Underneath the main building of the hero academy, there was a large, dark hall. There were large cylindric jars lined up on each side.
Looking closely, each of those jars held a variety of creatures.
The eerie thing about the place was that all of the creatures were either grotesque or downright horrifying. They all emitted a dark aura, surrounding the entire hall.
A normal human being would've been killed by such pressure.
But there was a man standing in the middle, seemingly unaffected by the aura the demons were letting off.
His white long hair was bright and lustrous, and his calm silver eyes glared at the creatures in front of him.
This was the only one that was out of a cylinder.
"Mortis, you nearly cost me six important students today. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Kudell spoke, his voice echoing in the empty hall.
The creature in front of him was none other than the same demon that broke into the private assessment room where Santiaga and other SSS-ranked ability users were taking their tests.
The demon stood at over five meters tall. Its long arm had claws that looked like little scythes.
But now those deadly weapons were held by a chain connected to the ceiling.
The creature had a skull face, its fangs bared. Its eye sockets only had a blue flame in them.
The demon glanced at Kudell, letting out a low chuckle.
"How long are you going to deceive all these humans? Or rather, how long is he willing to put up this façade?" The demon spoke, its cracked voice reaching Kudell's ears.
"You mean Quinn... Well, he's stopping at nothing to achieve his goals, like always." Kudell replied, bringing out a golden hairpin from his robe.
The demon looked sad, looking around helplessly. He had been here for a long time; he didn't even remember the last time he saw the sun, apart from today.
"What exactly do you guys hope to achieve, keeping us locked here? What are his goals?" Mortis asked, pacing its legs ever so slightly.
His metallic skin scraped against the ground, making a low, screeching sound.
"His goals. Well, it's not too fancy. What I want to know is how you got out of those chains." Kudell spoke, this time looking at the demon straight in the eye.
A heavy pressure fell on Mortis, making him groan.
He was used to this, to this power. The power of the second strongest human in the world.
Just a gaze from him could suffocate a mighty demon like him.
"You... don't expect... everyone to—argh!" Mortis struggled under the pressure.
He raised his head, looking at the white-haired man.
He now looked different from before, having a red halo above his head. One of his eyes glowed a bright red also.
"You don't expect a mass deceit and no one would figure out about it! One drop of poison in the river kills the whole stream! Corrupt one man... and you'll damn a city!" the demon spat, gasping for air as it tried to breathe so desperately.
The chains pulled on the arms as his entire body got pressed down.
Grrrrrr...!
The sound of doors sliding made Kudell blink, releasing the pressure.
He turned around to see a beautiful woman who wore a beautiful smile on her face.
Her black hair was darker than raven feathers, and her strange pair of red eyes observed the surroundings.
She wore a fitted gown that hugged her body, pronouncing her curves. Every step of hers looked elegant and practiced.
"Lady Evelyn Vale," Kudell spoke slowly, letting a happy smile slide onto his face.
"I didn't think you were going to come down here to assist this old man." Kudell chuckled, gazing back at Mortis.
"It's an honor to serve one of the world's greatest heroes." She smiled, becoming twice as beautiful in an instant.
"Now, Mortis. You better start talking. This is going to take a while." She said, licking her lips.
...
Back at the assessment room, Santiaga was holding his own against Jeff. He himself held a sword in his hand, blocking and deflecting the attacks coming at him.
'Thank goodness I got a lot of stat points added to strength,' he thought, gritting his teeth as he tracked each and every move Jeff pulled.
"You still don't want to use your ability?" Jeff asked, dashing to his side.
In an instant, he punched Santiaga three times on the side, sending him flying.
'Shit!' Santiaga thought, scraping his sword against the ground and stopping the fall.
He glanced at Jeff, holding his sword in one hand. He wanted to fight him with pure skill and just his current strength, but it seemed like that wasn't going to work now.
He stood up, raising the sword above his head.
"Oh, what is this no–" Jeff kept quiet, feeling an ominous presence behind him.
He raised his sword, turning around in an X-stand.
Clang!!!
A loud metallic ringing resounded around the hall, coming from the clash of two swords.
Jeff smiled, seeing Santiaga in front of him. He didn't see what Santiaga did, but he had a hunch.
"So you can teleport, huh? What a useful ability." He swatted Santiaga's sword away, making it slide out of his hand.
A thrust came towards Santiaga again, and before Jeff knew it, he stabbed thin air.
He turned around again, clashing with Santiaga's sword once more.
'Wow.' That was the only thought that came to Von's head. In that split second, Santiaga teleported and grabbed his sword which was still in midair, and teleported back for a strike.
It's obvious the versatility of his abilities now.
"He could rival me." Von smiled, looking at the fight.
Jeff couldn't strike, as it was like Santiaga was all around him. Anytime he turned to strike, Santiaga wasn't there.
On the other side of the hall, where Raikuro sat, the kid was looking at the fight in awe.
"He–he's holding back. This isn't fair." He said, gritting his teeth.
He had to admit though, Santiaga was skilled. But he knew that he would be able to win.
He was just bullied by Jeff earlier and couldn't show off all his skills.
"That's because you spoke out of line. Keep quiet and just watch." Mireya said, folding her arms.
In their eyes, Santiaga had a chance of landing a hit on Jeff, but Santiaga himself knew that the fight was over a long time ago.
Just as Santiaga steadied his breath, still gripping his sword, a hand tapped his shoulder from behind.
Thud!
The surprise contact made him flinch and lose grip—his sword clattered to the ground.
He spun around sharply—only to see Jeff standing there, eyes calm but intense.
"You're distracted," Jeff said, his voice low and steady. "You keep fighting like that, and you'll end up dead."
Santiaga's brows furrowed.
Jeff's gaze narrowed. "That demon from earlier… the one that broke through the wall. You've been thinking about it, haven't you? Do you know what it is?"
Santiaga stayed silent, his eyes searching Jeff's for answers he didn't voice.
"You were the first one to run away, so I figured you knew what it was." Jeff's voice almost sounded like a warning.
Jeff stepped past him slowly, looking forward toward the center of the hall.
"Look forward to fighting that thing, all of you!" he said with a faint smirk.