The peaceful silence of the mountain didn't last long.
A loud scream echoed through the forest.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
Everyone immediately turned toward the sound.
Then...
A group of demons burst out of the trees.
"There they are!"
"They're normal demons!"
"Fire!"
Almost seventy candidates raised their temporary guns.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The forest echoed with gunfire.
Bullets struck the demons from every direction.
One after another, they collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
I let out a sigh of relief.
"Good thing they weren't Fake Rankers," I thought.
Suddenly, Senjuro's voice echoed in my mind.
"There will be none."
"Huh?"
Before I could think about what he meant, another roar came from deeper in the forest.
The Final Selection had truly begun.
The further we walked into the mountain...
The worse things became.
Every few minutes, another demon would appear.
Sometimes it was only one.
Sometimes it was three.
Sometimes an entire group attacked at once.
Every battle drained our energy.
Every battle left someone injured.
Some recruits had broken bones.
Others were covered in claw marks.
The healers couldn't help us.
There weren't any.
Now...
I finally understood why this test was called the Final Selection.
It wasn't about defeating demons.
It was about surviving them.
Two days passed.
The seventy candidates who had entered were now scattered across the mountain.
Many had already died.
Our own group had started with ten people.
Now...
Only seven remained.
Nobody joked anymore.
Nobody complained about walking.
Everyone kept their fingers close to the trigger of their guns.
Then...
We felt it.
An overwhelming pressure.
The birds stopped singing.
Even the wind seemed to disappear.
Marie slowly looked toward the trees.
"...Do you guys feel that?"
Tobisa nodded.
"I don't like it."
A huge figure stepped out from the darkness.
He was taller than any demon we had seen before.
His body was covered in scars.
Dark veins spread across his arms.
And his eyes...
They were glowing crimson.
The moment I saw him...
I had a flash of yellow eyes, the same as i had with Katsuo.
2 main eyes in the middle, 2 very small bellow them, and 2 at the sides.
Then I somehow knew
"This isn't a normal demon."
He smiled.
"So..."
"More food."
My heart sank.
His presence alone was terrifying.
"He has the power of a Fake Ranker..." I whispered.
"And..."
Marie took a step backward.
"He has a Blood Demon Art."
The demon suddenly disappeared.
"So fast!"
Before anyone could react—
SLASH!
Two candidates fell to the ground.
They didn't even have time to scream.
"NOOOOO!!"
Panic spread through the group.
Everyone opened fire.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Bullets struck the demon from every direction.
He didn't even flinch.
The bullets bounced off his skin.
"...Impossible."
He smiled.
"That tickled."
Then someone stepped forward.
"I'll show you how to knock this monster out, Fogo!"
"Abeer!" I shouted.
"No!"
But Abeer wasn't listening.
With a battle cry, he charged straight at the demon.
The demon looked at him for a second.
Then—
CRACK.
Abeer was gone.
Silence filled the forest.
Marie covered her mouth.
Tobisa froze.
Nobody could believe what had just happened.
The strongest recruit besides us...
Had died in a single attack.
The demon laughed.
One after another...
Candidates charged him.
One after another...
They fell.
No matter how many bullets hit him...
No matter how many swords struck him...
Nothing worked.
His Blood Demon Art made him almost impossible to hurt.
Within minutes...
The forest was covered in unconscious and fallen recruits.
Eventually...
Only three of us remained standing.
Me.
Marie.
And Tobisa.
Then more candidates arrived.
A group of Water Breathing users rushed into the battlefield.
"We'll help!"
For a moment...
Hope returned.
But it didn't last.
The demon cut through them with terrifying ease.
One after another...
They fell.
Then another group arrived.
Mist Breathing users.
One of them, a young boy about my age, charged forward.
The demon smiled.
He slowly raised his claw.
The Mist Breathing user froze.
He couldn't move.
Everyone knew what was about to happen.
"No..."
The demon swung.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!!
A massive cloud of dust exploded between them.
The entire battlefield shook.
The demon immediately jumped backward.
"...What?"
He looked at his arm.
Blood dripped onto the ground.
His hand...
Had been cleanly cut.
For the first time...
The demon wasn't smiling.
The dust slowly began to settle.
Everyone held their breath.
A silhouette stood at the center of the battlefield.
Sword in hand.
Facing the demon.
No one could see who it was.
As the last of the dust disappeared...
The mysterious warrior finally stepped into the light.