Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Zach looked around and quickly found Nessa. He and Violina had the same thought and walked over to the only person who couldn't hide among the crowd, thanks to a certain large Millipede.

A few of the other entrants who looked significantly more ragged and haggard than the rest looked at Zach. While running around like headless chickens during the final hours of the first Trial, most of them had realized which ones hadn't found shelter yet.

Since sharing information was important for everyone's survival, they had talked about the people they had seen and where they had seen them.

A few with the right pieces of information had figured out enough to set a theory for what had happened. Regardless of the truth, that theory alone was sufficient for them to look at Zach in a different light.

Others, like Black, weren't very interested in the others. He only looked at them warily in case they wanted to start something for how he acted in the last Trial. Fortunately, no one cared.

"I guess you two found shelter?" Zach asked Nessa and Violina after looking at their pristine clothes, their perfect hairdos, well-rested expressions, and clean familiars.

"Barely. It took me almost twenty hours to find something." Nessa crossed her arms, recalling how panicked she had been.

"I got lucky. I found a woman-only shelter pretty early on."

"Oh, I also found that one! And five others or something like that."

"What?" Nessa and Violina looked at him strangely. Zach didn't look like he had been fighting for his life or anything, and neither did his maids. But both Yanael and Alzara had traces of battle on them, whether it be a couple of bloodstains or a few more wrinkles in their dresses.

Nessa and Violina had spent enough time with Zach and his familiars and in battle to see traces like that. Zach hadn't been in a shelter when the Trial's deadline ended.

"...I don't want to talk about it."

Nessa and Violina glanced at each other but didn't say anything. Nessa pointed at a raised platform in the center with enough room for one person to stand on. On the platform, a few sticks rose into the air, reaching a suitable working height, which would explain the desk-like structure they carried.

The round disk on the stick-like legs on the platform had, in turn, twelve miniature versions of the twelve statues around them, each one larger than a house.

"I guess that's the console," said Nessa.

"...Those have to be the deities, then." Violina turned to look at the statues.

"Deities as in gods?" Zach asked.

"What else?" Violina countered.

"...That's true. But they don't look like any gods I know."

"How many gods do you know?"

"Well, none."

"The Labyrinths are old, so they could be deities of the past or something." Violina crossed her arms while studying the statues. As she looked them up and down from a distance, she realized that there was one thing in common between them all.

There was a plaque at the bottom of the statues. She glanced around the area. The others were mostly inspecting the statues, too, or passively waiting for something to happen. It didn't seem like anyone was interested in the console or taking charge.

Violina considered giving orders. But when she thought about it again, there wasn't a need for that. She didn't know what the Trial was about, at least not yet. For now, she could take her time studying the statues—the so-called deities and look for clues to what the Trial's objective meant.

The first statue Violina, Zach, and Nessa walked over to was a figure hidden by a large robe, similar to some kind of monk. The bronze plaque at the bottom of the statue had text that, at first glance, looked impossible to understand. But the lines and letters blurred, squiggled around, and moved before settling down and turning into readable text.

Soara of Death and Transcendence.

The next statue was a large horse with a mighty mane.

Krisher of the Steppes.

Boa of Rain and Lightning. A snake with wings, the tip of its tail resting against the ground like it was soaring into the sky.

Hark of Flames. A man with the features of a bull whose arms were wreathed in flames.

Tora of the Sun. A faceless woman in a light tunic standing with her hands behind her back and her face tilted slightly upward like she was basking in the sunlight.

Arot of the Moon. A faceless man covered in a large fur coat.

Yissna of Strength. A faceless man with a bare upper body to let his large muscles breathe.

The next statue looked like a cloud with a slight rhombus-like shape. Jeret of Dreams.

Ackspet of Submission. A kneeling knight with one hand on the opposite knee and the other on the hilt of his sword, whose tip pierced the ground.

Lyander of War. A faceless swordsman, his hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword.

Rudrick of Deception. An old woman. Read exclusive content at empire

Wir of Greed. A cat.

Twelve unique statues. Twelve Names. Twelve deities.

But only one correct order.

Zach, Nessa, and Violina were stumped. They had never heard of any of these deities before. How were they supposed to arrange them in the correct order.

Zach remembered the message between the two Trials.

It had mentioned something about 'adjusting difficulty.' Maybe the first Trial had been deemed too easy since the consequences of failing, the fish people, had been killed instead of killing those who failed.

It was likely to be the case.

If it were, Zach was responsible for their current predicament.

"Somehow…My bad."

Nessa and Violina looked at Zach in confusion at his sudden words. But it didn't look like he was going to elaborate, so they focused on the task at hand again. They had to figure out the correct order.

The only clues they had were the statues' names, so they started there.