Slap

Lucian slapped the guard.

His face burned with pain and humiliation, his fingers tightened, his elbow bent ever so slightly, demonic energy gathered around his arms again, trying to form those blades again but Lucian then slapped his wrists and the blades snapped before they could even fully form.

"DIE!!"

The guard snarled as he tried to punch directly, but as if Lucian had predicted what he wanted to do, before the guard could pull his arm back to gather enough momentum to generate some force, he grabbed his wrist, making even a punch impossible.

The guard looked at him with shock, anger and frustration.

No matter what he did, no matter how much demonic energy he used, for some reason, he could never get the output he desired. His punches felt weaker, more than half of the force he put in was shifted away from his intended target, his blades never formed properly, he couldn’t create proper distance when he tried to—

It felt like he was tied up by chains he couldn’t see.

"It’s just as she said.

Hosts are the weakest opponent one could face."

Lucian grinned, analysing the way the guard fought till he was almost bored of it.

Too much reliance on supernatural power, he was too used to winning using just that he never bothered learning other, more complicated techniques.

He was like a child inside the body of a well-trained boxer.

In the end, Lucian shook his head, he pulled the guard forward through his wrist, then slammed his elbow into the man’s throat.

"Khawwrrkkk!!"

He staggered back and coughed, completely letting his guard down.

Lucian grabbed his hair, then, he plunged his knee into his face, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious.

The battle was over.

On the other side of the corridor, Darius fought like a well-trained machine.

His baton met the guard’s demonic fist with a burst of white light, the impact pushed Darius back half a step, but he didn’t show any expression. He simply turned and struck the grinning guard’s knee, then drove the glowing baton into the man’s stomach.

"AAGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!"

The guard screamed in agony.

Darius didn’t care, instead—

"Look at your left!"

He screamed, Tomas heard those words just in time as a clawed hand almost sliced his neck.

"Fuck!"

He reacted in time, blocking the attack with his blade. The strength behind the attack pushed him back. Tomas gritted his teeth.

"Damn it—!"

The guard smiled and pressed harder.

Just then—

Zzzzp

The guard’s body froze as a strange blue energy covered his body.

Tomas did not waste the chance, his blade pierced through the guard’s heart, killing him that very instant.

Then he looked at Mara and—

"Thank you."

He expressed his gratitude, already knowing she was the one who helped him.

"Stop dawdling around, come here and help me! My shields can’t hold any longer!"

Mara screamed as her half-raised shields protected her from the two guards’ constant attacks. Tomas’s face turned solemn and he quickly rushed to her aid.

On the other side, Ilyra was fighting in a more... unorthodox manner, when the guard rushed at her, ready to tear her open with his claws, she threw three charms.

The first burst near his feet and slowed the guard, the second charm turned into chains the instant it was activated and wrapped around his wrists, the third hit his chest and started draining all the demonic energy inside him.

"YOU BITCH!!!"

The guard roared and broke one chain, Ilyra blinked in surprise, she wasn’t expecting any resistance.

She searched her bag for more charms, to try and deal with him before he became a threat.

"I WILL KILL YO—"

The guard roared in uncontrolled rage but then—

"Nope, you won’t."

Lucian appeared behind him, the guard turned towards him and Lucian struck his chin. His head snapped up and he lost consciousness.

"Are you okay, my lady?"

Lucian asked with an overly dramatic gesture.

"I am."

Ilyra chuckled softly.

"I couldn’t bear to see how that wild man was attacking you and came the moment I had the chance."

Ilyra laughed.

She then looked around the battlefield and—

"Mara was facing two of them, shouldn’t you be helping her?"

She questioned.

"Well, I already had my sight fixed on a specific person."

"Is that so..."

Ilyra’s eyes shined when she looked at him. Lucian grinned,

"Indee—"

He wanted to continue the playful exchange but he suddenly froze.

"Lucian?"

Ilyra frowned.

Lucian raised his head, silencing her as he expanded his senses, trying to find what this odd feeling he felt was about.

But the next second—

The air in the corridor changed.

Lucian reacted instantly and glanced at Silas’s unconscious body, then it happened.

BOOOOOM

An impossible amount of demonic energy exploded out of Silas’s body.

"W-What...?"

Ilyra widened her eyes in horror, Lucian’s face turned solemn, the rest of the party members who were facing the two remaining guards paused as well.

And Silas’s ruined body—

A body that had no trace of life left—

A body that had nothing left—

Dense demonic energy surrounded it and... it moved.

Silas’s fingers clawed against the floor, his arm bent the wrong way, his shoulder twisted too far, it was as if his body didn’t know how it was supposed to move but then, it all snapped back into place with a loud crack and...

Silas’s head moved.

It was as if an invisible force was pulling it up.

And the force didn’t stop with just his head, it pulled his entire body up.

Yes, Silas, who should have been dead, was now standing.

*Picture*

The demonic energy around him got denser and denser, making the air in the corridor much, much heavier and... filthy.

"No..."

Ilyra couldn’t believe her eyes.

"It shouldn’t be happening..."

Mara’s scanner gave a ridiculous number of warnings as her screen couldn’t stop flashing red.

"Did he... reach the Sixth Veil before dying...?"

That was the only way it even began to make sense.

Once a Host reaches the Sixth Veil, the demon can descend into his body and take control.

Was that what was happening?

Did Vaelrith take control over Silas’s dead body?

All those questions, however, didn’t matter, because Silas’s body then turned towards Lucian and—

"Human filth..."

A voice entirely different from Silas’s spoke.

"You broke my vessel."