Aris leaned weakly against the cold dungeon wall. The Sin-Sealing chains wrapped around his wrists drained his strength with every passing second. Even breathing felt exhausting.
"Nyx… I don't feel so good," he muttered quietly. "This feeling is new to me… though I've endured worse."
"Everything will be fine, Aris," Nyx replied softly.
The air around the dungeon had grown strangely dense. Thick fog slowly crawled through the iron bars and across the wet stone floor.
Aris frowned.
"This much fog? It wasn't here before… not this thick."
Nyx's tone suddenly sharpened.
"Get up, Aris. Intruder."
Aris staggered to his feet immediately, his exhaustion fading under the rush of panic.
"Who is it?"
"Who knows?" Nyx replied dryly. "Probably an assassin coming to finish you off."
"Not funny, Nyx."
A deep voice echoed through the fog before she could respond. It carried a suffocating hatred that made the dungeon feel smaller.
"Aris. The traitor. The terrorist. The spy of the Bloods."
Aris froze.
"…Lumen."
The Bishop slowly emerged from the fog, his dark robes dragging across the stone floor.
"That's right," Lumen said coldly. "Killing you here is far easier than allowing more trouble to grow."
A faint crimson glow began spreading across his body. The air around him trembled with violent spiritual pressure.
"Wrath," Nyx muttered.
"What?"
"His Sin is Wrath. If you don't fight him, you die."
Aris stared as Lumen slowly approached him through the fog, almost savoring the moment like a hunter cornering prey.
"Nyx… what do we do?"
Before she could answer, the chains around Aris's wrists suddenly cracked.
Then shattered.
The sealing energy vanished instantly.
"Now you can fight~" Nyx chuckled.
Lumen's eyes widened slightly.
"How did you break those chains?"
The Bishop vanished.
A violent shockwave exploded through the dungeon as Lumen appeared directly in front of Aris, his glowing fist already swinging downward with monstrous force.
"Die."
The punch landed.
BOOM!
The impact shook the entire cell. Cracks spread across the walls as the force blasted through the room like an explosion.
But Aris did not move.
His body trembled violently from the impact, yet he remained standing.
Lumen's expression twisted in disbelief.
"What…?"
His glowing eyes widened.
"How are you still standing?"
Aris slowly lifted his head.
A dark aura began leaking from his body. His silver eyes glowed faintly within the fog, and when he spoke, his voice no longer sounded entirely human.
It was softer.
Almost feminine.
As though Nyx herself were speaking beside him.
"You may have been right, Bishop Lumen," Aris said quietly.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"I might really be the demon."