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.
