An hour had already passed since hell had been unleashed. At this point, the blue sky could no longer be seen—only an endless sea of ash looming overhead.

  Kus was no longer as ignorant as before. Although he still struggled to fully believe what his father had told him, he had no better alternative. The things he had witnessed could not have been done by human hands.

  After giving him the sword, his father had told him that merely possessing it was not enough—he needed to become stronger. Strong enough to face a Throne.

  But that wasn’t all. He had also asked him to protect Alexa until she could defend herself on her own. Throughout his life, Kus had encountered many strange people—individuals whose way of thinking subverted his understanding of humanity—and most of them he had met through Ezra.

  That Ezra would introduce her at a moment like this, and ask him to protect her, was enough to spark his curiosity. Now that they had left the house, Kus couldn’t help but ask:

  “Do you know what Ezra meant when he talked about you at the end?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Since they had met, the girl hadn’t looked at him even once, as if he didn’t exist. Her attire was even stranger—walking barefoot, wearing a short bck dress that outlined her figure. Combined with her cold gaze, it made her seem otherworldly.

  As Kus lost track of his original train of thought, Alexa finally noticed his gaze. She frowned and turned to look at him.

  “What is it?”

  He hesitated for a moment before answering seriously.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go out dressed like that. At some point, we’ll have to run.”

  “Oh.”

  Her reply was short, as if it didn’t matter. She didn’t know that this was one of the things that irritated Kus the most. If it weren’t for the fact that his father had asked him to protect her, he would have already abandoned this dead weight.

  AAHG!

  A scream echoed from the distance. Instinctively, Kus and Alexa stopped and began scanning their surroundings.

  Then they saw them.

  They were like the monster Kus had nearly died trying to kill earlier. But things were different now. Kus was no longer a simple human bound by limited abilities. This kind of monster was no longer a problem.

  Until he saw what followed the possessed ones.

  It was a monster… no—It was a demon.

  A humanoid creature over two meters tall, with the face of an animal. Its body was massively muscur, cd in armor shaped like bone, and from its head protruded a pair of enormous horns.

  And that wasn’t the worst part.

  What truly terrified them was that the monster could fly—and that it was rapidly approaching.

  Seeing this, Kus turned to run, but when he looked back, he saw Alexa running a few meters behind him, her face pale. In the end, he decided to stop and wait for her. When she reached him, Kus grabbed her from the front and said:

  “Get on my back.”

  Alexa hesitated for a moment, but eventually climbed on. Kus then ran with all his strength, covering nearly twenty meters in just a few seconds with her on his back.

  As he ran, Kus managed to put some distance between himself and the group of possessed. But the demon was still flying above him.

  At that moment, Kus made a decision.

  He increased his speed and began running between buildings, darting through alleys without stopping.

  GROOOAAAAARH!!

  Hearing the monster’s furious roar, Kus knew it hadn’t worked. The demon was getting closer and closer. Soon, there would be no choice left but to fight.

  When the idea of fighting settled in his mind, Kus lowered Alexa from his back. Looking at her pale face, still wearing that same expression of cold sadness, he said contemptuously:

  “Run.”

  “Huh?”

  “Run. I’m going to fight that thing.”

  “You’ll be killed.”

  “That’s none of your concern.”

  Alexa looked at him with determination.

  “Then let’s do it together.”

  Kus turned his gaze forward and replied coldly,

  “As you wish.”

  Grooar!

  That was the moment the demon reached them. There was no turning back now—only one would leave this pce alive. Knowing this, Kus drew the sword his father had given him.

  It was a double-edged sword with a cross-shaped hilt, a silver bde engraved with unknown symbols. It measured one and a half meters long and two and a half fingers wide—perfect in every sense.

  The demon gave Kus no time to think. It drew a spear and charged at him. Kus didn’t hesitate either.

  When they were five meters apart, Kus sprinted forward and attacked.

  A chilling smile appeared on the demon’s face as it changed its attack from a sweeping strike to a thrust. Kus could no longer stop, nor could he dodge.

  Even so, he clenched his teeth. With one hand, he grabbed the spear and deflected its trajectory so it struck his right chest instead, while using the other hand to stab the demon in the neck.

  The demon reacted quickly, raising its hand to protect itself. Though it saved its neck, one of its wings was severed.

  GROOOAAAAARH!

  Kus was thrown backward several meters, the impact leaving him momentarily dazed. But the monster gave him no time to recover.

  It stomped the ground and lunged at him. Kus did the same, and their weapons collided.

  CLANK!

  The impact was so powerful that Kus was pushed back a full meter, while the monster took only a single step back. Neither stopped—they cshed again and again.

  CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

  They had exchanged only five blows, but Kus had already realized that the demon was stronger. His hands were beginning to bleed from the strain, and exhaustion was setting in.

  Still, the demon pressed on. It lunged and stabbed repeatedly at Kus’s head. Kus dodged backward again and again—until there was nowhere left to retreat.

  The demon’s pn was to pin him against the wall and finish him off. Kus had foolishly fallen into the trap.

  With no escape, he couldn’t avoid the thrust aimed at his heart.

  HUGH!!

  The monster froze in surprise. Its attack had only smmed Kus into the wall. The spear, forged in hell itself, hadn’t even pierced his clothing.

  A smile appeared on Kus’s face as he grabbed the spear with one hand and sliced it in half with his sword.

  The demon stared in shock at its broken weapon. Kus didn’t hesitate. He pulled back and stabbed with all his strength.

  Groaargh!

  The pain of being impaled through the abdomen snapped the demon out of its stupor. With a furious roar, it punched Kus in the face, sending him rolling into the wall.

  Then it pulled the sword from its body and walked toward Kus, who was still dazed.

  But just as it stood before him—

  PAM!

  The monster didn’t react at first. Then it turned and locked eyes with Alexa. Its eyes were abysmal bck, with a dull white iris.

  Alexa realized she had just done something incredibly foolish. There was no time to retreat. The demon raised its sword to kill her.

  Pierce!

  A spear suddenly impaled the demon’s heart, dropping it to its knees. Without wasting a second, Kus seized the sword from its hands and decapitated it.

  That sensation again…

  After killing the demon, that familiar, comforting cold enveloped Kus’s body once more—stronger than ever, both in quantity and quality.

  He felt as though every part of his body was beginning to change, a transformation that would turn him into something else entirely. But the energy wasn’t enough.

  He needed to kill more.

  Aaahh!

  In the distance, the possessed they had lost earlier began to reappear—along with even more of them. The noise had drawn them in.

  For the first time, fear appeared on Alexa’s pale face. But Kus paid no attention to what was happening around him.

  He was focused on the long hooded cloak he wore.

  His father had told him it would be useful once he learned how to use it. Today, he had discovered it was impervious to blows. Now he wondered what other secrets it held.

  An idea formed in his mind as he pulled the hood over his head.

  A sensation he had never felt before began to envelop him.

  Kus felt the darkness embrace him…