William was breathing heavily as he remained on his knees, watching the raging bull turn its horns toward him, its full yellow eyes boring into his very core.

The air around the beast felt heavy. Each step it took pressed down on his senses, like standing too close to a collapsing wall.

William gritted his teeth. He had never expected a second Devil to appear.

His ribs throbbed sharply, and several shallow wounds had split open across his body, warm blood soaking into his clothes.

*SSSS*

Steam hissed from the bull's gaping nostrils as it scraped the ground with a front hoof, stone grinding into powder beneath its weight.

William forced himself to his feet, every muscle tightening in anticipation.

The bull huffed once, then charged.

Its movement was fast and violent, the floor trembling as the massive body surged forward, skull lowered and aimed straight at William's chest.

William bent his knees, preparing to leap—

**MGHUOOOOOO**

The roar crashed into him.

<Intimidation> activated.

It felt as though invisible chains slammed into his limbs. His breath hitched, joints locking in place as pressure crushed down on his chest. His body refused to respond.

William's eyes widened as the monster closed in, horns filling his vision.

Snarling, he poured everything he had into his mind. Two massive translucent hands formed in front of him, their shapes rough but dense, braced just in time.

**DHAK**

The collision detonated the air.

A shockwave burst outward as the bull smashed into the mental barrier. William's feet skidded across the ground, heels carving lines into stone as his ribs screamed in protest.

He clenched his teeth and pushed back, refusing to yield. Slowly, painfully, sensation crept back into his legs.

Then he saw movement in the darkness.

The wolf.

It was charging straight at him, its form a blur of muscle and killing intent.

His legs were still sluggish, his balance unstable. There was no time to dodge. No space to think.

William made his choice.

"Sorry, Emma."

**BOOOOOOM**

A second-long Droplet detonated at his feet.

The explosion tore the ground apart. The bull was blasted sideways, its charge broken as it staggered back through the debris. At the same time, the force ripped William from the spot, flinging his rigid body through the air like a broken kite.

The wolf halted mid-charge as a thick cloud of dust and shattered stone swallowed the battlefield.

William tumbled through the smoke, vision spinning, pain flaring deep within his chest as the cost of his decision caught up to him.

A little hurt was better than instant collapse.

William breathed roughly as he stood his ground. His shirt hung in tatters, blood slid down his temple, and the world trembled faintly at the edges of his vision.

The bull and the wolf stood apart, forming a crude pincer.

The bull was simple. Furious. It only knew how to charge.

The wolf was different. It stayed back, eyes sharp, waiting for the moment the bull forced William into a mistake. It wanted the kill clean.

The blond one smiled.

This battle was nothing like that day—when Nana had been trapped by a Devil, Emma was being targeted by it and he could do nothing. No strength. No answer. Only helplessness as people he loved suffered right in front of him.

Compared to that…

This was manageable.

He could hurt them. He knew it. The only things holding him back were the broken terrain and the knowledge of what waited beyond this floor.

But to reach the next one, he had to cross this.

And if he fell here—

"Would anything else matter?" William called out, the grin on his lips widening.

"Fuck the self-control."

Nyx already saturated the air, thick with the presence of two Devils. A little more leaking from him wouldn't even be noticed.

He raised both arms and clenched his fists.

Power surged.

Telekinetic constructs wrapped around his forearms, swelling outward as dense, brutal shapes. Giant gauntlets formed from compressed force, humming faintly as Nyx bled into them.

THUMP

THUMP

The bull charged again.

Its fury rolled forward like a wave, hooves smashing into stone as it thundered straight at William.

The blond extended a mental thread toward the beast. It was far too massive to stop, far too heavy to divert—

But it didn't need to stop it.

The thread latched on like stretched rubber, not resisting the bull's charge but anchoring William to it.

The world snapped forward.

"Woah! What is he doing?!"

"Charging straight at the bull?!"

Two Academy staff, watching from their hidden vantage point, gasped as William shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.

The distance collapsed in an instant.

The bull swung its head, horns carving through the air, ready to obliterate him—

At the last moment, William brought his hands together and drove them down.

DOOOOOM

The impact was mind-wobbling.

The bull's head slammed into the ground as if dragged there by an unseen hand. Stone shattered outward as its momentum vanished in an instant. Its massive body slid forward, fury bleeding away, before coming to a dead halt.

William landed silently behind it.

He exhaled hard and turned.

The bull twitched on the ground, low moans rumbling from its throat, its charge completely broken.

William huffed as he removed his eyes from the fallen monster before he jumped high.

His hand raised his, palm straight before he slashed it horizontally—**SQUELCH**

The attack sliced through the thick skin of the monster, severing its head and that was it.

The boss monster of the second floor was defeated.

William landed back on the ground and turned towards the wolf standing on the side, clearly wary now.

William chuckled, the nyx still pulsating around him; thin and controlled.

His gauntlets were pumped with power, ready to charge anytime.

Just then, the wolf raised its head and—

**AUUUUUUU**

It howled, and this time, that howl wasn't aimed to attack William.

It was a call.

A call for reinforcement.

Soon, several blue radiant eyes appeared in the shadows, surroundings William

The blond one chuckled as he muttered, "A pride being like you need the support of small fries, eh?" With his gaze turning mocking, he added, "I like that…the fear in your eyes…I like that."

The monster glowered but it wasn't a fool to charge at him recklessly.

But well, now that William had gotten the support of his other side, not like any strategy was going to work against him.

Cracking his neck, he got ready to end this.

°°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Nyx is also a part of him. He just refrain from using it because of the fear of getting sensed, otherwise he had attained a good control over it.

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