Their car came to a stop at an unknown point on the road, somewhere in the middle of nowhere within Dynadale City.

Zurin seated in the passenger seat had her teeth gritted in frustration the whole way through.

Her muscles had returned to normal, but her fists were clenched in vexation at the fact that they had to flee.

Xylo was the one behind the wheel, and after a short moment of silence, Zurin spoke.

"I thought they said the girl could not use the power." The tone of her voice reflected her mood perfectly.

Zurin turned to him, with a frustrated look on her face. "Then what the hell was that back there?"

Xylo didn’t answer right away. He kept his gaze on the road ahead, then glanced at her briefly before looking away again. "I don’t know."

Zurin’s hand slammed against the dashboard. "We should just go back. Tell them we can’t do the job."

After another short moment, Xylo replied; "First of all, we’ve already taken the money from them. And we’ve spent it."

Zurin’s expression hardened, but she didn’t interrupt.

Xylo raised his hand, showing the markings glowing faintly on his arm. "Second, these markings are their insurance and guarantee that we finish what we started."

The markings on their arms served two purposes: to track the Carrion Seal’s location and to act as an agonizing reminder to finish the job.

At every hourly interval, the markings on their arms would briefly glow before unleashing an agonizing pain that ruptured their muscles. And It wouldn’t stop until they completed the task or she was captured.

Zurin stared at the markings on her arm with more irritation. "But she can use that power. So how do we do this?"

Xylo was silent for a moment, then he turned his gaze forward again.

"With this, we can always find her now." He raised his arm bearing the markings. "So we back off for now and return with a better plan."

Zurin stared at him, then shook her head, leaning back on the seat and staring out the window again.

After a long silence, Xylo started the car, and drove off into the night.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

—

Early the next morning...

Isabella and Ethan stood on one side of the street, while Rayleigh and Ishtar stood on the other.

They were all gathered outside the apartment as a medical team moved carefully between them, carrying the bodies of the deceased servants into the back of an ambulance.

Their faces were solemn, but Isabella’s expression burned with fury. The thought that Rayleigh’s life had been in extreme danger gnawed at her continually.

The Prince had been able to reach out to her after everything happened. She, in turn, had contacted Ethan, who had gotten her to this place as quickly as possible.

After the last body was loaded into the ambulance and the doors closed, the group turned and made their way toward the open space behind the building.

An airship hovered above, with its stair structure already extended down from the compartment.

They climbed onto it slowly, one after the other.

Eduardo, waiting at the steering wheel, took off the moment they were all aboard.

——

Back at the manor, they were in the living room.

Francesca had passed around some snacks, making sure everyone had something in front of them. She gave Ishtar a particularly apologetic look as she set a plate down for her.

Rayleigh and Ishtar accepted the food with polite nods, though neither of them ate much. Bella refused with a smile, shaking her head gently, while Ethan simply took the plate from Francesca’s hands and set it on the table beside him.

Ethan and Bella had already been briefed on what happened.

They knew about the attack, about the deaths, and about how both assailants had escaped in the time it took Ishtar’s power to heal Rayleigh.

But no one had spoken about it in detail. Not until now when Ethan asked. "I’d like to know what they’re capable of and how strong they are individually."

Rayleigh exhaled. "They’re strong. For half-demons, they shouldn’t be, but it’s obvious they’ve killed enough between them to reach that level."

Ethan looked puzzled for a moment. "What do you mean by ’killed a lot to reach that level’?"

Rayleigh paused, considering how best to explain it. Then he began.

"Life carries a form of energy, and It’s called lifeforce. When a person dies, that energy is released back into the surrounding area."

He paused, letting the words settle.

"But demons are the antithesis of life. Their very nature is to consume it. Demons are naturally tuned to absorb that release, especially when it just occurred, because that’s when the concentration is highest. After that, the energy spreads and becomes unobtainable."

Ethan listened intently.

"This absorbed energy is then converted," Rayleigh continued. "And the amount of lifeforce they’ve absorbed and converted directly enhances the strength of their magic, their physical capabilities, and even the potency of their traits."

He let out a slow breath.

"It’s for this reason that demons are savages. They take the lives of others to grow stronger, even their own kind."

"Does this mean demons can always grow stronger simply by continually taking lives and absorbing lifeforce?" Ethan asked, just wanting to make sure.

Rayleigh shook his head. "No. Just like we’re limited by our talent, they too have a certain limit. When they hit that limit, the lifeforce absorption becomes meaningless to them."

Ethan had a few thoughts and few questions that branched off from what Rayleigh had just said. But those were deviations from the real reason he had started this conversation.

So instead, he just nodded in understanding.

Bella then asked in a flat tone, "what did they look like?"

Rayleigh described their features as best he could remember, with Ishtar nodding in agreement.

He added that the female was a strength type, a Berserker Demon, while the other was a sorcerer who used a dangerous spell that inflicted him with various negative effects.

After a pause, he then stated, "What I don’t know is how they found us."

Ethan answered, especially as he too had given it a thought earlier;

"The timing’s too convenient to be a coincidence. It has to be tied to the power Ishtar carries. Maybe it acts like a beacon, drawing them in. And the only reason they haven’t come for her until now is probably due to the spell I placed over it."

Rayleigh stared at Ethan for a moment, then lowered his gaze. That actually made the most sense.

Ethan turned toward Ishtar. "Could you always use it? This power inside that you chased them off with?"

Ishtar shook her head gently, stretching out her arms a bit to reveal the glowing green markings on her skin. "It just happened."

Ethan stared at the glowing green markings for a second, and frankly , they unnerved him.

Rayleigh had once said this thing inside Ishtar had explosive power, enough to raze a city.

So he asked, carefully, "Could you maybe turn that thing off?"​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Ishtar shook her head. "I tried, but I can’t."

Rayleigh raised his head, with a weary expression on his face. "It’s been that way since yesterday."

Ethan nodded. "Since you can’t control it yet, I know you understand that this puts us back in the earlier position where this power of yours could blow up."

Ishtar nodded, with a solemn look on her face as she stretched her right arm toward him, understanding where he was going with it.

Ethan stood and walked over to her. His gaze drifted to Rayleigh for a second, who nodded in agreement. Then he raised his arm over Ishtar’s outstretched, preparing to recast Vol Stassis.

A purple mana circle appeared briefly beneath his palm. The spell activated, and for a moment, it felt like an invisible layer had latched over Ishtar’s arm, sealing the markings beneath it.

But as soon as the spell settled, it lasted only a second before the markings glowed brighter and shattered the spell’s effect.

Ethan’s eyes widened.

"What is it?" Rayleigh asked, leaning forward.

Ethan didn’t answer yet. He tried again, raising his hand and recasting the spell.

The purple circle appeared once more, and the spell took hold. But once again, it broke.

Ethan sighed, taking a step backward. "It’s fighting back."

He turned toward Ishtar. "Whatever’s inside you is strong enough to contest a spell amplified to Tier 7 strength. Or it’s outrightly stronger."

Everyone’s eyes widened.

Even Isabella reacted, her gaze drifting toward Ishtar with visible surprise.

Ethan stepped back further, staring at the glowing markings thoughtfully.

"Is there anything else we could do?" Rayleigh asked.

Ethan exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe I can check Jenner’s Grimoire later to see if there’s something. But I’m also worried about doing anything that might make it react wrongly."

He sighed again, and there was that frustrated look he bore on his face.

Isabella then spoke up. She had been harboring this thought, waiting for the conversation to reach this point.

"There’s still the other problem. What are we going to do about the demons that went after them? They’re still out there somewhere."

Ethan turned towards her and said, "But we know what they want."

Then his gaze returned to Rayleigh, with a smirk forming at the corner of his lips.

"Your girlfriend’s going to play bait."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

—

A/N: Please read Author’s Thoughts Below