As Blood Reaper stepped outside again, the air crackled.
Her senses sharpened.
She could feel something… resisting her presence.
Light. Ancient. Watching.
She snarled quietly.
Something in this world recognized her — and was not pleased she was awake.
But she didn't hide.
She welcomed the challenge.
The boy trembled beside her. "Are… are you gonna hurt anybody?"
She didn't answer.
Instead she stepped forward, the kids following, while the shadow of something celestial stirred in the distance, preparing for the inevitable clash.
The street was cracked and crooked beneath Blood Reaper's feet, the sky dimming as if afraid of what was about to happen.
That's when she arrived.
A demon stepped out from behind a toppled streetlamp — tall, beautiful in a terrifying way, with black-gold horns and molten eyes.
Her name was Angel, one of the few demons born not from fire… but from violence itself.
She tilted her head, studying Blood Reaper.
"So the old tomb really did open," Angel purred.
"And you came out."
Blood Reaper didn't respond.
She simply blinked — slow, cold — and the children behind her hid behind a trash can.
Angel smiled wider. "Good. I've waited centuries to test the creature even Hell was afraid to use."
Angel lunged.
Blood Reaper caught her fist.
Angel spun.
Blood Reaper matched her spin.
They threw twin kicks.
BLOCK. BLOCK. BLOCK.
Every move mirrored. Every strike identical. Every step perfectly countered as if Angel watched Blood Reaper through a reflection.
Angel laughed with pure thrill.
"You're fun!"
Blood Reaper didn't laugh.
But her eyes sharpened — she was annoyed. Someone mimicking her? Matching her?
Insulting.
They locked arms.
Angel shoved.
Blood Reaper shoved back.
Neither moved.
Even the air trembled with the pressure of their strength.
The nine-year-old grabbed his sister's hand.
"We have to hide! Now!"
They ran across the cracked road…
…and straight into a shadow.
A giant Rock Demon erupted from the ground — massive, heavy, covered in jagged boulders. It grabbed both Blood Reaper and Angel with enormous stone hands, crushing them in its grip.
The kids screamed.
Angel snarled, thrashing.
Blood Reaper remained completely still.
Her eyes flickered.
The Rock Demon dragged both women across the street, smashing cars and pulling them toward the heart of town.
Angel clawed at the stone.
Blood Reaper simply looked toward the children.
They were trapped behind a broken mailbox, shaking.
Something inside her snapped.
Her eyes flashed — not red, not black — but bright, blinding WHITE.
A color no demon had ever seen.
Angel froze.
"…What—?"
The air around Blood Reaper exploded.
Blood Reaper's body erupted in white-gold rage.
In a single devastating motion, she twisted her body inside the Rock Demon's grip, aimed her palm at Angel, and—
BOOOOOOOOOOOM
A shockwave of celestial-demonic energy blasted out, hitting Angel so hard she flew across the sky and disappeared over the horizon.
Angel didn't even scream.
She simply vanished into the distance, unconscious before she hit the ground.
The blast ripped the Rock Demon apart in chunks of stone, freeing Blood Reaper instantly.
The ground shook as she stood up.
Her body grew.
Taller.
Thicker.
Her silhouette stretching into a monstrous celestial-demonic hybrid form.
The Rock Demon tried to reform behind the kids…
…but Blood Reaper stepped forward and CRUSHED it under her heel.
Stone shattered like glass.
The children stood untouched.
Her glowing white eyes softened—just a fraction—when she looked back at them.
Her voice rumbled like a storm:
"Do not run."
They didn't.
They trusted her now — more than ever.
Blood Reaper turned her head toward the horizon where Angel had been launched.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Strong," she murmured.
"I will fight her again."
The town still shook from the earlier fight. Smoke drifted from cracked streets, cars lay overturned, and people gathered in broken clusters — some praying, some in awe, and some trembling.
And then they saw her.
Blood Reaper stepped out of the rubble, still tall and monstrous, wings arching like swords of bone and shadow. White fire crackled in her eyes.
The two children stood behind her, looking like fragile pieces of humanity she had accidentally adopted.
Some humans cheered.
"She saved us!"
"She crushed that demon!"
"She's on our side!"
Others backed away.
"That thing isn't human."
"She's worse than the demons…"
"What is she going to do next?"
Blood Reaper ignored all of them.
Humans in fear were familiar.
Humans in awe were irrelevant.
But then—
A wind sharper than blades cut across the sky.