Kyle started staggering back. His instincts also screamed at him.
Run!
He bolted, shoes slapping the wet pavement, lungs burning. But the demon was faster. Its wings stretched wide, the leathery sound cutting through the air before it swiped at him with one massive claw.
Kyle's body flew, slamming into the wall with bone-rattling force. A metal air conditioner unit crumpled under the impact, sparks sputtering. He coughed, blood spraying across his hand. Pain stabbed deep into his ribs and the world swam in and out of focus.
His vision blurred, black spots blooming across his sight. He slid down the wall, barely able to lift his head.
"This… this is it." he rasped, voice breaking. His body trembled as he laughed weakly, the sound hollow. "I'm going to die here in the dark… torn apart by something nobody could even describe. No one will even notice when I'm gone."
His head lolled, eyes flickering shut. "It'll just be like another missing sock in some billionaire's mansion." A broken chuckle escaped him, fading. "That's all I am... worthless "
The Voice came again, a whisper that reverberated inside his skull like glass fracturing.
"Let me out… I can help you."
Kyle's breath shuddered. His chest felt like it was collapsing, his heartbeat slowing.
He swallowed hard, blood slicking his lips. "…Do… whatever you want. I don't care anymore."
The Grinker stepped closer, claws scraping the concrete, its growl low and hungry.
Kyle's head snapped up. But it wasn't Kyle anymore. He rose slowly, unnaturally, blood dripping from his chin yet his posture steady. His body trembled once, then went utterly still. The wounds on the body started healing.
The Grinker froze, its wings faltering.
A smile carved across Kyle's lips but it wasn't his own. His voice came out layered, echoing, the tones of a young man and a cold girl overlapping.
"At last… free."
The Grinker screeched and lunged, claw arcing down. Dust and rubble exploded as it struck the ground...
But Kyle wasn't there, he had already jumped right before impact. And the moment the dust cleared, he was already in front of the demon's face, impossibly close. His hand shot out, clamping over the demon's skull. His fingers dug in, unnatural strength radiating from them.
The ground cracked as he shoved the Grinker's head into the pavement with a thunderous crash. Shards of stone split and scattered. The monster writhed, its wings flapping violently to free itself.
Kyle laughed again... that unnatural, doubled voice. "Too slow."
The Grinker forced itself up, snarling, wings snapping outward to propel it skyward. Kyle's body blurred again... a single step, yet his form vanished from sight. In an instant, he reappeared, hand raised.
"Hakai."
The word rippled through the alley like a curse. And the Grinker didn't even scream. Its body ruptured, detonating into a fountain of gore and shredded wings. Blood rained across the alley walls, a grotesque mist painting the concrete red.
Kyle stood in the center of it, chest rising and falling with steady, unnatural calm.
"…Damn. Guess I overdid that."
His knees then buckled. He staggered, the world shifting again. His voice cracked, different now, strained.
"What's… happening? Why… am I fading?!"
He fell to one knee, clutching his head.
"I couldn't… overwrite him completely? Even when he gave me the go-ahead… this shouldn't be possible." The voice snarled in his throat, frustrated, wavering. "What is this?"
The echo of boots on wet concrete came.
Aaron stepped first as always. His eyes narrowed at the bloody carnage. Nia was behind him. Ezra was last, with hands in his pockets, that calm arrogance radiating off him like a second skin.
His gaze flicked lazily to Kyle, his mouth twisting in a half-smirk. "Doesn't look like a Grinker to me." His voice was smooth, but biting. "But that aura… definitely demonic."
He lifted one hand, casual yet deliberate. From behind him, oily liquid swirled, twisting like water made of shadows. Within the vortex, curved teeth, jagged and endless, gnashing at the air.
Kyle's eyes widened. He barely had time to react before the first wave of teeth lunged at him, tearing the ground apart where he had stood.
He blurred sideways, impossibly fast, each step leaving cracks in the pavement. Another wave of teeth snapped down but he weaved through them, closing in on Ezra with a snarl.
Nia moved, her body cut through the air like lightning, intercepting Kyle's charge. The two collided, shockwaves rippling down the alley. Nia's arms blocked, her speed just enough to counter Kyle's reckless power.
Kyle grinned, twisted and feral. "You're fast."
Nia pushed back, voice sharp. "And you're sloppy."
Within a blink, a fist smashed into Kyle's stomach before he could retort. Aaron's. The blow landed with the weight of a sledgehammer. Kyle's body shot backward, ripping through the air before he managed to halt himself mid-flight, skidding across the ground.
He coughed violently, blood splattering the pavement. Her breath came ragged, her vision fracturing. "What? How does a human's fist… do that to me?"
Her mind clawed at the answer. "No, that wasn't him. That must be the demon he's contracted with. But I didn't even… see it move."
Aaron didn't press, simply cracking his knuckles. His gaze was sharp, locked.
The teeth surged again... Ezra barely lifting his hand. They snapped faster this time, forcing Kyoka to weave and duck, her body moving in flickers. But the pain from Aaron's strike throbbed violently, slowing her step.
She spat blood, eyes narrowing. "Not now. I can't… fade now."
Ezra raised his hand fully this time. The teeth surged forward but the space itself twisted with them. In a blink, the alley melted into something else.
Gravestones jutted from the earth, crooked and endless. An oppressive weight pressed down... a domain, suffocating and bleak. Syrren's Graveyard.
The attack ceased as the summoning's pressure stabilized. Ezra lowered his hand, expression flat, his voice bored. "Nia... why did you do that?!"
She motioned to Kyle, who now lay slumped on the ground, the glow fading from his eyes. The demonic aura had vanished entirely. His chest rose and fell weakly, human once more.
"Look at him, the demon's gone."
Aaron's eyes widened slightly. His voice was low, shocked. "That… shouldn't be possible. That was an Overwrite demon, it can't just leave a body once it has it, what..." He trailed off, shaking his head.
Nia crouched, inspecting Kyle's limp form, her voice uncertain. "Maybe we're dealing with something different. A new kind, something we haven't catalogued yet."
Ezra folded his arms. "Great, just what we needed. Surprises."
Aaron exhaled heavily, pulling his gaze from Kyle to his squad. "We'll have to take him back. The Captain will know what to do."
The three of them stood in silence for a moment, the only sound was from Kyle's faint and uneven breathing. The moonlight spilled across his battered body, painting him in pale silver as if to mock his fragile state.