The air outside was cold, carrying a faint smell of smoke. Renji tensed his shoulders and glanced carefully down the nearly empty alleyways. It seemed as if the whole city was holding his breath.
The child walked between him and Tiberku, clutching the basket tightly. He looked from one to the other without saying a word. Only the sound of shoes on wet stone could be heard.
Tiberku stretched his back and adjusted his coat over the hilt of his hidden sword.
— "I've never seen the city this empty," he said quietly. "Not even when I was a rider, people didn't hide like this."
Renji nodded. His eyes moved constantly, watching every dark corner.
— "There's something strange in the air. Too much silence. Too few faces."
Around the corner, a few closed shops could be seen, shutters drawn and windows boarded with planks. A door slammed somewhere in the distance, and the child flinched.
— "It's okay," Renji said calmly. "Stay close."
After a few minutes, they arrived in front of the pharmacy. The door was ajar, and a smell of herbs and medicinal alcohol lingered in the air. Tiberku raised an eyebrow and leaned slightly, listening.
— "I don't hear anything. Maybe it's empty."
Renji pushed the door slowly. The floor creaked under their steps. Bottles and boxes were left on the counter, some overturned. A stack of papers was scattered on the floor.
The child pressed against Renji.
— "Pharmacist?" Tiberku called, but there was no answer.
Renji approached the counter, picking up a small bottle and turning it between his fingers. The label was torn, and the liquid inside moved slowly, dark in color.
— "Be careful what you touch," he said. "Check the back. I'll look here."
Tiberku nodded and headed toward the back room. The door creaked slightly as he opened it. Inside, the smell was stronger, a mix of dried blood and smoke.
— "Renji… you need to see this."
Renji entered and stopped. In the middle of the room, a circle was drawn with ash and blood. Around it, broken bottles and burnt herbs lay scattered. Deep claw marks marred the wall.
The child stayed at the doorway, trembling.
Renji bent down and touched one of the marks lightly. It was fresh. He pulled back his hand and studied the circle carefully.
— "Someone attempted a ritual. But they didn't finish it."
Tiberku looked at the walls.
— "Or they were interrupted. Suddenly."
Renji crossed his arms.
— "If demons are already in the city, this could be the point they entered. The pharmacist knew something. Maybe he tried to stop them."
Tiberku approached a table and picked up a crumpled sheet of paper. He handed it to Renji. A few lines were hastily written:
"The blood is the key. Not everyone is what they seem. Start with those who don't breathe when crossing the threshold."
Renji read silently, then looked at the child.
— "What's your name?"
— "Lio," the boy whispered.
Renji leaned down and looked him in the eyes.
— "Lio, when we entered, did you hold your breath?"
The child blinked, confused.
— "No… why?"
Renji felt his muscles tense and turned his gaze toward Tiberku.
— "Keep him close. Say nothing, but be ready."
Tiberku took a step back, his hand slowly lowering to the hilt of his sword.
Renji took a deep breath and stood. From a dark corner of the room, a faint sound, like staggered breathing, echoed. A shadow moved among the shelves.
Renji drew his short sword and lifted it to chest level.
— "Who's there?"
The shadow stopped. Then, from the darkness, the figure of a man in a white coat appeared, blood stains on his sleeves and empty, lifeless eyes.
The child screamed, and Renji stepped forward.
— "Tiberku, take the child out!"
Tiberku grabbed Lio by the arm and pulled him back. The man jerked violently and moved unnaturally fast toward Renji, making a guttural sound.
Renji's sword gleamed for a moment in the air. The blades struck the floor, and the metallic scent of blood filled the room.
The man fell, but his body began to move again, as if an unseen force lifted him.
Renji watched in astonishment. The man's eyes glowed a reddish hue, and his voice hissed.
— "Too late… the city will be ours."
A cold wave ran through Renji's body. Without hesitation, he gripped his sword tighter and said sharply:
— "Then we start here."
The man lunged at Renji, the floor cracking under the force of the strike. His movements were no longer human. His skin stretched, bones broke and reformed, and black veins pulsed from beneath the coat.
Renji tried to strike, but the creature's arm hit him with unexpected force. He fell to the floor, his sword slipping from his hand several meters away. The demon rose above him, eyes burning, raising his arm to strike. Inside its chest, a red crystal covered in blood pulsed with every beat.
Renji braced for impact, but didn't have time to react. A gust of air passed by his face. In a fraction of a second, a hand covered in black scales pierced the demon's chest from behind.
The sound of flesh tearing and the crystal shattering echoed clearly. The demon's eyes went out instantly, and his body convulsed. The clawed hand slowly withdrew, leaving a trail of dark blood.
The demon collapsed, inert, and his body began to disintegrate. Black dust rose slowly, drifting in the air.
Renji breathed deeply, confused. He hadn't understood anything. He looked around, trying to see where the strike had come from.
Tiberku gently pulled Lio back, then stepped forward carefully. He stopped a few steps from the demon's body and saw something moving in the shadow. A man emerged.
He wore a soldier's uniform, dirty and torn in places. His face was pale, and although human, his eyes had an unnatural intensity. His left arm was completely transformed: covered in black scales with faintly pulsating red veins. The claws at his fingertips still dripped blood.
Tiberku remained still. He said nothing, just looked at the hand, then the man's face. The soldier exhaled and glanced at the ash still drifting from the demon.
Renji rose slowly, still dizzy, realizing he had seen him somewhere in the city before. He didn't know who he was or how he had appeared there.
Tiberku turned to him, speaking quietly:
— "Renji… that's the soldier who escorted a criminal."
Renji fixed his gaze. The black scales glimmered faintly, and burn marks were visible on the wrist, as if the arm had been attached to the body through a ritual.
The soldier said nothing, just shook the demonic hand lightly, and the demon's ash dispersed completely, as if absorbed by the air.
Renji stepped forward, but when he blinked, the man had disappeared.
Only the heavy smell of sulfur and deep claw marks on the floor remained.
Tiberku approached where the soldier had stood, touched the burned marks, and said quietly:
— "He wasn't human."
Renji lifted his sword, staring silently. The demon's crystal had been destroyed perfectly, right in the center. No hesitation, no mistake. Only a precise strike, impossible for a human hand.
The air still held demonic energy, but now mixed with something colder, more calculated. Renji looked at Tiberku.
— "Who was that?"
Tiberku shrugged.
— "I don't know… but he wasn't on their side."
Tiberku bent over the remains of the demon. The black dust clung to his fingers, a thin trail of smoke still rising from where the crystal had been. He touched it lightly, but it dissipated instantly, like ash blown by the wind.
Renji approached, sword still in hand.
— "What are you doing? It's done."
Tiberku sighed and stood.
— "No, Renji. That's the problem. It was our chance to get demon blood without fighting. But now we have nothing. The crystal is gone."
Renji froze. He looked at the spot where the demon's heart had been. Nothing remained except a deeply burned black mark in the floor.
— "You mean we can't even use a drop of what's left?"
Tiberku shook his head.
— "No. Without the crystal, the blood disintegrates. Everything here is dead dust. It was absorbed when the soldier pierced its chest. Nothing remained."
Renji tightened his grip on the sword, frustration pressing in his chest.
— "Then it was all for nothing…"
Tiberku ran a hand through his hair, looking at the empty spot.
— "Not entirely. If that man had a demon arm, it means there's a source. Someone or something gives him that power. Maybe we can find where he got it."
Renji looked up.
— "And how do you propose we find him? He vanished like a ghost."
— "No one disappears without a trace," Tiberku replied. "This man leaves a mark wherever he goes. That wasn't a simple appearance. He was prepared. He came exactly when the demon was about to attack. That means he was tracking us."
Renji looked at him for a long moment, then bent down again and picked up a small fragment of dark ash.
— "Maybe you're right. But if he was tracking us, then he knows about Megan too."
Tiberku stiffened.
— "If he knows… then we have no time to waste. We must return to the inn. Eris clearly said demons don't attack randomly."
Renji tilted his head thoughtfully, then stood.
— "We go. But if that soldier is truly a threat, I want to know who sent him. And why he saved us."
Tiberku picked up his backpack and glanced once more at the empty room.
— "Maybe he didn't want to save us. Maybe he just eliminated competition."
Renji and Tiberku left the building and slipped through the alleyways. The air was heavy, filled with smoke and ash. Their footsteps echoed quietly on the cold stone, but they didn't dare speed up.
A few steps ahead, Renji's eyes caught dim lights moving between the buildings. Tiberku raised his hand, signaling to slow down. On the street, uniformed figures moved back and forth. Soldiers. Too many for a normal patrol.
— "I can't believe it…" Tiberku murmured quietly. "There seem to be more than before."
Tension hung in the air, like before a storm. In the distance, a short, desperate scream tore the silence. The sound repeated, this time closer, as if coming from a side street.
Tiberku tried to control his breathing and hide his fear.
— "Renji… this isn't a normal patrol. Look at how they move. They're everywhere, like they control the streets. We can't pass unnoticed."
Renji nodded, eyes fixed on the soldiers' movements. He tightened his grip on the sword under his coat, ready for anything. Other screams echoed from nearby buildings, louder and more frantic.
— "People are shouting… something's happening in the city," Renji said, his voice short and grave.
Tiberku drew the child closer, and Lio instinctively clung to his shoulder, trembling slightly. Renji gave him a brief nod.
— "It's okay, Lio… we're almost at the inn. Nothing will reach us there," he said, firm but calm.
Tiberku wrapped his arms around the child, feeling how fragile and scared he was. Their footsteps continued to echo on the stone streets, each step bringing them closer to safety. Even though soldiers patrolled the streets and screams still rang out in the distance, for a moment, their breathing felt lighter.
Lio sighed, eyes still wide with fear, but slowly began to calm, leaning on Tiberku's shoulder. Renji looked at his friend and raised his sword slightly, ready to intervene if anything changed.
They moved forward slowly, hearts tight but determined. The darkness and noises of the city seemed less oppressive as they felt they were finally approaching a place to take shelter. After threading through the screaming streets, the familiar shape of the inn appeared before them, and Renji felt a small wave of relief that, at least for now, they were safe.
Renji had stayed behind, eyes fixed on the inn's door, scanning the surroundings quickly. Tiberku and Lio had already entered. Suddenly, the air around him shifted. A wave of cold, dense energy passed by. In a fraction of a second, the soldier with the demon arm appeared, as if teleported. The black scales on his arm glimmered faintly, and the claws curved in the streetlight.
Renji barely had time to raise his sword, but the soldier propelled himself with incredible speed, faster than the eye could follow. Before Renji could react, the demonic hand grabbed his arm and tore him off the ground with brutal force.
— "Aaaaaah!" Renji shouted, surprised and helpless.
Tiberku and Lio, already inside, felt a shiver in the air. The inn's door opened and a cold wind entered as Renji was pulled back into the street. Tiberku's steps slowed, his gaze turning to the street, frightened.
The soldier held him firmly, the demon arm squeezing like a living clamp. The claws scratched his clothes and skin, but Renji could not retaliate. The soldier's movements were perfectly controlled, precise and fast, leaving Renji with no chance to escape.
Tiberku leaned against the door and shouted:
— "Renji!"
But his voice was lost in the wind swirling through the street. The soldier continued to propel Renji at impossible speeds, completely separating him from Tiberku and Lio.
Renji struggled, but the demon arm gave him no leverage. His eyes widened, aware that any wrong move could throw him directly into the hands of this monstrous man.
As he was ripped further from the inn, Renji felt the tension and fear rise, but also a burning determination in his chest. He knew he had to survive and return to Tiberku and Lio, no matter what came next.
At that moment, he was completely at the mercy of the soldier with the demon arm, propelled at impossible speed through the empty, shadowed streets.
The soldier held his arm with one hand, movements precise, cold. Renji felt the world around them shrink, sounds fading. The man scanned him like a map, without haste, without mercy.
— "There's something about you," the soldier said, low, calm, but charged. "A scent I don't like. It's not just demonic, it's tied to you."
The words weren't an explanation, they were a statement. In them was a determination that admitted no negotiation. The soldier didn't smile, didn't show compassion. His face remained impassive, like a mask. The demonic arm clicked slightly as he released it.
— "Next time," he continued, the same quiet voice, "if I find you where trouble appears, there will be no second chance."
It wasn't an empty threat. It was a promise from someone who could keep it. Renji tried to respond, but words stuck in his throat. The soldier looked at him one last time, as if calculating something invisible, then disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared.
Only a cold wind remained, fading in the street, a trace of black dust dispersing in the air, and a new fear nesting in Renji's chest. He didn't know who that man was, where he came from, but he understood one thing clearly: his presence meant he could no longer remain at ease.
Without hesitation, Renji ran toward the inn. The door closed behind him with a sound sharper than before. Inside, near the fire, Renji tried to catch his breath, feeling the threat of the soldier settle like a shadow over everything that was to come.