Zyel watched, utterly expressionless, as the two sisters kept going at each other like nothing else in the world mattered.
It had already been over 15 minutes since they started brawling, and somehow neither of them looked even remotely close to stopping.
They were trading brutal punches back and forth, though it was mostly Amelia doing the punching and slapping, sending her little sister flying into random places, crashing through buildings, and wrecking anything unlucky enough to exist nearby.
Aria, however, refused to stay down.
No matter how many times Amelia tossed her around like she weighed nothing, she kept coming back, even though it had been painfully obvious from the start that her elder sister was stronger.
Not that Aria was that much weaker.
She held her own, in a way.
But Amelia had experience and five extra years behind her, which showed in every single hit.
Still, Amelia was clearly not trying to kill her.
If anything, she looked like she was having fun, occasionally letting Aria land a hit or two, like this was some twisted version of encouragement.
So they kept going. Kicks, punches, more punches, bones snapping, healing, snapping again, over and over like this was normal, like this was just another day.
Zyel did not bother stopping them.
There was no real intent behind it.
They were not even using their [Purple Flames], which made the whole thing feel less like a fight and more like some absurd, violent sibling argument.
Just the demon version of it.
Watching closely, far too closely, Zyel realized something.
This was the first time he had ever seen supernatural beings fight like this.
And it clicked, slowly, uncomfortably, just how much destruction a simple brawl could cause.
Buildings were nothing.
Walls were nothing.
And these two were not even going all out.
That thought lingered.
If this was them holding back, then what would happen if they actually tried?
If they used their [Purple Flames].
The idea alone felt excessive.
His eyes followed everything.
Every movement, every shift, every impact.
The way they moved, the way they delivered raw physical force that tore through buildings and walls like paper, the way their bodies repaired themselves like damage meant nothing.
It all carved itself into his mind, clean and permanent, like a recording he could replay perfectly, again and again, whether he wanted to or not.
Then suddenly, both Amelia and Aria stopped in their tracks, frowns forming on their faces as if they had realized something.
A second later, the same frown appeared on Zyel's handsome face.
He had sensed it too, a disturbance… an irritating one.
Intruders.
All three of them turned at the same time, their gazes locking onto the direction from where they felt the presence.
"Shit… looks like I was a bit late pulling you into the battle space. They managed to pick up your aura…" Amelia muttered, her voice low and serious as Zyel appeared beside the two sisters.
The intruders' presence grew stronger and more defined until their figures finally revealed themselves, two men and a woman, all appearing human.
Their aura felt similar to that of humans, yet the strength and hostility radiating from them were anything but.
The first man was burly, likely in his early to mid-twenties, with a long silver sword hanging at his waist.
The second walked forward with his arms crossed, a smug expression plastered across his face.
The third was a woman dressed in a black hoodie, her head hidden beneath the hood, her hands covered in black gloves.
"Heroes…" Aria muttered, narrowing her eyes as her fists clenched, ready for a fight.
"Heroes?" Zyel echoed, his expression shifting in the same way as theirs.
He knew exactly what humans referred to as Heroes were.
They were individuals either born with innate abilities or those who gained power after birth through contracts, divine blessings, familiars, or by wielding relics, objects that contained immense power.
Despite being human, these individuals possessed supernatural abilities and were known as Heroes.
There had been many throughout history, some even remembered as legends among humans, such as Siegfried, the dragon-slaying hero; King Arthur Pendragon, wielder of the holy sword Excalibur; and Arjuna, the master archer blessed by the Hindu god Vishnu.
They weren't called Heroes because of what they did.
They were called Heroes because of the power they held.
The three individuals now approaching them with clear hostility were Heroes.
Whether through innate talent or acquired power, they had become something far beyond ordinary humans.
Heroes might be human, but they were just as monstrous as supernatural beings, and they harbored deep hatred for anything that wasn't human.
"You guys do know about the treaty, right?" Amelia asked, crossing her arms.
The treaty she was talking about wasn't some polite little agreement.
It was a leash.
A rigid, suffocating set of rules hammered into existence by the world's major factions, most of them inhuman, all of them powerful, all of them watching anything with power enough to destroy nations in a single night.
Its entire purpose was simple: keep species in their cages, keep their claws off each other… and, above all, keep their hands off humans.
And Aria? A high demon?
Yeah, she slipped for a moment when she thought her beloved Zyel had vanished off the face of the earth.
She was on the verge of losing her mind.
But she didn't tear anyone apart.
Didn't paint the human world in blood.
Didn't destroy a town or two.
Didn't let any humans discover the existence of the supernatural through her.
She was going to.
But she didn't, because just a few moments before she did, Amelia showed up. Aria was dragged out, shoved into the battle space before things could spiral into something irreversible.
There were no witnesses. No bodies. No mess.
Everything was clean.
Which meant no lines had been crossed.
No laws broken.
Nothing the treaty could sink its teeth into.
So the Heroes?
They had no reason to be here. No justification. No right.
At least…
That's what the treaty said.
And right now?
That felt like a very fragile excuse to stay alive.
"No rules have been broken, no humans were harmed, and no human discovered our existence. There is absolutely no reason for heroes to invade our battle space in such a threatening manner," Amelia added with a sharp tone, as if warning them of the consequences if they decided to do something wrong.
The first man tilted his head, as if he found her amusing. "We know the rules… but do we care? Nah."
"Two high demons and a lesser demon? Judging by your presence, I'd say the high demons are in the early and late stages of the power level of [Rank-2: Enhanced], while the lesser demon is barely [Rank-1: Initiate]," the second man said, rubbing his chin.
"Let's just kill them. Since the treaty, we rarely get chances to kill demons, and I'm dying to kill one…" the woman said with a sadistic expression.
In the next second, her hands glowed with a faint white light, and in place of her gloves, a pair of gauntlets appeared, silver ones with strange markings so thin it looked like her skin had turned metallic.
"You do know you're creating a lot of trouble for yourselves by invading our battle space, right? And now you want to kill us?" Amelia asked, narrowing her eyes.
In the next second, her hair caught fire as beautiful, radiant purple flames manifested.
"Oh, we're not in trouble. This battle space was created by you, right? Whatever happens inside will be associated with no one but you disgusting demons. It's like you created a kill box for us to slaughter you," the man with the silvery sword said, chuckling as he equipped his weapon.
He was essentially saying that anything that happens within the battle space stays within the battle space.
And he was right.
Unless someone deliberately searched for a battle space, there would be no way of knowing that something was happening within one, since no energy or presence could escape from that dimension.
In the next second, a faint energy enveloped the sword, radiating a threatening presence that made both Amelia and Aria look at him with extra caution.
"Look at your faces… I see you recognize the sword in my hand, don't you? Yes, it's a holy sword. I'm a holy sword wielder, Jason Strench, at your service… well, death service," the man introduced himself.
"Darling… stay away from us. This is dangerous for you," Amelia said as she and Aria stepped forward, positioning themselves in front of Zyel as if shielding him from the three heroes.
"She's right. Zyel, that sword is a holy weapon, a natural enemy of demons and all creatures of the night. We have to make sure to keep you, and ourselves, out of its reach," Aria said as her hands suddenly caught fire with purple flames.
"They should be in the early to mid stages of [Rank-3: Awakened] power level… this isn't going to be easy," Amelia muttered cautiously.
Zyel didn't say anything.
He didn't know what to say.
The two women who once seemed like nothing more than bratty girls fighting for his attention had now turned into warriors, releasing a Spartan-like presence and taking command.
Their entire aura had changed.
They felt like completely different people.
At the same time, a realization suddenly dawned on him.
He was the weaker one here.
He was the one who needed saving.
He was the one who was truly helpless.
He didn't want to stay behind them.
He wanted to stand beside them.
He wanted to fight.
He wanted power.
He wanted to be a demon like them.
But he just didn't know how.