The Villain's Story

The biggest hurdle indeed would be Alan Peccator, because there was barely any space left o his body to inscribe the rune.

Sabrina had a pained look on her face as she examined the shirtless Alan, who had his gaze down, in shame.

"... I'm not the one who did this willingly, you know."

On the others, it was fairly simple, there was clean skin on their backs, a large enough area for her to inscribe the complicated rune. On Alexander and Kazikato, although there were tattoos, or marks on their backs, their arms and shoulders were free, even their chest. Although, she would never approach that area unless it was absolutely necessary.

It was just improper, and she could not ignore Olivia's gaze when she was inscribing the rune on a shirtless Alex. What was even the reason for that? It was not like she was doing anything inappropriate. It was a chore to ignore it and work at the same time.

But Alan Peccator was simply...troublesome, not only was there no clean skin on his back due to the mark of a giant black dragon, but there was none on his arms and chest too!

There was the black dragon on his back, the Phoenix on his right arm that went to his right pec, and the white snake on his left, which went up to his left pec! For a second, she was worried, and questioned her taste.

'Is my taste gangsters and thugs?'

She really had to ask herself in her mind, Alan was the textbook definition of a street thug with too many tattoos, the one that thought they made him look tough. The only difference being Alan's tattoos, or marks as he called them, served a purpose.

'The black dragon is probably similar to the one Kazikato has, is it the symbol of their house? The Phoenix is the bloodline, but what is the snake about?'

She couldn't feel any mana from that one, unlike the others, so she was really wondering if Alan had gotten a tattoo.

'My taste is better, refined... Yeah, like Mafia!'

Whatever excuses she used to console herself in her mind worked, her questionable taste was now perfect to her. Then again, it did nothing to hide the fact that it would be incredibly difficult to inscribe the rune on his body.

[Sai Laka] was one of the runes that showcased maximum effectiveness only when it was inscribed close to the heart, she could inscribe it on the thigh...but then it would not even be half as effective. She could do it on the abdominal muscles...but as attractive as they were, they weren't suitable for rune engraving.

A skilled rune master could do it, but she wasn't on that level yet. The only viable option was the small space between his... nipples, the area directly below his collarbone.

But that would be incredibly difficult, she was not confident she could compress a rune like that there, and the difficulty of the task was apparent on her face.

Alan was also embarrassed, precisely because of the marks on his body, it wasn't his choice to keep them...

Although he did really like the mark of the black dragon, on his back and mark of the Phoenix on his right arm... He would do anything to remove the white snake on his left arm.

He really would, he had even tried to remove it by removing his skin once, as painful as that procedure was, but after regenerating it all back it had no effect. Furthermore, he didn't know why he even tried doing that.

It was an expected result, the training at Terra Damnum really messed with his mind a lot that he even considered doing that.

"It's ok, you don't really have to do it, I can regenerate anyway."

He said, noticing the look on her face. It was as if there was writing on her face, it was clear as day.

'This is going to be such a chore.'

So he dismissed it, he would rather she rested than try to do the rune again. She was already exhausted by inscribing it on everyone else. He was a lot more resistant than everyone else, anyway.

Besides, he had something none of them did, the power of regeneration that no potion could ever compare too.

So, while the rest ma need the rune, he did not. With those thoughts in mind, Alan got up and gestured at Alexander and Kazikato to enter the tunnel.

"We can try destroying those hearts. Come on, let the others rest."

But just as he was about to pass by Sabrina, she grabbed his shoulder.

"Sit down, I'll do it."

She wouldn't deny the fact that it would be incredibly difficult to inscribe the rune, but whenever she thought of her 'death' she realized how much of a mercy it was. Unlike them, Alan returned from every encounter alive, barely alive, and that was the problem. She didn't even want to imagine the pain he was suffering from every time.

"All of you, go and challenge the trial, try to survive and learn about it, and try not to die, if it gets too much, just exit."

"What?"

"Just go!"

And then, with a surprising show of strength that baffled Alan, she made him sit down.

"I'll fucking do it, so don't you dare move a single inch!"

A tide of darkness rose up from her shadow and tossed Alexander, Kazikato, Olivia and Edward towards the tunnel, before coming back and making a square box around Alan and Sabrina, concealing them from everybody's view.

Maxwell let out a whistle and returned to his work, while Azmakul simply stroked his imaginary beard. Alice was surprised, and Emma had a grin on her face.

"...What is that for?"

Alice asked, noticing the unusual smile on the young girl's face. She was curious as to why.

"Didn't you see it? Sabrina was blushing! She tilted her head down and there was an obvious blush on her face! Didn't you see it?!"

'... Why are you even that excited about it?'

Unfortunately, the enthusiasm of the girl didn't give her any chance to respond.