The Absolute: Humanity's Second Chance

*** Narrative ***

Right after Damien threw the rock away, which was to act as a decoy, he ran.

He ran as fast, and as silently as he could. Unleashing all of his potential, crossing tens of meters every second.

Thus the few seconds the spirit was distracted, he covered over a hundred meters, and arrived behind it. It was also the time the spirit began surveying the soroundings.

But he did make sure to pick up the demon that he had left alive, or was forced to let live. He was now hiding with it behind a large triangular boulder.

And he did not waste much time.

Using his bare hands, knowing that Juliette was not watching, he dug his fingers into the demon's oval head.

His monster grip easily tore through its flesh, and he ripped it apart. His hands were covered in green blood, and it was gushing out of the demon's head in tides.

But he cared not for it.

It's life was completely drained out of its body. It died. And the next thing that happened, was as he expected.

[ Congratulations for obtaining first blood with your partner. Life Essence obtained will be increased by 100% throughout the trials ]

[ You have killed a Lvl 1 Hammer Fist Demon. You have obtained 15 units of Life Essece ]

[ Bonus effect has been applied. You and your partner have individually obtained 30 units of Life Essence ]

[ You and your partner have obtained the "First Blood" Epithet ]

It was the same notification that Juliette recieved due to both being in a partnership. This demon had a lifespan of 300 years, so the Life Essence obtained would be 30 units.

Divided on both, would be 15 units each. But thanks to the "First Blood" effects, it was 30 units each. It was as good as each killing a Hammer Fist Demon.

[ Congratulations. You've obtained the following resources: Demon Core(Impure/Tier 1), Spear Head(Superior) ]

[ For defeating a trial opponent, you have obtained the following rewards: Extra Ability(×1), Tier 1 Random Treasure Chest(×1), Demonic Fragment(1/7) ]

[ Would you like to equip the Ability? ]

Damien quickly glanced through everything. He ignored the final message and bet on whether he had more trials on it. But he knew he did.

"...Less than a minute left." Damien thought as he peaked out through the corner of the boulder, and tried to find an opening through the spirit's defense.

He now had the perfect weapon against it. And, the perfect environment to better use the weapon. The Demon Core. And the Lava.

All he just needed right now, was time. Which he did not have much off. But he could substitute it for opportunity. Which he was currently looking for, to no avail.

'Hm?'

Then it was at this moment, when Juliette stood up above the boulder she hid in. She had a determined expression on her face. One of a person ready to risk it all.

It was quite...

So quite Damien found himself speechless. He was wondering what this girl was thinking now.

When he suddenly saw her throwing pebbles towards the spirit. At first he did not understand her actions, but moments later, he did.

She was trying to distract the spirit to give him a chance!! And as things seem, the spirit was clearly distracted by her.

It gathered fire above its palms and stared up at her in annoyance. Her mission was a success, and now it was Damien's time to shine.

For if he wastes time, Juliette might die.

'Whoo~'

Damien lightly breathed out as he sneakily came out of hiding. He held the demon core strongly within his hand, as he stood at a place where there were no boulders in between him and the spirit.

Still distracted, Damien made his move.

He threw the demon core, like a professional baseball thrower, and made sure it bounced a few times on the floor like skipping stones on the lake.

His throw was faster than Juliette's, being twice as fast thanks to his greater physique. Thus it generated a small sonic boom.

And the sound was loud, but so was the demon core's speed. Hence, even if the spirit was alerted, it should not be able to react in time... right?

So why, did it react so fast?

"..."

"..."

Why did the spirit turn around before Damien even threw the demon core, and caught it in it's hands. The force in the demon core slightly pushed it back.

The spirit managed to stabilize itself, and it stared at him with a mischievous grin.

While both him, and Juliette were speechless. Appearance wise, they were, but thought wise? 'Oh well, Fuck I guess this means... Goodnight.'

Damien thought with a smile of provocation. And even more mischief.

The spirit was child-like, yet not childish.

That was an important fact everyone had to take in. Just because it was tricked once or twice, did not mean it would let that happen again and again.

First of all, when Damien threw the rock up, it did not realize what was going on.

Hence, in it's state of paranoia, it actually focused on the rock as if it was a very dangerous object.

Instead of remembering that, even a sword was harmless unless at the hands of a swordsman. It should have never let its eyes move away from Damien.

At least, not for more than a second.

But it unfortunately did.

And once it realized that, the spirit was saddened. It was saddened and cautious. More cautious than it has ever been in its life.

Hence it surveyed the environment. Searching for any traces of the two creatures that were after its life.

As it searched, it thought about multiple possibilities and scenarios that they could take against it.

At first, there were many possibilities. And it did not know where to begin, and which possibility nor scenario to focus on more. Thus, it only thought and thought.

Until...

Until one of the creatures appeared above it, and began throwing pebbles at it. At first, it was cautious and very much worried that it was yet another trap.

But then, it realized that it was not a trap, but another distraction. Just like the first one, the rock thrown by Damien.

Thus it thought, the feminine creature before it was not the main focus, but a mere distraction. And the masculine creature would be the real attacker.

Hence with a mischievous smile, the spirit came up with a devious plan in its mind. One that, would have the lives of both these two creatures within its palm.

With that plan in mind, it ignored everything and focused on the feminine creature.

This would give the target the impression that it was focusing on them, while truthfully, it was surveying for any minor movements around it.

And indeed. As it thought, the masculine creature appeared behind it. The spirit did not react, and still feigned annoyance and ignorance, summoning two fireballs into its palms.

And the prey fell victim to its schemes.

As it feigned ignorance, they moved closer and closer. And as they did that, the more the spirit focused on them, ignoring the feminine creature.

And the more it became more aware of its soroundings. Time felt like it slowed down to it. It could see everything with clarity.

The coming pebbled from above.

The worried feminine creature before it.

And the sneaky masculine creature behind it.

And most importantly, the red glint it saw within the hands of the latter. The spirit felt like that was their hope, their, only, hope.

Therefore, when that thing, the red glint within the masculine creature's hands was thrown, it focused on it completely.

It saw as the object bounced off the ground to gather more momentum, as it flew through the air like a red bullet at sound speed.

The spirit could have just dodged the object, and turned around to burn the creature there and then. But it did not.

The masculine creature was fast.

Hence if it turned, the prey could run away once again. So instead, the spirit had an even more devious plan in mind.

Shattering their hope.

Every tiny bit of it.

It did not turn around to respond to the prey, and just extinguished the fireball within its right hand. And as instantly, reached out to grab the red glinted object.

Such an action gave out the impression that it was more than aware of the prey's actions. And that they were useless.

It slowly turned around to face the masculine creature with a smile. Indeed. It's plan payed off, as the prey slumped their shoulders and sighed in defeat.

The spirit laughed to itself at first, then it's laugh slower grew louder and livelier. At the end, the heat within the lava was climbing up.

The feminine creature stopped throwing her pebbles, and slumped down in defeat. She was terrified, and pale stricken.

"How...?" She questioned in defeat, as the spirit continued its laughter of triumph.

While the masculine creature smiled. Yes, he smiled. And not a smile of defeat.

Wait, what?