Alexus' head was dizzy as his ears started to ring. He knew this was bad, especially now that they were two.

Another skin-crawling roar resounded in the hallway, vibrating the very air itself.

He cursed, realizing the amount of danger that they were now in.

Luckily, the roar was weaker and a bit further off in the distance, which gave them a bit more time than they desperately needed. Finally, Alexus Jones motioned him that they needed to go.

Jones furiously shook his head, firmly rejecting any notion to move.

Alexus frowned at him. All of their senses were screaming for them to run so they could fight the abomination in the other room. Thankfully, the pressure wasn’t as overbearing as the Gluttony, which gave him better control of himself.

Throughout human history, fighting a demon was considered crazy. The power these demons possess, their intelligence, and even their unknown abilities that often let them squash humans, like a bug always brings fear in our kind. This fear was instinctual, and all the Ouroboros knew this fear very well. They had used this fear when they first awoke to survive to run as fast and far away as they could.

But now, it was different. Alexus had to face his fears, the fear of the unknown called demons. Their power, their intelligence, and what they could do to them with just a snap of a finger were terrifying. Even if he was baptized by the Myth class demon, this Spirit type was no joke. The overwhelming pressure that they gave off… it was beyond dangerous. It screamed out that they weren’t to be trifled with. If any normal human could see them, they would’ve cowered, hidden, or even ran away, possibly even pissing off their pants.

Gripping his blade tightly against his chest, he took another breath, trying his absolute best to calm down his chaotic mind.

“I can do this,” Alexus muttered. He gave himself a small pep, which helped calm himself down.

Alexus peeked out from the side and saw the demon cat prowling angrily as it spat and hissed like crazy. Its red eyes glowed dangerously with the intent to kill. His body started to shiver.

Looking at those sharp teeth made him realize how crazy he was to go in there to wrestle with a lion-sized cat. This wasn’t the cute kitty in his pocket, but the one that could eat him alive.

Unconsciously, his left hand let go of the blade briefly and went down to pet Daisy’s head; he felt a little better, feeling her soft fur.

Awww~ the wonders of a pet. Alexus squeezed her, bringing her close to his chest. His eyes became big, allowing the cat to gently stroke his fingers.

“Mew?” Daisy spoke in a whisper, causing the demon cat to snap his head towards Alexus in a flash. Their eyes met, giving him shivers up and down his spine.

Great. Thanks, Daisy. Thanks. You just brought unwanted attention. He sarcastically chastised her in his mind.

A deep rumble from the demon cat’s throat could vibrate through the room. Alexus's breath became short, and his heart palpated. There was no way out of this fight, even if he wanted to run away. The demon cat crouched down and sprung forwards toward him. He yelped, pulling back as his sword flashed before him.

The cat jumped through the door in one fluid motion, startling both Alexus and Jones. It slammed into the wall, pushed off with its powerful leg, and sprung towards Alexus with its ugly teeth and claw. Without thinking, his blade struck forward like a snake as its claws made contact with the blade impaling him in the guts. Still, he wasn’t fast enough to block the other claw, and the arm swiped towards him, throwing him across the hallway.

Alexus flew into the air and skidded across the floor on his back. A jarring pain could be felt from the side of his body. Luckily, he curled up to protect Daisy from getting smooshed; he was afraid that he might kill her if he landed incorrectly. With a heavy breath, he groaned and shook his head to get rid of the throbbing headache.

The demon cat swerved and bolted forward towards Alexus. Jones raised his gun and shot continuous bullets into the thick pelts of the demon cat rump. Most of the bullets hit, causing the demon cat to howl angrily as it skids across the ground. Then, it changed directions, unexpectedly, in a full 180.

Jones' eyes bulged out in surprise, and he kept shooting, cursing out every three seconds. Finally, the demon cat swiveled out of harm’s way, missing the bullets by a hairbreadth. “Damn, cat!” He continually shot and jumped sideways, hitting his shoulder against the wall and falling forward.

Scampering on the ground, Jones pushed himself off the ground, desperately out of harm’s way. The cat demon repeatedly impaled its sharp claws into the wall, trying to take Jones’ head off his shoulder. Its claw created a giant hole in the wall, causing it to be stuck for a moment. Ripping its heavy body forward, the cat swiped at Jones near him.

Jones stumbled backward, his hands flailing around him as he fell onto his butt.

“Hissssss!” The demon cat spat angrily as it was trapped and unable to get out. Even still, it waved around its freehand and struck downwards between Jones’ leg. With a partial gasp, he let out a small squeal. Part of his pants was torn apart as he saw how close the claws were, almost losing his family treasure.

“You’re kiddin’ me, right?!” Jones scampered into a backward crabwalk. The cat yanked itself out of the wall, pulling with its metal, wires, and wood.

Alexus bolted forward. His blade swoops forward into an arch, clashing against the demon cat’s claw. The contact was jarring, shaking him to his very core. The demon cat pushed him back with all its strength. His feet skid across the ground as he gritted his teeth, trying his best to push back.

It was a power match between the two, and Alexus wasn’t winning. Even against Gluttony, he was swatted around like a fly, blown around like a leaf with the wind.

The demon cat’s large snout, filled with sharp white teeth, snapped forward with an angry hiss. Alexus’ head jerked to the side of his cheeks, missing the hot, sticky, foul-smelling mouth. His stomach twirled in nausea as he felt sick from its rotten breath. Then, a moment of weakness caused him to lose strength, giving the demon cat the edge it needed to swat him across the side.

Once again, he flew through the door and crashed through the second-floor window. He hurtled down like a comet and smacked on top of a moving car. A loud crunching sound of metal, shattering of broken windows, and a piercing squeal of the wheels erratically turned as it skid across the pavement. It was quickly followed by a howl of fear from the driver as the car swerved into an abrupt stop.

Alexus' head was throbbing, his arms were in pain, and he felt a couple of bruises here and there from that toss out the window. Luckily, he was still alive and breathing. Again, nothing was broken, and again, he couldn’t be happier that he was wearing this Dragon Scale Armor. On the bright side, he was glad that Crystal put on a temporary shock-absorbing system near the neck and spine. Without that thick film she had put there, there would have been nothing covering his head from breaking upon impact.

Suddenly, Alexus heard another shout, followed by the sound of a crash with a crunch of metal. When he turned his head, he saw Jones stuck in the car not too far away from him.

Jones fell flat, lying face down on the ground. Alexus hoped Jones was not dead, but that tumble was something serious.

“Mew?” Daisy turned her head and looked at him, not telling him to get up. He couldn’t believe the cat’s luck as it seemed to defy the heavens. She didn’t even get hurt from the rough tumble. He wondered if he should change her name to Lucky instead.

With a groan, Alexus pushed himself out of the wreckage he had caused. The man, who was actually in the car, pushed open the door and stumbled out in hysteria. Of course, he didn't blame him; falling out of the sky and crashing into his car isn’t something that happens every day.

Alexus rolled towards his left, so he wouldn’t smoosh Daisy. He fell onto the ground with his knees cushioning his descent with a thump. A trickle of blood dripped down from his head and towards his chin.

If he gets out of this mess alive, he would tell Crystal to put a bit more padding around the whole suit itself, so he would’ve had more cushion if he fell from a higher place. Of course, he did not doubt that he would’ve been dead if it was a couple of stories higher, probably from his neck being snapped, but even still, the Dragon Scale did a wonderful job lessening the impact to slight throbbing pain.

A high-pitched cackling could be heard from the building, followed by another loud crash. The demon cat jumped through the window and landed in the middle of the street with a loud bang. A giant crater formed underneath it as a storm gust was sent outwards. Cars were overturned, dust and rubble were being picked up, and people were yelling in confusion at the mayhem.

“What the hell is going on?!” A man dove towards the side and hid behind a mailbox.

A high-pitched scream could be heard all around them, breaking the tense air. Then, the dust that covered the demon cat blew away, leaving behind the demonic creature standing proudly in the middle of the streets, annoyed as its tail flicked back and forth.

“What the hell is that?!”

“Oh my god! Is that a cat?!”

“What in the world-?”

“Are they shooting a movie?”

Static flickered around the demon cat as its immense body became clearer to the public. Some people run away in panic; others stay behind, rooted in fear. While a good majority of them stayed behind, bringing up their phone to record everything.

“This shit is awesome!” Then, a group of male teenagers filmed the Demon cat and walked up closer.

The demon cat puffed out hot air, swiveled its head, and took a nasty chomp out of one of the teenager’s bodies. A sickening crunch could be heard as half of its body was going into the mouth of the demon. Blood spurted outwards, decorating the black pavement in red. Its paw swiped from the side, causing the other to fly straight into the building as its body contorted into weird angles.

Two people were instantly dead, and the horrible bone-crunching could be heard as the cat demon gulped down what it had just eaten. Ear piercing screams echoed as people scattered like roaches. Then, the cat demon sprung forward, attacking any pedestrians it could get its hands on.

People were squashed, cut in half, mauled, and even eaten alive without a second thought. Blood was everywhere as massacres continued as pieces of torn limbs, heads, and even guts were splattered onto cars and walls.

Chaos was apparent, and they were not stopping the rampage. Alexus peeked out from the side of the car, leaning backward to still his breath. Summoning the golden energy inside him, he wrapped it around his blade. It wasn’t as vivid and strong as the first time he ever conjured it correctly out of his free will.

“Mew?” Daisy squeaked, head poking back out of Aelxus’ pocket.

“Stay back inside,” Alexus grunted, pushing her head back in.

“Mew!” She struggled; the cuteness overload made him flinch. Those eyes! I had to tear my gaze away and push her roughly back in.

With his gold energy coated around his blade, he watched for any openings that the cat demon had. The rampage this demon cat caused was no joke: poles were bent, cars were being flipped over like pancakes, and people were being eaten alive as if they were some kind of dessert.

Alexus scanned for Jones and saw him up, hidden behind a car. He had his hand rested on the car's hood with his gun as he aimed. Gunshots were fired, drawing the cat’s attention to him. The demon cat turned around, angry that its rump was filled with bullets.

He knew then this was his chance to go in and attack. The demon cat went straight toward Jones with the intent to kill him. Just when the demon cat jumped into the air, I rushed forward. The blade whistled in the air as its outstretched paw was hacked off.

The cat demon tumbled forward, losing its balance because of its lost arm. Jones dodged to the side, out of harm’s way. He quickly got on his feet and did a perfect spinning roundhouse kick to the demon cat’s jaw. A bone-crunching sound could be heard on impact. He twirled around and did a follow-up kick, causing the demon cat to lurch backward.

Alexus ran forward, his blade itching for another swing. Turning his hips and bringing power up

his torso and arm, the blade cut through a deep incision into the demon cat’s side. Black blood spurted outwards. He jumped backward, trying to not get swamped by the blood.

The cat demon hissed angrily and snapped at him. Alexus dove to the side into a diving roll. He twirled and slashed towards its neck when he got up, leaving behind another deep incision. Black blood flowed out like rain, and the cat demon growled one last time, its body shuddering as its large head dropped onto the floor with a loud thump.

“Is it dead?” Jones walked over carefully; he nudged the demon cat with his feet.

The demon cat twitched, causing Jones to jump back. Even Alexus flinched; his sword was brought up before him to use if it moved. Going into round two wasn’t something he hoped to go through.

“I think so?” Alexus replied, lowering his sword.

“Good. Glad that’s over with-”

Crash!

On second thought, Jones spoke way too soon.

The sound of windows breaking could be heard from across from them from where they were thrown out. Another demon cat was flung out the window with Marcus wrestling in midair.

Alexus’ eyes became wide in complete disbelief as he saw Marcus boxing the crap out of the demon’s face with his own bare hands.

They fell from the third-story building and into the broken streets. Marcus was riding the cat demon on top, mercilessly beating down upon the demon cat. Red energy swirled around his fist as black blood spurted outwards around him. With a loud thump, the cat demon fell backward onto its back, hitting its head on the ground. Marcus pulled back his hand and slammed his glowing fist into the demon cat’s head as it exploded.

A sizeable ugly hole opened up in the demon cat's head as blood and brain tissue sprayed outwards. Marcus was covered everywhere with its guts, looking like a mad demon himself with those swirling red energy in his hand. He got up, brushed off the blood as if nothing had just happened, and stepped off to the side.

Another thundering crash of window-breaking could be heard. Then, three times larger than the other two that they had just fought, a demon cat jumped out from the window with Timothy holding on to his dear life on its tail. He reminded Alexus of a flag fluttering behind.

“Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllp!” Timothy screamed; both hands were tightened around the tail.

When the demon cat landed on the ground, it whipped its tail, throwing Timothy into the air.

Then, rearing up on its hind leg, its largemouth opened up, ready to gobble Timothy in one gulp.

Alexus bolted forward, pushing off the ground, and jumped onto the car in front of him before launching off the car with the sword over his head. Timothy was swallowed in one gulp before he got to him.

The only word that came into Alexus' mind was “that sucks,” His brows scrunched up tightly together.

Timothy was swallowed, and Alexus’ sword followed behind, entering its throat. He used the momentum of his fall to split open from its neck to its stomach. A burst of black blood sprayed outwards, hitting him in the face and chest.

A nasty, foul-smelling air smacked Alexus in the face, causing him to stumble backward. He pulled his blade backward, trying to hold in a hurl. Timothy flopped out from the belly of the monster and onto the ground, covered in blood, slime, and demon gunk that he didn’t even know what it was. The demon cat shuddered and fell onto its side, dead.

“I’m never doing that again.” Timothy groaned in pain. He was shaken up badly from being eaten alive. His hands desperately rummaged through his pocket. Then, pulling out the EpiPen, he stabbed himself in the leg and sighed in relief.

Alexus sheath his sword and gives him his hand. Timothy gratefully took it without a second thought as he pulled him onto his feet.

“Nasty piece of shit.” Timothy spun around, scowled angrily, and spat at the corpse. Then, Timothy was back to his old self.

“I bet.” Alexus took a step back, his nose scrunched up. Timothy had the same foul-smelling air

around him.

“Meow?” Daisy jumped out of Alexus’ pocket without him noticing. He stared as Daisy just waltzed up towards the dead demon cat without a hint of fear. Instead, it brought its cute furry paws up and placed them on the demon’s hide as if it was staking it as its own.

“Daisy?!” Alexus called out in alarm; he walked over to scoop her up.

“You named the cat?!” Timothy cried out in disbelief. “That shit could be a damn demon!”

Alexus didn’t listen to him and went to scoop Daisy up. But before he could grab her, she tilted her head to the side, and all of a sudden, the side of her mouth started to rip open. Without realizing it, he froze, staring at her in disbelief.

“I told you! I told you, it’s a demon!” Timothy stumbled backward in hysteria.

Daisy bite into the demon cat’s body. It was as if they were some kind of vacuum in her mouth as she sucked up the Demon cat in one go. Alexus stared at her, flabbergasted by what he saw. Even more surprising was that there was even a slight white aura around Daisy as she continued to eat

up the demon before her. Not even less than a minute, the body was gone.

With a loud burp, Daisy let out a satisfied cry. Both of them stared at her dumbfoundedly at what they had just seen. Was she a demon eater, or is she a demon herself? He didn’t know.

Daisy flicked her tail and made her way towards where Marcus’ kill was and did the same thing.

Alexus trailed after her, completely stunned at what he was seeing. A couple of times, he rubbed his eyes or even pinched his cheeks just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. This cute little white furball was eating the demon cat as if it was super!

Marcus stepped forward, and he bent over towards Daisy.

“Marcus, watch out! It’s a demon cat!” Timothy cried out to warn Marcus.

Marcus chuckled and shook his head. “No, it's not. I thought it was the first. Then I had a feeling that this cat was something more.”

“What do you mean?” Alexus came over; Marcus was petting Daisy’s head as if nothing was wrong. Jones came up and stared as if he was just seeing this for the first time.

“This here is a unique animal spirit. Usually, these little guys come over and make contracts with certain people. They don’t come in kitten size shapes but in other larger animals. You remember what I told you about the Contractors?”

“Yea?” Alexus slowly stated.

“These animals are what we usually contract with. You don’t see many of these little creatures just roaming around the streets. I’m glad we found one. Did you get contracted with her?” Marcus over his shoulder towards Alexus, waiting for an answer.

“Uh, I don’t know?”

“I think you did,” said Marcus. “She stayed with you the whole time, didn’t she? As well as drawing blood from you to make a contract.”

“Drew blood?” Alexus realized what he meant. “Oh!”

Marcus got up; Daisy ran towards the third demon carcass and swallowed it up without

difficulty. Then, she ran back over, climbed up Alexus's pants, and made herself comfortable in his pocket when it was done. He frowned, seeing how she just easily made it her home.

“Well, now we know what you are. A contractor.” Marcus spoke with an amused expression.

“We should go before we bring unwanted attention.”

Alexus looked at him funny. They already brought unwanted attention, but he didn’t want to stay here and be swarmed by police. They could hear the sounds of sirens blaring in a hurried tone as they came towards them. They quickly walked out in hurried steps, leaving behind the empty streets as if nothing had happened. He was glad that our ordeal was finally over.