CHAPTER 31: EX 31.THE DEMON I

Chaos gripped the mall.

As screams echoed and people ran in circles, slamming into the invisible barrier that sealed every exit. Making the panic spread like wildfire.

"We’re trapped!" someone yelled, voice cracking with terror.

"I don’t want to die!" another sobbed, collapsing to their knees.

In the midst of the mayhem, a small girl clung to her mother’s coat, her voice trembling.

"Mom... those men are scary..."

The woman knelt down, wrapping her arms tightly around her daughter, shielding her from the nightmare unfolding.

"Shhh, it’s okay, sweetie," she whispered softly, voice forced but steady. "The Takers will be here soon... They’ll defeat the bad people."

A few people around them heard her. And slowly, hope began to flicker again.

"Yes... yes, that’s right," a man said, nodding quickly. "They’ll come."

"The Federation won’t abandon us. They never have," another chimed in, clutching her husband’s arm.

One by one, the frightened civilians repeated the words, voices gaining strength, courage returning.

The Takers will come. The Takers will save us.

And in that moment, the demon worshippers—once harbingers of terror—began to feel small. Insignificant. Forgotten.

But the leader of the masked cultists stepped forward again, voice rising with fury.

"You dare... disregard the true God?"

Dark energy swirled around him like smoke it was dense and unnatural. A wave of corruption spread outward, making the ground crack beneath his feet.

Civilians instinctively backed away, shielding their children, clutching their loved ones.

Adrian tensed as the pressure surged.

"We have to do something," he muttered, steeling himself. But when he turned to Leon— he was gone.

"What?" Adrian’s eyes darted. "Where did he— Don’t tell me he’s hiding..."

The cursed wave thickened, crawling up the walls, pressing on Adrian’s lungs like poison in the air.

"I don’t have time for this..." he growled. "I have to act now."

Suddenly, the demon worshipper lunged—his arms warped, transforming grotesquely into long, jagged claws.

He streaked forward like a beast, aiming directly at the mother and child.

The girl screamed, and the mother turned, shielding her daughter with her body.

And as the claws came down—

CLANG!

A glowing shield blocked the strike in a burst of energy, rebounding the cultist back a few steps.

The mother looked up in shock. So did the crowd.

Standing in front of them, shield raised, sword drawn—was Adrian.

Gasps filled the mall.

"A Taker...!"

"He’s a Taker!"

"Thank the stars!"

Hope surged again—real this time, grounded in steel and courage.

The lead cultist hissed behind his mask, glaring at Adrian with disdain.

"One of the heretics has shown himself."

At his signal, the other thirteen worshippers spread out, surrounding Adrian like vultures circling prey.

"You will make a fine sacrifice to our God," the leader sneered.

Adrian didn’t flinch. With practiced ease, he slid his foot back, shield forward, sword angled in a sharp arc behind him.

"I’d rather die..." his voice was clear, proud, unwavering, "than become a sacrifice to your worthless god."

The leader’s fury snapped like a whip.

"Tear him apart!" he roared.

And the worshippers charged.

*****

While Adrian stood his ground against the cultists above, Leon walked deeper into the shadows.

His boots echoed against the tiled floor of the mall’s lower level, the chaos of the first floor fading behind him.

The corridors down here were deserted—lined with cold steel pipes that ran overhead and along the walls, snaking like veins feeding the lifeblood of the building to its many shops.

’Those people aren’t strong,’ Leon thought, his voice calm in his mind. ’The leader’s an E-rank. and the rest are barely F. Adrian can handle them easily.’

He didn’t even glance back. He had already weighed the odds, calculated the outcome, and made his decision.

His destination lay ahead.

He stopped before a thick, steel door, the label barely visible through years of wear and tear. "Generator Room."

Leon narrowed his eyes.

’No guards.’

He wasn’t surprised.

’The demon must have taken them out early. That must have been how the worshippers got in so easily.’

There was no sadness in his gaze. No grief.

They had died doing what they had chosen—to protect.

And the least Leon could do... was avenge them.

As he reached for the door, he felt it—a mental pressure, like a fog trying to disorient him.

But it was weak. At least, weak against him.

With his heightened senses, Leon blinked once and shrugged it off like dust on his shoulder.

Then he opened the door and stepped inside.

The generator room was wide and dimly lit by flickering emergency lights.

Pipes hissed steam from the corners, and wires hung loose across the ceiling like dead vines. But Leon’s eyes locked on one thing.

At the center of the room stood a grotesque creature, humanoid but barely. Its back was turned, muscles gnarled and pulsing beneath blackened skin.

Floating before it was a dark, smooth sphere, suspended in the air—pulsating, as if it were alive.

Leon’s expression hardened.

As the demon turned after sensing him.

Its eyes glowed a sickly yellow.

"I don’t know how you broke through the illusion," it rasped, voice like broken glass. "But die."

With a lazy flick of its clawed hand, it hurled a crackling ball of energy at Leon.

BOOM!

Flames and smoke surged outward, filling the room. As the demon turned back without looking.

"One hit should be enough."

The demon resumed its chant, eyes locked on the sphere. Dark energy coiled from its mouth like smoke as it spoke in a forgotten tongue.

Then—

cold steel kissed the back of its neck.

The demon’s eyes went wide.

It twisted violently—just in time to dodge the blade that sliced through the air where its head had been.

But in escaping death, it exposed what mattered most.

Leon moved like lightning, already at the sphere.

"No—!" the demon howled.

But it was already too late.

SLASH.

Leon’s blade cut clean through the sphere.

It cracked—once.

Then shattered.

Glasslike shards of dark energy scattered across the floor like fallen stars, the ambient pressure in the room vanishing in an instant.

Leon stepped back, sword raised, his cold gaze now locked on the demon.

Whatever the demon was doing... if it had completed that sphere, the effect might’ve been irreversible so Leon descided not to take the risk.

The demon screamed, but it wasn’t pain.

It was rage.

A wave of killing intent crashed onto Leon like a tidal wave—not human. It was deeper. Hungrier. Vengeful. Like a thousand damned souls whispering through the cracks of reality.

Leon’s grip on his sword tightened.

He welcomed it.

The demon snarled, wings bursting out from its back—bat-like, thick-veined and leathery, the impact shaking the room.

"A vermin like you... dared to go against me?" it growled.

Its claws gleamed like obsidian.

"You’re a hundred years too early, boy."

Leon’s smile was faint but Icy.

And then—

they charged.

Steel met claw. Demon met sword.

And the underground roared with the clash of two killers.

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A/N: Please send power stones and leave reviews.

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