Rey awoke with a start, and his vision had turned entirely black, almost as soon as he looked into the fucker's black hand. Now, he knew why they called him The Black Hand. The name fit him like a glove, and he had walked right into it. No, more like Rey goaded him into it.

  He didn't even know where he was. Was the Black Hand still lying at his feet, or had he somehow rolled away, or was this an entirely new reality, as he couldn't feel his Gravity's Domain anymore? The increased gravity that was pulling down on him was gone. He didn't know how that was possible.

  Does this motherfucker have that kind of ability? Knowing my luck, he's probably got another god-tier ability hiding in his balls, just waiting to blast all over my face.

  He shook his head. His skill must've turned off when the Black Hand knocked him out. He was Rank 7, and your first thought was to annoy the shit out of him. You know what happens to overconfident little shits? They get their balls snipped.

  He could still feel his scythe, so he wasn't totally without protection. He wasn't completely defenseless. It was just that he couldn't see anything.

  "Hello, Mr. Black Hand, are you here?" Rey called. "I understand that I may have annoyed you, but you cannot just take people's sight away. How am I supposed to—"

  An ominous laughter silenced him. Well, it grew so loud that at first it sent a shiver down his spine, then it just got plain absurd. Outlandish to the point that he could hear nothing else but the laughter. That was another thing that gave him pause. He could hear nothing else but the laughter. The crowd was stunned to silence, but by now, there should have been at least three separate demons taking bets on the fight. From where Rey was standing, he wouldn't have bet on him.

  "Annoyed me?" The Black Hand finally spoke. "You killed my crew, and for what that whore we pass around. She would've given it to you for free if you had asked nicely. Do you have some hero complex?"

  Rey swallowed the first response, because it surely would've gotten him killed. He needed to keep this demon talking as he figured out how to get out of this predicament.

  "No, not a hero complex at all," Rey said. "I've got more of an idiot complex."

  He did his best to listen for the wiry-haired demon's voice and discern where he was. He knew his Mana wasn't particularly running low, so he had some time before he was in a truly dire situation. If he could get a feel for where he was, he could use Attraction and pull him towards himself and poke him with his rod. But as of now, it looked like the world had gone silent, and the black-eyed demon was everywhere.

  "Any last words?"

  "I don't want to die blind. Please restore my vision, and you can kill me then."

  "You must take me for an idiot."

  "No, I take you for the Black Hand," Rey said. "By the way, I totally understand why they call you the Black Hand now."

  Nothing happened, and once again, Rey heard nothing. He let go of his scythe, and it dropped to the ground, but once again, there was no sound. He was sure that his scythe had fallen. He had ensured that it fell close to his foot, so he could zip it back to his hand when the time came, but the fact that it had made no sound was disconcerting.

  Did this Black-eyed fuck take my ears too? What's next, my sense of fashion? Because that'd be a mercy kill.

  But he had heard him, so his ears were working. There was more to it, but Rey couldn't figure out what, and he was sure he didn't have long to figure it out. Then there was the lack of smell or the fact that he couldn't feel the air at all. He wasn't sure if there was a wind blowing or not, but he should've felt something.

  Rey dropped to his knees and raised his hands. "See, I'm totally at your mercy here. Can you please just let me see one final time?"

  He heard faint footsteps, and then the Rank 7 demon appeared before him; everything else remained black. There he was, tall, broad-shouldered, with wiry hair that looked electrified.

  "Now, you know your place before me," he said.

  Rey shook his head slightly. And here I thought we were doing originality today. Nope, straight to cliché-ville.

  Well, technically, Rey had made the same mistake as well, but he wasn't going to tell him that. The demon stood in front of Rey, no weapon in hand, while Rey's weapon lay at his feet. The demon must've had something up his sleeve, because he was a little too at ease.

  Rey didn't know what to make of it. But he had his vision back...mostly. Well, at least he could see his prey again, and he needed to ensure that this demon didn't snatch it away again, and for that to happen, he had to end it in one strike. His weapon was more than enough to take on the likes of him.

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  "Yes, I do." Rey bowed his head, eyes on the weapon, pretending to offer his head to be chopped.

  The Black Hand laughed. "This is the result of all those who dare raise their hand against me. The Black Hand crushes all. Do you hear me?"

  At first, Rey thought he was talking to him, but the demon wasn't even looking at him. He was staring off into the distance, which could only mean one thing—that the crowd of demons was still there. He was trying to boast to the group of gathered demons. It was rather funny that the guy had lost all the demons under him. Rey had massacred his entire workforce, and the dude was still in boasting mode.

  Rey wanted to cast another Gravity's Domain, but he didn't know if this demon could shut off his skill once again. How he had managed to do that the first time was still a mystery to him. That was the worst part of fighting all these new demons. He didn't know what their whole class was based on. In essence, he didn't know how to beat them. So, there was only one plan—attack. Fast and strong.

  He swished his hand back, drew his dagger, in one swift motion, and buried it in his foot. His boasting stopped midway, and he screamed. He hobbled on his good foot, trying to grab the dagger, and as he did, Rey reached for his scythe and swung it with as much ferocity as he could muster.

  But he was too late. Everything went black again. His scythe sliced at nothing, but he was sure he had felt something. It might've been a little nick, but there was something. The worst part was that he couldn't even see to confirm if he was correct.

  Though this time it wasn't complete silence. He heard the faint, distant huffing, followed by a low moan and then groaning. He was sure this was the Black Hand.

  So, it means I can hear him.

  That gave him some hope. If he could hear him, then with enough concentration, he could figure out where he was, kill the demon, and get his lights back on.

  The Black Hand roared and, without warning, charged him. Rey heard him coming from a mile away, huffing like a bull. He swung his scythe and found that he had gotten the direction of the demon's charge wrong.

  Safe to say, he was violently tackled to the ground. His fur hoodie flew off his head, and the demon started beating him down like a madman. He received fist after fist to the face, so hard that his whole world rocked. He was sure that his nose was broken after the second hit, and his jaw was cracked soon after.

  The onslaught of blows stopped for a second.

  [+2 Endurance]

  [+1 Vitality]

  Rey was sure the Black Hand was leaning down as he felt his hot, rancid breath on his face. "You forgot this."

  Then pain erupted in Rey's shoulder as something sharp pierced it. He bit down on his lower lip as he muffled a scream and channeled that pain into anger. Without even thinking about it, he used Repulsion and shot the Black Hand into the air.

  He yanked the blade out, crying out and rolling to the side, and activated Gravity's Domain. He didn't have much Mana left, but he sure had enough to kill this ugly thing.

  The Black Hand crashed to the ground with a resounding crunch. He groaned. Rey felt around on the ground and found his scythe as the demon groaned and no doubt fought to get away. His hand brushed a long shaft, and he knew what it was. He gripped his scythe and made no mistakes this time. He brought it down on the already injured demon. It was definitely a softer part of him as his scythe went in quite easily. The scream that followed was even more pleasurable.

  Then Rey crawled onto the demon's chest and went to town with his dagger, while leaving his scythe buried in what he figured was his chest. Rey kept stabbing until the screams subsided, and his vision returned. Only then did he stop.

  [+1 Endurance]

  [+2 Vitaliy]

  [+1 Perception]

  [+1 Willpower]

  [+1 Magic Power]

  [You killed Demon (Exiled) – E+7]

  Rey looked around at a crowd of horrified demons staring wide-eyed at him. He frowned at them, wondering what was wrong. But then he realized his fur was gone, and they must've realized he was human, but no one attacked. They didn't move a bit. Then, as one, they started rejoicing, as if they were in a Disney movie, instead of a death pit.

  If they break into a musical number, I’m committing my first public genocide.

  Realization dawned on him why they were celebrating. Rey had just killed the biggest crime boss of the city and his lackeys in one afternoon. He reached into his pack and downed the vial of Healing potion. It was about two-thirds full, and it managed to do the trick. The pain in his shoulder lessened as the wound sealed up slowly, but surely. His broken nose snapped back in place, and his battered face felt like it was getting a new paint job.

  Now, he had only one more Healing potion remaining, which meant he would have to stock up before leaving.

  Gloria came rushing forward and helped him to his feet. She immediately drew him into a tight embrace.

  "Oh, thank you. Thank you, you sweet, but mad idiot," she said.

  Rey wasn't surprised by the fact that she was hugging him. He was more surprised by the fact that she wasn't grossed out by all the blood and gore that was smeared all over Rey. Even he was a little grossed out by it. Now that he could afford such things, he wanted a bath.

  You're disgusting! Demon Rey exclaimed.

  Rey ignored his demon side, but there was a good thing about all this fresh blood—it was hiding his human scent. So, he fell into the embrace with Gloria, a grin splattered on his face.

  "You're free now, Gloria," he said, once she unfortunately let go of him. "Now, don't you go getting captured again."

  She had tears in her eyes. She shook her head lightly. "There's no chance of that. Now that we're rich."

  "We're what?"

  "Stay here and get cleaned up. Actually, don't. I'll be back in a bit." With that, she rushed towards a bent demon, with a considerable hunchback, who was scurrying back into the Black Hand's hideout.

  Rey sat down with a sigh, resting his back on his latest conquest. He was enjoying watching the feast, as the demons went absolutely batshit crazy, they tore into the Black Handians. It had been a while since he enjoyed a good old-fashioned feast after a massacre. Of course, like the good conqueror he was, he wasn't going to eat his kill until everyone was done first.

  Gloria returned carrying two small satchels that were about the size of a regular purse. Either they were made of Adamantine, or the Black Hand was considerably less rich than Gloria had implied.

  Then his eyes widened and he shot to his feet. "No, don't tell me…is that a—"

  "Rey?" called a familiar voice from behind him.

  Rey turned and found himself face to face with someone he hadn't expected to see again.