The demons smiled as the ground exploded. Large pieces of red earth flew high into the sky, then plummeted back down like meteors. The demon grinned as massive black hands erupted from what remained of the shattered ground.
Both Laid and Lila flew backward from the explosion. "What the—since when did he—" The demon's laughter cut through the air. "I'll make you feel such despair," it said, creating multiple dark, shadowy knives and hurling them straight toward Laid. He dodged and weaved through some, catching one and throwing it back, but the demon simply grabbed the blade and snapped it in half.
"He broke his own weapon," Lila said.
"Is that really your biggest worry right now?" Laid replied, his expression calm and emotionless as ever.
The demon studied Laid's face and frowned. "You're not even putting up an effort. I see no sweat running down your forehead. You're not even contorting in pain and agony as I try to end your pathetic little life. How interesting. Let's change this."
The demon smiled as the hands from the ground shot upward and wrapped around both Lila and Laid. Lila used time rewind, making sure Laid retained his memory. "All right, on a count of three we both dodge!" she yelled.
Laid stared. "All right. One, two—"
The arms shot out from the ground.
"Three!"
They both dodged in unison as the hands tried to wrap around them, catching only air. As the hands rushed toward them again, they dodged repeatedly using Laid's timing.
"You little flies, so hard to catch! But that just makes everything so much more fun," the demon yelled. Shadowy armor contorted as multiple hands emerged from its torso, rushing forward at lightning speed. Somehow they dodged, using Lila's time skip to know what would happen before it occurred.
The demon smiled wider, as if enjoying every moment.
Meanwhile, in a far-off area inside the demon city, a young white-haired boy sat on his bed. He stood and walked toward the window. His red eyes surveyed the demon city—everything appeared normal. People fought, some hustled for demon stones or even demon cores, which were valuable since you had to kill a demon to obtain one.
"Looks like everything's normal," he thought. "I guess I'll just—"
He stopped himself. He saw something faint—so faint that normal people, even most demons, wouldn't detect it. But he could. A tiny shadow fighting two people.
"What's going on over there?" he said, leaving the window and walking toward the door. He opened it and entered the hallway—long, too long for a normal house. He walked for several minutes until he found the only other door he knew of: his father's room.
He opened it and looked at his father sitting on the bed. "Dad, I have to tell you something. Something's going on outside. I think it's a fight."
"Why does that fight concern you, Jetta?"
Jetta stared. "Someone could possibly be getting hurt. Who knows who's the bad guy and who's innocent in this battle?"
His father pulled out a large crystal. "All right. Make sure to put this in your dimensional pocket. Use it to communicate with me if you're in danger. Do you hear me?"
"Yeah, I hear you."
"Good. Now go. Remember, use that crystal."
Jetta turned and walked off, his white hair illuminating the dim hallway. He walked out the front door and looked at the demon city. He saw the same glimpse of the fight and ran toward it as fast as possible. "I have to get to that fight. Who knows what's going to happen."
He ran until he was close enough to see what was happening. A shadowy man—not completely shadow, only his armor—wielded different shadowy weapons, throwing them toward two others. Strange shadow hands emerged from the ground, rushing forward and trying to grab them.
"It's a demon," Jetta said.
Hands erupted from the earth, attempting to seize the two fighters. Jetta rushed forward. He couldn't let this happen. He drew his sword in an instant and ran, jumping high and swinging down toward the demon.
The demon dodged, grabbed Jetta's face, and slammed his body to the ground. Dust billowed everywhere as Jetta's body flew down, falling into a large crater.
"Now, now, now," the demon said, smiling sadistically. "I wouldn't want you interrupting my fight. But hey, three is always better than two."
The demon laughed as it continued focusing on both Lila and Laid. Jetta climbed up from the crater, using his sword to help him ascend. "You haven't beaten me yet," he said, leaping forward toward the demon.
The demon dodged and weaved from every sword strike Jetta attempted. "This is so much fun!" it said, grabbing Jetta's sword. It leaped into the air, dragging Jetta along, spun around while flying down toward the ground, and slammed Jetta's body into the same crater it had already created. The ground shook with the impact.
Laid rushed forward and tried to punch the demon. It grabbed Laid's fist and crushed it, laughing in his face. "Well, how interesting. Did you not see what happened to that boy over there?"
Laid stared. "I did, and I don't care."
The demon smiled, wound up its hand, and backhanded Laid far across the demon city. He flew and flew until he finally landed near a buffet area. Multiple demons jumped back in shock, seeing what looked like a meteor smashing into the ground. When they inspected closer, they discovered it was a fellow demon.
Back at the battlefield, Lila stood in shock. She tried rewinding time, but she could only rewind so much now. Nearly a day ago, she could rewind an entire day, but as her energy drained, she could only go back a few minutes. Even rewinding a few minutes ago, Laid was still flying through the air from that single attack.
Realization set in. This demon—this sadistic demon—was far more powerful than any of them had realized.
The demon turned its gaze toward her, and in that moment, Lila saw something in its eyes that made her blood run cold. It wasn't just enjoying the fight.
It was toying with them.
And now, it was done playing.
The demon's smile widened as darkness began to pour from its body, spreading across the ground like a living shadow. The air itself seemed to scream.
"Now," the demon whispered, its voice echoing from everywhere and nowhere at once, "let me show you what true despair feels like."
The shadows reached for her, and Lila realized with growing horror that her time powers were flickering, fading—
Failing.