The entire room was buzzing with excitement, though no one showed it on their face; Johan could sense the pounding of their hearts, the rush of blood through their veins.
The world went silent, still. Johan took a deep breath.
Then his ears were assaulted by the deafening crash of thunder as the wall was smashed to dust, and great, snaking bolts of pure electricity slithered their way into the room.
Beside him, Contrittus's smile grew with uncontrollable exhilaration, his eyes sharpened like a rabid beast.
Standing in the rubble and devastation was a demon. He looked to be the same age as most of them, but Johan knew this was most likely not the case. His world was full of tales about these immortal wretched beings. His skin was a bright ruby red with pure white flames dancing around his torso and blazing atop his head. His eyes were like the darkness of a void breached by the intense frosty glow of a bright blue flame. The flames on his head slithered and coiled around two black horns pokeing out from the blazing inferno. He wore nothing but a black hanfu embroidered with gold dragon-like forms and tied with blood red ribbons, which flowed and swayed in the gusts of wind created by the destroyed wall.
Contritus looked to Johan.
"Kid, let me introduce our friend here. This is the demon known as Zai Qihei. In his dimension, he was known as the bright white flame in the dark night sky."
Contritus turned to this demon.
"You just can't stay away, huh."
The demon looked at him with a blank expression.
"I see your following has grown," but it does not matter, I barely feel any energy coming from them at all."
"No, Zai, they are strong, maybe not to you or me, but this is still the beginning of their story."
"Then I will just have to end those stories right now."
Zai raised his hand in the air, and with a crash of thunder, he held a long black sword that crackled with electricity.
Contritus similarly held his hand out to the side, and the space around his hand shattered into shards that then came together to form a giant scythe that looked as if parts of it were shifting in and out of reality.
"You know I can't let you do that."
Zai gripped the sword with both hands as he brought it over his head, then, with a flash, he cut straight down, sending a giant blast of lightning that completely illuminated the room.
Contritus swifty cut through the lazer reducing it to nothing, only to find Zai's blade inches away from his face and approaching fast.
Thinking quickly, Contritus used his magic to shatter the ground beneath them, sending them plunging into the room below.
Everyone gathered around the hole to watch how the battle would commence.
Both landed gracefully on the ground, and the second he did, Contritus swung his scythe, but Zai flipped over it, landing behind him and attempted to plunge the sword into his chest. Contritus whirled around to deflect this assault.
The two locked eyes and weapons in a battle of pure strength.
Suddenly, a wave of power and fear rippled through the battlefield. The two warriors began to sweat with panic and dread that they could not explain or control.
They both looked up to see where this power was coming from to find everyone staring at Johan, or rather, what was around his neck.
The pendant was glowing.
It was shining with a pure violet light that hurt to look at straight on.
Upon seeing this, Contritus and Zai froze, their stomachs dropping in pure terror.
Zai fell to his knees, his face pale and eyes wide with terror.
"JOHAN, COVER THE PENDANT!" Contritus screamed pure fear in his eyes.
No one else seemed to be nearly as affected by the pendant's display.
Quickly, Johan tucked the pendant back into his robes, and the tremors of sinister energy ceased.
The second they stopped, Zai vanished in a storm of lightning and thunder.