Despite knowing that it’d be futile, Jaco found himself already trying to channel something that’d give him even a chance to survive. The instincts that had kept him alive so far simply refused to give up even when his conscious self had. If attempting anything and everything could increase his chances of living from zero up to even just a fraction of a percent, then at least that would be infinitely better than doing nothing at all.

Yet before anything could actually come of that attempt, the air around then began to seemingly twist and warp. The energy in the Demon’s hand had shot out and should have hit before he even had time to react. And yet, for just a moment, what should have spelled his instant death was… frozen. It and everything else in the world seemed to be put on pause. At the same time, Jaco’s vision became filled with a golden light so bright that it blinded him to everything else.

Fuuuuuuuu—Jaco internally groaned as the light reached its crescendo. It felt like something yanked him out of place with such power that it threw all his senses into disarray. His stomach became just as twisted as everything else had, almost threatening to pop like a balloon. These horrible sensations overwhelmed him, taking precedence over everything else.

The Druid found his body shrinking in size as the stoney exterior gave way to regular flesh. Whatever was happening to him right now hadn’t actually canceled his Abilities, at least not directly. What it had done was make it simply impossible to focus on their channeling. Even the Abilities that he’d practiced so much that they only needed a sliver of his concentration to maintain still needed something. But right now, all of his attention was put into just hoping that he wasn’t about to be squeezed like a fruit.

The entire thing felt like it had already lasted for an eternity and would continue to last for an eternity longer. But somewhere in the gut that currently felt like it was being twisted into itself, he had a hunch that only a fraction of a second had actually passed. And then just an instant later, it all came to a sudden stop.

The blinding gold disappeared as if a light switch had just been flipped. Jaco then found himself in the middle of the air, and had already begun to fall toward the earth as gravity claimed him. It only took a couple of moments and a few dozen feet for him to hit the ground.

Still disoriented, Jaco landed directly onto his hands and knees with a thump. To fall in such a way from that height would have easily injured or even crippled a regular human. But with his high Endurance, of course, such an impact could easily be brushed off as just a light tumble.

Jaco shook his head. Even though the blinding light itself was gone, there were still several dark spots left in his vision. He blinked rapidly, and only then looked up. He couldn't help but be confused about what exactly it was that just happened, rather than the expected result of him dying. The blurriness slowly gave way to clarity as he looked around.

What the Hell just happened to me? I—

“Oh shit!” Jaco swore aloud. His eyes went wide with horror as his gaze settled on two figures. One was the Impure Iranes, whose coal-like eyes appeared brightened with smug satisfaction. And the other was someone who stood where Jaco had been standing just a few moments ago.

The aura of golden armor that had been flickering out of existence was now completely gone. From the middle of her torso, silver blood poured out and had already begun to form a puddle on the street. The Angel was currently leaning against her spear for support just to keep herself upright, and on top of that, her shield had also disappeared.

“Ah, yes, and here is a power that practically all Guardian Angels have possessed. To instantly swap their position with an ally and take damage in their stead. Always an annoyance when trying to finish off a priority target. But at the same time, it’s something that your kind will use so... predictably,” the Demon taunted.

No, no, no, she didn’t?! Jaco asked himself. A part of him legitimately couldn’t believe it. But between the display in front of him and what the Demon just said, what happened a few seconds ago had now become clear.

To save Jaco, the Angel had managed to swap places with him at the very last moment. She’d done so just quick enough to prevent his death, but too late to try and dodge or block the deadly attack herself. Still rooted in their own respective places from before, Sam and Evelyn also appeared to be in a state of shock.

They were currently standing closer to Jaco than the Demon. But that could barely be considered a small comfort when their only hope was now at death’s door. For a couple moments, the only sound was the Angel’s haggard breathing, and the Demon seemed to just be satisfied with happily drinking it all in.

Close to Sam’s side, there was an ever-so-slight change to the air. Jaco was the first one to notice as his gut instincts warned about the wrongness of its movement. Evelyn, standing closer to Sam, also seemed to notice just a moment later.

That was when Levi appeared out of thin air. His blade was already moving, and surrounded by a light-blue aura. Its edge moved for his own sister’s neck as his eyes coldly looked at her with full intent to kill.

With a blur of movement, Evelyn’s shoulder slammed into Sam before the latter even realized what was happening. There was a spray of blood as Levi slashed across Evelyn’s chest. Yet even while moving as fast as possible, the Warrior had still been just a bit too slow to get Sam fully out of harm’s way.

With the full arc of his blade, Levi still managed to catch his sister on the side of her arm. Sam hit the ground with a groan as blood trickled out of her wound. But despite her far worse injury, Evelyn didn’t succumb to the pain and tried to thrust her own sword straight into the heart of the Chosen’s leader.

“NO!” Jaco cried out. At the same time as Evelyn’s counterattack, he raised his own hand and shot out a beam of concentrated flames.

With a sneer, Levi slammed his foot into Evelyn’s navel and kicked her back before she could stab him. He then leapt backward and just barely managed to get away as Jaco’s beam only managed to graze him across the chest.

“Tsk! Couldn’t even get rid of the squishy caster first,” Levi mumbled to himself. His voice was low, but Jaco’s hearing still allowed him to catch what was said.

Yet before the Druid could release another onslaught of fire, Levi looked at him with what could only be described as a shit-eating grin. And a second later, he once again was simply gone. Jaco’s ears desperately focused on trying to locate the other man’s footsteps or any other noises he might make, but there was none to speak of.

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Even in the next couple of seconds, Levi didn’t reappear to finish off Sam and Evelyn. Which was something that didn’t make sense, given the circumstances. Jaco didn’t know what kind of plan was going through his head, but he seemed to be toying with them at this point.

As the exchange occurred, the Impure Iranes had only glanced at them for a moment before turning back to the heavily wounded Angel. Despite its ongoing lack of any actual facial expressions, its amusement was clear as day.

It was a cat that believed it could now kill off its prey at any moment of its choosing. The monster seemed to enjoy drawing things out and relishing both the agony and plight of its ancient enemy.

“Ah, choices, choices. Should I finish you off now and let your final thoughts be the knowledge that these humans will soon die due to your failure? Or should I kill them before you, and then kill you after you’ve seen them perish one by one?” the Demon asked out loud.

“Hmm, or perhaps rather than do it myself, I should have our human kill the others? Then you get to watch as one of the beings you love kills his own kind while using Heaven’s gift to humanity. Mmmm, it really is such a hard decision to make. Each one has its own flavor of despair to drink, all three appealing in their own special way.”

It was then that Jaco heard something, or rather several somethings, coming toward them. His frown somehow twisted downward even further as he recognized the sounds.

To make an already dire situation even worse, more Demidemons were currently on the way and would soon be upon them. It sounded like a mix of both Taurlings and Minotaurs. But considering how bad just the Demon by itself was, the exact composition of the incoming reinforcements didn’t actually matter.

Things were more or less as bad as they could be even without the extra monsters on their way. The Guardian Angel was on her last legs while Evelyn was also pretty badly injured. Though Jaco wasn’t really hurt, he had already burnt through a big chunk of his Mana just to rapidly take out the pair of Minotaurs. Which meant that of their group, Sam was probably the one who was overall in the best condition.

Even so, the Druid didn’t give up just quite yet. His mind was still racing for a solution that could get them all out alive. He mentally searched through everything he knew was currently inside his Bag of Holding. Would the Bag of Mist help to secure a path of escape?

No, releasing it would take too long and wouldn’t cover a large enough area. The Demon could easily just fly overhead and wait for them to pop out, and could quickly figure it out if they tried to hide underground or something like that within its range.

He then sifted through everything else in his possession. Was there anything in the armory of Infernal artifacts that could possibly aid them now? He had all sorts of weapons and armor, so surely there had to be something that might help, right? Yet no matter how much Jaco racked his brain at that moment, nothing substantial came to mind. Any item he thought of was just as quickly dismissed. Nothing would work.

It was at the same time that a smaller voice in his mind made itself known. The idea it brought up was an inherently shameful one. But this was when his animalistic instincts worked against him by making Jaco unable to fully put it down. To better ensure a greater chance for his own survival, he could try to escape on his own.

If he chugged down the Hell Elixir that boosted his Agility and perhaps transformed into a bird first, then maybe he could make it. It would mean abandoning those who’d fought and bled beside him. But even if it further guaranteed their own deaths, it could at least mean that he might live. However, although his instincts made the idea impossible to fully ignore, Jaco refused to actually entertain the thought. There was simply no world in which he’d actually go through with such a thing.

As he continued to try and put that desire down and think of something else, Jaco’s attention was then drawn elsewhere. The Angel had taken a deep breath before pushing herself off her spear. Her legs were visibly wobbly for a moment in the attempt to hold her weight on their own without the support. But her face then hardened with newfound determination as she steeled herself.

The Angel glanced back to look between Jaco and his companions. She gave them a small nod before returning her gaze to the Demon in front of her.

“You ask which option you should pursue? This one says none of them! May the Creator witness this lowly servant as she fulfills one last purpose! As long as blood flows within this body, no harm shall fall upon these humans!” the Angel cried out.

She held her spear up high as her form momentarily flashed with even greater light than she had shown before. Even the silver blood flowing out of her temporarily shone in golden splendor. The Guardian Angel then looked back at them once again.

“Go now! This one shall hold them off!” she declared as the light again began to fade.

“An arrogant statement from an Angel already dead on her feet. You think you can even defend yourself, much less protect them? Foolish girl, nothing you can possibly do in your state could stop me from just killing them here and now,” the Impure Iranes said.

Yet at that moment, Jaco couldn’t help but notice something. As the monster from Hell was speaking, it had actually taken half a step away from the Angel. So while its words said one thing, its body’s actions said the opposite far more loudly.

It was then that Jaco too understood what the Demon was feeling. Not from the instincts granted to him as a Druid, but instead from the effects of the Devil’s Essence that had fundamentally changed his species into that of a Hell-Touched Human. It warned him of how any Angel would be at their most dangerous when backed into a corner.

But when it was a Guardian Angel willing to die as the final line of defense between her foes and those she wished to protect? That was all the more dangerous and worthy of caution. Despite whatever arrogant exterior the Demon presented on the outside, its own instincts would make it wary of acting too rashly. And if nothing else, it was this innate hesitation that would give the three of them a chance to make it out.

At that moment, Jaco couldn’t hesitate any longer.

“Sam, grab Evelyn now!” he yelled out as he started to run toward them. A hand slapped into his bag and pulled out a Hell Elixir that was immediately downed. While Jaco moved, his body once again began to grow larger. By the time he reached them, he’d finished the transformation into a bear and now had his Agility temporarily raised.

Jaco then stomped his foot and raised a pillar of earth directly under their feet, closer to his back. Quickly understanding his intent, Sam held onto Evelyn as she jumped onto his back. There wasn’t enough time to let them get into a comfortable position. The instant he felt them land, Jaco turned around and made a break for it.

“For the Creator!” the Angel yelled from behind them. Just a moment later, an explosion echoed throughout the area. The fighting had clearly begun.

Jaco didn’t dare turn around to see how she fared against the Demon, Levi, and the incoming Demidemons. He didn’t even know if Levi was currently behind him or was instead helping his Hellish master face the Angel. Jaco just focused everything he had on running as fast as his legs could physically go and then some.

He ran and ran, making a beeline through the streets. The Druid didn’t bother to try and throw off any pursuers by making any sudden turns. He didn’t even know if there were any, all of his senses were solely focused on just moving as quickly as possible. All he desired was to go in a straight line toward the city’s edge.

The streets and their intersections passed by in a blur. Soon he ran through a recognizable bit of woods that marked the inner edge of the perimeter. But Jaco continued to just run without slowing down quite yet.

Even after they eventually left the city, Jaco remained in his bear form. In the face of his size and Strength, the two women on his back could barely be considered a carry-on load, not heavy enough to think about. He continued to move with speed in mind, fearing the potential threat that might still be following and could appear at any moment.

But at the same time, he now tried to be a bit gentler in his movements for Evelyn’s sake. While her Stats should guarantee that anything not already proven fatal should go through a full recovery in time, he didn’t want to agitate her current wounds beyond what he couldn’t help. Yet if something did chase after them, the Druid was already prepared to let go of that bit of comfort as a lesser priority.

Fortunately, nothing came after them. No Minotaurs chased them on the ground, nor did the Demon appear in the skies. So with the danger left behind, at least for the time being, the exhausted trio hurriedly made their way back to the camp. For the sooner everything they’d recently experienced could be shared, the better.