The air stank of smoke and ozone.
Jake looked up and he froze.
Hovering above the battlefield was something no textbook or web-novel had ever prepared him for: a massive flying ship, armored like a fortress and bristling with mechanical limbs. Each arm glowed with a pulsing red light before firing lances of energy that ripped through the sky and everything beneath it.
Explosions rocked the barren grounds. Buildings collapsed like paper. Screams echoed.
Jake ducked behind a half-shattered wall, hand over his ear, the world spinning around him. What the hell kind of exam is this?!
He peeked out again just in time to see another blast erase an entire training field and the students on it. His chest tightened. His ears rang. Tears mixed with the dirt on his blood-smeared face.
Then, suddenly, the firing stopped.
Silence. Only wind and the crackle of burning debris.
All around him, the surviving students stood frozen, too afraid to move.
"...Is that it?" someone whispered. "Did we...did we pass?"
Jake couldn't answer. His whole body trembled. He lowered himself to the ground, clutching his shoulder, where an arm used to be. He stared at the empty sleeve, his mind refusing to process the sight.
This can't be real, he thought. This has to be part of the test. Right?
The ship above them began to hum again. Jake's breath hitched.
A single beam of crimson light shot downward, but this one didn't explode. It hit the ground softly, folding space around it.
A shape began to form within the light.
When it faded, a tall figure stood where it landed, a man covered in black scales, twin horns curving from his forehead, eyes glowing like embers in the dark.
Jake's stomach dropped.
"That's a…" he whispered, stepping back. The word caught in his throat.
Then the familiar chime rang in his ears:
System Notification:
Warning — Hostile entity detected.
Species: Demon.
Good luck, Host. You'll need a lot of it... if you wish to die quickly without much pain.
Jake stared at the message, jaw slack.
"What the actual hell is happening in this exam?" he shouted at no one, the echo swallowed by smoke and chaos.