Rey was picking up quite a crowd along the way—demons of all kinds, shapes, and sizes. There was a small part of him that was beginning to fear that one of these demons would figure out he's a human. So, he squashed that part of him and chucked it to the back of his mind.

  After all, fear is the mind killer. Right, Mr. Atreides?

  He walked with Gloria, who looked as happy as one would be walking to their own funeral. If it were the old Rey, then yes, they would have indeed been walking to their funeral, but this was Rey 2.0, new and improved. The one who knew what was going to happen. Well, not exactly, but he knew that he wasn't supposed to die just yet, and if it came to it, then he would employ the age-old strategy of running for his life.

  It didn't take them long to arrive at the square where he had killed King Shark. It was a testament to the ferocity of the demons' hunger that they hadn't even left the bones. Aside from the dark blood marring the dusty ground, there was nothing left that would signify there had been a gruesome killing here.

  They stopped before Zalathar's statue. The crowd's murmuring intensified. It was easy to tell which of them were members of the Black Hand and which were not. The ones who weren't stayed outside the circle that would soon become the killing field. It was perfect.

  Rey nudged Gloria with his elbow. "It's fine. Everything will turn out just fine. I promise you that."

  She gave him a miserable look. "I should have just let you kill me in that alley. They are going to rip us apart."

  Rey was quite amused. "No, they're not."

  Then the crowd parted to let a big demon with wild, spiky hair through. It was as if the demon had received an electric shock, and his hair had permanently stood on end. He looked human for the most part, save for his eyes, which were completely black with no irises. Rey knew who he was, even though this was the first time they were meeting face-to-face. Truth be told, they were so busy running from the city, last time, that Rey never bothered even to stay back long enough to glance at the leader of the Black Hand, who also called himself Black Hand.

  Demons are not very clever when it comes to names.

  [Demon (Exiled – E+7]

  "I am the one they call the Black Hand," he said.

  "But I thought this bunch of thieving degenerates were called the Black Hand," Rey replied.

  "They call us that because of me."

  "Then what is your name?"

  "The Black Hand."

  "That's your group's name. What is your name?"

  "I told you already. The Black Hand."

  "Yes, I got that, but what is your real name?"

  "The Black Hand," he snapped, getting increasingly agitated.

  "Again, you're giving me your group's name. What is your real name? You couldn't have popped out of mom's coochie, and she decided to call you The Black Hand."

  "The Black Fucking Hand!"

  "Oh, so how can I help you, Mr. Black fucking hand?"

  "No, not Black fucking Hand, just the Black Hand."

  "But your hands are not even black. Your eyes are black. Shouldn't you be called the Black Eyes or Black Eyed Peas?" Rey shook his head. "No, that's already taken. You don't want a copyright strike. Trust me, it's the worst."

  "Fuck this. Just kill him." He ordered.

  Rey smiled. Finally.

  He raised a hand. "Stop! All those who are not part of the Black Hand. Please take two steps back. This is for your safety." He turned to Gloria. "I suggest you join the crowd as well. I fear your membership in the Soft Boys with Softer Hands Association has reached its natural end."

  She stared at him blankly, then at all the thugs that were surrounding them, not sure of what to make of this.

  "Trust me." He looked over to Black eyes. "I'm going to ask her to leave the killing field. So you can mutilate me properly. I wouldn't want the lady's clothes to get dirty."

  "No. She's my property. Only I get to dictate what she does and doesn't do."

  "I say, no to your no," Rey said.

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  He gritted his teeth. "What the fuck are you all standing there for? Kill this dumb motherfucker."

  "I'm neither of those things, but you soon will be."

  The Black Hand blinked. "Will be what?"

  "Dead. You already are dumb, and I'm sure you must've fucked your mother once or twice, thinking she was your property."

  The man turned visibly red with anger. "KILL HIM!" His voice echoed throughout the square despite the number of demons that were there.

  The others, non-Black Handians, flinched and stepped back. It was good as it gave Rey more room to maneuver.

  He glanced at Gloria. "Sorry, babe."

  He flicked a hand and used Repulsion to shoot her into the crowd. She went flying through the air and landed on a surly demon who fell on his ass. She was mostly surprised at what had happened. With Gloria out of the way, he could begin the killing.

  The demons rushed him, and he waited patiently. He could've just activated Gravity's Domain, but the Black Hand was standing outside the circle. He would be wary of getting closer to Rey once he saw what he could really do, so he decided to rely on his first two skills only for now.

  He used Attraction to throw a fat demon off balance and swiped at his belly, and spilled his guts on the ground. He didn't even have to adjust his scythe so that he was slicing with the pointy end. The outer edge did the deed, just fine.

  [You Killed a Demon (Exiled) – E+4]

  The next one came from his side, and he thrust his weapon forward, taking off its head with surprising ease. After all, this weapon was supposed to do great amounts of damage to D-Tier demons, and these were E-Tier chumps. Basically, cannon fodder with horns and fangs.

  Rey laughed maniacally. Come to Papa.

  He was a whirlwind of death. His scythe spun, and heads and arms fell to the ground as if they decided, 'You know what, I've had enough of this body.' After about a half dozen deaths and other bodily harm, the others got wary of him and didn't want to get closer.

  "Aw, I thought you guys wanted to play with me," Rey said. "Don't you want to kill me and bathe in my blood?"

  "What are you waiting for?" The Black Hand snapped. "Ten silver coins for the man who kills him."

  "Damn," Rey exclaimed. "For that much, can I kill myself? Or maybe I should kill you and claim the prize myself."

  The Black Hand was not pleased with that comment.

  The reward money was more than a motivator for the rest of the group to charge Rey. It was almost like they had forgotten what Rey had done to their friends.

  Well, demons do have short memories. Let's jog their memories—pain always works better than PowerPoint.

  He charged them, roaring like a madman. The thrill of battle was calling to him, and he would answer the call. There were about fifteen of them. He wasn't sure if that was all of the Black Hand members that remained in the city. He sure hoped they were. He wanted to wipe this hand clean.

  He could've killed them with just his scythe. He was faster and stronger than they were, but then he wanted to show off a little and instill fear in their leader's heart before he sent them from this world into the great abyss.

  Right before he collided with the first one, he jumped into the air with all he had. He must've cleared eight feet, if not more. Everyone watched with their mouths agape. Before he fell, he made a show of punching the ground, and as he did, he activated Gravity's Domain.

  All of the Black Hand's thugs dropped to the ground.

  Rey stood as if the increased gravity did not affect him at all. After all, he had only increased gravity by fifty percent. He was perfectly acclimated to that much gravity, but they weren't. Rey had effectively increased their weight by fifty percent. He knew what they were feeling right now. It was hard to breathe in this much gravity. Their own lungs were fighting their muscles to fill themselves with air.

  [You Killed a Demon (Exiled) – E+4]

  Rey whistled a happy tune to the stunned crowd as he walked at a leisurely pace to the first of the struggling demons. He used his scythe's outer edge like a guillotine and ended his suffering. The next one fought to get off the ground, only for Rey to kick his elbow in, and it cracked under the increased pressure. Then, he went around chopping his arm as if he were a chef chopping up onions, at max speed. The demon's cries were truly horrendous, but Rey had called forth his demon side and turned off the side that would be sympathetic to their screams. The slicing of the demon ended at his neck.

  [You Killed a Demon (Exiled) – E+5]

  "By the Sovereigns, I love this scythe," Rey exclaimed.

  The others weren't horrified per se, but they were scared as their numbers dwindled. So, he dashed around and got rid of the rest, and to his surprise, there were about four more that were Rank 5. He couldn't believe his luck. He knew with each kill he was drawing closer to Rank 6 and wondered if the Black Hand alone would be enough to see him to Rank 6.

  He ripped out his bloody scythe from the back of the final demon. "So, is there anyone else who claims to be part of this dearly departed group?"

  No one stepped forward. Not even the Black Hand himself.

  "Good." Rey turned to the main man himself. "Let's get started, shall we?"

  "If you think I'm going to step into that ring of yours, then you're more—"

  For some reason, he was yanked off his feet and flew right into Gravity's Domain. His face planted the ground to give it a big ol' smooch. Rey was about to make a witty quip about it, but something caught his attention. Once again, he noticed that when the demon flew into the Domain, he slowed down for just a bit. It was even less than last time. Perhaps it was because the Domain was only at fifty percent gravity, versus the hundred percent it had been last time.

  "What is this?" The Black Hand said through gritted teeth.

  "This is my special ability. I can turn people into ground-huggers, no romance required."

  He knew he had to be quick about it. He had already left the Domain on for long enough that his Mana was touching the quarter mark. If he didn't finish off the demon soon, then any of these lovely degenerates that were watching him would be able to take him out after this fight.

  He walked over to the struggling Black Hand and sat on his haunches before him.

  "So, what is your real name?" He asked. He knew time was of the essence, but he just couldn't let this go.

  "Fuck you! I have no name other than the Black Hand."

  "I thought we've been through this already. You don't even have Black Hands! Come on, man, just tell me."

  To his credit, the Black Hand was actually making headway into getting up off the ground, but that didn't mean that Rey would let him.

  Rey sighed. "Fine. Have it your way."

  He raised his scythe high into the air and was about to let it drop when the wiry-haired demon rolled to the side, and his scythe just crashed into the dirt.

  Rey was surprised at that and even more so at what the demon did next. He extended a hand towards Rey.

  "Rey, don't look into his hand!" Gloria cried.

  It was too late for that. Everything went black.