703 The Capital City

Holerz.",

The Capital of Demon Abyss was a city spanning hundreds of miles. The heart of a billion abyssals and the core of the demon abyss society.",

Here, the body awakeners from all across the abysses gathered for special training that Demon Abyss was famous for.",

Similar to humans, there was an academy for abyssals too. But instead of many, there was only a mega academy that oversaw the training of all body awakeners.",

Of course, each city had an academy, but the one in the capital was naturally the best.",

"This will be the final competition for the prince candidate. There will be important staff who will evaluate your performance and select the final candidates." Angus explained as they strolled through the wide streets.",

After they teleported to the capital, he asked them to follow him to the academy as he explained a few things.",

It was general knowledge, but he wanted to stress them so that the candidates wouldn't make stupid mistakes.",

Varian carefully listened to his words while also checking out the capital city.",

The floor was made of beautiful red marble, and the giant buildings on both sides seemed to be built from carefully polished stones.",

Shops lined up across the commercial street they just passed.",

Kids in colorful clothing ran across them as they crossed the road and rushed to the huge park in the city.",

The school was over. It was playtime.",

Then there were families he saw.",

When they went shopping, the common gift parents gave was something related to combat.",

A training sword, a light armor, a healing potion…",

This world, these people…",

Except for being a bit more militaristic, Varian couldn't express how similar they were.",

He looked at the smiling faces of the crowd with a complicated expression.",

The wide streets disappeared as they reached the outskirts of the city and stepped on a white path in the green pasture.",

The crowd disappeared and with them, so did the cheerful and lively chatter.",

The abyssals grew sparse and after a while, only a few passed by them occasionally.",

But Varian couldn't stop thinking.",

The smiling parents would become warriors who would kill humans. The laughing kids would grow up to be enemies that destroy peace.",

If it was a magic beast or some mindless species, Varian wouldn't think much.",

But from what he saw and experienced so far, abyssals were a race that was more similar to humans than different.",

'Yet, they are the ones who started all this…' Varian's eyes flashed as his shaken resolve hardened.",

"…And here's where I'll see you off. Good luck to y'all." Angus' words brought Varian out of his thoughts.",

Glancing around, he realized that he and the nine participants were standing in front of the entrance to a huge training ground.",

There were already thousands of abyssals standing in the field, staring intently at the few abyssals in combat clothing on an elevated platform.",

'So many level 7s!'",

Hiding his shock behind his expressionless face, Varian, along with others joined the crowd.",

Not a single abyssal spoke. It was so quiet despite a thousand members that it seemed a bit eerie.",

After a few minutes, one of the six abyssals on the platform stepped forward. Compared to the other five, he had the most number of stars on his military coat.",

Unlike them, he gave off a much more dangerous feeling to Varian.",

The feeling only level 9s were able to give.",

'Angus spoke of him earlier…' Varian's eyes locked onto the figure who viewed the crowd with a critical gaze.",

He was beginning to assess them already. Since he was the person in charge of selecting princes.",

Ryoden.",

A low level 9.",

The strongest among his peers. He's expected to reach peak level 9 in a decade and was one of the successor candidates for the Demon King.",

He's also a Vice-Dean of the Holerz Academy.",

"Long Live The Empire!"",

Ryoden lowered his head lightly and said.",

"Long Live The Empire!"",

A thousand abyssals placed their right fist on their heart and yelled.",

"You are one step away from both honor and duty. One step away from fighting the enemies blocking our way to survival. One step to safeguard our motherland!"",

With every sentence, his voice rose and in the end, it reverberated in the field like a thunder clap.",

"One Step!"",

The ground shook and the air stilled as the candidates bellowed with almost fanatical fervor.",

"The final test is neither knocking down your fellow abyssals nor showing that you are the strongest. To become a prince, you must do what a prince has to do." Saying so, Ryoden raised his hand, and taking the signal, the five young abyssals stepped forward.",

"Our space force is in a fierce contest with humans. Since the level 8s and level 9s are tied up in the planetoids, we must use this chance and push for dominance in space.",

The boundaries need to be redrawn in our favor. Once we gain more space for patrol, we can exploit it to our needs.",

Your mission is to destroy human patrol ships and give us that advantage. You'll be evaluated by these professors."",

The five abyssals, in smooth black coats and slacks, gave a slight nod.",

"Remember, if you die, make your death useful." Ryoden pumped his fist into the air and as if on cue, five spaceships rose into the air.",

The professors went to a spaceship each and the crowd was randomly sorted into the spaceships.",

Under the intense stare of the vice dean, the spaceships took off from the demon capital and shot out towards the planetoids.",

Shortly after they left, footsteps sounded and an older abyssal slowly walked onto the stage.",

"Is there anyone Demon King candidate in the bunch?" Hiding a monstrous strength behind a peaceful face, the older abyssal asked.",

"None…" Ryoden shook his head and growled. "After we came to this damn place, we never went past 8 abyss kings. If only we had one more sovereign, we wouldn't be helpless as our motherland is being attacked."",

"Haa~" The older abyssal spat a deep sigh and looked at the man who had the potential to be the next demon king. "Do you think a Sovereign would make a difference against Zions?"",

"I…" Ryoden was a genius and had lots of experience. He knew exactly well that a sovereign really didn't matter much against the Zions.",

"B-But if it's against humans…"",

If they had finished this war sooner, they could've gotten the legacy and returned.",

"Just why can't we fight an all-out war and decide things? Why should we try to wage a war with minimum damage?" Ryoden clenched his fists tightly as his body shook from the pent-up frustration.",

"Heh." The older abyssal gave a helpless smile and looked at the sky. "Bad luck is really on our side. We had not one, but two great chances to push humans to extinction. If not for that little devil foiling our plans…we'd already be on our way back with the legacy."",

"Varian, huh." Ryoden narrowed his eyes. "We can't let him live any longer."",

"Indeed." The older abyssal gave a light nod and his eyes flashed with a fierce glint. "Since we can't draw him out, even the emperor would acknowledge that there's no choice but to fight an all-out war before he grows too powerful.",

He's an outrageous monster who might've gotten secrets of Devas. But in doing so, he pushed our emperor to make the choice he was always hesitating."",

"You mean…" Ryoden opened his mouth in surprise.",

"The war is coming, kid. No one can stop it."",