SACRED FIRE

Blood spurted as the bones shattered in Nesses' grip. Thick red liquid dripped from between the demon's fingers onto the floor. Nesses sneered, then callously tossed Mrs. Guasch's lifeless body aside.

Kieran, witnessing the horrific scene before him, could only stare in disbelief. "No..." he whispered.

Trembling, Kieran crawled over to Mrs. Guasch's body and wiped the blood from the old woman's cheek. 

"Please, Mrs. Guasch. Please wake up."

"She's dead," Nesses commented.

"Mrs. Guasch is innocent. Why did you have to kill her?" Kieran asked, his eyes full of anger directed at Nesses. "Your actions are like those of an animal."

"No," Nesses shook her head, "humans are the ones whose actions exceed those of animals."

Nesses glanced at Malron, who was still busy fighting other demons that continued to attack. If the female demon stayed there too long, her troops could be wiped out. Without wasting much time, Nesses wrapped a whip around Kieran's neck and turned to leave.

Kieran struggled against the stranglehold, unable to break free. Even breathing was extremely difficult.

Malron was too busy fighting off the onslaught of demons to pay attention. In the moments he struggled to free himself, Kieran noticed a demon surrounded by his own kind. Kieran was confused, what was happening? And where was Malron, why was he gone? He wondered silently.

"Lord Malron!!!" Kieran howled.

Malron realized that Kieran was in danger and tried to break through the barricade of demons. But even Malron found it difficult to move.

"Kieran! Fight!! Fight her!!" Malron's voice echoed through the alley.

Kieran's body floated and then crashed into Nesses' grip. Kieran tried to turn around when he heard someone calling his name.

Nesses chuckled. "Don't look away," the female demon pulled Kieran's face back to look at her, "from me."

"Why?" Kieran replied, his voice choking.

"You belong to my master. I must return you to him so that my mission in this world will be complete," Nesses replied. The female demon shrugged. "Once my task is done, my master here... will be my slave for eternity, in my world."

But Kieran didn't react at all. His eyes stared sadly into Nesses' dark red eyes, and gradually Kieran began to lose consciousness. Nesses grinned, it seemed that Kieran was beginning to succumb to her power.

"Want to be mine, Kieran?" Nesses whispered seductively.

Kieran's eyes were blank, he reacted to nothing.

"Kieraan!! You moron!!! Wake up, you bastard!!" Malron was truly frustrated.

"He's mine!" Nesses shouted triumphantly.

When Nesses looked back at Kieran, something happened. Kieran's vacant gaze grew darker. His eyeballs turned pitch black, surprising Nesses because it wasn't supposed to happen.

Nesses dropped Kieran's body to the tiles, sensing danger. The female demon stepped back, watching Kieran warily.

"What kind of creature is he?" Nesses hissed.

Kieran stood up, staggering. His hands swayed downward and Kieran jerked his head. There was a rather loud crunch as Kieran looked sharply at Nesses.

Then a grin appeared on Kieran's face. "Lower being," he said, in an entirely different tone.

Nesses whipped out her whip to attack, but her blow was easily blocked by Kieran. Kieran's fingers immediately grabbed Nesses' whip, which promptly went up in flames.

"SHIT!" Nesses dropped her whip.

"No one can touch me," Kieran said.

"I'll finish you right now! Alive or dead!" Nesses shouted angrily.

The female demon advanced, claws ready to tear. Her movements were incredibly fast, not even visible to the naked human eye. However, there was a strangled sound and Nesses' neck was already in Kieran's grip.

"This is my body, mine. Do not ever interfere with me," Kieran tilted his head and stared at Nesses coldly. "Do you understand?"

"Let me go. Yes, I won't bother you again," Nesses pleaded.

"Fine, I'll let you go."

Nesses just stared at Kieran and whimpered in a trembling voice, "You're very kind. A good boy."

Suddenly, the trident Malron was using disappeared from his hand for a moment. Malron was startled and felt his energy drain away, causing him to fall to the ground. Malron's body returned to its human form.

All the demons there were distracted by both a great dark energy and a holy aura emanating from Kieran's direction.

Malron's trident appeared in Kieran's other hand, and the deep black trident began to radiate a golden color. The dark and golden auras merged, emitting a tremendously powerful energy.

"Go... to hell!" Kieran shouted.

Kieran thrust the trident directly into Nesses' eye, causing the female demon to howl in pain. Nesses, one of the 13 strongest demons, couldn't fight Kieran and suffered a crushing defeat.

Nesses' body burned in flames and then turned to ash.

All the demons who witnessed this were frozen in place. No human had ever done such a thing since they came to this world. Who knows what kind of being Kieran is. His body radiated both demonic and angelic powers, both incredibly strong.

Kieran turned his body around, then thrust the trident at the group of demons not far from where he stood. "Sacred Fire!"

Light and fire rolled at the tip of the trident before spreading in all directions, quickly attacking the demons who had no time to escape. All of the demons were instantly incinerated, reduced to ashes within minutes. There were no more demons around Malron; only Malron and Kieran remained.

Even the human figures in the alley were roasted to death.

The trident disappeared from Kieran's grasp and the young man's body fell back to the ground, unconscious. Malron still stood there, unable to believe what he saw. Malron rushed over to Kieran and opened the young man's eyelids, which returned to normal.

"What the hell," Malron muttered.

But Malron wasted no time in leaving. The demon sensed another danger approaching and decided it was best to hide immediately. 

Malron scooped up Kieran's body and placed it against his back. Then Malron jumped onto the building, and as he started to run, he stopped. The demon's eyes inadvertently caught sight of Mrs. Guasch's body lying in a pool of blood.

Malron bowed his head, feeling a tingle of sadness seeing the old woman.

"Rest in peace, Mrs. Guasch," Malron whispered softly.