Simultaneously, at the Holy Academy in Sanctora, the new students are lined up inside a grand, white-marble cathedral.

Floating in the center of the altar is the "Agion of the Seven Virtues* a massive, pulsating crystalline orb radiating an overwhelming, blindingly pure holy essence.

New students stood in formation inside a cathedral-like hall. The air was thick with sanctified essence, visible as drifting golden particles that reacted to intent, emotion, and corruption.

"This test," the examiner announced, "is not combat. It is resonance."

"You will be exposed to Holy Essence. Those compatible will stabilize and be marked for advancement." Her eyes narrowed slightly. ’Those incompatible will reveal themselves."

A woman dressed in a remarkably tight, custom-tailored, sexy priestess robe steps forward, her golden eyes scanning the initiates. "Step up one by one," she commands, her voice smooth but commanding.

"Place your hands on the Agion. It will measure your light alignment. If there is a single trace of demonic corruption hidden in your souls, the light will tear you apart."

When it’s Lucien’s turn, his priest side steps forward. As his hands draw closer to the pulsating crystal, a sudden wave of panic hits his mind.

His shared consciousness feels the terrifying friction of his two halves rubbing together. He freezes for a fraction of a second, his posture turning rigid.

The sexy priestess immediately narrows her eyes, stepping directly into his personal space. "Is there a problem, Initiate Lucien? Why do you hesitate?"

"No problem, High Priestess," Lucien forces his voice to remain calm, masking the internal storm. "Just admiring the artifact’s purity."

He grits his teeth and presses his palms flat against the burning crystal. The holy essence flares, washing over his light clone.

Because the *Mirror of the Split Soul* cleanly separated his pure Arch-Priest light into this body, the crystal glows with a brilliant, unblemished gold.

The priestess lets out a soft breath, her suspicion fading as she checks his name off her list. "Impressive purity. Step aside."

But while his light clone appears perfectly fine to the examiners, the raw holy energy violently backlashes across the dimensional link.

Lucien stumbles backward into the crowd, a harsh, violent cough ripping from his chest. He quickly catches it in his fist, but when he pulls his hand away, his palm is covered in dark, thick blood.

He rapidly wipes it against his vest, his eyes darting around. "Clean," he mutters to himself.

"I saw that," a quiet, teasing voice whispers right into his ear.

Lucien snaps his head around. A girl is standing just a few feet away in the crowd, staring directly at his stained vest with a dangerous, knowing smirk.

"You’re bleeding from your own academy’s test, holy boy. Care to explain?"

"Mind your own business," Lucien whispers back, his eyes flashing dangerously.

______

Back in the Dominion wasteland, the dark version of Lucien drops to one knee, clutching his chest as he gasps heavily for air. "Ah... damn that holy shit!... it’s tearing my dark core apart."

"Well, well. Look what we have here," a mocking voice calls out from behind the rocks.

A girl with beautiful brown hair and hazel eyes steps out, her eyes initially locked onto his breathtaking looks before shifting to his weakened state.

She draws a long, gleaming sword, a predatory smile on her face. "Everyone was terrified of you, but you’re just a broken shell. This is my lucky day!"

She sprints forward, jumping high into the air and aiming the point of her blade straight down at his chest. "Die!"

"Too slow," Lucien mutters.

Just as the blade descends, Lucien executes a lightning-fast sidestep. Before she can even process the miss, his hand shoots out, striking her wrist so hard her sword clatters to the stone.

In the same motion, his other arm locks securely around her waist, spinning her around and pinning her body flat against the rock face beneath him.

"Let me go! Get off me, you freak!" she cries out, twisting frantically in his iron grip.

Lucien leans his weight into her, his pitch-black eyes staring down into hers. "Relax," he murmurs, his voice dropping into a low, dangerously seductive register. "I’m not going to fight any girl here. I have no intention of hurting a beautiful face like yours."

The girl’s breathing hitches. She stops struggling, her cheeks flushing as she looks up at his perfect features. "You... you’re serious? You’re not going to eliminate me?"

"Why would I?" Lucien whispers, leaning in until his lips brush against her ear. "There are much better ways to spend our time while the others kill each other, he used his skill seeing she wasn’t resisting him."

"Oh..." she breathes, her defensive walls completely crumbling. "I guess... you’re right."

She reaches up, her hands wrapping tightly around his neck as she pulls him down into a passionate, breathless kiss.

Stripping away his trousers and wiping his thick shaft clean with her tongue, doing the same to hers till she orgasmed in his mouth.

When he finally shifts her, preparing to enter her, the girl lets out a sharp, tearing cry as his massive, dark energy breaks through her innocence.

"Wait... Lucien, stop! It hurts, please!" she whimpers, her fingers clawing at his shoulders.

"Hold on, just breathe," he commands softly, his hands anchoring her hips. "Look at me. Let the mana flow."

As the initial sting quickly dissolves into a rushing, white-hot euphoria, her whimpers turn into breathless, desperate moans, her body moving in sync with his relentless, heavy rhythm.

"Tell me your name," he groans against her neck.

"M-Meghan... ah! Lucien, faster!" she cries out.

"Meghan..you are so sexy...." he groans her name back to her, fastening his pace until the tension snaps, both of them collapsing against each other in a loud, exhausted climax.

After a few minutes of quiet breathing, Lucien gently lifts her off him and begins adjusting his dark silks. "Well, you’ll have to go now, Meghan."

Meghan blinks, looking up at him in confusion. "What do you mean? Go where?"

"Find another opponent," Lucien says, his voice completely cold and practical. "I don’t want you getting caught off guard and killed by someone else out here, and it wouldn’t be fair to make you stay out of the game. You’ll have to leave go find another teammate." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Meghan stares at him, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and burning betrayal. "What?! Leave?! I thought you actually liked me... I literally just gave you my virginity, and you’re just going to act like nothing happened?! Seriously?!"

Lucien looks down at her with total indifference. "You wanted it, and I wanted it. I’m sorry but... I’m not going to say sorry for that. This is a devil’s academy."

"You monster!" Meghan screams, tears of fury filling her eyes.

Without another word, Lucien turns his back and walks away. Gritting her teeth, Meghan snatches her dropped sword from the ground.

With a cry of absolute humiliation, she runs the edge of the blade across her own stomach, drawing just enough blood to trigger the system.

"Meghan Azazel: Critically wounded. Eliminated," a magical voice booms across the sky. A bright red flash envelops her, and she vanishes from the arena.

A few yards away, Lucien merely glances back over his shoulder, completely unfazed. "Well..... I’m sorry."

[Quest completed]

He checks his internal timer. The split timer is degrading rapidly, and his chest is tightening. *The time is almost up,* he thinks, his jaw clenching as his instincts turn dark and feral. *If I don’t finish this exam in the next ten minutes, I’ll go completely Sovereign Berserk.*