Page 31

A sickening crack echoed through his body as Evan slammed into one of the four pillars of the Tomb, then crumpled onto the smooth stone floor. Blood spurted from his mouth.

Xen’s growl of his name cut through Evan’s disoriented brain, sharp enough to prick his ears. He shook his head, blinking hard to clear the blur from his vision. When he looked up, dazed, he could just make out a faint silhouette at a distance, wreathed in a red light like a deadly halo.

Knox strolled forward and stood directly in between the pair, blocking them from each other’s view, and smiled. “You’ve come at last, Xen’areth. I’ve been waiting for you for a long, long time now. I almost thought you’d slip away again.”

Xen’s face was expressionless, but the blaze in his red eyes and the waves of heat rippling off him were enough evidence that he wasn’t in the best of moods. His gaze flicked past Knox’s shoulder, catching sight of Evan dragging himself to a pillar and slumping against it, wiping the blood from his chin with a low grunt.

If the creatures of the night hadn’t been crying and croaking in the forest, if quakes weren’t making the skies and the earth tremble alike, one could have heard the crack that resounded from within Xen.

Scarlet spread in Xen’s eyes, a wildfire devouring the whites and irises, leaving behind twin rivers of molten lava. When he opened his mouth, his voice split into a chorus of many. “Let him go.”

The cult members’ chanting faltered again, but this time, followed by shrieks.

Shadows on the forest floor writhed to life, coiling around the feet as the protection spells on their cloaks sizzled into nothingness. Under Xen’s command, the dark creatures crept up their bodies, then sank into their skin.

Some members clutched their throats, choking. Others coughed up blood thick with crawling worms, eyes popping in the sockets. Many didn’t even get that far and simply dropped dead.

Knox let out a low chuckle at the carnage unfolding around him. “Why don’t you go and save him yourself? Promise I won’t stop you.”

A growl rumbled from Xen. Because he couldn’t go inside. Anything inhuman that entered the Tomb of Ascension without being summoned would be desecrated to ash within moments by the power of the Heavenly Spring Water.

“Let him go,” Xen repeated, gravel in his voice. “Or meet your end.”

Knox straightened, puffing out his chest. “Go on, then. Hit me. Right here in the heart.”

Patience wasn’t something Xen possessed in abundance, but violence came to him as naturally as breathing.

A sizzling flame monster roared to life in his palm, opening its huge jaws of fire, ready to swallow anything in its path.

Knox grinned. “Bring it on.”

Xen reared to attack when a shrill cry rang out.

“No!”

The hand ready to unleash the jaws of fire froze. Xen’s fiery eyes blinked once, then fluttered to a figure stumbling inside the Tomb of Ascension.

Evan held onto his throbbing ribs and wobbled forward, warm blood still trickling from his lips. “Don’t… Don’t kill him. His—It’s Aaron’s body. Don’t kill him,” he struggled to form words. “You promised…”

Xen’s raised hand trembled with the effort it took to hold himself back, veins bursting along his arm before slowly, he closed his fist. The jaws of fire dissipated.

Knox snorted, looking almost disappointed that Xen had withdrawn the hit. “You’re still chained to human emotions I see. Anyone else in your place would have learned a thing or two from the past by now.”

Evan let out a stuttering breath of relief when Xen lowered his hand. He approached the edge of the Tomb of Ascension, intending to intervene. But when he reached out, something zapped him, and he was flung back again.

Xen stepped forward, chest heaving. “Evan—”

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Evan croaked out, raising one trembling hand from where he was sprawled on the Tomb floor. “Just a little…barrier.”

He glanced around at all the cloaked figures surrounding the Tomb, the remaining members still chanting continuously. If it wasn’t his imagination, the spells had abruptly stopped when Knox had flung Evan inside, then started again. As if they’d lowered the veil for a moment to allow him in.

Oh. The chanting was not to summon anything but to keep the barrier up around the Tomb. To trap Evan inside. If he wasn’t injured, he could’ve blasted his way out.

Weak bastards .

It made sense. With the amount of spiritual energy he possessed, Evan couldn’t be held back with one barrier spell. That would give out the moment he touched it. The cult members were supplying a constant flow of spiritual energy to the spell and holding the barrier up. With around fifty or sixty of them, they could somewhat keep Evan trapped inside.

He gripped his side and tried to sit up, but an acute pain shot up through his ribs, and he crashed back on the floor. After several more attempts, he gave up and rolled onto his back.

The night sky was clear above the Tomb, visible through the crack at the top, which was probably from the time when lightning had struck the array many years ago and broken it.

Evan’s head lolled to a side, staring at the bloody array a few feet away from him. If he could mess up the array, perhaps he could delay the summoning of the Hellfire. Delos had said they would carry out the ritual tomorrow…

Something occurred to him, and Evan froze.

He glanced up at the dark sky, eyes unfocused. Delos had said tomorrow but he hadn’t specified what time of day.

Clang .

A gong rang out nearby, the sound vibrating up Evan’s sprawled body. With a grunt, he rolled onto his less injured side and looked around the circle of cloaked heads before his eyes landed on one slightly bent to a side.

“Hey…” Evan managed to let out. “What time is it?”

The limping cult member jerked, the spell dying down on his tongue. After contemplating for a moment, he glanced at Knox, who was busy spouting nonsense at a stoic-faced Xen, then said, “E-Eleven thirty.”

Another half an hour to midnight. And after midnight, it would be tomorrow .

It was certainly possible that the Bloodbath ritual would take place at midnight. But if that was the case, why were these cult freaks wasting their spiritual energies to hold Evan back rather than saving it for the summoning of the Hellfire?

With a sudden jolt, as if struck by lightning, Evan’s head lifted off the floor, eyes wide.

No…

Grunting and cursing as pain exploded through his side, he sat up. “Xen! Don’t talk to him,” he barked. “Get out of here right now. Go!”

Xen’s body stilled when he heard Evan, then quickly coiled tight, ready to strike. “I’m not leaving,” he said, dismissively.

Knox cocked his head, then looked back, throwing a bored look at the pair.

Evan managed to stand, supporting himself on a pillar. “You idiot . It’s a trap. He wanted to lure you here.”

“I’m not leaving,” Xen repeated, not a hint of doubt in his voice. Of course, because he knew Knox wanted to lure him here, way before Evan ever found out.

Evan groaned, anger and pain crashing inside him and boiling over. He raised a hand and sent a small energy blast towards the barrier. Some cult members grunted as his spiritual energy crashed against theirs, but the blast dispersed without even forming a crack in the barrier.

He was too weak.

“That’s not it,” Evan stumbled closer to the barrier, careful not to touch it. “He is going to force you to summon Hellfire.”

That was the reason Knox had brought Xen here, the reason these cult freaks were so generously exhausting their meager spiritual energies to keep Evan trapped inside.

As one of the Abyssal Trinity, an Eternal born from Hellfire, Xen possessed the ability to summon the fire at will. The real reason why Knox had orchestrated this whole plan over the course of several weeks was for this moment.

No matter how many people gathered, unless they possessed tremendous spiritual energies or something as legendary as an Infinite Core—along with aid from other demons—humans wouldn’t be able to summon Hellfire easily. And even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to hold it long enough for the reawakened spirits to jump in and then another fifteen young men to be thrown in.

But an Eternal could summon Hellfire at his fingertips. Every spark of flame that Xen conjured was drawn from the fire burning in the depths of hell. Which was why it turned anything it touched to ash within seconds.

Knox could use that power to be born, to take a physical form.

Xen paused as he heard Evan’s words, then resolutely repeated, “I’m not leaving.”

Evan groaned. “For fuck’s sake.”

Knox clapped, snickering wholeheartedly. “Bravo, bravo! This young boy is quite cunning, isn’t he?” His eyes turned to Xen, tone mocking. “Your taste hasn’t improved even after three centuries. Still clinging onto the same person.”

Something fluttered in Evan’s conscience at that.

Three centuries. Same person.

The fire in Xen’s eyes had calmed just a bit as Evan had stood back up, but the murderous intent seeping from his body and the thick demonic energy blanketing him were still persistent, only growing.

“Come on, aren’t you supposed to ask me what I want?” Knox crossed his arms across his chest, scowling. “Then I would explain my evil plan and laugh maniacally as I stared down at you pathetically crawling towards each other. Isn’t that how this goes?”

Evan’s eyebrow twitched.

What kind of web series has this dude been watching?

Xen remained silent.

“Well, I’m going to tell you anyway,” Knox—the thick-skinned fucker—shrugged. “You see, I’ve been dying to tell you to what lengths I went to find you.”

Xen’s eyes briefly flickered over to Evan before settling back on Knox as he started spouting every single step of his plan that had brought them here.

A few days before the Greenes came to seek Evan’s help, the road construction work was set into motion, clearing trees and laying foundation stones. While surveying the route that would be a brand-new road soon, the workers had come across the Old Oak, crown spread meters wide, and twisted giant branches that sometimes seemed to coil like a slumbering serpent. They’d found the talismans hanging from the vines and spellbound threads wound around the mighty trunk amusing and decided to rip them away for fun.

“Thanks to those foolish humans, I was released from that wretched oak. I was truly grateful, because that tree was uncomfortably cramped,” Knox said, shaking his head in amusement. “And naturally, after being released, the first thing I sought was a host.”

Knox was a mere conscience with no body or form. At least not yet. He knew where Xen was contained, and he ushered all the dark forces and resentful spirits in the woods towards the Greene Mansion, stirring up trouble that would lead the family to seek help from an exorcist. And to get in touch with the most infamous exorcist in Emberlyn, they reached out to Evan’s manager slash friend, Aaron.

Knox had found his host.

After infiltrating Aaron’s mind, Evan’s one and only friend, it was easy to drive the plan ahead.

“Oh, by the by, the story about the generational curse of the Greene family—it was my doing,” Knox proudly turned to Evan, grinning. “I planted those fake memories into their minds, even the grief and pain of losing their loved ones. So real that they didn’t doubt a single thing was fabricated. Impressive, isn’t it?”

Evan spat out blood. “Fuck you.”

Knox chuckled and turned to Xen. “I’m sure your friend here wouldn’t approve of that.”

When Evan noticed the fury bubbling in Xen’s eyes, he feared he would burn Aaron’s body to a crisp, so he quickly intervened, “Why? Why did you have to choose me to carry out your dirty job?”

Knox turned back around with a puzzled look. “What do you mean why ? Of course, I chose you. It had to be you. You’re the only one who could’ve broken Xen out of that mirror.”

Evan reared back slightly, the pain in his sides momentarily forgotten. “You’re either foolishly overestimating or brazenly mocking me. I can’t really tell which one.”

Knox’s puzzled expression turned thoughtful before blending into a look of dawning realization. “Oh…you don’t know,” he turned to Xen. “You didn’t tell him?”

In an instant, Xen flashed before Knox, grabbing him by the throat and hauling him off the ground. Although Aaron’s body was equally tall and built, Xen didn’t seem to be exerting too much strength while dangling him a foot off the ground.

“Shut your mouth before I rip the next words out—along with your throat,” he gritted out, a choir of multiple voices rumbling from him. Like a horror movie soundtrack.

“Don’t kill him,” Evan added quickly when fire cracked between the fingertips of Xen’s free hand.

But Knox didn’t seem to mind losing Aaron’s body. He could simply possess another mind if this one was destroyed.

He laughed, straining out through the grip around his throat. “Xen, you’re truly cruel, vicious. You wouldn’t even tell the boy why you’re clinging to him, why you’re so desperate to protect him, why you can’t stay away—” Xen’s fingers dug into his throat, and Knox choked, his face beet red as blood pooled in his mouth. Yet, he continued with a maniacal laugh, “You didn’t tell him that you…killed him a long time ago, did you?”

The words hadn’t fully left his lips when Xen flung him away, and he crashed into one of the trees. The trunk snapped in half under the assaulting impact before Knox tumbled to the ground, spitting blood.

Evan stood still inside the barrier, those words ringing in his ear. “You killed him a long time ago.”

Killed whom? Killed me? But…I’m alive…?

He looked down at his bloody hands just to make sure he was alive. His eyes unfocused. A ringing went off in his ears, like two invisible hands had cupped him deaf. And inside that closed cavity was a voice calling his name. Again and again.

So familiar.

Evan. Evan. Don’t listen to him… Evan. Evan. Evan.

Shaking his head, Evan stumbled sideways, leaning against a pillar as his pupils dilated and shrank. “What—who…?”

Outside the barrier, Xen stalked towards Knox, who was grunting as he straightened from the ground. He licked the blood from his lips and grinned. “Oops, did I scrape old wounds?”

Before Xen could sink his claws into him, Knox reached forward with one hand, fingers curling as if beckoning something closer.

Through his daze, Evan’s eyes flashed. “Behind you!”

Xen merely shifted an inch without looking back, and a golden light whipped past his side, obediently landing in Knox’s hand.

He gripped the stalk of the golden spear, half of it smeared in Zeev’s blood. Knox licked the crimson off the metal tip, eyes seeming to glow brighter as he tasted a Hellguard’s blood.

Zeev’s chest still moved, only slightly. Blood gushed from the hole in his chest. He wasn’t healing any faster than a human, probably because of his low demonic energy levels.

“Do you recognize this?” Knox held up the golden spear, grinning through bloody teeth.

Xen stared at him, and a flicker of something close to pity surfaced in his eyes. “Give up. You don’t have a place in this world. You will never have a place in any world.”

For the first time since Knox had appeared possessing Aaron’s body, his mask of casual carefreeness cracked. His smile froze. Voice dropped. “I won’t?”

Xen’s look of indifference didn’t help his wounded ego, and for a moment, Knox looked like a child who’d just been made aware of the fact that Santa didn’t exist.

Then his purple eyes cleared.

“Did you forget how I came to be, Xen’areth?” Knox smiled anew, but something about that smile was so disturbing that the cult members’ chants faltered for the third time. “I only awakened after consuming the resentment of the many innocent lives who died at your hands. You brought me into this world, so how could I not belong here?”

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 not many innocents.

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… had killed 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 said stop !”

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 is fun ! 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.

He was not afraid of burning but of the thought of burning without being able to hold Evan one last time. He knew that feeling all too well.

With a low growl, Xen turned abruptly, eyes on Knox. Without looking away, he raised his palm, and the jaws of fire blazed alive in his hand, so huge it could devour a whole house.

Evan reached forward with a bloody hand, “Don’t…”

But Xen had already shot the fire, and it engulfed the target whole.

A roar tore through the night as the Hellguard who’d struck the shard at Evan exploded into flames. His scream was still echoing in the air as his body was reduced to ash, raining grey dust mixed with crimson embers.

Excitement glinted in Knox’s eyes at the display of fury. “Come on, give in. I’m just asking for ten minutes of your time. Summon the Hellfire, and I’ll lower the barrier. Then you can save your precious human. But I must add, if you don’t tend to his wound soon, he might bleed to death.”

“Not today, motherfucker!” Evan swung a hand, reaching behind towards the array, intending to smudge it with his own blood. But what he touched was another zap of electricity that sent him crashing back against the floor.

A cry tore through his throat when the shard pierced deeper into his abdomen.

There was a barrier built inside the barrier. The first was to keep Evan trapped inside the Tomb, and the second one to keep him away from the array at the center. Knox had probably guessed he would try to destroy it.

Xen’s heart lurched as Evan cried in agony and his nostrils flared. “Don’t fucking move, Evan. Stay still,” his voice trembled. “Please…”

Knox stared at Xen’s haunted face in barely suppressed anticipation. “Time’s ticking, Xen. Are you willing to lose your lover aga—”

“I’ll do it,” Xen growled, staring at Evan’s fluttering eyelids, his chest heaving with shallow breaths.

Just as Knox’s face broke out into a grin, a cult member struck the gong erected outside the clearing. The sound thrummed through every solid surface and induced the air with a warning of an impending catastrophe.

“It’s almost time,” Knox’s expressions were the epitome of sick excitement.

Trees surrounding the clearing rustled in the dark, dry leaves crunching beneath something—footsteps. Several footsteps. Innumerable footsteps.

With the second clang of the gong, the shuffle of feet on the forest ground grew louder. Closer. They came from everywhere, all at once. Unsteady and unsynchronized, like hundreds of drunk men stumbling over each other.

The cult members threw wary glances around but didn’t cease their chanting.

Breathing shallowly with barely focused vision, Evan turned his head to the limping cult member. His voice was hoarse as he breathed out, “Time…?”

The limping member stared at him for a long moment before replying, “Midnight.”