Chapter 34
"I did it. I killed my second demon."
The thought made him smile.
The smile almost killed him.
Agony tore through his chest, sharp and unforgiving, as blood flooded his mouth. He coughed violently, crimson splattering the soaked ground. His body convulsed, every breath shallow and wrong.
I might actually die.
This was only his second demon hunt, and it had nearly ended his life.
The first hunt had been dangerous. Brutal. But this one was different. This demon was on another level. Its brutality was refined, deliberate, nothing like the feral monster from before. Gazel had come prepared. Extremely prepared.
And it still almost killed him.
He lay motionless for a long time, rain-soaked and broken, staring at nothing. Eventually, strength returned. Barely. Weak, thin, but enough.
He began to crawl.
