First Demonic Dragon

Abaddon and Sif ended up seated within a large tree overlooking the lake.

From their position, the two of them could clearly see the lakeside party that was still going strong even without their attendance.

"...I was beaten up today." Sif finally said after a long silence. "Don't even know why."

Abaddon couldn't help but look away due to the guilt.

"I don't know why, but it's like everyone's been acting weird around me today. As if there's something they know that I do not."

Sif's golden hair blew gently in the wind as she turned her head towards Abaddon. "Want to tell me what that might be?"

Abaddon didn't think beating around the bush would help, since his ex-wife could be unusually sharp about things like that, so he decided to tell a partial truth.

"...Today, I was asking myself whether I wanted to continue this sort of relationship we have, or whether I wanted to continue this relationship of ours, or whether I wanted to find some way to end it by removing your crest."

Being sodomized with a hot poker would have hurt Sif less than those words.

She protectively held her hand over her stomach almost as if to protect herself and started to scoot away from Abaddon warily.

"I asked the girls just a moment ago, and I even asked Yesh for advice earlier when he popped up on the kids and I in the store..." he continued.

Tears threatened to fall from Sif's eyes despite the fact that she wasn't known for being overly sentimental and soft.

Should she apologize?

For what exactly??

There were so many things that she probably should have apologized for long before now that she didn't know where to start.

Did she begin at the divorce?

Their first fight?

Or maybe even their most recent one?

She didn't know the answer to that question, but she had to blurt something out quick.

"I-I-, Abaddon you-"

"And then I realized... I asked everyone what they wanted except for you." he finished.

"Well...W-What?" Sif asked.

Abaddon smiled pitifully as he used his finger to wipe her tears.

"I almost did something a bit selfish... You are a part of this too, and that means I must take into account your wishes and feelings just the same as mine or the girls'.

So right here, right now, tell me honestly for the last time; what do you want the future to look like, Sif?"

If before her mind was a bit cloudy and in need of a proper reboot; now Sif had no doubts left about what she wanted to say and the urgency she needed express to get their point across.

"I..."

-

"Hon... Honey, it's time." a voice whispered.

Abaddon groaned audibly and shrank back underneath the covers as he felt a familiar hand try to shake him awake.

"Come on now... How can you make a request of your children that you can't even follow up on? You'll set a bad example like this.."

"Nghh..." Begrudgingly, Abaddon poked his head out from underneath the covers and stared at the face above him.

Admittedly, seeing Eris' beautiful warm expression was a sight that could fill even the most dead tired of old dragons with renewed energy, and Abaddon was no different.

However, Eris recognized the look of 'appreciation' in his eyes and covered his gaze with her palm.

"Nope. Not right now, mister, we are already about to be behind. We avoided waking you up until the last moment out of the kindness of our hearts, so that'll have to be enough rest for now. The rest of the girls are already in the bath, so-"

"Zzzzz...."

Eris realized her mistake in covering her husband's eyes far too late as he had already fallen back asleep.

"Honey!" A gentle (not really) fist pounded on Abaddon's chest and he awoke with a cough; this time for good.

"I'm up, I'm up, I promise.." his words were almost robotic as he sat up like a zombie and rubbed his eyes.

He looked around his bed and saw that it was indeed empty save for him and Eris, and one still asleep and very nude Sif.

"Why does she get to be the one to stay asleep?" Abaddon asked, not caring to hide his jealousy.

"You know she drank too much last night. Waking her felt a little too much like bullying."

"You all beat her with sticks yesterday, but this is where you draw the line...?"

"W-We'll be beating you next if you don't get up!"

Eris started pulling Abaddon by the ear to pull him out of bed and towards the bathroom where the others were waiting.

Once he moved, Sif began to stir momentarily.

She drunkenly crawled into the spot where Abaddon was just laying and flopped face first down into the still warm area.

No one was counting on her to move for a while again after that.

Abaddon glanced at Eris to gauge her reaction. "Are you alright?"

Eris watched Sif sleep for just a few moments so she could give her husband a true, honest answer.

"I don't really feel one way or the other if I'm honest... I suppose the true test of my feelings and everyone else's, will come when we come back tonight. This just kind of feels like... a sleepover?"

Abaddon realized that he would be hard pressed to identify this any other way as well.

Sif didnt ask to have sex with him yesterday, or even to get re-

married.

She just asked for nothing to change between them, because even just the little bits of heaven she got to experience now were better than the years were she had none at all.

Abaddon told her he couldn't make any promises yet, and she was fine with that on the outside, but inwardly she was a nervous wreck at the thought he would strip away their connection.

Hence the reason she over-indulged in drinking, and Abaddon ended up bringing her back to their room on impulse when she passed out.

"Leave her be, honey. We have to go now." Eris urged.

Abaddon spared his ex-wife one last look before finally not delaying his plans any further and dipping into the bathroom.

In terms of mood he was neither up nor down, but his mind was thinking about the act that was scheduled to follow later tonight, and the world's most awkward pillow-talk that would come after.

-

Monica felt like she had been running for days.

And in hindsight, she probably had.

These two months had tested her in ways she never thought possible.

She'd been starved, nearly eaten, sleep deprived, poisoned, and been drop-in tested by more notable warriors than just Kirina and Hajun.

But absolutely nothing was as bad as her current situation.

About a week ago, a group of over forty abyss walkers found her hiding place.

She couldn't fight those numbers.

She couldn't shake them either.

So she had no choice but to run and keep running, hoping that she would eventually find other examinees who could help.

Eventually she recovered from another one of her burn outs and was able to fly in order to make the journey easier, but it still wasn't a cakewalk.

If she should ever slow down; or even attempt to fight back and pick them off one by one; the abyss walkers would ramp up their aggression 100-fold, and she would suffer at least one bite or scratch.

It was so excruciating she couldn't think or she would scream, so she mindlessly kept running.

It was miraculous that she could even stay airborne for so long.

But when she finally found other examinees, she noticed that they were also being chased.

And at that moment, she realized something unsettling.

'We're being herded...!'

Her suspicions proved correct when she ended up in a large clearing with all of the remaining examinees.

So many had already failed.

Of the original 3,000 plus, less than 900 were still in the exam.

And every single one was injured in some for or another.

Even Adeline Argrona, Second-In-Command of the Black Legion, was sporting a new scar on her pretty face and was forced to run here.

Once no more examinees were arriving, the abyss walkers formed a huge circle around the crowd of injured Nevi'im and Monica.

This left them all slightly perplexed as they tried to figure out what was supposed to come next.

"Do we fight them...?"

"Is this a last stand, us against them type thing?"

"I don't know about that... Hold steady, and wait for them to make the first move!"

"Those who are the most injured should get behind those of us who are still able to stand! We will protect you!"

Already the examiners who had survived where showing why they were the cream of the crop.

Despite the seemingly terrible situation, no one was panicked, they weren't complaining, and they never for one second cursed their luck.

It was undeniably moving.

But this grueling test was far from over just yet.

Because the hardest and final phase of this trial was about to get underway.

*Rumble*

Dark clouds formed overhead from out of nowhere and soon a heavy rain fell down on top of thearea.

A massive lightning bolt the size of the empire state building dropped out of the sky; dead in the center of the examinees.

From within the smoke, two pairs of glowing eyes could be seen; both of them a shining-yellow gold.

And the pressure that flowed off the two was more than enough to put any of the abyss walkers to shame.

A cold, feminine voice reached the ears of every dragon present even though it was no louder than a whisper; and their anxiety was multiplied five-fold.

"You have all fought nobly to make it this far. But it is a pity that your journey shall end with no reward for your efforts.

For The Destroyer has sent his mightiest to test your worthiness for one final time; and we alone are untouched from the shame of defeat.

Now, your bodies will fall where they may in our wake."