Chapter 4: Killing Worlds

"Wait, there's something strange..."

"You'll only need to twist yourself upside-down to turn your aura like mine."

One runs behind the car. One controls the minds of the drivers. Like clockwork.

"Here, let me show you..."

The man in the shotgun seat blinked and it solidified. The driver remained eyes on the road unaware.

"Of course, you might not be able to return to the Overworld, if you accept this knowledge…"

No one suspected the passing glimmer in the trees.

I shook my head no. There must be another way.

"Wh-What's that?!"

A sharpened stick works just as well as a spear or a fork.

"What, you meet a bear in the woods or someth—"

Don't let them think.

One uses the other's strength to boost up to twice the speed possible.

Don't let them believe anything other than what you want them to.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Humans are so much more straightforward than angels.

"What's with you guys? Did you attract too much attention?"

The other creates the thudding footsteps unmistakable as an incoming predator.

"Speed up!"

Humans fear the unknown so much more than anything else. So easy to exploit.

A sharp turn leaves a long trail of dust. Zero visibility. Zero information of the predator.

Time to end this game. Demon, go.

"It-It's coming!" "Cut it out already!"

Speed up. Speed up. Speed up. But it's useless. "Die."

"No good, it's here!"

Crunch. Crunch.

Boom.

"Now are the both of you going to cooperate or are you going to die?"

"...Oi. What happened?"

I said nothing. Simply holding the line up when there were so many different wavelengths to process and block out was a challenge in it of itself.

The Demon stared down the driver and passenger. He did not react when the hostages both pleaded silently with me to release them. I stared at them, both of them. One had a wife waiting back home and another had a child. I stared at The Demon. His cold glare and menacing aura around both of the captives seemed to paralyze them into submission. He held their lives in his hands just by standing on the car to balance out their weight. If I could just convince their boss to send a rescue team to them. If I could just speak...

"Don't," he warned as I lifted the receiver to my mouth. "We have to make sure that their master is listening before we ask. We do not have the right to talk, after all." A silent jab at my own position.

Sounds of a beating were heard from the line. I almost gasped aloud as I realized what was being done.

"Hey, if you don't answer me right now," an angry voice demanded, "I swear I'll kill you mongrels!"

The demon motioned for the receiver and without cutting the signal, I handed it to him. "Hello," he acknowledged. "I represent the Phantomhive estate.

"Would my master happen to be there?"

A small wind blew as silence reigned supreme among us four.

Two were frozen in terror, not knowing if The Demon that had tracked them down by simply running up to their car would kill them or not.

One was pausing for dramatic effect.

And one was unable to speak.

I stared upon the cruel, cruel demon that held the lives of two others on a whim. A smirk rose to his lips, but not to his voice as he spoke into the receiver.

"Hello? What's the matter? Hello?"

I gazed at the mere mortals who we, the ones who were supposedly above their level, tortured. How were we better than they were? Weren't we supposed to set examples for how they should act? Or at least not interfere with their affairs as much as possible? Why this senseless violence? To what gain was it in scaring and hurting them so? And why was I helping this monster?

"Very good my lord," The Demon decided, not without a pensive yet amused smile tugging at his lips. "I'll be there to pick you up momentarily."

I do not like this person.

"Thank you for letting me use your telephone," he thanked with a kindly smile, obviously belying his murderous intent. I immediately cut the connection and felt a rush of my power come back to me. Polluted air was much harder to transmit messages to and from than I had initially expected.

A small trickle of water came out one eye, but I quickly wiped it. "By the way, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you," The Demon added. "First, who is your master?"

The two just stared at me as if I held all the answers, so I shot them a pleading look to dispel their hopes. As I saw the light break apart within their eyes, a part of me broke as well. I should save them. I could save them. I would save them...

"I'm not a very patient man," The Demon menacingly articulated.

...if I had not known that I would be shredded in an instant.

I thought to place a hand upon his shoulder, but decided against it. I should at least show my loyalty thus far before finding a more suitable candidate for a Master. "You don't want to turn into Humpty Dumpties, do you?" My wings ruffled at the threat. Surely, he wouldn't…?

Finally, one of the captives burst out, "He's Azzurro Vanel of the Ferro family! He has a hideout in the northern East End!"

"Ah...Aaaahhh..." I managed to protest to The Demon standing up. That did not count as speaking. He wasn't seriously going to…

He grinned at me with a smile that doubtlessly was supposed to melt my heart. Instead, it chilled it to the bone and had I not known that he would have dodged and killed me, I would have thrown his cutlery back towards him to pierce both his eyes and his wretched heart.

"Please, have mercy! We only work for him!"

I ran up towards the car, but he stopped me with a Look. "Oh, I see," he stated casually. "I'm sorry to have stopped you. Please, be on your way."

And with that, both unique human beings probably from incredibly difficult circumstances dropped to their deaths and left their loved ones without a source of income.

I dropped to my knees. Never, never have I seen this kind of injustice. Wasn't this the sort of thing that I was supposed to be preventing? When had this all gone wrong? He never said that we would have to kill them…

"Young Mistress," The demon informed with an amused smirk and neutral tone. "Meaningless deaths occur many times a day. It will not be your duty to save them."

I stared after the burning flames rising from where the two human beings were being burnt alive from the combustion of their car. I cried for their lost lives.

"Lesson Number One: Choose which worlds you destroy."