The next few days of my training, I started to take all of my parents’ and brother’s advice seriously. I hate to admit it but it seems like Verphegor’s advice was the right one. Now that I am with my family, one of the best hunters in their time, I should take this opportunity to learn from them. Since I stopped holding back, I noticed that my father’s training with me has slowly begun to increase. They did question me about my techniques, but that was easily dismissed by the fact that I had been in the academy for a while before I dropped out. I almost forgot what intense sore muscles feel like, and I have to say that I welcome it. Every night, still try to look for demons with special abilities, but it seems like they were pretty rare to come around at this time, which is such a bummer for me. These days, the foresight talent that I have stolen has become quiet, which is a little bit of a cause for concern on my part. I wanted to know if the future had changed or not. “Zarah,
A swarm of demon bats flew over our heads. The thing about these demon bats is that they are not regular in size. They are about the size of a chihuahua, with razor sharp claws and fangs that could rip you to shreds. Screams of delight and protest from those who were observing us from outside the electric cage echoed in the air alongside the terrified screams of the children. I twisted my cuff, turning it into a crossbow, to parry a demon headed my way. After that, I shot it between the eyes, killing it in an instant. I barely managed to dodge the second demon coming my way. The area was so crowded that it was hard for me to make any sort of movement. Other scholar applicants were doing their best to protect themselves from the demons, but it could not be helped when some of them were injured after getting scratched by their talons. But that wasn’t the worst injury that they could get, it was the poison that the bat was spitting at the participants. Purple ooze comes out of their
“Zarah, are you okay?” My brother, who is considered as my advisor behind the ring, rushes to me. Every contestant can have one mentor behind the stage to assist them while they wait for their turn in the ring. I give my brother a smile with my lips. “I’m fine. I’m a healer, remember? I can’t say the same for the others though.” I turn to the other kids with me. The only ones here are those who survived the first round. I know that I am about the same age as them, but where I come from — when I come from — I am mentally older. Logan sneers, but not at me. I can only imagine that he is sneering at the organizers behind this. “Zarah, you know what? This is not worth it. If you want to quit, you can just tell us. Father and mother will take care of your educational fees. You are a winter. You do not need sponsors.” I know that what he says is true, but somehow I have a gut feeling that there’s something abnormal about this. From my experience, I've learned that always following yo
The puppeteer. That’s one of the demons that I recognize from my past. It killed a lot of hunters by using hostages before. It’s also responsible for the deaths of many hunters in the past. In other words, it is a pretty dangerous demon, which begs the question, Why is it here? Could my meddling have something to do with this demon’s early appearance? I stick in the shadows while covering myself with my black hood and keeping my sword hidden at my side. Shadow Step allows you to travel and stay in the shadows, but it only gives you that sort of privilege once you get adept at it. Travel is pretty easy, so long as there’s always a connecting shadow. I manage to escape the room through the shadows, trying to find out where the puppeteer is hiding. From the vision, I can see that he is watching from a higher ground, and right now, I have a problem figuring out how to get there. It doesn’t seem like there are connecting shadows that lead to the top platform, where I can get there usin
When I got back to the waiting area of the stadium, my head was throbbing, and I felt so drained. I don’t think that I could have fought well in my upcoming match even if I tried. This current body of mine, even though it has undergone training, is still lacking when it comes to stamina. That's why it's a relief to hear that the testing tournament has been postponed due to a demon invasion. I intentionally fake a distressed and bewildered expression, just like everyone else. Soon, everyone is instructed to leave the premises. I found my mother and father waiting for me with open arms. “Zarah!” My mother is the first one to reach me and hug me. “Where’s Logan?” It’s the first thing I've asked since the last time I saw him was during my fight with the demon. I see my mother and father exchanging worried glances. “We’ll explain everything as soon as we get home. Right now, everyone is to evacuate the premises. Logan is one of the hunters assigned to help and report on the problem.
A huge announcement was released the morning after my encounter with Verphegor. Because of the recent demon attack, the head of the institute decided to end the examination. Instead, they will use their record of our performances to decide whether we are qualified to take scholar classes or not. From the email that we received, those who pass the test will receive a phone call today. Every one of my family members is in the living room with me for some reason, which makes it more awkward while I watch TV since they were crowding the phone. “Don’t you guys have any job to do?” I sound like I want them gone, which might be half the truth. I love them, but they can sometime be too clingy. “Huh?” My father looks at me like he’s trying to process what I just said. “Oh, nah. It’s our day off. Right, honey?” “Of course!” My mother agrees. “I was given a break after the events yesterday, so I am just hanging around here.” My brother adds. The three of them start to laugh like they are
“Have you packed everything that you need, dear?” My father asks while dragging my luggage behind him as we head for my room in the academy. “I got all my clothes. I think the rest of my baggage will be delivered tomorrow.” I inform my father. After a week of preparation, I am finally moving to my room in the academy. To say that I am excited is a little bit of an understatement. I finally get to have my own space. It’s not like I do not mind living under my parent’s roof, but with my current sneaking off, I am always on constant vigilance that they might check my room one night only to find me missing. “Will you really be alone? Won’t you have a roommate?” My mother looks like she is on the verge of dragging me back home if I give her an unsatisfactory answer. “Mom, she’s staying in the scholarly department. They have their own rooms.” My brother informs her. “Besides, if she’s going to have any trouble, I can always go in and make sure that no one is bullying her.” My brother gr
Thanks to Archer’s help, I managed to have the perfect curtain for my window—seriously, I don’t even know why I am obsessed with it. I didn’t get to hunt last night as I was busy scouting the entire campus and familiarizing myself with any emergency exits that I might need in the future. There are wards on the school's campus that would detect if a student uses their magic or if a demon manages to enter. Fortunately, my talent was an exception, as it is neither a good nor an evil talent once I absorb the demon’s ability in me. If there’s such a scale of good and evil, my absorbed talents would stay in between. I start to change into some jeans and a white shirt for the orientation. I know that orientation is where everyone will have to make a good first impression, but since I do not want to attract anyone’s attention, I opted to wear something plain. I don’t need any friends because they would just be a hindrance to my mission. From the noise outside of my room, I can assume tha
I know what I said to my parents and sneaking out despite their warning is a little risky on my part. But I do believe that using Beelzebub’s clones is going to keep me safe from getting caught. For tonight, the real me is going into the casino to hunt demons. And of course, I am wearing a disguise sponsored by the demon prince of greed. I did say that he is going to pay after all. “I still firmly believe that red is the best color for our master.” Mammon, the sponsor for all of my costume for tonight, holds out a sparkling evening dress that is too revealing for my taste. If there was no fire alarm in my room, I would have burned the dress already. Since I can’t do that, all I can do now is glare at the fabric and hope that it will come to ruin on its own.“Brother, that barely covers her skin. What if Asmodeous covets her?” For the first time, Leviathan sounds defiant when he speaks with Mammon. Meanwhile, Beel drools while looking at the dress before trying to take a bite out of
“I cannot believe that you went to the casino!” My mom paces the room. Her heels are clacking the room and I can feel their vibrations on the floor as I am kneeling on it. “First thing…the first thing that you do as soon as we get to the hotel is the casino!?” I flinch when I hear her raising her voice. “Zarah, you might be of legal age but you are still a hunter in training until you get your license!” Wow. She is definitely mad. It has been a while since I heard her this angry. Out of everyone, my mother is the scariest when angry. My brother and father would always act like they saw nothing and would keep their distance from her. Right now, my father and brother are in a far corner of the room, sharing an upside-down newspaper. It’s pretty obvious that they were eavesdropping on our conversation. “I was…I thought that I saw someone that I know.” The more that I look at my mother’s expression, the more that I can tell that my choice of words is wrong. “You saw a friend going t
Green field greets my side of the window when I wake up from taking a deep nap from the back seat of our family car. Currently, we’re headed to the fair, where the new hunters are going to take their oath to become full-pledged hunters. My father is driving me to the venue, which is like an eight-hour drive from where we are but my mother and brother decided to tag along just for the thrill of it. Also, so we can turn this event into a mini family trip.A chuckle makes me turn to my left. My brother is snickering while looking at me.“I knew you’d be asleep the entire ride.”“Are those cheetos?” I fought off my groggy state just so I could straighten up and grab the bag of junk food from his hands. My mouth water as I anticipated on eating something, but when I look inside, it is already empty. I turn to him with a disgruntled expression.“Hey, I offered you some, but you were busy sleeping.” He laughs when I toss the empty bag of Cheetos towards him. “You’re a jerk,” I grumble.“Lo
My room has never felt so smaller. Imagine being in your bedroom with five demons and three hunters—excluding me. I am still on earth but even I know how hellish it feels. Never has my room felt more suffocating than ever. I am in bed, for obvious reasons. My mother and father are sitting beside my bed while Archer is leaning on the wall facing me. The five demons are by the bathroom, making sure to keep their distance from us. They are demon princes for a reason, meaning they can hide their presence from Archer and my parents. I just hope that they behave themselves and not cause any noise. “Here, dear. Say, ah.” Getting spoon-fed by my mother and being watched by a number of eyes makes me feel sick. Even swallowing the food is a struggle. The porridge is threatening to rise up to my throat. If swallowing the food is the problem, I could have endured it. The problem was, the demon prince of gluttony is in the room with us. Eating in front of him is just a recipe for disaster. I
“What are you? Insane?!” I grab his coat and pull him toward me. “Are you asking me to let him be killed?!”The mask that portrays his emotion seems to be blank. “It is not for me to decide that. I am only telling you that you will fail to save everyone if you continue to save that person.”My mind grows empty at what I wish to say. It is not because I am at a loss for words. There are just so many things that I want to ask but don’t know where to start. I know that Belphegor avoids Archer for some reason. Whether it is because he is afraid of the captain’s power or not, I can’t say. I have a feeling that there might be something more behind it.I do my best to remain calm. “Why him?” Belphegor remains quiet. I clench my teeth in anger, feeling my temperature rise again out of anger. Why isn’t he answering me? “Why him?” I demanded. “Out of all the people in the world, why does it have to be Archer? What is so special about him?” Belphegor’s mask completely lost any expression.
“Master, I do not understand.” The demon prince of gluttony nonchalantly asks me as he hangs by his feet inside my room. He was hanged using the thread that I got from Kirin’s core, an object that he gave me in return for allowing him to eat Asmodeus’s pet. “Are you punishing me because you are upset or because this is one of your kinks like brother Mammon?” Mammon chokes on the grape that he was seating. “I do not!” He protests. “Mammon, shut up before I make you sit.” I threaten him, making the demon prince of greed sit Japanese style on the floor. “Sorry.” He utters. “If not brother Mammon, then perhaps brother Leviathan.” Beel moves his head to look at the demon prince of envy, glaring at him from the corner of my room in a gloomy state. The majestic demon has tears in his ears has his face contorted with an envy expression. Gorshe and Remoire surround him, like they are trying to console Leviathan. When Leviathan sees my gaze, his eyes begin to fill up with tears and the lo
It’s pretty obvious by now that the cocoons have humans inside of them. The form of the body alone is enough evidence for that. From Archer’s pale expression, I know that he figured it out as well. His alarmed expression never faded away since he couldn’t move. If the demon responsible for this finds us, there’s no way that he could defend since he is paralyzed.“Zarah, we have to get out of here. Zarah?”I am frozen solid where I am standing as I am staring at the cocoons. There’s no way for me to figure out who is behind them. I don’t have x-ray vision. But from the flying sparrow of a demon circling the cocoons, my heart starts to sink. “Wait. Isn’t that your sparrow?”Remoire seems to have noticed us and is flying in our direction. He perches on my head.‘Master, I am sorry. By the time I found them, they were already captured.’My strength nearly left me and I almost dropped Archer. My suspicions were right. These are our comrades!“We have to get them down.”“Zarah, we can’t.”
The loud blaring of an alarm started as soon as the tremor slowly subsided. Archer and I were still holding onto each other and we didn’t even realize it until both the tremor and the alarm subsided. I withdraw myself from him quicker than I normally would when I hug my friends. “We should head to the evacuation area.” Archer hides his face by lowering his head and starts to head off first. I pause for a bit, letting the sparrow version of Remoire rest on my finger. ‘Go and scout the area. Find out what happened and make sure that the others are safe.’ Remoire nods curtly at my command before taking flight. As soon as Remoire left, I start to follow Archer. Oddly enough, as we started to walk, there were no demons in sight. It’s as if they were gone or they have all gone into hiding. The later sounds more probable, as there’s a giant demon scorpion on the loose. Archer seems to have noticed the lack of demons in the vicinity, but he was being quiet about it. All my senses were
The giant sinkhole that appeared where we once were was a huge puzzle for us. I wish I knew what it was—I feel like I should, but I am currently drawing a blank. There’s something about the crate that’s familiar. “This wasn’t part of the obstacle.” My sharp hearing picked up on what Archer was muttering. I decided to play oblivious that I heard his talking and pretended to look puzzled while staring at the sinkhole. “Zarah, how were you able to tell that a sinkhole was going to appear?” I can understand Archer’s curiosity. No one would be able to move fast enough or guess that there would be a sinkhole beneath our feet a few seconds before it appeared. My senses are just sharp enough that I was able to tell that it was coming. “The tremors on the ground. Didn’t you feel it?” I don’t want to do this, but the only way that I can slither out of his question is by gaslighting him. I lived with demons, literally, in my room. I know how it works. The key is to make up a scenario and ins