The explosion had caused the others to stare towards the direction of the ongoing battle only for them to turn pale.
The area was consumed by a wave of dark flames, which burned endlessly under the night sky.
In the centre of the raging flames, a figure stood, a deep grimace etched on his face as he held his blood-soaked chest.
"Damn Bloodline breed..." the purple haired guy mumbled, taking a step forward.
Maya knelt before him, her body too injured to move. She had gathered her flames for a devastating suicidal attack and nearly succeeded.
Just the foe before her was truly a formidable one.
The moment her flames exploded, she had used the force to propel herself forward at an impossible speed, catching him off guard for the first time and managing to slash his shoulder down to his chest before he retaliated.
The guy stopped the sword from slashing through his heart with his hand wrapped in that same green energy while at the same time, his sword surged forward, tearing through flesh and bone at her side.
The force finally died after nearly cleaving her into two. At the same time, Maya forced her damaged body in one brutal attack, kicking him across his chest.
The guy staggered back, pain flaring on his face for the first time.
He held his bleeding chest before staring at Maya, who had collapsed weakly on the ground.
He took another step forward only to notice a thin web line crack spread across the ground beneath them. Feeling a sense of danger, he leapt backwards away from the area of the crack.
Maya was too exhausted to move.
The ground finally gave in, falling inward, taking along with it the half dead Maya.
"No!"
The guy yelled about diving in to retrieve her body but stopped himself at the last moment.
"Hell." I don't know how deep that is."
He wasn't ready to risk his life for just one measly human even if she was superior to the others.
His gaze darkened as he gave one last look at the hole before disappearing from the area.
Later on, he appeared at the forefront of the battle, easily mixing in with the others. His gaze was now locked on the eldritch monsters.
Looking down, one would realise the wound and burnt marks on his body had fully healed.
With his aid–singlehandledly taking out a huge horde of the last creatures- the eldritch monsters were finally defeated with the others hailing him as their hero and saviour.
Of course, all those who managed to see him attacking his fellow comrades were all dead. What the surviving soldiers didn't know was that a wolf in sheep clothing was now hiding within their midst.
Meanwhile, underneath the battlefield, a figure falling through a dark space finally landed on the ground, long passed out from exhaustion mid fall.
The boulders from above fell towards her but amazingly all missed her fragile body as if by some magic. One even managed to land on a creature that had leapt towards the human soul it sensed, crushing half of its body.
...
Maya groaned, clutching her aching head as the memories hit her.
"So that's how I ended up here." She muttered. Here, she was thinking this was supposed to be an easy trial. But humans will always be humans, making things hard for themselves just because of greed.
Staring at the hole, she realised it was too high to leap out from it. There wasn't any place she could climb to get out of the hole either.
If only she had awakened her wings as her first Innate trait ability.
Her gaze finally fell on her surroundings.
She realised she was in some sort of underground chamber filled with skulls and bones of humans.
The walls were damp, and the only light source was the pale scattered light from the moon above.
That didn't affect her though, her unique Seraphic Constitution boosted the limits of her human physique and senses on the border of superhuman.
Soon, the sounds of growl and shriek began to echo all over the chamber. And from the darkness, grotesque creatures similar to the first she had just slain slowly surrounded her.
"That's how it is, huh." Gripping her sword tightly, she mumbled under her breath.
"Good."
With eyes blazing with resolve and madness, she prepared herself for a fight to the death against the tide of creatures.
...
At the other half of the region, a group of humans finally arrived before a large castle, openly welcomed by the guards.
The remnant of the armies that survived the brutal battle against the onslaught of the eldritch creatures.
Over a thousand had embarked on the journey, and only a few hundred had returned, their expressions weary and lifeless.
They were allowed to settle down while the commander left to give a report to the higher ups.
Within one of the bed spaces in the recovery room, a red-haired figure lay his face contorted in a grimace even in his sleep.
Len dreamt he was back in his old world and inside the arena once again. But this time around, something was different.
He was chained to a chair, while strange dark horrifying creatures slowly creeped from the open passage towards him.
From every corner, he could hear the cackle of laughter as he struggled to set himself free.
One of the creatures finally got to his position and crept along his leg and bit into his thighs, causing him to scream out in pain.
Just as the others gathered to indulge in the feast under his terrified eyes, Len found the world breaking apart.
He shot up from the bed he was in, eyes red and body soaked in sweat.
His uneven breathing slowly returned to normal as he got up from the bed.
"Take it easy, bro."
A voice said from the corner of the bed.
Len finally noticed the dark-haired boy sitting on a chair beside his bed.
Isaac.
"What are you doing here?" He mumbled, feeling his senses slowly return.
"What else if not protecting you. Y'know, there are still humans after your life, right?"
"That's true," Len mumbled, yet he couldn't help but stare at Isaac with a frown.
"And you? You don't have any desire to kill me?"
"Nah." Isaac muttered, rising from his chair with a stretch. "The reward is not worth the risk for your head."
Len gaze narrowed, digesting what he just said.
"Hahaha! Just kidding, bro!" Isaac chuckled with his hands up as if surrendering. Then his face turned serious as he said his next words.
"Actually, I think putting a bounty on you is quite stupid. Humans are supposed to be working together to fight against this spreading darkness in our world, not kill each other."
Sigh.
"But not all humans think the same. Our own selfish desires always get the better of us."Clenching his fist tightly, he stared at Len.
"I don't plan on becoming like them. Right now, my main aim is coming out of this trial with as many aspirants that partook in it."
Len stared at him with a blank face before walking forward. "That's fine by me. I hope you better not get in my way though."
"Wait!"
Len paused in his tracks before staring back.
"What?"
"Uhmmm... dunno if you probably want to take a shit... or something, but that door leads to the lavatory..."
"I see." Len muttered after an awkward silence. Then uttered. "Lead the way then…"