“(Ah, fuck. This is not funny).”

“(It never is, Fuzandre. It never is. Then again, your bad luck is amusing).”

The cackling laugh…the damned cackling laugh. Rhynsa never felt so incensed before. He spent his life as a vigilante hunting down demon worshippers and even on the surface, even if he had no rights to do so.

He always thought he would die, and every time he survived, he thought he would die the next time he confronted the demons again. Yet, those were his selfish thoughts, knowing that no one would miss him. Every time he wished for death, he kept surviving. Sometimes barely, sometimes without breaking a sweat.

Then suddenly, just when he started to know how to trust and to protect, he lost. Badly. It was an ironic twist he never imagined would happen, yet it happened.

As they were escaping Tragoria, after reporting that everything was fine, Arnulfe’s warning about circle demons came true when they were ambushed by a group of hellhounds close to the region border. At first, it wasn’t that hard. Even without Arnulfe’s hypnotic gaze, he was still a ferocious fighter that could hold on his own. Rhynsa provided backup with his sniper while Mizarka and Arnulfe, along with the rest of the hellhounds and Lycans, fought to protect the convoy. It went well up to the point where the demon came.

There was no doubt that the hellhounds were not themselves. Arnulfe could immediately tell with the most unpleasant way possible. Only he would have the bright idea of preying on a hellhound’s neck and feast on their blood. The brutal and frank method of dispatching the enemies was not Rhynsa’s style. In fact, it was not a fighting style any Fuzandre would do without being considered a barbarian. They drank blood, of course, but not like an animal.

That’s when Arnulfe, eyes wide, ripped off the hellhound’s throat and immediately spat out the flesh, then the blood. He looked repulsed, like someone who tasted poison. The blood he drank was uncharacteristically as black as ink. Rhynsa knew that was not natural.

“(What the hell was that blood?! It’s burning my tongue!)” said Arnulfe as he spat out the blood. “(That destroyed my appetite, you goddamn—)”

“(Arnulfe, focus!)” exclaimed Rhynsa. “(Don’t drink any more of their blood! Something’s not right with them).”

“(Indeed, you are correct),” said a menacing voice, accompanied with a chuckle. “(Tell me, gray skin. Does it taste good?)”

“(Good?! Try some of it first then…then…).”

Arnulfe’s chatty, confrontative mouth was put to a halt when he saw the one talking. Everyone was stunned, unable to move. They could only stare.

However, they were not stunned by the demon’s appearance. The demon looked rather normal for an Underworlder, but there was something vile. Something wicked. It was the first time they ever felt something like that.

The overwhelming fear, coming from a demon bat.

The demon was just a Fuzandre closer in form to Arnulfe than Rhynsa in term of wings. The demon’s wings were part of his arms, wrapped around his body like a roosting bat, or rather, like a cloak. His face was partially reptilian, and his ears were long, far longer than Arnulfe’s or Rhynsa’s. His eyes were yellow, with cross-shaped pupils that seemed to be peering into their souls. The demon was smirking, amused by their antics.

Rhynsa also noticed that the Fuzandre-like demon was shrouded by black smoke. The smoke, when contacting the ground, seemed to extend his shadow. When the shadow touched the hellhound’s shadow, they stopped attacking.

“(Miasma tastes good when you know how to enjoy it),” said the demon with a chuckle. “(Well, too bad for you, it will kill you. But I bet it’ll be a taste to die for, eh?)”

Rhynsa, realizing what Arnulfe had drank, quickly turned to him and, desperately, said, “(Spit all of the blood out! Now, kid!)”

“(Too late),” said the Fuzandre demon. “(His stomach is going to be eaten from within, and you will bear witness to the most magnificent spectacle of all. Behold!)”

Arnulfe, by this point realizing his fate, started to panic and tried to induce himself to vomit. Yet, he knew it was already too late. His stomach felt like it was burning, with him coughing as he felt his body getting numb.

The group that the fighters were trying to safely escort could not do anything. They knew they would just be a nuisance and worse, a fatal distraction. They were more affected to the bat demon standing in front of them and could only stare in horror as Arnulfe started convulsing.

Then, the unthinkable happened. Arnulfe let out a black smoke from his body, followed by sparks of blue flame. He then perked his head upward, then let out a pained grunt. Mizarka quickly came to his aid as he weakly slumped on her.

Rhynsa was confused. He was excepting something gorier. Even the bat demon looked genuinely surprised.

“(Huh, that’s a first),” said the bat demon. “(I didn’t mix it up with some spicy pepper, did I?)”

“(Pepper?!)” exclaimed Arnulfe. “(Uh, what’s that?)”

“(Spicy surface world stuff. Pretty good, but it might upset your stomach if you eat…. Hey wait! This is not the time to chat! That blood you drank is certain death! How the fuck did you survive that?!)”

“(The fuck should I know!)” replied Arnulfe.

The distraction proved to be beneficial for Rhynsa, who managed to break free from the influence of fear and quickly got beside the bat demon and aimed his gun at point blank range. Unfortunately for him, the demon’s momentary lapse was too short. He sensed Rhynsa and turned towards him, fast enough to divert the gun away from hitting his head. Rhynsa smiled as the demon’s black wings were sizzling like they were touching hot metal.

“(Oh, that’s beautiful),” said the demon as he rubbed the burned part. “(I heard things about surface dwellers using specific rituals to hunt us. You one of them, Fuzandre?)”

“(Not your business),” said Rhynsa. He acted quickly, knowing that he lost the element of surprise. He quickly opened his wings and flew away, trying to get the demon to fight him in the air. But he soon realized it was a grave mistake.

As he flew, he started to feel like his body couldn’t move. To the others’ surprise, he stayed in the air without flapping his wings as if he was suspended by invisible wires. Mizarka noticed the unusual shape of shadow and quickly drew a conclusion.

“(He controls the shadow),” she concluded. “(And Rhynsa’s shadow is caught).”

But Mizarka also remembered that she had a weapon that could free Rhynsa: her crescent sword. Tempered with the same metal that made the Gate of Hell, it had the same anti-demonic property with Rhynsa’s anti-demon weapons. Without hesitating, she ran towards one of the nearest hellhounds under the demon’s control and decapitated him, during which black smoke came out of the hellhound’s body. She noticed the shadow receding from the body, returning to a more natural shape.

She quickly concluded that the shadow was the anchor, so without delay, she ran to Rhynsa and slashed on the dark shadow under him. Rhynsa quickly felt how control returned to his body and he pulled out his gun, shooting the bat demon from above. This caught the demon off, forcing him to cover his face with his wings. The anti-demon bullets pierced the wings, showcasing their effectiveness.

However, Rhynsa knew it wasn’t going to be that simple. Anyone with a decent aim could shot at a demon with anti-demonic bullets. What he needed to be aware of was the demon’s way to deal with the two-pronged attack. He immediately assumed the demon would attack his blind spot, which was his back. He had a surround echo sense with his hearings, and anything that could create an echo was detectable, even if he could not visualize them. Relying entirely on his ears, he pulled out his dirk and, anticipating the demon to appear behind him, spun his body while folding his wings, giving him enough time to surprise the demon.

And his attack connected. Rhynsa let out a satisfied smile, but it would be replaced by terror when he realized what he had just stabbed.

The one that appeared behind him wasn’t the skinny bat demon, but instead a hulking monster that was indescribable. It was too alien to be considered a demon and was clearly not an animal that could ever existed on the surface world or the Underworld. It was indescribable and changing, like a mass of putrid flesh or a slime.

Yet, the thing that unnerved Rhynsa was how slowly changed into something more describable…which served to only cause him even more distress. The monstrosity turned into Ifrit, in his mangled appearance when Rhynsa last saw him, grabbing the dirk and grinning menacingly.

“(What’s wrong?)” said the apparition. His voice was echoing, creating a mix between Ifrit’s voice and something else. “(Isn’t this what you really wanted? To personally kill me?)”

“(No, this isn’t right),” said Rhynsa, shaking his head. “(He’s dead. His body is nowhere near this place!)”

“(Demons have a way),” said Ifrit’s voice, but this time from a different one, who was unscathed.

“(And they always know how to make a bargain),” said another Ifrit, this time looking less a hellhound and more demonic. He was engulfed in fire.

Another Ifrit grabbed Rhynsa’s back and bit on him. The bite was searingly hot, burning his shoulder as Rhynsa grunted in pain. His eyes locked with Ifrit’s eyes, and from there his vision became filled with hellish imagery, along with all his previous victims being tortured in such a way that even Rhynsa could not stand it. He tried to look away, but then found that his echo senses ran wild, causing him to scream due to the overstimulation.

All he could visualize in his eyes were the eyes of those he killed, though most importantly, he saw Ifrit’s red reptilian eyes among them. They glared at him, silently blaming him for their damnation. Rhynsa tried to act strong, but it was Ifrit’s voice that hammered it all down.

“(The Inferno will welcome you),” said the malicious-sounding voice. “(And your nightmares will be made flesh!)”

***

Rhynsa stabbed an indescribable horror, but it only happened in his mind.

What actually happened after he twisted his body and stabbing what he thought was a bat demon was that he stabbed at nothing. Rhynsa inadvertently looked into the bat demon’s eyes. From there, the bat demon unleashed his greatest, most versatile ability: Fear Amplification.

His victims’ fears would fill their minds and made it real in their eyes. Rejecting it would only make it stronger, as was accepting it. It would change their perception of time, but in real time, it would only take minutes before their brains were fried and they dropped dead.

Mizarka and Arnulfe did not see the bat demon’s eyes directly, but they saw what happened to Rhynsa. The moment he tried stabbing the demon behind his back, he stopped, staring blankly into space as the bat demon ensnared him within his shadow, all while suggestively caressing Rhynsa.

“(Such a broken mess),” said the demon with a chuckle. “(Your own fears and rejection will be your downfall).”

“(Not if I have something to do about it!)”

Arnulfe was the first to try and attack the demon. Mizarka, who managed to realize that Rhynsa saw the demon’s eyes, exclaimed, “(Arnulfe, wait! Don’t look directly into his eyes! Everyone, look away!)”

Mizarka’s priorities quickly shifted into protecting the others, who were still fighting back against the hellhounds under the control of the demon. They were that close of staring into the bat demon’s eyes when Mizarka told them not to. One of them was unable to look away and became frozen in place, staring at where the bat demon was. Arnulfe’s pounce was not fast enough to divert the demon’s attention. Even then, it was useless; Arnulfe was caught in the demonic gaze.

“(I wonder what your fears are),” said the demon. “(How about imagining how the miasma will eat you from the—)"

Then, to the demon’s surprise, Arnulfe kept staring at him with a deadly glare as he forced the demon to the ground. The furless Fuzandre learned his lesson of not sinking his teeth and drink any blood, so he proceeded to headbutt the bat demon before breaking away and flew towards Rhynsa. He snapped the brown Fuzandre out of his trance by grabbing and deliberately falling to the ground, hoping the pain would snap him out of it, which it did.

Rhynsa let out an uncharacteristic yelp, his eyes wide from fear and his breathing was labored. He looked at Arnulfe’s concerned blue eyes.

“(Kid…Arnulfe),” said Rhynsa. “(I…).”

“(Hey),” said the demon. “(You forgot something, ashen one?)”

Arnulfe was yanked off Rhynsa by his leg and once again stared into the demon’s eyes. He only angrily glared at him and even attempting to use his gaze, momentarily turning his eyes red before flickering back to blue.

“(You’re an interesting one),” said the demon. “(A mortal resisting my stare’s something new. Haven’t had this much interest in your affair for millennia).”

Arnulfe tried to struggle, but then the demon ensnared his shadows, keeping him suspended in the air awkwardly. Rhynsa was still recovering from the horror he faced when Mizarka tried helping him get up.

The bat demon sniffed at Arnulfe and stroke him suggestively, making Arnulfe very uncomfortable. It was too inappropriate and made him so vulnerable.

“(Hmm…a familiar smell),” said the demon before shaking his head. He seemed to remember something very important. “(Oh, dear. Dear, oh, dear. He has quite a plan, isn’t he? No wonder).”

“(What the hell are you talking about?! And get the fuck off me!)” exclaimed Arnulfe angrily.

“(Not ripe yet),” said the demon, murmuring to himself. “(Or maybe he never will. Ah, well. One less thing to think about, the better I will feel!)”

This time, Mizarka overcame her concerns about the demon’s eyes and surprised him by cutting off one of his arms. The arm, also his wing, made him unable to keep himself on the air as he quickly fell to the ground, groaning in pain. It also broke his concentration, enough for the three to escape and return to the group of civilians and refugees they were protecting. Rhynsa did not hesitate to shoot the demon with his gun, but then doubted if it did hit him.

“(We have to leave. Now!)” exclaimed Mizarka.

“(No),” said Rhynsa as he was being helped by Arnulfe. “You go on ahead. Does any of you know where Summinat is?”

“One of the humans said, “I went there once.”

“Good. You’ll be in charge of the journey. Guide the hounds and help them. They don’t know surface language, but I know they want to learn about it.”

Mizarka and Arnulfe had no idea what Rhynsa was talking about, but they could sense what when the group seemed to understand him and, with a heavy heart, started going the different direction.

“(I guess we’ll be the distraction),” said Mizarka with a rub on her head. “(Only the three of us have the means to combat that bat demon. Am I right?)”

“(You guessed it. Although, to be fair…we have no chance, nor even a way to protect them).”

Rhynsa got his answer when the shadows moved underneath their paws. They then felt their body sinking into them. Alarmed, Mizarka turned to the frightened group and said, “(Don’t stop! Get away from here, now!)”

They sank quicker than they initially thought, eventually ending up engulfed in darkness. However, what they thought to be a long time ended up being short enough. They got out of the darkness and into an unknown area, which seemed to be somewhere in the middle of a Tragorian forest.

There they saw the bat demon, clutching at his cut wing, or was. In an instant, a new arm-wing formed from the cut limb. Seeing at this, Rhynsa could only say, “(Ah, fuck. This isn’t funny).”

“(It never is, Fuzandre. Then again, your bad luck is amusing).”

“(So, what are you going to do to us?)” said Rhynsa. “(Torture us for your own amusement?)”

“(Just depriving your group from their protectors),” said the demon. “(A tactical retreat with a lot of advantages. If torture is the thing you want, then the ‘torture’ of not knowing their fate can be considered one. Exciting, isn’t it?)”

“(Of course. Why did I even think of a demon not being an asshole),” commented Arnulfe. “(Well, since we’re out of their way, might as well…).”

The bat demon proceeded to bind them with shadows, immobilizing them and approaching them with a wide grin. He even stopped Mizarka from trying to cut the shadows by taking her crescent sword, only to find that it burned his hand and threw it away. He then proceeded to put both Rhynsa and Mizarka in the illusion of fear, stopping both. Arnulfe was unaffected but was also helpless.

“(In just minutes, their brains will melt, and they will die),” said the demon. “(Unless you save them, which is unlikely. In fact…I can claim three souls in one by doing this).”

He was fast, too fast for Arnulfe to realize that one of his wings was close to Arnulfe’s neck. Arnulfe’s breathing fastened when he realized that he was almost killed, yet also annoyed that at this point, the bat demon was just toying with him.

“(Is all this just a game to you?)” asked Arnulfe. “(Are we really that helpless against you demons?)”

“(Helpless? No, far from it. The surface world has this group called ‘Demon Hunters’ that hunted demons as part of their livelihood. I also happen to have a time limit since the summoner that summoned me wasn’t that competent enough. Too bad I killed him, otherwise I can put him under my thrall and give me more time. Well, can’t have everything now, can we?)”

“(So, taking us here is to spare you from cursing that fact?)”

“(And to admire you without interruption. These two are their fangs, so I took them too).”

“(Thanks, but I’m not into demons),” said Arnulfe. “(No matter how attractive you are).”

“(Incubi have ways to make you fall to their charms and be their preys, so lucky for you, I’m not an incubus),” said the demon with a chuckle. “(I know you don’t understand what I’m talking about, but you don’t need to).”

“(What do you mean by that?)”

“(Sometimes, you just don’t know what your fate is until it’s too late. That’s when everything is laid on the table and they will give you answer you need),” said the demon. “(But, still…he does has a penchant of being random, isn’t he? Well, can’t have too many backups, now?)”

“(You’re not making any sense).”

“(I don’t need to. I just want to see you annoyed).”

Arnulfe groaned. “(You really are an asshole, aren’t you?)”

The demon laughed. “(I just like playing around).”

“(Maybe one day reality will make you see that not everyone is a pushover).”

“(Maybe, that is, if I happen to be around when someone called me again. My time’s over. I suggest you focus on freeing your friends before things get hairy. You don’t want to be lost up here, right? See you around, ashen one).”

“(Hey, why are you calling me…).”

The demon disappeared, leaving the confused Arnulfe on why he was calling him an ‘ashen one’. Was it because of his ashen gray skin? Arnulfe did not really think much about his skin color, considering that being furless made him unique from the get-go.

Then, he remembered Rhynsa and Mizarka. Without delay, he slapped both of them, snapping them out of their fears. Mizarka wasn’t as affected as Rhynsa was, only shaken by her fears. Rhynsa, on the other hand, looked like he had seen something he shouldn’t, and looked traumatized, though to be fair, Mizarka was also traumatized, though not to the point of Rhynsa’s.

The tough act Rhynsa gave the two crumbled as he grabbed his head, trying to protect himself from what presumably a psychological torture that Mizarka had been through. His chiropteran expression turned to distress as he shed tears, completely different from what he normally acted.

The two could only sympathize as Rhynsa murmured, “(I’m sorry)” several times. Mizarka couldn’t stand it, so she embraced the Fuzandre, comforting him.

They managed to escape death from the demon bat, but in the end, as Arnulfe realized it, they were separated from the main group they were supposed to protect. They also had no way to know where they were, being transported to the middle of a forest through the shadow.

They lost, and the consequence was severe.