Rey walked out the door, where everyone was looking at the steel barricade, which was bending inward from the mass of demons pushing on it. Some were even leaving behind slash marks. Sergei pushed back with his shoulder against the barricade, and it was probably the only reason why it still held.

  "Yes, keep standing there, Jerry, instead of, you know, creating another barricade," Rey commented calmly.

  That stirred the staring fool into action. He slammed a palm down on the wall and started creating another barricade. Everyone's eyes turned to Rey.

  "What the hell happened?" Filomena asked enthusiastically.

  "Tia betrayed us. Dun dun dunn,” Rey said. "And guess what, she was a demon. Even more DUN-DUN-DUNN.”

  "You're joking?" Maria said.

  "Do I look like a guy who would joke about this?"

  "Actually, yes," Kassandra said.

  "Coming from you. That hurts." Rey clutched at his heart.

  "If she is a demon, then when did she turn?" Ajay mused.

  "No time to figure that out," Kassandra said. "Right now, we need to figure out how to escape from this tight corridor while an angry demon and his army are literally trying to knock down the only protection we have left."

  "Well, there is always the third door," Filomena said.

  "And who wants to stay here for eternity?" Rey shot back, and no one was enthusiastic enough to raise their hand. "Thought so. No—"

  "I do it," Sergei said. "I stay behind. You go."

  Rey's eyes almost watered. He placed a hand on the big man's shoulders. "Not this time, friend. We'll beat these demons and their mothers and sisters until they put us on every demon woman abuser list in Hell."

  He might have joked about it, but he was not going to leave Sergei behind or anyone else, for them to be trapped here to be devoured by that grotesque dog. This time, he would challenge fate once more and flay the skin off Unokir and make himself a new suit.

  The banging got progressively worse. Even the second thicker barrier was denting inwards. Rey didn't know what sort of hold Unokir had on these demons that they were willing to go through so much pain for him. It was mostly fear. That was the main currency in Hell. He had used it as often as he could. The higher Tier demons used the lower Tier as slaves or worse.

  Rey shrugged. He did not pity them. After all, they were only demons. His only concern was to kill as many of them as he could before being overtaken.

  Before leaving, Tia had proven one thing—she only stood for herself. She must have dealt a severe blow to her employer before leaving, as he was still trying to recover from it or was taking a nap. He hadn't attacked himself, for if he had, their barrier would've crumpled like paper.

  Then the demons' attacks stopped. Sergei moved away slowly from the steel barrier as the castle shook beneath their feet, as if someone were running with heavy footfalls towards them.

  "Sergei, get back!" Rey yelled.

  But the Russian bear moved far too slowly. Four massive claws the size of a bull's horns pierced through the steel barrier as if it were nothing. That wasn't the worst part. The worst was that the claws pierced Sergei's stomach and drove him to his knees, clutching his stomach.

  Rey pulled him back, and blood dripped out of him in droves. It was like the demon had ripped open four massive holes in him and opened the dam that held his blood at bay. The others took him back into the well room, and Doctor Bahar got to work on him right away.

  Rey didn't have the time to see if his friend would make it. He had more pressing concerns. Unokir was clawing through the barrier as if it were aluminum foil.

  Rey gripped his scythe with both hands. Then, finally, Unokir came into view.

  The real Unokir.

  The one who had given Rey nightmares long after he had escaped from his grasp, after paying a heavy price.

  Unokir's claws were dark colored and longer than a bull's horns. His bulk took up the entire corridor, while his head stared down from the ceiling. His face resembled that of a German Shepherd, while his body's makeup resembled that of a gorilla. It was honestly so confusing to describe this monstrosity. It was as if Rey were looking at an amalgamation of four or five different animals, transformed into Rey's personal nightmare.

  "Now I have you," Unokir spoke in a monstrous voice.

  He was the first demon that spoke in a true demonic voice. The Sovereign demon with deformed nether parts and his Minion didn't even sound remotely threatening.

  "No, my dear, Unokir," Rey said, sounding braver than he felt. "I have you."

  He raised a hand, and before he could throw him away with his awesome powers, the demon horde attacked. Unokir laughed as he punched the wall, making the whole castle shake. Stones rained down on them as the demons clashed against the humans.

  To their credit, no one shirked away from them. They roared and clashed against the demons. Rey swung his scythe in an overhead swing and impaled the blade into a demon's head.

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  [+1 Dexterity]

  He pulled the blade out and kicked the body into the charging demon behind him. The demon tripped and Rey stomped on its head, once, twice, and the third time, its skull finally caved in. The demon died on the spot.

  [+1 Strength]

  Then the fighting became a melee, and he learned the folly of his weapon. The scythe was mostly a swinging weapon, and in this tight corridor where his friends were fighting beside him, it was practically useless. So, he turned his weapon into an axe and considered the demons as rotten wood that desperately needed chopping.

  Rey felt heat on his right, and that's how he knew Ajay was fighting beside him. He looked over and found him. Ajay was thrusting his sword into a demon's gut, and flames erupted from his sword, charring the demon from the inside.

  "Ajay!" Rey roared, drawing his friend's attention. "Take your lady love and get behind us, and be ready."

  "Okay," he cried, slicing another demon's head off. "And stop calling her that. We're just friends."

  Yet. Rey wanted to retort, but a demon tried to take a bite of his head, only for him to close its jaw around his scythe's blade. He wrenched his scythe free as the demon screamed. Then he drove it into the demon's chest and ripped it open to its groin. He tossed the demon onto another demon and made him lose his footing.

  [+1 Perception]

  "We're here!" Ajay shouted.

  "Everyone!" Rey shouted over the racket. "DUCK!"

  He ducked as low as he could go, gripped Kassandra's arm, and pulled her down with him. A second later, a massive column of flames, followed by a tremendous thunderbolt, shot overhead, frying the frontline of demons.

  The heat was so intense that Rey felt as if someone had lit his head on fire. The less he said about the thunder, the better. He was sure he was half deaf by now. He nodded to Kassandra and got back to the fighting.

  The demons charged once again, tripping over their charred brethren. After a few minutes of fighting, he had been scratched and slashed many times and was sustaining enough injuries that he was slowing down. The others were in worse shape than he was. He knew they couldn't survive the onslaught for much longer, and so did Unokir.

  He stood there with his back to the wall, enjoying the show. His dog-like face had a very human-like smile. Rey wanted to rip it off his face but he couldn't even get close to it, with the press of the demons that were coming at them.

  If he had wanted to, he could have made more room, but to do that, he would have had to use Mana. He was conserving it for the final fight, for he knew he would need it, even with his weapon upgrade.

  He cut down another demon with a downward swing of his scythe. His scythe was like a deathly crane, picking off demon after demon. Stats points kept appearing and fading out, and he felt himself getting stronger and faster, but his Stamina was plunging, which was tiring him out. Not to mention, his Health took various dips thanks to all the hits he was taking.

  Then he heard a scream—a woman's scream, but it was not from Kassandra, who was fighting directly to his left. It came from the right. He quickly spared a look and saw a demon closing its jaw around Maria's shoulder. She cried out again, but the fight had left her. Her eyes were vacant, as if she were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. But this was Hell, there was no ascending to a better place.

  "No!" Rey cried out and raised his weapon high in the air, and activated its Runic Skill—Gravity's Kiss.

  The demon dashed through the air and got impaled on Rey's scythe, but it was too late. Maria fell, and the other demons pounced on her like flies on a piece of meat.

  [+1 Magic Power]

  He swung his scythe around in the air and flung the corpse off it, and brought it down on the demon that he had been holding back with his arm. The demon fell dead on the spot. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ajay cry out and fall back as Filomena took his place. Ajay hobbled back to the well room. His arm had a bloody gash. It looked like a demon had taken a chunk out of it.

  Rey knew they couldn't hold this horde for long. Filomena was already being pushed back. Jerry and Kassandra stood their ground, but for how long, he couldn't say. Sergei was knocked out cold, and Maria was gone.

  Her soul rose from her body, and the demons were pushed back in a wide circle around her half-eaten body. This spelled their doom, for Unokir finally moved.

  No demon, no matter how strong they were, could resist the call of a soul. He stepped toward Maria's soul while the other demons went mad in their hunger for that poor woman's soul. They hacked and slashed without abandon.

  Kassandra cried out as a demon and slashed her jaw, going all the way down to her neck.

  Rey's rage erupted. He thrust his hand forward and used such a strong Repulsion that all the demons on her side were crushed as they smashed into the walls.

  He quickly picked her up and shouted. "Back to the well. Retreat!"

  The demons were busy with Maria's soul, which was still keeping her barrier, but it wouldn't last for long, now that Unokir was going for it. He crushed his lackeys underfoot without care.

  Rey's eyes met with Maria's, and he looked away. He couldn't meet her terrified, pleading eyes. He was sacrificing her to save the rest. The woman he had found annoying wouldn't even get a chance to live as a demon because he needed her to save the others.

  "I'm sorry," he said. She didn't hear him, but it needed to be said.

  Kassandra's head lolled against his chest. He quickly dashed into the room, and Jerry closed the door behind him. He gently laid her down by the doctor, who promptly got to work on closing her wounds.

  Rey had just taken a moment to breathe when Ajay gripped his arm, hard. "Filomena! She never made it back. She's still out—"

  "Don't worry. I'll get her back." Rey rushed to the door and jumped out.

  Finding Filomena was not hard at all. She was fighting in the thick of it, shooting lightning bolts after bolts. She couldn't have had much Mana left. The demons were pushing her towards Maria's soul, whose barrier had almost eroded fully.

  There was no way he could get to Filomena in time. Once again, he raised his scythe high in the air and activated Gravity's Kiss, targeting his friend. The Sicilian Lightning Bolt had just blasted a demon to smithereens and made enough room for Rey's weapon to get a good target on her.

  She flew through the demon's remains, taking a veritable shower in blood. She cried out in disgust.

  Sorry, babe, this is the only way I can get you out.

  It looked like she was in the clear, but a demon jumped on her and bit down on her leg. Rey turned his weapon away from her and brought it down on the demon, killing it on the spot.

  [+1 Dexterity]

  He put one of her arms over his shoulder and took her to the well room door, where Jerry and Ajay were waiting. Ajay shot another flamethrower, lighting a demon on fire, as it tried to come after Rey and the lovely Italian.

  "Here, take her." Rey handed her over to Ajay. Then did his best Arnold impression. "I'll be back."

  When he turned, he saw Unokir swallowing Maria's soul whole. Souls don't feel pain, but still they scream when they're devoured. He had seen many souls being devoured and eaten, quite a few himself, but never before had he felt so sad for one. Maybe this was the humanity in him.

  "Unokir, I'm going to make you shit blood." It was the best thing he could come up with at the moment.

  He turned and ran down the corridor with the demons and their boss following close behind.