"The first trial will take place in the Celestial Cage."
The Celestial Cage is a place where the heavenly beasts were captured by the Infernal Legion while capturing the Celestial Palace.
After hearing the words of the Scorched Arbiter, all the devils' nervousness was gone; they were all now excited for the trials.
The Scorched Arbiter further announced that all the devils had to form a party of 5 devils with whom they could match their coordination.
To be in an army, it is important to have coordination with their fellow army members.
The Scorched Arbiter also said that those who fail to form a party will be disqualified.
For Ignis, it was not a big problem. Everyone knew the power of Ignis and wanted to be with him because if they stayed with Ignis, they wouldn't have to worry about the first trial.
But it was on Ignis whom he was going to select.
Before Ignis could do anything, the Scorched Arbiter started to announce all the rules of the trial.
Rules:
1. At the end of the trial, a party should have at least 3 members alive to be considered as having passed.
2. One should have slain a minimum of 25 Celestial beasts to be considered as having passed.
3. Internal conflict in a party is not allowed.
4. One party cannot kill another party member but can attack them for their own advantage.
5. Destroying eggs and killing female Celestial Beasts is strictly prohibited.
"These are the rules you all must follow during the first trial."
By now, all the teams had been formed, and there were at least 16,000 teams. They were given names according to their number. Ignis' team was Team 252.
"Now, let the trial begin."
Everyone was teleported to the Celestial Cage as the Scorched Arbiter finished his words, and now the trial had started. Every team was far away from each other.
In the Celestial Cage, there's a Celestial Cave which is guarded by the male elite Celestial Beasts. Inside the Celestial Cave, there are millions of Celestial eggs laid by female Celestial Beasts and also the current King of Celestial Beasts, The Apex.
Team 252, Ignis' team, was on the move to the Celestial Cage. Their team target was to kill 125 Celestial Beasts, but Ignis wanted to kill all the male Celestial Beasts because if he completed the first trial and the rest of the participants failed to complete it, Ignis would not have to attempt the rest of the trials and would be considered an elite in the Hellflame Phalanx.
On his way, they encountered teams 67 and 5671, but only their corpses. They were brutally killed by a beast, a Celestial Beast.
Celestial Beasts are considered one of the most powerful creatures, and it is not easy for even 20 devil soldiers to hunt one down. This trial was not meant to recruit devil soldiers but to provide entertainment to Luciferal, which Ignis and the rest didn't know.