Awakening Domination System: But I'm a Slave?-Chapter 301: Demons [2]

The first stood nearly eight feet tall, with crimson skin that seemed to glow faintly with internal heat. Its body was humanoid, fingers ending in claws like obsidian daggers, a face that was almost human except for the extra eyes and the mouth that split too wide, revealing rows of serrated teeth.

The second was smaller, but no less horrifying. Its form shifted constantly, like it couldn't quite decide what shape it wanted to be.

Sometimes humanoid. Sometimes quadrupedal. Sometimes something that hurt to look at directly. Shadow and flesh combined in ways that defied anatomy.

And behind them, more.

At least six others.

For a heartbeat, everything froze.

Students and demons, staring at each other across the ruined entrance.

Then the first demon's lips curled.

"Meat." Its voice like gravel sliding over broken glass.

Then it moved.

Faster than anything that size should move. One moment at the entrance, the next in the center of the hall, its clawed hand sweeping in a vicious arc towards the three students who didn't even have time to scream.

Their heads separated from their bodies. Blood sprayed in arcs, bodies collapsed, twitching.

One head landed near Livia, rolling twice before coming to rest facing her, eyes still wide with shock, mouth frozen mid-gasp.

And she screamed.

Raw and primal.

"SCATTER!" Professor Velrun's voice cut through the chaos. "MOVE!"

The hall erupted into pandemonium.

Students ran in every direction, some toward side exits, others just away from the demons, driven by pure survival instinct.

Faculty members tried to coordinate, tried to form defensive lines, but the demons were everywhere.

SLASH! SLASH!

The shapeshifting demon caught a fourth-year who'd tried to fight, its arm elongated unnaturally, splitting into hooked tendrils that punched through the student's chest from three directions at once.

He jerked upward, suspended for a heartbeat, choking on blood.

Then the demon pulled. The body came apart.

And it tossed what remained aside.

Professor Aldwyn created earth spikes to impale one of the smaller demons.

But it dodged with ease and lunged, closing the distance before she could react.

Its jaws opened impossibly wide and bit, taking her left arm off at the shoulder.

Her scream cut off abruptly as a second demon drove clawed fingers through her spine.

She collapsed, dead before she hit the ground.

No no no no NO!

"Livia, move!" Caleb's hand grabbed her arm and yanked, pulling her to her feet.

She stumbled, still staring at the severed head, at the spreading pool of blood, at the demons tearing through faculty and students like they were nothing.

"LIVIA!" Caleb's voice cut through her shock. "We're leaving. Now."

He pulled her toward a side exit, one of the servant corridors that led to the eastern wing. Other students had the same idea, flooding toward any opening that wasn't blocked by demons.

Behind them, the slaughter continued.

"RUN!"

Professor Velrun stood his ground.

Earth essence roared to life around him, massive stone constructs tearing free from the floor and slamming into the largest demon with thunderous force.

They struck, the demon staggered, but kept coming.

"RUN!" he bellowed, "Just run—!"

A claw punched through his chest.

Velrun froze.

Blood bubbled at his lips.

His eyes flicked once, towards the students escaping.

Then the demon twisted its hand, his body went slack.

Caleb didn't let Livia look back. He pulled her through the side exit into the corridor, fire already gathering in his free hand.

They ran.

Behind them, screams echoed, cut off one by one by sounds no human should make.

The corridor branched. Left led toward the dormitories. Right toward the eastern gardens. Straight ahead.

CRASH!

A demon dropped from the ceiling directly in their path.

This one was sleek, almost elegant, covered in midnight-black scales that reflected no light, with eyes like burning coals and a tail that ended in a blade-like protrusion.

It tilted its head, studying them.

Caleb pushed Livia behind him, fire essence exploding around his form. "Flame Serpent!"

The demon moved.

And met it head-on.

Fire and claws collided.

"Flame Burst!"

BOOM!

The explosion engulfed the corridor, forcing the demon backward, scales smoking.

But not injured.

SLASH!

Its tail whipped around faster than Caleb could track, the blade-tip carving a line across his ribs. Blood sprayed. He gasped, staggered.

"Caleb!" Livia screamed.

The demon's attention shifted, and it moved toward her.

"No!"

Caleb's fire exploded, just raw, desperate power flooding his channels beyond safe limits. He threw himself between Livia and the demon, both hands wreathed in flames hot enough to turn stone red. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Blazing Torrent!"

WHOOSH!

The corridor became an inferno. Fire filled every inch of space, consuming oxygen, turning air into plasma.

The demon shrieked and retreated, its scales charred, flesh smoking.

But Caleb was burning too. His essence channels, overloaded beyond capacity, were rupturing. Blood vessels burst under his skin. His hands blistered and blackened from channeling more power than his body could handle.

He collapsed to one knee, gasping, blood dripping from his nose and mouth.

The demon recovered, shaking off the burns with visible effort.

It prepared to lunge again—

"Earth Wall!"

A barrier erupted between them. Livia's grey eyes were wide with terror, but her hands were steady.

The demon's claws struck the wall and cracked it, but didn't break through.

"Run," Caleb gasped, trying to stand. "Livia, you have to—"

"Not without you!" Her voice was high, panicked. "I'm not leaving you—"

"You are." He forced himself to his feet, swaying, one hand pressed against his bleeding side. "Go. Find others. Survive."

"Caleb—"

CRACK!

The demon punched through the earth wall.

Caleb shoved Livia toward the eastern branch of the corridor. "GO!"

She stumbled, caught herself, looked back.

"NOW!" His voice carried absolute command, the voice of an older brother who'd spent years protecting her, who knew exactly how to make her obey.

She ran.

Tears streaming down her face, grey eyes wide with terror, but she ran.

Caleb turned back to face the demon.

His essence reserves were nearly empty. His body was breaking down from overuse. Blood dripped steadily from multiple wounds.

But his eyes were sharp with absolute resolve.

"Just you and me," he said quietly.

The demon's head tilted. "You can't win."

"Don't need to win." A ghost of his usual lazy smile touched Caleb's lips, but there was nothing casual about it now. "Just need to buy her time."

The demon's tail swished and it attacked.

Caleb met it with everything he had left.

----

Livia ran.

The corridor blurred around her, stone walls, scattered debris, distant screams. Her lungs burned. Her legs trembled. But she ran, because Caleb had told her to, because stopping meant dying...

BOOM!

An explosion shot from behind. Fire and essence detonating with such force the floor beneath her feet shook.

"Caleb!" She gasped his name but didn't stop running.

Please be okay please be okay please—

Another explosion. Smaller. Weaker.

Then silence.

No.

She should keep running. Should find others. Should survive like he'd commanded.

But her legs slowed and stopped.

She stood in the middle of the corridor, chest heaving, tears blurring her vision.

I can't leave him. I can't—

Suddenly, footsteps echoed behind her.

She turned.

The demon walked toward her, its midnight scales unmarred now, healing faster than Caleb had damaged them. In one clawed hand, it dragged something.

Caleb.

His body was broken, bones jutting at wrong angles, burns covering most of his exposed skin, blood... so much blood. But his chest still moved. Shallow breaths. Still alive.

Barely.

The demon dropped him at Livia's feet like discarded trash. Just looking at them, with newfound interest.

Livia collapsed beside him, her hands hovering over his broken form, not knowing where to touch, where was safe, how to help. "Caleb—Caleb, please—"

His eyes opened.

"Told you... to run..." His voice was barely audible, blood bubbling between his lips with each word.

"I can't, I won't leave you," Sobs choked her words. "We'll get help, we'll find healers, you'll be—"

"Livia." His burned hand reached up to touch her face. The gentlest touch, like he was afraid she might shatter. "Listen... to me..."

She grabbed his hand, held it against her cheek, tears falling freely. "Don't talk, save your strength—"

"No strength... left..." A cough. "Need... need to say..."

"What? What is it?" She leaned closer, desperate to hear.

"You... were never... a burden."

His eyes found hers one last time.

"I—!"

The last breath left his lungs and light faded from his eyes.

His hand went limp in her grasp.

For a moment she didn't understand. Then...

"No no no no no NO!"

She shook him. Tried to restart his breathing. Poured what little essence she had into him, trying to heal, trying to anything.

Nothing.

He was gone.

The demon watched with detached interest. "How touching. Shall I end your suffering too?"

Livia didn't respond. Couldn't respond.

She just held her brother's broken body and screamed.

Above them, the demon raised one clawed hand, to end it.

Then suddenly—

CRACK!

Ice exploded from nowhere, flash-freezing the demon's arm mid-swing. It shrieked, pulling back.

And a figure materialized between Livia and the threat.

Silver-blue hair swayed behind her. Ice-blue eyes locked onto the figure ahead.

"Now come, demon!"