Galaxy's First Ruler

Ripp!!!

Aldrich picked up the cuff-link and scanned it using his Divine Sense for anything that could make him doubt the intentions behind it.

Even though the unsaid instructions were clear, there was no way Aldrich was going to put something on him which had come from unknown origins. Especially when there were pretty good chances of that origin being a Queen.

Aldrich nodded to himself and put the Item back on the table. The Rumok on his right hand flashed, making the white uniform hover in the air. As the two pairs of clothes fell outstretched on the floor, Aldrich stared at them closely. The clothes were completely white, except for a symbol on the jackets' chest pockets.

It was a simple black triangle, with a black dot in it.

Aldrich didn't recognize the insignia. Even with his knowledge, there were countless things he wasn't aware of and had yet to come in contact with. But he could confirm that these clothes were indeed a formal dress of some organization.

Cr-rack!!!

Aldrich crouched down and traced the material of the clothes.

'Hmm?!'

Although, clearly these clothes weren't Items, as given by the lack of any Stats over them. Aldrich could feel Mana embedded in every fiber. After giving it a thought, Aldrich could only come up with one explanation. Either these clothes' raw material was the hide of Crawlers or beasts, or they were part of something big. And that something was tracking these clothes by the presence of Mana within them.

Aldrich's mind leaned towards the latter explanation more than the latter.

'... or maybe a combination of both?!'

Crack!

As Aldrich's ring fingers broke, he stood up and looked at the greatcoat he was wearing. These weren't real clothes, to begin with. The black greatcoat over him was the solidified Devil's Aura. This aura had little defensive properties. Its only use was to let Aldrich seep out Devil's intent, making anyone below his Rank shit his pants.

'Now that I think about it… I never used armor…'

Houu!!!

As Aldrich thought, the surrounding space rippled. A sinister wind came out of nowhere and howled around him. The greatcoat, which was lifeless just a moment ago, wriggled as if countless worms were slithering within it.

Rip-ppp!!!

Just as the muscles in Aldrich's chest ruptured, an evil grin surfaced on his face.

Bang!

The greatcoat exploded in thick black gas, and a hint of Aldrich's innards could be seen from the gaps it left behind. But the gas didn't stay away from Aldrich. It fell back on his skin, hiding the gruesome scene taking place under it.

In place of the greatcoat, a black covering materialized on Aldrich. It was like a skin-tight swimming suit that swimmers wore to reduce drag. It almost looked as if Aldrich's skin itself had become rubbery black.

'Hmm… this will do.'

Aldrich looked at his right hand and nodded to himself. There were three things that Aldrich wanted to accomplish through this uncanny suit.

Foremost, it was to hide his Rumok. Even though Aldrich hadn't found anyone who could understand it, he also knew that people around the Queen would be an expert in Mana-related things. There were enough secrets he had let out already, and if this were to come out as well, then Aldrich would feel himself nothing but naked.

'Now unless someone who has a mastery of the Law of Devil tries to find it, none will know what happens under this black layer…'

Aldrich again said to himself in his mind. It… was better for him not to speak unnecessarily. His plates were already full of other things.

… Crack…

The other thing was to dampen this sound coming out of his body. Even though Aldrich could overlap the injuries and broken bones with false images using cuff-links, the sound wouldn't go away.

What would happen to his disguise with him letting out a weird clicking noise almost every two seconds?

Aldrich looked down at his broken collarbone protruding out of his body. But the tight black suit didn't let it go away and held it in its place. This was the third reason for him to change his loose greatcoat. Aldrich hadn't wanted his bones to dangle outside his body while walking around, painting everything in blood red.

There was an untold fourth reason, too.

This black rubbery skin reminded Aldrich of somebody. A being important enough for him to give this strength to bear this pain. The same strength with which he had sacrificed himself outside Earth for his parents, with no concern for the consequences.

The Rumok on Aldrich's hand again flashed, but except for a buried blue-green hue, no light came out of the Devil's aura clothing. One of the white jackets and pants got pulled towards him, along with the white socks.

Just as Aldrich put them on, the surrounding Mana rippled, making Aldrich's hand go towards the Pillar of Footprints.

- Hello… Hello… Mic check, Mic check. Yeah, it's working. All candidates, listen up! The exam will start shortly. Please leave behind your luggage and all other unequipped Items in your rooms, and gather in the Instruction Hall. Make sure you are wearing the uniform given to you. Otherwise, let's just say, something bad will happen-

There wasn't any tone to this announcement. It felt like an AI, but Aldrich was almost sure it was a female behind that Mana-run microphone.

'Am I being jumpy?!'

Sigh!

Letting out a sigh, Aldrich put the cuff-link on his left sleeve. As he felt his connection with it, he activated the Mass Illusion Skill. First, the Devil's Oldest Change on his face disappeared. Then his white eyes became black, and his waist-long white hairs shortened to his shoulders.

The Pillar of Footprints in his right hand became a fancy gray and black walking cane, giving it a stony feel. But Aldrich didn't change his face entirely, just enough for anyone to not compare him to the white-haired assassin.

With all things done, Aldrich closed his eyes. Scenes after scenes from the last month kept flashing through his mind. And the same echoing call kept coming back to him, like a song on repeat.

Taking a deep breath, Aldrich snapped his eyes open and walked towards the door.

Crack!

The bone of his lower leg broke, but the use of "cane" didn't let him falter. As he opened the door, there was just one thought in his mind.

'I must visit a few pitiful Bosses soon…'