ZigZagkers

The demon woman's claws were inches from Nki's face.

Her eyes were glowing red, fangs bared, breath hot with the stench of blood and fury.

But then—

A flash.

Nki's red thread—still tied in her hair—began to glow blue, pulsing like a heartbeat.

And then—BOOM!

A brilliant blue barrier erupted around her. The demon woman slammed into it at full force, her face smashing against the hardened light with a sickening crack.

She screamed—not in pain, but in frustration—her claws scratching across the magical shield, giving everything to go through it.

The barrier held.

And with a ripple of force, it suddenly burst outward—sending the demon woman flying back through the air like a broken toy.

She tumbled across the forest floor, her limbs twisting unnaturally before skidding to a stop near the smoking crater.

Both men stood still, eyes wide.

The silver-haired man lowered his arm slowly, the blue fireball flickering above him.

"…Divine Style?" he said, staring at Nki with a confused frown. "She's a Deviner?"

The boy with the glasses tilted his head. The glowing book in his hand faded, turning transparent before dissolving into shimmering particles. He said nothing—but his sharp gaze remained fixed on Nki.

The silver-haired man turned his attention back toward the sky.

"Doesn't matter," he muttered.

He gritted his teeth, lifted both arms again—

—and with a furious roar, launched the giant blue fireball toward the mansion.

It screamed through the air like a comet, dragging flames in its wake.

The fireball slammed into the floating, upside-down mansion—

KAAAAAAA-BOOOOOOM!!!

The explosion lit up the entire sky.

A wave of fire consumed the mansion in a storm of blue flames.

Its structure shattered into pieces, wood, mirrors, and shadow melting into ash, as debris rained down like dark snow.

The demon woman—now slumped against a rock—began twitching violently.

Her skin started to crack.

Black ooze poured from her eyes.

Her face contorted unnaturally as if something was twisting her soul from the inside out.

"No… no… no… I was so close!!" she screamed in a deep, distorted voice.

Spikes of mirror-glass began stabbing through her back from the inside—sharp, jagged, and gleaming. Her mouth opened wider than it should have, her jaw snapping audibly as purple blood sprayed from it. Her body arched up violently one last time—

And then collapsed.

Dead.

A moment of silence.

The boy with the glasses stepped forward slowly, his expression unreadable.

He closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"May your soul finally rest," he said softly, his voice almost carried away by the wind. "May you never again reflect the pain you suffered."

The woman's corpse slowly faded away like dust in the air.

Nki stared at them completely shocked and confused.

Her lips parted slightly, her brain clearly struggling to catch up.

"…Did I just step into an anime I wasn't cast in?" she whispered to herself. "Where's the camera? Who's directing this?"

The silver-haired guy walked toward her, dusting ash from his sleeve.

He stopped a few steps from her and tilted his head slightly.

"You. Who are you?" he asked. "And what Club are you from?"

Nki blinked. "Club?"

"Yeah." He squinted slightly, then gestured toward her glowing red thread, now dimmed and back to normal.

"You're using a Divine Style. You're a Deviner, right?"

She stood there, clearly confused. "I have… no idea what any of that means."

The boy with glasses narrowed his eyes behind the glowing lenses. "She doesn't know," he said, pushing his glasses up. "She's not trained. That barrier wasn't her doing."

The silver-haired guy rubbed his chin.

"That means..." He looked at the thread on her hair.

Before Nki could even ask more questions, the glasses guy's eyes fell on Enix's unconscious body. He gestured toward him.

"Alright. Give him to us. That thing is dangerous."

Nki immediately stepped in front of Enix, arms out. "Why?"

He crossed his arms, his tone calm but cold. "Because, whatever that guy is... he's not human, he's a demon. I need to eliminate it."

Nki's eyes went wide.

"No! He's not a demon or anything like that!" she protested. "He only looked like that because something happened to him earlier! He's not a bad person!"

The silver-haired guy didn't look convinced. He sighed, then glanced at the glasses guy.

"Koru. Do your thing."

Koru adjusted his glasses once again. They began to glow—and as he stepped closer to Enix, another book appeared beside him. He opened his palm and let it drop in his hand.

He scanned the pages.

His breath caught.

His eyes widened.

And the glow in his glasses flickered as his face turned pale.

"…Aaru." He said to the silver-haired guy with a shaky voice.

Aaru's brows pulled down. "What?"

Koru hesitated. Then in a shaky voice, he said—

"He's a Merged."

Aaru's eyes shot open. "What?!"

Koru slowly looked up from the book. "Confirmed. Two distinct essences... demonic and human…and top on that i cannot see his History details..."

Aaru's face hardened.

"That's dangerous. Very dangerous."

He turned back to Nki, his voice losing all friendliness. "Girl, he's bad news. You need to hand him over."

"No!" she said, stepping back. "I'm not giving him to anyone! He's not dangerous, he is mine! He's not any type of demon or monster!"

Aaru sighed deeply, almost like he didn't want to do this.

"…Looks like we'll have to use force, then."

In a flash—he was behind her.

Nki barely turned before his hand came around her neck in a clean motion—a quick pressure on her nape.

"Sorry."

Everything went black.

She collapsed gently beside Enix.

Koru kneeled down beside her, making sure she was just unconscious. "She'll be fine."

Aaru picked Enix up carefully, throwing him over his shoulder.

"We're taking him back to the Club," he said. "Lord Father needs to see this."

Koru nodded, his book fading away again. "If that thing inside him wakes up before they're separated… we'll all be in trouble."

Aaru glanced back once at the unconscious girl, eyes unreadable.

"…Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

And with that, they disappeared into the night.