Fae was sitting down with her back against that tree she slept under, in between her index and middle finger was a half spent cigarette while her left hand was over her face, she was both exhausted and frustrated

"Don't worry, you're safe now" Yuna was crouched down in front of Fae with her hand gently rested on her friend's shoulder bringing some much-needed comfort to the woman

Fae removed her hand from her face, revealing a very much serious expression to Yuna with sharply furrowed eyebrows and a menacing frown but she nodded to her friend in gratitude

"For now" Fae then looked to the side before she brought the cigarette between her lips to take a deep inhale and then push that smoke in her mouth down to her lungs

Yuna on the other side pursed her lips in worry for her blood-sister, seeing smoke leave her lips and nose

"We're back" Both heard a familiar and friendly voice behind Yuna, prompting the two women to look in that direction as they could see Yulia and Claude approach them

"Neither of us could find any trace of whatever attacked you, seemed to have just vanished" Yulia added as the duo now stood over Fae who sighed at that news, setting her gaze aside while Claude looked at Yuna with deep interest since he didn't get much introduction from her, but for now he had to leave his curiosity, for his worry was prioritized

"Any suggestions of what we should do?" Yulia asked the group as she looked around with her dark eyes, none had any solution to the problem as they were fighting a foe that they didn't even know existed

"We hunt" Until Yuna spoke, attracting all eyes onto her, even Fae's

"That demon might come again, Fae seems to be its target and who knows how or when it will strike" She spoke up while her sight bounced from Yulia's, into Claude's

"If we chase it down, we will at least be ready to fight, and if we beat it, we can at least rest at ease" Her eyes then finally locked with Fae's, looking down at her

"It's your choice Fae, I believe that you can make the right call" With a smile, she then extended her hand to her friend

Fae blew the smoke nested in her lungs before she tightly grabbed Yuna's helping hand, pulling herself up to her feet

"I'd rather sleep soundly at night, we'll go with your plan" She then mushed the cigarette against the wood of the tree that she was against

"Well I don't like fighting without knowing what to fight, but I'll support you nonetheless Fae" Yulia interjected, receiving an appreciative nod from her friend

"Although, we don't have any leads" Yulia then crossed her arms and pursed her lips in thought

"I'm not sure..." Fae raised her right hand that was balled in a fist, leaving only her index finger up pointing towards the sky

"But maybe we do" As she spoke, a dark string suddenly appeared to the eyes of the rest as it coiled around Fae's index finger just like a spring would

"That's... dark magic?" Yulia got closed with squinted eyes and furrowed eyebrows, Claude was interested too

"I wouldn't know myself, all I know is that this might just lead us to wherever that fucker is" Fae replied before closing her fist fully as it sent the particles around her hand flying everywhere in a beautiful yet darkly colored cloud

"I don't know lots about history myself, but this kind of magic could only be used by demons, and they haven't been seen for millennia" Yulia spoke with a slight touch of concern, not just for Fae, for the whole world at this point

"You would be correct" Yuna supported her claim while Claude kept his thoughts to himself, nothing new there

Fae on the other side hummed to herself, demons, even back in her world those kinds of entities were known to be evil, and it looked as if this world's own demons weren't that different

"Can you follow where that demon went?" Yulia asked Fae who immediately gave her a confident nod

"Definitely" She then looked at Claude

"No hard feelings if you don't want to tag along" She told him, although he quickly dismissed that thought with a wave of his hand a stern shake of his head, it made Fae smile slightly

"Thanks, we don't know how strong this demon is so we might need you too" Fae added on to him with a softened tone than the one she used before, even though she didn't realize it at that point she felt very happy about having the three of her friends by her side, watching her back just like she would watch theirs

"Alright, let's pack up then, don't forget anything behind" Yulia told the rest as she went on to pack her stuff into her leather knapsack, Fae picked up her backpack with her right hand and her sword that was leaned against that tree with her left hand, looks like she won't be getting any rest soon

As she slung her backpack on her shoulder, she looked up to see the orange sunset melt with the sky, prompting the woman to let out a yawn, and a curse under her breath, she just wanted a break

....

And so the group went onward with Claude taking point, Fae in the middle and Yulia behind, leaving their resting place behind as it didn't bring much resting to any of them, especially not Fae

They walked on and on within that forest with their hands on the handle of their swords, ready to bear arms at any danger that they would face, whether known or unknown, they would face it together

Fae was pondering the thought at her absorbing that "dark" magic, would it affect her in any way? if the humans in this world never used this kind of energy should she really be absorbing it?

Those thoughts ran through her mind as she walked, she didn't feel sick nor did she feel changed in any way, shape, or form from assimilating this magic, she wondered if this world had any secrets of its own, especially regarding these demons that seemingly were extinct, until now

And so she marched with her two friends while the third was meditating in her own little bubble of a world, although Yuna was as ready as ever to appear in front of any danger that might confront the party

"There" Fae pointed at what seemed to be the entrance of a cave, beside her were both Claude and Yulia

"Doesn't seem very welcoming" Yulia snarkily replied as her heart wanted to lighten the mood, knowing very well she was much better off not entering that place

"The perfect place for filth like a demon to reside in" Yuna muttered as she appeared by Fae's side, who then looked at her ethereal friend before gazing back at that cave

"This is it then, anybody got second thoughts?" Fae asked as she looked to her right where Yulia and Claude were, the latter gave a slow shake of his head

"Nope" While the former spoke her readiness

"What about you?" She then looked to her right, towards the Bladen woman who gave her a comforting smile

"Always with you" Only now did Fae's frown break into an ever so small smile, nodding slowly to her blood sister before the group finally entered that dark and ominous cave, not knowing what kind of welcoming committee would be inside

Claude took point with his claymore both at hand and at the ready, followed closely by Fae and then Yulia who also had their arms in hand

The group walked within the narrow passage that led them deeper into the cave, the sound of the wind whistling quickly died down as they delved further, and soon enough the only thing they could hear was their footsteps

Fae's heart was gently beating, not any quicker than it normally would, and she was surprised that it was that way, she was in a dark cave looking for something that to her was even further than the supernormal, and it was even the same for the people of this world, yet she wasn't afraid

Was she getting used to the danger that she met every day? or was it something deeper than just that? she didn't know herself but she hoped it was in the positive

The group came up to what seemed to be a huge area of that cave, its ceiling was cracked to let stray rays of sunlight beam inside and enlighten the place

"A dead-end?" Yulia muttered as each one of the three dispersed to examine the fairly large part of the cave they were in

Claude stayed silent as he went on to inspect the walls of the room they were in, maybe they would be giving an extension to the path

"I don't remember seeing any other path but this one" Fae responded, humming as she rubbed her chin in thought, her sword was still at hand and her senses were still sharp

Though it seems they weren't sharp enough as Fae could feel the ground under her break apart prompting her to take a gasp while her eyes widened and her mouth opened in shock, free-falling down and deeper into the cave

"Agh..." With a grunt, Fae grabbed her aching head as she sat down on the debris, she looked down and could see that the fall she had wasn't a big one, she could still see the hole that she previously stood on and the light that came through it, though she wondered why none of Claude and Yulia came to check on her

"You're okay?" Yuna suddenly appeared in front of Fae, towering over the woman who scoffed

"Do I look okay?" Fae replied before grabbing the hand Yuna gave her as she helped her friend stand on her feet

"Thanks" She nodded to Yuna as the latter could see her friend walk towards her sword that was on the ground

"Anything broken?" She asked out loud, Fae gave her a waving index finger that depicted a negative reply as she crouched down to pick up her weapon

Standing on her feet again, Fae rested the blade of her sword on the palm of her free hand, examining the blade closely to then let out a sigh of relief at the unscathed steel

With a sigh, Fae looked up at the hole yet again

"YULIA?!" And yelled

"CLAUDE?!" No replies it seemed, prompting the woman to let out another exhale of frustration

"They'll be alright Fae, don't worry" Fae heard those words accompanied by a hand that was rested on her shoulder, she looked at the smiling Yuna before she nodded

"You're right" Pursing her lips, Fae continued

"Do you see a way out?" She asked her friend who turned around to examine her surroundings while Fae, on the other hand, picked her flashlight and turned it on, it flickered

"Damn it, should've asked Yuri to charge it as well while she was at it" Letting out a sigh, Fae pointed it in the direction that Yuna went

"I feel a weary wind approaching from this path, should we take it?" Yuna looked over her shoulder and towards Fae who walked towards her with a nod

Unbeknown to Fae, Yulia and Claude also received the same fate as each of trio fell down separately from the rest, it all seemed so well put to keep them separated, even more, so that they didn't know it themselves

Yulia, unlike Fae, didn't really have the convenience of the modern age to help her enlighten the way ahead, though that didn't mean she was unprepared as she used a steel striker and a piece of flint that she had for this very occasion stored inside her knapsack, producing sparks that helped her light up a torch she had

With a sigh, she hoped dearly that both Claude and especially Fae were safe and sound, being separated was usually the first ingredient in a recipe that she didn't want to see completed

But she had to keep going, if anything she had to be there for those two and help them in case they were in danger, and that desire to protect allowed her to push forward

Minutes passed that felt like hours for the ex guild master, her torch cleared the path for her while her right hand held her rapier that had it's tip pointed at the ground, though it wasn't really her main weapon

Although thankfully, her efforts weren't in vain as eventually she was met with a face that she only wanted to see

"Thank the lords you're safe" Yulia spoke while Fae gave her a tight hug

"I should be the one saying that!" Fae replied loudly before she parted away from her friend who gave off a sensible chuckle

"It's so nice to see you doing okay, I'm really glad" She continued while Yulia nodded to then speak up her mind

"Claude wasn't with you?" Fae shook her head quickly to the question given to her

"I thought he would be with you" She replied, Yulia pursed her lips and looked aside, seems that all of them fell down separately, this was very bad

"But maybe it's not all that bad..." Yulia raised an eyebrow of curiosity at the words Fae spoke, she looked at her and could see her wearing a warm smile

"I had a lot of things to say to you, and since Claude won't be leaving us any time soon I think this is the best time to speak to you in private" The more Fae spoke the more confused Yulia felt

"I don't know Fae, Claude might be in danger, each second counts, we can leave the talk for later" Yulia responded, but it seemed that it was the wrong response as it made Fae furrow her eyebrows

"Why do you care about him so much?" Fae angrily spoke, a fit of anger that sent Yulia deeper into the confusion that enrobed her mind

"Huh?" Was the only sound she could make at the sudden frustration that Fae displayed, accompanied by her stepping even closer to Yulia who walked back

"Do you have something going on with him, is that why?" Fae kept getting closer towards Yulia who confusedly walked backward until she hit a wall

"I barely know the damn guy, why are you acting like this?" Yulia that now didn't have any place to retreat to, looked deep into the eyes of her friend who had her pushed against a wall

"I..." Fae, confronted with that question didn't know how to speak her mind, let alone her heart

"I wouldn't know how to explain this feeling to you" Fae spoke with raised eyebrows and enamored eyes that took Yulia by surprise, the latter's heart was beating like never before

"All I know is that you make my heart race, Yulia" As Fae spoke those words, the ex guild master's eyes widened in surprise

"You don't mean..." All of this was so sudden for Yulia

"I'm in love with you" Fae said the words that Yulia couldn't even imagine that same person speaking them out loud, and towards her out of anybody, and It seemed that Fae was waiting for a reply

"That kind of love... I don't know Fae..." Yulia looked to her side in guilt, Fae was unpleasantly surprised

"What? are you going to say it's wrong?" She put her hands beside Yulia's head as she spoke with furrowed eyebrows and a sharp gaze that Yulia was stuck under its sight

"Two women with that kind of love is just... you know what I mean" Yulia muttered softly to Fae with a guilty expression plastered on her face

"You know I'd make you happy" Fae told her while her eyebrows were still stuck furrowed, her lips formed a frown while her eyes didn't shelter away from Yulia's meek gaze

"I know, but..." She felt so powerless and lost with what words to choose as she tried to repress her emotions down inside her heart

"Then why not?" Fae muttered as she got her face closer to Yulia's, a bit too close for the latter's comfort

"W-well..." Yulia didn't have the words to speak with, or maybe it was the fault of her brain being overpowered by the emotions she felt, unable to link between words that she had yet to think of

And she didn't have to speak as Fae closed her eyes and leaned forward, Yulia had nowhere to run now as her back was against the wall, she couldn't run away from either Fae, or the feelings she harbored for her and so she too, closed her eyes

And soon enough Fae stole her lips, and her breath too, she kissed her for so long that Yulia squinted her eyes while her breathing grew heavy, and no matter how sweet Fae's lips tasted she had to push her gently with her free hand

"Y-you know..." Yulia spoke as she took a deep breath, attracting Fae's attention who raised an eyebrow in curiosity

"I think I've loved you too, for a long time, I just wasn't aware of it" Those words accompanied by the blush in her cheek made Fae smirk widely

"So adorable" She replied to Yulia as she leaned closer into her to bite her neck, a bit too hard for Yulia's taste who let out a whimper, though she could never lie and say this wasn't enjoyable

"Since you're mine now" Fae groped her chest and whispered into Yulia's ear, words that sounded like music for the latter, though Fae's nails felt a bit too much like needles puncturing Yulia's skin

"I'll carve your heart out of your chest" Fae's voice changed from that sweet and gentle tone into an echoing demonic voice that made Yulia's eyes snap open in shock, seeing half of her lover's face change into an abyssal dark

With a grunt, Yulia immediately pushed whoever was in front of her away from her with a quick front kick sending the demon to the ground, she then immediately unsheathed her rapier that was tied to her waist

She pursed her lips as she looked down to see nothing, her sword wasn't in its scabbard, a grim snicker attracted her attention as she looked forward

"You're looking for this?" The demon who took Fae's appearance stood tall in front of the ex guild master, holding the rapier she stole with one hand while the other bent the blade from the tip

"Come on now, I know you don't need steel to fight" Half of the demon's face was Fae's, while the other was a detailless, dark as the abyss silhouette of a face with an eye that was sharp and glowing purple while half of her mouth was just one dark line

Yulia stood there with no words to speak, she was still assimilating the situation at hand

"But never mind that!" The demon had a smirk on its face and started chuckling, hiding its laugh with one hand

"Oh no Fae~ this kind of love is soooo forbidden~ we can't be doing this~" It laughed even harder at the expense of Yulia's patience, and pride

"I can't!" The demon wheezed, but as soon as it opened its eyes Yulia was right next to it with a sword made out of pure blue energy, and it only missed the supernatural entity's neck by the width of a hair as it dodged backward

"Pfffhahahah!" Even after dodging a death situation, the demon still laughed and mocked Yulia as it took on a fake, weak, and uncertain tone of voice

"I know you'll make me happy Fae~ But it feels so wrong~" Yulia immediately sliced at that demon's face, but it dodged, she kept pushing with it as she summoned a blue dagger in her free hand to try and stab the thing in front of her, but it was to no avail as each strike she gave, the demon dodged

"I love you so much Fae~ I just didn't know it my-pfff-myself!" The demon couldn't hold its laugh, even with Yulia's blade slicing the air that was right where it previously was, dodging away from the angry woman while her hand was on her mouth, holding her chuckle

"SHUT UP!" Yulia threw the dagger she held with her left hand at the demon who tilted her head to the side, the knife passing right by her neck to plant itself in the wall behind and then quickly disintegrate in a cloud of blue

"You have a lot of pent up anger don't you sweetheart" It said to Yulia who had her teeth-gritting and her hand gripping tightly on the handle of her blue sword

"I would love to fight you, but I need to keep my strength for the main course of today" The demon then suddenly disappeared, vanishing in the air like it didn't exist in the first place

"Let's see how she'll react if she sees her white knight again" Those were the last words it spoke to Yulia, whose eyes widened

The main course of today, was Fae, and Yulia presumed that the white knight was Claude

Yulia picked up her lit torch that was on the ground, Fae trusted Claude very well and if that demon took his appearance her guard would be down, she was in grave danger

The humiliation she felt had to be put aside as she walked quickly deeper into the cave, she had to find Fae at all costs and as quickly as she could

....

"Claude! over here!" Fae waved at her white knight who she has found alongside a lit torch he held to enlighten his path, both were so relieved to see each other

"My goodness it's so nice to see you" She spoke to her friend with a smile on her face, he looked down at her and gave her a smiling nod

"I guess you didn't see Yulia?" Though the sweetness of her smile quickly turned sour, more so at the shook of his head that displayed a negative reply

"Well, at least I've found you, I can rest easy having you watch my back" She told him, Claude gave her a nod of his head that Fae smiled at

"Thank you, let's get going, I hope we can find Yulia safe" Fae then gave him her back as she walked, he followed her closely

Though she didn't have to walk much further until she could feel something was off, and as she turned around her eyes widened as Claude planted his claymore right into her shoulder, pushing the grunting Fae into a wall, blood spilling down from her wound and into the ground

Fae, however, smirked

"Hehe, how did you know?" Half of her face had its skin color melt to reveal a pitch dark color, what was in front of him wasn't Fae

Claude was very much keeping his silent knight title as he didn't answer her with words, but with twisting his claymore into the wound of the demon who grunted

"You're no fun~" Though as he thought he had their target in his hands, that same target disappeared and turned seemingly into thin air

Claude grunted, he didn't like the demon slipping out of his grasp, that meant that the others would be in danger

His resolve didn't break however, it only reinforced at the thought of the demon still being a threat to the others, he had to find them, as soon as possible

....

Fae yawned, clearing the path ahead with her flashlight while her mind wondered where the others would be, she hoped that they met each other and were safe

She was more at ease at the thought of them being safe, as for her she always had Yuna to fight side by side, she was never alone, and that mere thought brought her some much-needed comfort

"Do you think the others are doing alright?" Fae muttered seemingly to herself

"I would like to think so" Yuna replied, her voice using a soft tone as it resonated inside Fae's mind

"Both of them are strong individuals, they are capable of keeping themselves safe" She added on, Fae's frown however didn't break into a smile

"I really hope so" She had to find her friends first, and then handle the demon second, killing whatever was hunting her wasn't worth it if it would cost the lives of those she held dear

"Over here" That train of thought was brought to an abrupt stop as Yuna appeared out of thin air next to a path that Fae had almost missed, shinning her flashlight towards it she could see a huge room and something was in the middle

She walked closer to it and she could notice that it was some sort of tombstone? she wasn't quite sure until she got close to it, confirming what it was to be indeed a tombstone, leaning forward she could read a name, Dominic and by the year of birth and of death, it was a child, maybe the son of the people that inhabited this cave before the demon resided in it

Fae didn't know why, but she felt a deep desire to touch that tombstone, the same desire she had right before she touched the core of the dungeon that shackled Yuna

But as soon as her finger was going to touch the stone, her name was spoken

"Fae!" It was the voice she wanted to hear right as of now, looking over her shoulder her frown finally broke into an ever so small smile

"I'm so glad to see you safe" Yulia said to her, Fae narrowed her gaze as she eyed her friend up and down

"You're not my friend" She said, her smile turning back into that same frown she once had while the words she spoke won a smirk out of Yulia

"Color me surprised" The demon replied to Fae with that same voice she heard in her sleep

"Wasn't expecting one of you to call me out, let alone two" What looked like Yulia melted away, revealing only a feminine silhouette with the color of a space without a star, not a single human detail was on her body except for the similar silhouette, her two purple eyes and that thin line that was used as a mouth, Fae finally was in front of a demon, the line that served as her mouth didn't even open to show teeth, and her voice didn't even seem to be coming out of that same dark thin line

"If you hurt any of them..." Fae clenched her fists and furrowed her eyebrows at the demon in front of her, who chuckled at those words

"Oh I'm sure what I did to your friend was worse than death" She told Fae, who gritted her teeth at those words, she didn't want to believe them

"Or at least that's what she would think of it" The demon shrugged with that line on her face forming a bizarre smirk

"But please do tell me how you could see through my guise" She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the impatient Fae

"Go fuck yourself" Was the only answer she received from Fae, what the woman wouldn't tell the demon was that she could see the dark aura she had around her, even as she took Yulia's form, Fae assumed that it was the same case of her being able to see magic energy and absorb it

"Do me yourself, how about that?" It responded Fae as it crossed its arms and tilted its head to the side, Fae on the other hand wasn't very amused, her frown and furrowed eyebrows seemed to be stuck in place from how little joy she took from this interaction

"What do you want from me anyways?" She asked

"You seem to be somewhat of an intelligent lifeform, what the hell do you want?" Fae asked the demon that couldn't help but chuckle at that light jab she received

"Somewhat intelligent" It repeated under its breath and rolled its eyes

"I'll have you know, human, that I'm most likely older than your own very gods" She spoke to Fae who couldn't reply afterward, if what it said was true, then Fae might have too much on her hands to handle

"But yes, what I want from you..." It hummed and rubbed her chin, before looking back at Fae with a smirk

"Your life" It said with a simple and nonchalant tone of voice

"I know that if I keep you alive, you'll be getting in my way sooner or later, I have a big plan and I can't afford to have such a righteous angel like yourself foiling it" This didn't bode well for Fae at all

"What is it now? cat's got your tongue?" It smirked at Fae

"Or maybe is it fear?" And tilted her head as it approached the woman

"Oh and don't bother trying to call your friend, I've sealed her inside your little soul" Fae slowly unsheathed her blade as she walked backward, calling out to Yuna under her breath but it seemed in vain as she has gotten no reply

"It's only you" It pointed at Fae

"And me" And then at herself, as she then disappeared

"Now you're mine" Its voice was right behind Fae, feeling her breath on the nape of her neck

Widening her eyes, Fae immediately turned around slicing the air horizontally with her sword but much to her shock, nothing was behind her, except a trail of what looked like black magic residue

"My my! so sensitive" The demon's voice sounded like it came out of nowhere, and at the same time, out of everywhere

Fae grunted and held her sword tighter, she kept examining that string of black magic that was around her, and where it went, she couldn't see the demon but maybe she could pinpoint where it would go

In the blink of an eye, Fae turned to her right and put her sword in a high guard as the edge of the blade helped deviate the black spike the demon used as a weapon, sliding down across Fae's sword while sparks flew out into the darkness of the room

"Oho! nice one!" The demon seemed very much happy at the thought of Fae predicting her move

Fae on the other hand wasn't amused as she pushed further into the demon's range, slicing down at the evil in front of her

But sadly, it just merely disappeared

"Heheh" Fae heard a chuckle around her, she wouldn't know where it came from as it sounded like the cave itself laughed at her

"You can't see me~" Fae turned behind her immediately as her heart skipped a beat, but nothing met her

"But I can see you!" The sound came from her right again, but Fae turned to her left as she blocked the spike's thrust with her sword, deviating it away before using the momentum her sword gained from the strike to slice at the demon's chest, she could see an open wound, but no blood came out

"Owie~ that hurts~" Her tone of voice didn't seem as hurt as it was playful while the demon itself vanished yet again

Her senses were sharper than usual, and Fae could tell, but she didn't know where this increase in her sharpness came from, was it Yuna? she didn't know herself, she was just thankful because it seemed that she would need each molecule of power she could get her hands on to be able to survive, let alone win this fight

Out of nowhere the demon appeared right in front of Fae, the spike she used in her hand was much longer now as it resembled a spear if anything else, thrusting it at Fae's chest as the latter dodged to the right while hitting the spear with her sword to change it's path to the left

Fae grabbed the spike with her hand and got closer to the monster as she pulled the spear to get it close to her while her right hand lifted her sword and sliced down

However, Fae could feel her left hand being punctured hard and that made her stop her attack to fall back while the demon chuckled

"Nah uh, you don't grab my things without my permission darling!" She told Fae who could see the spear the monster use have spikes protruding out of where Fae grabbed, covered with her own blood and dripping it down onto the ground, the demon seemed to use living weapons to fight

With her hand injured, this wasn't a good start for Fae but she had to push through, Yuna couldn't help her now so she had to at least survive until then

Fae dodged the slice that she almost received right into her neck, stepping once back before slicing upwards with her sword and into the demon's face that almost hit

"Don't have anyone on your mind now Fae!" It told her, chuckling loudly and grimly

"Or else I might get jealous~" It didn't take this fight much seriously, and it was getting on Fae's nerves but she had to stay calm

Holding her sword in a low guard close to her chest, Fae slowly approached the evil in front of her who took her invitation gladly, disappearing into the air to only appear much closer to Fae, not striking with it's spikes now but rather aiming for Fae's head with a kick that Fae almost couldn't dodge by ducking down and falling back

Though it wasn't over as the demon lunged at her again, slicing down with the spike that now had a sharp edge like a sword, it kept transforming to the monster's desire

Fae held her sword in a high guard, tilted to the side as to let its improvised blade slide down on her sword before she took a lower stance and got inside the range of the demon to hopefully thrust right into her chest, in vain

"For fuck sake" She muttered under her breath as the monster disappeared yet again from her attack

"Let's increase the tempo, shall we Fae?!" The demon chuckled out loud as it then appeared next to Fae, slicing at her neck with her spike that she dodged by backing away, but the demon didn't let her run away without another attack as she gave a thrust at Fae's chest that the latter blocked with her sword, to then move to the right and closer to that demon in hopes of striking it with the pommel of her own weapon

Though the evil she was fighting ducked down as it then leg-swiped Fae who let out a grunt and fell down on her back and as soon as she opened her eyes she could see the spike going right down for her stomach

Fae grabbed it with her hand and immediately lifted her right leg to kick the demon right at her face, finally hitting her and allowing the woman to roll away and back onto her feet

Both breathed heavily as they looked at each other's eyes the demon felt like its energy was being absorbed and sucked out of her own being

"I like how you take me out of my comfort zone, Fae" It told her, each gaze was locked with the other while their hands gripped tightly on their weapons

"But I'm afraid this has to be the end of things, sorry..." It vanished again

"Well, not really!" It then laughed maniacally, leaving Fae with narrowed eyes and a sharp gaze that looked around wondering what was going to happen

A sudden growling was heard behind the woman who immediately turned 180 degrees to see what was behind her, her eyes widened at the sight of an abyssal black bubble forming around the demon, hundreds of spikes protruded that bubble as they started trembling quickly, this wasn't good for Fae

And then that bubble exploded in a booming snap, the demon fell on its knees from the sheer strength she had to sacrifice to be able to put out that much force

It breathed heavily as it looked in front of her, the thick grey smoke that was sent up from the sheer impact of the spikes hitting the walls of the cave was enough to tell that Fae was mincemeat

The demon chuckled as it got to it's feet, but as it looked forward again, her eyes widened at the sight of the same bubble that she used to send those spikes to Fae, but unlike hers, the other bubble merely absorbed them and as the bubble disappeared, the spikes fell down

Revealing a not so very amused Fae, lowered her hand that had dark strings of magic coiled around the arm of that same hand

"No..." The demon's trump card was just used against her

"NO!" All that was left for her, was desperation

"This is my moment! I'm not letting you take it away from me!" It yelled at Fae, taking in a wheezing breath

"NOT YOU! NOR ANYBODY!" It seemed that it was at it's wit's end, this battle of attrition was soon to be over for one of them

The demon disappeared and then appeared right next to Fae with lightning speed, Fae widened her eyes and bent her left knee to be able to duck down from the attack though as soon as she wanted to retaliate the monster disappeared and appeared again to Fae's left but the latter just blocked the now much weaker attack than the first

And it did the same for the third time, and the fourth, but each time Fae blocked, dodged, or did both to the same attack that she received, and with each strike the demon grew weaker and weaker, feeling her magic and life force slowly extinguishing

"It's over" Fae breathing heavily from her mouth aimed her sword at the demon in front of her, she wasn't able to get a good hit on her yet but it seemed that it didn't have to be that way as she could clearly see that whatever evil was in front of her had to use all its energy to even stand up on its legs

Growling at Fae, the demon disappeared for one more time, and for this time Fae didn't predict it very well as that monster put her arms around Fae's neck and choked her, very tightly

Fae tried to slice to her left, to no avail, and then to her right, in vain, she was afraid to try and stab her arms that were around her neck, missing or being baited into doing so to then stab her own throat

She started wheezing from the little air she could get into her lungs and it was at that moment when Fae cursed inside her mind and gave up, dropping her sword into the ground before using that little dark magic she had stored inside her as she pointed her index finger to her shoulder and then out of nowhere an ever so thin spike shot out of her finger and penetrated her shoulder, coming out of the other side and giving the same fate to the demon behind her

Fae screamed and so did the monster, but it did let go of her as she fell down forward on all fours, taking in a deep breath as she grabbed her throat and immediately went back on her feet, breathing heavily while her shoulder stung sharply

She picked up her sword and had her hand on her shoulder, it bled slowly, looks like she lucked out and didn't hit an artery, the demon didn't seem to be bleeding at all, on the ground on its knees as it took a shallow and slow breath

"I said..." Fae pointed the tip of her sword at the demon's abyssal black face

"It's over" And then stared deeply into her meek purple eyes who then proceeded to look down

"I should fucking kill you, right here, and right now" She added on with her frown and angrily furrowed eyebrows

"Do it then" It replied to Fae

"It won't change anything" Lifting her eyes to look at Fae again

"If you kill me, I'll just resurrect a couple of decades forward, you can not get rid of me" The demon didn't seem to be as happy with her borderline immortality as one would expect

"Are all demons like that?" Fae wanted more answers before doing anything radical, she had almost no knowledge about the supernatural entities of this world

"You think I'm a demon?" The monster scoffed at the question given to her

"I'm not a demon, human, I'm a devil" It didn't give much clarity to Fae

"The difference being?" She asked with a raised eyebrow to the monster that she towered over, the same monster who let out an exhausted sigh

"Demons are like you humans, they're lifeforms, just like elves and dwarves, and the like" it then furrowed its eyebrows at Fae

"While devils, like me and the other six, are phenomena of sorts, we don't have life inside us, unlike you all," It told Fae

"We just existed ever since life was created, we existed not from life, but alongside life" If what she said was true, then she was indeed much older than most things that Fae was even aware of

"So there are six like you?" She asked it

"Well" it looked aside for a second

"Only three are left, me included" Fae raised an eyebrow at those words

"But you just said you devils can't die" The devil sighed and gazed up at Fae again

"A long time ago we had a war between us seven, and only three came out surviving, the death of those four must be the work of the other two, not me" It replied

"A war between people who can't die, that's fucking insanity" Fae said with widened eyes while the devil could but shrug, it didn't seem to faze it at all

"I don't know how they died, if you want an answer so badly you might as well ask the other two" It told her, getting only a look of disgust

"I'll pass meeting others like you, thanks" Fae told it, getting a quite fake monotonous tone

"I'm, so, hurt" Fae sighed

"What about your plan, what the fuck do you even want to kill me for?" The devil scoffed at that answer before looking deep into Fae's eyes, a silent second dawned on the two

"I want to kill your gods, human" Until it broke it with her supernatural voice

"That's..." Fae didn't know what reaction to give

"Quite ambitious" Was the only words that came on her mind, the devil smiled

"I have my reasons" It told her

"Them being?" Fae inquired further, she was quite curious though it seems that the devil wasn't very convinced

"As if you'd care" It told her

"I know self-righteous humans like you, you're the worst" It furrowed its eyebrows at Fae, quite angrily

"You won't be able to protect your fake gods for longer, no matter if you kill me or not, I'll just come back to life in an age without you, and then have my way" Fae fumbled on her words from what she just heard

"I'm not risking my life for these gods, why can't you understand that?" She told the devil on its knees who couldn't but look at her with no words to say

"Why do you want to kill the gods so badly?" Fae asked with squinted eyes and a soft tone, the devil looked at its side for a second, before gently turning her gaze at Fae

"Do you sincerely wish to know?" The devil asked, and Fae nodded

"Then bring your face here" Lifting her hands towards Fae, the devil gave her quite the invitation that Fae wasn't sure to accept

"You know, we have whole sayings about not trusting the devil, they're not without reason" What Fae said brought out a very small smile out of the monster in front of her

"It is your choice, human, will you put your life in my hands for the desire of knowledge?" It asked her with a tilted head while her hands were still in the air, Fae sighed

The evil in front of her was her only rope towards divinity, she just wanted answers from them on why she was transported into this world, and if she could, she would most definitely want a way back to her own world

"Fine" She crouched down in front of the devil, putting her blade on the ground while she could see the monster have the first warm smile she saw so far

"You're very stupid for trusting me, you know that right?" It told Fae who for a second doubted the choice she made

"But I guess that's a likable trait in all heroes of old" The devil then put her hands on Fae's cheeks, cupping them before she stared deep into her brown pupils with her own purple eyes

And just like that, Fae was plunged into darkness