6. Daughter of Demon Sovereign

Ruby had slain three small monsters and five big ones by midday. She wasn't sure how the other contestant was doing and how much more she needed to hunt to be in the first rank. Ruby didn't meet that many other contestants along the way. By far, she only met three from another academy she didn't know. They only exchanged glances and small nods as they passed by each other.

Ruby didn't feel like making friends or enemies in this competition. She only had one goal: to be the strongest and reach the first place so she could make her master proud.

She arrived in a big cave slightly hidden by vines and bushes. The inside of the cave was very dark. Ruby couldn't see anything from where she was hiding and watching outside. What kind of demon could occupy this place?

It would be a disadvantage for her to go inside and fight the demon because the cave was its territory. Walking in there would be the same as walking willingly into a trap.

Ruby was still thinking of the way to lure the monster outside when the darkness within the cave shifted, and a big, clawed hand reached out right in her direction!

She quickly jumped to avoid the sudden attack. The hand was nearly as big as her whole body. How big is this demon exactly?!

A loud rumble came from within the cave. Slowly, the demon came out of its nest and stood in front of Ruby. The demon's full height reached at least 12 meters tall. It was a giant demon! A fucking monster!

Its whole body was covered in white furs. It had very long arms it reached its ankles. A pair of long fangs sticking upward from its bottom jaw. White furs covered its face and its pair of red gleaming eyes were very terrifying.

Ruby's first thought was it looked like an oversized, deadly monkey. Then she suddenly realized what exactly this demon was.

It's a Black Fangs Baboon!

Her master was very interested in demons and monsters. He often went to join demon hunting all around the world and encountered many unique and dangerous beasts. He even made a book and cataloging them based on their deadliness and size, and let his apprentices to learn it if they want.

Ruby jumped back a couple of feet away when the baboon tried to catch her with its claws. She controlled her sword and sent it flying to attack, though she was well aware her strength wouldn't be enough to defeat it.

Black Fangs Baboon was a high-leveled demon. It was intelligent, too. Its strength equaled those of an experienced sword master. How come this kind of demon was placed in the Immortal Apprentice Competition?!

Ruby used her sword and control it to fly around the demon, distracting it. While she reached the flare signal from her belt and shot it towards the sky. The signal was to notify those who guards this area, and get help from them if an apprentice deemed the situation was out of control.

Red smoke blooms on the sky above Ruby. And almost immediately after, many other signals exploded in a different location in the sky.

What happened?! Why are there so many contestants light up their signal at the same time?!

Ruby couldn't dwell on the matter for too long because her enemy seemed to understand that the sword was only meant to divert its attention. The baboon waved its hand lightly. Ruby's sword was sent flying off somewhere.

The baboon used its claws to attack her again. It was even faster and stronger than before. The ground where Ruby previously stood was crushed like a biscuit. Ruby jumped on the tree. She didn't get the chance to take a breath before the baboon used its claws to tear down several trees at once, as if it was made of paper.

"Fireblaze!" Ruby called out to her sword midair.

The sword immediately response by flying right into her hand. Her landing was a little unstable. She stumbled and rolled onto her back. Ruby instantly scrambled back up and somersaulted backwards when the demon nearly flattened her under its palm like a pancake.

The baboon swung its other hand at Ruby. The claws were black and gleaming under the sun. Ruby knew this demon had poison in its fangs and claws, therefore she didn't dare acted so rashly and mostly could only dodge this whole time.

But the demon's increasingly intense attack didn't give her enough time to dodge. Half in despair, Ruby raised her sword to withstand its attack and braced herself for the impact.

The claws didn't get to her, but the strength difference between them was just too big. The impact from her sword and its claws sent sparks flying in between. This baboon's claws was a hard as metal!

"Fuck," Ruby cursed loudly when she was sent flying backwards from the attack.

She managed to deflect the claws, but its strength still made her lose her footing. It sent her flying backwards with so much power that she broke three trees collided with her before stopping on the fourth and slumped on to the ground.

Ruby coughed out a mouthful of blood. All the bones in her body felt crushed into powder and the dizziness made it difficult to focus. She could feel liquid dripping down on the side of her head sluggishly while she tried to blink her dizziness away.

Ruby wiped the blood from her chin and shook her head. The demon was still there and it wouldn't wait until she recovered to launch another attack. Ruby staggered back onto her feet, swaying slightly while using her sword as support.

As predicted, when the demon saw she still could move, it immediately jumped closer, crushing the fell-down trees under its weight. Ruby gritted her teeth. She wouldn't die here, killed by this stupid baboon!

Ruby held her sword with both hands, lowering her stance. A set of determination was clear in her eyes. The weakness of a Black Fangs Baboon was in its neck. The only way to kill it was to cut its neck off. But this demon was twelve meters tall!

Could she use its arms to climb up and get to its neck? Ruby was not entirely sure, but she didn't have any other choice.

She took a deep breath and waited for the best moment to jump up on the demon. If she did it so suddenly, then maybe the demon would be too surprised and its movement would cease for a moment. Hopefully.

Her heart was beating so hard against her ribcage while she looked at the demon intensely, waiting for the right moment to jump.

But before Ruby could move a muscle, a black shadow flashed so quickly from behind the demon. The shadow spun once in the air before lightly tapping one foot on the demon's shoulder. Something flashed, reflecting the light from the sun, and the demon baboon howled loudly. Blood spurting from its severed neck like a fountain!

The shadow jumped down and swoop Ruby from the ground, brought her away from the rain of blood before she could react.

"Are you okay?!"

A very familiar voice sounded so close to her. Ruby blinked and came face to face with her master. It was Rion who came to rescue her!

"Master...."

"I'm here," Rion immediately said. Worried written on his face as he looked all over her face while patting her arms and shoulder, checking any injuries. "I'm here, don't be afraid."

Ruby nodded and took a deep breath. All the tension melted out of her body as she let Rion lead her to sit on a large rock. Her head hurt so much. It felt hot and pulsing inside her skull. She closed her eyes and gripped her hair tightly.

"Master, my head hurt...."

Rion wiped the blood on her temple and forehead with a handkerchief. "Don't worry, I will give you medicine and it will be better soon, okay?"

Rubby nodded and kept her eyes close because it felt like a hundred pins pricked in her brain when she opened her eyes.

.

.

Rion was so relief he arrive in time to save Ruby.

The entire competition was thrown in a complete uproar and chaos when they saw from the screen so many flare signal was lit by the apprentices and what kind of demons appeared in there.

Nobody had expected so many rare and powerful demons were inside the hunting area of Immortal Apprentice Competition. They couldn't take the barrier down in fear the demons will run loose into the town near the area. All masters came inside the hunting area to save their apprentices.

Rion had found his four other apprentices before he finally found Ruby. He could still feel how his heart sank when he saw the demon baboon almost crush his apprentice under its palm.

He wiped the blood from Ruby's face gently. She had her eyes closed tightly with her brows furrowed. She said that her head was hurting. Could it be she had a concussion....

Rion's thought came to an abrupt stop. His hand froze in the air as he stared at Ruby's face with eyes widened.

This.... How could this be possible?!

Ruby's face was mostly covered in blood before, so he didn't notice it at first. But now that he cleaned most of the blood off her face, Rion could see it clearly. There was a mark between her brows. It was red color and pulsing with faint light.

Rion had never seen it in reality before, but he had read it somewhere in a book about the demon heritage.

The mark on Ruby's forehead was... unmistakably a demon sigil!

Demons with this sigil were only those of the celestial level. The Supreme demon. Those who ruled the demon realm.

How did this demon mark appear on Ruby's forehead?!

Rion wiped it several more times, thinking it might just be the remnant of blood. But, no matter how much he wiped, the mark was still there.

"I would appreciate it if you could hand her to me, esteemed sword master."

Rion instinctually jumped in front of Ruby to protect her when the voice suddenly came out of nowhere. He didn't even sense any presence of them. This person must have a high skill if they could hide their presence so well.

The person walked calmly towards them. She wore a thick, blue cloak. Her long hair was slightly wavy, fell freely on her back, only a little part was pinned with a delicate hairpin on the side of her head. Her complexion looked too pale and her eyes were frosty. There was a dark blue demon mark on her brows.

Rion narrowed her eyes. There was no hint of a smile on his face even when his words were polite as he said, "And who is this esteemed demon master wanting to take my apprentice?"

"Your apprentice?" The demon master raised one of her brows. There was hint of an amused expression on her stony face.

"She is the daughter of Demon Sovereign and I'm here to take her back to where she was supposed to be."