Actually, Beelzebub appeared. He just didn't notice.

It appeared as a small sphere, golf ball-sized, shaped like a dark flame with a purple core. Barely perceptible cracks of lighter violet threaded through it, marks that would probably intensify as it matured.

However, it wasn't just Beelzebub's size that made him miss it. He'd expected to feel heat radiating from it but felt nothing. The dark flame seemed incapable of burning him.

Still, Beelzebub was too small to launch effectively. And with Spineless engaged, he couldn't be sure it wouldn't burn his clone to ash too, given that the creatures transferred damage to whatever they imitated.

"I have to be careful. Wait, I can fuse it with Magnus."

He immediately sheathed his daggers.

He hesitated, though.

Magnus was durable, supposedly able to cut through anything. But Beelzebub could reportedly incinerate anything to ash. He couldn't risk losing Magnus.

But after careful consideration, he decided to use it anyway. He believed in Magnus.

With Magnus bonded to him, he could control the flame as if it were part of his body, pushing it to coat the dagger tips. Not even partial blade coverage, just the sharp points. Beelzebub's limited quantity restricted it to that. But it was enough.

A wicked grin played on his lips, watching the Beelzebub flutter with hellish intent, yet gentle as the winter breeze. It gave him all the reassurance he needed. He was growing.

He immediately commanded Spineless to get out of the way. The giant moved without question.

He was going to test what Beelzebub could really do, mainly because it wasn't his camouflage that the creatures were imitating.

The last time he'd faced himself, it hadn't been pleasant. But if Beelzebub killed Spineless in the process, he'd just have to apologize to Iris at her grave.

"…"

He charged headfirst at the creature.

Narrowly avoiding an attack that made the earth rumble, he struck at its limb with the dagger's tip, where Beelzebub burned brightest. He tore relentlessly through the vines before retreating immediately.

He watched the creature imitate an agonizing scream. The cut appeared on Spineless still, but unlike the clone, Beelzebub burned through the creature's vines. The small wound was gradually being corrupted by the flame.

"Ha! It's about time! I can fight back now!"

Halo charged at the creatures once more.

The slightest cut was all Beelzebub needed, corrupting and turning everything in its path to ash, spreading from the point of contact.

But with Spineless still taking damage, Halo refused to inflict deeper wounds.

Their size was their biggest strength, but against the Shadow of Death, it was their greatest vulnerability. Halo toyed with them like a game of hide and seek.

The creatures' strikes were lethal; even a single connection could break a rib or two. But having been trapped here without knowing his left from his right, Halo found some kind of closure in dancing with death.

Maybe he was simply intoxicated by his new ability, Beelzebub, or perhaps he feared dying in the forest before anyone could find him.

Still, after several minutes of fighting that left both creatures covered in innumerable micro-lacerations, the two weak imitations of Spineless crumbled to ash.

Halo panted heavily, expecting the customary warmth from consuming a Sin Fragment, but none materialized.

Confusion flickered before understanding dawned.

Just as no one received a Sin Fragment for killing his clones, he'd gotten nothing from these kills. The real Sinner must be hiding somewhere.

He thought back to the tree that had created a duplicate of him when he first came to the forest.

He sneered.

"That bastard. It's time it pays for its sins."

The tree itself wasn't his main concern, though he'd burn it to ash regardless. What he wanted was the vines that had shaped themselves into him and had attacked him. They must pay.

He instructed Spineless to remain in the shadows. But before he could seek his revenge, his hunger demanded attention.

One's corpse was still whole. It didn't reek or decay, and while he wasn't sure about edibility, the creature looked like some kind of humanoid fish with odd features.

"Roast it and it'll taste like fish. Haa… been a while since the forest was my home."

He couldn't taste anyway, so the flavor didn't matter much to him, though it didn't hurt to think about it.

He dragged the corpse to a warm area and hid it.

Before long, he was already en route for revenge, bounding from root to root while dodging the vine traps that had caught him previously.

However, it didn't work.

Just near the tree he sought, at the exact spot where he'd been captured previously. One second he faced the tree, the next, he was upside down, legs trapped. He tried summoning his blades instinctively, but his hands were bound before he could react.

"Wait, did it learn from its mistakes? What?!"

The last time, Halo had managed to free himself due to the vines' careless binding, but now they clearly had no intention of making the same mistake. His body was suspended, hands and legs bound separately.

Halo admitted in a heartbeat that he was beaten this time.

After a while, struggling only intensified the pain. His injuries from the previous capture hadn't fully healed, but now the vines tightened further, making his predicament worse.

He invoked Beelzebub, trying to corrupt the vines even minimally, but his restraints complicated things. With his hands bound together, he needed to channel Beelzebub in an untested way, especially difficult since he'd only discovered this application hours ago. Manifesting Beelzebub through his skin was proving nearly impossible.

Soon enough, something cracked. His hand was dislocated once more. The situation felt bitterly ironic as the hunter became prey.

In that desperate moment, he considered his options. Summoning Tough would only give the tree another form to copy. Instead, he called Spineless again.

As soon as the clone took form, it tore through the restraints, grabbed Halo, and fled. Even the clone knew running was their best chance.

But this wasn't how Halo wanted it to end.

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