CHAPTER 26: I CHOOSE...

The smell of blood drifted through the smoke-thick air, teasing my nostrils. I breathed in slowly, tasting the iron on my tongue, tracing every soul that still pulsed in the ruins around me. My senses burned, every nerve alive, every twitch of muscle crying out for blood. I was hungry. Terribly, unnervingly hungry.

"You feel it too, don’t you? We’re running out of time, little one." My fingers slid over Beelzebub’s fur; the creature clung to me tighter than ever, its warmth brushing my cheek. So it sensed it as well? The weight of death drawing near...

With a single leap, I rose into the air, whispering Beelzebub a command: "Kill every human in sight except Elira." Her, I couldn’t harm. That strange girl clung to some corner of my heart I hadn’t realized was still human. Maybe it was pity. Or maybe I just wanted to see what secrets she’d spill when the time came. Sometimes, I wondered if I still saw this world as a reader or if I had truly become part of it.

The first human came into view. It was a middle-aged man, hair matted with soot, fighting for his life against a rat the size of a horse. His sword barely kept the beast’s jaws from splitting him in half.

He turned, relief lighting his face as his gaze met mine. "Doctor Beatrice! You’re here! Thank god yo—"

The rest drowned beneath the wet slice of my blade. His jaw fell away in a red arc, and the creature lunged in to finish what I’d started. I didn’t look directly at him as it happened. I couldn’t. The act felt wrong, a twist deep in my chest that burned even as I tried to ignore it. But what’s done is done. Survival first. Always. I guess in my last life, I still believed kindness meant something.

Not anymore. Not in a world where the strong devour the weak. Acting like I used to would only earn me another early grave.

Beelzebub leapt from my shoulder, darting through the smoke. I watched as it mimicked my movements, weaving between the chaos, distracting humans mid-battle and leaving the monsters to finish them off. Efficient little thing. The area to clear in under a minute was vast, but not impossible. So long as nothing interfered.

I flew higher, the wind stinging my face as I made for the old church, the place where it all began, where I’d first killed the skeleton. The building still stood, blackened but defiant, its bell tower cracked in half.

There, in the courtyard, I saw a circle of people; my eyes quickly counted ten, maybe more. Their hands were linked in prayer. Something about them was wrong. The air around them crawled with a deathly chill, though their bodies were very much alive. Shadows rippled under their feet like liquid.

And when one of them opened their eyes and looked at me, I froze. What I saw staring back left me utterly speechless.

Their eyes were pitch black, as if ink had stained the whole eyeball, eerie enough to freeze blood. For a beat I thought, maybe this place deserved cleansing; a purge wouldn’t be the worst thing. Still, I didn’t want their blood. Too filthy. I prefer it clean and pure. Call me picky, but if you had two lambs and one rolled in dirt, which would you pick? Never mind. Slay time.

My acupuncture needles slid into my palm, obedient as always. With a quick flick of wrist and fingers, I sent them flying, aiming for the soft spots that would drop them fast. Ten people crumpled where they stood; only three remained, bodies trembling, their forms subtly shifting as if some other force tried to take hold.

"So you were a demon after all. To think that sinner John let you into our sacred town; unacceptable!" a woman in the middle screamed, face hard with righteous fury. She looked about thirty, but those black eyes were colder than mine.

"Who the true demons are is a question for another time. Now die by my blade!" I surged forward, wings propelling me with all their force. Blood sprayed in every direction, painting the church red. They fell one after another, slashed open and silenced; I wiped my scalpel clean on a sleeve and kept moving. An entire group gone in less than five seconds. Efficiency tasted better than I expected.

Time was running out. I felt Beelzebub’s aura spike as it fed. Good little hamster. But I needed it faster. The minutes burned like tinder and I had no idea how many humans remained. My nostrils picked up at least six more heartbeats; the clock on the system window read thirty seconds. I prayed it would be enough.

At least I hoped one of them wasn’t Clara, the brutal close-combat fighter from Hera’s party. I could still taste her punch from last time. She wasn’t on the list, and I prayed it would stay that way.

I moved without wasting another breath. One, two, three people dropped along my path. Three left, no... two; Beelzebub had just finished another. Two scents remained, and my chest stuttered. I knew where they were.

Two stood together in the ember-glow of a collapsed alley: a tall man wreathed in flame, fists smashing monsters’ skulls into pulp, and at his feet a trembling boy, Arthur, skin scorched, cuts and bruises mapping his small body. It was John, and there was Arthur. The sight of them should have been mercy; instead, my blood ran cold. The world didn’t care about age. It threw children into the furnace the same as it threw adults.

The system timer blinked to ten seconds. My vision narrowed, sound thinning until the world felt slow and heavy. I could see only them. On one hand they had fed me, sheltered me, kept me from true hunger. On the other hand, they served their own needs; without Elira, John might have killed me long ago. When the clock hit five, everything moved in a single, inevitable motion. I raised my blade. I had made my decision, and the one I’d kill...