With a vicious swing powered by urgency and rage, Tetsuda severed the head of the Avaritia that had stumbled into the space. The head bounced a few feet before rolling up against a pile of burnt wood. Blood spewed from the neck in a pillar, only for the rest of the body to fall to its knees in a pool.

Panting, Tetsuda wiped Erectus clean. For the past hour, he'd been tearing his way through the Suiyanic palace, now a mountain of rubble and ruin from all the cannonfire. On his run through the capital, Tetsuda had found one of Tyrannus's vambraces—albeit stained and rusted from blood—not far from here, and a trail of semen that could only have been Tyrannus's had followed. He'd know it anywhere—he could smell Tyrannus on the trail.

While two battalions of Ira battled—a few might have been masturbating on corpses—in the front yard, Tetsuda had snuck in through a hole that had just barely accommodated him. The place was crawling with soldiers both Naiyanic and Suiyanic, but at this point, Tetsuda didn't care who he slaughtered. He had to get to Tyrannus, and quick. He was strong, undoubtedly, but…against Tairo…

Wiping his mouth, he surveyed the area. He'd squeezed through a tiny corridor until he'd reached this cavern—most likely an antechamber in its past life—on his way to the throne room. The space was little bigger than a standard bedroom, the ceiling of which was just barely tall enough to accommodate his head. Before him stood nothing but massive chunks of the former walls.

"Fuck," he hissed. "Fuck, why? Why?!"

His eyes burning, he dropped his weapon and beat the surface of the boulder with his bare fists. The skin on his knuckles broke, only to heal, then break again in a cycle so common among incubi. He'd received so many injuries, but all of them had healed already. The only one that reminded him he'd fought at all was the pounding in his head.

And the worry gnawing in his chest.

Part of him wondered why he was even bothering. He'd just get in the way, wouldn't he? Both of them were so powerful, but aside from somewhat strong hypnosis abilities, what did he have to contribute to a fight against Tairo? He'd just be a burden…

No, he couldn't think like that! He needed to find Tyrannus!

A few pebbles rustled behind him, and Tetsuda snapped his head around. His eyes narrowed, and his fists tightened to whiten his knuckles.

The moment he saw a leg come though the hole, Tetsuda leapt forward and punched with as much force as he had. His hand fisted in the shirt of the new arrival while he used the other to beat the demon to a hopeful death.

"Tetsuda," said a strangled voice. "Tetsuda, stop! It's me! Hirokan!"

Tetsuda stiffened his arm, and he blinked a few times. Beneath him lay the ginger demon he'd known in the human realm, his face still pristine despite the beating.

"What are you doing here?" he said.

"I could ask the same of you. Get off of me and I'll tell you."

He did as instructed, retrieving Erectus along the way.

"I came looking for you," Hirokan replied.

"For me? Why?"

"I know it sounds odd, but I need asylum, and you're my best chance of getting it."

"Hirokan, this isn't—"

"Please, Tetsuda, I'll do anything! Just let me come with you!"

"Anything?"

"Yes, anything!"

"Break down this wall."

He blinked. "What?"

"Break it down, Hirokan!"

Though his visage held gentle hesitance, Hirokan placed his hands upon the wall. With a flex of his fingers, Hirokan loosed a pulse of blue light that cracked the stone in multiple places.

"Punch it," he said.

Without hesitation, Tetsuda struck the wall, and it crumbled to pieces in an instant.

"Let me take—"

Tetsuda abandoned Hirokan and ran out into what used to be the throne room, only for his steps to slow. Littered on the floor were bodies—no, they couldn't even be called bodies. They were parts of bodies, yes, but none of them were together. Armored torsos, hands still holding weapons, heads with faces petrified in fear—all of this, coupled with a floor full of dried blood and other bodily fluids. Behind the throne lay a massive window of stained glass, in which a giant hole lay.

"Damn it," he muttered. "Where are you...Tyrannus, where the fuck are you?!"

"That's what I was going to tell you," said Hirokan, placing his hand on Tetsuda's shoulder. "In exchange for a promise of asylum, I'll take you to Tairo. I managed to escape him in the first stages of the attack—he was going to make a few of us familiars to use for protection, but after the first cannonballs flew, we fled. Or, at least, I think we all fled…anyway, I know where Tyrannus is."

Tetsuda placed his hands on Hirokan's shoulders, his grip almost tight enough to break the skin. "Take me to him," he said. "Now."