Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

Somehow, Fay managed to avoid pulling me into her own rebirth.

Even though she super willingly shared the pain of my undergoing the process, she deeply desired to keep me out of her own struggle.

It wasn't a conscious decision, just her painfully adorable nature of trying not to burden me.

And right now, with all of her aura pathways shattered, Fay literally found herself at the doorstep of death.

Still, as complex as this process was from an outsider's perspective, now that I had pretty much merged into her being, I was forced into Fay's own point of view.

Or rather, a silent observer's point of view, given how I looked down at her trail from above, perfectly aware even with all my might, I wasn't precise enough to safely interfere with her own trial.

Whatever was behind its creation had to be on the same level as my system… or maybe even better, the level of whoever created my system.

Still, for how obvious an overseeing influence was obvious from Fay's trial, it didn't make it any easier.

But again, this entire thing looked like a trial… but only while I was still confined to just the first three levels of perception.

And once I forced myself to take a more distanced look at it all, the whole picture turned out to be merely an optical illusion.

'Her terror, pain, loneliness… they are all real,' I thought while feeling as if my heart was about to tear into pieces.

Still perfectly aware of how this little fox had to start running now that the massive hydra charged to attack, I looked at the whole thing from yet another point of view.

'But this trial is not.'n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Looking down on this weird creation that birthed Fay's trail, I immersed myself in it, simply phasing through all the securities and defenses set in place to stop that from happening.

And for a single instant, I managed to properly connect with the Fay down at the bottom of the arena, frantically trying to escape from the heretical beast's seventeen jaws.

"I'm here."

Rather than appearing in person, I simply coated my consciousness around Fay's, shielding her from all of the outside.

"This is your trial. I know it seems impossible now, but there is a way for you to fight this beast. I don't know the method, but I'm sure there is one. And remember,"

I invoked the feeling that filled my heart whenever Fay happily snuggled up to my side, chasing away all the loneliness and grimness that I'd grown so used to in the earlier part of my life.

While painting Fay's terrified mind with this sense of warm comfort, I chased all of her terrors away.

"I believe in you. I won't let any harm come to you. And whatever you achieve here, will reflect in your growth past this silly trial."

That was the truth of this entire scene.

A truth that came with quite a saddening realization.

For a long while, already, Fay struggled to keep herself from advancing to the rank of the supreme.

Between the earthly food, all the fighting, all sorts of experiences, and then the influence of my system…

Thanks to our bond and my system, our growth was more or less the same. And while Fay's powers grew in ways I had only a few clues on, I could tell we were likely to reach each of the possible ranks at the same time.

What I failed to notice, though, was that ever since I'd reached the barrier of rebirth into the supreme, she was already on the edge.

And in contrast to my infinitely hungry core, her own weave could only hold so much energy. And so, now that Fay's grip on reality slipped during our cuddle and even further growth on my part…

She had to overcome her rebirth into a supreme.

A process that was bound to be entirely different from what I've gone through thus far.

But now that I looked at this process from the outside, I could tell its qualities.

And with that in mind, there was no possible harm that Fay would face in it.

Now that all of her flow shattered, her biology and soul had to answer the question.

What they were to be?

How would her flows connect?

And the trial of the extreme duress was for the sole reason of determining that.

'What a crafty way to test people,' I thought in silent awe of the genius of whoever constructed the trail that Fay now faced.

"Fay," I whispered into Fay's physical ear while filling her soul with the very same sense of happiness that she brought into my own life.

"I believe in you. And I know you will show me what you've got."

Even if I could interfere in this trial… even with my best efforts, its results would turn inferior to what Fay's power was designed to bring forth.

And most of all, I believed in Fay.

I believed she could overcome those odds, even if I had no first idea how she could do that.

And so, all I did was chase Fay's worries away.

I was here for her. I was watching. I believed in her. And I wouldn't allow her any harm.

Coupled with the warmth of my affection, I could feel my support getting to Fay's heart. From there, it spread throughout her soul, calming her mind even in the suppressed state it was during the trial.

This test wasn't designed to test her intelligence or capability, but her instincts. A test befitting a beast, not a conscious being. And so, I simply freed her from those unreasonable shackles, giving her the push she needed to actively face the illusionary personification of her greatest fears.

The small fox stopped in its tracks, burying its cute, little paws into the sands of the arena.

The massive, heretic best continued to give chase, quickly catching up and charging straight into the tiny, white pup…

Stay connected with empire

But as the pup turned on its feet and faced the monster… Its eyes shone with familiar, incandescent white.

The monster continued…

TEAR!

The very fabric of the space within the illusory realm tore open as white flames simply came to be in a five-meter-tall, thin arc.

And as the best charged straight into it…

It simply sliced itself open when two halves of it suddenly grew several inches apart.

But this wasn't the end.

With a thick concentration of mana gushing all over the tiny, white pup, a white mist arose… and from within the mist, the pup started to grow.

From a pup to a normal-sized fox.

From a fox to a fantasy fox the size of a human…

But then, rather than evolving into her mother's supreme form, the figure within the white mist coalesced into a clearly human figure.

As the two halves of the beast slid with its remaining momentum towards the mist-covered pup, Fay' full, human form walked out.

'She's just like back then,' going back with my thoughts to when Fay greeted me in the love nest she crafted for us… I felt a shrug move down my spine.

For this time, Fay's fairy-like appearance lacked the warm, welcoming, and benevolent vibe.

Right now, Fairy-like Fay's eyes burned with the white flames greedy to pay this beast back for how much it scared her before!