A piercing sound dashed through the sky above Leon when he stopped a few meters away from his Triarch.

"How I wish we hadn’t even come here in the first place." He slammed his boots on a raised stone, shattering it completely.

He looked at the shattered stone for a moment before lifting his gaze to the path ahead.

A howling sound echoed from his front when he moved past three collapsed pillars that had claws strapped on them.

"Something is here," he said low, feeling something follow his footsteps.

He turned once — nothing was there. Twice, yet he could still feel it, as if whatever it was was mimicking his movements.

Just as Leon neglected it and moved two steps forward, a sharp object flew across the side of his left ear.

He sidestepped and watched the dart pierce through the air and slam the ground.

"Hahaha." Voices and clapping sounds echoed from behind him so loud it caused his eardrums to bleed.

"Show yourself," Leon said in a loud voice, changing his stance into a boxing style.

Dust exploded to his left, followed by another metal dart slicing through the air. Leon saw it and moved a step back.

The dart sunk into the ground. Joon appeared from within the swirling dust.

"Leon, Leon, Leon." Soft footsteps touched the ground as he slowly removed the mask from his face. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

The tension in Leon’s spine loosened. He stopped moving and focused on the masked soldier. "What do you want again? Since you’ve already gotten what you wanted, D.D. Demon!"

"Oh, so you’ve known it’s me all along." Demon paused, then laughed. "That’s nice. Exactly as I wanted you to."

He pulled off the mask and cracked his neck. "So you know why I’m here, right?"

Leon didn’t answer. He simply smirked, then shook his head.

"Oh, before you say a word, have you heard about your mother’s current condition?" Demon placed a hand on his heaving chest. "It’s better you won’t even know she died at the hospital." He said it cunningly, then hurled the mask toward Leon.

A bone-crackling sound echoed around Leon as he clenched his right fist. *Mom can’t be dead, I know it for sure.*

"I’m sure she’s now staring at you from the abyss of hell saying, ’Oh my child, why did you leave? Hahaha!"

Before Leon could blink, Demon used the Shadow of Star God move and appeared before him, as if time was his own.

Leon loosened his fist, turned, and walked, neglecting Demon behind. "You don’t deserve to fight me."

"Really?" Demon’s head snapped back as he folded his hands to his chest. "Hahaha. You, you the Dusthollow Rat?"

He dashed forward to slam a fist at the back of Leon’s head, but Leon turned. The calm movement sent Demon crashing into a jagged stone pillar, breaking it entirely.

*How did he do that?* He straightened himself. *Let’s see if he can dodge this also.*

Demon dashed forward to kick Leon in the stomach, but Leon jumped over the kick and his leg found another stone pillar, shattering it. Shattered stone dust flew across Demon’s face as he snarled.

Leon turned and looked at him. "I said you don’t need to fight me, Demon. Go home."

Demon drove a fist toward Leon’s shoulder. Leon rocked half a step forward and kept walking.

A lower kick landed on Leon’s ribs. He exhaled through his nose without changing his stance.

"Stop walking away from me and fight like a man." Demon screamed as the realization settled — Leon didn’t care how many punches he received.

He leaped into the air and landed the heels of his boots at the back of Leon’s knee. The impact made Leon’s leg dip, yet he straightened it and continued forward.

*Why won’t he listen?* Leon kept going without looking back.

Demon used the Shadow of the Star God technique, appeared in front of Leon, and slammed his fist against his chest. The impact sent Leon stumbling two steps back.

Leon moved a step forward. Demon grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him aside. Leon looked at the hand, then at Demon’s face, and shook his head. "Are you done?"

"You think I won’t kill you?" Demon’s chest heaved continuously. "I will end you right now."

Leon slapped his arms off and moved sideways. "You’re just wasting your time and energy."

Nearing the Triarch, Leon heard Demon dash forward. He grabbed Leon by the collar and dragged him like he was trash waiting to be discarded.

"You remember your mother, right, Li Mei." Demon’s voice dropped low as he squeezed hard on Leon’s neck. "She screamed your name when we went for her at Bastion hospital."

Leon didn’t flinch. He looked at Demon as if Demon didn’t know what he was doing.

"And your sister, Lily." Demon smiled and grinned. "She cried, screaming your name too."

Leon’s face reddened with pain. He took in a deep breath and looked straight into Demon’s eyes. "Fine."

A bone-crackling sound echoed around him as his right arm clenched into a fist. As it moved upward, the stone pillar Demon had pressed Leon against began to vibrate.

Demon saw Leon’s brown eyes changing. His mouth opened wide, but no words came out.

Leon’s fingers closed in around Demon’s neck like chains wrapping rubber. Without effort, Demon’s grip on Leon’s collar loosened as Leon raised him from his feet and hung him in the air, choking.

"I gave you many chances to stop, or maybe save yourself, but you didn’t listen." Leon increased his grip on the neck.

The world began whirling in Demon’s eyes until it stopped into complete blackness when the bones in his neck snapped.

His body went numb while his heart rate slowly dropped to near zero. Thick veins appeared on his face, neck, and arms as his skin lost its color and turned pale.

"Mindless and useless being." Leon loosened his grip.

The body wobbled as it slid on the ground like a dead snake.

Leon watched it for a moment before dragging it into the Triarch. He flew the craft toward the Heart of Tartarus and landed without a sound.

Dust slowly whirled around the ramp as Leon descended, dragging Demon’s body.

"Is that Leon?" Eun-woo pushed himself off the floor, brushed the dust off his face, then squeezed his eyes.

His face went pale when Leon stopped and hurled the body before them like giving hungry monsters meat. "Is this the Joon you believed in earlier?"