"Lady, I'll tell you again... I'm not interested in material things. What I want you to do is start taking your clothes off... like I'm your favorite man," a mugger said to a thin woman swallowed by a white mink jacket. "Really get into the role. If I'm feeling pleased enough, you can go about your night." He pointed a small pistol at her.

"You can forget it!" The woman's voice trembled.

"So be it."

"Leave her alone."

Shrazz twisted the mugger's right hand from behind. Shrazz's grip snapped his bone almost instantly. Shrazz picked him up and slammed him flat on his back.

"Don't worry." Shrazz turned to the woman. "Everything is fine."

He turned back to the mugger and watched as he disintegrated.

"Was my acting up to par?" Shrazz asked.

The woman side kicked Shrazz's stomach. He caught her leg.

"Your black magic smells so sweet," Shrazz told her, his mouth overflowing with saliva.

"I didn't think you were that idiotic," she said.

"Furs in the summer?" he asked.

"It's freezing here."

Shrazz pushed her leg away and attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks. She blocked or dodged all of them effortlessly, hooked one of Shrazz's punches and kneed his stomach. As he doubled over, she flipped into the air and brought a heel down on his back.

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Shrazz bounced off the concrete once before coming to rest.

"I was hoping for more of a challenge than this, exous."

Shrazz flipped up and resumed his attack.

The woman raised an arm to block one of Shrazz's punches. Shrazz's fist connected with it and crunched its bones. She screamed.

Shrazz concentrated Inner into his hands. A hot-cold sensation flowed down from his head into his arms.

The woman tried to block Shrazz's next punch with her uninjured arm. It exploded on impact. His next punch went through her face. Green blood poured out of the wound onto the concrete.

"I knew it couldn't be human." Shrazz smiled as the woman's body shed its disguise.

What was left of her head grew. Her chin and ears elongated, and her body doubled in size. Her skin became scaly and crimson. Horns protruded from the top of her head and spines curved from her arms and back.

Shrazz stared at the demon's body.

A darbas. I wonder why she didn't transform. If she had, I probably would have had a problem on my hands.

"But that doesn't matter!" he yelled out. "There's nothing more exquisite than darbas."

Should I just absorb the energy? Or do I have time to savor it? Shrazz chuckled.

"Is that really a choice?" he asked himself.

Shrazz pointed his palms toward the demon's body and blue flames erupted from them. The alleyway reeked of burnt hair and flesh.

He pulled one of her long, clawed fingers from her hand and tossed the claw aside. He bit the finger in half and savored it. He took another bite, and something strange happened. He had the urge to say a blessing.

God, thank you for this meal. I will not let one morsel go to waste.

He saw a red parchment on the smoking corpse, brushed the ash from it and revealed a seal he recognized to be Satan's. His flame had not scarred the parchment in the least. He unfolded it, read over it and smiled.

Sorry, God, looks like my thanks was misplaced.

According to the parchment, Satan had appointed the darbas to assassinate Shrazz. He had told the demon transformation would not be necessary, and to do so would forfeit her payment. Satan had set her up for failure knowing her energy would prepare Shrazz for his mission.

"So you were the 'representative'."

Shrazz's smile changed to a grin. Satan upheld his word. Leoran was only a test then. Now, all Shrazz had to do was uphold his word and he would: after he ate.