Chapter 7

While the tutors were still buzzing with confusion over what Cillian had just done, the man himself was on his way to the Academic Affairs Office, calmly filling out a request for early assessment. Because he'd figured it out.

"Devils aren't constantly angry or cruel," Cillian thought as he walked. "That's not what makes them what they are."

Anger and chaos were symptoms, not the core. What really made a Devil… was a certain hunger. An endless drive to expand, to spread, to invade. Devils weren't content to rule one hell. They wanted more. Planes. Worlds. Everything. They lived for conquest.

Right now, the creatures inside Cillian's Abyss were decently powerful, but all they were doing was killing each other to survive. They were adapting,but only to their known environment, as chaotic as it was what would happen when something completely unknown attacked.

They weren't really evolving with a purpose. Not yet. If he wanted true Devils, they needed something else. A bigger target.

That's when the idea came to him. Pressure. Real pressure. Something from outside the Abyss. If he could give these creatures a reason to look beyond their world,make them see that survival wasn't the goal, but conquest, then maybe, he could just force the birth of the very race he was trying to create.

And that was why, without warning, Cillian handed in his application for assessment. Not just the first stage. All three. One after another. One day apart.

Meanwhile, back in the observation room, the tutors were still trying to make sense of what was going on. Some said he was being reckless.

Others figured he was trying to buy recovery time between tests by spreading them out, which wasn't uncommon.

It made some sense, after all, the assessment periods were brutal. Letting invaders into your world always came at a cost, and recovery between stages could help. But not everyone agreed.

"The strongest thing in his world is a single fourth-tier creature," one instructor said, pointing to the muscular monster on the projection screen. "And even that thing can't take on a real fifth-tier invader."

"His world isn't ready. He's rushing it."

Warren sat in silence, his fingers drumming on the edge of the table. Finally, he slammed his palm down, loud enough to silence the whole room.

"Enough."

The wave of divine pressure he released made the others shut their mouths immediately.

"If he wants to do it, then let him, he's already shown incredible ingenuity. We don't need to understand every move he makes. I'll approve his early assessment."

Without another word, Warren stood up and walked toward the door. The room was stunned.

"Vice Principal Warren? You're leaving? What about the rest of the projection?"

Warren paused, then looked back.

"I'm not going far. Just heading to the Principal's office."

The room went cold.

"The Principal? She's been in closed-door training for years"

"She said not to disturb her unless it was urgent?!"

Warren didn't even slow his pace. "And this is urgent."

As he walked, something weighed heavy on his mind.

"Maybe… just maybe, this kid figured out something we couldn't."

He quickened his step.

Back at the Academic Affairs Office, Cillian handed in his form to the staff. The teacher at the desk stared at him like he'd grown another head.

"Here's my request."

The teacher blinked. "Oh right! You're doing the first assessment now. I'll get that set up."

Cillian smiled. "Actually, it's all three. First to third. One day apart."

Silence.

Every teacher in the room turned to stare at him like he'd just declared war.

But Cillian didn't say anything else. He just walked over to the assessment seat, sat down, and calmly summoned the embryonic world that was bound to him,his Domain, the Endless Abyss.

As the dark, swirling mass of that world opened in front of them, the teachers couldn't look away. It was like a black hole, pulling all attention toward it. This was the world that had shaken the entire tutor circle,and now it was going to be tested.

Some whispered it might be the first fully functional low-latitude Divine Realm ever created by a student.

First of its kind.

—

"Alright, Cillian Carter. The assessment's about to begin. Get ready."

A golden thread of light was drawn from the core of a separate Divine Realm,the testing world. This was a place designed by Grimstone specifically for assessments, filled with all kinds of different invaders. Sometimes they were orcs. Sometimes elves. Sometimes vampires or dwarves or humans with strange weapons. It changed every time.

The randomness was brutal. The mix of races, technology, magic, and strategy meant no one could prepare for everything. Some students ended up facing enemies they were never built to counter. And worse, the world they were connected to was a blend of fantasy and steam-tech. One test might throw magic at you. The next might bring industrial war machines.

Cillian wasn't allowed to fight directly,none of the candidates were,but he could still guide his world. Influence his creatures. Shape how they responded.

As the link was made, Cillian felt it. Like a blade slicing into his thoughts. The connection was deep,his soul was tied to the Abyss after all . And now something was trying to invade it.

The moment the light particles from the assessment world entered the Abyss, Cillian gritted his teeth.

"The Assessment begins!"

He closed his eyes and reached inward.

There was a sound,metal armor shifting, boots crunching. Dozens of orc-like soldiers landed on the upper layer of the Abyss. One by one, they stood and got their bearings. Their leader barked orders in a language Cillian couldn't understand, and the troops quickly moved into formation.

They were experienced. Organized. Their instructions was simple,destroy the core of the Abyss.

But they hadn't walked far when things started to go wrong.

One orc dropped to his knees, retching. Another stumbled. Soon, half the group was coughing, bleeding, shaking. Even their strongest commander looked pale.

Something was wrong with the air. With the sky. With everything.

There were no trees, no birds, no sun. Just a blood-red sky and a poisoned wasteland. A land that hated everything in it.

Then they rose out of the filth like nightmares,mutated, twisted, howling. Some walked. Some crawled. Some flew. None of them had names.

And all of them attacked.

Claws. Poison. Magic. Machines. Madness. There was no order, no formation,just violence. But it wasn't random. It was instinctual. The Abyss didn't train its soldiers. These creatures didn't need orders.

They knew what to do.

Kill the invaders. Break them. Swallow them.

The orcs barely had time to scream.

The Endless Abyss had begun its counterattack.

And the message was clear.

Welcome to Hell.