The night was alive with chaos, and the heavens responded in kind—rain hammered the treetops, and thunder roared, echoing the fury burning within Joseph. Shadows twisted in the storm, swirling with every flash of lightning, as the horde of demons pressed in around him, relentless and hungry.
Yet, amid the encroaching darkness, his gaze locked onto one demonic figure—shaped like Lopez, yet exuding something far more sinister.
Joseph's roar tore through the forest, a sound so raw it made the trees shiver and the ground tremble.
"WHERE IS SHE?!" he bellowed, every syllable a strike of pure rage.
She tilted her head like she couldn't care less, her lips parting in that awful, knowing grin.
"You..." Joseph growled, his voice cracking like thunder.
"First remove this disguise of yours."
He raised a free hand and SNAPPED.
PSSSHHH!
The illusion shattered into black smoke, tendrils of darkness curling and vanishing into the storm.
Where once stood Lopez now stood something far worse.
"Now it will be easy to kill you!" Joseph spoke in pure anger.
A succubus.
Draped in a blood-red gown, the fabric clung to her form like molten desire, flowing like liquid fire around her legs, which seemed to glide over the forest floor without a whisper. Each step was poetry soaked in poison.
Her skin glowed faintly, like moonlight seen through the veil of Hell. Her raven-black hair poured over her shoulders in wild waves, untamed and shadowy.
Curved horns adorned her head like a crown of damnation. Her lips, full and inviting, curled in amusement, and her eyes...
Oh, her eyes.
Molten gold laced with embers, dancing with secrets that could unmake a soul. Looking into them felt like standing at the edge of an abyss—hypnotic and horrifying all at once.
Her black, serpent tail swayed behind her, ending in a flicking, spade-like tip. She radiated lust sharpened into a weapon. From her back stretched massive, leathery wings, crimson-veined and alive with whispers of flame and shadow.
She stepped forward slowly, sensually, as though nothing around her mattered.
"Really? Will you be able to kill... such a beauty with your own hand?" she purred, her voice honey-laced with venom.
She slid a finger gently across Joseph's cheek, trailing it with a crimson glow—her magic already snaking its way into his thoughts.
The succubus tilted her head, lips curling into a smile. Her voice shifted, honey dripping into something hauntingly familiar: Lopez's laugh.
"Joesph... why didn't you save me?" she cooed, perfectly mimicking Lopez's tone.
Joseph froze, fury twisting into hesitation. Images of Lopez—smiling, vulnerable—flashed in his mind, mixing with the dagger still lodged in his chest.
The demon leaned closer, whispering, "It's your fault. You always fail the ones you love."
A sharp pang of guilt and doubt shot through him. For a heartbeat, he questioned himself. Could he even protect those he cared for?
But then his eyes flared open. A sudden surge of determination ripped through him.
"These petty tricks... will not work on me anymore!"
His hand ignited in a blaze of crimson fire—and he grabbed her by the neck.
SSSSHHH!
Flames burst against her skin. The succubus shrieked, her seductive calm broken. Her eyes widened in genuine fear as her flesh sizzled beneath his grip.
David snarled, claws flashing as he tore into the nearest demon. His golden eyes went feral, jaw unhinging wider than human, fangs crunching through bone. He ripped a demon in half with his bare hands, hurling their remains aside as he planted himself protectively little far from Joseph. This wasn't just a fight. This was a wolf baring itself to shield its pack.
At the edge of the chaos, Thomas—still fending off demon after demon—paused for a breath. They turned toward the center just as a blinding crimson glow erupted from within the swarm.
BOOOOM!
A shockwave blasted outward. Demons were flung through the air like rag dolls. Smoke, fire, and dirt spiraled upward.
And from within the storm, Joseph rose into the sky—his angelic wings unfurled, spreading wide, each feather glowing with radiant fury. Flames circled him, trailing his silhouette like the halo of a vengeful god.
The succubus struggled in his burning grip, thrashing as the pain consumed her.
"You really are a pain in the ass!" she spat, and with a furious shriek, she thrust her crimson wings forward, stabbing their razor edges into Joseph's shoulders.
THWACK!
Joseph's body jolted from the impact—then a spade-tipped tail whipped forward, piercing him right in the heart just next to the dagger.
SHUNK.
But he didn't scream.
Didn't fall.
Didn't stop.
He didn't even blink.
His mind was lost in one blazing word.
KILL!
The fire around him intensified, erupting into roaring pillars of light. The succubus screamed again as the flames tightened around her like chains, searing her skin.
"If... if you kill me..." she gasped, writhing in agony, "Who will tell you about... Lopez?"
The words landed like a thunderclap.
Joseph's eyes flickered.
The crimson glow dimmed.
The fire wavered.
His expression faltered—confusion, fear, a flicker of hope.
Lopez...
His lips parted.
And for just one heartbeat... he hesitated.
The image of Lopez... her voice... it brought him back.
"GOT YOU!" the succubus hissed.
In an instant, a crushing force exploded outward from her, forming a pressure dome that rippled through the air like a collapsing star.
BOOOOM!
Joseph was hurled downward like a meteor, the ground shattering beneath him with the impact.
BANG!
The soil cracked, splinters of rock launched into the sky. He groaned, struggling to push himself up, his body searing with pain.
"No...No...NOOOO...!"
"What have I done to deserve this...? Why am I even facing this all? And Lopez... why is she caught in all of this?!"
His fists trembled. His thoughts mixed of pain,
The weight of her fakes betrayal hadn't crushed him.
But the thought of her pain... her possible death—that was a burden too cruel to bear.
"AAHHHHHHHHH!!"
His scream tore through the entire forest, sending flocks of birds into the sky. Even the trees seemed to recoil at the sound.
"I'll kill them all... I'll burn every last one of them!" he growled, rising to his knees, then to his feet—a storm reborn.
Demons began charging again, emboldened by his stumble.
But Joseph was done playing.
With a sharp exhale, he summoned burning needles of blood, their crimson glow intensifying with his fury.
They hovered for a heartbeat—then flew.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! BOOM!
Dozens of demons were shredded mid-air, exploding in a burst of gore and flame.
Joseph bit down on his thumb until blood spilled from the tip, flowing like a thread of life. He spun it around him, forming it into a fiery chain, snaking and sizzling through the air.
With a vicious snap of his wrist, the chain wrapped around the succubus' legs, anchoring her mid-flight. The other end slammed into the earth, cracking the soil with a thunderous CRACK.
She shrieked in frustration.
He wasn't done.
Spreading his wings, Joseph shot into the sky above her. The wind roared around him, rain twisting through his feathers.
He raised his arm to the heavens, droplets of blood levitating from his skin, suspended like rubies in a storm.
His fingers moved—index and middle outstretched.
The blood droplets began to morph, stretch, twist—forming crimson spears tipped in flame.
The succubus tugged violently, trying to escape the chain's grip, but it held fast, burning into her flesh.
Joseph's hand slashed downward.
The sky obeyed.
"RAAAAAHHHHHH!"
The first wave of spears descended like falling stars—impaling the succubus from above, then raining down on the army below. A maelstrom of shrieks and explosions filled the night.
"AAAAAARRRRRGGHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Her scream was inhuman—shrill, raw, and filled with agony. A scream so terrible it sent goosebumps across David and Thomas' skin, freezing them in place.
The battlefield fell still, painted in flashes of red and ash.
The flames faded.
But for Joseph, it wasn't over.
He descended slowly, like a burning angel, his crimson wings stretched, landing beside the succubus—her body still impaled and restrained by the spears of blood and flame.
For a fleeting moment, the battlefield was eerily silent.
Then—SSSSHHHHH
The crimson spears vaporized into a hiss of mist, vanishing into the night as Joseph stepped forward and seized the succubus by one of her twisted horns. Her body shivered at his touch—not out of fear, but anticipation.
Without a word, Joseph flapped his wings once—and with that, he took off, dragging her upwards, higher and higher into the storm-choked sky.
Far below, Thomas shielded his eyes, watching the faint glowing silhouette ascend into the clouds.
"What is he trying to do?" he muttered in disbelief.
David, eyes narrowed as he tracked the faint crimson trail in the dark sky, replied, "Right now, only he knows what's going on in his head."
He paused, brows furrowing with worry.
"But one thing I do know... he's burning his life force to fuel that blood manipulation and those flames. That's not a good sign. Not at all."
Elsewhere... in the city.
The night thrived in its usual chaos—honking horns, flickering lights, laughter, chatter, and street vendors shouting over the noise.
Among the crowd, a young couple walked hand-in-hand near the riverfront when the woman suddenly paused.
"Baby, what's that?" she said, pointing at the sky.
Above the distant treetops at the city's edge, a streak of deep crimson light sliced vertically into the heavens, like a glowing spear breaking through reality.
"Maybe just a new rocket firework," the man said, squinting.
More people stopped to look. Some raised their phones, recording.
Children giggled, parents stared in curiosity. None of them knew.
"Look! Another one's moving toward the first one!" someone shouted.
Indeed, another light—faster, sharper—was racing upward, intersecting the path of the first.
High above the forest, where the clouds churned with unnatural thunder and the sky flickered with flashes of violent red and violet, Joseph was fading.
The succubus writhed weakly in his grip, but even she could sense the flames licking off his body were flickering—dimming.
The fire that once engulfed him like a storm was now reduced to embers, barely clinging to his body.
He raised his fist—shaking, trembling—for one final blow, intent on punching her out of this world.
But the punch missed.
His strength gave out.
His momentum spiraled.
Joseph's body twisted in midair like a wounded bird. His wings faltered. His muscles locked.
He was frozen, motionless in the middle of the sky.
And then—
Gravity returned.
Now was the time to fall.
He knew it.
The wind roared past his ears.
The cold rain sliced his skin like tiny daggers.
His heart thumped slowly, almost wearily. His eyes blurred, nothing ahead but the storm clouds and darkness.
Still, in the haze... he saw something.
A form.
Something was coming—fast.
He couldn't hold on any longer. His eyelids fluttered.
He let go.
Until—
WHOOSH!
Two powerful arms wrapped around him in a flash, breaking the freefall just before he would've hit the treetops.
A familiar scent.
The aura of old blood. Ancient power.
"Tch... I think I'm a little late, Prince!" came a deep, gravelly voice.
A man looks like in his mid-30s, with a black and white mixed beard, mid-length black hair, and predatory eyes that gleamed with power—but behind them, a sorrow... an aching grief long buried.
His robe fluttered around him, etched with runes that shimmered in the moonlight.
Massive bat-like wings flared out behind him, catching the wind.
Surely no human.
To be Continued...
[Author Note: No.. no. We are not changing the genre to BL]