Ray stared at Noah, his heart hammering against his ribs like a desperate prisoner. Crimson energy surrounded Noah's entire body, crackling and pulsing like a living thing with its own malevolent will. His eyes had turned pitch black, devoid of any humanity, any recognition, any trace of the friend Ray once knew. He had arrived through a dark portal that tore open randomly inside the Black Star mansion, its edges rippling with malevolent power that seemed to corrupt the very air around it.
Ray's muscles tensed as he dropped into a fighting stance, years of training taking over even as fear threatened to paralyze him. The air itself seemed to vibrate with danger, pressing against his skin like an invisible weight.
"Everyone, retreat! Leave now!" Ray commanded, his voice cutting through the chaos with an authority born of desperation.
The Black Star members who were present didn't hesitate. They ran toward any safety rooms they could find, their footsteps echoing through the halls in a panicked rhythm. Fear etched itself across their faces as they fled, some casting backward glances at the nightmare unfolding before them.
Noah lifted his head slowly, deliberately, his voice emerging deep and darker than before, almost unrecognizable—as if something else spoke through his throat. "It's me, Ray."
Ray stepped forward cautiously, hope flickering in his chest despite the evidence before his eyes. "Noah?"
The word came out barely above a whisper, laden with disbelief and desperate longing. Could his friend still be in there somewhere?
Noah's crimson energy pulsed for a split second, sending a shockwave rippling outward from his body. The force made Ray's hair whip back and rattled the windows in their frames, some cracking under the pressure.
Ray didn't give Noah any more time to speak. The decision crystallized in his mind with painful clarity: either wait for Noah to make the first move and risk everything—the mansion, the members, innocent lives—or act first and save the Black Star mansion and every single member within it. The choice tore at him, but survival demanded action.
He surged forward, throwing out a fist toward Noah with all the speed he could muster, channeling every ounce of strength into the blow.
Noah dodged effortlessly, his movements fluid and predatory, almost lazy in their confidence. He dashed forward, his fist igniting with red energy as he closed the distance. The attack came fast—too fast for Ray to fully process.
Ray caught the fist, but the impact made him slide back several feet, his boots scraping against the floor with an agonizing screech. He gritted his teeth, feeling the raw power radiating from Noah's body like heat from a furnace, threatening to overwhelm him completely.
"Unfortunately, absorbing the Heavenly Sword left me in a vulnerable state," Ray muttered, frustration building in his chest like a physical pressure. "I need to keep fighting until my energy reserves climb back up and the Heavenly Sword's power finally comes to me. But right now, my body is still adjusting. Right now, I'm not at full power."
The admission tasted bitter on his tongue. Of all the times to be weakened, this was the worst possible moment.
Knowing this painful truth, Ray used every bit of strength he could summon at that moment. He launched a flying kick toward Noah, desperation fueling his movements, hoping against hope that sheer determination might compensate for his diminished power.
But Noah laughed—a cold, hollow sound that sent chills down Ray's spine and made his blood run ice-cold. He caught the kick with his leg as if it were nothing more than a child's attempt. Both legs slammed into each other with a thunderous crack that echoed through the room. Noah easily overpowered Ray, his strength overwhelming, inhuman.
Ray flew backward through the air, the world spinning around him. When he hit the ground hard, pain exploded through his body in white-hot bursts. Still, he stood back up immediately, ignoring the agony that coursed through his limbs like liquid fire. His pride wouldn't let him stay down, and more importantly, he couldn't afford to fail. Too many lives depended on him.
Ray dashed forward again, throwing out fist after fist in a desperate flurry, each strike carrying his determination, his refusal to surrender. Noah kept dodging with infuriating ease, almost bored. Then Noah caught one of Ray's punches mid-strike, his grip like iron, unyielding and merciless.
Noah twisted Ray's hand violently, breaking it with a sickening crack that made Ray's stomach lurch. Then he kicked Ray hard in the stomach. Ray's breath left his body in a painful gasp as he flew across the room, slamming into a nearby wall. The wall cracked under the impact but didn't shatter completely, holding together just barely.
Ray shakily stood back up, his vision swimming with dark spots. He steadied himself against the wall for a moment, drawing in ragged breaths, then rushed forward toward Noah once more. This felt like a never-ending battle, and Noah was quickly dominating the fight with terrifying ease. Each exchange left Ray weaker, more battered, while Noah seemed utterly untouched.
Ray let out a flurry of punches, each one blocked or dodged with contemptuous ease, as if Noah were merely toying with him.
Suddenly, someone blocked the devastating blow that Noah was about to deliver to Ray's head—a finishing strike that would have ended everything. The hand grasped Noah's fist and held it with an iron grip that stopped the attack cold, absorbing the impact without flinching.
Ray looked up to see who had intervened, relief flooding through him despite the dire circumstances. Knox stood there, his deep, dark, void-like eyes staring past Ray without emotion, without acknowledgment, like a statue given life.
Knox didn't speak. He was simply obeying what his master had commanded him to do. While Ray and Noah were fighting, Sin had sensed something wrong—a disturbance in the energy patterns he monitored constantly. He had commanded Knox to interfere, to investigate what was happening. Sin had felt the massive energy signature emanating from a large area within the Black Star mansion, impossible to ignore even in his weakened state. Even though Sin was confined to a room in bed, still recovering from his partial evolution which had left him unconscious and vulnerable, he still had his bonds—his spawns—who could help him. Even though he couldn't interfere directly, they could act on his behalf, serving as extensions of his will.
Knox's grip began to tighten on Noah's fist with methodical pressure. Bones cracked audibly under the force, the sound making Ray wince. The red aura around Noah grew larger, more violent, responding to the challenge. Much of the crimson energy began concentrating into Noah's second hand, which started glowing with dangerous intensity, building toward something catastrophic.
"Weak," Noah sneered, the word dripping with contempt and something darker—satisfaction.
He blasted a beam of concentrated energy toward Knox, the attack tearing through the air with deadly precision. Knox dodged at the last second, releasing Noah's hand—and that was exactly what Noah had wanted, Ray realized with growing horror. He threw out his damaged fist, the bones still in the middle of healing with unnatural speed. The punch connected with Knox's face, sending Knox flying backward and crashing through one of the walls with tremendous force that shook the entire structure.
The impact was far more powerful than when Noah had punched Ray earlier. That blow had only created cracks in the wall, but when he struck Knox, Knox nearly went through it entirely, his body creating a gaping hole. Debris scattered across the floor in a cloud of dust and fragments.
Knox immediately stood back up, his expression blank as he stared at Noah, brushing dust from his shoulders with mechanical precision. Not a flicker of pain crossed his features, no sign of injury despite the devastating attack.
Noah laughed again, tilting his head with curiosity like a predator examining interesting prey. "Who is your master?"
Somehow, Noah knew that Knox was a spawn. He recognized that Knox was under someone's control, bound to another's will—perhaps he could sense the connection, the invisible tether.
Knox didn't speak. He only obeyed Sin, and this wasn't his fight to explain. His silence was absolute, unbreakable.
Noah stepped forward, his red aura pulsing outward like a heartbeat, filling the room with oppressive energy that made breathing difficult. "Who is your master?"
The question came again, more insistent, edged with threat.
Suddenly, Knox felt something gripping his neck with crushing force, cutting off his air. Noah had moved behind him in an instant, faster than Knox could react, faster than should have been possible.
Noah began choking Knox, his fingers digging into Knox's throat with brutal strength that would have killed a normal person instantly. "I'm not going to ask again."
Knox didn't react, of course. No amount of pain, no degree of injury would make him disobey his master's will. His loyalty was absolute, programmed into his very being.
Noah's voice dropped to a dangerous whisper that somehow carried through the entire room. "Fine. If you won't tell me who your master is, then I'll end you."
The energy began to spark violently as Noah prepared to unleash the attack, red lightning dancing across his skin.
Then a second person entered the fray. Dice stepped forward, his smaller frame tense with determination, fists clenched at his sides. Even though he was smaller than Knox, he was still formidable, his presence radiating quiet strength and unwavering resolve.
However, Noah didn't let that stop him. He refused to allow any more interference, his patience clearly exhausted. The beam shot out with devastating speed, aimed directly at Knox's head.
Ray immediately leaped forward, desperation overriding his exhaustion and pain. He grabbed the beam with both hands, trying to push it back from hitting Knox, his palms burning instantly. But the beam was too strong, its power overwhelming, far beyond what he could handle in his weakened state. It kept pushing Ray backward, the energy searing his palms, the smell of burning flesh filling his nostrils. The beam was nearly killing him when Ray dodged just in time, rolling to the side as the attack scorched past him, leaving a blackened trail across the floor.
Back in his room, Sin lay in bed, his body still weak and recovering, frustration mounting with each passing second. He was looking through Dice's vision, seeing everything unfold through his spawn's eyes as if he were there himself.
Sin muttered to himself, anxiety creeping into his voice. "This isn't good. I'm not supposed to interfere like this. My organs are still trying to heal. I can't let the Shadow Demon run loose, and I don't even know if anyone can beat that thing."
Sin was referring to Noah, to whatever Noah had become—the entity wearing his friend's face.
Elias, residing inside Sin's mind, smiled with dark amusement that Sin could feel like an unwelcome presence. "Sin, whenever I control your body, my power operates at seventy percent loss of strength. Who knows what would happen? Perhaps we'd both die. Perhaps we'd destroy everything. The uncertainty is... delicious."
Sin's anxiety crept into his thoughts, spreading like poison. "Clearly, he's not going to give up on killing Knox. Thankfully, Knox didn't reveal who I was, so whoever that guy is doesn't know my identity yet. I'll stay low for now. Maybe Dice can handle this. Maybe."
The hope felt hollow even as he thought it.
Back in the room, Dice stood motionless for a moment, then walked toward Noah and Knox with measured steps, each one deliberate and calculated. Even though Dice was a spawn like Knox, unlike Knox, he retained a sliver of humanity trapped deep within his own body—a fragment of his former self that observed everything but could do nothing. He couldn't speak. He couldn't do anything beyond obeying Sin's will. Yet he could still form thoughts—he just couldn't act on them independently, a prisoner in his own flesh.
Dice thought desperately in his mind, the words echoing in the prison of his consciousness. "All right. Hopefully, he doesn't do anything reckless. Hopefully, he doesn't kill Knox. Then again, even if I could react fast enough, even if I wasn't trapped in my own body without control, would I be able to save Knox in time? Even though he's changed, even though Sin transformed him into an emotionless spawn, he's still the father of the Demon family. No matter what happens, I will save them."
The vow felt sacred, the one thing he could still claim as his own.
Dice's body stepped closer, each footfall deliberate, closing the distance with mechanical precision.
Noah smiled, a predatory gleam in his black eyes that promised violence. "I see."
Energy began building up inside Noah's hand again, the red glow intensifying until it cast dancing shadows across the walls.
Noah pointed at Ray, his expression hardening into something cruel. "You are being annoying. And I don't appreciate that. After all, both of you interfered with me and his fight."
The complaint sounded almost petulant, but the threat behind it was deadly serious.
Knox leaped back when Noah redirected his hand toward him, instinct overriding programming. Knox rushed forward immediately, trying to land a punch on Noah to disrupt whatever attack was coming, hoping to break his concentration.
But Noah released the beam first. The concentrated red energy shot toward Knox's incoming fist like a spear of pure destruction. The collision of power and flesh created a massive shockwave that rippled outward, knocking back both Dice and Ray with tremendous force. Dice was thrown further, his smaller frame unable to withstand the impact, tumbling across the floor.
Eventually, Noah's beam won the struggle. It shot through Knox's hand completely, obliterating it in a spray of black blood and charred flesh that splattered across the floor. Knox's hand was gone—only a bleeding stump remained, smoke rising from the cauterized wound.
However, Knox didn't show any expression on his face. It seemed as if he felt no pain at all, his features remaining blank and emotionless, accepting the injury as simply another fact.
Noah stepped forward slowly, savoring his dominance like fine wine. "One down. One more to go."
Then, without warning, the crimson energy surrounding Noah began to pulse erratically, the rhythm breaking. His body convulsed, muscles spasming, and for just a fraction of a second, his pitch-black eyes flickered—a hint of something else breaking through, something human and terrified. Noah's mouth opened, and a voice emerged that sounded different, desperate, almost pleading, raw with emotion.
"Ray... help... me..."
The voice was Noah's—the real Noah, trapped somewhere inside that corrupted shell.
Ray's heart clenched at the sound, hope and horror warring within him. His friend was still in there, still fighting.
But before Ray could react, before anyone could move, the crimson energy exploded outward in a violent surge that pushed everyone back. Noah's eyes went completely black again, darker than before, like staring into an abyss. His body straightened, and when he spoke again, his voice was colder, more inhuman, devoid of the warmth that had briefly emerged.
"Foolish," Noah said, his lips curling into a cruel smile that looked wrong on his face. "He's still fighting. How... entertaining."
The red aura around Noah intensified, growing so bright it hurt to look at directly, forcing Ray to shield his eyes. The temperature in the room dropped suddenly, and frost began forming on the walls, spreading like crystalline fingers.
Noah raised both hands, and twin spheres of crimson energy began forming in his palms, each one crackling with enough power to level the entire mansion and everyone in it.
Ray struggled to his feet, his broken hand hanging uselessly at his side, throbbing with each heartbeat. Knox stood motionless, black blood dripping from his severed wrist in steady drops that pooled on the floor. Dice positioned himself between Noah and the others, his body tense and ready, refusing to yield despite the overwhelming odds.
Noah's smile widened, revealing teeth that seemed too sharp, too wrong, inhuman. "Let's see how long you can last before I tear this entire place apart."
The energy spheres grew larger, brighter, more unstable, pulsing with barely contained destruction.
And then, from somewhere deep within the mansion, a new presence made itself known. A different energy signature—one that made even Noah pause for just a moment, his attention diverted. His head tilted, his black eyes narrowing with interest and something that might have been anticipation.
"Ah," Noah said softly, his voice filled with dark anticipation and hunger. "So there is someone else here worth my attention."
The energy spheres in his hands pulsed once, twice, building toward critical mass—
And everything went white.