Keuirseu stood in the broken street, staring at where Blood Reaper vanished.
His heart hurt.
His hands shook.
Astaroth purred inside him like a pleased serpent.
"Beautiful…"
Keuirseu winced.
"Astaroth…?"
"Her transformation.
Her power.
HER SAVAGERY."
Astaroth exhaled inside him, a rumble of delight.
"She is a MASTERPIECE."
Keuirseu stumbled, clutching his chest.
"Stop— you're pushing—"
"LET ME."
Keuirseu's pupils turned purple.
His veins glowed.
His body jerked once—
And Astaroth took over.
Keuirseu's back arched.
His shadow warped.
He rose slowly from the ground, levitating as the wind spiraled around him.
Astaroth smiled using Keuirseu's lips.
"Time to finish what she could not."
Demons still lingered across the ruins—
hundreds of small ones crawling from cracks, disoriented.
Astaroth lifted a hand.
BOOM—!!!
Purple flame incinerated everything in a mile radius.
The city went silent.
Smoke curled.
Bodies evaporated.
Buildings collapsed.
All that remained was ash.
Candy, Angel, and Arachneon saw him from afar—
and instantly vanished through portals of their own making.
Astaroth laughed softly.
"Hiding won't save you."
Below him, souls lifted from the dead—
glowing white
blue
gold
violet—
drifting upward like lanterns.
But not to Heaven.
They were pulled sideways—
into the crack in the earth.
A dark, hungry maw.
Abyss energy swirling like a whirlpool.
Astaroth stared.
"Morvath feeds on your world," he murmured.
"And this is only the beginning."
Astaroth floated above the ruins.
Looking out.
Seeing what Keuirseu never could.
Demons flooding the Earth.
Cities burning.
Souls ripped from bodies.
Moonlight fading.
Shadows stretching.
He smiled.
"The hunt begins."
Constant stood frozen in the middle of the ruined street.
Smoke drifted.
Ash fell like snow.
Screams echoed in the distance.
And Blood Reaper was gone.
With Dyren.
His wings dropped.
His entire body shook.
A single breath escaped him—
And then he fell to his knees.
Hard.
His palms hit the cracking pavement.
He didn't cry.
He didn't scream.
He just broke.
Destiny watched him from afar, wanting to comfort him…
but she knew she couldn't.
Not for this.
The silver spider boy stood near Kenna, chest rising and falling with rage and fear.
He looked toward the direction Blood Reaper vanished.
His new voice cracked.
"…Mom."
He clenched his fists.
"I'm coming."
Kenna reached out, "Wait—!"
But he darted away—
leaping over debris,
vanishing into forest shadows with supernatural speed.
His extra spectral legs glowed behind him.
Nothing would stop him.
Not demons.
Not armies.
Not moon queens.
He would find her.
Because she saved him.
And he chose her.
"Family," he whispered to himself as he ran.
Destiny was kneeling beside a burned child, comforting him.
"It's okay… breathe with me… you're safe…"
A presence slid behind her.
Slow.
Powerful.
Predatory.
Astaroth, in Keuirseu's body, leaned over her shoulder.
"Well… isn't this a beautiful little scene."
Destiny stiffened.
"K-Keuirseu…?"
Astaroth smiled—
but his smile wasn't Keuirseu's.
He tilted his head, eyes glowing purple.
"No, my little flame.
Not him."
Destiny's breath hitched.
Astaroth crouched beside her, studying her like a fascinating creature.
"You help them.
Comfort them.
You look almost human."
His fingers brushed a burnt cheek on Destiny's face—
not cruelly.
Curiously.
"I like that."
Destiny swallowed hard.
"Where is Keuirseu?"
Astaroth's grin widened.
"Buried deep… screaming in a box in my mind."
Destiny pushed herself away, trembling.
Astaroth chuckled.
"Oh, don't be frightened.
I'm only observing.
For now."
He stood, stretching.
"Help them, little angel.
Try to save this doomed world."
His eyes glowed brighter.
"I'll be watching."
He vanished into purple flame.
Destiny shivered uncontrollably.
They reappeared in a desolate place—
a field of black flowers under a dying purple sky.
No war.
No demons.
No bodies.
Just silence.
Blood Reaper still had her full demon form—
massive wings, horns, fangs, many eyes.
Her breath was ragged.
Her heart broken.
Dyren stepped closer, touching her massive face gently.
"Shh… come back."
His touch calmed the beast inside her.
Her form shrank—
bones cracking back into place,
hooves softening into feet,
eyes merging back into two,
wings shrinking,
horns fading,
skin returning to her pale human form.
She gasped, holding her chest.
The pain wasn't physical.
It was emotional.
Dyren cupped her cheek.
"I would never choose anyone over you."
His voice was soft, seductive, poisonous.
"Angels are dangerous.
They only care about themselves."
Blood Reaper's eyes softened.
Her pain drowned out judgment.
She leaned in—
and kissed him.
Dyren's grin sharpened.
He pressed her back against a tree, kissing her hungrily.
His hands slid to her waist.
Her fingers tangled in his hair.
He bit her neck, hard, drawing a gasp from her.
She scratched down his back, dragging marks through his skin.
Dyren's wings twitched in excitement—
eyes glowing with villainous satisfaction.
"You're mine," he whispered against her throat.
She almost answered—
when a voice echoed behind her.
"STOP!"
Constant.
He emerged from the shadows, eyes wet, wings trembling.
"Reaper—please don't—this isn't you—"
Blood Reaper flinched at the voice.
She froze.
Her heart twisted painfully.
Dyren smirked without turning.
"Your angel is calling you."
Blood Reaper shoved Constant back with one hand—
not violently, but firmly.
She couldn't handle him.
Not his love.
Not his disappointment.
She walked away.
He followed.
He couldn't stop himself.
"Reaper—wait—please—"
Dyren watched them go.
His grin never left.
They walked through the black meadow.
Her chest still hurt.
Her eyes still burned red.
She stared at the ground, feeling lost.
Dyren came beside her again, speaking softly, patiently.
Teaching her the world.
Teaching her words she never cared for.
Teaching her emotions she doesn't understand.
He made her smile.
He made her laugh.
He made her forget the fight…
and the pain…
and Constant's heartbreak.
Every day, she fell more for him.
Because he made it easy.
Because he didn't ask her to be good.
He let her be a monster.
And he loved it.
Blood Reaper and Dyren walked through the black meadow, his arm resting lightly around her shoulders. She laughed at something he whispered—
a soft laugh, unguarded, unfamiliar on her lips.
Dyren smirked, satisfied.
He had her.
Until—
A faint rustle came from the tree line.
Blood Reaper didn't hear it.
Dyren didn't sense it.
But something small did.
A young boy—barefoot, silver-black hair messy, eight faint spider legs flickering behind him—
watched from behind a cracked boulder.
The Spider Boy.
His eyes widened as he saw Dyren's hand on her waist.
He saw her smile.
He saw Dyren lean in to whisper again—
his eyes full of possession, hunger, victory.
The boy's jaw clenched.
"…he's lying to you," he whispered, tiny voice breaking.
Dyren kissed the top of Blood Reaper's head.
The boy's eight legs twitched.
He stepped closer—
but Blood Reaper lifted her head, sensing something.
Dyren frowned.
"What is it?"
She turned, scanning the field.
Spider Boy froze behind a twisted tree.
Her eyes narrowed—
but she saw nothing.
Spider Boy backed away slowly, terrified she'd spot him.
"Aunt Seryndra was right," he whispered to himself fearfully.
"He's taking her… twisting her…"
He fled into the shadows, running to find help.
Constant had walked aimlessly through the ruined city.
His wings dragged on the ground.
He barely looked alive.
His heart hurt more than any wound.
Until a cold voice spoke behind him—
"Angel."
Constant spun—
And Astaroth stood there.
Keuirseu's body.
Astaroth's smile.
Constant's eyes filled with dread.
"What… what do you want?"
Astaroth walked in a slow circle around him.
"Look at you," he purred.
"Broken. Hopeless. Pathetic."
Constant swallowed hard.
"Give Keuirseu back."
Astaroth laughed softly.
"No."
He stopped in front of Constant and tilted his head.
"Tell me, angel… does it hurt?"
Constant's throat tightened.
Astaroth pressed a hand to Constant's chest—
and Constant gasped, almost collapsing.
"Ah. So that's where the pain is."
Constant attempted to back away, but Astaroth grabbed his chin with surprising gentleness.
"You love a demon who fears her own feelings.
She runs from you.
She chooses poison over devotion."
Constant flinched.
Astaroth's fingers glided along Constant's jaw.
"You were never meant for her."
He leaned in.
"She will destroy you."
Constant trembled, but stood firm.
"She needs me."
Astaroth smirked, almost pitying.
"And yet… she left you."
Constant's breathing hitched.
"But…" Astaroth whispered, stepping even closer,
"here is the real tragedy."
His purple eyes glowed.
"You are terrified…
that Dyren will win her."
Constant's wings stiffened.
Astaroth's grin sharpened.
"You think I don't see your heart?
You pray she loves you.
You fear she won't."
He stepped back, amused.
"You angels—pathetic.
So ruled by emotion."
Constant's knees buckled—
Astaroth caught him by the chin again.
His voice went soft, almost tender.
"You want her back?"
Constant looked up, breath shaking.
"Yes."
Astaroth released him.
"Then stop being weak."
Constant gasped.
Astaroth vanished—
leaving Constant on the ground, shaking, furious, and more determined than ever.
Constant trudged through the snow-dusted ruins, still shaken from Astaroth's words. His wings hung low, steps uneven. He didn't even hear the small footsteps until—
"Constant!"
He turned fast.
The silver spider boy skidded out from behind a cracked wall, panting, chest heaving, tears streaking his face.
Constant blinked.
"Kid? What are you doing out—"
The boy grabbed his hand with desperate strength.
"She's not safe!"
Constant froze.
The boy's eight ghostly spider-legs flickered out behind him, shivering.
"Dyren… he's tricking her," the boy said, voice trembling. "He's twisting her feelings. Making her forget. Making her hurt."
Constant's heart dropped.
"How do you know?"
"I SAW IT!" the boy cried. "She smiled… but her eyes were wrong. She wasn't happy. She was lost."
Constant knelt down, hands gripping the boy's shoulders.
"Where is she?"
The boy pointed toward the distant black horizon.
"Far." But I can track her. I'll take you."
Constant felt something ignite inside his chest—
Determination.
No hesitation.
He stood, wings lifted.
"I'm getting her back," he said quietly. "No matter what it costs."
The boy nodded fiercely.
"We save her together… Dad."
Constant's breath hitched at the title—
but he didn't correct him.
He squeezed the boy's hand.
"Let's go."
They vanished into the shadows.