Syren and Tyra both left the house. The guards outside had left on a more urgent mission. Ira was right behind Syren, and was thoroughly disappointed in him. Nonetheless, he had no choice but to follow.

But Syren didn't forget about the demon of wrath following him. Syren continued calling them demons, but deep down he knew that they were all just pieces of himself that were ripped apart. He just didn't have any other name to call them. As nobody was around, he took out his black tome and by just touching the paper, the words glowed as a blade made of shadows formed around Syren's hand. There were no words. No chants. There was no need. He pointed it straight at Ira's neck.

Tyra was at first surprised, but then remembered about the demon that was following. If she could see him, then she wouldn't need to be reminded that it wasn't just her and Syren on this journey, but an invisible demon.

As for Ira, he didn't expect this to happen at all. He was expecting Syren to get mad or even angry, but Ira was confident that he could handle it. He was genuinely surprised though by the shadow blade being cast without the need for words. However, Ira wasn't afraid of the blade. He was sure that nothing could hurt him while he was just stuck to Syren like a ghost.

Syren had no time for games. He looked straight at those snake-like eyes with determination to kill him right there.

"Ira. Demon of wrath. A snake and a liar who only wishes for conflict and violence," Syren said as he held his shadow blade at Ira's neck. Ira had no fear, but Syren was quite sure that he should have been. Syren wasn't in the mood for any more lies.

"Now. Now. Let's not be hasty, Syren," Ira said as to please Syren, "If I had told you what you were, you wouldn't believe me. And if I had showed you all at once, then you'd be still lying on the floor. Even if I am Ira, the embodiment of wrath, doesn't mean that you don't have to call me Whisper. I liked that name. It suited me."

"I'm not a fool!" Syren shouted as he swung his shadow blade across Ira's arm. And to Ira's surprise, the arm fell. He only felt a stinging pain, but it was real. His arm was cut off swiftly, and bled green acid. The look of fear struck Ira's face for the first time, and Syren enjoyed the sight.

Tyra gasped in surprise. She couldn't see the arm nor Ira, but she could see the green blood spilling on the grass burning away any and all life that it touched. Steam rose up from where the blood spilled as it bubbled and disintegrated into the dirt. Syren didn't know if it would actually work. He was surprised, but showed no sign of it.

Syren continued as Ira continued to stare at his arm in shock, "You don't deserve to be called anything else but what you are. I believed that I was monster, but now I see that you are a true monster on the inside and out. You continued to try and manipulate me. You tried to kill Tyra when you had the chance. You tried to convince me that getting rid of her would be better. Perhaps, I should just get rid of you. It is obvious you are worse than Invidia. He tried to be better. But you're even worse than Gula as you're not some animal who can't control himself. You most certainly can when you feel like it."

"Wait," Ira begged, "You won't be able to find the other demons without me. You still need a guide to point you where to go."

"I think I can figure out where they are. Head to the place where the most chaos is happening."

"How long would that take? The world is a crazy place. You could end up in one mad place when the monster's in another. You'll never be able to find them all," Ira continued. When Ira looked at Syren's eyes, he could tell that he was seriously considering cutting off the snake's neck. "You won't even know what to look for. You don't know Avaritia, Apathios, and Superbia like I do. I don't have to take control of your body. I can still be an excellent guide."

Syren still contemplated whether he should just finish him or not.

"I can tell you right now who you should look for to find Avaritia," Ira said, "And he's here right in this city."

"Who?"

"It's hard to sense where the demons are specifically, but I'm sure that guy has a more clear idea. That Bellbraun guy. The leader of that mercenary band. The ones all dressed in gold and silk. I can smell their blood. They have our blood. If I'm to guess, they probably know where to find Avaritia, the demon of greed. I was going to tell you anyways after we dealt with Invidia. It wouldn't have been smart to face multiple demons at once."

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

Syren remembered Bellbraun, but didn't consider him anything but a very close friend to Tyra. Instinctively, he looked at Tyra and she noticed. She wondered what they were talking about, but Syren couldn't just tell her that Bellbraun was affiliated with one of the demons. He needed proof.

"Fine," Syren said as his blade vanished back to his own shadow, "But if those mercenaries are a dead end, then expect your head in that demon's place. I wonder what piece of jewelry you'll drop."

Both Ira and Tyra noticed how much Syren had changed. He was a lot more confident and somewhat scary. His spirit had grown harder with iron and steel, but Syren still maintained his ideals. He still wanted to undo what he had done, and to try to be the best person he could be.

Ira's arm had melted away into nothing but gas. And Ira felt something push out from his left shoulder. A new arm grew out like newly shedded skin.

"Tyra," Syren said as she listened, "Our demon suspects Bellbraun to be working with one of the demons. Avaritia. Is it possible that he would work with such a monster?"

"No!" Tyra yelled back defensively, "He's a hired mercenary, but I doubt he'd do anything like that. He wouldn't take such a risk dealing with monsters after..." Tyra remembered the undead dragon that they fought, but chose not to talk about. Bellbraun couldn't do anything against it. She knew that he wouldn't deal with any kind of monster. "It's not possible."

"I believe you," Syren said thoughtfully.

"Wait. You're just going to take her word?" Ira complained.

Syren ignored the demon and continued speaking with Tyra, "If there's nothing wrong, then there's no harm in asking him directly. I want to hear in his own words that he doesn't know anything about any of my demons."

"That's... fine. That's fine," Tyra replied, "I wouldn't mind seeing his face one more time. And when you confirm that he has nothing to do with any demons or monsters, then we can continue on our journey." Tyra was quite certain that Bellbraun was anything but some kind of demon follower. He was smart enough not to get involved with such creatures or so she hoped. Either way, if Syren did plan on fighting Bellbraun, she knew that she would have to choose a side. And at that moment, she felt that she would side with her old friend even if it meant destroying the only chance at tearing away this eclipse.

"Ira. There is one more thing," Syren said, "We saw seven tears fly out of the sky. Is that correct? As I recall, you even asked me to confirm."

"Yes," Ira said knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to hide whatever he knew.

"Why? You said that there are seven demons. One for each tear. But you were already out. You went out early before I even awoke. In total, that would make eight. Eight demons."

"...Yes."

"And when were you going to tell me?"

"I don't know. I was just as surprised. I forced myself to leave earlier than expected. There should have only been seven of us. I expected six to pop out, but there was an extra. I don't understand it myself. And this is the truth," Ira said solemnly, "I separated myself as quickly as I could so that I could do as much damage and war as I could before the others. Something went wrong. I was still stuck to your body like a leech. I tried to break free, but I couldn't. I tried to kill you as you slept, but my body went through yours without doing a thing. It was difficult for me to do anything. So, I pretended to be something else. I made up a quick story about whisperers using half-truths ever since you awoke. And, more importantly, when I left, I may have torn something apart. It's like pieces of ourselves leaked onto each of us. I can feel a bit of pride. I can feel a bit of envy. I feel some apathy when seeing others suffer when I don't inflict it upon them. Something did go wrong. Not with the ritual, but it happened when I left before the others. It is strange, but I feel as though there aren't eight demons, but something just incomplete or perhaps extra. The others are probably vaguely aware and they may be feeling a strange sense of something else within their personality, too. The truth is that I just don't know."

"You know. For once, I actually believe you," Syren replied, "Any other lies I should know? I surely hope that you didn't lie about how to end the eclipse."

"No. No more lies. Defeat the demons and the world should keep spinning. No point in lies now that you can cut me down the moment you think I am," Ira replied, "Or perhaps you always could damage me, and neither of us knew. But I know I can't hurt you. Why was I stuck with such annoying abilities? It would suit Apathios more than me. Anyways, I assume I will be left for last. At the very least, I'd like to face Superbia at the end. He was and still annoys me with his high and mighty stance over everybody else. I ought to take him down one notch if you can accept my request."

Syren was never going to agree to that. He wouldn't let Ira ever take control of himself again. But to shut him up, he replied, "I'll think about it." And Ira knew that that was a lie and became disappointed.

Syren did plan on leaving Ira alive for now. He did need him as a guide to the others. There were either three or four left as far as Syren knew, and he knew that the longer they stayed out there they could turn either become more human or turn into monsters that could end this world. He hoped for the best, but prepared for the worst.