Damien slowly opened his eyes. There was complete darkness all around. He picked himself up off the floor. The last thing he remembered was making an agreement with Shaitan before falling asleep in his dorm.

“Where am I?” Damien asked dubiously. The only thing he could see was darkness.

Several white butterflies appeared and flew through the darkness, before completely disappearing without leaving so much as a trace.

“Hey, Shaitan, where are we?” Damien asked aloud.

There was no response.

“Shaitan!” Damien asked, worry showing through the sound of his voice.

“This is my world. You killed my fiancee, and this is my vindication.” a voice echoed throughout the darkness.

All of a sudden, Damien felt something biting into his right forearm, and a chunk of his arm’s flesh went flying through the darkness.

“Gah!” Damien yelped in pain.

“I loved her. Even if she might have not returned my feelings, I loved her.” the voice echoed.

Damien wasn’t able to see what had attacked him, and wasn’t able to pinpoint the location of the voice. He went into a combat-ready stance. It did little and failed miserably.

He felt a blow to his stomach, and was blown back, rolling onto the floor.

“The pain you are feeling now isn’t an ounce of the pain I felt compared to when I discovered that you had killed her.” the voice continued to echo.

Damien vomited as he forced himself back up. Something was strange, he knew it was the power of a demon, and that Shaitan would not be here to help him this time. He needed to think, and remember the week spent on his debriefing, which of the remaining 85 demons had this type of ability? Although whether he would live long enough to be able to do it was an entirely different story altogether.

“I will make you suffer. Like you had made me.” the voice said coldly.

Damien brought his arms up together, creating a cross shielding his face with them. He felt a sudden shift in the wind, and cuts and scratches began appearing all over his body.

As the cuts kept accumulating, Damien was beginning to piece together the clues. His last memory falling asleep. Total darkness. Not being able to spot the demon. And then it hit him, both figuratively and literally.

He was struck below the chin, forcing his head upwards. Damien clumsily jumped back, trying to create some distance between his invisible attacker.

It could only have been one demon, this was his conclusion from the information he had gotten from Shaitan. The Alp. A German variation of vampires that appears in dreams and causes nightmares, but the pain he was feeling was very real. He knew if he didn’t do something soon, he would lose his life. They are usually mischievous demons, wearing a hat that grants them invisibility and the capacity to shapeshift. Their special ability is ‘Evil Eye’ which allows them to create a world of their own in dreams, turning them into nightmares.

Shaitan was right about information being the most important aspect of battles. The weakness of alps were their eyes.

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Damien began formulating a plan in his mind when he was struck in the back, making him stumble forward. He hastily turned around, facing the direction of the strike. It was a risky plan, but he decided to gamble. He knew he would die at this rate if he didn’t do anything. Then, he shouted “HEY! DO YOU KNOW HOW I KILLED HER?! I PIERCED THROUGH HER CHEST WITH MY LEFT ARM, AND CRUSHED HER HEART!” laughing maniacally.

“You… Then it is only fitting that you die in the same way.” the voice echoed.

Damien focused all his senses into perceiving the flow of air around him like his life depended on it. He felt a shift in the air, and reached his left arm forward, grabbing at the empty space in front of his heart. He felt like he was gripping a wrist, and held onto it at full force. Then, with his right arm, wildly waved at the space in front of him. He hit something solid. It was a pointed hat, like one a wizard would wear. The hat was knocked away several feet, and something appeared in front of him.

It was a rather small demon with brown skin and sharp ears, it was even shorter than he was. The demon was surprised with its eyes widened, Damien wouldn’t let this opportunity slip past him. Using that opening, Damien flung the demon’s arm that had tried to pierce his heart into the air, and using both hands pushed the demon onto the floor roughly.

The demon’s head bounced off the floor, if it were human, it would have definitely received a concussion. Damien continued, dropping onto the demon and using his knees to keep the demon’s arms pinned. He then desperately grabbed for the demon’s head, four fingers wrapping around his face, and his thumbs pointing at the demon’s eyes… and pushed them with all the strength he had left in him.

The demon flailed violently, blood squirting and leaking out of his eyes.

“Rose…” it whispered, before it stopped moving completely.

The surroundings were wrapped in a flash of blinding light.

*Cough, cough, gasp*

‘Damien!’ a familiar voice resounded in his mind. It was the first time he had heard Shaitan sound worried, and the first time he had called him by his name.

Damien was in his bed, gasping for air.

‘Was it an alp?’ Shaitan asked.

“Yeah, I killed it, I think.” Damien was now calming down.

‘I see. Commendable, human.’ Shaitan was sounding like his old self again.

“Hey, just curious, but what would have happened if I died there?”

‘You would have died in the Mortal Realm, as well.’ Shaitan said, lacking emotion.

“...” Damien remained silent, he felt like a load had just been lifted off his shoulders.

Then, he looked at his right arm. What entered his sights were red marks detailing bite marks and numerous red lines. It caused him to shiver.

It had been a difficult fight, but he had succeeded in defeating a demon on his own.

84 demons remain.