The air was thick with smoke and the lingering stench of blood. Pieces of metal from the fallen airship were scattered across the wasteland, still glowing faintly from the explosion. Jake stood there, swaying slightly, trying to steady his breathing.
Then the air in front of him shimmered, it started twisting and it began folding into itself until a portal tore open in the middle of the wasteland. A low hum filled the air as light bled from the edges of the rift.
Jake instinctively took a step back, his body tensing. "Not again…" he muttered, his eyes narrowing. What if it was another demon?
But his worry faded as armored figures began stepping out of the portal were teachers from the academy, each one radiating power. Their robes seems to be reinforced with plates of enchanted metal, some carrying staffs that glowed with runic energy, others drawing swords that hummed faintly in the air.
The first instructor scanned the battlefield, frowning at the carnage. "So this is what the exam turned into…damn those vile creatures."
Jake almost laughed at the irony of the teacher calling it an exam. His legs gave out and he dropped to one knee. The world blurred at the edges, the voices sounded distant now. He caught a glimpse of one of the instructors looking in his direction, shouting something, but he couldn't hear it clearly.
"Early, huh…" Jake mumbled under his breath, forcing a weak grin. "Took you long enough."
Then darkness crept in. His vision dimmed, his body numb. Although the girl had healed his severed arm, the blood he'd already lost was too much and his strength was gone.
He slumped to the ground, his last thought before losing consciousness was of that mysterious girl, the one who had fought the demon and saved him.
The hum of the portal faded behind him as Jake finally went still, lying among the wreckage of the battlefield.
High above the wasteland, the silver-haired girl hovered for a moment, her single white wing gleaming faintly in the sun light. The explosion from the airship had died down, and the once-dark clouds were clearing, leaving behind a pale, almost divine glow.
She looked down at the battlefield below, at the broken ground, the blood, the shattered pieces of metal and finally she looked at the boy who had fallen unconscious.
"Still alive," she murmured, her lips curving into a faint, knowing smile. "Good. That means he'll be useful in the end."
The glow around her began to shift. A faint circle appeared beneath her feet, runes spiraling in a language no human could read, pulsing with pure white light. The air trembled as the circle expanded, and cracks of light spread outward like lightning.
She tilted her head slightly as if listening to someone whispering in her ear.
"Yes, I've seen enough," she said quietly. "The demons made their move earlier than expected, but the damage was still minimal...at least no significant damage. And… that boy…" Her gaze flicked again toward Jake. "Our intel was right, he's not ordinary, the system responded to him, I could feel it in his semen."
The runic circle brightened. Her body began to dissolve into light, starting from her feet upward.
"I'll report this to the Sanctum," she said softly, her tone suddenly cold and formal. "When he wakes up, send someone to watch him. He might be the key… or the catalyst to the end."
The wind blew gently as the light swallowed her form completely. When the glow faded, only a few feathers of silver light floated down, dissolving before they could touch the ground.
The wasteland was silent again apart from the sound of the teachers saving the students.
-
Far from the ruined wasteland and the fallen airship, deep beneath the crimson clouds of the western valley, stood a city that shouldn't exist, a place hidden from human eyes, where it seems light itself seemed afraid to enter.
At the heart of the city was a massive structure of obsidian and red glass. From the outside, it looked like a lavish entertainment house, glowing with lanterns of violet flame, music echoing from within. But anyone who dared step inside would know that this was no ordinary brothel.
It was the Demon's Den, headquarters of the Seventh Circle, a gathering place for demons who craved more than blood, they fed on desire, power, and fear.
Inside, the air was thick with perfume and sin. Silken curtains swayed lazily in the heat, revealing glimpses of otherworldly women and men, all of them demons in disguise. Their laughter was soft and musical, but beneath it lingered the growl of something predatory.
On the upper balcony, a tall man with black scales running down his arms leaned over the railing, staring at the image projected in the crimson orb before him, it was the battle from the academy exam.
"So," he said, his tone low, dangerous. "Another one of us failed."
A woman sitting on a couch beside him crossed her legs, her skin faintly glowing with scarlet runes. "He was careless. The Saintess found him first. You know how they watch us...always watching from above."
The man's jaw tightened. "And that boy… the human the Saintess saved. The system recognized him."
At that, the woman's crimson eyes flickered. "A system-blessed human?"
"Not just that," he said, his claws tapping on the table. "He carries something else, something different, I could feel it even through the projection. Something that doesn't belong in this world."
The woman smiled faintly, brushing her finger along the rim of her glass. "Then it seems we've found our target to get to the end."
The lights dimmed, and the laughter below grew louder a mixture of pleasure and pain. Outside, the blood-red moon rose higher, casting its glow across the brothel's roof.
And far away, unconscious beneath the rubble, Jake's system core flickered, as if someone or something had just taken notice of him.
A faint, mechanical voice echoed inside the darkness of his mind: "Looks like they've found me…"
"I have to teach him fast."
The light within the core pulsed once more sharper and brighter then it faded into silence.