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An inaudible gasp left Evan, his heart sinking to the pit of his stomach. That couldn’t be. It didn’t sound right. Sure, Xen looked scary and was positively hazardous, but he wouldn’t actually kill someone for no reason. Not someone innocent. Definitely notmanyinnocents.

Just as that thought occurred, Evan was reminded of the people who died at the Greene Mansion. Corpses strewn around, their blood and flesh sucked dry. The worker, Bruce, and his minions.

Oh…

Xen…hadkilled people.

Before he could recover from the realization, a flash of blue light flared across Evan’s vision, momentarily blinding him. He sucked in a sharp breath, going still. Something cold nudged him—from the inside.

Blinking, Evan slowly lowered his gaze.

A long shard of glowing blue crystal was embedded in his stomach.

With a shaky breath, his legs gave out, and he crashed to his knees, holding onto the spiritual weapon he’d forged with his own hand. That he had used to pierce the Hellguard’s palm earlier.

The Hellguard standing at a distance lowered his hand after the strike. Even from that distance and with no sight, his aim had been accurate.

Evan’s trembling fingers held onto the shard, crimson oozing around translucent blue, soaking his black shirt darker. A fresh, metallic taste rose in his throat.

God, it hurts…

Evan had thought he’d been dragged to his limit of physical pain by many hands in his life. But this kind of pain, so excruciating that with every breath he could feel the sharp edge of the shard digging into his organs, was new. Worse.

Death would’ve been a mercy.

The weapon was forged from his own spiritual energy. So when it dug into his body, it absorbed the energy flowing through his blood and grew longer, impaling his insides. Inch by painful inch.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, that hurts.

It hurts.

I want to die.

I want to die.

I WANT TO DIE!

Outside, Knox and Xen clashed. The former, wielding the golden spear, and the latter, blocking off his attacks with a flick of his wrist, bursts of sizzling demonic energy knocking the spear off course.

Upon hearing Evan’s cry in his mind, Xen’s head whipped in his direction. His fiery eyes widened.

Sending an energy blast straight into Knox’s face, he dashed towards the Tomb of Ascension. Yet, when he reached the circle of Heavenly Spring Water, Evan held up a bloody hand.

“Don’t…” he gritted out, still on his knees and holding onto the shard. “You’ll…die…” When Xen defiantly tried to step forward, Evan growled, “I saidstop!”

Xen froze as more blood gushed from around the wound on Evan’s stomach. “Don’t move.”

That sight of Evan impaled through, pale-faced and kneeling in a puddle of his blood, made Xen’s own sizzling blood run cold. The fire in his eyes flickered as if about to go out.

Blood spurted from Evan’s mouth, but he kept his eyes on Xen. “It’s fine. I’m…fine.”

“Stop talking!” There it was again, that echo of voices growling deep from his throat. It sounded like another Xen was buried inside and was demanding to be unleashed. An aggressive Xen.

A horrifying Xen.

Knox stood up, holding onto his bleeding mouth, then started cackling out loud. “Oh, this isfun! So much fun. The place, the death, the pair… Everything is so familiar. It’s like the past is repeating itself.”

Xen’s fists balled at his sides as he helplessly watched Evan slump, bleeding out, his breathing shallow. He couldn’t enter the Tomb. Not without disintegrating. He’d die before even touching Evan. That held him still.