Chapter 22: Mark of the Beast: Kill Them!
Daemon jumped backward to avoid an attack and struck downward. His blade sliced through the lancer’s Achilles tendon. He then planted his katana into the man’s neck to finish him off quickly.
"Shit... I won’t... be able to defend myself much longer..."
The leader took his spear with both hands. His Chi suddenly exploded, far more powerful than the others. Daemon felt the ground vibrate beneath his feet. The leader activated his First Sense of Spear. He moved so fast that Daemon had no time to react. The spear cut through the air toward his chest. Daemon tried to block it, but his katana was not made to parry that kind of power.
"Shit, I should have dodged!"
< First Sense of Spear : Range Reading.>
This ability allowed him to instinctively evaluate any distance and any attack zone. Daemon tilted backward and the spear blade passed one millimeter from his chin.
The second attack came immediately after, lower. Daemon pivoted to the left and avoided it. The leader continued with a diagonal cut that Daemon dodged by leaning backward. The lancer was becoming faster and faster. Daemon understood that this man was probably a Second Sense. He was far too fast for him.
The leader immediately followed up with three successive thrusts. Daemon grimaced and struck diagonally downward with his katana. The blade hit the leader’s forearm and opened a wound. The leader simply changed his grip and continued without slowing down.
The leader activated his First Sense of Spear again and accelerated. In a fraction of a second, he circled around Daemon and struck him in the back.
The spear penetrated deeply, triggering a cry of pain. Daemon turned around violently, bringing down his katana in a wide arc. The blade grazed the leader’s face before continuing its path toward the shoulder, opening a severe gash there.
The leader took two steps back, then immediately came back with a series of five rapid attacks, each targeting a different vital point. Wounded in several places, Daemon clenched his teeth and counterattacked with a flurry of quick strikes. He hit the leader in the torso, the blade penetrating deeply. The leader spat blood but continued moving with exceptional speed.
Daemon was breathing harder and harder. He parried the next blow by raising his katana with both hands. The force of the impact numbed his wrists.
Daemon kept retreating to catch his breath. The leader feinted a horizontal attack but changed at the last moment to a vertical strike. Daemon did not see the full movement.
He watched his right arm fall to the ground, the katana still gripped in the fingers.
He then looked at his stump. Blood was gushing out in pulses, in rhythm with the beating of his heart.
"What the— AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH !!!!!"
"SHIT!" he hissed through clenched teeth.
Daemon instinctively stepped back. He stared at his missing arm. "I am a cripple!"
The leader approached calmly. "The pain is only temporary. I will send you to see your father!"
He cocked his arm to throw his spear straight into Daemon’s chest. Daemon wanted to dodge, but his body no longer responded. The shock had completely paralyzed him.
At the last moment, a silhouette appeared and pushed him with all her strength to the side. Daemon rolled on the ground and hit a tree.
Luna, however, did not have time to dodge. The spear struck her right in the shoulder blade, went through the flesh and came out the other side, a few centimeters below the clavicle. She collapsed to her knees.
"Oh... I was wondering where your famous servant was."
...
Thousands of kilometers away, Luci’El was drinking her tea in small sips. Her mother was sitting across from her, hands around her cup, her gaze soft and distant.
They were talking about unimportant things.
Then Luci’El suddenly stopped.
"Mother, my eyes hurt," she said.
Her mother looked up, surprised. "What do you mean by—"
Luci’El did not let her finish. Her eyes began to bleed. Thick, dark streams ran down her cheeks, tracing two red lines from her eyelashes to her chin, and fell in thick drops.
"Mom, it hurts," she murmured while rubbing them violently.
Her mother looked at her and continued drinking her tea.
"It will pass, darling..."
And Luci’El began to cry, sobs mixed with the blood that continued to flow.
’When the star starts crying blood, it can only mean one thing... Dragon Of Endless Evil.’
***
"Luna?"
Seeing Luna injured, Daemon advanced toward her. He touched the stump of his severed right arm. Blood was still flowing abundantly from the wound. He continued walking without hesitation despite the pain.
"Master! Luna!" someone shouted in the distance.
"Master? What could that possibly mean?" asked a lancer.
Daemon slowly turned his head toward him. His eyes were losing all human light.
"You bastards!!!"
Daemon’s chi suddenly went wild. A wave of destructive power spread through the air around him. The lancer instinctively stepped back several paces. Thick black veins pulsed on Daemon’s neck and face. He straightened up in a strange movement.
"What the...?"
The blood from Daemon’s wound then flowed even more abundantly. This red matter gradually took the shape of a new arm. On the back of this reconstructed hand, the number "999" appeared engraved directly into the flesh.
Black marks climbed up the arm. The hand formed sharp claws. The marks continued their progression to Daemon’s right eye. The eye rolled back then became completely black, with no white or pupil visible. The right side of his hair turned white strand by strand.
"It’s a monster! Attack him!!!" shouted the leader of the lancers, but his voice trembled with terror.
The first lancer who dared to approach was violently grabbed by the throat. Daemon squeezed with inhuman strength. He sank his claws into the flesh and tore the throat from top to bottom.
The trachea was exposed and gurgled with blood. The man let out a strangled cry and brought his hands to his neck. Daemon ran his new clawed hand through his hair to slick it back with the flowing blood.
"Kill... Kill To Kill ! Kill Them! "