Unvieling a disgusting smile (II)

"Stay here!" Kiyro hissed. He grabbed the broken metal pipe and ran forward. Even though he saw one of his members killing people made, Kiyros's blood boiled. This was not what he signed up for, nor was he a murderer. But, even if it was a selfish thought, he knew what to do.

With a flick of his sword, the man with the sword ran forward, honing into the next target. Kiyro clashed against the enemy, stopping the person in front of him. The metal sparked, and the sound loudly rattled against one another.

"Why are you doing this?! Don't you know this is murder?!" Kiyro shouted with anger. "How could you do such heinous crimes over a Devil Quest?! This is wrong!"

The voice coming out from the mask was low and husky. "Someone so weak-minded couldn't ever understand."

Kiyro could not tell who it was behind the mask. They were almost the same height, except the opponents were slightly taller. Only a few people that he knew were taller than him. They were Russ, Cain, Alex, Will, and Stork. But, of course, he will be with them, so he was out of the question.

He believed that Alex was not the type of person to go around killing people; he was their friend. However, Russ, Cain, and Stork were different stories. He knew nothing about them, and the chance of Russ possibly being a suspect was high. His selfish attitude in sacrificing his group was what many people knew in the game, but taking a further step in killing someone was a difficult line to cross. The question was, was Russ willing enough to cross the path of no return?

Kiyro dodged out of harm's way from the oncoming sword and swung with all he had. What

Kiyro did not expect at all was the inhumane body movement that completely blocked Kiyros's attack. With a solid clang, he could feel the bone-shaking contact momentum, making him stumble backward.

Cutting through the air, a high whistle-like sound could be heard of the blade aiming toward Kiyros head. He ducked just enough time to not get his head sliced off. With a kick off the ground, Kiyro bulldozed forward with his metal pipe in hand. With a swing, he missed and hit the side of the streetlight instead, sending a stunning shock throughout his whole arm.

The man kicked him with his boot, causing Kiyro to stumble backward. Then, he raised his sword, ready to strike down at Kiyro, who was on the ground.

"No!" Eve dashed forward and slammed into the man.

The man faltered and fell backward. He stumbled forward and turned around. Pulling back his sword over his shoulder and hurling it through the air. With a frightening speed, the sword fell from the sky and pierced a woman through the back, causing her to stumble forward and die.

He then saw something that ultimately took him off guard; an apparition of the dead woman floated outwards from its dead body and hovered over her body like an evil ghost. What happened next startled him; the apparition was suddenly pulled into the air like a streak of green light, heading towards an unknown source under the black Dragon hovering up in the sky.

Death Count: 20

Devil Quest: Free the Black Dragon into the Realm of the Living has been completed.

The special reward has been sent to your inbox. In three hours, the present will disappear if not opened. All Devil's Quest data has been completely erased. Infamy has risen by 1500.

Kiyro rolled over and kicked the man from behind; the man dove forward into a roll to cushion his blow. He then got up and ran away. He disappeared into the darkness in seconds, leaving Eve and Kiyro behind.

"Kiyro!" Eve shouted. "Look behind you!"

"What-a-at?" Kiyro stares in disbelief.

The black dragon apparition flying overhead was getting stronger by the second till, finally, the last human kill made it possible for the Dragon to start to manifest itself into reality.

The world around them started to distort and change. The ground turned into a familiar scene he did not expect to see. It was the dungeon inside the Pyramid of Light, the last boss room, warping everything around them. From murky to the dark atmosphere to the foul-smelling air, even the oppressive atmosphere was apparent everywhere, getting stronger and stronger.

Dark, humanoid Anubis-like shadows appeared from the shadows and surrounded all around the Black Dragon. Each Anubis shadow had ghastly green eyes that stared toward them with hunger. Then, they started sling forward with a staggering waver, making their way towards Kiyro and the others.

"What the hell. What the hell? What the hell!" Tonia was yelling in fear. The shadows started to speed towards them with open claws. Then, with a vicious slash, they jumped and surrounded Tonia in seconds.

Tonia screamed in horror as she put up her hands in fear. Large cuts formed on Tonia's body, and blood splattered outwards from her open skin.

"Tonia!" Daulton yelled. He rushed up with a wooden bat in hand. He swung at the shadows in the hope of keeping them off. But, unfortunately, his bat slipped through the shadow as if they were air; instead, nothing happened.

Instead, they turned around on Daulton, scratching him across his chest. "Augh!" He stumbled backward in pain. "Back off!" With a growl, this time, he willed his pyrokinesis to activate and cause the fire to burst forth from his wooden bat.

With a sickening thud, the dark shadows were burnt to a crisp, disappearing into the smoke. Daulton stared at his inflamed bat in complete disbelief.

"Daulton, behind you!" Tonia snapped him out just in the nick of time before another shadow creature could smack him from the back.

Kiyro ran over to the dead lady and pulled out the sword. He felt sick pulling out the sword but needed a better weapon. The metal pipe that he held hand in hand was bent up in many pieces. He silently prayed to the lady, hoping she would ascend to a better place.

With the sword in hand, he ran forward. He let his ten years of ninjutsu training kick in, allowing him to maneuver his sword with pinpoint accuracy. His sword cut through the shadow but came out without harming the shadow in any way.

Kiyro was confused. How was it that Daulton was able to blast through the shadow of Anubis without a single hitch? He jumped backward just before the shadow cut through his left arm. A burning sensation ripped through his arms, causing him to freeze up. His hands were numbed with pain from the sudden attack. He could not move his hand at all.

"Kiyro!" With a metal pipe in hand, Will jumped forward and bashed the shadow into the ground. The shadow turned into smoke and disappeared into thin air.

"How?" Kiyro was shocked that both of his friends were easily dispatching the shadows as if they were nothing.

"Did you forget all your training?!" Will was busy pushing back the shadows from overwhelming them. "Come on, Kiyro! Will your energy form and coat your sword!"

"Ah."

"Don't ah me!" Will slammed the metal pipe into the side of a shadow and, in seconds, caused it to disappear into smoke.

An interruption of his Alive gear started to flicker on and off.

Angel Quest: Invasion of the Evil Black Dragon

Stop the Black Dragon from taking full form and possessing a body. Destroy the source of power: the Emerald Gem. Since ancient times, the black dragons have lived in Gehenna for thousands of years. They are masters of necromancy and dark arts. Coming upon a black dragon is considered an ill omen, especially of a younger race of dragons. They are considered more hot-tempered than the elder race of Black Dragons that have lived for millions of years. It is best to send them back as quickly as possible, for the damage to the physical realm could be astronomical.

Level: A

Reward: Angel's Good luck for a week.

Failure: Possible Possession of your body.

"Another one?!" Eve stated in disbelief. She, on the other hand, was busy punching her way through. The timid girl was gone, and instead, a warrior took her place. "I mean, what's with today? From Devil's Quest and now to Angel's Quest? Is this even possible?"

"Quit yapping and keep smacking women!" Daulton shouted in between each swing. He aggressively moved forward, mowing down shadows that seemed to encroach upon them with vigor.

Eve snapped back. "I am! Can't you see I was making an important statement?"

"We don't have time for it!" Daulton was trying his best to push the shadows back. Will, Eve, Kiyro, Tonia, and Daulton formed a tight circle with each other's backs.

Kiyro moved a step forward and swung downwards, his glowing sword coated with his energy cut through the shadow in half. If Kiyro could explain the situation, it felt like a zombie apocalypse from the swarms of shadow creatures that seemed to come out from the ground, stumbling towards them.

"Our priority has changed. We get to the Emerald of the Black Dragon and destroy it. This should give us a fighting chance!" Kiyro slashed in an arch, getting rid of the shadow around him.

"Easier said than done. Come on; they're going to keep coming and coming. That abomination is a monster!" Tonia yelled with a heavy breath. They were starting to lose stamina from the onslaught of shadows that they could not make out.

"The question is, where is the Emerald?" Daulton swung his flaming club side-to-side, keeping the shadows back.

"I remember seeing something fly under the black Dragon from the last death. I'm sure it's there," said Kiyro as he slashed through the shadow on his right and then moved to his left. He was not going to back down and get possessed by some creature, especially an evil black dragon. The thought of having something crawling in his body made him shiver.