image [https://i.imgur.com/A617DQR.gif]

The Demon's short axe rested at his side, its blade glowing with a soft luminescence that barely pierced the surrounding darkness. The wraps encasing its hilt bore the rusty stains of dried blood.

"Ah, a lycan wielding a guardian sword. Intriguing," he said, eyes fixed on my katana. "You must be with the Guild, or at least the empire that relies on its strength."

His words struck a chord. They hadn't come for me; Takeda's earlier assumption was off the mark. I needed to determine their intentions before killing this man. If I could uncover the reason behind their actions, then maybe I could stop whatever scheme they were planning.

Easily deflecting his blade indicated that he was within my level range. However, complacency was not an option; while I had faith in my ability to defeat him, I knew I must not underestimate his skills.

"What do you want?" I asked. "Why assault an unassuming town?"

The man spun his axe smoothly in his hand. "A trade, perhaps? One secret for another," he suggested, a cunning grin spreading across his face. "Tell me, how does a lycan become a lust demon?”

I tightened my grip on my hilt, examining his attire. He was swathed in black, save for an armless white fur coat. Intricate tattoos, resembling spider webs crawled from his bare arms to his jawline, halting just short of his face.

"A bit of luck and a Fallen," I replied cautiously. "That's all you're getting."

"Ah, but I need more if you expect me to share our grand scheme," he quipped. "Come on, humour me, I’m cute.”

Should I entertain his proposition? While he might be attempting to deceive me, the information I sought was too valuable to dismiss the opportunity outright. Revealing how I became a demon wouldn't benefit him in any tangible way. I decided to capitalise on his curiosity.

"The Lunar Witch blood initiated my transformation; a Fallen saw it to completion. That's the extent of what I can offer—I don't entirely understand it myself," I stated with no enthusiasm.

His eyes fixed on me, unblinking. "You reek of the Valkyries. Where is the newest addition?" he asked, sending a chill down my spine.

Shit. They were targeting Belle. I needed to warn Takeda and ensure her safety immediately. Capturing her might be a challenge for them, but it was a risk I couldn't afford to take. There was no time for a rescue mission with the blood moon approaching.

"What do you want with her?" I demanded, trying to extract every detail. "I thought demons and Valkyries didn’t get along."

"We need a Valkyrie who isn't powerful enough to disintegrate anyone she touches; we need to capture her, after all," he said, shrugging. "Unfortunately, this means I'll have to eliminate you. But first, a couple of questions."

"Go ahead," I replied, playing along for the moment.

"First off, your name? I am Javous," he said with a slight bow. "I like to know the names of the lycans I kill—Especially the hotties."

"Kade," I shot back.

Wait… what did he just call me?

A sly grin unfurled across Javous's face. "Ah, Kade, it's a pleasure. The honour of skinning you will be one I cherish—Can you transform?" He gestured toward his white fur coat, which I deduced from his earlier remarks was lycan fur. "A pelt from a demon-lycan hybrid would certainly elevate my collection."

"Let's see how long that grin lasts," I said, shifting my weight onto my front foot. "I'm eager to watch your bravado crumble."

This was the perfect opportunity to test all my new talents in actual combat—consequence free… mostly.

With a nonchalant flick, Javous sent his axe spiralling into the air, effortlessly catching it on its descent. "Ah, the confident ones are always the most entertaining. How sad that I have to kill you."

In an instant, I was upon Javous, moving faster than he could react. My blade descended, narrowly missing his neck but cleaving deeply into his shoulder, severing an arm in a single, powerful stroke. With a swift whirl, I gathered momentum and executed a moon strike, my blade glowing with a radiant white light. The strike sliced him cleanly in half. Before his abdomen could hit the ground, I thrust my palm forward, unleashing a wave of fire that roared forth, incinerating him on the spot.

image [https://i.imgur.com/F5lt8JP.gif]

That… was too easy.

Clapping in amusement, Javous emerged from behind a nearby building. "Impressive. You're far stronger than your level suggests. My blood clones are nothing to scoff at. I'll have to exercise caution; you might actually manage to kill me."

I glanced at my scorched hand, feeling the sting of burnt flesh and watching the smoke wisp from its blackened surface. I needed to find someone who could help me refine this explosive ability; the self-inflicted burns were a glaring shortcoming.

My attention then drifted to the distant house, engulfed in flames—a concerning sight but also a beacon signalling Takeda that something had gone awry. I had made a grave mistake by letting Belle go alone. Takeda should have accompanied her. The consequences of having her go on her own… I should have known better.

Just as Javous opened his mouth to speak, I knew I had no time to waste; Belle's safety was at stake. I needed to finish this quickly.

My blade swung for his throat once more, slicing only through empty air this time. In a remarkable display of agility, Javous ducked and channelled momentum into a one-handed swing of his axe. The blade found its mark, slicing effortlessly through my flesh and across my lower abdomen.

image [https://i.imgur.com/si5UVCy.gif]

Fortunately, my instinctive backward shift spared my spine. Had the axe severed it, leaving me paralysed, I would have been done for. I would have been unable to regenerate in time to fend off Javous' inevitable follow-up strike—a blow that would have assuredly been fatal. My viscous blood thickened just enough to keep my insides from spilling out, but it couldn't stop a thick gush from erupting from the wound. I had to relinquish my grip on my katana with one hand to apply pressure to the cut.

My eyes were failing me, unable to anticipate Javous' swift actions, which resulted in me triggering my echolocation for help as his blade grazed my cheek. The red beads bounced off the environment as I swung my blade haphazardly, focusing primarily on holding my organs in place until my skin could pull itself back together.

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As my abdomen knitted itself back together, I broke off the engagement, springing back. Javous wasted no time in closing the gap, pressing his attack. Evading his swings in a nimble dance, I found myself colliding against the exterior of a house, splintering the wood upon impact. Just in time, I rolled aside as his axe thudded into the wooden wall, and I regained my footing, stumbling back into the open.

Damn it. I didn't have enough essence for a blood moon swing. Even if I did manage to unleash one, it would drain nearly all my remaining essence—I hadn't practiced it enough yet. Besides, I couldn't be sure it would end this fight. Managing my essence and stamina was crucial, and I was failing miserably at it. Takeda would be disappointed.

Why did you put so much into that fire, Kade? Idiot.

Catching me off guard, Javous hurled his axe at me, the wind whooshing as it sped through the air, lodging itself in my shoulder.

He bit down hard on his hand, and the spurting blood coalesced into a massive scythe.

What the fuck?

I ripped the axe from my shoulder, tossing it to the side before I planted my back foot, taking a gambit. With incredible effort, I channelled over seventy percent of my stamina into a single swing. My blade blurred through the air, outpacing his scythe conjured from blood. Just as my sword met its mark on his side, it ignited into a dark crimson glow, framed by a warm white light. My muscles trembled from the effort, and my grip weakened momentarily. Gritting my teeth in sheer resolve, I felt my finger tense, as if the action itself gave me strength.

My sword faced resistance as it sunk into Javous. But the moment the blood moon swing fully activated, it cleaved through him as if he were a ghost. A dark red crescent burst from the other side, the resultant gust of wind throwing off his swing entirely. I sidestepped, narrowly avoiding his wayward attack as his body collapsed, falling in half.

He snapped his fingers before hitting the mud, and the scythe morphed into another copy of him.

What was this sorcery? It was no mere trick of a lust demon; it was as if he had dominion over blood itself—a sort of blood magic.

With a surge of desperate strength, I drove my blade into the clone's abdomen, then sank my fangs into its neck.

image [https://i.imgur.com/Z75Az3Y.gif]

As my vampiric bite restored my health, the chunk I tore away melted, losing its firmness in my mouth. With a shove, I sent the doppelgänger stumbling off balance, my sword wrenching free as it fell backwards, dissolving into a gelatinous pool of blood.

Dropping to one knee, I leaned on my katana for support, taking a moment to reclaim a sliver of my depleted stamina. At least the wound in my abdomen had closed, allowing me to use both hands again.

As I gradually rose to my feet, I saw Javous sitting up, bracing himself on his elbows. Strands of red muscle fibres from his upper torso wove themselves towards his lower half like ropes, and his organs seemed to retract into their proper positions. Seizing the moment before he could fully recover, I closed the gap between us.

I positioned the tip of my blade just beneath his chin, forcing his eyes to meet mine. "Where's that confidence now?" I taunted. "The Valkyrie is mine, and as a lust demon, you know the implications of touching another's property."

"Oh no, my bad," he replied, feigning indifference like I wasn’t about to cut his head off.

Something felt off. I needed to hurry up and kill him.

Just as my blade swung back and descended towards his neck, a crushing fist collided with my side, shattering my ribs and causing a torrent of blood to erupt from the impact. I was flung into a nearby house, smashing through a structural beam and bringing part of the roof down upon me.

image [https://i.imgur.com/YHsRB7O.gif]

Through the debris, I spotted a woman dressed in black like Javous, but she stood out with her hood down and a golden pentagram on her chest. Her fiery red curls whipped around in the turbulent air, illuminated by the flames of the burning house I had set ablaze.

She reached out her hand to Javous, pulling him to his feet. "Really? Struggling with a Level 83?" she said, exasperated. "Consider yourself lucky I'm not reporting this little mishap to Elijah."

Javous dusted himself off, irritation flashing across his face as he examined the sliced lower half of his fur coat. "He's proven to be more aggressive than I expected. Usually, someone at his level exercises more caution."

"We have the Valkyrie soul," the woman stated. "It's time to go."

"But I haven't skinned him yet," Javous protested. “Pretty please. I’ll get him to transform.”

"He was about to skin you," she retorted. "He's not worth the experience or the fur. Let's go before Takeda gets here."

They disappeared into the town's shadows, leaving me alone amidst the ruins. Gritting my teeth, I mustered the strength to heave a massive beam off my crushed lower body and push it aside. A guttural whimper escaped my lips as I reclined, everything below my belt a red mush on the ground.

When this started healing, it was going to—

"Fuck," I screamed as my bones audibly started snapping back into shape.

My fist slammed into the ground, and tears of blood rolled down my cheeks. The healing was underway, but the agony surpassed anything I felt before—having my knee snapped back or my heart ripped out didn’t even come close to this.

I was getting a little dizzy from the pain. This was too much… I could feel every splinter of bone moving back in place. Fuck.

A young woman approached, her face a tapestry of horror, unable to look away from the unsettling spectacle before her. My back contorted and my ravaged lower half began to expand back into its normal shape, my trousers saturated with blood. She stood there, hand clasped over her mouth in disbelief.

"Why... are... your eyes red?" she stammered. "Are you a demon? I thought you—"

"Come here," I interrupted, my voice tinged with urgency. She hesitated, fear holding her back. "Now!" I commanded, the word escaping my lips more as a guttural growl than a shout.

To my surprise, she complied, kneeling beside me. "You will forget what you've just witnessed," I intoned, locking eyes with her. Her pupils widened, a visible sign of the compulsion taking hold. "You saw Kade injured in a fight with a demon, but it wasn’t that bad," I clarified, ensuring there were no loose ends. She nodded, her gaze unfocused but obedient. "Go find a soldier and tell them Takeda needs to be here—immediately."

Still ensnared by my influence, she rose to her feet, her expression vacant. Without another word, she turned and began to walk away, her steps slow but purposeful.

After an excruciating twenty-minute struggle, I regained the ability to move my toes. Gingerly, I climbed to my feet and made my way to the spot where my katana had fallen from the force of the savage punch I took. In the distance, flames danced and flickered, their tendrils reaching toward the moons.

"How did they capture her so swiftly?" I mumbled aloud. “What did they mean by they had her soul?” The thought that she could be defeated so quickly was inconceivable.

My mind raced with indecision. If I pursued her, could I even rescue her? That punch… the only person who might stand a chance against her would be Takeda. But the thought of me not being able to save Belle boiled over into distress, panic setting in. No. No. We have to get her back today—To. Day.

Takeda could track me by scent, but the rapidly spreading fire in town complicated matters. The smoke was already clouding my own sense of smell. Oddly, the wind was unusually still tonight—a small victory amid the chaos. I couldn't afford to dwell on this for long.

The conspicuous silence of battle suggested that others might have eluded an encounter with a demon and could be en route. However, I couldn’t just wait for them. Time was of the essence, and every second counted.

If I perished now, all my efforts would be rendered meaningless.

With a yell, I released my pent-up frustration into the open air, then refocused my gaze in the direction they had vanished. The thought of not even trying to save her was unbearable. To abandon a friend—no, I couldn't let that happen.

"They took what is mine," I muttered, staring down at my hands as my nails began to grow. "They'll pay. I'll make them pay. I’ll kill them." My voice emerged deeper than usual, a menacing growl rolling from my lips as my eyes darted forward.

Just as I was about to move, Takeda seized my shoulder, pulling me back. His expression was filled with concern. We locked eyes for a tense moment before he finally broke the silence. "Belle is unconscious, and her body feels cold. As if she's—"

"I heard them mention something about seizing her soul," I interrupted, my voice tinged with urgency. "We have to get her back."

Takeda's eyes narrowed, absorbing my words. "What exactly does that imply?"

My hand curled into a fist. "It means we kill them all and retrieve her—immediately."