Darkness drowned Narvari’s senses. She seemed trapped in a bottomless abyss from which she could not wake. How long had it been? Time eluded her.

Her eyes fluttered. Slowly they peeled open on their own accord. The world around her seemed to be upside down. It took a few seconds for her mind to make sense of her reality. No, the world wasn’t upside down; she was the one hanging upside down. And wait… why was she moving?

Narvari blinked rapidly at the taut ass staring right in her face. Someone was carrying her on their shoulder and moving at a brisk pace. Whoever it was must be really strong. Fatigue clawed at her bones. It was enough to stop Narvari from fighting back.

“Strange. The xuul says there’s still a demon around here somewhere. But it’s not telling me the order.”

Azmel? Narvari recognized the voice. This was no dream then?

For a moment, she thought Azmel was the one carrying her. But taking a look at the tiny waist in that mini skirt, she thought better of it.

“Mine isn’t working either.” That was Pheera’s voice. “You don’t think it’s broken, do you?”

“No. But I do think the demon is concealing its order.”

“The wraith lord?” Narvari heard the shock in Pheera’s voice. “But lesser demons can’t conceal their nature.”

“No,” Azmel said. “But greater demons can.”

The world stopped around Narvari. It took her a while to realize that Pheera had stopped walking.

Pheera said, “Are you saying there’s a greater demon here? Should we call for backup?”

“It’s merely a hypothesis.” He paused. “But we still need to be careful. If the demon’s order is too high to vanquish, we’ll have to capture it instead.”

They were really still talking about demons, Narvari thought.

She suddenly stiffened as a stifling aura held her very soul hostage. Narvari clenched her jaws, her body shivering as though consumed by a blizzard. Although she found the idea of demons ridiculous, she knew for certain that the malevolent energy in the atmosphere was nothing but a demonic aura. It made her want to cower in fear.

Pheera jumped back while holding on to Narvari carefully.

A loud cackle tore through the still night. The laughter was manic and psychotic. Narvari was certain that the laughter belonged to the same person responsible for that demonic aura. A knot tied in her stomach.

Pheera gently put Narvari down.

“You’re awake?” The expression in those blue eyes was that of shock. Pheera quickly recovered from her shock. “Stay here, okay? Everything will be alright.”

“What’s going on?” Narvari asked. She tried to get back on her feet, but the strength in her feet failed her. All she did was lean on the wall behind her.

Pheera smiled softly at her. Without saying a word, the girl stood up, her back to Narvari. Why was she being so cryptic? And what did she do to her?

Azmel stood a few meters away from Pheera. He held a ridiculously large gun that belonged in a science fiction movie.

“Gear up,” Azmel said. “It’s here.”

Pheera nodded and then whispered something.

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Icy energy poured out from Pheera’s body, surrounding her entire being. The energy was as white as Pheera’s hair with a blue halo, like her eyes, burning around it. In that same instant, the blue and white energy disappeared and a gun materialized in her hand. It was the same white and blue gun Narvari had seen Pheera use against the demon back in her house. The gun had the same colors as the energy that emanated from Pheera. Narvari gaped. Did that gun just come out of nowhere?

Narvari quickly looked from Pheera to Azmel. Were those people even human?

The demonic cackle tore through the air again. Then something hissed her name, echoing in the darkness.

“Little Shar. I know you’re here.”

Narvari clenched her trembling hands. The demon knew her? How?

Azmel and Pheera exchanged confused glances.

The voice continued. “Tell me, Little Shar. How would you like to die?” More hysterical laughter. “Oh, I know. Slowly and painfully, Little Shar.”

A monstrous shadow tore out of the darkness and lunged toward Narvari with incredible speed. Narvari’s heart flew into her mouth. She willed herself to move, but the fear kept her rooted to the ground. She was about to die.

Narvari braced herself for death’s jaws when Pheera threw herself towards the shadow and fired her gun with a loud boom. A blast of white and blue energy surged towards the demon, forcing the demon to retreat in the opposite direction away from Narvari. Pheera, however, did not stop. With the strange blue and white energy now around her fists and legs, she pursued the demon. The demon charged toward Pheera. Thus began the fiercest fight Narvari had ever witnessed in her life. She gulped watching the mind-blowing speed at which Pheera and the demon exchanged kicks and blows. When the demon moved to the right, Pheera was there to kick him back and when it turned to the left, Pheera was right there. She sent a hefty punch into the demon’s face with her energy-powered fist.

The demon staggered backward.

“Now, Azmel.”

Azmel fired his large gun, releasing an enormous blast of gray energy toward the demon. The energy engulfed the demon. Narvari held her breath in anticipation. Was the demon dead? It should be dead, right?

A few seconds later the gray flames went out. The demon remained unscathed, a feral smile plastered on his face.

“Did you vanquishers think your puny savaz can destroy me?” the demon roared, his red eyes blazing.

Dark gray energy emanated from the demon’s palm. With arms as thick as tree trunks, the demon sent a heavy punch toward Pheera. Pheera somersaulted in the air, landing gracefully right next to Azmel.

“He’s not vanquished?” she asked.

“It can only mean one thing,” said Azmel. “This wraith lord is not third-order.”

“But that can’t be.” Pheera glanced at the flat rectangular screen of the device on her wrist. “I still don’t have a reading on his order.”

The demon laughed. “That’s right, vanquishers. You are out-ordered. I suggest you run along now. I’m here for the Shar descendant. But if you stand in my way, I will kill you all.”

“We are not leaving until we vanquish you.” Azmel held his gun in one hand as if it weighed nothing at all.

The demon grinned. Although it had a shadowy form, it was vastly different from the other wraith demons. This one had a stronger and more muscular build. The other demons seemed deformed with their crooked back but this one stood erect with broad shoulders and a body that belonged to a bodybuilder. It still looked far from a human with its bottomless red eyes and sharp yellow teeth. Unlike the wraith demons, this one had a long black horn protruding out of his forehead. If this was what they referred to as the wraith lord, then it had the whole ‘demonic lord’ look.

The wraith lord whipped something out of its body. It was a blue fluid in a transparent vial. The demon opened the vial and downed its content into its throat.

The dark gray demonic aura around the demon grew even fouler and more depressing than ever. Narvari huddled her knees. She didn’t want to be here anymore. Her bones threatened to escape from her body with her intense trembling.

Pheera ran towards the demon, shooting her gun endlessly. Did those guns even use bullets at all?

“No, Pheera, stop,” Azmel shouted. It was the first time Narvari had seen the blond man lose his cool. “You can’t vanquish it. It’s fifth-order.”

But it was too late. Pheera was already engaged in a frenzied battle with the demon. Now that they were a lot closer, Narvari couldn’t help but notice that Pheera’s combat style bore a startling resemblance to Sharmandi’s gun combat, Ntunomi. It was the martial arts style her grandfather had introduced to the Kirriba. Ntunomi involved the seamless combination of guns and martial arts. Pheera’s style was eerily identical. The only difference was that Pheera’s movements were far swifter and more powerful than what Narvari was used to seeing from the members of the WPU.

Something told Narvari that a single kick from Pheera against a normal human could kill them instantly. But even then, the demon held its own with ease. It was almost like all of Pheera’s efforts were just one big joke. The demon sent a vicious palm strike into Pheera’s chest hurling her into a wall. The wall collapsed with a deafening crash.

“Pheera,” Azmel shouted.

Narvari’s heart pounded. Was the girl dead?

Oh no.