What just happened? I looked down to see the body of my close friend. A pool of blood under her, all flowing from her stomach. A gaping hole that shouldn’t be there.

I covered her wound with both my hands, but it was useless, her blood would still find a way to flow out.

I looked up at the face of her killer.

“What did you just do?! Why did you do that?!”

Aydin was breathing heavily as he looked at the dying Lorelei. He grabbed his chest tightly until his breathing had calmed. Then, he looked at me. There was no sign of regret or grievance in those eyes anymore.

“It had to be done, Din. She was a demon. They worship the devil. They cannot be allowed to live.”

“Lorelei did nothing of the sort. She was a nice girl. She always helped people when they needed it. She would always be there. She was—”

At this point, I didn’t even know what I was saying. I continued yelling at him, throwing away all my frustrations at him. It got to the point where I was merely whispering. I knew that, but I couldn’t help it. I kept speaking until I was satisfied.

It was no use. The blood continued to spill out of the hole even with the pressure from my hands. She wasn’t breathing anymore.

It was all over. I couldn’t even shed anymore tear.

I slowly laid her body onto the floor with her arms tucked on her stomach.

It wasn’t much, but I was at least glad she looked peaceful.

Aydin stepped forward.

“Din, if you come quietly with us, there is still hope. A trial will be given and if they find you have no connection with the devil, they will surely let you off easy.”

“Don’t screw with me.”

I grabbed the sword near me as I got back on my feet. The cut on my right arm had become numb to me. I glared at Aydin.

A sharp recognition hit his face as he looked into my eyes.

“Your eyes… I take back what I said. Looks like you’re a demon as well.”

From my left, a guard came in with a low swing of his sword. I managed to parry his hit in time by first blocking the impact and then pushing him back. Another guard appeared on my right, his sword held high, ready to slash down. I raised my sword to block the attack. By slightly moving to the side, I redirected his sword to miss. Ducked low, I raised my leg to deliver a kick to his stomach. It seemed effective as the guard was gasping for air as he lost his balance. This time, Aydin rushed forward with his sword in front of him.

He must’ve seen that my back was open after I had stopped to kick the other guard. This was exactly the way he chose to fight earlier. Going in for the kill as the opponent was distracted.

As he came near, an image of how Kat had blocked my strike appeared in my mind. First, I had to avert the opponent’s sword away from me, then I had to use my opponent’s momentum against them and make them fall.

Just as I had planned, I managed to knock his sword to the side with my sword, but before I could do anything else, he stepped forward with one of his legs in order to stop his own momentum.

Then, by applying force on that leg, he spun around with his sword in a fluid motion. I was caught off guard, but I could somehow see his movements clearly.

I raised my sword to parry his hit. It was a heavy strike since he used his full body’s motion, but it wasn’t impossible to block. With a push of my sword, his arms flung back. This was the perfect chance for me. He had lost his balance and was defenseless as his arms were in the air.

Immediately, I pulled my sword back in order to strike him down with a sideways swing.

Rather than the sword slashing through Aydin’s side, it was met by another sword.

“What—?!”

In front of me wasn’t Aydin anymore, it was Grayson. He had rushed in front of Aydin to parry my attack.

His movement was too quick. I didn’t see him appear until the last second.

While I was stunned, Grayson kicked me away, causing me to lose my balance and lose grip of my sword. It hurt but not as much as I was expected. I looked back at Grayson, who was helping Aydin get back on his feet.

Things just got a lot tougher. His movements were too fast for me to see, but his raw power was nothing I couldn’t handle. He was way faster than Kat, but he was nowhere close to Kat’s power judging from that kick.

If I fought with power, there was a chance even I could win against him.

“Din, what is the meaning of this?”

Grayson noticed the wounded guards and the dead Lorelei.

I pointed towards Aydin and said, “Why don’t you ask him? He kept calling Lorelei a demon and ended up killing her!”

Grayson didn’t even bother asking Aydin. He only looked into my eyes.

It was unusual to see Grayson act this way. His normal friendly attitude was all gone. Even his grim expression was something I had never seen on him before.

“We can all see it clearly, Din. I don’t know what the case was with Lorelei, but I can say for sure that you are a demon. Your eyes, Din, those are the evil eyes belonging to only demons, worshipper of the devil.”

What was he talking about? I had the same eyes as demons?

“What do you—?!”

Before I could finish my question, I noticed the fog that was slowly settling in.

Was this a trap for me?

No… even Grayson, Aydin, and the guards seemed wary of it. Then just what was happening?

The fog was filling up the stadium at an unusually quick pace. Before I knew it, I could barely see in front of me.

“We’re here for you.”

I turned around to the mysterious voice and there stood two hooded figures. They were both wearing unusual masks, one a mirror image of the other.

“If you don’t wish to die, follow us.”

“Wait—!”

The two figures turned around and ran ahead.

They were my only way out so I followed them without hesitation.