Sergei gurgled on his blood as he stared wide-eyed at Rey. His eyes asked—why would his friend do this? A friend for whom he had given up everything. Stones fell from the ceiling all around them. Rey had a small cocoon of Repulsion going around him, which was just in time as a stone fell on his Repulsion bubble and dropped to the side.

  The life left Sergei's eyes, and his body slacked, as he breathed his last. Rey pulled out his knife and picked up the man over his shoulder with a grunt. He struggled to move through the demon bodies as the castle fell around him in chunks.

  Now comes the real test.

  He moved for the door, where a shocked Kassandra stared at him, mouth agape. He could practically see the thoughts running through her head. She wondered how he could do this to Sergei, someone who was willing to sacrifice himself for all of them, but he had to do it. He couldn't leave Sergei behind again.

  He moved past her and breathed a sigh of relief. His plan had worked. Since Sergei was dead, his soul hadn't manifested yet. So technically, he was only taking Sergei's body out of the castle. If it hadn't worked, then the castle wouldn't have even allowed his body to enter this room.

  It was a small room with a shelf that had been emptied by the others, who carried bags on both shoulders. At the far end was a tunnel that led underground and opened into a hole in the forest.

  He got sad looks from everyone when they noticed him carrying Sergei's body.

  "Move, before this place falls on our heads," Rey barked, heading for the tunnels.

  Fuck fate. I'm not giving up Sergei without a fight.

  Rey huffed as he ran with Sergei's body on his shoulders. His knees threatened to buckle under the bodybuilder's weight, but he kept pushing forward. He wasn't going to lose to fate a second time.

  [+1 Strength]

  This man had given them a chance to escape and sacrificed himself to an eternity of being buried under stone and rubble, all so that his friends would have a means to escape. If Rey hadn't done what he had done, then he would have died, and when he had reformed somewhere else, he would have had no way to get back to his soul in time. Thus, he turned into a mindless demon, while his soul remained entombed within stone, until a demon arrived that was strong enough to push the rubble aside and devour it.

  No, I won't let that happen, not while I have breath in my body. Not while my limbs still move.

  He ran in pitch black darkness. The others were behind him somewhere, but he didn't know how far behind they were. None of them had brought a torch, but they would be okay. He wasn't worried about some demon coming down here, as there was none down here last time.

  Unokir had pulled all the demons in the area to him to do his bidding. That was one of his abilities. How he gained such an ability, Rey would never know, but he had his theories.

  Besides, if a demon were down here, it would make its presence known in other ways. Not to mention, Sergei's soul would soon manifest, providing some light. But Rey wanted to be out of the tunnel before then, just in case if this cave was considered part of the castle.

  Rey was sure the castle had crumbled behind them. The ground had rumbled for a little while. Then the ground shook violently as the last vestiges of the castle collapsed on itself. The castle, their last safe bastion in Hell, was no more. After this, there was no safe haven that would provide them sanctuary from the demons until they made one for themselves.

  Rey was convinced now that some things were supposed to happen, no matter how much Rey fought against fate. No matter how much he struggled, they would happen. In his heart, he knew that everyone behind him would die one by one.

  The tunnel's musty smell lightened as he felt the tunnel curving upwards. He breathed a sigh of relief as he didn't know how long his body could handle running like this. He was practically sprinting, and his lungs were burning; there was a stitch in his side, and pain blossomed in his ribs with every step. He was sure that at least one of them was broken. Adrenaline had kept him running, made him able to fight, but now that the fight with Unokir was over, his body reminded him to slow down.

  But Rey had a debt to repay.

  He saw a little reddish light a little farther off, which meant the end was close. Right then, an ethereal blue light pulsated out from Sergei's body as his soul rose. Rey squeezed his eyes shut, but maybe it was okay. Maybe he could still make it out of the tunnel. After all, the castle was left far behind.

  "Where you taking me?" Sergei asked.

  Rey was relieved he didn't ask why he had killed him. The answer to that question would be answered in a few moments. If Sergei's soul had manifested, then that meant he was reborn somewhere close by and would be running towards his soul, this very instant.

  "To give you…" Rey gulped down air as he ran. "A chance to…live again."

  The others were silent and didn't say anything. They must've realized by now why Rey brought his body with him.

  The tunnel's end fast approached, and before he even reached it, the sound of a demon's screeching echoed through the tunnel. His step faltered for a moment, and he nearly tripped on a small stone, but he righted himself before he fell.

  He powered on and ran out into the outside world after more than two weeks of being confined inside the castle. The deathly decayed trees with the severed limbs for branches were all around him. He was so relieved to see the decayed trees that he could kiss them.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  [+1 Strength]

  [+1 Willpower]

  He gently laid Sergei's body down, and by gently, he dropped it like a sack of potatoes.

  "Sorry, buddy," Rey huffed, with his hands on his knees. He was beyond exhausted from running for so long. He felt like he must've pulled all the muscles in his back, the pain in his rib was constant, and his legs ached, but it was all worth it.

  He dropped to the ground beside Sergei's body and soul. "Now, we wait for you to come reclaim your soul."

  "I will live again?" Sergei's soul asked. "As a demon..."

  "Yes, unfortunately," Rey's face fell. "I'm sorry, but that was the only way. I didn't want to kill you, but I couldn't think of another way, and I couldn't just leave you behind. I just couldn't..."

  Sergei said nothing. He just lowered his eyes and looked so sad that the guilt might as well have stabbed Rey in the heart.

  I was better off as a demon. Then I didn't have to deal with all this guilt. I could screw over anyone and just be okay with it.

  The others poured out of the cave, huffing and carrying all their supplies. Most of them collapsed beside Rey. All save for one. Kassandra maintained her distance and wouldn't even look at him. It was fair. After all, she had just seen him kill Sergei, who had willingly trapped himself in a dying castle with an unstable demon, all so they all could escape.

  Dr. Bahar rushed to him. "Any major injuries? Where does it hurt?"

  "Oh, just about everywhere." Rey groaned. Then she gave him a look like his grandmother would give him when she wanted the jokes to stop. "Mostly, my ribs and knees."

  "That's better," she said. "Lift your shirt."

  Rey did, and she rubbed her hand and placed them on his ribs. He winced from the pain at first, but they were so warm, and she must have had her healing skill on, as immediately the pain subsided. Relief flooded through his body as he noticed his Health stat rising.

  "Ajay, Filomena," Rey called. "How is your Mana looking?"

  "I have enough back that I could maybe shoot off a bolt or two," Filomena replied.

  "Same here, but you know it would be fireballs for me," Ajay replied, awkwardly.

  Kassandra didn't reply.

  "Okay, keep an eye out. I'm sure there's going to be demons coming for Sergei's soul," Rey said.

  "Really?" Filomena asked. "Even after all the ones we've killed. You think there are more demons left in this area."

  "There's always more demons lying around," Rey replied. "It's Hell, after all."

  As soon as he said it, the first screeching and howling reverberated through the trees. Everyone snapped to alert at once. There was movement in the trees. Even Bahar stopped her healing to look around.

  "Doc, you might want to focus on healing me, since there's going to be another fight," Rey reminded her.

  She cursed in her tongue. "When will all this fighting end?"

  "Now that we're out of the castle. Never." He gave her a bright smile. "Don't worry, doc, we'll be safe. Sergei's soul will protect us. Remember what I said about the barriers that souls emit. Demons can't come near us as long as we stay close to Sergei."

  The others instinctively stepped closer to Sergei's body. Kassandra had an arrow notched in her bow. She aimed at a demon dashing through the trees and was coming straight at them.

  "Don't!" Rey cried. "Save your arrows. Let these demons come."

  Kassandra ignored him and let her arrow fly. It felt a silvery streak behind as it flew to pierce the demon's neck. The demon fell dead, almost right away. Its body slid on the ground until it was a few paces from them. Kassandra casually walked to it and ripped out her arrow from the demon's body.

  "Are you mad?" Filomena cried. "Didn't you hear him?"

  "I'm done listening to him," she replied.

  Filomena looked between her and Rey. "Lover's spat?"

  Rey didn't reply and looked away. The doctor thankfully broke off the awkward silence.

  "Your ribs are fine now," she said. "Nothing was broken, and if anything was broken, it should be back in place. Though I didn't feel anything of the sort."

  "Thanks, doc."

  She moved to his knees next, and the silence fell over the group again. Well, it wasn't really silent, as more demons showed their ugly heads. All vying for a delicious meal. The others moved in tighter around Sergei.

  Please, Sergei, hurry up.

  Normally, the demons would dissipate if a human ended up acquiring their soul. But normally, there weren't five battered humans surrounding a soul, waiting to be turned into the next meal.

  Filomena ended up being right. There weren't as many demons as there would have been if this were any other scenario. Not even close to half as many. They hovered around them like hungry dogs. Kassandra kept shooting the odd demon that got too close, but thankfully, the other kept their guns holstered.

  Finally, the doctor finished fixing his knees and gave him a nod, saying everything was done.

  "Thanks, doc." He gripped his scythe and stood.

  Then he saw someone pushing through the crowd of demons—a human built like a truck, with basically melons for biceps.

  "There." Rey pointed with his scythe. "That's Sergei. Concentrate your fire on those demons. Let's get Sergei back to his soul."

  "And turn him into a demon," Kassandra almost growled.

  He knew this side of her. She wouldn't easily forgive him, but it was okay. Better even, for he had other plans once this was done. But for now, he had to concentrate on making sure Sergei didn't end up as a mindless demon.

  Filomena shot a lightning bolt and fried a bunch of demons. The others scattered away from there. Just that one bolt was enough to clear the way for Sergei. He looked absolutely fine, with no wounds on his body. However, he did have a prominent scar on his neck.

  Sergei ran straight through to them, to his soul. He stopped to look at each of them; his eyes lingered on Rey the longest.

  "Just eat your soul," Rey said. "I'll explain everything after."

  Sergei went to his soul and stood there, not knowing what to do. Before Rey could explain the process, he lunged for his soul and took a chunk out of its neck.

  For any living human, a soul was as intangible as the air. If they had tried to do the same, it wouldn't have worked. But for Sergei, he took bite after bite until he finished devouring his soul.

  [Demon (Exiled) – E+3]

  Then the demons hollered and shrieked as if in a frenzy and rushed inwards. Ajay shot a massive column of flames in an arc, burning down the frontline of demons. Kassandra shot arrow after arrow, Filomena lit up the world with her lightning, while Rey waited.

  As soon as their magic finished, Rey swung his scythe in an arc and unleashed Gravitational Repulsion. The demons were blasted away from them, and some even got impaled on the trees. Rey got several notifications about killing lower-ranked demons, along with stat point increases. He ignored them all.

  The remaining handful of demons tucked their tails and ran after that, leaving the humans and the freshly turned demon alone.

  But Rey's troubles weren't over. He turned to his friends, only to see a massive fist coming his way. He had no time to defend himself. The fist crashed into his face, and there was a resounding crack as his nose broke. The next thing he knew, he was lying flat on his back.

  Rey clutched his bleeding nose until the pain subsided. "Okay, I deserved that."

  Sergei came forward to dole out more punishment, but Kassandra stepped in the way. She stopped the roided-out human-turned-demon by placing a hand on his chest.

  She snapped her head to Rey. "I think you should enlighten us as to why you decided to kill Sergei?"

  "He did what?" Filomena asked, eyes wide.

  "Sergei was fine, until he stabbed him in the neck," Kassandra said, her eyes belched fury.

  They all looked at him with shock, but Rey just sat there, unable to meet Sergei's eyes.

  "I was just…" Rey said. "I was trying to punch fate in the face."

  "By killing me!" Sergei roared.

  "You're right," Rey replied. "What I did to you was unforgivable. It's best we part ways here."