Point-of-View: Zoraiz Rafayet

———————————————————————————

"There it is...looks like I was right to head in the direction that the Devils came from, there’s a town or something up ahead," I remarked as I let out a sigh of relief.

"I’m just glad we weren’t, like, in the middle of the desert or something, we would’ve died in no time," Replied Adelmira with a wry smile.

"I mean, we would’ve been fine when it came to water, since you can, you know, create your own water," I pointed out in response.

"We’d have been screwed when it came to food though. By the way, why do you think the Devils retreated so suddenly?" She wondered with a frown.

After we’d wiped out that initial group of Devils and began heading in the direction they’d flown in from, we came across a group of about fifteen or so more Devils.

We killed six of them, but before we could target the rest, a few rifts opened up and they swiftly retreated. I don’t know why, but I don’t think that’s a good thing...I highly doubt they simply just ran away.

"Who knows? Let’s stay on guard though, they could be back at any given moment," I responded warily.

"Yeah, I know. Hm...I hope everyone else is okay. Especially X and Bastet...right before I was brought to this desert, Bastet mentioned that he sensed the bridge between Hell and our world just a few kilometers away from the campsite. They would’ve stayed away from there, right?" She asked me hopefully.

"Honestly...I can’t be sure either way. But regardless if they chose to hide or to fight, those two aren’t the easiest to kill, they should be just fine," I replied assuringly.

Really hope those two don’t make a liar out of me...

"Yeah...yeah, I hope you’re right."

We then arrived at a village at the end of the desert, and...there was nothing but corpses in there. It’s just a small village, but still...this is a lot of corpses. It looks like we’re somewhere in the middle-east or Africa, from the look of it.

"Come on...let’s go find some food and water, we should build up our strength and stamina," I remarked quietly, before heading for one of the houses as she silently nodded in response, without saying a word.

As we entered, we explored the house, eating some food out of the fridge and drinking plenty of water, while basking in the air-conditioning and cooling ourselves down.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Suddenly frowned Adelmira, her ears perking up.

I closed my eyes and used my Physical Skill to enhance my hearing, a technique I’d learned from Titan...yeah, I do hear something out there, what’s going on? Are the Devils back already, maybe with reinforcements?

I quietly made my way towards a window and slightly moved the curtain aside to peer out...my eyes widened in horror as I caught sight of what was happening outside.

"Oh, no...," I muttered with a grimace.

"Hey, what’s wrong? What do you see?" Whispered Adelmira warily.

"This is bad...I see a whole lot of Demons. And based on the Auras I’m seeing...there’s a Demon of Sin among them. Plus one other with a pretty immense Aura," I informed her grimly.

The Devils were pretty easy to deal with, but the situation is much, much different now. If we try to take on this many Demons with just the two of us...we’ll almost definitely be killed...

———————————————————————————

Point-of-View: Luna Castillo/Astra

———————————————————————————

Shit, shit, shit! Fuck! Why is this happening, what did I do to deserve this!? Life’s been pure shit ever since Harmony took down Ash, he’s either dead or heavily crippled, so even if I did somehow know where he is, it would be pointless to try and save him or whatever.

Anyway, I was currently somewhere in Egypt, I’ve been constantly on the move ever since that day when I barely got away. I haven’t been able to torture or mess with a whole lot of people since then, but at least I haven’t been in any danger myself.

That’s not quite the case right now, though. First those super ugly, but not too alarmingly powerful, creatures showed up, before abruptly leaving after just a few minutes of rampaging. I just hid during that period, and then made the mistake of coming out into the open after they left.

And that’s when the Demons showed up. And one is currently chasing me. I’m running away, but it’s no good...he’s gaining on me at an alarming speed, even with me going at full speed by bursting out jets of flames from my heels.

Initially, they had said that they would spare me if I surrender, but then one of them with an especially dense Aura, possibly a Demon of Sin, retracted that offer after using Appraisal to take a look at my Aura. So, yeah, that was my cue to book it.

"It is useless, human! Give up and accept your fate!" Called out the Demon in amusement.

Damn it, get the fuck away from me! I’m the one who instills terror into people, I don’t like feeling terror myself, you asshole! I...I need to give this bastard the slip somehow, otherwise...otherwise, I’m going to die.

"For fucks’ sake, get away from me!" I snapped, as I blasted out a fireball at the Demon before ducking into a nearby alleyway, as the Demon effortlessly batted away the fireball with the back of his hand.

Shit, this alley is a dead end! I’m fucked! Royally fucked in the ass with a sandpaper dildo coated in acid!

"Now, then, you can no longer run away. I shall carve you into pieces," Smirked the Demon, as he formed a wind blade along his right palm and an ice sickle in his left hand, before holding up the latter with a laugh, "I am quite proud of this, as it is also a pun."

Huh? What the fuck is he-...ohh, I get it...

"Ha ha, it’s a sickle made of ice, so it’s an ice sickle, which sounds like icicle. How creative," I responded sarcastically as rolled my eyes in exasperation.

I’m gonna have to try and predict his next attack, dodge, and then hopefully...counter. Can’t say I’m too confident, but I’m not going down without a fucking fight, damn it!

"Go ahead and mock me, it hardly matters...you will soon be dead, after all," He scoffed in response, as he suddenly shot towards me, closing in in an instant.

C-crap, I anticipated this, but he’s so damn fast! I began to dodge as fast as I could, my eyes widening in horror as I watched him slash off my right arm with his wind blade and gashed my hip with the sickle.

I let out a whimper as I tried to stifle my cry of pain, before gritting my teeth and grabbing his throat with my left hand, as blood poured out of my severed right arm, my vision blurring as the pain throbbed agonizingly.

"Fuck it, if I’m going down, I’m taking as many of you down with me as I can!" I yelled furiously.

"What are you-...argh...!?" He gasped, as I unleashed an immense amount of flames, concentrating them right onto his body as intensely as I possible could, his skin turning to ash almost instantly, before I rapidly incinerated his body.

He body shrank rapidly as I scorched layer by layer into dust, a foul stench flowing out of his burning body.

"Die...die, die, die, DIE, DIE! DIE!" I screamed in a frenzy, the pain fading slightly as adrenaline pumped through my veins, sweat pouring down my face as I reduced him to nothing but a pile of ash, which scattered as a breeze blew into the alleyway.

I...I did it. I killed him!

I then grimaced as I burnt the stump of my arm and my side in order to stop the bleeding, a stifled hiss of pain inadvertently escaping my lips as I collapsed onto my knees, by body trembling in pain.

I...I feel both hot and cold at the same time. It feels like I’m about to pass out, my head is spinning, my ears are ringing and my vision is blurry, this...this really sucks.

"What a fool...we were told not to underestimate the humans no matter how much weaker they are than us," Suddenly came a voice from behind me, causing my blood to run cold.

I glanced back in horror, to see the Demon of Sin I’d spotted before, along with another Demon who had an immense Aura. Is that one a Demon of Sin too? Her Aura isn’t nearly as immense, but still...

I then snapped out of it and shot straight up into the air by blasting out flames from the bottoms of my feet. I...I need to get away, right now!

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Don’t forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming Chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP