"Everyone! Look at that! There's a massive egg!"
Following the shout, everyone turned their attention toward the massive egg sitting in the middle of the muddy ground. For some reason, the fog around it suddenly retreated, as if welcoming the candidates approaching.
Confused by the weird atmosphere, they had no choice but to head into the mud. Either way, they needed to know what kind of challenge was waiting for them.
"What is that? It looks kinda creepy…"
The giant black egg, covered in constantly pulsing dark veins, slowly cracked open, revealing a strange figure with twisted goat-like horns.
He stood up—bare, slender body shown to all—then smiled eerily, sending chills across every spine there.
"Welcome to the first challenge… the challenge of bravery."
Alaric frowned.
The challenge of bravery? What was that? Which means they would do something to prove their bravery?
One of the candidates spoke up, his voice wary. He didn't want to anger that humanoid creature.
"'What do you mean? And more importantly… Who are you?"
Silence.
The humanoid creature blinked lightly, glancing around at the candidates who awaited his answer with apprehension.
Eventually, after half a minute, he curved his red lips.
"I'm a demon."
…A demon?
No surprise.
Anyone here already knew that. It seemed the demon had either misunderstood the candidate's question or was implying that a demon wouldn't answer any question unless it wanted to. But actually, no one here wanted to ask again. They should listen to what the demon would say.
The demon chuckled.
"Listen carefully… I'll say it just once."
He slowly raised his slender, ghostly finger, pointing north, where countless fiends were rampaging.
Damn! Why did they only notice those fiends now? It was too much—they could not count them, and with that number, those fiends could easily smash a fortress.
All the candidates stared at them, their faces clearly scared. Did they already feel regret for stepping through this gate? Surely, most of them did.
Deeply remorseful.
The demon rested his back on the broken shell of the egg comfortably while observing the candidates' distorted expressions, smiling. Then he spoke with an excited voice.
"They won't attack you guys, don't worry… or maybe not."
All the candidates just grimaced at the demon's answer. Yeah, it was hard to believe in a demon. They were liars and unkind.
The demon played with his long nails and said,
"Good… the first challenge begins."
He blinked, then directed his eyes toward the fiends in the north, his voice suddenly turning completely serious, unlike before.
All of the candidates gulped in fear, as if they already knew what was coming next.
"The second challenge lies on the other side of that swarm of fiends. Of course, you can still stay here. But that just means you will fail the challenge."
A nearby candidate spoke up in fear,
"So… what will happen to the ones who stay here?"
The demon shook his head and gave the candidate a mocking, humiliating look. Then he put on a gentle mask and answered politely,
"Failed candidates will be sent safely to the real world."
He slowly lifted his red lips and laughed loudly, making most everyone feel a chill through their spine and fear carving into their mind.
After about a minute he washed out the tear on his face and sighed in amusement.
"Is that the sweet speech you want me to say?"
Then, for the first time, the demon threw the clown mask aside and spoke in a deadly tone,
"Death… that's the fate you face!"
…
"Or not."