Ilwoo slowed his pace, eyes darting across the hall. The academy wasn't just a school; it was a battlefield for someone like him. Every student here was a predator, and he could already feel their gazes pressing against his back.
He felt a small but sudden tug at his clothes and looked down to see Jinhyuk gripping the corner of his sleeve.
"Hyung?"
Ilwoo gave a small nod. "Don't get too tense," he said.
The further they moved into the crowd, the more Ilwoo noticed the nobles scattered among the common people, their fine clothes making them stand out.
"This is a lot more than I expected," Ilwoo thought, his gaze sweeping across the gathering until his eyes stopped on a familiar figure in the distance.
"Wait… isn't that the demon I saw at the gate of Morvathis?"
Even from afar, Ilwoo recognized him. Though the distance made it hard to see clearly, he could make out the arm that had once been severed by the guards, now replaced with a prosthetic.
"SILENCE!" The sudden, piercing shout echoed through the hall, rattling the ground beneath Ilwoo. He clamped his hands over his ears, trying in vain to block the sound.
Even so, the searing pain cut through him, and he gritted his teeth, enduring it until it finally dissolved into the thin air.
When the sound faded, he surveyed the scene. Most of the demons had fallen, Jinhyuk and Minji collapsing to their knees.
Hayeon and Kim Donghyun were barely standing. Only a few, including Ilwoo himself and some other demons, remained upright, seemingly unharmed.
Ilwoo raised his head, turning toward the direction from which the shout had come. What he saw made him pause, an old, weathered-faced demon, clad in a tattered robe, with multiple horns protruding from its forehead.
From its appearance alone, Ilwoo could sense that the being before them was formidable. Even without using any of his abilities, he felt a shiver run through him at the mere sight of it.
"The participants of Ashenfang consider this academy as their second home. Here, you may act freely, as you would in a place familiar to you," the weathered-faced demon declared, his sharp gaze sweeping across the students gathered in the hall.
Then, with a heavier tone, the old demon added, "This place will determine your future and grant you the opportunity to serve our lord."
Ilwoo scowled inwardly. "Serve my ass… this is basically slavery to the others," he thought as the demon droned on about rules and participation, all of it determining their rank.
After the old demon's long-winded speech, he finally declared,
"You demons must grow strong as quickly as possible, for the sole purpose of slaughtering humans."
As soon as Ilwoo heard the word 'human', a bitter choke rose in his throat. He forced the feeling down and fixed his gaze on the demon.
"Now," he said coldly, "shall we determine your fate?"
With a single gesture toward the crowd of demons, Ilwoo saw a circular pattern flare to life beneath his feet.
The glowing lines spread outward, light searing through the ground. The last thing he saw was his friends and the demon's final words:
"May luck decide your fate."
The world plunged into darkness for a brief moment, and Ilwoo lost all sense of himself. When the blackness finally faded, it was replaced by the damp, musty air of a cavern roughly thirty meters wide.
He glanced around, hoping to see his friends, but there was no one. Only silence lingered in the hollow cave.
"Looks like luck isn't on my side this time," he muttered, his gaze settling on the tunnel stretching out before him, connecting deeper into the cavern's depths.
He took a couple of deep breaths and slowly stepped forward into the depths of the tunnel. As he walked, he didn't encounter any enemies or beasts ready to chew off his face, only twisted passages, similar to those in the Libertares.
Yet, he successfully made his way toward the place he wanted to reach, guided by the patterns from his memories, even though much time had passed.
When he finally emerged from the twisted tunnels unharmed, he stepped into an open space large enough to fit a vast playground. He looked around and saw that only a few other demons had successfully arrived here.
Among them was the demon with a prosthetic arm replacing the one he had lost. His noble clothes were tattered and dirt-stained, and some parts of the cloth were ripped, showing that the demon had a hard time finding a place.
As he passed to the edge of the open space, he heard whispers among the demons as he walked by.
"Look at that low-ranking demon… how did he even get here?"
"I think that demon must have cheated somehow."
"What a disgrace. That mere demon doesn't seem hardened at all. Meanwhile, noble demons like us are tattered with dirt and mingling with commoners."
Ilwoo felt their piercing eyes, sharp enough to burn him completely, but he ignored their gaze and quickly ducked into the corner without another thought.
Leaning against the cold, uneven wall, he kept his eyes on the entrances, which faced opposite directions.
"I wonder why those guys are taking so long," Ilwoo thought, worry gnawing at him.
He knew they could navigate the maze, but he had no idea how much time it would take. With a heavy sigh, he exhaled and continued to watch the entrances, silently hoping someone would emerge.
As time passed, more demons began emerging from the entrance. Some were injured, while others appeared unharmed. Among the dozen or so figures, Ilwoo's eyes caught a familiar silhouette on the left side of the doorway. It was Kim Donghyun.
The moment Ilwoo saw him step through the door, he quickened his pace, moving swiftly to meet him.
From a distance, Kim Donghyun noticed Ilwoo approaching.
"Did anyone else come?" Kim Donghyun asked, studying Ilwoo's face.
"No… you're the first," Ilwoo replied, glancing back at the entrance once more, a hint of concern shadowing his features.
"Don't worry. They'll come," Kim Donghyun said with quiet confidence.
"I hope so…" Ilwoo said, looking at the distant entrance where the injured demon came from as Ilwoo's heart felt a knot inside of him.
"I hope so…" Ilwoo said, staring at the distant entrance from which the injured demon had come. His heart felt a knot tighten inside him.
"I hope they come," Ilwoo thought, sighing as he glanced at Kim Donghyun. With a firm nod, Kim Donghyun walked behind him without saying a word, returning to the corner of the place where Ilwoo had been earlier.
After some time, Hayeon and Jinhyuk arrived. Hours passed, and only Minji remained, his patience thinning as the number of demons emerging from the entrance steadily decreased.
"I have to go!" Ilwoo said to his friends without any hesitation.
"Are you crazy?" Hayeon said, looking at him. "She will come eventually. Just stay calm."
"I can't." He started walking toward the entrance, then paused, glancing at Hayeon. "I have to save myself—that's my responsibility."
From what Ilwoo said, Hayeon stayed silent, not arguing further because of his words. He stepped away from them and moved toward the entrance. Distanced from the others, he didn't care about anyone else's opinions, even if they were his friends. But as a leader, he had to act; he couldn't let any of his friends get hurt because of him.
"Wait!" a sudden shout from Hayeon came from behind. Ilwoo turned to see her face flushed, sweat beading on her forehead. "Do you know how hard it is to shout while running?" she said, catching her breath as she looked at him.
"Why did you come?" Ilwoo asked, curious.
"I'm coming with you," Hayeon said with a smile. "Someone has to take care of our great leader before he does something dumb."
Ilwoo grinned at her. For someone like her to actually come and help him search for Minji, it was reassuring.
"Let's go. We don't have much time before this exam ends," he said.
With that, Ilwoo and Hayeon stepped inside, determined to rescue Minji from the twisted labyrinth where she had been trapped.