The voice sent ice through Yun's veins. It came from directly behind him.
Without wasting a moment, Yun's hand reached for the katana, aiming for where the neck should be. The blade cut through empty air but the demon had dodged effortlessly.
Yun repositioned himself between the threat and Akira. He raised the katana in an attacking position, ready to strike.
A figure stepped into view, wearing the same black suit as the previous demon, but something was different. The air around him felt heavier, suffocating. Sweat broke across Yun's forehead.
"I didn't sense him at all, unless he's high-ranking..."
Yun glanced back to check if Akira was alright. Behind him, Akira was frozen in fear, his mother and brother were still asleep, unaware of the situation. Seeing Akira safe for now, Yun turned back to the demon.
"Scared? That's not what I expect from someone like you," the demon taunted, a sly grin curling at his lips.
"This bastard!" Yun cursed him in a low voice, even Akira behind him wouldn't be able to hear. "I don't recognize you."
"Well, I'm new and it would be weird not to introduce myself to the great strategist… I'm Nexis, one of the supreme commanders."
Yun's eyes widened as the demon mentioned the words Supreme Commander. "I didn't expect them to send one of the Six Supreme Commanders of Hell," he muttered, sweat breaking across his face.
Unfortunately, fighting was not an option this time. He needed to buy time to get away. He thought about buying time with conversation. "The situation seems really bad for Hell, I think? Sending a supreme commander."
"Yeah, we're not wasting it this time. The job should be done by any means necessary, that's the demon king's order."
"The demon king seems despe—" Without Yun being able to finish, Nexis's voice interrupted him.
"Enough! I'm here to kill the boy, not to chat!"
Nexis moved toward Akira. Yun lunged forward, katana raised to block, but Nexis moved faster than his eyes could follow.
He caught Yun's wrist mid-swing and slammed him into the flimsy plastic wall.
The sheet tore apart as Yun crashed through, falling outside. His katana clattered out of reach.
Before Yun could recover, Nexis was already standing over Akira, looking down at the terrified boy with cold amusement.
"Wait!" Yun gasped, pushing himself up. His mind raced, there was no time for a plan, only desperation. "Don't you want to make this... interesting?"
"Interesting?" Nexis asked, curiosity flickering across his face.
"Let's make a bet! Give us twenty-four hours to hide, if you find us after twenty-four hours, I will surrender and go to Hell as prisoner with you, but if you fail, you must return to Hell and abandon this mission."
Nexis tilted his head, amusement flickering in his crimson eyes.
Then, a low, dark chuckle escaped the demon's throat.
"Twenty-four hours, huh? You really think you can hide from me? Interesting indeed." Nexis's smirk widened, revealing sharp teeth as he continued, "Fine. I will return to hell if I fail, which I won't. Deal?"
He slightly bent forward to Yun, his voice dropping to a chilling whisper. "Because when I find you, and I will find you, I'll make sure you regret ever proposing this bet."
Without another word, Nexis left the shanty. Yun quickly grabbed Akira's hand. "Akira! Wake your mother and brother! We need to leave right now!"
Akira didn't question this time, he gave an immediate nod and quickly started to wake his mother and brother. Yun also tried to wake Akira's brother while Akira was trying to wake his mother. His mother started to wake but could barely open her eyes.
Yun didn't notice Akira's brother at first since he was sleeping curled up on his side, bent in the fetal position. It was the same for the brother—his condition was the same as Akira's, but he managed to get up and looked confused when he saw Yun.
"Brother? Who's this Stranger?"
Akira shook his head at his brother and helped his mother to get up. She could barely stand.
"He's not a stranger?"
This time Yun nodded. Yun also took Akira's mother's hand, helping her walk.
"I'll explain everything later but for now, we need to leave."
From narrow alleys, they managed to get out of the Slum. Yun's plan was to first get away from there as far as possible and hide somewhere no one can find them. But the question was, "where? Twenty-four hours against an SS-rank tracker….. what was I thinking?".
Just as he was thinking, a bus came. Yun immediately stopped the bus and got on with Akira and his family. "I think luck is on my side…" he let out a breath of relief.
The bus was empty, with no other passengers than them. They gently placed Akira's mother on the last seat that was big enough for one person to sleep on. The other thing to do was traveling without any money. But Yun had already planned that, so he went to the driver.
"Uncle, what is the last stop?"
"Sin Yin Village, 150 kilometres away from here," the middle-aged driver said.
This was perfect. The further away it was, the better. Throughout the journey, Akira and his brother sat near their mother, resting while Yun was talking sweetly to the driver, talking about the driver's life, his wife, children, etc.
Yun also checked on Akira's mother every few minutes, adjusting the makeshift pillow under her head.
After three hours, the bus finally stopped at Sin Yin Village at night.
"Uncle, about the mon—" Yun was about to finish when the driver stopped him.
"C'mon, you're not expecting me to take money from you. You're just like my son and besides, there are rarely any passengers by this route. This was the first time I talked about my life. My heart feels light now," the driver patted Yun's head and gave a kind smile.
"That's really kind of you, uncle."
As the bus rolled away, Yun's heart was racing. Four hours had already passed, leaving the next twenty hours remaining.
But now they were in an unknown place... and Akira's mother had stopped breathing.