Rey ran as fast as he could down the corridor and towards the stairs. But given all the dead demons in his path made things a little tricky. So, he jumped up and used Gravitational Attraction and pulled himself towards the stairs.

  The demon army, though reduced to a third of its original strength, was right behind him. However, it was taking them more time since they—thankfully—didn't have gravitational skills. He reached the stairs in no time and stopped to wait for his pursuers.

  "Hey, do you need some more time?" Rey called, but the demons replied in their garbled language. "I would take that as a yes, but I'm sorry I have an appointment to keep."

  Unokir roared, shaking the very walls. He rushed towards him, crushing the demons underneath, dead and alive. Their bones cracked with a sickening yet musical sound. After all, they were only demons, and Rey could only feel so much disgust for them.

  By the time they reached the halfway mark, he figured he had waited long enough. He dashed up the stairs, two at a time, doing his best not to trip. He reached the top floor, huffing and a little miffed that he didn't get an Endurance stat for that. He most definitely deserved it for that performance.

  The demons were on the stairs, growling, and most likely saying some nasty things about him. It was amusing that even when he turned into a demon, he still couldn't comprehend these mindless creatures. They truly were like animals if animals were deformed and mutated into grotesque beings that smelled worse than a raw sewage plant.

  Rey dashed for the ladder to the watchtower. He climbed up the ladder. His lungs were burning, and his arms and legs felt like lead. He huffed and sweated like a pig, but he kept his limbs moving. He undid the latch of the trap door, and it swung open.

  Then, instead of escaping from the watchtower and flying down to the roof, he waited. The demons appeared on the ladder, snarling up at him, and luckily, one of them had the bright idea to climb the ladder. Rey let it come up, and the others followed behind it.

  Rey held his scythe downwards, and once most of the ladder was filled up, he let his scythe drop as if it were a guillotine. He pushed on the Scythe with Gravitational Repulsion, and his weapon cut the demons in half, splaying out their innards. It was as if he were playing Operation on a demon.

  [+2 Magic Power]

  [You killed 4 Demons (Exiled) – E+2]

  He pulled his scythe back up with Attraction and did the same thing three more times before the demons finally stopped. He wasn't sure if they were done or if he scared them away, but there was still one demon that hadn't shown himself yet. Then he did.

  Unokir appeared in his human form. Suited up in his leather suit. Though he still had the wounds that Tia inflicted on him. In his mega dog form, they were hidden under his fur. Rey couldn't help but smile at that. The most damage that anyone did to him was a pissed off girl who had betrayed him.

  "I must say, you did a good job in taking care of these pests," Unokir said. "Now, it's just you and me."

  "I wanted you all to myself, big guy," Rey said. "I didn't want a third wheel, a fourth wheel, a fifth wheel, and however many wheels I just killed."

  "After I'm through with you, I'll go feast on your friends, or should I go do that now?" He tapped a finger on his lips.

  This was the giant loophole in Rey's plan. If Unokir left now, he would have no option but to follow after him, and that could cause more than a few problems. Chief among them was that Unokir could jump at him the moment Rey descended the ladder.

  "Come up, the air is really nice," Rey said. "You can almost taste the rotten eggs."

  Unokir rubbed his chin. "You know what? I'm going to stay where I am. It took so long to acquire this castle, I think it's about time I did some renovations."

  Shit. Rey didn't show any emotions on his face and simply shrugged. "Who's to say that I won't just run away while you're renovating?"

  "Because you're a human and you're all so predictable." He scoffed. "I'm going to go start with the well downstairs. I don't like the doors. I think I'm going to break them down. After all, there are some tasty treats hidden there."

  Fuck you.

  "Go ahead," Rey said, giving him a two-finger salute. "I'm gone."

  He slammed the trap door shut and locked it from the outside. He had to play the part. Then he jumped off the tower and landed lightly by slowing his descent with Repulsion. He hated that this demon had called his bluff and was making him waste precious Mana. He had no other option but to get to the first floor before he did. He ran to the edge of the roof and jumped down. Once again, he had to waste his Mana on Repulsion to land safely.

  He got to the front gate, and it was still unlocked. He put his ear to the door, hoping to listen for any sound. At first, he heard nothing, then a roar that sounded right on the other side of the door.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Rey didn't even have time to move back before the door exploded outward. It slammed into Rey and flung him through the air, then crashed right on top of him. All the air was pushed out of Rey's lungs. His ribs felt like they were cracked. He tried to gulp in air, but every breath hurt.

  [+1 Endurance]

  Unokir laughed. "Tch, tch, you're not as smart as you think you are. Why don't you lie there and have a nap while I go taste the appetizer?"

  Rey tried to push the door off him, but it was too heavy. In the end, he had to use Repulsion to hurl it off him. Finally, he could breathe easily, but what he saw took his breath away.

  Unokir transformed into his beastly form, laughing as he dashed towards his friends.

  Rey stood with difficulty. "No…get back here."

  He extended a hand to use Attraction, but he was already gone too far, hidden behind the stairs. Rey cursed, picked up his scythe, and ran after the demon, who ran without abandon, destroying as much of the castle as he could—barreling into walls, punching the stones away as if he wanted to bring down the castle on top of himself.

  While Rey did his best to keep up with him, he didn't waste Mana in using any more skills. He ran as fast as he could, with pain wracking his body with each step. By the time he crossed the stairs and reached the corridor, Unokir was already slashing through the well door with his massive claws.

  "Oh no, you dirty wanker," he said in an Australian accent. He thrust his weapon forward, clicked the silver orb in his scythe, and activated Gravity's Kiss.

  Unokir zipped straight towards Rey. He jumped aside at the last moment and used Repulsion to hurl Unokir through the air and right into the stone stairs. His massive bulk crashed through the stairs. Stones fell on him, but he rolled over just in time, before he got buried under the stones.

  The demon shook his head, and dust fell off him. He glared at Rey with his teeth bared in a vicious snarl.

  "I'm sorry, I meant to catch you," Rey said innocently.

  He growled like a rabid dog and charged, and Rey let him come closer. At the last moment, he used Gravitational Attraction and pulled himself to the side while he swung his scythe and left a nice, long scarlet cut on his side.

  Unokir howled in pain, again, almost like a real dog. He turned around on all fours, and this time, he didn't charge; he just glared at Rey with impossible hate. His yellow teeth dripped saliva, and Rey could smell his stink even from this far away.

  He was sure that if he could manage it, the demon would have killed him with his glare alone. Then his gaze softened as he turned towards the broken stairs. He picked up a massive stone over his head and hurled it at Rey.

  Rey rolled to the side. He could have stopped it, but instead, he let it pass, where it smashed against the corridor wall. Then Unokir threw another chunk of the wall, and Rey dodged this one, too. Then he threw two more, which were of no concern to Rey. Then he noticed what the demon was doing.

  He had thrown the stone pieces in such a manner that the corridor was cut off to Rey. Rey couldn't retreat even if he wanted to. There was enough space for him to jump over the rocks using his gravity skills, but other than that, he was stuck.

  "Now, you have nowhere to run," Unokir drawled.

  "Neither do you, Goofy."

  "I'm going to enjoy ripping the skin off your bones."

  "Just one request, before I kill you, can you please turn back into your human self so that I can take your suit. A leather suit isn't my style, but beggars can't be choosers, right? Besides, as they say, when in Hell, take everything that you can."

  Unokir roared and jumped for Rey. He activated Gravity's Kiss again and deactivated it almost right away. The demon tripped over his feet and skidded over the ground. He slashed the demon four times as he slid past to bang his head on the stones that he had thrown at Rey.

  He wasn't harmed too much, but still enough that it made him quite mad. He roared, and his fur stood on end and shot out of him like porcupine needles.

  Rey used a slight Repulsion wave and sent the ones coming for him aside. The needles stuck in the stone walls. Last time, his entire right leg was stuck with these needles, which led to Sergei making his sacrifice. It was a good thing that he was nowhere around here.

  Unokir roared in frustration and smashed his fist into the wall. The whole castle shook as he rampaged and jumped up to the second floor.

  Fuck man. Stay in one spot.

  Rey used Attraction and pulled himself up to the second floor. He did a quick check on his Mana, and he had a little over half left, which was not too bad.

  Unokir was rampaging on this floor, kicking down walls and doors. Throwing around whatever that wasn't tied down. Rey was running after him, scythe raised, when he realized what he was trying to do.

  Unokir was trying to bring down the castle with everyone still inside.

  "That's a really shitty way of winning, Uno-chan," Rey said, as he watched the bad dog roll around and cover itself in dust.

  Rey jumped to the first floor and ran for the well. He noticed his dagger on the floor by the stones. He quickly yanked it off the ground and used Attraction on the ceiling to jump over the pile of stones. If Unokir was busy with demolishing the castle, this was the best time to get out of here. He ran down the filthy corridor. Dead demons lay everywhere, and a smattering of dust hung in the air.

  Jerry had reforged the steel barrier. Rey jumped over the corpses and got to it in no time. He banged on the steel barrier.

  "Hey, it's me," Rey shouted. "Open up."

  There was silence for several moments. Rey banged on the steel barrier again, while keeping an eye on the corridor, hoping against hope that the furry demon didn't show itself.

  Then, finally, someone spoke on the other side. "How do we know it's you?"

  "Of course, it's me," Rey shot back. "I killed all the demons, just not that shitty, flea-bitten dog. Dog or shitty dressed pimp. That's all he can do. Now open up before I come inside, and sic Tom on you, Jerry."

  "Yeah, it's him," came Kassandra's muffled voice.

  Relief flooded him at the sound of her voice. Jerry took down the barrier. He found three swords raised, just in case Kassandra was wrong. They lowered their weapons when they saw him.

  He noticed they were all okay. Filomena was standing on her feet. Her wound had been closed, and so was Ajay's. Kassandra was sitting by the doctor. There was a claw mark going from her left side jaw down her neck. Poor girl was earning all these scars. First, the scar on the back of her, and now on the front. She needed more training. They all did.

  He passed her a smile that just came out of him before turning to the others.

  "He's busy destroying the castle," Rey said. "Now's our chance to make a run for it."

  "But—" Jerry began, but Rey interjected.

  "No time to talk. Let's go. Now!"

  "Going somewhere," said a smooth voice.

  Rey turned to find Unokir in his human form, standing in the doorway, smiling brightly.

  "Fuck me," Rey cursed. "Change of plans, everyone. Looks like we're not leaving until Cliford the mad dog gets an eternal timeout."