The academy day had ended. Everything seemed normal—not eerily so, just ordinary. Laid walked through the academy gates with Lila right beside him. They wandered through the demon city without any clear destination.
"Well, now that we've left the academy, we literally have nowhere to go," Laid said, his expression growing somber and emotional.
At this point, both of them almost hoped for a confrontation—and they got one. Several men stepped into their path as they approached the red-tinted streets. One man wore a sword at his side; another gripped two axes, one in each hand.
"You got any demon stones, kid?" one of them demanded, staring at Lila.
She almost corrected him—she was twenty-six, after all—but stopped herself and waited. She hoped Laid would step in to protect her, as any decent man would when seeing a woman threatened.
"Hand over your demon stones, or we're going to hurt you. Hear me?" The man advanced, raising his ax toward Lila.
*I could rewind time,* Lila thought, *but I want to see if Laid will actually save me.*
Laid simply stared.
"Hey, kid! You going to save your little lady or whatever?" the man with the sword taunted.
"She's not getting hurt, is she?" Laid replied coldly. "So why does it matter to me if she gets robbed?"
Normally, Laid wouldn't care if someone got hurt. But this person—she was someone he might need in the future. This tool could extract him from situations he couldn't handle alone.
"You're not going to stop us?" The man seemed confused.
"Of course not," Laid said. "I don't care. She could lose all her money for all I care. Doesn't affect me."
The man recoiled, shocked by Laid's cruelty. He stepped back. "You three—take everything she has and leave!" the swordsman barked.
*So he didn't save me. Just as I thought,* Lila realized. *Well, there's no other option.*
**BAM.**
Laid lost his memory, and time rewound. Only the entities inside both Lila's and Laid's minds—and Lila herself—retained knowledge of the rewind.
Everything repeated as before, except this time would be different. Lila lunged toward the man pointing his ax at her and grabbed the weapon, trying to wrench it from his grip. It didn't budge. She pulled harder. Nothing.
*All right, plan B,* Lila thought. *Solely?*
Solely gave a mental nod—lacking a body, she could do little else—and initiated the backup strategy. A surge of electricity coursed into the ax. Lila released it quickly, but the man still gripped the handle. His muscles stiffened, and he began to spasm violently before collapsing. The ax clattered to the ground beside him.
However, the other two men—the one with the sword and the one with the remaining ax—didn't stare at their fallen companion. Instead, they looked up.
"Up!" Solely warned.
Both Laid and Lila raised their eyes to see a creature descending—a bird with crimson wings and a disturbingly human body. The bird-man crashed down before them. His eyes were pitch black, unusual since nearly every demon—unless outcast—possessed red eyes. Laid had red eyes. The men who'd tried to rob Lila had red eyes. Whether Lila's eyes were green from her power or naturally so, no one knew and no one cared. Their focus locked on the bird-human hybrid standing before them.
Everyone, including Lila and Laid, stared at the newcomer. He held two daggers and had multiple demon stones tucked into air pockets within his crimson wings. Those wings flapped softly as he hovered, his blades crossing into an X-shape.
"You know, I'm feeling kind of bloodthirsty today," Floyd announced, his voice dripping with menace. "I might take it out on you three."
His wings beat harder as he circled the three men. A white flash shot down from the heavens, striking the ground and shaking it violently. Everyone stumbled—everyone except Floyd.
Deal appeared, standing firm. His white hair and white sword shimmered brilliantly.
"Didn't I tell you, Floyd," Deal said, his voice sharp with authority, "not to hurt or kill anyone?"
"You said not to *kill* anyone," Floyd countered, grinning viciously. "I'm just going to bring them one inch from death, then heal them up. That way, they're not dead."
"That's still wrong," Deal insisted.
Both unleashed their auras. Deal's aura created a faintly shimmering barrier around everyone—invisible to ordinary demon eyes, but visible as small white glimmers to those with heightened senses. Floyd's aura erupted next: tiny red sparks crackled off him as he exerted crushing pressure. Everyone collapsed, unable to move. Laid couldn't even open his mouth to tell Lila to rewind time. Lila herself was pinned down, unable to activate her power under the suffocating force.
Floyd's blades glowed blood-red, his bloodlust pouring out unchecked.
"I'm done. I'm going to make sure you can't interfere again," Floyd snarled.
Deal stared, his blade beginning to shimmer with white aura. "Don't do this to yourself, Floyd."
But Floyd wasn't listening. He soared upward with his twin crimson blades. His entire body began transforming into a deep, horrifying red. Usually, a demon's face was deathly pale, but now Laid's entire body—arms, legs, everything—turned deep crimson. Everything except his pitch-black hair and eyes. His clothing remained black with a few red stripes.
A great battle was about to begin. But before they clashed, a shimmering white portal opened.
"Let's take this fight somewhere no one will get hurt in the process," Deal said firmly.
Floyd didn't care either way—in his eyes, Deal was going to die regardless. They both stepped through the portal to a place so secluded it didn't appear on any maps. The outskirts showed up, perhaps, but this place? Completely hidden. No one even knew if anyone lived here.
The landscape resembled a crimson jungle devoid of animals. Yet directly before them lay not jungle at all, but a crimson desert. How a jungle could abruptly end and become desert without warning remained unknown, but here it was.
They walked far into the desert and faced each other. The fight—the battle—was about to begin. And in this battle, both knew that one of them was going to die.