A taller and bulkier creature was standing in front of the auditorium entrance. A dozen or so of the smaller ones came running from one of the side streets and straight into the building. As they ran, they stepped on the dozens upon dozens of dead little green devils. The system had called them something different, but Sarah didn't care enough to remember. She preferred to stick with her naming sense.

It was hard to discern from where Sarah stood, but some of the bodies closer to the entrance seemed human. She gazed at the corpses with surprisingly indifference. Sarah turned her attention back to the bigger green devil. It carried a huge bat on its right hand, almost as long as the creature was tall.

"Am I to go down and fight that creature?" Sarah asked Ani. Something deep inside her expected Ani to say yes. Maybe more than expected, wanted.

"No. We have done our part in the fight. Our role is a different one. For now we will just watch, Miss Sarah." Ani's cryptic message annoyed Sarah a little. But compared to the other quirks of the girl, this one was only slightly irritating.

"Alright." Sarah resigned herself with a sigh. She grabbed an end table that was close by and dragged it to the window. She placed it beside Ani and sat down on top of it. Her legs dangled as she pushed her butt backwards and bent her back forward. She spread her thighs wide and opened the drawer on the end table. Inside she found a bottle of water and a can of pork and beans.

Ha! Lucky me! Sarah thought victoriously.

"Hey, Ani. Say, do you have a sp-" As she turned mid sentence to ask for a spoon, Ani's outstretched arm pushed a small metal spoon at Sarah's face.

"Right… Thanks." Sarah tried to dismiss the girl's abnormal behavior nonchalantly. She offered Ani some water, for which the girl promptly shook her head. Shrugging her shoulders, Ani took a large gulp of the liter bottle of mineral water and set it aside on the floor. Crossing her legs on the top of the end table she popped the easy open lid of the can and started to watch the street below while eating.

Another dozen or so little devils ran past the big green devil while Sarah and Ani watched it unfold from their vantage point. A few moments later the big green devil finally made its move. It walked through the corpse littered ground with surprising coordination, especially when compared to its smaller cousin. Sarah didn't know if they were really cousins, but she didn't care.

She stopped a spoonful halfway as the creature pulled the arm of a dead person and started munching on it. Upset about the sight, she was about to put the spoon back on the can when someone showed up out of a street corner further away from their building. The person banged what it seems to be a long handled hammer on the floor, getting the creature's attention.

Is that a sledgehammer? That is quite a good weapon. Sarah thought, intrigued.

Something wet and sticky fell on her leg and she looked with horror to the creamy contents of her spoon running down her leg. Gross!

"Ani, do you have a pa-" Before Sarah could even turn to ask, Ani's hand pushed a disposable paper towel sheet on her face. Sarah quietly thanked her, doing her best to not sound surprised and weirded out. She knew it would take a while to get used to the girl.

Turning her attention back to the fight below, Sarah saw the person easily dodging a sideways blow from the green devil and countering back with a full on hit from the sledgehammer on the creature's shoulder. Sarah thought it was a beautiful move. A proper side step followed by a clean hit. But the creature seemed unfazed, if not more furious. It advanced against its enemy with an unrelenting storm of attacks. A glancing blow hit the person's thigh.

That must have hurt, a lot. Sarah flinched at the thought.

The fight continued on for a while in a stalemate. The green devil kept attacking wildly between very short breaks and all the person could do was keep dodging. Sarah observed the fight and reached a grim conclusion. The creature had been going at it for a good minute without slowing down, while the person's movements were slowly getting more sluggish. A battle of attrition wasn't looking favorable for the human side of the fight.

Sarah was starting to get worried about the outcome of the battle when something unbelievable happened. The person threw the sledgehammer toward the green devil while it had stopped to catch its breath. The creature got knocked out of balance and they immediately jumped on it. They seemed to stick something on the creature's shoulder, it was hard to tell what it was from so far, probably a knife or something similar. What they did next was something that even Sarah hadn't thought of. The person grabbed the neck of the green devil and performed an arm lock on the creature.

That is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu! That's insane, how can someone be crazy enough to apply a submission technique on a monster straight out of Hollywood?

Sarah stared wide eyed at the scene unfolding in the street below.

Not even Hollywood thought of that before!

Taken over by excitement, Sarah stood from the end table, almost knocking the food out of the can. She pushed her face against the glass window to get a better view. Sarah felt like she was watching the final round of a belt fight.

When the person threw the green devil face first against the pavement Sarah knew it was over, it was just a matter of how long could the creatures endure being strangled before passing out or dying. They stayed on the hard floor for a long time, too long. Sarah couldn't see if the creature was still moving from where she stood, but could only assume it was, else, why would the person still be applying the technique? Still, this was way too long. When they stood up it had been almost two minutes of strangulation. The creature lay motionless on the floor while they grabbed the hammer and obliterated the creature's head with a might blow. At the same instant messages started popping up on Sarah's vision.

[The first wave has been cleared.]

[Participants will be rewarded according to their contribution.]

[The contribution rank is:

Leo - 60 Points

John - 49 Points

Sarah - 35 Points

Takeshi - 33 Points

Somchai - 27 Points]

[You have been awarded 35 points.]

[You have been awarded 5 extra points for being the third highest contributor.]

Sarah was shocked to see so many messages, and her name among one of them. Although she wasn't first, she somehow felt a bit proud seeing her name on the top rank. She didn't realize yet, but a small flame had been lit inside her. The flame of competition.

"Ani, I just got a lot of messages. Is the fight finally over?" Sarah asked, a hint of disappointment on her voice.

"Yes, Miss Sarah. The wave is over and cleared. We need to get moving now. First we must recover my… black marble." Ani said as she stood up from her chair and walked to the stairs.

"Right, you still need to tell me what that thing is. Then, after we recover it, we are going to join the others in the auditorium?" Sarah asked as she grabbed the bottle of water she had set aside earlier and finished its contents.

"No, Miss Sarah. We have a list of tasks to complete before we can join them." Ani started climbing up the stairs.

"Right, right. Always the cryptic messages with you, girl." Sarah nagged lightly while recovering her can of food and eating it voraciously as she followed in Ani's footsteps. Behind her, the red hue of the dome rapidly faded, giving space to the blue expanse of the sky.