The heat clawed down my throat with every breath, thick with smoke and the taste of iron. Each inhale burned, but the pain only pushed me harder. I blinked, and in the next heartbeat, I was beside a man grinning through the blaze, his sword gleaming with reflected fire. That smile was cracked, desperate, the kind born from minds already broken. It made me wonder what had shattered him… what had shattered all of them.

His blade cut the air a fraction too slow. I slipped past and drove my scalpel into his neck, feeling the resistance give way like paper. Hot blood sprayed across my arm, vanishing into the smoke before it hit the ground. His eyes stared back at me, pupils wide, glassy, and empty; like someone had carved the soul out of him and left only the body behind. No wonder they felt no fear.

Only a fool does not fear death. And fools like these are always the ones who kill the fastest.

"Beelzebub!" I shouted, lunging at the next man just as a sharp gust carried an arrow past me. It grazed my thigh, tearing through fabric and skin, the sting blooming like fire. I didn't slow down. The little hamster sank his teeth into my attacker's arm, tendons snapping beneath his bite, forcing the man off balance. I slipped behind him with {Shadow Step}, my scalpel carving a red arc across his throat. He fell without a sound, blood spreading over the dirt like spilled ink.

Beelzebub darted away, wings beating in frantic bursts, already closing in on another target. I moved to follow, but in that moment, my heart dropped. Three arrows screamed through the smoke, their vibrations humming against my ears. I threw myself low, and they collided above me, the impact snapping the air apart. The precision of it sent a chill up my spine. Whoever guided them wasn't human.

"Kill her!" they roared in perfect unison, voices twisting together until it sounded like one throat commanding many bodies. The sound crawled under my skin. So that's what this was... a puppet master. I'd read about their kind; those who wove control into minds like threads of poison. A treacherous gift that once toppled kingdoms. Demon blood flowed in those veins, and I could feel its scent now, burning through the smoke.

The ground split under my feet as I launched forward, targeting the man at my one o'clock. Beelzebub was already on him, his fangs buried deep, the man's veins pulsing black under the curse. The attacker staggered, every swing weaker than the last, and I ended him with a clean strike.

Five remained. Their silhouettes flickered through the haze, blades drawn, moving as one. Good. Another minute, and I will find Elir—

I gasped as something sharp tore into my ankle, the pain jolting through me and forcing me to stumble. The world tilted, the flames around me blurring into streaks of orange and black. My body reacted on instinct, regeneration flaring to life, but when I saw the arrow buried deep in my flesh, dread hit harder than pain. The shaft trembled with every heartbeat, a reminder that I was still alive, barely. I wasn't walking out of this easily.

"Fuck!" The word ripped from my throat, half rage, half despair. Something in me snapped, erasing what was left of my humanity. The air itself tasted like iron. My teeth dug into my tongue until I felt the copper flood my mouth. My fangs pressed against my lips as hunger rose. I needed flesh, blood, anything to kill the weakness that held me down. If being human meant this pain, then I refused to stay human.

I gripped the shaft and pulled. The sound was wet, sickening, the arrowhead grinding against bone. The agony was blinding, but I wrenched the arrow free, leaving a raw wound gushing dark red. At least now, my body could heal.

Steam rose from the wound as the regeneration burned through the pain, sinew crawling to seal itself. The smell of my own blood mingled with smoke, sweet and metallic. Blood loss blurred my vision, the world swaying at the edges. My fingertips split open, leaking crimson that shimmered unnaturally before hardening into blades. Four more scalpels formed from my blood, sharp and trembling with life. They vibrated in my grasp, alive, humming to be thrown. I clutched them tight and hurled them forward before the next arrows could reach me.

The sound of impact filled the air, five bodies dropping as five arrows struck my flesh in return. The heat of the arrows pierced through me, but I only smiled, blood dripping from my lips like laughter.

I collapsed, wrapped in fire, the heat licking at my skin as the world tilted sideways. Through the haze, I saw fragments of the deep blue sky, almost peaceful against the chaos below. Beelzebub's faint squeals reached me, the sound of tiny fangs tearing through flesh. He was feeding, desperate to heal me, devouring every corpse within reach.

I wondered if it was too late; too late for me, too late to save Elira. My only friend in this world.

Why? Why me? I never asked for this fate. I never asked to become the enemy of humanity. I never…

My thoughts scattered as the darkness crept in, swallowing sound, breath, and warmth alike. The fire dimmed to embers in my fading vision.

I don't know how much time passed before I heard a soft, enchanting laugh, echoing through the void of my mind. It slipped through the silence like a melody made of silk and blood.

"Beatrice, my dear… don't sleep yet. Not until you can come back to me. You are stronger than this. You are of royal blood, remember? Remember who you are. Remember why you are a monster. Remember why they all fear you."

Dadumpts… Boom… Dadumpts…

My heart stuttered, then pounded again, heavy and violent.

I gasped, my veins alight with something burning, powerful, divine. What is this feeling... this surge clawing its way through my chest?

That voice… it could only be Lyssandra.

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