The slanted, tall, iron pole was still in the flesh of Jin's abdomen, and stuck firmly in the concrete ground. It would take four Jins, standing atop each other's shoulders, to match the height of the pole.

Blood oozed out of Jin's penetration and drenched his hoodie. The agony was unbearable but nothing compared to what he felt right after being impaled. Still, he had to extricate himself despite the pain this action would spell. He knew this.

Ashton was silent. Dobby was never different. They had an idea what this was about in spite of being utterly confused. Jin had something Nyx wanted.

This could only mean that Jin and Tritan really had those 'God's assets' according to Tristan. And they knew this now.

Nyx folded his arms. "Come on, Jin. What are you waiting for? Relinquish your system … give it to me!"

"Fuck you!" Jin screamed at the top of his lungs. "Go die in hell! Leave me and my friends alone!!! I don't want to see your faces … none of your faces! You fucking demons!" spit flew from his mouth.

Nyx's tongue clicked. "Are you sure you want to go down this road, Jin? Listen," he drew closer. "The last thing I want to do is kill you. Just relinquish your system and you and friends could go home and pretend all of this never happened today."

Jin looked him in the eyes. "Why should I give it to you?" After you've betrayed me? After it wrecked my life so much? Why should I give it up?"

"Because it's your only option." his voice trailed off as a smirk took its place.

"Don't you want a normal life already, Jin? I know it's all you ever wanted. If you say no, you're lying to yourself. And it would only mean that I know you better than you know yourself."

"The system's only here to ruin your life, Jin. It'll break you bone by bone. Besides, it's the God of Mischief you would become," he raised his brows. "You want that for yourself? For your," his forehead wrinkled, "Friends?"

Jin averted his eyes. "You fucking piece of shit. I knew it from the beginning. Since the very day you helped my arse. That whole friendship was forced onto me to the point where it felt fake. Yet, I was blinded by it. I stabbed skepticism into its heart."

He started pounding a fist into his own head. Hammering nonstop. "I'm stupid-I'm-stupid…stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Fucking stupid!"

"It's too late to regret it so much. Just pretend it never happened, Jin. Don't you want to go home? I know I wanna. I've been away for so long. Hunting Aphrodite … and now Loki? Man, I need a break. And …" he crouched down to Jin's level, "I think you need one as well. From the system. From stress. Everything. Don't you think so? Don't you think you—"

Jin clenched his fist and punched him in the face. A screen quickly appeared before him.

[Defeat your opponent]

[Reward: 1,792 Exp]

Jin gasped at the numbers.

Nyx smirked. "You see it don't you? You can tell that I'm much stronger than you thought. Alura says that she can see people's strength and stuff. You just saw mine, didn't you?"

Jin remained silent. This explains things. It explains so many things. For instance, when Alura had nudged him, a task appeared that would reward him 500 Exp for defeating her.

They were strong from the beginning. All along they were monsters hiding beneath the skin of human flesh. Demons.

"So … can you see it now? Can you see that you don't stand a chance now? I can wreak havoc in this city if I want to right now! I am Nyx!" his voice resounded.

"So let up, Jin. Put out your hand and give the system to me."

Ashton quickly shouted, "Just do what he says Jin." Ashton saw it in Nyx's eyes. The eyes of someone who would kill without a second of regret. The evil.

Jin looked back at Ashton. Then, he face Nyx again. All his hard work was for nothing? Resolve to give up the system was beginning to stir up in his mind.

Fear. Fear was the only thing keeping him back from asking how he would go about relinquishing the asset. He feared that the system would spell chaos to the world if he hands it up.

He feared that the power of this already-powerful demon in his presence would quadruple if he hands down the system. Does he really want this?

He heaved. "Fine. But on one condition…"

Nyx smirked. "Call it…"

Jin glared. "You let me and friends go after we give it to you. You let us go and you leave it alone. If you fail to keep your promise, Mr.Nyx … I'll hunt you down. I'll kill you myself! I don't care how strong you are."

"Deal," blurted Nyx. "It's a deal. I'm sure I could spare a couple of weaklings." he stood.

Jin sighed again. "Okay. So how do I relinquish the—"

"JIN DON'T!" interjected Dobby, "You already know what'll happen if the bad guy gets what he wants! Chaos, Jin!"

Krod quickly hurled a fist into Dobby's face. Dobby quickly jolted back. Krod wasn't finished. He stomped on Dobby's abdomen. Dobby quickly groaned and curled up in pain. "Fuck … you, you ugly-ass hobgoblin!" he wheezed.

Nyx glared at Dobby. Then tossed the glare at Jin. His smirk left his face. "So what's it gonna be, Jin?"

Jin cursed. He gritted his teeth. "Your Krod has hurt my friend! If that happens again, I'm not giving it to you. You won't be able to get it if you kill me, would you?"

Nyx furrowed his brows. "Far from correct. Have you ever seen the beacon lights? Those are only activated when a Successor is murdered by another person. It could be anybody. The System is passed to the murderer. If there is no murderer, anybody can get the system."

Jin raised a brow. "Then why don't you just kill me and take it yourself?"

Nyx's blood boiled. He tinged in seething rage. "Jin, this is your last chance," he put out a hand. "Give it to me."

"No," Jin smirked, "I wanna hear it. Why can't you just take it yourself? I'm sure you would've taken it a long time ago."

Nyx's face scrunched in anger. "Because if I kill you and take the system from that guy he'll … fuck it! I do not need to explain myself to a frail human being!"

He heaved. He crouched down to Jin's level again. And finally, he placed both his hands on Jin's temples, "I am only showing you something. Don't resist or I'll snap your neck, steal the system, and take my chances with the person—" he paused.

An energy started to emanate from Nyx's hands. Then Jin's eyes widened as some of this energy started transfering to him, entering his temples.

His heart throbbed. And then, there was black.