A silence had fallen over the group- from shock or confusion, I don't know, but it was a silence all the same. We all stared directly at the demon, glaring in confusion or hatred- it varied depending on the person. Well, Gowther just stared at it, but I don't really count him since he 'just stares at' literally everything. Nevertheless, it was unnaturally quiet amongst the seven of us, each of us singularly taking in the sight and situation- except for Hendrickson, who stood, smiling condescendingly at all of us. His smile was really starting to annoy me. Maybe that's the only reason why he continued to do so.

"What is that corpse...?" King mumbled, staring at it with wide eyes.

"It's all fat and red and gross!" Diane exclaimed, scrunching her face up in disgust.

"It almost looks like the legendary..." King continued, but was cut off by Meli.

"Yeah, it's a demon." He said it so nonchalantly, you'd think he was telling you a story about how he walked to the store. It's not to say that it was unfamiliar to both him and I, but I would think he'd be socially aware enough to know how shocking that might be to others.

"The power emanating from it matches that of both Dale and the New Generations. It is no doubt the source of their powers," Gowther spoke, 'just staring' at the corpse.

"Are you serious?" King asked, "The Demons... still exist?"

Well duh, look at me, you dumbass.

"Of course. You should know of all people... this demon was found in the burnt remains of the Fairy King's Forest," Hendrickson smirked. Boy, immabout to whoop that smile off yo snarky ass. "This demon has brought an infinite amount of blessings upon us..! We experimented with the Old and New Generations to find matches for its blood; and the deciphering of the dark mark..! As a result I have been able to obtain the power of the Red Demon!"

Just as he said that, his smile and eyes widened sadistically. His right arm, which had deep purple demon markings all the way up to his shoulder, extended out, turning into six tentacles, each of which shot at every one of us. King flew out of the way, narrowly escaping; Meli swung his sword, blocking the attack; Diane did the same, only with Gideon; Gowther simply jumped up; and the Fox Sin let it impale him. I pulled out my whip, wrapping it around the edge of the deep purple tentacle as it shot toward me. I tightened it around, so that it formed a small loop, effectively blocking the attack. The rest of it built up in front of where I had stopped it, bunching together. I then moved to the side, sending it crashing into the floor. I stared at Hendrickson, entirely unimpressed. Mr. Jackass was now in front of him, the main tentacle from which the other six sprouted off of impaling him in the torso. Good. He deserved a bit of impaling.

"Power of the Red Demon?" He purred, smirking. "Then you can't beat me."

There was a small pause before the Fox Sin slammed his weapon down atop Hendrickson's head- heh, Head-drickson's head. Get it? Kill me- breaking the staff with the sheer force of the blow. "I'M THE ONE THAT KILLED THAT FUCKING FATASS!"

The entirety of the ground below him crumpled, caving it from the force of the blow and Hendrickson's body as it shot downward. The rock we were on shook dangerously, but eventually settled. Jackass (I think that should be his name now) turned around, darting over to the demon and beheading it before returning to the group. We were all around the large chasm it had formed, going much deeper than it should have.

"Ban... twenty years ago did you seriously..?" King asked, eyes wide with shock and confusion. He hesitated before answering.

"What happened back then doesn't matter."

Really? I think if 'what happened back then' didn't matter, I wouldn't think you were a steaming pile of crapshit and we might still be... romantically involved at the moment. What happened back then only matters when you want it to matter, sir- and that makes you even more of a douchebag than you already are.

"Oh man, you really knocked him down," Meli spoke, "Maybe you should've gone a bit easier on him."

"Eh, whatever," Jackass shrugged.

"I feel a faint air flow from beneath. I believe there is another chamber below," Gowther spoke.

"Geez, dude, you have like super-duper-uper senses," I sweatdropped, staring at him.

"Guess we gotta go down, then," Meli said, sighing. He stretched lightly, then jumped down. "Geronimo!"

"This is a bad idea," I mumbled, but still didn't hesitate to jump down with him. My cloak fluttered up under me, and I fell as though I was laying down, arms crossed against my chest and one leg over the other, with my ass being the closest part of my body to the supposed floor. The main part of my cloak outlined my figure from below, and the hood was blown upward over my head.

Jackass came hurtling down after me, followed by Gowther, then King. Diane shouted as all of us went flying down, "Guys I can't fit down there!"

"Wait for us at the top!" I shouted back, "We'll be sure to save some action for you!"

She laughed, "Don't hog all of it! Oh, and be careful!"

We all continued to fall, hitting the ground. I fell directly on my ass, grumbling about the inconvenience of the badass-anime-character-falling-pose. I stood up, huffing as I looked around. It was pitch black, but I could now see what Gowther was talking about. There was a slight breeze down here, and it smelled faintly of death. Although, what else should I expect from an underground tunnel that not even we knew about until now? Pfft, watch there be a Gray Demon down here and Hendrickson go all "Haha! You fools!" on us.

I shouldn't think that- I might've jinxed it.

"Well, it's good that we're down here, but it's pitch black," Meli stayed, quite obviously.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes pointlessly, because no one can see.

"Ban, are you trying to fling your snot?" Gowther asked.

"Holy shit, you can see?" Jackass and a dumbass. What a lovely combination.

"I'm surrounded by idiots..." I mumbled, sighing as I snapped my fingers . Small, hovering flames appeared all around us- surrounding the group in a sort of dome, making a surprisingly picturesque scene. They all looked around, watching in, what I like to think of as, awe as the small flames appeared around us. Once they stopped appearing, everyone continued to stare.

Somehow, Jackass and I made eye contact. As we stared at each other, my stomach clenched, and I felt as though I was going to vomit. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, already threatening to fall just because he and I looked at each other. I let out a shaky breath, but my mouth was opened so insignificantly that nobody would be able to tell (I hope). I stared at him, my glare stony. I thought, for a fleeting moment of hope, that his eyes flashed with recognition- the feeling of romance between the two of us. With pain and sorrow and apologetic-ness for what he had done to me in the span of a few moments. With happiness at seeing me again. With, dare I say, love. Maybe- just maybe- he's under a spell of the Goddess Horn...

But, for some reason, I thought it was all in my head.

I turned away from him, facing the direction that wasn't blocked off by a large pile of boulders. I breathed shakily, trying to compose myself. A voice spoke in the back of my mind- give up, (y/n). You know you're not good enough for him, why do you even try?

"Wow, thanks (y/n)," Meli spoke, just as the voice did.

"Shut up," I whimpered quietly, clenching my fists at my sides.

"What?" Meli asked. I exhaled strongly, turning toward him with a shaky smile that I hope was convincing enough. Why am I so upset? I should've expected this...

"No problem!" I said, grinning widely, "Lets get going and kick Hendy's ass!"

Meli grinned back, but I could tell that he wasn't convinced. Damn my inconsistent girl behavior that not even I understand.

"Demon boy~ Come out an play~" Ba- Jackass hummed, but somehow I could feel his eyes on me.

"I'm right here," boomed a familiar voice. All of us looked in the direction of its origin, finding the man, standing upon an elevated platform. Small flames appeared below him, giving him an, entirely unintentional, ominous glow. Hendrickson stood, panting slightly as he stared down at us.

"Hey," I spoke, breaking the tense silence with a meek attempt at humor.

"I must say, I'm impressed with you Sins. And I must thank you Fox Sin of Greed, Ban. If not for you, I would've been unable to obtain these tremendous abilities," Hendrickson continued, ignoring me.

You have to say 'hi' back, dude.

It's common curtesy.

"But that was just the beginning," he growled, that smirk finally falling from his lips and being replaced with a dangerous glare. "I've longed for a resilient body. Unlike the Red Demon, no body I've encountered- or living organism, for that matter- can withstand the blood of this demon."

"(Y/N)... there's something behind him...!" King spoke, squinting his eyes. More small flames appeared around Hendrickson, highlighting the area around him instead of just his body.

"My hypothesis is... that if a body can withstand and fully unite with the blood of a Red Demon from the same family, it should be able to handle the rebound of the second dose of blood."

All of our eyes collectively widened as the small candle-flares lit up the area behind him. It was a muted gray color- clearly dead for a long time. It's eyes were voids of black, and, unlike the Red Demon, there were no pinpricks within- just a soulless, black abyss. It had jagged lines as a mouth, and almost a sun pattern around it's head, giving a strong unsettling feeling about it. It had a jagged slash across its chest, probably the wound that killed it, if I had to guess, and black veins weaving across the entirety of its body.

Holy shit I jinxed us.

It was a Gray Demon.

————————————————————————

🎉🎉🎉

💞💓💖❣️💝💘💗💘💓💝💚💗🧡💖💕💓🖤🧡💝❤️💖💖🧡💞💞❣️💓❤️💖💚💞❣️💓❤️💖🧡💓💓💝❤️💖❤️💖💚💓❣️🖤💕💓💙💓💚💓🧡💖💚💓💞💛💗🧡💖💛💞💝🧡💖❤️💘💕💓❣️💖💘🖤💖🧡💓💚❣️💗💘🧡💛💓💕💝💟🧡💘💘🧡🧡💖🧡💖💗💓💛💗❤️❤️💖🧡💖💛💓💚