The loud blaring of an alarm started as soon as the tremor slowly subsided. Archer and I were still holding onto each other and we didnโt even realize it until both the tremor and the alarm subsided. I withdraw myself from him quicker than I normally would when I hug my friends. โWe should head to the evacuation area.โ Archer hides his face by lowering his head and starts to head off first. I pause for a bit, letting the sparrow version of Remoire rest on my finger. โGo and scout the area. Find out what happened and make sure that the others are safe.โ Remoire nods curtly at my command before taking flight. As soon as Remoire left, I start to follow Archer. Oddly enough, as we started to walk, there were no demons in sight. Itโs as if they were gone or they have all gone into hiding. The later sounds more probable, as thereโs a giant demon scorpion on the loose. Archer seems to have noticed the lack of demons in the vicinity, but he was being quiet about it. All my senses were
Itโs pretty obvious by now that the cocoons have humans inside of them. The form of the body alone is enough evidence for that. From Archerโs pale expression, I know that he figured it out as well. His alarmed expression never faded away since he couldnโt move. If the demon responsible for this finds us, thereโs no way that he could defend since he is paralyzed.โZarah, we have to get out of here. Zarah?โI am frozen solid where I am standing as I am staring at the cocoons. Thereโs no way for me to figure out who is behind them. I donโt have x-ray vision. But from the flying sparrow of a demon circling the cocoons, my heart starts to sink. โWait. Isnโt that your sparrow?โRemoire seems to have noticed us and is flying in our direction. He perches on my head.โMaster, I am sorry. By the time I found them, they were already captured.โMy strength nearly left me and I almost dropped Archer. My suspicions were right. These are our comrades!โWe have to get them down.โโZarah, we canโt.โ
โMaster, I do not understand.โ The demon prince of gluttony nonchalantly asks me as he hangs by his feet inside my room. He was hanged using the thread that I got from Kirinโs core, an object that he gave me in return for allowing him to eat Asmodeusโs pet. โAre you punishing me because you are upset or because this is one of your kinks like brother Mammon?โ Mammon chokes on the grape that he was seating. โI do not!โ He protests. โMammon, shut up before I make you sit.โ I threaten him, making the demon prince of greed sit Japanese style on the floor. โSorry.โ He utters. โIf not brother Mammon, then perhaps brother Leviathan.โ Beel moves his head to look at the demon prince of envy, glaring at him from the corner of my room in a gloomy state. The majestic demon has tears in his ears has his face contorted with an envy expression. Gorshe and Remoire surround him, like they are trying to console Leviathan. When Leviathan sees my gaze, his eyes begin to fill up with tears and the lo
โWhat are you? Insane?!โ I grab his coat and pull him toward me. โAre you asking me to let him be killed?!โThe mask that portrays his emotion seems to be blank. โIt is not for me to decide that. I am only telling you that you will fail to save everyone if you continue to save that person.โMy mind grows empty at what I wish to say. It is not because I am at a loss for words. There are just so many things that I want to ask but donโt know where to start. I know that Belphegor avoids Archer for some reason. Whether it is because he is afraid of the captainโs power or not, I canโt say. I have a feeling that there might be something more behind it.I do my best to remain calm. โWhy him?โ Belphegor remains quiet. I clench my teeth in anger, feeling my temperature rise again out of anger. Why isnโt he answering me? โWhy him?โ I demanded. โOut of all the people in the world, why does it have to be Archer? What is so special about him?โ Belphegorโs mask completely lost any expression.
My room has never felt so smaller. Imagine being in your bedroom with five demons and three huntersโexcluding me. I am still on earth but even I know how hellish it feels. Never has my room felt more suffocating than ever. I am in bed, for obvious reasons. My mother and father are sitting beside my bed while Archer is leaning on the wall facing me. The five demons are by the bathroom, making sure to keep their distance from us. They are demon princes for a reason, meaning they can hide their presence from Archer and my parents. I just hope that they behave themselves and not cause any noise. โHere, dear. Say, ah.โ Getting spoon-fed by my mother and being watched by a number of eyes makes me feel sick. Even swallowing the food is a struggle. The porridge is threatening to rise up to my throat. If swallowing the food is the problem, I could have endured it. The problem was, the demon prince of gluttony is in the room with us. Eating in front of him is just a recipe for disaster. I
Green field greets my side of the window when I wake up from taking a deep nap from the back seat of our family car. Currently, weโre headed to the fair, where the new hunters are going to take their oath to become full-pledged hunters. My father is driving me to the venue, which is like an eight-hour drive from where we are but my mother and brother decided to tag along just for the thrill of it. Also, so we can turn this event into a mini family trip.A chuckle makes me turn to my left. My brother is snickering while looking at me.โI knew youโd be asleep the entire ride.โโAre those cheetos?โ I fought off my groggy state just so I could straighten up and grab the bag of junk food from his hands. My mouth water as I anticipated on eating something, but when I look inside, it is already empty. I turn to him with a disgruntled expression.โHey, I offered you some, but you were busy sleeping.โ He laughs when I toss the empty bag of Cheetos towards him. โYouโre a jerk,โ I grumble.โLo
โI cannot believe that you went to the casino!โ My mom paces the room. Her heels are clacking the room and I can feel their vibrations on the floor as I am kneeling on it. โFirst thingโฆthe first thing that you do as soon as we get to the hotel is the casino!?โ I flinch when I hear her raising her voice. โZarah, you might be of legal age but you are still a hunter in training until you get your license!โ Wow. She is definitely mad. It has been a while since I heard her this angry. Out of everyone, my mother is the scariest when angry. My brother and father would always act like they saw nothing and would keep their distance from her. Right now, my father and brother are in a far corner of the room, sharing an upside-down newspaper. Itโs pretty obvious that they were eavesdropping on our conversation. โI wasโฆI thought that I saw someone that I know.โ The more that I look at my motherโs expression, the more that I can tell that my choice of words is wrong. โYou saw a friend going t
I know what I said to my parents and sneaking out despite their warning is a little risky on my part. But I do believe that using Beelzebubโs clones is going to keep me safe from getting caught. For tonight, the real me is going into the casino to hunt demons. And of course, I am wearing a disguise sponsored by the demon prince of greed. I did say that he is going to pay after all. โI still firmly believe that red is the best color for our master.โ Mammon, the sponsor for all of my costume for tonight, holds out a sparkling evening dress that is too revealing for my taste. If there was no fire alarm in my room, I would have burned the dress already. Since I canโt do that, all I can do now is glare at the fabric and hope that it will come to ruin on its own.โBrother, that barely covers her skin. What if Asmodeous covets her?โ For the first time, Leviathan sounds defiant when he speaks with Mammon. Meanwhile, Beel drools while looking at the dress before trying to take a bite out of
My attention is on Belphegor, not knowing whatโs happening. I only know that thereโs a question at the back of my mind at the moment. I understand that it is not unavoidable that Belphegor will know about Jackie, especially when he is constantly following me. The only thing that bothers me the most is how he seems to know Jackie and sounds like he genuinely cares. There are still more questions following up about why Belphegor acted the way that he did, but itโs hard to formulate the questions, especially when thereโs another wild demon prince in the area. โI thought that you guys would never get here.โ Asmodeus speaks, bringing my attention back to him. โShit.โ Leviathan curses. โBeel, gen in here now.โ It is my first time hearing Leivathan sounding so commanding that it makes me question if he really is the real Leviathan. โBEEL!โ He was getting a little bit emotional that the barrier he created is starting to sway. โLeviathan, calm down.โ I have to order him. โYour barrier is
The demon of lust is one of the bitchiest demons I ever get to face. Asmodeus has the power to completely brainwash anyone who gets stung by his scorpions. And, based from all the scorpions crawling inside the hotel, I can only guess that everyone is now under Asmodeusโs control. Based on my previous experience, taking off the scorpion that latches itself on its victim should undo the brainwashingโthat or defeating Asmodeus. However, I need to find him first in order to accomplish it. But that might be a challenging task to accomplish with all of the humans surrounding us. I donโt know if I have mentioned this before but there are a lot of them in the lobby just staring out into space as if they are all sleeping. A shy movement on my leg made me aware that thereโs a scorpion crawling up my leg. Before I got the chance to shake it off, it stung me with its tail. I flinch, but I did not make much of a sound out of fear of catching the attention of the hypnotized people. Right. As lon
โBโBelphegorโฆโ I manage to whisper his name. The way that I seem to feel relief when I see him is strange and alien to me. Belphegor stands in front of me, guarding me from the demon that is Asmodeus. I know that Belphegor heard me. He just didnโt acknowledge me so far because thereโs another demon prince in the room. Asmodeus doesnโt look like the happeniest demon at the moment. I notice that thereโs blood on the side of his lips, so I can only assume that Belphegor must have hit him. And, just like the rest of the other demon princes, the wound is gone before the demon prince of lust speaks. โSeems like another pest has come. Your lucky that you have such a pretty face. Otherwise, I might have killed you.โ I have never seen Belphegorโs face even once and yet Asmodeus here sounds like he sees him without the mask. โYou damn creep!โ Belphegor seems like he was about to hit him, but his body seems to feeze. The hand that he used to hit Asmodeus suddenly starts to burn. โTsk, t
My neck feels stiff as when I wake up from a dreamless sleep. I find myself in an unfamiliar room. There are faint rose scents lingering around along with a light and romantic music. Piercing pain in my head hits me almost instantly. I already know that I must be in a hotel room. When I open my eyes, I am not even surprised that I am right. However, instead of being in my room, I realize that this isnโt even mine to begin with. I jog up the fog in my brain to remember what happened to me. The moment I do, I quickly sit up on the bed that I am lying on and immediately check my body. Thank goodness I still have my clothes on. I am sure of it. Right before I lost my consciousness, it was the demon Prince Asmodeus who caught me. Or maybe I was just too drunk and thought that it was him. In any case, I need to leave this place before whoever stays here comes back. I kick off the sheets aside, rubbing sleep from my eyes as I do. My legs move to get off the bed, but as soon as my
I know what I said to my parents and sneaking out despite their warning is a little risky on my part. But I do believe that using Beelzebubโs clones is going to keep me safe from getting caught. For tonight, the real me is going into the casino to hunt demons. And of course, I am wearing a disguise sponsored by the demon prince of greed. I did say that he is going to pay after all. โI still firmly believe that red is the best color for our master.โ Mammon, the sponsor for all of my costume for tonight, holds out a sparkling evening dress that is too revealing for my taste. If there was no fire alarm in my room, I would have burned the dress already. Since I canโt do that, all I can do now is glare at the fabric and hope that it will come to ruin on its own.โBrother, that barely covers her skin. What if Asmodeous covets her?โ For the first time, Leviathan sounds defiant when he speaks with Mammon. Meanwhile, Beel drools while looking at the dress before trying to take a bite out of
โI cannot believe that you went to the casino!โ My mom paces the room. Her heels are clacking the room and I can feel their vibrations on the floor as I am kneeling on it. โFirst thingโฆthe first thing that you do as soon as we get to the hotel is the casino!?โ I flinch when I hear her raising her voice. โZarah, you might be of legal age but you are still a hunter in training until you get your license!โ Wow. She is definitely mad. It has been a while since I heard her this angry. Out of everyone, my mother is the scariest when angry. My brother and father would always act like they saw nothing and would keep their distance from her. Right now, my father and brother are in a far corner of the room, sharing an upside-down newspaper. Itโs pretty obvious that they were eavesdropping on our conversation. โI wasโฆI thought that I saw someone that I know.โ The more that I look at my motherโs expression, the more that I can tell that my choice of words is wrong. โYou saw a friend going t
Green field greets my side of the window when I wake up from taking a deep nap from the back seat of our family car. Currently, weโre headed to the fair, where the new hunters are going to take their oath to become full-pledged hunters. My father is driving me to the venue, which is like an eight-hour drive from where we are but my mother and brother decided to tag along just for the thrill of it. Also, so we can turn this event into a mini family trip.A chuckle makes me turn to my left. My brother is snickering while looking at me.โI knew youโd be asleep the entire ride.โโAre those cheetos?โ I fought off my groggy state just so I could straighten up and grab the bag of junk food from his hands. My mouth water as I anticipated on eating something, but when I look inside, it is already empty. I turn to him with a disgruntled expression.โHey, I offered you some, but you were busy sleeping.โ He laughs when I toss the empty bag of Cheetos towards him. โYouโre a jerk,โ I grumble.โLo
My room has never felt so smaller. Imagine being in your bedroom with five demons and three huntersโexcluding me. I am still on earth but even I know how hellish it feels. Never has my room felt more suffocating than ever. I am in bed, for obvious reasons. My mother and father are sitting beside my bed while Archer is leaning on the wall facing me. The five demons are by the bathroom, making sure to keep their distance from us. They are demon princes for a reason, meaning they can hide their presence from Archer and my parents. I just hope that they behave themselves and not cause any noise. โHere, dear. Say, ah.โ Getting spoon-fed by my mother and being watched by a number of eyes makes me feel sick. Even swallowing the food is a struggle. The porridge is threatening to rise up to my throat. If swallowing the food is the problem, I could have endured it. The problem was, the demon prince of gluttony is in the room with us. Eating in front of him is just a recipe for disaster. I
โWhat are you? Insane?!โ I grab his coat and pull him toward me. โAre you asking me to let him be killed?!โThe mask that portrays his emotion seems to be blank. โIt is not for me to decide that. I am only telling you that you will fail to save everyone if you continue to save that person.โMy mind grows empty at what I wish to say. It is not because I am at a loss for words. There are just so many things that I want to ask but donโt know where to start. I know that Belphegor avoids Archer for some reason. Whether it is because he is afraid of the captainโs power or not, I canโt say. I have a feeling that there might be something more behind it.I do my best to remain calm. โWhy him?โ Belphegor remains quiet. I clench my teeth in anger, feeling my temperature rise again out of anger. Why isnโt he answering me? โWhy him?โ I demanded. โOut of all the people in the world, why does it have to be Archer? What is so special about him?โ Belphegorโs mask completely lost any expression.