The world on the line

Marcel grinned maniacally, leaning down till his mouth hovered by Hanz's ear.

"I told you, didn't I?" he whispered. "Try to get in my way and I would lay waste to you."

Hanz didn't reply. No comeback, no witty remark — he just stood there, frozen, trying to move but unable to. Marcel's grin widened.

"Oh, having problems moving?" he said, mock concern dripping from his voice. "I guess my Kantar is just that much stronger than yours now." His grin turned devious. "Now that I've absorbed the Kantar of several demons by devouring their hearts."

Hanz's eyes went wide.

"You what? That would mean—"

"That would mean I'm more demon than human?" Marcel finished for him. "Exactly."

His eyes flared green, and the gravity around Hanz spiked so violently he was slammed flat to the ground. Marcel crouched down to look him in the eye, smirking.

"Hybrids are such delicate creatures. During my time serving the Demon Kings, they were always careful how much demonic Kantar I was fed — calculated the ratio, matched it with human Kantar, just to make sure I never tipped fully demon or fully human."

Hanz gritted his teeth. His eyes darted toward Shu — already bundled up by soldiers. His inner demon hissed in his head:

Get up, you weakling. If they get Shu, they'll kill him to sever his link to the staff — or worse, experiment on him. He's too weak to defend himself. We have to GET UP!!

Dark Kantar oozed from Hanz's body, cloaking him in a pitch-black aura. His sclera turned blood red, his irises bright yellow. Marcel's excitement spiked at the sight.

"Your demon power — it's unique, just as I'd expect from my blood. Not stealing it would be a wa—"

Before he could finish, Hanz's dark Kantar combusted like a mini nuke, the blast hurling Marcel backward.

A gust of wind tore through the arena as Hanz dashed toward Shu, the heat rolling off his body igniting every soldier in the vicinity. He grabbed Shu and vanished.

Hannah watched it happen and smirked. Alright — that takes away one worry. Now I can go all out.

She circulated her Kantar at blistering speed, steam hissing off her skin. The soldiers closing in on her hesitated — all but one, who gritted his teeth and charged anyway.

Hannah grinned.

"Alright, Olethros. Let's do this." Her voice dropped, sharp and final. "Kantar Manifestation. Secret technique: Complete Wipeout."

A flash of purple light — and everything within a ten-meter radius of her turned to nothing.

Jax stared, stunned.

"Her mastery of Kantar control... it's unnatural."

He rushed to her side as she swayed on her feet, the attack having taken its toll — worse for having to selectively spare her allies within its range. He caught her, holding her up.

"Your ability to manipulate Kantar is still on the level of a celestial," he said.

Hannah laughed weakly. "Don't waste time with compliments. One of them escaped — went after Hanz and Shu." She looked down at herself, breath uneven. "This human body has made me weak. Much weaker than I was in my prime."

She pulled away from him.

"Go after them. I'm useless right now. Make sure they don't get to Shu."

Jax saw the seriousness in her eyes and understood the stakes without needing them spelled out — if the government got to Shu, it was over. He gritted his teeth and went.

Hanz had already left the werewolf village behind, a trail of dust rising in his wake as he tore across the desert. He didn't know where he was going — only that it had to be somewhere safe.

Shu, still dazed from how fast everything had happened, glanced at him. "Thanks for the save, Hanz. I owe you one." A beat. "Just one question — do you actually know where we're going?"

Relief washed over Hanz at the sound of Shu's voice. "Just shut up for a second. We're going somewhere safe."

His demon cackled in his skull. Oh please, even you don't believe that. Where could we possibly go that's out of Shun's reach? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him — the government will do whatever it takes to find us.

Before Hanz could shut it up, pain exploded through his side. He was thrown off course, losing his grip on Shu and tumbling into the sand.

Standing before him was a massive demon — cold blue scales, curved horns like a bull's, a long tail trailing behind it, its whole body lit faintly with green flame. It looked Shu over and scowled.

"So you're the supposed chosen one." A pause. "Not much of a sight to behold."

It turned toward Hanz.

Hanz staggered to his feet, recognition hitting him like a second blow.

"Marcel?"

He couldn't help but wonder — just how much demon essence had it taken to push his transformation this far?

Marcel's voice came out booming, layered, scraping like stone on stone.

"Bingo. Right again, brother." His smirk widened. "I'm sorry to end our family reunion so soon. But it's time to say goodbye."