Isaac POV
Isaac’s face tightened as Eleanor spoke.
The more he listened, the heavier his chest felt.
His hand curled slowly into a fist.
One of Emily’s dislikes in her status window is the voices in her mind that are not her own.
He had seen that detail once and thought it was odd.
When he asked Emily about it, she hadn’t given him a straight answer.
She hadn’t brushed him off rudely either.
She just... shifted the conversation somewhere else.
At the time, he thought she was hiding something. Now he understood.
She hadn’t remembered those voices at all.
Damn it.
It clicked together now. Why she hated sleeping alone.
Even without remembering the past, her mind still carried the scars of it. She was haunted by echoes she couldn’t explain.
Eleanor remained silent after she was done with the explanation.
She sat across from him, studying his expression.
Then a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, faint but noticeable.
"You really do worry about her," she said quietly.
Isaac glanced up at her but didn’t say anything.
Eleanor folded her hands together on the table. "You’ll need to talk to Emily about her past when she wakes up. I know she won’t like hearing it, but she deserves to hear it from someone she trusts. You need to console her."
Isaac straightened slightly, letting out a breath. "I know. I’ll do it."
"But for now," Eleanor went on, her tone shifting back to business, "we should talk about her trial."
Isaac focused again, meeting her eyes. "Go on."
"The good news," Eleanor began, "is that you won’t need to face the millions of souls that monster slaughtered while it controlled Emily’s body. The World System is strict, but it also follows its rules.
"The difficulty of the trial is tailored to what an Initiate rank should be able to endure. So the number of enemies could range from a dozen to several hundred at best," she explained.
Isaac frowned. "That’s still a wide range."
"It is," she admitted, "but the System always makes it survivable. Barely survivable, perhaps, but still within the limits.
"That said, the trial will be especially hard since Emily is a summoner.
"Technically, her potential strength far exceeds an Initiate’s when you account for her summons. The System will take that into account."
Isaac exhaled slowly.
He could already tell from her tone there was more coming.
"And that’s not the real bad news, is it?"
Eleanor gave a short nod. "You’re correct. The real issue is that two particular people will definitely appear in the trial. Emily’s parents."
Isaac froze for a moment. "Her parents..."
"She won’t be able to fight them," Eleanor said firmly. "She won’t even try. Which means you’ll have to be the one to defeat them."
Silence hung in the air for a few seconds before Isaac asked, "What if she uses the Soulbind Pendant? Couldn’t she bring someone else, like Alice and you, into the trial? That’s how I brought Celia into mine. It will strengthen our party if we have more people"
Eleanor shook her head. "That won’t work. Anyone she brings will be counted as her summons.
"And if she has more summons, the System will adjust accordingly, adding more enemies.
"The more people she takes in, the higher the trial’s difficulty. The best option is for only one person to go,’ she explained.
"Which means me," Isaac said.
"Yes," Eleanor confirmed.
Isaac rubbed his forehead with his hand, thinking. "Then at least tell me about her parents. What will I be up against?"
Eleanor leaned back slightly. "Her mother is a summoner and a tamer. Expect her to overwhelm with numbers rather than direct force. But her father..."
She paused.
Her expression turned deadly serious, far more than at any point in their conversation.
"What about him?" Isaac asked cautiously.
"He is the incarnation of the Sword God," she said.
"...What?"
"In the past, many gods relinquished their godhood to descend into the mortal world.
"Emily’s father was the Sword God. He gave up his divinity to become a mortal, but even stripped of godhood, his strength is still beyond compare.
"Facing him is to face a former god."
Isaac sat frozen, his mind racing.
He had known Emily’s father must have been strong.
But a god?
A Sword God?
That was far beyond what he had ever imagined.
"Is it even possible to defeat him if we’re both at the same rank? He used to be a god, even if in the past only."
Eleanor gave him a faint smile. "I’m glad you’re not arrogant enough to assume you’ll win easily. But don’t worry. The System only arrived after the Apocalypse began.
"Back then, no one understood its rules. Which means Emily’s father should not have had the chance to fully max out Initiate rank. At least, I believe that’s the case," she said.
Isaac narrowed his eyes. "You think ? You’re not sure?"
"I can’t be certain," Eleanor admitted. "It’s possible he reached the limit before he ranked up. But I doubt it."
Isaac leaned back in his chair, processing everything.
He had already gained more information than he expected, and he was grateful, though unease still lingered.
He lifted his head again. "Vice Principal... were you the one who brought Emily back? And how do you know so much about what happened in the past?"
"Yes, I was the one who brought her back. When I found her, the ice sealing her was already weakening. It wouldn’t have lasted much longer. Luckily, the monster inside her is sealed tightly and has fallen into a deep slumber."
She added, "As for your other question... everyone has secrets, Isaac. I’ve respected yours, so I hope you’ll respect mine."
The message was clear enough: don’t ask how she knows about the past.
Isaac nodded slowly. "Understood."
He rose to his feet.
Emily would be waking up soon, and he wanted to be there when she did.
As he moved toward the door, a thought struck him.
He paused, glancing back.
"Where’s Alice? I haven’t seen her since I got back."
"She’s in a meeting with the directors of the top three universities," Eleanor replied.
Isaac frowned. "Why?"
"It’s related to her Class," Eleanor explained. "You can meet her once you return from Emily’s trial."
"Thanks for the information," Isaac said.
He placed his hand on the doorknob.
Just as he was about to open it, Eleanor’s voice stopped him.
"Isaac," she said.
He turned his head slightly. "What is it?"
"Do you have any skill above SSS rank?"
Isaac froze, his eyes narrowing.
The two of them locked gazes. The room fell silent.
After a long moment, he asked cautiously, "Why?"
Eleanor didn’t answer immediately.
She seemed to weigh her words carefully before finally speaking.
"If you do, then... when you face Emily’s father and defeat him, you should tell him about it. Let him know you have a skill beyond SSS rank."