Page 20

“W hat…is that thing?” Evan’s voice was hushed to the point his words were just breathy squeaks, afraid that the monster might hear him.

“A Hellguard,” Xen mused. “In his original form.”

Evan stiffened further, movements jerky. “Holy shit…”

Other than pondering about Xen’s position in the demon hierarchy, Evan hadn’t spared much thought about other kinds of demons and what they might look like. That purple-eyed demon he’d exorcised from the girl was horrid-looking, and it was only a low-level.

If this thirty-foot-huge pile of rocks, which didn’t seem to have eyes and was grabbing into the air like it was trying to choke something, was a Hellguard, Evan didn’t want to imagine what an Eternal’s true form might look like.

Just like that, Evan was glad Xen was a low-level. Grateful even.

“Hellguards are warriors of my realm, their sole purpose destruction, uncaring of who they’re fighting. Hence, in its true form, a Hellguard has no sight,” Xen pointed a casual finger at the huge rock giant, like observing a tourist attraction spot. “Its hearing, however, is notoriously sharp.”

As if on cue, the Hellguard’s head twitched, slowly turning in their direction, the action drawing a rumble as rocks grated against each other. It stepped out from behind the tree, a low growl emanating from its chest, echoing throughout the area.

Xen pointed at it again. “Look—”

Evan slapped a hand over Xen’s mouth, gritting, “ Shut up! ”

Amused for some reason, Xen let Evan pull him away from the path that led to the stone door and towards the nearest tree before ducking behind it.

The thumping footsteps quaked the ground as the Hellguard turned its head, trying to locate the sound that had caught its attention. When it couldn’t hear it again, the demon growled, the sound making hair spike up along Evan’s nape.

A warm palm smoothed the hair back as it slid around Evan’s nape. “Are you afraid?” Xen whispered against Evan’s hand still covering his mouth.

If that wasn’t a rhetorical question, Evan was two seconds away from committing suicide.

Evan dropped his hand and shoved Xen against the tree, forcing him into a sitting position, but considering the physical dynamic, that feeble shove didn’t do much. Relenting, Xen casually folded his arms behind his head, leaning back against the tree with a bored look. “You are afraid.”

“Did you see the size of that thing?” Cold sweat broke out across Evan’s forehead as he sneered. “Of course I’m…startled.”

The words I’m afraid had never left Evan’s mouth—not for as long as he could remember being an egoistic piece of shit. And even in such a situation, where a slip of the tongue or two could be overlooked, his mouth was particularly reluctant to utter those words.

Showing weakness before a demon was no different from dangling a bleeding ass before a shark. They would devour it.

Dropping his spinning head into his hands, Evan tugged at his hair roots. He’d finally reached the post-decision misery state where he was rethinking every life choice he’d made in the past twenty-seven years of his life. The most reckless being following a demon into a haunted land disconnected from society. If he squinted hard enough, Evan could see his doomed future self cursing him.

“He is just a rock. He won’t hurt you,” Xen said, stretching his long legs, then crossing them as he relaxed against the tree trunk. “Well, as long as you don’t try to force your way into the temple.”

“Then why are we even here?” Evan whisper-yelled, eyes never leaving the Hellguard as it swung its head, listening. “I can’t fight that thing.”

“Why not?”

Evan blinked. “Oh, my bad. Um, this might not be obvious, but A, I’m human. B, I’m not a walking boulder from hell. And C, why don’t you go fight that thing?”

Xen’s eyes trained on Evan, studying his look of distress. His heart was beating so loud it echoed faintly in Xen’s ears, skipping a beat with every stir from the Hellguard. With a sigh, Xen sat upright, staring at Evan. “You’re not aware of your own potential, are you?”

“We don’t have time for bullshit!” Evan snapped, peeking from behind the tree at the agitated demon. “How do we get into the temple with that thing guarding it? Why is a demon guarding a temple anyway?”

It was like the Devil guarding the church. Absolutely unheard of and positively impossible.

A cold wind blew across them, the belt of Evan’s coat fluttering. Xen caught it between his fingers, almost reflexively, before slowly bringing it up to his nose and inhaling deeply. “He has something he needs to keep safe.”

Evan cursed under his breath. “Of course, he does.”

Keeping safe , protecting , helping— these were words he’d have never before associated with demons and similar creatures of the dark. The books claimed that they were selfish, manipulative, and only cared for what benefited or amused them.

But again, so were humans, weren’t they?

Suddenly, Evan gasped as a piece of information fluttered into his mind, sprinkling sweet gasoline over the fire in his chest.

That witch’s grimoire had said that Hellguards served Eternals. If this Hellguard was “keeping safe” something inside the Old Temple…did that mean what he was thinking?

Eyes wide as a saucer, Evan slowly turned at Xen, voice barely above a whisper. “Tell me that relic does not belong to a Demon King.”

Xen paused in the middle of sniffing Evan’s coat belt and looked up, twilight casting shadows across his face.

Then he smiled.

Oh, fuck no.

With a spike of adrenaline, Evan straightened and grabbed Xen’s arm, trying to drag him away. “No way. Not happening. Forget about it. Let’s go.”

He would have tried to consider doing something about the Hellguard, maybe distract it, so they could sneak into the temple for the relic. But if that Reth belonged to a literal royalty of the demon race, Evan’s fate would be worse than a simple beheading.

No, those creatures would hang him upside down and start chomping off his flesh while he was still alive, his bloodcurdling screams aiding as background music. They’d skewer his eyeballs and present them to the Demon King for a taste test.

But even with the rush of blood pumping strength into his muscles, Evan couldn’t even budge Xen from his position on the ground. That made him realize how bizarre his actions were.

Why was he trying to take Xen with him when he could just leave him there? It was as if he was actually concerned about this low-level creature falling under the Hellguard's feet rather than hoping for it to happen.

Gritting his teeth, Evan tugged on Xen’s arm with more force. “Get your ass off the ground!”

“Mm.”

“ Get up! ”

“Why?”

An itch burned in the center of Evan’s palms. He was two seconds away from wrapping his hands around Xen's throat and choking him straight back to hell. “Again, did you see that thing? That big, rocky…hideous thing? If that's the guard, can you imagine how horrifying his master must be?”

Xen’s brows furrowed. “I can imagine.”

There was something in the way he said that, as if his vision differed vastly from how Evan was imagining it. Like he was almost offended.

“Good. That’s why we need to leave before one of us—or both—gets trampled under his foot.”

“As I mentioned already, he won’t hurt you.”

“How do you know that?” Evan gritted out.

Xen didn't reply, lips firmly shut. The way he was looking at Evan almost felt like Evan had kicked him when he was down and was asking him to get up so he could kick him again. How cruel.

With an exhausted sigh, Evan stopped fruitlessly trying to tug Xen up and crouched down beside him, trying his best to induce a patience he didn’t possess into his tone. “Okay. Alright, we’ll get you your relic. Just…not at this moment. For now, let’s head back, okay? I’ll go home and study about this kind of demon, find its weakness and then come up with a plan—”

Thump. Thump.

The sudden nearness of the footsteps made Evan jump, and clumsy as he was, he ass-landed straight into Xen’s awaiting lap.

A grunt escaped Xen that went unnoticed. Evan’s wide eyes were locked on the shadow of the Hellguard drifting across the ground.

A feather-light drizzle cascaded from the heavens, barely seeping through the dense atmosphere of the haunted land. It was almost dusk. God knew what creatures would crawl out once night fell. Evan couldn’t even blame them if they tried to eat him. He’d basically crawled onto their plate, thoroughly garnished and all.

“If you’re not coming with me,” Evan finally whispered, body stiff in Xen’s lap as he watched the shadows dancing around them, “I’m going to leave you here.”

“Please don’t,” Xen’s gaze settled on Evan’s exposed nape. “What if I get trampled on?” Although he intended to sound pitiful, he, in fact, didn’t. Two arms snaked around Evan’s waist from behind, then a chin came to rest against his shoulder. Xen sighed. “You know, if you tried to fight him, you’d win.”

A vein throbbed in Evan’s temple. “Stop bullshi—Hey!”

Xen gripped Evan’s sides and yanked him closer, flush against his chest. He took Evan’s hands into his own. “Stay still.”

“Don’t mess around—”

“Stop talking.”

Evan clamped his lips shut.

As the Hellguard’s footsteps thumped around them, Xen’s huge hands covered the back of Evan’s own, pressing his clammy palms together. Leaning close, he whispered in Evan’s ear, “Focus your spiritual energy into your arms. Feel it flow through your hands and direct it towards your palms.”

Even though Evan’s heart was gripped with dread because of the demon around them, he tried to heed the instruction, using it as a distraction to make sure his heart didn’t suddenly give out.

“Let that spiritual energy melt like metal against flame,” Xen’s palms warmed against the back of Evan’s hands. “Feel that melting metal gather between your palms. Feel it harden.”

That description was so specific that it didn’t take much effort for Evan to vividly paint a picture in his mind. Without opening his core and using the spiritual energy already circulating through his body, he redirected the flow towards his hands.

Blue light coursed through his veins, accelerating in the direction of his command, and shimmered to life between his pressed palms, a grainy feeling pulsing in the midst. It was a strange sensation, like crystallized powder erupting from his skin follicles, melting together to become bigger. Harder, firmer.

“Now, draw it out,” Xen held Evan’s wrists, voice soft as to not break his focus, and slowly pulled his palms apart.

A glowing, translucent crystal materialized between his palms. Solid like glass, slightly jagged, thrumming with his blue spiritual energy. It elongated as his palms stretched further apart.

Evan was startled. His finger trembled, and his focus broke, the crystal bursting into shimmering blue dust in his hands.

Did I…just do that?

He slowly blinked down at his hands, unbelieving he’d just created such a beautiful thing out of thin air. All these years, he’d thought being able to draw a light barrier over his body was the biggest accomplishment of his life in matters related to spiritual energy. Who knew there were so many things he’d never tried because he wasn’t aware they existed?

Why had Rhea never taught him this?

“That was…strange,” Evan whispered to his hands, as if complimenting them. “Strange but…stunning.”

Xen smiled over Evan’s shoulder. “You lost concentration. Try again.”

Guiding his palms together again, Xen held them close as Evan focused his spiritual energy like before. This time, without Xen’s instructions, Evan was able to forge a glowing blue shard between his palms. To improvise, towards one end, he curled his fingers while drawing it out, sharpening an end into a spike. It was now shaped like a sword of ice, translucent and cold, twice as sharp.

“Wow,” Evan admired his ice sword, jamming it into the ground to test its functionality. It cut smoothly, slicing through earth and stone alike in one swift move.

“You can turn any vision into a weapon with the amount of spiritual energy your core produces,” Xen leaned back against the tree once again, cushioning his hands behind his head. “And it's remarkably deadly against my kind.”

“Oh,” Evan traced the sharp edge of the ice sword. “Aren’t you the least bit concerned I might use this against you one day?”

Xen cocked his head, red glinting in his eyes. “I’m certain you will.”

There was a conviction in his voice that made Evan roll his eyes.

Evan was a quick learner. Someone could just hold his finger, and he’d learn how to climb their shoulder. So without Xen’s help, he held the spiritual weapon in his hand and dissolved it into dust.

“Nicely done,” Xen smiled.

“Mmhm,” Evan dusted his hands, seemingly forgetting he was still sitting in Xen’s lap. “I’m still not fighting that thing, though. He will crush me into a pulp before I have a chance to draw a weapon.”

Fighting a battle you knew you’d lose was like inviting death for an early union. And Evan was pretty sure that if he died such a cruel death, he'd come back as a vengeful spirit and haunt this town. Just another lifetime of aimless wandering. People were already scared of him, anyway.

The simple solution was, don’t poke death, and it won’t stab you back.

The darkening night sky shrouded the entire area around the temple in dancing shadows. Dense trees loomed around the clearing, shrouding everything within it in darkness. The Hellguard paced behind the tree engulfing the temple, seeming agitated as he stomped little rocks into dust under his feet.

Xen threw a glance over his shoulder at the Hellguard, his expressions unreadable. For a moment, his eyes narrowed, then he turned to Evan. “In all honesty, we didn’t come here just for the relic.”

“What do you mean?”

For whatever reason, Xen’s eyes turned serious. “I need you to break his curse.”

“ Curse? ” Evan slapped a hand across his mouth, startled by his own screech as he threw a cautious glance at the Hellguard before softly biting out, “What curse? Whose curse?”

Xen hooked a thumb over his shoulder at the rock giant. Evan followed his finger. After a tense silence, he chuckled darkly. “No. Fucking. Way.”

“I wasn’t lying when I said he’s an old friend,” Xen said, leaning forward to stare at Evan, red eyes dimly alight in the dark. “He needs our help.”

“There’s no our between us!” With progressively deepening irritation, Evan glanced between the Hellguard and his personal hell sitting in front of him. Then he let out an exhausted sigh. “Can you come back to the curse part?”

Xen quirked a small, satisfied smile. “Three hundred years ago, the day that relic was buried in that temple, he was cursed to remain in this form, guarding the relic against everyone. It has been so long that he has forgotten what it is to be normal.”

“When you say normal …”

Xen waved a hand at his suit-clad self. “Like me.”

So that demon had forgotten how to turn…smaller. Or human-like. Well, whichever, it was not Evan’s responsibility nor desire to tangle himself with any more demons. If they just left and returned when that Hellguard was not around, it would be easier to retrieve Reth.

But even as he leaned towards that logic, a small part within Evan swayed with uncertainty.

Three centuries was a long time. Without sight, aimlessly wandering an abandoned world must have been lonely for the demon.

Xen had called him a friend . Another word Evan had never thought he’d hear from a demon. If their friendship was genuine, then Xen must’ve been feeling the same way as Evan after finding out about Aaron’s disappearance.

The normal Evan would have refused straightaway and left that place immediately. But the normal Evan was turning more and more abnormal by each day that he spent around Xen. So it was no surprise when a thought popped into his mind.

Getting a little context before deciding whether or not to help him wouldn’t hurt, right?

Xen, who’d been staring intently at Evan, hummed appreciatively, no doubt reading his mind.

After sending a glare his way, then hesitating a little, Evan asked, “How can we break his curse? And this doesn’t mean I’m agreeing to anything. Or disagreeing.”

The Hellguard, being hit with round after round of hushed whispers from everywhere, grew more and more restless. A roar echoed from the hollow cave of its gaping mouth, and he swung an arm at a nearby tree, smashing it to splinters with one strike. The remainder of the tree crashed heavily to the ground. Some creatures lurking in the shadows screeched in fright before fleeing into the woods, disappearing from the raging beast’s sight.

Evan stared blankly at the scene, then swallowed.

Perhaps before he broke the curse, something inside his body was going to break.

Not particularly impressed by the show of aggression, Xen instead shifted towards the edge of the tree. Evan, still in his lap, shifted with him unwillingly.

“See that puncture in his head?” he pointed towards the Hellguard. Evan squinted, trying to focus in the dark, his eyes glowing blue as he strained his sensitive vision. Sure enough, in the spot between where its eyes should’ve been, there was a hole just big enough to swallow a human fist.

“I see it,” Evan whispered.

“You need to hit it with a spiritual blast.”

A breath hitched in Evan’s throat. “I— What?! ”

“Every demon’s original form possesses an opening to its core of demonic energy,” Xen explained, wiggling a finger at the Hellguard’s head. “His is there, right at the center of his head.”

“What—but…” Evan stammered, unable to make sense of this detail. “How will blasting his head off break his curse?”

If a demon’s core of energy worked anything like that of a spiritually cultivated human, then blasting its opening might as well be a death sentence. It could crush its innards, then explode from within the body, blowing the demon to pieces.

Even if Evan wasn’t sure he possessed the immense spiritual energy needed to kill a creature that massive, he didn’t want to risk it.

He'd never exorcised a ghost that didn't pose a threat. And he wasn't going to kill a demon for the same reason.

That Hellguard had already been cursed for three hundred years. Accidentally killing him wouldn't just be unfair but a guilt that Evan would carry for the rest of his miserable life.

As they stared at the Hellguard smashing more trees around him, Xen explained.

In the original form of any demon, their powers grazed the peak, demonic energy flooding their bodies, fueling whatever emotion they were feeling in the moment. But the more power it supplied, the more difficult it was to control that energy surge. Sometimes, newborn demons were overwhelmed into madness if they failed to turn back to their normal skin.

After over three centuries of being stuck in his original form, an immense amount of demonic energy had saturated inside the Hellguard. All that uncontrolled demonic energy, without an outlet, had accumulated around the core from where it had originated.

A core of energy in an original form was similar to the brain in the normal skin. Since his core was thoroughly bundled in darkness, the Hellguard's senses were muddled. He couldn’t think or understand what was happening around him.

If he continued to be in that state for a few more years, under the pressure of so much unused energy, the core would explode, along with the demon.

“Once you rattle the core with your spiritual energy blast, the demonic energy will disperse throughout his body once again,” Xen said.

Evan’s expression turned thoughtful. “But will that break his curse? Will he be released from this…prison?”

Xen stared at Evan for a long moment. “If every curse is a lock, then it has to have a key. When you hit his core, I will absorb the excess demonic energy that is necessary for him to remain in his original form. That will force him to turn back to his normal skin. That is the key to breaking his curse.”

For some reason, Evan didn’t like the sound of the last sentence. Xen was a low-level demon. How was he planning on absorbing three centuries worth of demonic energy from a Hellguard into himself? Was that even possible?

If Xen died absorbing the energy from the demon, would that still be Evan’s fault for not trying to talk him out of this? Would he have innocent blood on his hands?

But again, innocent and Xen were antonymous.

Reluctant and a little embarrassed about the concerns rising inside him, Evan cleared his throat. “Will you… You’ll be okay, right? I…don’t wanna drag your dead body back.”

A look of brief surprise flashed across Xen’s face, red glinting in his irises. Then that overconfident, borderline arrogant smirk was back. “You’d rather drag my body back than leave it here.”

It wasn’t a question.

Evan rolled his eyes. “Okay. Whatever. How do we go about this?”

They made a plan.

To hit the demon’s core, which sat at a towering height, Evan needed to stand somewhere equally high. If he missed the shot, hurting the demon would be the least of Evan’s concerns. That beast would probably chase him down and tear him apart. Who would even save him ?

Xen gave a nod, then disappeared. He had not explained where he would be or how he would absorb the demon’s energy, only prompting to Evan, “I’ll be one step above you.”

That sounded haughtier than Xen had probably realized, considering he was saying it with the look of someone trying to comfort another.

Evan stood at the edge of the thorn walls, along with another presence hovering behind him.

“Okay, little self-advice, Evan,” he took off his coat, dropping it to the ground, and rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbow before cracking his neck. “Don’t die.”

The Shadow loomed behind him, grunting in approval. Its red eyes curved into crescents as it stared at Evan, who looked like he was preparing for battle.

“Ready?” Evan threw a look over his shoulder, eyes glowing blue.

The Shadow gave a firm nod—just like Xen—then started growing. Bigger than it had been before. Bigger than the trees around them. Its overpowering presence alarmed the nearby creatures in the dark that had drawn closer to Evan when Xen had left his side. The chittering voices cried before leaves rustled away from the area as they fled.

In the night sky, the silhouette of the Shadow grew almost as big as the Hellguard, crimson eyes burning with killing intensity. But even amidst the hostility erupting in wave after wave from the Shadow to attract the Hellguards attention, Evan could make out the form of Xen in it. No matter how big or small it grew, it never stopped resembling Xen—except for the horns.

Does Xen’s original form have horns?

The Shadow leaned down, bringing its two enormous palms together and laying them flat on the ground. Without hesitation, Evan climbed into its palms, swaying only slightly as he was lifted into the air, higher and higher, until he was eye level with the Hellguard's massive head.

Evan looked ridiculous, a tiny human in the midst of two giant demonic entities, but his spine remained straight and feet planted firmly into the Shadow’s palms as he stared at the Hellguard. A mixture of dread and excitement buzzed through his body, warming his glowing skin.

This is either going to be the best moment of my life or the worst death in the history of the Blackwood bloodline.

With a long inhale, he yelled out, “Hey, rock brain!”

The Hellguard stilled in the middle of ripping the crown off a nearby tree, then snapped his head in the direction…the direction opposite to where Evan stood. It roared and started charging away.

Evan stared at him, dumbfounded.

Oh, he is really a rock brain.

“Here! Here!” Evan cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed at the top of his lungs. “Behind you!”

The Hellguard stopped again, snapping his attention here and there as Evan’s voice echoed in his head, making it difficult to decipher where it was coming from. He turned and turned, essentially spinning in a circle before dashing into a nearby tree and taking out his frustration on it by tearing it apart.

By then, Evan had screamed his throat raw, and a furrow had permanently settled between his brows.

The demon's core—essentially its brain in this form—was not functioning as it ought to. So obviously it couldn’t just hear someone yelling and turn around to yell back.

There needed to be something. Something that could grab his attention.

Lowering his hands from his mouth, Evan stared at the mindlessly raging Hellguard. Not raising his voice any louder than his usual tone, he spoke. “The Eternal has sent me.”

True to the tale, the Hellguard’s hearing was exceptional. Despite the meters separating them, and its own roars filling the air, it caught the whisper of Evan’s words.

Its rock body stilled. A low rumble stirred from one of its crammed, grinding joints.

A beat of complete silence passed. All the creatures in the forest quieted down, holding their breaths in anticipation.

Unconsciously, Evan’s eyes darted around in search of a red-clad body somewhere in the dark.

The Hellguard twisted its head around, rock grating against rock, almost dislodging its neck as it faced Evan. If it had eyes, they would’ve been staring straight at him.

What sounded like air gushing into a hollow vessel echoed somewhere, and it took Evan a moment to realize it was coming from inside the Hellguard. It inhaled deeply as if the air had been stuck midway down its lungs, then exhaled. A pair of dusty clouds spurted out of two indiscernible holes above its mouth.

“Who are you?” The Hellguard’s voice quaked through the ground, harder than his footsteps had.

The Shadow’s palms cupped protectively around Evan.

The demon didn’t sound particularly pleased, and he was still far away. Too far to accurately target a spiritual energy blast at his core. If the Shadow moved, his footsteps would thunder like the demon’s, and it could set him off, which would make it more difficult to aim at his head.

The best way was to coax him into coming closer.

With another sweeping glance around the area for Xen, Evan spoke in an even tone. “I am…a messenger of the Eternal.”

The Hellguard snorted some more dust from his nostrils before turning his body around completely. “What message do you bear?”

It wasn’t even a surprise that the demon didn’t doubt a random voice coming and claiming to be his master’s messenger. That was just a confirmation that his core was suppressed to the point he was already going mad.

“What message?” His voice rumbled with impatience, but there was an undercurrent of…something else. Longing? “Has My Lord finally called for me?”

Desperation. Evan caught it then—the faint, restless desperation in his tone.

Well, three centuries could make even a god desperate for someone to come save them.

“Your Lord wishes for you to return,” Evan bullshitted, cringing slightly as he spewed whatever nonsense surfaced in his mind. “He has asked me to bring you back.”

Thump.

The Hellguard took a step forward.

Evan nodded over his shoulder at the Shadow, and it extended its palms forward as if offering Evan to the Hellguard. That brought him closer to the target. With his enormous stride, only a couple more steps and the demon would be in Evan’s range of attack.

Just four more steps.

“My Lord…” The Hellguard stilled, then shook his head as if in disbelief before bellowing, “ Liar! ”

With that roar came a gust of wind so strong it propelled Evan back. The palms under his feet twitched, itching to pull him away from the demon.

Turned out the demon still had some sense of rationality, even if just a smidge.

Keeping his calm, despite the goosebumps erupting across his exposed forearms, Evan said. “Why would I lie? Do you not wish to see your Lord?”

Who knows about him, but I have a feeling I might be sent up to my Lord very soon.

The Hellguard's hands were fisted at his sides.

Thump.

Yes. Three more steps.

“My Lord would not… He would not—for me…” The demon fumbled over his words, shaking his head to clear his train of thoughts. With another puff of breath out of his nostrils, he ground out. “Reth.”

Evan stiffened suddenly, blinking in confusion before realizing he wasn’t the one who'd stiffened. It was the palms beneath his feet. He glanced back at the Shadow, whose eyes were now blazing.

Something wasn't right.

He had to get this over with quickly.

“The Eternal wishes for you to return. So, you must,” Evan said, more firmly, eyes at the foot of the demon. “You wouldn’t go against your Lord’s command, would you?”

Thump. Thump.

A corner of Evan’s lips twitched up. He raised his hands, palms facing towards the nearing demon, eyes glowing bright.

He drew light from his exposed core, a ball of buzzing spiritual energy burning between his palms, growing from the size of a fist to a football. Bigger, brighter.

One step closer. Just one more.

“My Lord…” The Hellguard moved forward as if in a trance, chanting his master's name. “My Lord…”

The ball of energy in Evan’s hands grew to the size of that demon’s fist, blue sparks flying around it as he induced more light into it. Tremors wrecked his arms, never having conjured so much energy at once before, the glare from the ball almost blinding.

Just as the demon was about to take the last step forward, he suddenly froze.

What…?

He tilted his head to a side, listening to something, then let out a muffled grunt.

Evan’s heart dropped when the Hellguard sidestepped, revealing a silhouette standing behind him, perched atop a branch high enough to step on the demon’s shoulder.

Red robes fluttered softly in the wind, long hair swaying with a silent rhythm around the silhouette. Demonic energy outlined his form, swirling around him in black tendrils, and the slight drizzling rain sparkled like pearls around him. From this distance, Evan couldn’t see his face shrouded in darkness, but those two scarlet eyes were glowing brighter than the stars in the sky above them.

Who else could it be?

Sensing the ominous presence behind him, the Hellguard spun around, snorting angrily.

“Wait…” Evan's eyes widened, his heart picking up the pace as the ball of spiritual energy blazed in his hand. “Turn around! Here, this way! Dumb rock, this wa—YOU FUCKING IDIOT!”

The last one was for Xen.

With a bellow, the Hellguard charged towards Xen, swiping his giant arms madly.

For a brief second, Evan completely lost his mind.

The image of the demon reaching toward Xen and ripping him apart formed in his brain, and suddenly, Evan realized how much he’d hate to see that. How much he’d hate it if Xen died.

Not today.

Rearing back, Evan aimed straight at the retreating figure of the Hellguard and fired the ball of spiritual energy. But with his focus disrupted, the aim was sloppy. The blast hit the demon’s back just as his huge rock hand wrapped around Xen’s body.