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
At night, I would hunt for demons, and during the day, I would either be in my room or out on the school field thinking of what to do to showcase my talent. “What am I supposed to do with my healing talent? Shoot a bird and heal it?” I wonder out loud while I am staring at the ceiling of my dorm as I lie on my bed. “That would be a great idea, but where will you get a bird?” It’s almost the middle of the night, and I got home early so I could sleep and wake up on time for the testing. Imagine my surprise and how hard I was trying to stop myself from screaming. I look down at the side of my bed to see Verpheghor lying there with a smiley face mask on. “Hello, baby bug.” He greets me and waves cheerfully. I’m stunned when I see him there. “What are you doing here? How…how did you manage to pass the wards?!” “There are wards? What’s a ward?” He tilts his head to the side and taps a finger on the side of his white mask. I know that he is just trying to play stupid at this point. “If y
At the first sight of the hellhounds running amok in the school grounds, all of the students started to panic and scream. “Everyone, get inside! Find shelter!” The instructor screams. I see a movement in my peripheral vision while the team captain goes to assist the students in evacuating. A familiar figure seems to be hiding in the shadows of the building columns with a black hood and a smiling mask underneath. Verphegor notices me looking and begs me to come close. No way. What is he doing here?Amidst the commotion, I headed over to where the hell prince was hiding and joined him in the shadows. “What are you doing here?! There are hunters around. You could be seen!” I try to keep my voice low as I scold him, turning my head constantly to see if anyone passes by us. Verphegor brushes away my concern. “Don’t worry too much. It is going to be fine. Besides, the hunters are too focused on catching the hellhounds. Anyway, I have come to give you these.” He takes my hand and place
I manage to get back with the others just in time as they called me. Due to the heavy burns and damage sustained by the other hunters, they needed healers. And as far as the record of talent goes, I am a healer. They called me to the infirmary, where it was almost full of injured hunters who tried to stop the hellhounds from going berserk. The hunters who suffered severe burns are all in the emergency room, separated from the rest of the injured bodies. I could not count how many injuries I had at the time, but I am pretty sure that I have healed a lot since Archer suddenly arrived and pulled me out of the crowd. “You need a break.” He says, pulling me by the arm. His grip and hold are strong enough that he managed to pull me up on my feet. “I’m fine. I can still heal a few more people.” I say. I can’t help but feel a little responsible for what happened. If only I grilled Verphegor to tell me more about his escaped pets, I could have prepared better. It’s my fault, and the others
The following day, I was bedridden. In spite of my best efforts, I wake up with next to no energy the day after tending to a large number of injured hunters and semior upperclassmen. It is a shame that I could not witness the performances of my other peers in showcasing their talent. It would have been a good opportunity for me to assess their skills and talents. The following night, I could tell that Verphegor had visited me. It’s not because I sensed him, but because of the black teddy bear that he left at my side with the ‘V’ initial and a cutely drawn heart next to it. Sometimes, it is hard to think that he’s one of the seven princes with his silly activities. In a way, I guess that this is how he wants to thank me for keeping his hellhounds safe. The difference between scholars and regular students is that we can get hands on training with real hunters when we get chosen by a team leader who is looking for new recruits for their respective squad. They were all there when we we
For the first time, I am the first one in the room. According to the email that I received, we should be here at around 8 a.m. sharp. Strange. I know that I am not always early, but not arriving your assigned room fifteen minutes before the time is usually my style. I wonder if the others have overslept? If not, did I get the date wrong? Just to be sure, I double checked the day on my phone. As I figured, I am not mistaken, so why am I still the only one here? I waited some more, but it was already way past the meeting time, and no one still showed up. Did I miss an email informing me about postponing the meeting? I'm starting to scroll through my phone contacts until I find the name of Archer in my list. I guess having his contact information has its perks. I don’t entirely feel good about being friends with my new commander and immediately calling him, but what else am I supposed to do? Before I can hit the call button, the lights in the room start to turn off. I hear sev
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
In the city, there’s an area that has been long abandoned because it was rumored to be a nesting ground for demons. But that was years ago. This place isn’t what it used to be. The nest was already eradicated and most of the demons were hunted about two years ago. The town was supposed to be safe for people to live once again, but because people were too afraid to go back, the hunters decided that it would be a good testing site for a hunter promotion exam. The group stops in front of a massive steel gate. All around the perimeter of the site stretched thick metal walls with an electric fence at the top. You know that we are dealing with land demons with long leaps if they place those wired fences on top of the metal ones. “There better be no dangerous ones here.” My brother comments. I was startled by his sudden presence since I was so busy gawking at the gates. This is my first time being here, even in my past life so I was amazed by the facilities in this area. It looks like it w
The next day, everyone was busy with the clean up. Debris, rubble, and tons of steel bars are scattered all over the campus. It was bad, but it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. Only one building was damaged in the attack and it was the study area. If there were anyone who was happy about this, it’s the students. I wish I was lying when I said this, but I wasn’t. You can clearly see the happy faces on most of the first years because that very same building is where the demonology exam is going to be held. It’s clear that most of the first year students aren’t ready for the test, judging from the broad grins on their faces while helping to clean the place. Biron, the head professor of the subject, wasn’t too thrilled, especially when he saw the smiling faces of his students. He decided to divert his anger into yelling and ordering the students to move faster. Although I am grateful that I wasn’t part of the group that’s being reprimanded, it doesn’t mean that my situation is any bette