"Oh my."
Malice.
That was the only way to describe her voice.
Malice.
As the nocturnal everlasting flame encapsulated them in the area, Samuel clenched his fists, gulping down the lump in his throat.
Before his very eyes, George had unleashed a parry of attacks on the mysterious Edwina, who chuckled mockingly as she evaded. Then, she flicked her wrist, causing the wind behind her to engulf her person.
Samuel didn't want to suspect that she got burned, because she was the one who created the flames. Darting his eyes all around, his teeth clattered as he tried to imagine where she was.
Appearing on the other side of the area enclosed by flames, Edwina gripped one of the daggers, and with the other, launched it at the back of George's head.
Oblivious was George, who had not processed Edwina's location yet. The red, jagged-looking dagger tore through the air and was about to pierce the back of George's head.
A pale hand had reached out and grabbed it.
Samuel gripped the dagger, grimacing at the fact it had cut him severely as he tried to intercept it. I finally have a weapon... He looked down at the dagger in his hands.
It was a dark shade of maroon and matched the vibe of her "demon" attributes. Surveying it for a split second, he could notice the intricate patterns all around the knife that was the length of his forearm.
Edwina stood still, a wide, vicious smile unhiding itself from her chapped, bleeding lips.
George felt the air hit the back of his head and reacted by reflexively covering his nape. He noticed Samuel standing behind him, holding a dark red dagger that exuded a maroon aura. "T-Thanks... I'll t-try to be more c-careful."
No response.
Samuel's eyes were fixated on the weapon he held between his crimson-splattered hands. His lightless eyes had a certain glow to them, a mysterious, enthralling glow.
His black irises began spiraling, coiling, and twisting unnaturally.
He parted his dry, crusty lips.
"Hail…"
"H-Hail?" George couldn't help but reciprocate the statement back to Samuel with a dumbfounded expression.
Blood spewed from both ends of Samuel's head, quickly pooling on the ground.
"Hail…"
Edwina smirked, revealing a small portion of her teeth. "Oh my. Oh my. I would never believe it worked... All—"
"Hail the Demon."
Before Edwina could finish, a brute, cold voice interrupted her. It was Samuel, whose eyes turned a deep shade of red as the floor beneath him shook violently.
Blood slowly drizzled down Samuel's nose as well. His hair fixated upwards as he began twitching uncontrollably.
The air surrounding the three became toxic and unbreathable. A brutal, blood-curdling scream tore through their eardrums.
Edwina clutched the sides of her head as she bowed, smacking her forehead on the floor roughly. Crimson liquid fell from her ears and nose. "All Hail the Demon!" Her cheeks were beet red as she looked to the sky with a lustful gaze.
George's eyes rolled to the back of his head, leaving only Edwina and Samuel half-conscious.
The skies cracked as the ground trembled. The air around them was enveloped in a dark, crimson fog. A sonic blast radiated throughout the forest, crushing all in its path.
A malignant and bloodthirsty voice broadcasted to the two kneeling on the ground.
"I curse you with my presence."
Edwina's high-pitched, glass-breaking scream made itself known first. "The Demon! Please let me be with you, Worthy Demon! I'll please you however you'd like! Please take me, O' Worthy Demon."
Silence. Edwina kept her head on the ground while pleading to the Demon. It wasn't until a sonic shockwave shook the ground.
A tear in the fabric of the sky reverberated through the area. A figure emerged, draped in a red and black robe.
She had red, magestic eyes. Her robe covered her body, showing no skin. Her serrated black hair fell just above her shoulders. A malicious beauty had escaped that would enthrall anyone. She donned high cheekbones and revealed a pale, fiendish smile.
Attached to her hips, she bore two daggers, identical to the ones Edwina had.
The figure eyed the pleading Edwina with apathetic eyes. "You were not permitted to speak directly to the Demon. Vanish, and never return to this land."
She snapped her long, bony fingers, causing the ground to rumble and Edwina to cry for forgiveness.
Gone.
Without a trace.
The figure walked towards Samuel, whose face resembled one who was lifeless. "By the power vested in me, Gararai, fifth Searer to the Demon, Opheil. The human, Samuel Juladee, will be allowed to recite the Chronicle of Nihil Torment."
Gararai twitched her wrist, causing spirals of dark magic to coil around her forearm, like a serpent feeding on prey. Her demon eyes lit as her robe fluttered.
Aiming her hand toward the lifeless boy, the coils of magic surged into his chest cavity.
"----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------" She finished listing off everything about Samuel's life.
After the coils of magic exited Samuel's body, Gararai snapped her wrist, and the coils of magic turned into wisps of ink that formed a paragraph floating in the sky.
The fire that surrounded them from before continued to crackle and groan, as if revering the descent of a Searer of Opheil.
She spoke in a torturous, gut-wrenching tone. "Recite." A calm order was directed at the unresponsive Samuel.
Like clockwork, the ends of Samuel's body twitched profusely as he ascended into the air.
He spoke in a flat, monotone voice, "Despair. I shall succumb to the despair that has been woven by the Demon's hand. I raise my plea to 'Them,' and in the shadows, I seek both power and curse. I vow to reclaim all Authority that has been stolen by the Descendants of that wretched being. My life, will, and mind have all been sacrificed to the Demon, and I await the day I can return the curses bestowed upon me."
As soon as he finished, the air choked him, and he hit the ground with a loud and booming thud.
The malicious voice belonging to Opheil spoke once more: "Obey me, and bear the curse of the power given to you."
The sky ruptured as Opheil's voice was never to be heard again.
Gararai stood before Samuel's body. She stretched her long, bony fingers and bent over toward him. She placed her finger on his forehead and commanded, "Age."
Instantly, Samuel's facial features developed, as if he was growing up on the spot. While remaining unconscious, he did not utter a single word after his recitation.
Gararai removed her finger and glanced at George. With her piercing gaze, his figure slowly vanished, nowhere to be found.
She looked back at Samuel. "You are now 17 years of age. Listen to 'it' and follow the instructions given to you."
Without a second glance, she walked away and disappeared.
The fire around Samuel dispersed, leaving behind heavy burn marks on the ground. It created a contrast between the unburned floor and the burned floor, perfectly resembling a rectangle.
Samuel continued to lie on the floor, breathing quietly.
If only he could wake up and look at his surroundings. The entire forest that held Protector's exam had been left to...
Rubble.
. . .
Before Edwina's first appearance.
Blepharo held his severed hand and cried in agony. He had never experienced such pain in his life; he didn't know how to calm himself down.
Throughout his life, Blepharo was always number one. At school, the other children looked at him with jealousy, while he remained deadpan. At training, he left every opponent begging to stop. At home, he often left his family dazzled at his cooking abilities.
It was always a given fact that whenever Blepharo would enroll or try something, he would always become the best.
So, what is this feeling?
Why was he on the floor, screaming in pain? His opponent was being wrestled on the ground; at least, that's what Blepharo's blurry vision allowed him to see.
Why was he losing? A fight? Blepharo never lost.
That's right. It was his fault. That wretched human, Diallo Haidar.
Blepharo despised Diallo.
As his body twitched, he tried to get up. But before he could, his vision turned white, and a woman, wearing a cape and suit, with blond hair, approached him.
"You..." He spoke before thinking.
"Yes. Me." She replied, smiling quietly.
"You..." Repeating his previous statement, Blepharo felt his blood begin to boil. His face felt hot, and his eyebrows furrowed. He hated this woman as much as he hated Diallo.
No one else was in sight, just Nadia and Blepharo. She reached for his head with her soft hands, which looked like it was about to softly rub his cheek. Instead, she gripped his neck, causing him to involuntarily gasp for air.
"I know your secret." She brought her face right next to his.
"..." Blepharo was rational enough to know what was going on; she was a Salient of Omniscience.
She lifted him off the ground and held him in the air by his neck.
"How many times has it happened just in this exam, hm?" She mockingly started to seriously count her fingers, knowing very well that she was aware of the answer.
"127,342 times, right? Maybe I miscounted a few."
The blood from Blepharo's face drained as he silently watched the lady talk in front of him. With his free hand, he tried to free the grip she had on his neck.
"'I am the strongest in the forest?' 'No one can beat me?'" She mocked his statements toward Samuel. "You were lucky. Lucky enough to be blessed by an Archon."
The color in Blepharo's eyes was slowly dissipating; it wouldn't be long before he fainted.
"Every time you died... you would just come back to life. Right?"
She chuckled before her tone shifted to serious, "I'm never wrong."
With a final emotionless tone, she delivered the last message he would hear before he lost consciousness.
"You will be fun to dissect,
"Blepharo Clemens."
End of Part 2.