Narvari’s vision blurred, the demon doubling before her. Delirium took over her senses. Fighting a ninth-order demon was not a joke. Her aching bones and muscles would testify to that.

But she couldn’t let doubt crawl in. This was not a simulation. This was not even Narraghan where Trixan could easily rescue her. No. This was real. And the slightest hesitation could cause her death. But why hadn’t she died yet? The demon was far more powerful than she.

An explosion followed by a powerful earthquake rudely interrupted her thoughts. The earthquake lasted for a few seconds but it was enough to throw Narvari face-first into the damp dirt.

What the hell was that?

“Someone used elevaz,” said Servin. He had been engaging with the other demon but Narvari had been too occupied with staying alive to worry about Servin.

“Elevaz?” Narvari narrowed her eyes.

“Elema at its most powerful form,” he said. “It takes an incredible amount of sacred energy and it may leave you both physically and mentally drained after using it.”

As Narvari wondered who could have used their elevaz, the demon charged at her, hurling its powerful hoof-like leg towards her face. Narvari reacted immediately, dodging the kick. She already had a sacred fist ready but the demon’s hand transformed into a terrifyingly long scythe. The demonic blade would have cut Narvari into two had she not phased out of the way at the last second. She howled as the pain shot through her shoulder, down into the soles of her feet. Narvari touched her shoulder, the blood soaking her hand.

She clenched her teeth glaring at the demon. The demon glared right back, his golden eyes blazing with fury.

“Narvari. Are you alright?”

She had been so occupied by her fight with the demon that she had not noticed when she and Servin had ended up standing back to back, felled trees all around them. This forest would need major afforestation. All those poor trees…

“Narvari — ”

“Oh, yes. Yes.” She came back to her senses. “This is nothing.”

“What do you see?”

“Hmm?”

“Look at the demon and tell me what you see.”

Narvari watched the demon carefully. Except for his inhuman golden eyes, the demon could easily pass for a human. Well, a human with questionable fashion sense. But what struck Narvari most was the complete lack of interest on the demon’s creamy white face. It was like this whole thing was one boring game to him. Narvari frowned. She had been wondering why she was still alive all this while even after facing a ninth-order demon. Now she understood why.

“They are not attacking.” She bit her lips.

“Yes. They are toying with us. They haven’t even revealed their ultimate demon form yet.”

Narvari gulped. Even in this form, she and Servin found it hard to beat the demon. If they transformed to their ultimate demon form, they were royally screwed.

“It’s like they are trying to keep us here,” Servin said.

“But why?”

“Only one way to find out.” In a louder voice, Servin called out. “Hey you, What’s this about? Why are you here?”

Silence.

“You are going to be in a lot of trouble if you don’t leave.”

“Really? And how’s that?” The demon chuckled. “None of your attacks have had any effect on us.”

Narvari rolled her eyes. You mean you keep regenerating. She rubbed her numb shoulder. She was supposed to be feeling pain. Why wasn’t she feeling it? “What do you two want?”

“Not just us two, but that’s none of your business,” the demon facing Narvari said. “You know, I’m impressed you’re still standing even after everything. But don’t worry, my poison is going to kill you before you even bleed to death.”

Narvari clenched her jaws. Was the numbness in her shoulder the effect of the poison? No, don’t let him get into your head. She smirked. “If you think that I’m going to be defeated by the likes of you, then you are more delusional than I thought.”

“Is that right? Then I shall show you something interesting before you die.”

“Brother, are we doing it?” The other demon asked.

“Of course, Lleyiga. Let’s raise hell.”

The demon slowly shed its human skin as red scales took over their bodies. Horns protruded out of their heads, while their hands and feet became sharp claws.

“Narvari, listen,” Servin said hastily. “They are transforming into their ultimate demon form. We can’t let that happen. We won’t stand a chance.”

“What do we do?”

“I’ll use my elevaz against the stronger demon.”

Narvari frowned. “Will you be able to fight after that?” He did say using elevaz drained a person of all their energy.

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“That’s why I’m counting on you, Narvari. I need you to use your sacros to stop his transformation and buy me some time to recover my energy. I know you will figure something out.”

“Okay.” Narvari wasn’t sure how she could use her sacros to stop the transformation, but she had to do something. There was no way in hell she was dying today.

Ushama.

Suddenly, her savaz appeared in her hands. She dashed towards the half-transformed demon, shooting at it over and over. With every shot she fired at the demon’s body, a gaping wound appeared. However, it soon regenerated as if nothing had happened. But Narvari wouldn’t stop.

Although the demon was quickly regenerating, his transformation halted. It seemed that it couldn’t transform and regenerate at the same time.

The demon glared at Narvari, growling in rage. His current transformation slowly vanished, returning it to its previous human form. He lunged towards Narvari. Narvari knew she was no match for the demon in her current strength. Right now, with only a fifth-order savaz and no elema, she couldn’t possibly vanquish or even overpower a ninth-order demon. Her best bet was to fight from a distance and using savaz gave her that advantage over using Trinity.

She agilely dodged the demon’s attacks while at the same time filling the demon’s body with sacros by shooting her savaz. Her shoulder felt like it had been hacked off by a chainsaw, but now was not the time to be thinking about the pain. If she lost the slightest focus, the demon would definitely kill her.

The demon roared. “Stand right there you annoying little fly.”

“What am I? Stupid?” Narvari flipped in the air.

The earth trembled again as another explosion rippled through the forest, splitting the ground into two. So powerful was the earthquake that Narvari and the demon came tumbling down. She clenched her hands.

Elevaz? She was sure of it. That must be Servin’s.

“Big brother.” The demon named Lleyiga froze. His face became paler than usual as he ran past Narvari towards the other demon lying unconscious on the ground.

Narvari turned to Servin. In his his left hand he brandished a strange projectile weapon whose fluid metallic body seemed to be made of…wind? What the hell?

Servin’s muscular chest heaved. But despite his exhaustion, the bliss on his face was apparent. He collapsed to the ground.

“Servin.”

Servin weakly raised a hand. “I’m just resting for a bit. Don’t lose your guard.”

Narvari halted, suddenly remembering that there was still one demon left.

But the red-haired demon seemed too overcome by the grief of his slowly-disintegrating brother, to pay any attention to Narvari.

“Brother.” The demon held his dead brother in his arms. “Shudaz, don’t leave me.”

Narvari froze, the scene before her suddenly looking way too familiar.

“You.” The demon glared at her. He put his brother down gently and stood up to face her. Pointing a long finger at her, he snarled, “This is all your fault.”

She balled her fist as all sympathy within her burnt to ash. “Of course, it’s my fault,” she said. “It’s not like you invaded our school and tried to kill us or anything. I asked for this and killed your brother. Yes, yes, it’s all my fault.”

“You killed my brother.” He growled at Servin. “Both of you did.”

Narvari shrugged. “Well, I guess the moral of the story is, don’t try to kill people, because they will kill you back.”

“Do you think this is a joke?” he thundered. Suddenly, his hand elongated, speeding towards Narvari like a whip. Just before she could swerve, however, her legs wobbled, her vision blurred and perspiration soaked her face like she had been tossed into a furnace.

Shit. The poison. The demon’s hand pummeled her in the abdomen, thrashing her around like a leaf in a storm. She fell heavily on twigs and thorns, blood spewing from her mouth. She spat out blood, the taste of copper or iron burning her tongue. When she moved her hand, she winced. Blood soaked her trembling arm. Her feet would not move even when she willed them to.

“Get up, Narvari.”

The sound of Servin’s voice was the only thing telling her that she was alive. Well, that and the agonizing pain in her shoulder and abdomen. She liked it better when it was numb. She was sure she had broken a rib or ten from the demon’s kick.

“Narvari, get up. He’s transforming again.”

Narvari glanced at the demon’s blurry form. She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes on the transforming demon.

Narvari slowly rose to her feet, the world rotating under her feet. God, her shoulder. No. No, she could not think about the pain. The pain was the least of her problems right now. She had to think of something. Their plan had half worked. One of the demons was dead. Its body had completely disintegrated now. But there was still another, and she was in no shape to fight that demon. She had to stop the transformation at least. She had to.

She moved. It was just a step but the little movement threatened to saw off her shoulder. She clenched her teeth. It was too late. The demon’s transformation was complete. The demon’s entire body was covered in red armor like the commander of a demon army. Two long red horns protruded out of his head, and his golden eyes shone with unadulterated malice.

The demon roared, forcing Narvari to her knees. She blocked her ears with her fingers. But it was the demon energy that made her want to die more than anything.

Make it stop.

She gripped her trembling hand. Fight back. You need to fight back.

Her legs shook as she took her stand. She glared at the demon. If she would die today, she would do so in grand style.

“Narvari, run. I’ll fight him.”

When did he get up? She gaped at Servin. He looked like the littlest blow of the wind would sweep him off his feet. Literally. Yet, the resolution in his silver eyes did not falter.

That was still not enough. Narvari knew Servin was in no condition to fight right now after exhausting all his sacred energy in using elevaz. Yet, he stood his ground.

“Sorry, Servin, but I’m not running.”

“Enough talk, vanquishers,” said the demon, morphing his hand into that long red scythe that had almost cut Narvari into two. “Time to die.”

“Oh, come on,” Narvari rolled her eyes, “at least be original.”

Glaring at her, the demon swung his scythe towards Narvari. Unconsciously, her Trinity activated and she grabbed hold of the blade with both sacred fists. The blade slowly cut through the sacros around her fists, until it was only a few inches away from her skin. Narvari gritted her teeth. She couldn’t hold this for long. It was only a matter of time until the scythe cut through her sacros. If she lost her grip, the demon wouldn’t hesitate to decorate his scythe with her blood. Perhaps, even her guts.

“You’re strong.” The demon’s hold over the scythe hardened. “But not strong enough.”

Narvari growled, her grip hardening on the blade. But she knew it was only a matter of time until she weakened. And slowly she did. She went on her knees. She couldn’t hold on anymore.

The demon was definitely going to hack her into two. Or pieces, maybe. Suddenly, the bright skies darkened and the cold air stabbed at her skin.

Rumbling tore through the dark gray skies. The demon’s grip on his scythe loosened. He looked up at the sky with a gaping mouth.

Narvari panted heavily. What just happened? Why the sudden change in weather? More importantly, what was that fearful look on the demon’s face? Does he not like rain? Some demons were water-averse and therefore vulnerable to water. Wouldn’t it be too convenient if this demon were water-averse and then it suddenly started raining?

Servin laughed hysterically. He casually sat down, as if there was no point in fighting the demon anymore. “Start running, demon.” The rumble of thunder became even more violent. Servin pointed to the dark skies. “Because she’s going to kill you.”

She? Narvari tilted her head, gazing at the skies. Who’s going to kill him? The thunder?