The thoughts about his own death made Silver furious. "You… danged creature!" He quickly formed and threw new lances at the demonic priest, and this time they pierced him since the demon was hardly paying any attention to surroundings.

The sudden pain forced him to release the grip, backing down, and taking the lances out demon's first priority. Silver gained time to catch a breath and making some distance between them.

He frowned, analyzing the behavior of his enemy. "It is just like a wild animal. It isn't thinking it only acts upon instinct," he mumbled to himself. That was good if not, he would be in big trouble. 'I have to finish this now!'

He concentrated all his energy in one ball. Shadow got rid of the last lance, not minding his body was turned into a pin cushion. However, it seemed Shadow had a fast and strong healing ability. It was something the young psychic hadn't come across in his whole career. 'I have to kill it in one strike!'

The demon sniffed and turned toward the exorcist. In Silver's hands was a small sparkling ball. The demonic priest roared, and his toe claws dug into the ground. The web of cracks spread meters away, disrupting the inscription that was slowly losing its power.

"Begone!" Silver shouted, firing the ball. The ball itself was small, but it was packed with pure condensed energy. The three-eyed demon roared and slashed the orb with his claws. The energy inside was shattered, exploding upon coming in contact with the demon. The psychic knelt, creating a pulsing shield, protecting himself from the shock wave.

The air shook, and many cracks appeared on the walls. It almost seemed the explosion could create a cave in, but Silver made sure to not be so careless. However, he was sure the people on the surface could experience very light earthquake if they noticed it at all.

Silver's amber eyes were focusing in front of himself. The ball was strong enough to rip any demon into shreds and spread the leftovers meters away. The echo of the explosion prevented him from hearing a thing, and the clouds of dust completely hidden the area around him. However, he was still sure he had got the demon this time as there was no movement even after ten seconds.

He lowered his shield, slowly standing up. "I have got—Ugh!" His body was suddenly pinned to the wall. The psychic's vision got blurry as he hit his head. On top of it, he saw flashing objects for a brief moment, and that didn't help him at all. He squinted his eyes, baring his teeth as the demon was in front of him.

Shadow was like the tallest of the mountains that came at him like the roughest of waves. He was an incarnation of the toughest of terrors and the darkest days of the mankind in one.

The young hedgehog felt shivers to run through his whole body, but he refused to give in. He gnawed on his lip to release his frustration. Silver grabbed the demonic arm with his psionic power, pushing it slightly back. He was tired, but his determined to fight back was stronger.

Unfortunately, his aura started to decay under the demon's pressure. 'Is his power so strong it makes mine rot?' he thought angrily, realizing he might have no chance of winning. He pushed those thoughts back, focusing on the problem at the hand, or more precisely, around his neck. He succeeded in pushing the claws back a bit, but the main body didn't budge.

'How powerful is he!' He screamed in his mind as the claws got closer despite his best effort to push them back.

As the hardheaded psychic was experiencing his toughest fight, Gold the Tenrec suddenly woke up from her slumber. Her body jerked, almost robbing her of air, leaving her for a few seconds gasping. Her nightgown was soaked in sweat.

"S… Silver!" she loudly called him, feeling darkness was approaching her partner. She spurted from the room, stumbling over her own feet. She burst into Silver's bedroom, quickly glancing over the place. Nobody was there. "No… No… Where is he?"

Her body started to shook once she entered a panic state, she had problems to keep her composure. "I have to… find him!" She turned on her heel, rushing to the door, throwing over shoulders her all the time favorite cape and dashed out.

]Silver![ she called him in her mind, but he hadn't answered. 'Don't tell me he is…' She bit her lip as she was running through streets, looking at all sides. If she knew how reckless Silver was in the last minutes, she would probably kill him on the spot… unless the demon wouldn't get ahead of her.

Her partner Silver felt the calling inside of his head, but he was too far from her to hear the words clearly. Not to mention, he was pouring his whole concentration into keeping his neck intact. 'How can I die here?' The young demon exterminator pushed harder. However, he felt the demon hadn't used all of his power yet.

Shadow's eyes shined, and his claws become covered by thin layer of green flames. The claws cut through the shield like it was butter, finally getting a firm grasp over Silver's neck.

The young psychic was taken aback, and his body was pushed deeper into the wall. He gasped for air, but he felt his lungs had a hard time to inhale. He looked into Shadow's burning eyes as his body was lifted.

The demonic priest slowly tightened his grip, robbing the struggling psychic of air. The silver hedgehog got desperate, and he kicked him in the head, but it was no use. He knew he was wasting his energy, however, his brain couldn't concentrate, making his psionic powers useless. 'D-Dang...' the young agent cursed in his mind.

Shadow prepared his other arm. Its claws were engulfed by green flames, and there was no doubt where the priest wanted to strike. Silver wriggled in his grasp, feeling his consciousness was slipping away.

The room was filled with a bellow, and the psychic's body suddenly fell on the cold ground. Silver hit his head, but he ignored the pain as his lungs were hungrily gulping the air. He lifted his amber eyes, seeing it wasn't the demon's mercy, but a shinning ball was repulsing the demonic priest.

'Is that... that cross?' he asked in his mind, recognizing its shape.

The cross was floating in the air, emitting pulsing rays. Silver didn't think that light was powerful, but it managed to force Shadow to back up until he hit the wall.

The demon was constantly loudly growling, slashing light with his claws. However, all of his attempts only caused him pain, and his skin started to burn as smoke was emitting from his whole body. Shadow rolled to escape it, but the cross followed him. The demon kept running away, entering one of the four corridors leading out.

Silver wobbly stood up, chasing after him at incredibly slow pace. He heard the demon's roar was fading. "I can't… let it run away." He was holding his side all the time, using the wall to support himself. When he reached the exit, Shadow was long gone. "Mmmm…" he muffled, before letting out his own roar. He crashed his tightened fist into the wall, making it bleed a bit.

Somewhere else, another figure was running for its life, and it was Eclipse. Just a few seconds ago he thought he had escaped, but at the same moment, somebody appeared right behind him. A fear overcame his body, and he was unable to move. His skin, despite the lack of fur, bristled as he felt an arm reaching for him.

With the purest desperation, he slashed that arm with his tail and made the longest jump he had ever done. His claws dug into the clay roof tiles, leaving deep marks before he dashed forward. He heard that person behind him, but he was too terrified to even glance back.

His small heart was pumping like crazy. The blood was rushing into the farthest corners of his body, but such intense flow couldn't last for long. His breath got gradually shorter, and his limbs felt like they were made of lead. The adrenaline gave him enough power to run forward, however, he wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings, and he tumbled on one roof.

He shrieked as he rolled down, crash landing in the middle of a street. The air gushed out from lungs, leaving him gasping, but what more, he lost the momentum the only thing that protected him. Stars were dancing in front of him, and he reached forward in futile attempt to escape. When he was lifted, he weakly shouted in a hoarse voice: "No, let me go! Spare me!"

"What's up with you, pipsqueak!" barked a deep woman voice.

Eclipse stopped moving, and his eyes shot open. He knew that voice. He turned his head, not believing his eyes. "Crestia-sis?" he mumbled as it wasn't Shadow as he feared.

"Who did you expect?" she asked annoyed. "Geez, man up." She tossed him on the stone tiled ground, and he landed on a rear end.

Eclipse rubbed his butt and backed down a bit. He was a bit scared of his older sister, and it wasn't just because she was at least half head taller. Her skin had a lot smaller amount of black scales, but the red ones were crimson and darker.

Her body was bulkier, sporting more muscular form. The pair of ram horns was her pride and a strong mean of defense and offense. The mace-like tail was another of her strong weapons. There was hardly any material that could withstand the impact.

Unlike most demons, who had just a few thick quills, she had a lot of straight ones. Her claws as well weren't for decoration, and her favorite pass-time activity was poking little Eclipse with them. At least that was what she was doing a lot in the past.

At first glance, she seemed to be collected, but in reality, her temper had short fuse, very short one in case of taunting. However, whoever tried that never did it again for either learning to fear her or almost biting the dust under her mighty fists. Her short temper often overtook her on the battlefields too, turning her into a deadly enemy.

While Eclipse was scared of her too, he was happy he met her and not the priest. He let out a loud and long sigh. He could also feel his heart calmed down a bit.

"What's with you?" she barked, and he jerked. "Did you saw a monster or something?" she asked in a mocking tone.

If her younger brother had ears, he would flop them now. He silently answered, "I did."

Crestia winked and leaned a bit down, not sure what she had just heard. "Come again?" She put her hands on the sides, raising her eyebrow, or more likely that muscle above right eye as there was no fur or hair on her body.

How could a demon be afraid of a monster? They were the worst monsters after all. Crestia looked closer at him, and he tugged his head between shoulders. It took her only a few moments before she started to giggle. Soon enough Crestia had to hold her stomach as the burst of laughter shook with her whole body.

"Oh, pipsqueak," she called him by a nickname she gave him and patted his head in overly cute manner. "Did your own shadow startle you?" She squatted, but she was still an inch or two taller than him.

Eclipse silently growled. He hated how she called him, and he knew she was making fun of him. In the past years, there wasn't an opportunity she would pass. Despite her looking down on him, Eclipse respected her and hoped to one day obtain the strength of her level.

She smiled, showing her bear trap-like teeth, and said, "Don't worry, your big sis will take care of it." The demoness stood up, turned away and started to walk in a random direction.

Eclipse's body was once more covered by cold sweat. No matter how much he disliked how she treated him, he didn't want her to meet that priest. Without a second thought, he grabbed her arm, loudly whispering, "No, don't go!"

Crestia stopped. "Wha?" She had no problem to free herself, and the motion sent Eclipse on his butt once more. "Geez, you weakling!" Now she was starting to get angry at him. He was a demon, yet he acted like a mortal. They were at the top of food chain for dang sake! Her youngest brother was such a disgrace.

"He will kill you!" he hurriedly added, pleading her with his eyes not to go.

Crestia inhaled the air around her baby brother. At first, she thought he was just scared for some stupid reason. However, the terror in his eyes wasn't faked neither came from a trivial matter. She slightly smirked. 'Maybe he met some strong opponent,' she thought.

"I can take anyone!" She clenched her fist, tensing her muscles. There was no doubt she had great confidence regarding her strength. What more, it was a long time since she had met somebody worth of the challenge.

"Not this one," Eclipse insisted, and once more he grabbed her arm. His small body started to shake as he did his best to push the horrible memories away. "He is terrifying! He will kill you! He ripped my wing like nothing!" he cried, hoping to change his sister's mind.

A spark of intense anger appeared in her eyes, she grabbed her brother, turning him around. He yelped as he was still sore, and the sudden movement caused pain to be shot across his whole body.

Crestia eyed his shoulder blades, examining them and finally noticing subtle differences. Around the left one were scales of lighter shade and scars could be seen. There was no doubt his wing was ripped off, but it managed to grow back. That was weird, as no demon ever recovered his ripped limbs as far as she could remember. However, she wasn't a thinker, so she easily forgot about this detail.

The demoness' blood was boiling, anything concerning wings could piss her off to another level. The reason was simple, just like the way she was thinking, as she had none, she was wingless. Many demons used to ridicule her for it until she silenced them with her fists.

With a muted growl she released her brother and turned away. "Wait here," she cracked her joints, baring her teeth to the max. "Gotta break face." Her voice was lacking any emotion, meaning she was gradually letting her bloodlust take control of her mind. She was ready to start a massacre. However, she didn't make three steps when Eclipse hugged her from behind. She twisted around her waist to see his face.

"Please, don't go! I'm begging you!" he pleaded with crying face. Crestia was shocked, she never saw a demon with such deep fear in eyes, including the demons she had beaten. They were scared of her, but Eclipse was horrified. "I'll give you my gathered energy! Anything! Just leave this city with me!"

Another alarm sounded in her head. She couldn't believe her own ears. The negative energy was super important for demons, so offering it like this was unimaginable. 'Who could just…' In this rare moment, she started to think, trying to form a strategy that wasn't so straightforward like Beat-it-a-lot.

"That black priest is too scary!" Eclipse shouted, letting his tears fall down.

Crestia's body tensed up as her eyes fell on a closing figure.