First Demonic Dragon

When Monica opened her eyes, she was standing inside of an auditorium-style building with her butt already in a seat.

Huge arcs of marble were cut with careful hands to keep the building erect, and they were etched with the design of two multi-headed dragons; one beautiful and fair, the other monstrous and righteous.

Standing on the stage below were a slew of familiar faces.

The heads of the seven legions were present, but so were the existing members of the Euphrates.

And of course, Abaddon and Ayaana were standing in front of everyone and looking more beautiful than life itself.

With her adorned in white and him clad in black, the two were a perfect reflection of yin and yang.

Even though most everyone in this place was still dead tired, the sight of their two beautiful rulers was more than enough to wake them up.

"Morning." Abaddon smiled. "I hope your week was a quiet one."

Everyone in the stands smiled helplessly.

There was not a single person here who did not sleep for the entire duration of the break.

A few still had a couple of aches and tweaks, but they were soldiers above all else and would not complain.

"I'm sure you are all anxious to know the results of your examination, so we will not keep you in suspense."

Kanami stepped forward as if she had been waiting for the moment to chime in.

Like her mother and older sister, she was also quite the beauty.

This was also one of the few times since she'd learned to dress herself where she had voluntarily put on a nice dress.

"While you rested, we carefully reviewed all footage of the exercise, compared notes and held many long debates for days.

The criteria for admittance into the Euphrates was based upon the individual's wit, practical strength, and ability to work in conjunction with others."

The final condition made several members of the audience's hearts skip a beat.

Kanami smiled cheekily. "Yes, telling you that working together was a detriment was a bit of a fib on our part.

We don't lack strong soldiers and we don't lack intelligent scholars either. Nor are we desperate to fill our numbers, no matter how small they may be.

In my unit, all are one underneath me.

Cohesion and unity are paramount in order to ensure that our performance does not suffer and we are always capable of bringing our overlord the results he desires.

And so we needed to know… if you came across another, would you do the right thing and aid them despite there being no benefit to doing so?

And by extension, ensuring that both of you were able to remain in better condition as a unit?" She asked.

'I cannot believe that you came up with this idea after watching Naruto…' Abaddon shook his head.

'S-Shut up, brother!' It took all of Kanami's concentration to maintain her poise on stage.

After hearing the explanation for grading, Monica felt her heart nearly tear into two.

The entire time that she was in the wilderness, she never came across anyone else.

Exploration was always one of the furthest things from her mind; she just wanted to keep herself from being eaten and find food that wouldn't poison her.

Immense fear welled up within her chest at the thought of failure.

Just as it had for everyone else apparently.

"Since we have already kept you in so much suspense, we will do you the mercy of calling you up one by one to announce those who passed." Ayaana said sweetly.

The collective sound of heartbeats thumping was so loud that it practically resembled a drumroll.

Monica closed her eyes tightly; so tight that she could have crushed her eyeballs from the force she exerted on her lids.

All sound seemed to fade out as she remained in dread of the results that would inevitably grace her ears.

If she failed, how was she ever going to look her friends and family in the eyes again?

How was she supposed to face him?

"…se… te… rs…" A voice came from so far away that Monica couldn't even hear it.

She was too far trapped in her own mind.

'I don't want to hear I failed…'

'I was way too naive…'

'I just want to go home and cr-'

"WE DID ITTT!!"

"Uwah!??"

Monica was suddenly lifted up by her waist and was shaken like a bottle of soda in the grasp of an eight year old.

When she opened her eyes, she realized that she was no longer in her seat.

At some point, she had been teleported to the front of the room, just at the foot of the stage where the higher ups sat.

Well her, and exactly one hundred and thirty six additional people.

All were celebrating rather rowdily, with tears, cheers, and hugs being shared equally.

Monica didn't even know the large, burly man who had lifted her up, but he was hugging her like they'd known each other all their life.

"I-I… I made it..?" She muttered in disbelief.

"We made it, buttercup!! We really fucking made it!!"

Monica glanced up at the stage where everyone she lived with was standing.

Naturally, at this time they couldn't show her too much praise and favoritism.

But she still heard a medley of voices come into her head.

Erica: 'Now what sense does it make for us to have more faith in you than you did in yourself?'

Jasmine: 'I never had a single doubt in my mind.'

Kirina: 'Did any of us?'

Abaddon: 'I'll say it again since you seemed not to hear me the first time. Congratulations, Monica. You've done us all proud.'

The stream of waterworks that Monica was only barely keeping in check suddenly came spilling out into the forefront.

Even though she didn't know the man who was holding her upright, Monica still hugged him tightly as she cried sweet tears of joy.

Abaddon nor any of his associates made any moves to interrupt their celebration early.

In fact, he was interested to see even more of it if he were able.

Their joy was a simple testament to how much they valued the position.

With that kind of knowledge in mind, he was more than content to let them celebrate as long as they liked.

-

Once the new inductees had gotten everything out of their system, the room became quiet once again.

And Abaddon decided to address the applicants who had failed first.

More than a few looked upset, but there was mostly shock.

Even though they made it all the way to the end, roughly 80 percent of the class had still failed.

The part that stung the most was the detailed print out that fell into their lap- explaining the reasons why they had failed and their exact numerical score.

"Let me address those who have failed first…" Abaddon began.

The broken hearts of those still sitting in their seats seemed to crumble even further.

A fact that did not escape his notice.

"Why do you all look so glum? This day is supposed to be an auspicious one."

Somehow, everyone looked even more depressed than before.

"Come now, for a moment I thought you all were smarter than this…" he muttered. "Do you believe that I would bring all of you here, even knowing you had failed, just to tell you in person that you failed? Do you think me some kind of monster?"

"You are the source of all monsters, big brother…" Kanami reminded.

"Well yes, but I like to think I act above my nature… for the most part."

The sharp teeth revealed when Abaddon smiled would have begged to differ.

Nonetheless, those who failed were now sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to hear his next words.

"As they say… When one door closes, another one opens. You may have failed in the examination, but another path is still open to you, albeit a very slim one… do you have the courage to take it?"

It took all of a single second for an applicant to stand up in a formal military stance.

"I, Private Aruha Saram will not fail you again, my lord! I will walk through whatever path is in front of me, no matter the difficulty!!"

His outburst sparked others, and soon more people were standing up on their feet in perfect posture and announcing their own conviction loudly for all to hear.

It was almost deafening.

Mirror smiles showed up on the faces of Abaddon and Ayaana in unison.

There was something moving about desperation.

Wanting something so badly that you would be willing to disregard personal safety, pride, or even fear just for the sake of having it, was one of the pinnacles of mortal emotion.

Because the feeling you experience when you finally grasp that which you have been struggling for is almost inconceivably sweet.

"Well… if you are all so determined, far be it from me to question you again." Abaddon smiled.

He glanced at the side of stage toward an area that was just out of view.

"Well? What do you think?" He asked.

"…They're trained, but raw… soft… barely fixable. But 'barely' is not completely hopeless. They will do."

"I'm of the same mind as this one. I believe we can deliver you some satisfying results. If they can work for them."

Two men stepped out from behind the curtain back stage.

Those who didn't recognize one, inevitably recognized the other.

Shock and awe was extremely prevalent on all of their faces.

Because both of these men were supposed to be dead.

"I'd like to introduce you all to my Uncles. Iori Draven, and Satan Morningstar."

The two men came to stand directly beside Abaddon and stared up into the crowd like they were already running calculations.

"For the next five months, you will be reporting to these two at a specified location for eight hours a day, seven days a week.

Beginning at 4 AM, Instructor Iori is going to drill into the fundamentals of working in teams cohesively.

The exercises he will take you through are specifically designed to place an importance on group support. So if one member of your group for the day falls short… then all of you do."

A chill ran throughout the room immediately.

It was one thing to be confident in your own individual ability.

But leaving one's fate in the hands of others was a pitfall that very few things could truly prepare you for.

They already didn't see how this ordeal could possibly get any worse.

"After four hours, you will be transferred into the care of Satan…" Abaddon continued. "At which point he will… there's no real pretty way to say this, but he is going to try to crush your spirits and break your wills."

Nevermind, it just got worse.

"As to how he's going to do this… the only harm he's forbidden to inflict on you is rape, so… prepare yourselves accordingly."

Satan cracked his knuckles in anticipation; inadvertently releasing a bit of bloodlust into the crowd- making them grimace.

"This is the last opportunity we will offer you." Kanami said seriously. "Should you fail again, you will have to wait until we hold the next entrance examination. And that will be five years from now."

Abaddon and Kanami decided that recruitment once a year wasn't a practical thing.

They felt it dulled down the meaning of the recruitment process and lowered the overall quality of the individual applicants.

And so, they settled on every five years instead.

"You report to the two of them in three days time." Abaddon continued. "Further details will appear in your homes the night before you are scheduled to report, so in the meantime… rest properly."

Abaddon waived his hand and all eight hundred plus applicants were whisked away as if they were a simple mirage.

Even though they were dead tired, he doubted very strongly that sleep would come easy to them.

'Probably my fault…' he shrugged.

Finally, he turned to address the recruits who had actually passed.

"Now, you all have a bit of a brighter future to look forward too. Tonight, my lovely wives have planned a gala in your honor where you will be sworn in. You are permitted to bring your spouses, of course.

After tonight, you will be given a month and a half to rest, recouperate, and get to know your new brothers and sisters.

Your seniors will instruct you on the importance of the culture that they follow as a unit, so heed them at every step. I promise they will not haze you too badly."

A few of the senior members looked mildly disappointed with the fact that any pranks pulled would have to be toned down and relatively harmless, but Kanami had already told them that there was fuck all they could do about it.

Finally, Abaddon wrapped his arm around the only face on stage who they might not have recognized.

"…And after you are sufficiently well rested, you will be reporting to Karliah here so that you can get familiar with her.

She will act as your trainer, tweaking your skills and directing you towards areas where you can improve yourself further.

And hopefully after some sessions with her and a group exercises with Kanami, you will be ready for your first operation in two months."

The news that a mission was already planned for them was enough to cause the applicants to buzz with visible excitement.

And though they were silent and remained formal, their eyes clearly betrayed their interest.

Everyone wanted to ask for more details, but they were unsure of how exactly to go about it.

It wasn't like being in grade school where one just raised their hand for permission to speak.

"They want to know about the mission." Kanami sensed. "Will you tell them or keep them in suspense?"

Abaddon thought about it for a moment before he decided to throw the new recruits a small bone.

"Our intention is to land a critical blow against the gods by depriving them a portion of their allies and strength by stripping away an important resource… but that will only be an added benefit of reuniting with my son."