The uproar regarding the flies soon turned huge. With no explanation on how to deal with the flies, range hunters have been placing pods that connect together to form a shield around evacuation areas since we could not possibly place them all over the town. However, against the flies from Belzeebub, it was futile. The flies could easily break through them. The only reason it is holding is because I asked Mammon and Leviathan to reinforce it and make it stronger. “Are you sure that’s where Belzeebub is?” Belphegor and I are now back in my room, discussing the whereabouts of the sixth prince. “Yes. I am definitely sure. How could you doubt me?” Belphegor sternly crosses his arms. “I know I may be a coward, but I doubled check the place. He is certainly there.” “Calm down.” I show him my palms. “Even though you are a demon, I trust you. I just want to make sure that I am not hearing things. I want to ask again—is Belzeebub’s location in the landfill?” I try my best not to gag at the t
It was an emergency, no doubt. And it is the type of emergency to which I should be going as the Dark Reaper. Normally, I would have been elated that a healer like me would be called to the front lines, but that would only limit me to minimal fighting and more on healing. If I trust that my teammates can handle the demons we are facing, I won’t have a problem with that. The thing is, the giant bug that they were talking about is without a doubt Belzeebub. They could probably take him down on their own, but that would end up in a bloodbath. If I want to ensure our safety, I need to be there as the Dark Reaper! “Are you worried?” Ellan asks me. He most likely assumes that I was nervous to head into battle. We were at the back of a military van as we headed towards the landfill where the giant bug Belzeebub was last seen. “Don’t worry, Zarah. We will protect you from the demons. All you have to do is get to the patients and heal them.” James adds with a pretty confident look. Healers
I have long since lost sight of the twins tailing behind me as I run closer to where the scene of action is. Archer and Belzeebub were still at it, firing and charging at one another. Belzeebub has the upper hand. He continues to charge at Archer brutally that the only thing that Archer could do was build a shield around him. Archer was alone. Where are the other hunters!? While the two were in the midst of clashing, Belzeebub seemed to have found a weak spot on Archer’s shield. Using his claw, he jabs long, pointed nails to Archer’s side. The claw punctured and broke the shield. Ajax screams and it is only then that I realize that the claw punctured his side right below his lower rib, leaving him in immense pain and bleeding. I fear that it must have hit one of his lungs because he seems to be having trouble breathing.Archer mustered up some strength so he could swat away Belzeebub. The sixth demon prince flew back with a shriek while Archer falls to his knees. Grinning, Belzeebub
“No.” This is my immediate response when the demon prince Belzeebub decided to enter my room the next day after I drove a dagger to him. He is kneeling beside my bed like a puppy, while Mammon and Leviathan stand on either side of me, ready to smack Belzeebub's head if he ever does something funny. Like his other brothers, Belzeebub looks very different in his demon form compared to when he is disguising himself like a human. Unlike Mammon and Leviathan, who are both dressed like they are Greek gods and have minimal clothing, Belzeebub looks more like a punk rock teen. His short cut red hair is already gathering enough attention for how bright and vibrant it was. He is wearing a tight fit black shirt with a black leather jacket over it, paired with some black jeans and boots. I know. He sounds like the typical bad boy heathrob in novels back in the 2000’s. “Why not? You made a pack with my two older brothers.” When Belzeebub looks at me with bright red eyes. I almost succumbed b
I’ve never been such a good liar. And even if I were, the guilt is always eating me up. With Archer, it feels more difficult because I am under immense pressure. I never expected him to ask me such a question that the alibi that I needed wouldn’t come out. How am I supposed to cover this up? “How could you say that I am the Dark Reaper just because the sensation of my healing ability is similar?” “You’re the only huntress here who has a superior healing talent.” “I am the only huntress that you currenly know to have such a talent, you mean. There could be many others like me that haven’t allowed themselves to be known.” I can’t believe that I am learning how to gaslight one of the academy’s top hunter. I can’t believe how low I have become. At this point, I don’t think that I can still blame this entirely on the demons. Archer looks slightly convinced by my alibi, but I know that it is not enough to fully disclose his suspicion that I am the Dark Reaper. “Yes. You’re right.” Arch
Even with Belzeebub’s plan to make a double of myself, I still have this sense of unsureness. My uneasiness is affecting my performance in my class enough that my family needs to be called. Needless to say, my family came barging into the principal’s office an hour after they were notified. “Zarah! Where is she!?” “Where’s my baby!?” “Did someone make you cry!? Tell me who it is!” The three of them hover around me like flies, checking to see if there’s anything different from me. I already expected that they were going to act like this, but it still surprises me how they fawn over me so easily. I miss them, but I also did not expect the embarrassment that followed when they lost all their composure in front of the school principal. “I-I’m fine.” My eyes went to watch the principal, feeling embarrassed about the display of affection my family was showing me. Instead of seeing an awkward look, the principal just smiles politely like he is enjoying the scene. I got restless. “There’
Remoire is a demon thunderbird. He was considered one of the great demon harbringers back in the old timeline. Like Gorshe, he is one of the three harbringers of Hell who wrecked havoc alongside the demon princes. The sky outside of the academy is dark, as if a storm were coming. I feel shaken up because the sky reminds me of how I charred my skin fighting the massive thunderbird hiding behind the dark clouds. Black lightning roared, rushing in and out of the clouds like a coiling serpent. One strike from the black bolts of lightning was enough to cause a crack on the cemented floors and walls of the campus. The training ground, which was just built two months prior to the attack, suddenly disappeared into piles of rubles. Panicked screams and yells could be heard from the students while ducking to avoid the bolts of lighting from above. “Where’s the demon!?” My father shouts through the commotion of panicked screams and authoritative yells. I wasn’t sure who he was talking to, bu
The clouds above were pitch black, with the occasional thunder crawling in and out like it was playing hide and seek. When Gorshe and I got too close to the clouds, it started to rain. It’s like the Remoire was trying to change the weather that way when it sensed that we were coming. Gorshe gives off a sudden roar, arching his back and almost making me lose my grip on his scales. His skin started to turn hot when it was enveloped with black flames. Rain dissipates when it hits the tip of the fire. It was like having armor made out of fire as we broke through the rain and thunderclouds. “Where do you think it went?” I raise my voice so I can be heard from the roaring wind, rain, and thunder. ‘Hold on tightly, master.’ I didn’t know what Gorshe was planning, but considering that this is the first time that I am riding him to battle, I should hang on with all my might. If there’s one thing that I can’t do yet, it's flying on my own. It would be embarrassing to imagine that someone
My attention is on Belphegor, not knowing what’s happening. I only know that there’s a question at the back of my mind at the moment. I understand that it is not unavoidable that Belphegor will know about Jackie, especially when he is constantly following me. The only thing that bothers me the most is how he seems to know Jackie and sounds like he genuinely cares. There are still more questions following up about why Belphegor acted the way that he did, but it’s hard to formulate the questions, especially when there’s another wild demon prince in the area. “I thought that you guys would never get here.” Asmodeus speaks, bringing my attention back to him. “Shit.” Leviathan curses. “Beel, gen in here now.” It is my first time hearing Leivathan sounding so commanding that it makes me question if he really is the real Leviathan. “BEEL!” He was getting a little bit emotional that the barrier he created is starting to sway. “Leviathan, calm down.” I have to order him. “Your barrier is
The demon of lust is one of the bitchiest demons I ever get to face. Asmodeus has the power to completely brainwash anyone who gets stung by his scorpions. And, based from all the scorpions crawling inside the hotel, I can only guess that everyone is now under Asmodeus’s control. Based on my previous experience, taking off the scorpion that latches itself on its victim should undo the brainwashing—that or defeating Asmodeus. However, I need to find him first in order to accomplish it. But that might be a challenging task to accomplish with all of the humans surrounding us. I don’t know if I have mentioned this before but there are a lot of them in the lobby just staring out into space as if they are all sleeping. A shy movement on my leg made me aware that there’s a scorpion crawling up my leg. Before I got the chance to shake it off, it stung me with its tail. I flinch, but I did not make much of a sound out of fear of catching the attention of the hypnotized people. Right. As lon
“B–Belphegor…” I manage to whisper his name. The way that I seem to feel relief when I see him is strange and alien to me. Belphegor stands in front of me, guarding me from the demon that is Asmodeus. I know that Belphegor heard me. He just didn’t acknowledge me so far because there’s another demon prince in the room. Asmodeus doesn’t look like the happeniest demon at the moment. I notice that there’s blood on the side of his lips, so I can only assume that Belphegor must have hit him. And, just like the rest of the other demon princes, the wound is gone before the demon prince of lust speaks. “Seems like another pest has come. Your lucky that you have such a pretty face. Otherwise, I might have killed you.” I have never seen Belphegor’s face even once and yet Asmodeus here sounds like he sees him without the mask. “You damn creep!” Belphegor seems like he was about to hit him, but his body seems to feeze. The hand that he used to hit Asmodeus suddenly starts to burn. “Tsk, t
My neck feels stiff as when I wake up from a dreamless sleep. I find myself in an unfamiliar room. There are faint rose scents lingering around along with a light and romantic music. Piercing pain in my head hits me almost instantly. I already know that I must be in a hotel room. When I open my eyes, I am not even surprised that I am right. However, instead of being in my room, I realize that this isn’t even mine to begin with. I jog up the fog in my brain to remember what happened to me. The moment I do, I quickly sit up on the bed that I am lying on and immediately check my body. Thank goodness I still have my clothes on. I am sure of it. Right before I lost my consciousness, it was the demon Prince Asmodeus who caught me. Or maybe I was just too drunk and thought that it was him. In any case, I need to leave this place before whoever stays here comes back. I kick off the sheets aside, rubbing sleep from my eyes as I do. My legs move to get off the bed, but as soon as my
I know what I said to my parents and sneaking out despite their warning is a little risky on my part. But I do believe that using Beelzebub’s clones is going to keep me safe from getting caught. For tonight, the real me is going into the casino to hunt demons. And of course, I am wearing a disguise sponsored by the demon prince of greed. I did say that he is going to pay after all. “I still firmly believe that red is the best color for our master.” Mammon, the sponsor for all of my costume for tonight, holds out a sparkling evening dress that is too revealing for my taste. If there was no fire alarm in my room, I would have burned the dress already. Since I can’t do that, all I can do now is glare at the fabric and hope that it will come to ruin on its own.“Brother, that barely covers her skin. What if Asmodeous covets her?” For the first time, Leviathan sounds defiant when he speaks with Mammon. Meanwhile, Beel drools while looking at the dress before trying to take a bite out of
“I cannot believe that you went to the casino!” My mom paces the room. Her heels are clacking the room and I can feel their vibrations on the floor as I am kneeling on it. “First thing…the first thing that you do as soon as we get to the hotel is the casino!?” I flinch when I hear her raising her voice. “Zarah, you might be of legal age but you are still a hunter in training until you get your license!” Wow. She is definitely mad. It has been a while since I heard her this angry. Out of everyone, my mother is the scariest when angry. My brother and father would always act like they saw nothing and would keep their distance from her. Right now, my father and brother are in a far corner of the room, sharing an upside-down newspaper. It’s pretty obvious that they were eavesdropping on our conversation. “I was…I thought that I saw someone that I know.” The more that I look at my mother’s expression, the more that I can tell that my choice of words is wrong. “You saw a friend going t
Green field greets my side of the window when I wake up from taking a deep nap from the back seat of our family car. Currently, we’re headed to the fair, where the new hunters are going to take their oath to become full-pledged hunters. My father is driving me to the venue, which is like an eight-hour drive from where we are but my mother and brother decided to tag along just for the thrill of it. Also, so we can turn this event into a mini family trip.A chuckle makes me turn to my left. My brother is snickering while looking at me.“I knew you’d be asleep the entire ride.”“Are those cheetos?” I fought off my groggy state just so I could straighten up and grab the bag of junk food from his hands. My mouth water as I anticipated on eating something, but when I look inside, it is already empty. I turn to him with a disgruntled expression.“Hey, I offered you some, but you were busy sleeping.” He laughs when I toss the empty bag of Cheetos towards him. “You’re a jerk,” I grumble.“Lo
My room has never felt so smaller. Imagine being in your bedroom with five demons and three hunters—excluding me. I am still on earth but even I know how hellish it feels. Never has my room felt more suffocating than ever. I am in bed, for obvious reasons. My mother and father are sitting beside my bed while Archer is leaning on the wall facing me. The five demons are by the bathroom, making sure to keep their distance from us. They are demon princes for a reason, meaning they can hide their presence from Archer and my parents. I just hope that they behave themselves and not cause any noise. “Here, dear. Say, ah.” Getting spoon-fed by my mother and being watched by a number of eyes makes me feel sick. Even swallowing the food is a struggle. The porridge is threatening to rise up to my throat. If swallowing the food is the problem, I could have endured it. The problem was, the demon prince of gluttony is in the room with us. Eating in front of him is just a recipe for disaster. I
“What are you? Insane?!” I grab his coat and pull him toward me. “Are you asking me to let him be killed?!”The mask that portrays his emotion seems to be blank. “It is not for me to decide that. I am only telling you that you will fail to save everyone if you continue to save that person.”My mind grows empty at what I wish to say. It is not because I am at a loss for words. There are just so many things that I want to ask but don’t know where to start. I know that Belphegor avoids Archer for some reason. Whether it is because he is afraid of the captain’s power or not, I can’t say. I have a feeling that there might be something more behind it.I do my best to remain calm. “Why him?” Belphegor remains quiet. I clench my teeth in anger, feeling my temperature rise again out of anger. Why isn’t he answering me? “Why him?” I demanded. “Out of all the people in the world, why does it have to be Archer? What is so special about him?” Belphegor’s mask completely lost any expression.