“SHRIEK!”

  The transformed humans spilled through the hallway, snarling and gnarling as they scattered furniture and electronics in every direction.

  “What?!” Peridot exclaimed. She stood behind a wall, watching the creatures with bated breath.

  “What’s wrong, Peridot?” Alpha asked, visibly spooked.

  “There are just some demonic creatures out there,” she answered.

  “D-demonic?!” Alpha exclaimed, shivering.

  “Yes, my lady,” Peridot replied, turning to face her. “But I can’t leave you behind to go fight them. The lady tasked me with protecting you at all costs.” She grimaced, concern thick in her voice.

  “W-wait, Peridot,” Alpha suddenly cut in. She tapped Peridot's shoulder and smiled sheepishly. “As of this moment, I’m the one in control since big sister isn’t here. So you can go ahead and do whatever you want,” she finished with a sly, self-satisfied expression.

  “You mean I can go and fight them?” Peridot’s eyes glowed with delight. She smiled as though she had been waiting for this.

  “Yeah, you can,” Alpha replied, pretending she didn’t care.

  “But you have to promise me you won’t move an inch from here,” Peridot said. Her tone suddenly turned serious as she grabbed Alpha's right palm with both hands and caressed it.

  “I promise,” Alpha muttered lazily.

  “Heh… heh…” Peridot laughed. Her pupils sharpened in a dark green glimmer. She turned away and stepped fully into the hallway where the creatures stood.

  ‘Arrgh, what would I have done if she weren’t here,’ Alpha thought, reeling internally. ‘Anyway… I trust Peridot. Because when it comes to killing demons…’

  Peridot’s grin widened as she dipped both hands into her pockets and pulled out two blades slightly longer than daggers. The blades were hiltless and double-edged.

  ‘…she turns into a total monster,’ Alpha finished the thought.

  “Here I come,” Peridot muttered. She swung into a strange stance: left leg lifted high until it almost touched her face, balancing perfectly on the toes of her right foot en pointe. Both arms rose, and the blades connected above her head. ‘Been a while since I've butchered some lowlifes,’ she beamed at the puppets.

  Then came the cold, excited whisper: “Blade Dance: Pas de Lames!”

  She dropped into the first position of ballet: a neutral guard, blades held low. Half a second later she was gone, leaving nothing but a trail of displaced air.

  Then she reappeared, connecting with the first demon.

  “RAWW!!” The creature snarled as it sensed her. It spun violently, massive arm swinging toward her face.

  Peridot's breathing steadied. “Plié,” she announced and slipped under the swing like water, then exploded forward.

  She took in a long breath and whispered, “Relévé!” before whipping both blades upward. Her arms extended unnaturally long as the blades' edges cleaved cleanly through the demon’s throat and eyes in one motion, creating a wet rupture.

  Another demon dropped from above, face twisting as thick worms poured from every orifice.

  “Pas de Bourrée,” Peridot muttered. She took three lightning-quick ballet steps and slid off the demon’s center line. The demon crashed into the floor, and its leg bones shattered from the fall.

  Before it could recover, Peridot slashed both blades upward, severing its hamstrings. Then, with a swift stride, she passed by two puppets and they fell apart.

  A loud growl boomed from behind her as a demon flew at her, mouth wide open. Peridot turned her pupils and sighted it, already inches away.

  Then she rolled her eyes back and shut them as she dropped her hands. ‘Feel the air current,’ she muttered in her head. The thought reverberated through the thick darkness.

  A cold silence locked in.

  "Oooos..." She inhaled deeply and calmed her heartbeat as she began the technique call:

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  "Blade Dance: Venom Pirouette!"

  A heavy wave of air whipped out of Peridot's form as her eyes snapped open. The demon reached her, but in a fluid, snake-like motion, Peridot flowed through the demon and several others behind it.

  By the time she arrived at the other end of the hall and heaved, everything she had flowed past was cut, painting the ceiling in streaks.

  "Whew," she exhaled and whirled to the remaining ones. ‘I never knew I'd still use this technique in combat,’ she thought. ‘By moving with the air's flow and incorporating a snake's movement into one's body, a Prescott lineage dancer is able to unleash fluid slashes while dancing.’

  Amid her thoughts, a demon's roar snapped her back to reality.

  “Chassé.” She immediately retreated with a sharp jump backward, gracefully sliding to a halt like a ballerina.

  “GRAAHH!!” The demons lunged, bodies twisting and squelching together as they merged their assault.

  “Harrhh…” Cold air blew from the corner of Peridot’s smiling lips as her pupils darkened.

  ‘This is where she becomes a monster,’ Alpha thought, watching intently.

  “Cha?nés!” Peridot declared. Her voice sounded like a sacred invocation. She raised one leg and began spinning violently on the other. In less than a second she became an untouchable blur of motion.

  She tore straight through their defenses and appeared in the very center of the pack. The demons roared and charged from every direction.

  “Places,” Peridot commanded sweetly. She erupted into a violent torrent of slashes, creating a vacuum directed toward her. The demons were pulled in by an overwhelming force as the blades shredded their bodies into a flashing ribbon of motion. Blood and gore sprayed in every direction. Screams rose and were immediately cut off. The spinning attack devastated everything in its path as warm droplets patterned against the tiles.

  The hallway went still, only the sound of dripping remained.

  “Arrgh, I’m saved,” Alpha sighed in relief, staring at Peridot standing calmly in the center of the soaked battlefield. “I really should compensate her.”

  She smiled and turned her head to the left. That’s when she finally saw him.

  “Huh?” Alpha gasped and squinted to confirm what she was seeing. Far down the dark hallway, where the flickering bulbs barely reached, stood a human. He walked slowly forward, like someone who had just learned how to walk, head bowed, muttering the same phrase over and over: “I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.”

  “Who’s that?” Alpha muttered. Dread crept through her bones.

  “I hate it,” the human said again and stopped dead. Then he gradually began to raise his head, facing Alpha.

  "Hah?" Alpha's heart sank. She stepped back and hit the wall behind her. Sweat slid down her spine.

  What stared back at her was a grotesque mockery of a human face. The right half of his skin had been completely scraped away, making his brain matter fully visible. A mass of worms squirmed in and out of the exposed tissue.

  Aghnis.

  A state of hush crept in like soldier ants while Peridot still hadn’t sensed him.

  “Fuck,” Alpha hissed. Her eyes widened.

  “Hehe.” Aghnis chuckled wickedly as he raised both arms.

  Time seemed to lock.

  Aghnis's arms transformed into thick, writhing leeches, their teeth baring wide in sharp thorns.

  Alpha swallowed hard. A feeling tingled at her head, telling her what was going to happen next. “Peridot!!” Alpha screamed and raced toward her.

  “Lady Alpha?” Peridot spun around, still completely unaware.

  “Behind you!!”

  “Huh?”

  Peridot’s eyes finally rolled backward, but it was too late already.

  The leeches slammed into her with devastating force, the sound wet and final. Her body was hurled backward through the hallway and crashed through a wall into another room with a sickening crunch. Sand, concrete, and debris rained down, immediately burying her beneath the rubble.

  “P-Peridot?” Alpha whispered. Her heart hammered painfully as she reached the spot where Peridot had stood earlier.

  Aghnis slowly turned, a manic grin spread across his ruined face. “I hate it when you hurt my puppets,” he rasped.

  …

  Several convoys swept through the headquarters gates without slowing. Engines hummed in unison as the vehicles curved into the courtyard and came to a halt. Doors opened almost at once, and about thirty-five Civic Arcana guild members stepped out in a spill of motion. Their jackets straightened, shoulders squared, eyes lifted to the building.

  "Alright guys," a man among them shouted. "Let's show everyone what the Civic Arcana is capable of!"

  "Yeah!!!" The men shouted in unison as they burst into the building.

  "Hm?" Terror turned, sighting the men as they entered. He stood in the middle of the decimation, blood and body parts scattered across the clearing.

  "The hell!" A man among them exclaimed.

  "What kinda tattoo is that? You going for a masquerade ball?" another person said and they all burst into laughter.

  "A little warm-up wouldn't hurt," Terror muttered as he began walking towards them.

  "Let's kick this thing's fucking ass!!" They yelled, lunging forward, but suddenly stopped as a burst of wind whipped past their faces.

  "Uh?" Everyone froze, staring at one of their colleagues whose squashed body hung from the cratered wall behind them.

  Their gazes slowly slid back to Terror. "I'd love it if you lined up," he announced.

  ...

  The building quaked as dust poured down from above.

  "What was that sudden noise?" Nico asked, alarmed, as she glanced at the ceiling.

  "It's probably someone fighting," Sage replied.

  Blaise, Nico, and Sage headed towards the elevator, their footsteps echoing off the walls.

  "Strange how we haven't encountered any demons so far," Nico said.

  "Yeah," Sage nodded. His eyes filled with absolute seriousness.

  "Hm," Blaise hummed, tensing. His eyes narrowed.

  "What's wrong, Blaise?" Sage asked. His gaze flicked to him as they reached the elevator.

  "I don't know. It's just that I suddenly lost communication," Blaise replied. His brows furrowed.

  "What do you mean?" Sage said, pressing the elevator's button. The door slid open as a red viscous liquid flowed out.

  "Wha?" Blaise staggered and jumped back.

  "What the—?" Sage stared at the blood pool, sighting the numerous heads lining the floor.

  "Oh my gosh," Nico whispered in horror. Before them stood Terror, and in his hand were heads that belonged to members of the Civic Arcana.

  On the floor was the body of the man who made the tattoo joke. "B-Boss," he stammered, raising his bloodied face to Sage. "He's too strong. We can't beat him."