SIX

And They Kill

Raia stirred. A terrible ache attacked her head. She tried to straighten up although her back failed her.

"What happened?" she heard herself say.

They were still in the room where Eva's painting was displayed. It was empty except for her and the young man who sat beside her, glaring at his mother's portrait and seemed to be trying to pull himself together.

"Hey demon boy," Raia said again. "What happened?"

Dante glanced at her.

Was he angry?

"We've been attacked. You were knocked out."

"And?"

He didn't answer.

"That shadow earlier," Raia tried again. "Was it . . . ?"

Dante looked away.

"Are you okay?"

He snorted. "Yeah. I feel perfect right now. Do you?"

Raia forced herself to straighten up once more. She tried to touch his arm, but he swung away, standing up on his feet.

"What's wrong with you?"

Dante shrugged. "Oh, none. Nothing's wrong with me. Maybe you've got something wrong with you."

"Of course I have. My back's aching like hell." She pushed herself up, her knees wobbling. She leaned against the wall for support, finally getting back up on her feet, however feebly.

The young man sneered at her. "Oh yeah? You're hurt?"

Raia scoffed. Her eyes narrowing at him, she hissed, "What the hell, Dante? What's the big deal with you? What did exactly happen? I am injured here—"

Dante was suddenly laughing out loud even though there was nothing funny at all. Raia shuddered. He sounded scary. "You tell me, princess. Where are your injuries?"

The girl stared, confused.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice, Hwang," Dante hissed, stepping closer to her. "Don't fuck around. Who are you?"

"Dante—"

He grabbed her wrist tight, so tight Raia winced as if he had slapped her. She wanted to snatch her hand back, but she was too weak to do so. She looked up at his eyes, and if before they were so pretty to look at, now she realized how frightening they could be.

"Your injuries are gone, Hwang," Dante snapped. "I saw your shoulder. I had to check the left too. I saw you changing bandages yesterday. How is that possible? Who are you—"

"Let—let me go!" Raia backed away. She almost lost her balance, but with the wall behind her she was able to settle herself. "I-I don't know what you're talking about—"

"Don't fuck with me!" Dante bellowed. "Who are you? Are you—are you a demon or something—?"

"I am not a demon!" Raia shouted back. "Look, we do not have any time for this—"

"Unfortunately for you, I have a lot of time for this," Dante snarled. "You could be an enemy, you could kill me anytime you want, or you could've been possessed for all I know—"

"I am not possessed, I'm not an enemy, and I'm not planning to kill you!" Raia yelled, feeling a lump rise in her throat. She stood there, watching him, afraid of what he would do to her. He had been nothing but nice to her when they were finally getting along, and now—now—

How careless has she become? For three years, The Enlightenment never knew, never suspected—even Arwin—

No. There was one who knew. Him.

Raia wanted to strangle herself. Of all people, these two were the ones who saw what she was capable of—

She retreated a few steps away from him. She felt so exposed. She never felt so vulnerable.

Dante took three deep breaths. He closed his eyes and put his face into his hands.

"Hwang," he began, voice straining. He looked up at her and his gaze gradually softened, but a great hesitation was still there. "I don't want to hurt you. If you're telling me the truth, just please. Tell me who you are. I'm serious—I don't want to hurt you."

She bit her lip. She slowly shook her head, turning down on the floor.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what to tell you. I swear, I don't know what to tell you—"

"What is it you can't tell me? This? Your power or something? Do they even know about this? Dave? Arwin? Andrew?"

"No," Raia shook her head again. "No, none of them know, they don't have to—"

"They don't have to know that they can't trust you? Because that is how I see it, Hwang—I can't trust you—"

"God, I promise I'm not planning to hurt any of you, any of them! The Enlightenment—they are my family—you have no idea how this is going with me—"

"And that is the problem! I have no fucking idea who, or what, or whatever it is you're planning to do! We're fucking stuck in Limbo and Arwin's goddamned corpse attacked us and now I found out that your fucking wounds heal like mine do! Now I don't know what to do, I don't know if I could trust you! Then I hear that the group does not even know who you really are! What the fuck do you expect me to do, Hwang? Pray it out? Let it out on faith? Hell, I'm not doing that. Hell, I gotta know what I'm dealing with—"

"And I am here telling you that I am not going to hurt any of you! It doesn't matter if you can't trust me—but you have to believe me when I say I am not an enemy—"

Dante gave her a glare so intense she found herself shutting up. He was partly angry, partly confused, but mostly he seemed—afraid—of what he would do to her had she lied.

He cleared his throat.

"Hwang." His eyes searched hers. They were so bright, like a fire that can never be extinguished. "Please. Who are you?"

Raia was shaking uncontrollably. The threat of her identity was great, so great—it was too much for her to handle. There was nowhere to run, there was no way she could pretend.

"Whatever I say . . . you have to believe me. This is too complicated and I myself am having a hard time figuring it all out."

Dante's eyebrows contracted. "What do you mean?"

Raia heaved a deep sigh.

"I don't who I am. I don't know what I am. I could be a demon, I could be an angel. I could be Nephilim too; either way, I don't know. I'm on a major identity crisis and there isn't anyone I could talk to. There are very few people I trust but I can't tell them anything. Something just keeps holding me back."

Dante stared at her. He opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it. He thought for seconds before saying, "What keeps you from saying something? And if you really can't tell someone, why not look into it?"

The girl shrugged. "I did, a million times already. None of them even gave me a hint. I don't know what stops me although I get the feeling I'll regret it if I told someone."

"Can't you remember anything, like, glimpses? Don't you get dreams about your past? When I was still suffering amnesia, I always hear a voice in my dreams. My mom. I always hear her but I never saw her face."

Raia shook her head. "None. Ever. And it scares me. I've tried those stuff Lucia's been making, those that could help with dreams and memories. She doesn't know I've been taking them, though, so it drove her furious every time one of her 'potions' went missing. Still, none ever helped me remember." She frowned. She took another deep breath, adding carefully, "But . . . there's this one thing that's been bugging me for a very long time now. I've been called this name twice although no one really explained to me what it means."

Dante glowered. "And this name is . . . ?"

"Years before joining The Enlightenment I fought this demon, a greater one. He was a businessman and was involved with human trafficking. I was one of his victims. One of his associates took interest in me and bought me." She glanced at Dante whose eyes widened in shock.

"That's fucked up."

"Don't worry. He never got to do what he wanted to do with me. I didn't let him. I killed him before he could tie me up in his bed chamber.

"I went after the demon. I wanted him to pay and I wanted the other victims to be free. When we fought, I kind of went berserk. I almost lost it and it was the very first time I knew I had powers. Real, offensive powers. Before, all I ever noticed about myself was that I was a damn good fighter and my wounds always heal quickly. But then I faced that demon and all I could think was I'm not human at all. And when he saw what I could do, he kept repeating the words, 'It's you. The warrior.' He said it like it was such a big deal. I also got to fight another demon, a politician. This time, I was already with The Enlightenment. Arwin and the others were knocked out, almost dying, and I went berserk again. He muttered the same thing as he died. 'You're the Warrior.'"

"You have no idea what's this shit about the Warrior?" Dante asked.

"None."

"And you never asked anyone about this?"

"Never. I'm scared of asking someone. I've been thinking that maybe Lucia knows something since the clan where she came from is hundreds of years old and their history is unique, but very, very few demons know about this Warrior. All the other greater demons I've hunted down know nothing of her; I won't be surprised if Lucia had not heard of her."

"What about Andrew? He was friends with my parents. My dad was Mundus's right-hand man and brother, he could've told Andrew anything. He trusted him."

Raia hesitated. "I don't know. There is something about him I can't explain. It's insane."

"Insane how?" Dante asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I . . . I feel like there are a lot of things he's hiding. I could just sense it. Don't get me wrong; I like Andrew a lot. He's a good man, a good leader. He's like a father to me. But . . . I don't trust him. He doesn't give off any bad vibe, but somehow, I just can't trust him. At least not now."

Dante gazed down at his feet, thinking. He wasn't answering, and the way his eyes darkened made Raia nervous. Would he believe her? Would he keep this secret from everyone?

"Do you believe me?" she asked. "I swear I'm not lying. I wouldn't hurt any of you guys."

He glanced back to her. He made it difficult for her to relax even though he was no longer yelling. His clear gaze looked so piercing she wondered how on earth he could not read minds.

"I'm having a hard time believing all this. There's a few stuff that still don't make sense to me. Hopefully it'll all come along and I sure hope as hell you're not lying. I don't know what I'd do."

Raia let out a soft laugh. "I'm hoping that I'm not an enemy. If I finally remember who I am, I hope I won't regret getting my memories back. Being part of the group has been like one of the best things that ever happened to me."

Dante sighed this time. He leaned beside her, still looking at her. She tried to return his gaze, making sure her sincerity showed there.

"I'll help you find out who you are," he said.

She stared at him. She had not expected this. "Will you . . . ?"

"Yeah. I've got to. Besides, you owe me that. I'm not gonna tell 'em anything. I'll keep your secret safe, act like this never happened. But between us, no. I'll always be bothered about it until I find out what your past was. I'm honestly losing it; I really thought you were bad news. I think I earned a right to know who you are. After keeping an eye on me for months and catching you red-handed."

"You don't know how to give up, do you?"

He shrugged. "No harm there."

The girl tried stretching although her spine protested. Cursing under her breath, she said, "Fair enough." She pulled away from the wall, adding, "We have to get moving, though. I know what I saw before I passed out. And if you're telling me that Arwin attacked both of us"—she cringed at her own words—"he should be . . . stopped."

Dante didn't say anything.

"Is he . . . is he really dead?" Her tone was hopeful. All Raia could remember was glimpsing Arwin's silhouette. The rest came out as a blur, then everything blacked out. She wanted to hear Dante say he could have mistook him for dead, but deep inside, she was not expecting much. Hoping, however . . . it was all she had.

The other didn't seem ready to tell her what she had to hear. He avoided her face, mumbling, "He's beaten like hell, Hwang. Appearances like that . . . I'm sorry. But he's gone."

Raia forced a smile, letting the pain set in. It wasn't compared to all the bone-breaking fighting and limb-chopping action she'd ever experienced. Arwin had meant the world to her. To witness him—his corpse—in a state like this . . . it was torture.

"Funny how finding a body had been the priority."

Dante held up his chin. "Life's nothing but a fucking prank. Keep that in mind."


Dave returned from the watch. He went around the courtyard and the garden five times consecutively before finally accepting that there was nothing else to see. He halted by the entrance and saw Lucia sitting on the floor, shaken. She was looking at the ward she had drawn which still glowed. She had not spoken much after exclaiming that it was Arwin who attacked her, so Dave resorted to inspecting the perimeter to make it clear that he was not missing anything more.

He sat across Lucia. She was twiddling with her knife.

"Have you tried contacting them yet?" Dave asked.

"I did," she muttered. "I tried every spell I could. None of them worked."

Dave laid down his shotgun on the floor, taking out a box of cigarettes. He offered it to Lucia who declined. He pulled a cigar and a lighter.

"Are you sure it was Arwin you saw, Lucy?" he said, sticking the cigar in between his teeth.

"Yes. I've known him for way too long a time to get second thoughts."

"So . . . you think he's possessed?" Dave pulled the cigarette and breathed out smoke.

Lucia stuck the knife on the floor. She folded up her knees and rested her chin there.

"If he is . . . Raia must kill him. If she can't, then the Nephilim boy has to."

Dave glanced down the ward as well. There was nothing more to say.

"I guess waiting's all we gotta do now. Hope they get here on time."


It was yet another room similar to the one that kept Eva's portrait. This time, the painting was of a man holding Dante's sword, Rebellion. He was wearing a red soldier's uniform and his face had been scratched on, making it impossible to glimpse his features.

"And I'll assume he is your dad," Raia said.

"Yeah. I don't remember us being much close though. Could've been. Hard to recall."

Dante halted and fired at small Critter demons scattering around his feet. They were huge, spider-like beings that only crawled at tight corners and spacious areas. They were completely harmless, although he hated every kind of monster he saw.

He replaced Ebony and Ivory in their holsters and turned to the girl who was still pale. She insisted on getting a move on and that she didn't need any assistance in walking. She had claimed that her back was getting better and it would only slow them down had he forced to help her. Now she was there, standing behind him, studying the painting, her breath still unsteady.

"You sure you don't need help?"

Raia gazed at him. "No. I'm fine, really."

"I . . . I'm not sure if I should apologize about earlier. But I have to."

She grimaced. "No, demon boy. Don't apologize. I don't deserve it."

"When would you tell me more about yourself?"

Dante must have imagined it, but for a moment he thought he saw the girl's cheeks flush.

"My amnesia thing still not enough?"

"A bit."

"Well, for now, there are no plans. Consider it told next time."

"Fine."

Raia resumed walking, gaining ahead of him. "Then we move. After this, there will be the corridors, right? The main hall, entryway . . . "

"Arwin," Dante finished for her.

The girl stopped short.

"Yeah. Him."

They exited the room, their pace getting quicker as they moved down the corridors. More Critters haunted the corners. Dante was forced to ignore them as the same dark energy made the hairs on the back of his neck stand. Raia beside him kept her head up high despite her feeble stature. They climbed down the staircase leading to the main hall, and there, they halted and remained rooted to their spots. The entryway loomed feet from them. They could only hope that Lucia has opened a gateway, for if she did, Raia wasn't sensing anything.

And there it was again. Swish. A shadow passed behind them.

Dante took Rebellion and readied himself. Raia looked sideways at him. She spread her fingers on either side of her, and in a flash of a dazzling silver light, twin sabers appeared in her slim hands. She stood still and waited.

The floor shook. The main hall expanded, stretching feet from them, in all directions—the walls of the house broke apart, revealing more of the sky outside, the courtyard and the garden floating up above them—

The entryway flew away, dividing into small sections, Dante realizing how hard it would be for them to get there—he also realized that if this was happening, then maybe Lucia did open a gateway—

The grand staircase crumbled, falling into the void below them; two large demons struck out and straightened from the floor, glowering at the two: both of them were Tyrant demons which were extremely difficult to put down—

And there, in the center of the room, Arwin Dunn landed, as if he was the one responsible for all this atrocity about them. Dante could see Raia wince at his side, although she did a stance, waiting for an attack.

Dante charged first while the two Tyrants ran for them; Dante dodged just in time as the one going for him jumped and landed with an enormous THUD! on the floor. He threw out his Ophion, the grappling hook biting tight on the exposed flesh of the Tyrant's back. The demon was dragged down, spread-eagled—Dante slammed the Arbiter which took form in his hands on its back, spurting out grime. It was not yet dead. As the Nephilim hit him, the demon suddenly stood up and punched him across the face—the punch was too hard Dante flew sideways and fell from the levitating hall—the void would have no end—

He quickly whipped out the Ophion for the second time: the snake's head stuck itself on the floor—he was pulled upward, safe on the ground again—

The Tyrant dashed at him, its bulky arms spreading wide, as if to give him a hug—

Dante jumped up, locking his legs on the demon's head. He almost slid and lost his balance; he grabbed Rebellion and stabbed the sword on the demon's flesh—there was a roar, although the Tyrant wasn't dying—it raised its hands and grabbed his legs. It threw him on the floor, his sword stuck on its back—

There was a loud scream. Raia was also thrown away by her opponent; she managed to roll and sit up, twisting herself off the floor as her Tyrant dived on where she had been.

"Dante, watch out!" she cried at him.

Dante had not realized he was watching; he found himself being crushed on his back as his Tyrant head-butted him on the ground. His back burned and ached. He pushed himself up on his elbows, every part of his body screaming. His spine wanted him to lie down a little bit longer, although upon seeing the demon getting ready for another dash, he forced himself on his feet.

The Tyrant was indeed at it again, and this time he was prepared: soon as the enemy was close enough, Dante tore himself out of the way, doing a small hairpin bend and reaching out for his weapon—hands clasping onto the hilt, he kicked out his foot, wrenching Rebellion while the demon growled out in pain.

"Fucking—dammit!"

The sword parted from the Tyrant's flesh. With another roar, it tripped and fell, its metallic limbs thumping on the floor. Dante didn't pause to wait now—he charged and dug his sword deeply into the demon's exposed flesh. Huge puffs of smoke exploded into the scene before the creature disappeared.

When Dante whipped around to check on how Raia was doing, he found her jabbing her sabers at her Tyrant's back. He went to her to help, although Arwin jumped before him, giving him a most deadly glare.

Dante clenched his jaws. He had to help the girl. She was obviously having a hard time fighting, what with her current condition. But he also had to get rid of Arwin now before he attacks Raia. She wouldn't be able to bring herself to put him down.

"Hey," Dante said. "Arwin? You in there?"

The boy's body jerked upright. He lunged forward; Dante blocked with his sword and aimed a hard kick at his stomach. Arwin flew aside but he regained his balance: he crouched, all his ten fingers digging into the floor to avoid sliding further away, his hands leaving a trail of blood. He sprang up to his feet and was already at Dante's back in the blink of an eye. He raised his hand to punch but Dante sidestepped and did an outward arc with the Rebellion that caught at his chest. As he did not seem to feel pain, the sword went through him, and he kept on until he was only a few centimeters away from the sword's hilt.

Dante steadied himself to avoid falling on his back. He dragged his weapon away from Arwin and kicked at him again, causing him to recoil. He later found his footing.

How on earth is this happening? Dante thought, panting. He was worried: with all the fighting hours ago, his exhaustion was already slowing him down. Arwin wasn't feeling any of that; he was dead. Beating him would be an extremely tedious thing to do.

He straightened up. He stared directly at the boy's red-pupiled eyes, studying them, thinking of some way to beat him and get this over with.

There was a flash of movement: Dante had raised his Rebellion just in time to receive Arwin's blow as his fist hit the blade full and Dante was skidding backwards, crouching slightly to prevent himself from dipping back on the floor. He slid his right foot behind his left, widening the distance to regain control, straining the muscles in his thighs and biceps altogether as Arwin kept pushing forward and he was being pushed continuously.

Dante gathered enough strength: He did a front slash that made the boy back away. He was the one to lunge forward this time, quickly thrusting his sword several times at Arwin who dodged here and there; Dante span and jumped off from the ground into the air, the Rebellion transforming into the Arbiter: he went down with the weapon's full weight, about to smash Arwin—

"NO!" Raia screamed at the top of her lungs. She had just finished killing her Tyrant demon.

The battle-axe went down with a loud, sickening thud on the floor.

Landing smoothly, Dante released Arbiter and it turned back to Rebellion once more, glaring at the body that should have lain in front of him.

But there was no body anymore.

Dante looked around to find Arwin just behind Raia.

"Hwang—"

The dead boy's arm wrapped around her neck, disabling her to breathe; Raia choked, struggling—she was forced to drop her sabers as Arwin drew her dagger from her belt and pointed it on her head.

"No—Arwin, no—it's me—you have to hear me—"

"I'll drop my sword!" Dante shouted desperately. His eyes stung due to the thick beads of sweat dripping down his face. Slowly, ever so slowly, he knelt on the floor, setting Rebellion at his feet. He stood back up, hands raised on his head.

"I don't fucking know if you can hear me. But you've got to release her. Okay?"

The boy responded with a lifeless stare.

"Dammit, Arwin," Dante hissed. "Let go of her. If there's any bit of your soul left there— That's your girlfriend! Was—but you loved her! Just let her go!"

Raia was turning blue. Her eyes were rolling back.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Dante was confused at what happened next: Arwin pushed Raia off him, the Nephilim ran to her to catch her. Arwin threw the dagger at them; because Raia had almost fallen on the floor, the weapon hit Dante's shoulder and he cursed painfully. The dead boy was upon them, carrying Raia's sabers—

"Argh!" Dante rolled onto his side and kicked; Arwin slashed at him, but Dante was quicker: he had left the girl on the floor and raised up his hands—

Blood spattered his face.

The blades dug in his hands as he continued to block. Arwin kept on lowering the weapon to him. Dante's knees were wobbling, his arms shaking violently, his hands would get chopped off him and fall away from him anytime soon—

A dagger ran through Arwin's face.

There was a gasp of shock. Arwin fell face-first on the floor, the sabers sliding out of his grip. When Dante glanced in front of him, he saw Raia quivering and tears were falling from her eyes.

"I—I—"

Dante felt dizzy. He almost doubled down; Raia held him steady, her arms finding their way around him. Arwin's body dissolved into smoke, the dagger landing with a tiny clang on the ground.

Raia kept shivering on him. Her sobs were muffled on his chest.

"Hwang," Dante whispered. His bloodied hands circled her waist. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

The girl did not hesitate now. She cried there in his arms. She cried there like a child who has lost her way and wanted to come back home.