"I introduce to you, Silver... Golden Surfer."

As he spoke, his essence shaped itself into a golden faceless figure standing atop a floating golden board.

"That is actually sleek," Nyx admitted, studying it.

Azrael raised his head with a grin.

"What were you expecting from me?"

"Wait until you see my wind dragon," Zephyr said.

His essence surged to life, condensing into a long serpentine figure that coiled through the air.

Simultaneously, Valdren shaped a crackling sword of pure lightning.

"Is that not an odd choice?" Zephyr asked, glancing at Valdren with a slightly raised brow.

Who creates a sword for a race?

Valdren flinched, stepping back on instinct as Zephyr addressed him.

"Zephyr, do not spook him," Nyx said with a smile that carried just enough edge to be mocking.

Azrael shook his head as he watched all of them.

"May the best man win," he said, stepping into position.

Not him. The Golden Surfer.

The other constructs lined up too.

"First to reach the tree on the other side wins," Zephyr said, drawing a slow breath and holding it.

Then, "Go."

All four constructs lunged, tearing through the forest at a speed that made the surrounding trees shudder.

Nyx’s panther moved in a blur of shadow, its legs barely grazing the ground before it sprang forward again.

Zephyr’s dragon seemed to swim through the air, deceptively fast, its tail carving gashes into the earth below as it passed.

Lightning spewed outward from Valdren’s sword, setting several trees alight as it moved.

Azrael’s surfer, on the other hand, was already gone.

The race had barely started and the surfer had already reached a speed none of them could track.

[Cheating. You used a skill that directly benefits your construct.]

The system said with a sighing emoji.

’Entertaining though, right?’ Azrael replied.

[Somewhat.]

Azrael smiled.

’We are finally in agreement.’

"How is your construct moving that fast?" Zephyr asked, turning to Azrael with his mouth open.

Even Nyx looked thrown.

"Nothing at tier two should move like that," she said.

"Come on, focus on the race," Azrael said, conjuring a chair of pure essence and collapsing into it.

"Honestly, the ability to create constructs with essence is remarkable," he muttered, glancing between them.

They both looked away.

"Well, at least we can still compete for second place," Zephyr said.

At that same moment, his dragon, already pulling ahead of Nyx’s panther, suddenly coiled and whipped its tail sideways.

The panther’s head was crushed from the force, but it reformed almost instantly.

"You want to play like that? Fine," Nyx said, her eyes going blood red as she fixed them on Zephyr.

Zephyr shrugged.

"There were no rules about playing fair."

That seemed to be the exact limit of what Nyx was willing to tolerate.

Her gaze snapped back to her construct.

The panther seemed to understand without being told.

It pounced, landing firmly on the dragon’s back.

Before Zephyr could issue a counter command, the panther’s claws found the back of the dragon’s neck.

The claws extended, shadows thickening along them.

With a clean stroke, the head came off.

It regrew immediately.

The panther moved to cut through again when wind blades erupted from the dragon’s body, tearing through the panther’s form.

The shadow that composed it scattered for a fraction of a second before pulling itself back together.

The dragon had already moved on, leaving the panther suspended in the air.

It dropped, stirring dust from the landing.

Then lunged again immediately.

This time its body dissolved entirely into liquid shadow that drifted through the air like smoke.

"That is cheating," Zephyr said, rounding on Nyx with clenched teeth.

Nyx did not look at him.

"Fine then," Zephyr said.

His dragon split into three, two of them driving toward the shadow panther’s shifting form.

"Do you think either of them will actually make it to the finish line?" Azrael asked Valdren.

Valdren shook his head slowly.

Both of their constructs had crossed the finish line several minutes ago. Those two were barely halfway through.

’System, do you sell popcorn?’ Azrael asked in his mind.

[Host, this is the Ultimate Demon System, created to forge the strongest demon in existence.]

A sighing emoji accompanied the words.

’So, do you sell popcorn?’ Azrael asked again.

[Yes.]

A list appeared on the screen.

’That one,’ Azrael replied, tapping his selection.

[Chilli popcorn. A fan favorite.]

A drooling emoji appeared.

[Ten SP.]

The cost was deducted and a bowl appeared in his hand.

"Now this is more like it," Azrael said, dropping a handful into his mouth.

The taste was divine. Spice and sweetness layered together into something that produced a warmth no popcorn from his previous life had ever come close to.

Azrael glanced at Valdren.

"Why are you staring at me?"

He held the bowl out.

"Want some?"

Valdren’s index finger rose slowly, pointing past Azrael’s shoulder.

At that moment, a hand dropped onto Azrael’s shoulder and gripped it like a clamp.

Azrael’s brow twitched as he turned slowly.

"Yvonneee," he said, drawing her name out longer than necessary.

He looked down at the bowl in his hand, then held it up toward her.

"Want some?"

Yvonne exhaled.

"I told you all to pass the time until your classmates finished their drills. Instead, you started a construct race."

Her voice was loud enough that Nyx and Zephyr finally broke away from their constructs and turned to look.

"Not only that, you destroyed half the forest."

She was visibly working to contain herself.

"And worst of all, you..."

The words hung in her throat for a fraction of a second.

"Did not invite me."

The students who had been bracing to beg were stopped cold by her words.

Silence, unlike any other fell between them.

"Here, let all of us have a go at it," she said.

A telepathic connection seemed to get established between Zephyr and Nyx.

It went on for less than ten seconds, but they were able to come to a conclusion.

Zephyr heaved as he braced himself to talk.