A figure stood among a pile of bodies. His short pitch-black hair and sickly pale skin added a deadly vibe around him. His sharp nails were bloodied as patches of flesh could be seen scattered on the ground.
His physique would put into shame any mortal as each muscle fiber was as defined and majestic as crystal. His masculine features on top of his eye-scorching confidence made him look like a hero from fairy tails, yet his sinister smile added a devilish allure to him.
It was none other than Andrew!
10 years had passed since his arrival at Demonic Abode. He had grown a lot during those ten years. He now was 17 years old.
Every day, he put in the effort to be better than he was yesterday, every day was a battlefield where he had to defeat himself. He never allowed himself to slack off, since he understood that each second is precious, the time is limited and that the way he uses it only depends on himself.
'Discipline is the key!' those have been his everyday thoughts.
His surrounding were covered with mangled and broken bodies. There was a dagger tied to a belt on his waist. He wore the same old common robes.
He approached each corpse as he looted necessary things. Where is he, some of you might ask...
He was on a battlefield...
Battlefield Royale!
He was participating in an examination arranged by Blood Devil Corps. A corps that is directly commanded by Council Of Bronze Noble Demons, Demonic Archmages!
It's a special force group that operates in the interests of the higher-ups of Demonic Abode and right now, Andrew was undergoing an examination where his objective is to survive for a week in the jungle among other partakers of the enrollment in order to enroll into the corps.
The examination is held every 15 years to select the most talented, adaptive, intelligent and ruthless demons among all other demons of Demonic Abode.
It has already been 3 days since the examination began and Andrew had already taken the lives of 57 people. The original amount of participants was over 2000 and now it was reduced to just less than 300 in mere days. Only the fittest can survive.
Andrew used the tactic that he always employed in both of his lives. Stealthy assassinations.
He did his best to not attract attention since it would mean instant death.
Moreover, he had to survive the initial mayhem since the jungle was overcrowded by all those participants. Naturally, it was a deliberate setup by the examinators of Blood Devil Corps.
The first day in the jungle was the most stressful since enemies appeared left and right. It was impossible to even take a spare few breaths since everyone was focused on ripping apart each other's throats.
Only on the third day did the number of participants decrease to align with the capacity of the jungle biome.
Now, everyone could hide and bid their time to their hearts' content. Some participants teamed up and killed a lot of people but those alliances didn't last long since they were also exterminated. To this day, only the most careful and stealthy remained.
Just a couple of dozen seconds ago, Andrew was ambushed by 2 men and 3 women, they pushed him into the corner from all sides.
But unfortunately for them, they met Andrew, a skilled assassin. Without much delay, he attacked the weakest member of their team.
The speed and precision which he operated with made it impossible for them to react in time even though they were demons who had extremely sharp senses.
With smart moves and taking one of them as a hostage, he quickly killed them. He didn't take out his dagger since time was short. Moreover, his dagger didn't have a smooth handle to take it out fast since he made it out of crystal using a rock to shape it in the right places.
Moreover, his nails were like sharp claws that can easily cut through flesh.
Andrew quickly looted them as he cautiously went to the nearby tree.
After climbing to the top of the lustrous tree which was perfect for disguise, Andrew started to cover himself up with mud and added leaves all over his body, effectively masking him as one of the branches of the tree.
He then held his breath for a while to make sure that no one will attack him. After half an hour, he finally decided to go to sleep since no one seemed intent on attacking him.
Even if someone attacks him while he is asleep his keen senses will alert him in time to react anyways. Moreover, the demons only needed 3 hours of sleep to completely reinvigorate themselves.
Andrew made sure to cover up his tracks as he slowly fell asleep. His entire body entered the mode of extreme silence. His heartbeat was so slow that he gave off a presence identical to a corpse, yet he was perfectly fine.
Eventually, 3 hours passed.
Andrew opened his eyes as he observed the immediate surroundings of the tree.
After 10 minutes of observation, he started to brush off leaves one by one. He let the mud stay on his body since it would mask his scent.
He slowly descended as he was fully focused on his surroundings. He made baby steps while climbing the tree down since even the slightest sound might attract attention.
The jungle was dead empty. There were no animals to mask the sounds emitted by demons. So no one could really be sure of complete safety and security.
It took him 30 minutes to climb down 30 meters tall tree.
After checking out his surrounding for a couple of minutes he carefully took his steps as he headed out of this spot.
After walking for a while he climbed up another tree. He got on one of the top branches as he picked up a fruit from the tree branch.
It was blue and had odd bumps all over it.
Andrew slowly sank his sharp teeth into it as he took small bites from it. He did his best to reduce the sounds, biting and chewing slower than ever.
It was so slow in fact that it took him entire 10 minutes to completely eat it. Afterwards, Andrew just sat on a tree branch relaxing and enjoying the artificial breeze produced by an array.
Suddenly, sounds reverberated from below.
A figure was running at top speed as 3 silhouettes were chasing it down.
The figure that was being chased down was none other than Eve!
She had a bloodied crystal in her hands as she darted and dodged the projectiles that were thrown at her.
She also threw back a couple of crystals at them in an attempt to slow them down even for a bit. Yet, her pursuers were intent on capturing and killing her at all costs.
Andrew observed their fleeting figures from the top of the tree, not even bothered by it even a bit.
He leisurely watched it with his acute eyesight which would put eagles to shame.
At this point, it had become way too common for people to gang up on someone. Even if everyone was trying to be as sneaky as possible.
The chase continued as Eve wasn't let off the hook.
Eventually, Andrew lost her from his vision as their figures quickly zoomed out.
Without much to do, he just lay there and meditated. He didn't often have time for such 'privileged things' since he was entirely focused on his goals all the time.
But now, the objection of the examination was to survive and not get killed. He didn't want to attract anyone's attention in such deadly environment.
Of course, if he found stranded and lost lambs he would immediately ambush and attack them given the chance. All they can do was blame their luck. His focus on his surroundings was all time up.
___
The next day, like always Andrew leisurely, lay on the tree branch, he enjoyed this moment as much as he could since once the examination ends he will return to his ceaseless grind.
Looking at the artificial sky, enjoying the sweet scent of flowers, it took him into the flashback...
"Edward~ Edward~ " a voice resounded amidst the darkness. Andrew opened his eyes as he turned to look at the woman which lay by his side.
An entrancing beauty who wholeheartedly loved him, someone who deeply cared about him and wished for him the best and wanted to accompany him in his life.
She looked at him dearly with a warm smile.
She was everything that a man would wish for...
Suddenly, the scenery shifted into that full of raging flames. Screams resounded from everywhere.
And there was Andrew standing in front of a 3-story tall building, there were burning corpses at its doorsteps as they previously were his subordinates.
A firefighter truck's sirens resounded.
"Boss! We brought firefighters!" a man came running towards him with a panicked expression.
Andrew didn't bother to turn towards him as he watched the 3-story tall building burn with emotionless eyes.
The man wasn't fazed by it as he quickly ordered his men to take care of the burning building.
A couple of hours later, Andrew still stood there, now in front of half crumbled building. He entered into it despite the warnings of his subordinates.
He went up to the top floor as he walked over burnt corpses. He stood at the doorsteps of a room.
He entered it without the need to open the door since it was burnt to ashes. Then, he headed towards the bedroom...
There he saw it...
A burnt body laid on the floor. Its features were indistinguishable since fire almost reduced it to cinders.
He crouched down as he touched the face of the corpse. Just from the touch the face fractured...
Andrew stood there in silence reminiscing what he had done together with this woman. He wasn't sure whether she was the closest person to him or just another chess piece in his rise to power.
He just stood there in silence...
The flashback abruptly ended as he was alerted by the sounds below.
'It's time to hunt' Andrew thought as in the next minute he granted the most gruesome death to this unfortunate fella.