A group of golden-robed angels stood in a circle on the corner of a street. One angel was lying down in the center, his body curled up in the fetal position on the ground. His face was green, and sweat poured from his forehead, darkening his robes. A sweet smell lingered around his body, and it was getting stronger with every passing second.

An angel wearing red robes with black linings furrowed his brow as he broke through the encirclement of golden-robed angels. A figure wearing a cloak that obscured its face followed after him. “Why haven’t you healed him yet?” the red-robed angel asked.

“Mayor,” one of the golden-robed angels said and saluted. “Lori tried, but she was unable to remove the poison from his system. Lori’s a greater angel of kindness—the poison must come from an archangel or archdemon.”

The mayor’s brow wrinkled as Lori nodded her head, indicating that the angel who just spoke was telling the truth. “Explain to me what happened,” he said as he looked up and past the group of angels. Behind them, there was an alleyway with four spikes planted in the ground with a head impaled on each of them. The mayor’s face paled at the sight. The alley seemed darker than usual, and he could barely make out the image of a broken door leading into a building.

“We were following orders and went ahead to investigate, but Rolf stepped on something and became like this,” one of the angels said, gesturing towards the dying angel on the ground. “We decided to wait for further orders before proceeding. Apparently, other groups of guardians have encountered similar situations all throughout the city.”

The mayor exhaled and peeled his eyes away from the bloody sight, hanging his head and rubbing his hand against his temple. “There hasn’t been a murder in Ni’En for fourteen years, and now this happens?” he asked. “I don’t understand. Is it the rebels sowing chaos? They’ve certainly done a good job at that.”

“That could be the case. They know they can’t beat us in direct conflict, so they sow seeds in the surrounding cities to undermine our power,” Lori said. “It’s no wonder why our army is traveling from city to city.”

The mayor sighed. “Honestly, this is beyond what I can deal with,” he said. “If even the guardians are unable to investigate safely, I’ll have to request help from the capital.”

“Territory,” the cloaked figure said suddenly.

The mayor frowned and turned around, facing his follower. “Pardon?” he asked.

“Someone’s claiming territory,” the cloaked figure said. The figure raised its lowered head, revealing a pair of bright-red eyes. He wore a metal collar with runes inscribed on the surface.

“Huh?” the mayor asked. “Like a dog?”

The mayor’s demon snorted. “Like a demon,” he said. His eyes narrowed. “Or a pair of demons. The owner isn’t looking for a mate. He or she’s telling everyone to leave or face the consequences.”

“So this demon is establishing Ni’En as his home?” the mayor asked, his face darkening.

“Or pair of demons,” the demon said. “Either they’re very confident, or they’re stupid.” The demon’s eyes seemed to glow as he spoke in a voice filled with worship. “A demon that wants to claim an entire city of angels as their own roost must be an incredible figure.”

“Then this display,” Lori said and gestured towards the bloody alleyway, “is like a dog peeing on a tree?” Her hands trembled as they clenched into fists. “People lost their lives for that?”

The demon completely disregarded Lori as if he hadn’t heard her speak. The mayor sighed and said, “Answer her.”

The demon shrugged. “You could say that,” he said as a sneer formed on his face. “It’s also a challenge. If you can clean the marker away, the demon might acknowledge you and appear.” The demon licked his lips.

“Is that true?” Lori asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Of course,” the demon said with a gleam in his eyes. He had seen dozens of territory markers similar to this one back in Eljiam. They were deathtraps that only the owners knew how to navigate. Only a fool or animal would wander into one thinking there was something nice inside. “If you want to catch the killer, you have to clear the marker and figure out the puzzle at the end. Maybe he won’t appear until all of the ones in the city have been cleared.”

“I see,” Lori said as her head lowered. “I never knew demons had such perverse hobbies.”

One of the angels next to her placed his hand on her shoulder. “You can’t be considering this,” he said. “Do you know how dangerous this is?”

“If not us, then who?” Lori asked, meeting her coworker’s gaze. “The citizens? My cousin was the one who reported this scene. She’s lived here all her life, and she’s considering leaving everything behind to move east. It’s our duty as guardians to keep the people who depend on us safe.”

“An archdemon, Lori,” the golden-robed angel said. “We can barely suppress a greater demon as a group. How are we going to catch an archdemon?”

“We can do it if we all work together,” Lori said and furrowed her brow. “If all the guardians in Ni’En cooperated, we could definitely stop an archangel or archdemon, but only if we work together. We can’t let fear divide us.”

The mayor turned towards his demon. “What are your thoughts on this? Tell the truth,” he said.

The demon smiled, revealing a row of sharp yellow teeth. “I sincerely hope you do your best to conquer the territory markers,” he said. “And any demon can be stopped if you have a large enough number of people.” Whether he thought there were enough guardians or not, he didn’t say. “Of course, there is the possibility that this is all a bluff. The demon could be nervous and hopes that a show of power is enough of a deterrent to keep you from looking for him. He could’ve created these as places to retreat to in times of danger.”

“You hear that?” Lori asked the angel standing next to her. “It could just be a bluff. You think the rebel army has archdemons to spare to terrorize some minor cities?”

“Why is that the only part that you heard?” her companion asked and pursed his lips.

Lori shrugged. “I’m going to clear this marker out,” she said. “And if any of you have a shred of honor, you’d help me.” She steeled herself before marching past the four impaled heads and towards the broken door leading into the building. The other guardians exchanged glances before looking at the mayor. The mayor sighed.

“Go,” he said. “Proceed with utmost caution.”

Chapter 197

Three cloaked figures rode horses along the road leading to Ni’En from the rest stop that Linda’s carriage had resided in. They were riding side by side with their legs nearly touching, the yellow moonlight paving their path. The figure in the center turned his head to the left. “How long were you planning this for?” he asked.

Carmella met Owen’s gaze. “Ever since I joined the army,” she said. “There’s no glory in death. Why would anyone stay to die for a cause? It’s not like we get paid more when the risk of dying gets higher. That’s just a shitty investment to make.”

“So you planted these horses that far in advance?” Gerome asked from across Owen. When the trio had arrived at the rest stop, there were three horses conveniently tied to a stable with a bag of food nearby which now rested on Carmella’s lap.

“No,” Carmella said. “I didn’t think we’d find free horses at the rest stop, but there’s no reason to refuse a nice gift, right?” They had traveled for three days by foot to make it to the rest stop from Marossa. Every time they heard a carriage, they had to duck down and take cover underneath Owen’s makeshift bulwark. Thankfully, there weren’t many carriages heading in that direction.

“So I’ve also become a thief,” Owen said and sighed.

“We’re just borrowing them,” Carmella said. “We’ll release them when we’re done. If they don’t return to their owner, then it means he was abusive and we did the horses a favor.”

“It’s funny how you can twist every wrongdoing into a righteous deed,” Owen said as he narrowed his eyes at Carmella.

She shrugged. “That’s what angels do best,” she said and smiled. “I learned from my environment.”

“Forget it,” Owen said and shook his head. He hated arguing with her because he always found himself on the losing end. “Do you think Lady Raea is still in Ni’En?” Although he disliked Carmella’s morals, he couldn’t deny her ability to analyze a situation.

“Well,” Carmella said and furrowed her brow. “I really can’t say anything because we’ve been isolated from news, but I want to say she’s still there. Just call it a hunch. Clearly she wanted to be found by someone; otherwise, she wouldn’t have spread those rumors in the first place. We’ll find out when we get there.”

The first sun reached its zenith by the time the trio arrived at Ni’En. “Holy crap,” Gerome said as the three entered the city. “It’s crowded.” The streets were filled with angels, and they were all dressed in armor. The quality of the metal wasn’t as good as the army’s, but they were still usable.

“What?” Carmella asked as she lowered her hood. “Never been to a real city before?” They had released the horses at the gate. “The ones the army occupied don’t count,” she said before Gerome could say anything. His mouth closed after that comment. Carmella looked around and frowned. “Something special must be happening.”

“Then there’s a good chance of Lady Raea being here,” Owen said as his face darkened. “Special things always happen around her demon.”

Carmella nodded and approached a nearby angel. She tapped him on the shoulder and smiled when he turned around. “Hello, we’re travelers,” she said and gestured towards Owen and Gerome. “Is anything special happening? I don’t recall Ni’En ever being this busy before.”

The angel glanced at the trio’s dusty bodies. They had discarded their armor when they left Marossa. Anyone could recognize them as deserters if they kept wearing the army’s emblem. “Well, these dungeons”—the angel air quoted with his fingers—“cropped up all over the city, and the mayor is offering a reward to everyone who clears one. They’re really simple, but if you touch something wrong, you get some nasty poison in your system. A few people have died.”

“Dungeons?” Carmella asked as she tiptoed. She couldn’t see beyond the crowd. “How do you clear one?”

The angel stared hard at Carmella before scratching his head. “Now, I don’t want to scare you…,” he said.

“I’ve seen some things,” Carmella said, beckoning for the angel to continue.

“There’s a bunch of body parts inside of these dungeons,” the angel said with a grimace. “They belong to the owners of the buildings actually. Clearing a dungeon just means removing the fleshy bits from inside and destroying any traps you encounter along the way.”

“I see,” Carmella said and lowered her head. “How long has it been since these dungeons started appearing?”

“Three or four days,” the angel said. “Two or three pop up every night. There’s been a mass exodus recently. Everyone’s scared, can’t blame them really.”

“Alright,” Carmella said and nodded. “Thank you. That was very informative.”

“Of course.”

Carmella exchange glances with Owen and Gerome before walking past the crowd. They saw bloody spikes around the entrance to a small shop. The air smelled like rotting flesh. And poop, but it always smelled like poop. “I’m willing to bet half my kidney that that’s Palan’s doing,” Carmella said as they made their way through the city. “Let’s get something to eat. I’m starving.”

“While it’s reassuring to know Lady Raea and her demon are here,” Owen said, “I’m worried about the consequences something like this will bring. The council will never forgive something of this scale. Murdering people and terrorizing a city, I don’t even want to think of how many counts of execution that adds up to.” He shook his head.

“No one has to find out,” Carmella said and shrugged. “I have no plans of telling anyone. Long ago, I made the decision to not piss Palan off. He’s really good at torturing people. At least the council’s nice enough to give people a quick, clean death.”

***

Two angels, one male and one female, stood in front of the gate leading to Ni’En. They both wore silver robes with golden embroidery on the sides and sleeves. They were standing close enough to be recognized as traveling together, but far enough so that they were just out of arm’s reach from each other. The woman turned her head to look at the man. “Do you think the rumors are true?”

“I know you don’t want to do this,” the man said as he met her gaze, “but it’ll be less painful the quicker we deal with the problem.”

The woman sighed, and they both stepped inside the city.