dark Gate after returning to the mortal world."

Rachel turned her head and looked back at the uneven stone slabs, as if the ground would crack open at any moment.

Meredith lowered his head slightly and asked in an almost inaudible voice, "During the 'Trial of Strength,' I heard someone refer to him as 'King of Twilight'?"

Rachel replied coldly, "Does an answer even matter at a time like this?"

Meredith thought for a moment and then abandoned the discussion of this issue.

The two women remained silent, leaning against each other, staring blankly at the ground for a long time. Meredith finally couldn't bear the atmosphere any longer and stood up to leave the hall.

As she walked to the gate, she heard a strange sound coming from underground.

The sound was like the coming of the tide, or like a flood bursting forth.

After searching her memory for a while, Meredith opened her eyes wide and finally remembered what the sound meant.

With a quick turn, Meredith ran back to the altar as fast as she could, grabbed the still bewildered Rachel, and ran desperately toward the gate.

A deafening roar!

The stone slabs on the ground behind them were shattered into pieces by the violent ocean currents. The rising seawater, like a pack of beasts charging, submerged the entire sacrificial hall in the blink of an eye.

Two soaking wet women climbed the steps at the gate, trying to avoid the ever-spreading seawater beneath their feet.

Clinging tightly to the protruding rocks on the wall, Rachel's voice, like a small boat in a storm, echoed through the turbulent waters: "What's going on?! What happened?!"

"The Trial of Fate is over! The Gate of Darkness has opened once more!" Meredith exclaimed in surprise as she awkwardly scooped up seawater from the basin made of raven feathers, "But I've never seen anything like this before, with this intensity and commotion!"

Seawater flooded the entire underground hall, and a counter-clockwise vortex uprooted the giant stone totems on the altar and swept away the carvings on the walls, washing them all into the seabed.

A figure slowly crawled into the hall, following the center of the ocean current whirlpool.

It has a strong body that is more than two people tall, scales that gleam with a silver metallic sheen, a tail that is a meter long like a dinosaur, and sharp iron claws that gleam with a black light.

A pair of deep red eyes shone brightly in the murky seawater, like a lighthouse in the night.

Rachel stared blankly at the monster in the vortex, and called out uncertainly, "Todd?"

Upon hearing the woman's voice, the monster shifted its body in the seawater and swam towards the entrance of the hall like a fish.

As those captivating eyes slowly emerged from the water, Meredith tried to pull Rachel back, but the latter showed no intention of retreating at all.

Left with no other choice, the Raven Feather Woman hid on the top of the steps, secretly observing everything before her.

The monster slowly extended its sharp iron claws toward Rachel's throat. The red light in the monster's eyes gradually faded, and its mutated limbs slowly degenerated.

Finally, a human hand touched the woman's hair.

Looking at the familiar face before her, tears streamed down Rachel's cheeks. She leaned forward, resting her forehead against the man's chest, and murmured, "It's you, it's you... Thank goodness..."

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Finding a fur rug to drape over himself as a robe, the weakened Todd, supported by Rachel, ascended the final spiral staircase, returning to the dilapidated temple of the Shadow Kingdom. He shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight with his right hand, lost in thought, as if in another world.

Todd held his right arm up to his eyes and examined it closely. At the site of his previously broken right shoulder, there was a barely visible thin white mark. Similarly, there was an identical mark on his left leg.

Todd carefully recalled his experience underwater and couldn't help but think of the last words Crystal had said to him.

"You've found what you needed."

Does this mean I've already come into contact with a 'tyrant'?

So where was it? And how did you come into contact with it?

Furthermore, this body can not only repair itself to a normal state, but can also freely switch between monster form and human form. How is that possible?

"You have passed all the trials."

The queen, with her purple hair and red eyes, stood on the high altar of the temple and, for the first time ever, gave Todd a slight smile.

Meredith, preening her damp raven feathers, looked curiously at the man before her and nodded, saying, "From this moment on, you are a member of the Shadow Kingdom."

Todd took a step forward, about to speak, when weakness and exhaustion caused his knees to buckle and he knelt on the ground.

“This is normal after completing a trial.” Scáthach waved her sleeve and gestured to Todd. “Go and rest. We can talk about it tomorrow.”

A burly young man of about twenty years old curiously peeked out from behind the long corridor at the other end of the temple. Before he could even get a clear look at the situation inside the temple, Scáthach slightly raised her left hand, and a fist-sized stone, like a cannonball, slammed heavily into the man's abdomen.

"Cú Chulainn! Who told you you could slack off?!"

Upon hearing the Queen's displeased roar, the young man known as Cú Chulainn clutched his stomach and scrambled away, disappearing into the end of the corridor.

Meredith spat in the direction the youth had disappeared, raised his raven feather wings, pointed to the high mountain behind the temple, and said, "There is an ancient temple halfway up the mountain. You may use the rooms and tools inside as you wish. However, you must find your own food and water."

Meredith winked playfully at Todd and said with a smile, "I think that now that you've completed the trial, these little things won't be a problem for you..."