The Damned Demon

"Yaarhh!" The fox girl let out a fervid cry as she finally took out her blade and rushed at this water demon who came from the 3rd summoning. If she passed this, then she would be able to pass this trial and get good rewards too.

She was already feeling spent and grimacing with pain after defeating the last two demons. Her feet were also messed up to a certain extent, and she could barely walk. But she was more motivated than ever to finish this to get what she wanted.

But to her horror, she missed and stumbled to the side, and as if that was not enough, the demon spirit kicked her butt, making her fall and roll to another side.

"What a pathetic child," The demon spirit mocked with an unnerving smile.

"What is that thing with four arms?" Asher asked upon seeing the 3 feet tall water demon with four arms. It had a bulky body with a fat intimidating face that would look quite unsettling to an ordinary person.

"We call it the Four Armed Rakshasa. It is the demon spirit that comes out from the 3rd summoning and the one most of the first-floor candidates would fear," Merina answered.

Asher could see why most of these amateurs would fear it since this was the demon they should defeat to pass this trial.

"The strength of these demons scales accordingly with our strength, right?" Asher asked to which Merina nodded. If that was not the case, then one could simply take the trial after becoming somewhat powerful.

"I will pass this trial!" The fox girl screamed with a wild look as she twisted her body around and swung her blade at the Rakshasa. But as if it was toying with her, it simply kept dodging her attacks and moved side to side. Despite looking huge for its size, it was surprisingly agile, though it was more due to the fact that the fox girl's movements were sluggish.

"Feeling tired after dancing with me? I shall end your suffering then," The Rakshasa said as it brought down its machetes at her legs.

"NOO!!" The fox girl tried to pull back her legs, but his attacks were too fast and when all four blades struck her legs, her eyes widened in horror to see both her legs get chopped into multiple pieces of flesh.

"AAAAH!! MY LEGS!!" The fox girl's face became white with horror and pain, and she lost all the will to fight.

"I forfeit! Let me out! PLEASE!!" She dragged herself and banged at the glass, looking at the Floor Warden, begging to let her out.

Rebecca coldly clicked her tongue as she said from outside, "Tsk, how annoying. Weaklings like you shouldn't enter this place and waste my time."

The fox girl's eyes froze upon realizing that she was doomed. She closed her eyes in resignation as the next moment, the Rakshasa decapitated her head with two of its blades.

The demons standing outside in the queues held their breaths upon seeing her brutal death. Some of them had already seen death, but they couldn't shake off the look on her face just before she died.

Some of them had their legs shaking already, thinking about how they would fare in this chamber of hell.

"She could have done better if not for her foolishness…" Asher mumbled though it seemed like the fox girl didn't come from a place where someone could have given her the right guidance.

"Get her body out. I don't want the sacred chamber to stink," Rebecca said with a piqued look as some attendants rushed in and dragged her remains out. The blood and everything else suddenly vanished as if the chamber took care of it, and it looked good as new.

"Warden, please, let me, volunteer," A young, good-looking vampire with a confident expression raised his hand.

"It seems someone is impatient. Very well, why don't you get inside and show everyone how it's done," Rebecca said as she made herself comfortable on the chair.

"Who is that guy?" Asher asked since he definitely seemed like a noble and Rebecca was not being a bitch to him.

"That is Young Lord Darren from the House Aliester. This house is a small-sized one but known for forging good quality weapons, especially with enchantments. They are under the shade of House Thorne. He is quite talented for his age, and if not for him being the younger one, he would have become the future lord of his house."

"No wonder…Well, let's see how a talented noble from a blacksmith background is going to fair," Asher said with crossed arms and noticed that this trial was gaining some audience, too, upon seeing people watching from the stairs and the mezzanine above.

And as expected, Darren passed the 2nd summoning without a scratch. The demons standing in the queues were impressed upon seeing how Darren passed the 2nd summoning without much struggle, unlike the fox girl.

Right after the Four Armed Rakshasa came out, "Finally not a weakling. Let's dance, boy," It said as it circled around Darren to find the right opening.

Darren's eyes were quite focused as he assumed a fighting stance with his spear, "Let's finish this," He said as the two began to battle it out.

Those who were watching were on their toes, wondering if Darren would pass the trial. It was a known fact that even many nobles failed the first trial, and so passing the trials needed at least some skills rather than just the resources they got.

The demons in the queues became even more scared of the Rakshasa upon seeing how it managed to injure Darren's arm despite how skilled he was.

Darren did manage to cut off two arms of the Rakshasa within the next minute, but the Rakshasa's counterattacks injured Darren's left arm and left leg badly enough to slow him down.

Still, now that Darren had managed to cut down the attacking power of the Rakshasa, he was even more determined to not lose, especially since he couldn't besmirch the name of his house by failing here. If his elder brother did it, then he can do it too.

"Enough is enough!" Darren shouted as he decided to execute his finishing move for which he had been saving up his mana, "Riptide!" With a fervid shout, Darren struck his spear on the glass floor as a dark blue light shone from the tip of his spear.

And the next moment, a wave of water surged from the water and smashed against the Rakshasa like a raging wave.

"Glargg!" The Rakshasa couldn't defend against this move and got swept away by the sheer force of the water.

But before it could recover, Darren's shout echoed in the chamber, "You are done!" Saying so, Darren stabbed his glowing spear into the Rakshasa's chest, making it succumb to the floor till it dissolved into nothingness.

"Wow, he passed the trial…"

"Unbelievable. As expected from a young lord of House Aliester."

"Sigh, I hope I pass this as he did."

"I am already drooling thinking about the rewards he is going to get, haaa…"

Mumbles of the demons standing outside echoed upon seeing Darren come out of the glass chamber with a victorious smile.

"As expected, you didn't fail your House. You can now proceed to collect your rewards," Rebecca said with a gesture of her hand.

Darren looked at the demons standing in the queues and said, "I think I will just wait and provide encouragement to my friends who have yet to complete the trial."

"Suit yourself," Rebecca casually said while the demons in the queues were moved to see how supportive this young noble was being. They surely had to try and befriend him in case they survived this.

"That's it? You guys call this trial difficult?" Asher's voice suddenly echoed, making everyone twist their neck around and look at him with looks of scorn. Merina had a shocked expression hearing him say that. Did he not see what just happened? Even someone like Darren struggled to pass the trial.

Darren furrowed his brows and didn't realize the royal consort was here since he was standing in a corner. But hearing his words, he couldn't help but frown since those words belittled his achievement.

"Hm? Had your highness arrived? If only I wasn't so busy, I would have noticed earlier," Rebecca said with a raised chin as she looked at him from afar, though her eyes were clearly glinting with a light of ridicule. She didn't even care about what he said since why should the words coming out of a worm hold any weight?

The other demons standing in the queues shook their heads, wondering what he was doing here. This was not a place to waste time and disrespect it by spouting nonsense. A cripple like him can't even kill a slime, let alone underestimate the difficulty of passing the trial. Or was he that ignorant to come here to take the trial and die within the first summoning?

Rebecca mockingly smiled inwardly upon seeing the candidates being surprised by this cripple's presence, "All of you need not be concerned for our royal consort. He is merely here for a special training program. It is the least we can do for special people…right?"

'Special training program for a cripple? By the 1st floor's Floor Warden personally? She must really want him to wish for death….Every demon in the hall had the same thought and couldn't even imagine whatever the crippled consort was going to experience under her 'training'. But they felt he deserved it, considering what an eyesore he was.

Asher knew Rebecca was mocking him by calling him 'special', though his expression remained calm as he said, "Special training? Warden Rebecca need not extend such kind courtesy towards me. I am here as an ordinary man to take the trial just like everyone else standing here."

Everyone's eyes widened, including Rebecca's, upon hearing words that stupified everyone standing in the hall.