Night was approaching; the sun had half-set. No one knew when its remaining rays would fade away completely, and the dark veil of night would swallow the sky.

  “Pass.”

  Death Hall Master said.

  A boy stood before him, his hands and body covered in bloodstains. Fear and terror were clearly visible on his face. He couldn’t even lift his head to look straight.

  His entire body trembled from within. He still couldn’t believe that he had cleared the trial.

  Step! Step!

  Finally, with shaky steps, he walked toward the place where the other participants were sitting. Their bodies and hands were also stained with blood, and fear lingered on each of their faces; some more, some less.

  These were the boys and girls who had passed the second trial. Each one had killed a member of their own group to obtain the second seed.

  The boy walked weakly and collapsed against the trunk of a tree.

  ‘I-I… I actually passed… D-did I really?’

  He still couldn’t believe that he had cleared this trial.

  But in this world, everything has a price, and so did passing this trial.

  ‘Why did I do it?… Why? Why?!’

  His eyes welled up as he thought back to that moment.

  He and his younger brother decided to be in the same group. They believed that staying together would keep them safe. But they had no idea that this would become their greatest mistake.

  When they heard that to pass the trial, they needed two seeds and that the second seed could be obtained by killing one member of their own group—they felt fear and nervousness.

  Still, they controlled themselves and decided to work together and kill the other two group members and take their seeds to pass the trial.

  But right at that moment, Sharv had suddenly and mercilessly attacked Bhavesh. The attack was cruel, and completely unexpected. Everyone’s attention shifted to Sharv.

  Seeing Bhavesh die so brutally at Sharv’s hands stunned the two brothers. Their minds went blank, completely blank and they both felt a strange fear toward Sharv.

  Because of Sharv, they lost focus on their plan. They failed to kill the other two group members.

  In the end, the third member killed the fourth one from their group, leaving only the brothers alive in the group.

  Only the two of them, were left alive from their group. Meaning only one of them could move forward.

  Just one.

  “Sob… Forgive me… Sob! Sob!”

  The older brother had no other option left. He loved his little brother dearly. He had always protected him since childhood. But today, when both of them faced danger together, he decided to save himself.

  He killed his own younger brother. He strangled him to death.

  His brother struggled…

  He never expected his own older brother to kill him. He begged for his life with his eyes, but in the end, he died killed by the very person he trusted most.

  The elder brother obtained the seed he needed to pass the trial, but in return he paid a heavy price.

  “I… Sob… Who am I? Sob! Sob! What the hell am I?…”

  He questioned himself. Now that he had killed his brother, he felt like a stranger to himself.

  He was never this kind of person especially not toward his little brother.

  Then why? Why did he do it? Why?..

  Questions gnawed at his mind like hungry beasts.

  He looked at his hands, still covered with dried blood, and scratch marks from his brother’s nails. With these hands… he had taken his brother’s life.

  Shiver.

  His hands trembled violently.

  Every time he looked at them, the scene replayed in his mind, his little brother’s desperate face, his pleading eyes begging him to stop.

  ‘What have I done?...’

  The boy cried.

  He cried helplessly. He knew crying wouldn’t fix anything, nor undo his actions. But he still cried.

  Meanwhile, the other children who had passed the trial were gathered together sitting or standing in one place.

  Everyone except; Sharv.

  Sharv was the only one sitting alone, relaxed, indifferent. The others kept their distance; none dared approach him. After all, what he did earlier had terrified them completely.

  Sharv looked alone in their eyes, but in truth, Vijay and his Master’s spirit were right beside him—visible and perceivable only to Sharv.

  ‘Since your chakra is now completely filled with Prana, I'll teach you some real martial arts techniques.’

  - Martial arts techniques?

  Sharv asked to which his master replied:

  ‘Yes. But I have conditions. If you agree with them, only then will I teach you. Understand?’

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  - Alright.

  Sharv agreed immediately. He only cared about becoming stronger, nothing else.

  ‘First, you must never teach these techniques to anyone carelessly. Only pass them on if you truly wish to and believe that the person deserves them.’

  - Fine.

  ‘Second, you must respect the person who created these techniques. Never insult him. Understand?’

  - I accept.

  ‘Haa…’

  The woman sighed deeply. She never expected she would one day face a moment like this. But now wasn’t the time to think about herself.

  Right now, her priority was to make Sharv stronger, quickly. The stronger Sharv became, the sooner she could achieve her revenge through him.

  - By the way, you said I must respect the person who created the techniques… So who is it? Can I know their name, master?

  The woman fell silent for a moment. A sadness spread across her face as she spoke softly,

  ‘My husband.’

  - Oh… I see.

  ‘…Varun. His name was Varun.’

  From her voice and expressions, Sharv understood clearly; her husband—Varun was already dead.

  Probably killed by that mysterious man Sharv had seen in her memories. Understanding her feelings, Sharv didn’t ask anything further.

  ***

  “Huff! Huff!”

  Vishesh’s hands were drenched in blood. In front of him lay a corpse the dead body of a boy from his own group. The same boy he had personally recruited.

  When he had brought him in, he still remembered how happy that boy had been. He had dreams too, ambitions he wanted to fulfill.

  Grit!

  Vishesh bit down hard on his lower lip.

  If he had known this would happen, he would have never searched for others to join his group. It would have been better to wait and let others come to him on their own.

  If they had come by themselves, then they would have not trusted Vishesh. But right now, they had come in his group because he had personally invited them.

  Vishesh had brought them with the belief that they would win.

  “I'm sorry… I also have my reason, ambitions like you...”

  Vishesh muttered softly.

  He talked a lot, too much and because of that, he felt a kind of unknown attachment to that boy, he knew the dreams of the boy he had just killed.

  The boy didn’t have much big ambition. He simply wanted to become strong; which pretty common for a Martial Artists.

  But there was one more thing he wanted; to cure his mother.

  His mother suffered from an illness that had left her completely paralyzed.

  Along with that, the Life Prana in her body was fading away. That had happened because her first chakra, the Muladhara (root) chakra, had accidentally shattered. And if it wasn’t repaired soon… she would die.

  The boy wanted to become an inner member of the Crimson Heaven Society, because the inner members had the chance to meet the society’s extraordinary, unparalleled physicians and receive treatment from them.

  He wanted to cure his mother through them.

  But now, that hope might never be fulfilled…

  “I pray your mother recovers…“

  Vishesh whispered with deep sorrow, as he picked up the seed from the boy’s corpse.

  “Pass.”

  The Death Hall Master said, watching Vishesh.

  From Vishesh’s group, he was the only one left. Adarsh had already passed.

  His situation was different from Vishesh. Even before when he could think of anything, the other boy attacked him with the intent to kill.

  Leaving Adarsh with no choice, he was hesitant at firt but as they fought Adarsh defeated and killed him.

  Now, everyone has completed the trial. Two members from each group had died, and everyone’s numbers had been reduced by half.

  But two contestants were still remaining, still fighting for each other’s seed.

  Those last two were none other than Devansh and Meera from Sharv’s group. Their strength was almost identical, which was why both had survived till the end.

  Both were strong, but as time passed, their stamina and energy were draining.

  Among them, Meera was in far better condition. She barely had injuries, because Devansh hadn’t been able to land a proper hit on her.

  Whenever Devansh tried to strike, Meera would use her Frost Leaf Glide Technique to boost her speed, making it impossible for Devansh to hit her.

  And using that same Frost Leaf Glide Technique, Meera continuously attacked Devansh. His body was now covered in wounds, bleeding heavily.

  ‘Shit! If I could just catch her once!’

  Devansh thought.

  He knew Meera’s defense was weak, she had only survived this far because of her speed.

  While Devansh was thinking this, suddenly...

  Tap! Tap! Tap!

  Meera suddenly dashed toward him with explosive speed.

  ‘!!!’

  Devansh was stunned. Meera’s speed was like a leaf being blown by the fast wind.

  You could see her with human eyes…but catching her was nearly impossible.

  She gave no openings, nothing Devansh could exploit and use.

  ‘Fuck! I can’t die! And definitely not at the hands of a girl!’

  Clench!

  Devansh clenched his fists tightly.

  “AHHHH!”

  With a fierce roar, he slammed his fist into the ground.

  Meera’s eyes widened at the sight.

  Tremble! Crack! Crack!

  The ground around Devansh shattered. The broken chunks of land covered in a thin layer of snow flew toward Meera, forcing her to retreat.

  But why would Devansh let the opportunity slip?

  Bam!

  Using his abnormally, powerful body, Devansh charged toward Meera with full force.

  Meera panicked, Devansh was already too close. Before she could react...

  Bang!

  “Ughh!”

  Devansh’s punch landed directly on her stomach.

  Thud!

  Meera crashed into a tree and fell.

  ‘Ah! Yes…Finally!..’

  Devansh was extremely happy on the inside. He had finally landed a proper, powerful hit on Meera.

  But accomplishing this wasn’t easy; when he struck the ground with his fist earlier, his own hands took damage, which were clearly visible to his muscles around the knuckles which were now badly torn apart.

  Apart from this, he had used almost all of his internal energy; Life Prana. It would take him some time before he could recover his Life Prana again.

  Used internal energy, either Life Prana or Death Prana, would return to a person’s chakra.

  It's just that, it takes a little time, and a relaxed mind.

  Devansh, filled with joy, began walking toward Meera. Now he only needed to kill her and take the seed, nothing else. Then he would pass.

  “Oh! Good, finally this trial is ending.”

  “This girl might be strong, but defeating someone like Devansh was never something she could do.”

  Everyone’s eyes were now fixed on Devansh. Everyone believed that he had already won.

  “Cough! Cough!”

  Meera, who had fallen beneath the damaged tree, was coughing blood.

  Devansh’s punch had been extremely powerful on top of physical damage, she had also suffered some internal injuries.

  “Hehe! Look at you now. Weren’t you flying so high before? What happened? Why don’t you get up and fight now? Hahaha!”

  Devansh mocked her while laughing.

  “That boy and you both ruined my mood today. After killing you, I’ll drain his blood dry and end him too.”

  Devansh spoke with intense anger—by ‘that boy’ he meant Sharv.

  Swing!

  Devansh raised his fist and hurled it toward Meera.

  ‘!!!’

  Meera’s pupil trembled, her body was in pain, but that pain was nothing compared to the fear of death.

  “Ugh!”

  Bang!

  Meera twisted her upper body in a strange motion and bent down quickly.

  Devansh’s punch missed her face and smashed directly into the tree.

  Meera could not afford to waste even a second now. She quickly used her legs and kicked Devansh between his legs.

  “AHHH!”

  Devansh screamed! He never expected Meera to strike him there.

  Meera had no other option, her own life mattered more than anything.

  Devansh clutched between his thighs, and staggered in agony.

  “Y-YOU FUCKING BITCH!!! WHORE!!! I’ll teach you a lesson that you won’t forget even after death!!!”

  Devansh screamed viciously. The pain was unbearable.

  But suddenly, something appeared right in front of his eyes.

  ‘?!’

  Before he could even think...

  His eyes burst.

  “Ahhh!!!”

  Meera had poked in both of his eyes, just like Sharv had done with Bhavesh’s with her fingers.

  But unlike Sharv, Meera’s eyes weren’t emotionless. They were filled with emotions—fear, nervousness, and pity. All of these were clearly visible within them.

  Watching Meera’s attack, the hearts of the other children who were observing tightened in terror. For a moment, they felt as if they were watching Sharv again.

  But Meera removed that fear, because unlike Sharv, she did not smash her opponent’s head into the ground. Instead, she pressed the; Third eye point, located between Devansh’s eyebrows, and killed him instantly.

  Thud!

  Both bodies fell to the ground. Meera did not waste even a moment and quickly took the seed from Devansh’s dead body.

  ‘I… I won…’

  Devansh is dead, killed by Meera and Meera has won.

  Among the 68 partcipants of the second trial, only 34 are left. All the others were killed, devoured by the person who was stronger and intelligent than them.

  The second trial of the second stage of the entrance trials for selecting Crimson Heaven Society's inner members finally ended.

  SOCIETY LEADER WAITING FOR SURENDRENATH: