Walking through one of the illuminated rooms filled with muffled shouts, I slowly walked into the room. The devils inside didn't immediately notice me, too focused on a chained girl in the center of the room. There were four of them standing in front of the girl, taking turns whipping and hitting her.
The girl was in a dire state, her pinkish hair draped down to her knees, covering her face as each blow impacted her frail body. She was wearing a collection of rags barely covering her body.
"Why are you beating that girl?" I asked sternly.
"Huh!?"
The four devils jumped backwards at my words, shattering their sense of superiority over the helpless girl; they turned their backs to the girl. Although she didn't seem to be conscious, she tilted her head slightly in response to my words. I got a small glimpse of her crimson eyes as her hair shifted.
The devils beating her were all covered with armour and black veils, completely covering their expression; the only part of them visible was their eyes, running wild with speculation and caution.
"I asked you a question."
The serene hum of light soon echoed throughout the room, and four swords of light appeared at my flanks. Malice began to swell in my mind, pouring into the swords, causing them to shake violently and temporarily lose their shape for a moment.
"She's a wingless mutt, nothing but an insignificant pest. Do you truly think you can save her!? I don't know how you got down here, but it doesn't matter, you won't leave this room!"
"You're nothing but a wingless!"
I listened to their taunts and threats for a moment before I could no longer stomach letting the girl stay chained any longer. Her pained face invited nothing but unbridled sorrow.
I merely stepped forward, causing the devils to stiffen and retreat slightly, moving closer to the girl. One of them glanced at her before I let fly my swords, each one of them implanting itself in their necks.
The blades cut directly through their necks, gliding upwards before delivering the final blow, beheading them, the lifeless thud of their forms rippling throughout the silence.
I commanded the swords to cut the chains hanging her up before dismissing them. Her light body fell into my arms, and I knelt down, moving the hair away from her face. Her eyes fluttered open after a couple of minutes in my embrace. I looked down at her, my mind filled with concern and worry.
"Are you okay?" I said softly.
"Who are—"
The poor girl's words were stopped by a fit of coughs. I held her up and patted her back gently until they stopped. She turned her gaze towards me, touching my face weakly. A half smile started to grow on her face, her eyes sparkling a sliver of hope blooming inside.
Her expression twisted with pain as she tried to get up on her own, but she forcefully fell backwards into my embrace.
"It'll be okay."
Coursing the divinity into my hands, I emitted a small light, but I couldn't hold this for long, and it wasn't very effective. I hoped it would offer her a small amount of relief.
"No. I'm not an angel, light hurts," she exclaimed.
"You're a devil, then?"
She meekly nodded her head at me, averting her eyes from me, staring at one of the dead devils in front of us. I already knew that she was a devil when I first looked at her; there were no angels in this hideout that had become apparent.
From the earlier chatter of the devils around the poker table, they didn't consider this girl to be food, just a source of entertainment.
"It's okay if you won't tell, then neither will I."
"What? But you are an angel, how can you?"
The girl's expression twisted with surprise and blatant shock at my words; she most likely had never met anyone like me. Kindness was most definitely a finite resource in her life, something I was willing to change.
"I need blood. Please…"
Her skinny arms outstretched slightly, pointing towards the devil corpses shaking violently before she lost strength, dropping her arms to the ground. No longer able to support its weight.
"Are you sure? Isn't devil's blood poisonous to other devils? That's why they haven't killed each other long ago, right?"
"Not physically, but mentally. It's fine, I don't want to die. It doesn't matter…"
Tightening my grip on the girl, I refused to let her go and poison herself. I put my wrist in front of the girl's mouth, inching it closer with every second. She looked at me, genuinely baffled at my actions.
If I eliminated all traces of light flowing from the wound, then I should be able to reduce the risk of poisoning the girl if I kept my full concentration on siphoning out my divinity from the blood.
The girl gripped my arm tightly, nodding at me before biting down hard on my wrist, drinking my blood, not sharing a single second.
Eventually, she stopped as I felt my complexion lightening for a moment. It had taken everything I had to not accidentally feed her pure divinity. If such a thing happened, she wouldn't have lived to see the next second.
Her condition improved considerably, her complexion returning to a milky white no longer sickly and frail. The multiple wounds on her body quickly closed up, leaving her skin unblemished.
A sweet smile grew across her face, eyes sparkling with blatant admiration and care.
"Thank you."
I moved her hair out of her face, helping her up and ensuring that she didn't falter or fall back down. I took off my white and golden cloak and wrapped it around her body. She wasn't very tall. Her hair almost reached the floor, just barely hovering above it. By my guess, she was around 5,4.
"What is your name?"
"I… am Liliana."
"No last name?"
Her eyes drifted towards the roof, looking to be deep in thought, twirling her hair around her fingers. She stood there for a moment before shaking her head in annoyance, cheeks puffing slightly.
"It's okay, I don't have a last name either. No matter what I do, I can't remember it anyway. I'm Evernight, one of the Servants of Order."
"Mister? Are you sure you should have helped me? I'm the enemy, a devil, just a filthy wingless. I don't get why you would do such a thing."
"You are no longer a devil, but another Servant of Order. I'm sure after I'm exterminating the Famine Devils, Ickni will honor my request to take you under my wing if that is what you want."
"But why…"
I turned my back, directing her gaze to my wingless back; her eyes turned back and forth from my face to my back many times.
"I'm wingless, and so are you. How could I turn my back and leave another wingless on their own? I'd never do such a despicable act, so I'll ask once again, do you wish to come with me?"
"I do. And thank you for helping me, I truly appreciate it, mister."
"Call me Evernight, Liliana."
"Ev—er—night," said Liliana, letting the word run along her tongue.
"Do you know much about this hideout, Liliana?"
"No, I'm sorry. I can't tell you anything past the names of the devils, but it appears they're already dead, so I won't be of much help. I hope you can forgive me. I was chained in this room for every minute of each day."
Liliana averted her gaze towards the floor as she recalled the memories of this very room. I couldn't imagine the fear and pain she must have experienced in this room. I'd do my utmost to support her. Now she was free.
We walked out of the room together, heading into the room with the most amount of chatter and light spilling out of it. But before we entered, I stopped Liliana, not wanting to proceed further with her in tow.
"It'll be dangerous; you should wait in the warehouse above for me. I promise I won't be long."
"No! I'm coming with you, and there is nothing you can stop me. You haven't yet promised that you'll never leave me, so I can't trust you yet," exclaimed Liliana.
She stomped her foot down multiple times, turning away and pouting.
"Fine. And I promise never to leave you, okay?"
Liliana's gaze focused on my eyes for a couple of painfully long seconds before her face brightened and she nodded enthusiastically many times.
"Hm! It's a deal then!"