“You’re done already?” Raea asked and looked up from the book she was reading. The glowing blue light on her chest started to dim while Palan got off his bed and stretched. She was using the light to read in the otherwise dark room.“I don’t feel myself getting stronger anymore,” Palan said with a frown. He stood up straight and twisted his body while reaching down, touching the back of his feet while keeping his legs straight. Cleo tried to imitate him but fell over. “If it’s not working, then there’s no point in continuing.”“Oh,” Raea said and nodded. “I don’t know much about demon growth, but maybe Pyre can—“A snore interrupted her. Pyre’s head hung low, his chin touching his chest. A line of drool leaked from the corner of his mouth onto his brown robe. He was sitting in a plush armchair with his arm hanging over the armrest, his pipe on the floor. Raea blinked. “Or not.”Palan stepped to the window and pulled aside the curtain. The yellow moon hung in the sky. Palan squinted hi

Palan returned to the area where he killed Ross and Kore. By the time he arrived, the second sun was beginning to rise. The angels’ remains were missing, only a bloodstain and a few flecks of flesh proving that they were even there. He narrowed his eyes at the scene and continued forward, heading towards the impaled heads in the distance. They acted as a demarcation between the forest he was in and a valley that was obscured by vines.The forest was unusually quiet as Palan passed through it, occasionally stopping near bloodstains. He wasn’t sure if they belonged to angels or wild animals, but he had the feeling that it was the former. As he got closer to the macabre border, he began to see skeletal remains decorating treetops, causing him to raise an eyebrow. The amount of dried blood on the tree tru

“Hey, the sun is about to set, you know?” Madison asked as she hopped after Palan. He ignored her and continued to walk ahead. Wings flapped behind him, and he whirled around just in time to see Madison take flight. She hovered in the air, staring at him.“Are you leaving?” Palan asked, gripping the handle of his dagger.“Yes,” Madison said. “It’s time for curfew.” As the second sun continued to set, Madison’s feathers gradually darkened from sky-blue to black with a hint of purple. “Let’s go; I’ll carry you.” She dove for Palan with her talons outstretched. His eyes widened as he leapt to the side and twisted his torso. Madison’s claw grazed Palan’s chest, leaving behind a line of blood. “Eh? Why’d you move?” She perched in a tree and tilted her head.Palan brought his dagger in front of himself and hunched over, readying himself like a sprinter. Madison dove at him again, but Palan managed to avoid her. She frowned. “What are you doing? Solra will be mad if we’re late.”“I never sai

Palan stared at the giant earthen spider-cube as it scuttled away into the distance. Cleo’s words sprang into his mind, “How is this even fair?” He could hear her high-pitch voice complaining away and couldn’t help but to agree with her. The gap between him and an archangel ruthlessly pressed down on his pride. He gritted his teeth and sniffed the air. Maybe the gap would shrink after he ate that oversized dog-monkey. He wasn’t counting on it.Palan had been hidden throughout the fight, watching Igor’s every move while the wolf-gorilla demon hunted down the elephants and fought the angels. He found that, although he couldn’t just bury himself underneath the sand, it was a lot easier to hide within a forest than out in the desert. He was confident that no one had noticed him, and nodded as he turned away from the earthen monstrosity in the distance. As he followed the trail of blood Igor left behind, he couldn’t help but wonder what method Pyre had to kill an archangel.Labored breaths

Palan floated in a sea of white light. There was no ground or sky, his body suspended in nothing. He tried to speak but found that he couldn’t move his mouth—or any part of his body at all. Palan would’ve frowned if he could. There were no sounds or smells; his body was unable to feel anything. The white light burrowed into his body, dissolving it piece by piece. His skin fell away, revealing the red muscles and tendons underneath. His muscles eroded strand by strand until only his bones remained. His eyes melted into a gooey mush, causing his vision to turn black. Holes perforated his bones, creating a structure similar to a termite mound before his bones dissolved completely. The only thing that remained was his brain which floated around aimlessly in the whiteness.Although Palan couldn’t see, billions of images flashed through his mind. A humanoid figure with hunched shoulders pounded on its chest and shrieked before tearing apart a tree with its bare hands; its frame reminded Pal