Unlike the ordinary world, the atmosphere here was dense and permeated with bizarre colours and light not found anywhere else. One could barely see anything as far as the vision allowed them to. Aetherflow here was rather pure and smooth when compared to the flow back in the real world.
Daemon slowly opened his eyes and saw all kinds of colours and lights that he had never seen before. He felt that he was easily able to move around, and all the tension in his body had gone away.
He immediately remembered the instructor's word, 'Only your soul will pass through the portal', and nodded in satisfaction. He didn't want to waste any time and looked around. He was levitating in the air, and he could not see anything except the colours and lights.
His eyes landed beneath him, and he spotted a land floating in the air. It was very small and only had a structure that seemed to be ancient. The structure was cramped and looked like it had broken long ago; however, it carried a terrifying aura.
A loud creaking sound reverberated in the air. Daemon heard this, and terror washed over him. The structure's door was opening slowly. He was terrified and immediately distanced himself.
"I need to chant that sentence in Ancient Ramies quickly." He thought with a look of horror on his face.
"I am here to take the First Ordeal." He shouted hastily in the ancient language.
He felt his soul being slowly pulled away. "Shit, why isn't it immediately pulling me into the ordeal?" He was horrified and peeked at the structure.
The door of the structure had already opened by the time. A human-like figure walked out. The figure was covered in layers of majestic black clothes, and smoke coiled around it, distorting the figure. Its eyes pierced through the smoke and landed on Daemon, who was in the air shouting.
Daemon looked towards the figure and saw two crimson eyes piercing through the smoke, scrutinizing him.
He vanished and lost consciousness. Before he disappeared, the figure smiled at him faintly.
The figure burst out laughing when it saw the soul in the air vanish. Its laugh reverberated in the air before it slowly entered the ancient structure again. Thud! The door made a loud sound and closed.
...
"Run! Run! Run!"
"He's a demon, run!"
"He will murder all of us. We are not his match. Run!"
"We will go back to the kingdom and bring reinforcement. He's not someone we can kill with our numbers."
"Retreat! Retreat immediately!"
The sun was setting upon the grassland. The grassland was dyed red with blood. It was a battlefield. It had descended into chaos. Dead bodies of knights filled the field. The knights had lost the will to fight and shouted hysterically.
"Oh Lord, save us from this demon." Some started praying right there out of fear.
The commotion woke up Daemon. He thought about the figure who smiled at him, but he immediately stopped thinking about it. He observed his surroundings and saw hundreds of dead bodies near him. He wanted to puke, but relaxed.
"They seem to be running from something. I heard someone say demon. They exist? Whatever the reason, I need to join and retreat along with them." He calmly made a decision.
The smell of death made him nauseous
But he had to do anything to survive. He removed armour from a nearby knight's body and put it on himself. A silvery shining sword lay next to him. He quickly picked it up and sheathed it.
A group of four knights close to him was picking up the injured knights. He decided to join them.
"Let me help you." He said as he lifted one of the injured.
The other knights nodded, and one of them spoke, "Quickly, retreat to the kingdom. We cannot waste a single moment. That demon might strike soon again."
"We still don't know what Aetherbrand he has. We can't fight him without any knowledge." The knight continued.
"So the enemy is actually a human. He has a mysterious Aetherbrand, and it seems he has more than one from the way they can't fight back against that Aether." Daemon quickly analysed.
"Don't tell me I have to kill that Aether to pass the ordeal?" He smiled bitterly. He didn't even have a brand, and the enemy was a powerful Aether with more than one. How could he possibly kill him?
"I need to find a powerful mythral, an attack based specifically. It's the only way I can survive." A thought crossed his mind.
Mythrals were magical items that could be used for different purposes. One example is the mirror back in the academy. Just like Aethers, they had brands on them. The kind of brand on them decided their use. Daemon wished to find a Mythral that could deal damage.
He followed the knights. It had been more than an hour since he started retreating along with them, but the kingdom was still not in sight.
Daemon was weary as he was helping the injured knight walk, and he had never worn such heavy armour before. It made his muscles extremely sore. The knights were Aethers; their physical foundation was naturally better than his.
"How long will it take to reach the kingdom?" He asked the knight next to him.
"It can take up to 6 hours. I don't know exactly how long." The knight said.
"Isn't there a healer based Aether among you?" Daemon asked with a pained expression. "My body is wearing out." He continued.
The knight shook his head. "They are very rare, and that demon specifically eliminated all of them."
Daemon had no choice but to take the armour off. He hadn't taken it off earlier, worrying that they would get attacked, but now they had to walk a long distance. He also removed the injured knight's armour to make it easier to carry him.
No one said anything; it was only natural to take the load off. Soon, night descended upon them. A crescent moon stood high up in the sky, emitting faint light everywhere. The steppe was plain, and often trees could be seen at a distance.
The group of knights moved along the path on the land. It had almost been six hours, and the kingdom was finally in sight. The walls surrounding the kingdom could be seen. The knights felt relieved as they were safe for now.
"We just have to walk for some minutes and we'll reach the entrance." One of them spoke with a happy tone.
"We're finally saved from that demon. He killed others with a smile on his face. He felt no remorse towards human life. Truly a demon." Another knight continued with a terrified expression.
Daemon was deep in his thoughts, "Logically speaking, I stand no chance against that Aether. Is there another objective to my ordeal? I can only wait and gather enough hints for now."
Strong winds blew past them, making Daemon shiver as he only had normal clothing. Right at this moment, the injured knight he was carrying spoke, "My master has arrived."
Suddenly, the scenery around them changed. They had arrived back at the battlefield. The sun was slowly setting. All of them were shocked beyond reason.
"Fuck, why are we back here again?" All of them had similar thoughts.
"Pfft." A loud laugh echoed in the air. All of them looked towards the source of the sound. A man slowly descended towards them while grinning. He had long red hair that flowed down and reached his waist. He had a very appealing face and deep black eyes.
"I never leave anyone alive on the battlefield." He spoke with an entertained look on his face.
Daemon immediately froze, and his expression turned grave. He knew who this man was! "What is this man doing here?" He felt despair. How could the ordeal put him against that man?
All kinds of negative thoughts flashed through his mind. This was the worst situation!
The man in front of him was the one who changed an entire continent! The red-haired man was Zypher, one of the Four Overlords of the world!
Four Overlords were Aethers who passed the tenth ordeal and awakened ten Aetherbrands. No one except them had passed the tenth ordeal in history. They were simply geniuses among geniuses!
"Shit, what do I do now?" Daemon started thinking. There was no way he could kill one of the Four Overlords. However, he soon calmed himself down and began thinking rationally.
"It seems that he hasn't reached that level yet; otherwise, he would've immediately wiped out the entire kingdom if he wanted."
"This has to be a past event. Does that mean I have to save the kingdom from Zypher's ruthless slaughter to pass the ordeal?"
"From the extent of his abilities, he most likely only has three or four brands right now. I remember reading about Zypher in the books. He was extremely arrogant in his young days, and he was playful. He never backed down and accepted all the challenges thrown his way."
Daemon quickly evaluated and thought, "Although the chances are slim, I can still get myself out of this situation. There are no hopeless situations, only hopeless people."
Zypher soon landed and started walking towards Daemon and the knights. "How should I kill you all?" He said, killing intent surging in his eyes.
The knights went insane out of fear and started running in different directions.
"Lord, have mercy, save us from this demon."
"Fuck fuck fuck what did I do to deserve this?"
"Doomsday is coming!"
They shouted all kinds of things; however, Daemon remained calm. He didn't run. He gazed at Zypher and looked him in the eyes with a plain expression.
Daemon turned around and unsheathed his sword. He sighed and ran towards the knights, piercing them from behind one by one. Although they were Aethers, they were severely weakened at the moment and did not expect to be backstabbed by Daemon.
They screamed, but he did not stop. He had already resolved himself for this. Their screams reverberated in the air for some minutes until they came to a stop.
"I'm sorry, I had to take the chance for my own survival." He muttered and looked at the beautiful crescent moon.
He was completely bathed in blood. He glanced at Zypher and forced a big smile.