"Bang!"
"Shatter!"
The sound of a blade shattering could be heard followed by a suppressed grunt.
Like the rest of the candidates, Aiden's blade shattered as a result of his collision with the demon.
The force of the collision threw his arms, flinging it back like a ragdoll, and dislocating a few bones in the process.
Aiden felt his insides churn as a disorientating feeling of dizziness overwhelmed him.
He staggered slightly, his movements inciting a feeling of pity from Mai and the rest of the group.
Soon after he fell on his knees, too shaken to even support his body weight, Aiden in his weakened state stood no chance against the demonic entity that stood before him.
He could see the demon's attack all too clearly, and to him, although it was fast, it wasn't that fast.
This was because of his heightened perception, although he could sense the demon's attack, he couldn't react.
Mai was injured, Kevin was unconscious, David was too weak, Ethan, Adrain, and Serena were powerless, and there was no one to help Aiden.
"Aiden watch out!" A voice yelled out trying to get to Aiden, it was Ethan, his eyes staring on helplessly as the demonic being raised its limb again.
The air was thick with a sense of helplessness as the smell of wet mud mixed with a tinge of iron wafted through one's nostrils.
Meanwhile, Adrain who hadn't participated in this one-sided battle so far hesitated.
At this moment the demon raised its other arm ready to smash the defenseless Aiden to bits, its movements repetitive but effective.
"Fuck it," Adrian thought as he activated his Contract. Rapidly his skin turned darkish much darker than it had been before.
"Roar!"
A loud inhuman roar left Adrian's mouth causing Serena and Ethan to back away.
Quickly the now possessed Adrian ran towards the demonic being without hesitation.
The demon, sensing Adrian's presence redraws its attention from Aiden.
Slightly, it changed the trajectory of its attack launching its fist at the human who was foolish enough to run towards it.
"Whoosh!"
Its attack tore through through the air leaving a lingering feeling of dread in its wake but something happened.
"Stop!"
A convincing female voice sounded out in the demon's consciousness causing it to forcefully halt its attack for a few seconds.
Fortunately, those few seconds were more than enough time for Adrian to save Aiden.
Unexpectedly Adrian did something completely different from what was expected.
Instead of helping Aiden or attacking the demon, he ran past it and towards the River.
"Splash!"
In the next moment, Adrain had plunged himself into River Luminara leaving the rest of the candidates to fend for themselves.
"Adrain you bastard!" Serena and Mai yelled out simultaneously while Ethan had a heavy frown on his face.
Possession Contracts all followed the same law, although Adrian didn't have control over how his demon acted when it was in control he did possess the ability to give the demon a task before he lost control.
That was the basis for all possession Contracts as without it contractors would just be running around chaotically anytime they got possessed by their demon.
Before he had lost control Adrian must have given the demon an order to escape into the river.
"Ahhhh!"
Serena suddenly screamed, and in the next moment, she clutched her head, violently closing her eyes as her face contorted.
Obviously, she was in pain, fortunately, after a few seconds her pain reduced drastically.
"Are we really going to die here?" Serena thought as her nose bleed.
The female voice that had sounded out in the demon's consciousness was Serena using her contract, unfortunately, the demon was too strong for Serena to handle as it quickly broke free from her influence.
The demon, unbothered by the sudden mental attack raised its fist at the still disorientated Aiden.
"Whoosh!"
It's fists flung downwards.
"Bang!"
Surprisingly its fists hit nothing but dry mud. The ground broke launching huge lumps of mud into the air; increasing the smell of dirt and iron.
Aiden had somehow evaded in the nick of time, the speed at which he moved could be described as inhuman.
Judging by the speed of the demon's attack Aiden should have never been able to dodge, unless.
"I'll keep this thing occupied, you guys head for the river!" Aiden's voice suddenly pierced through the air, his words dripping with venom.
"What's wrong with this man? One second he's dying and in the next he's pulling a stunt like this," Mai thought in shock.
Ethan and Serena were also surprised as they stared at Aiden with wide eyes.
Meanwhile, Aiden stood in front of the demonic entity staring at his fists as though they were some kind of artifact.
It didn't take a smartass to figure out that Aiden had recovered from his weakened state completely, and to thank for this abrupt recovery was the demon in front of him.
The force of its attack had heavily damaged the majority of Aiden's internal organs.
This created enough injuries for his soul energy to heal, and reduce to a degree that his current body could handle thereby freeing him from his weakened state.
Aiden circulated his soul energy, and a heavy sense of relief washed over him, he had finally recovered, and the feeling of sudden empowerment washed away his fear like a wave.
"Whoosh!"
He caught something from the corner of his eye, the demonic entity had raised its huge fists again, and in one smooth motion, it swung it down rapidly.
"Bang!"
The fist hit the mud as Aiden evaded yet again, his movements fluid and without delay.
"Wow!" David who stared from the distance couldn't help but gasp at the swiftness being displayed by Aiden, "he's even faster than he was at the tournament," David thought.
"David, pass me my bat will you," a voice suddenly cut through the air.
Hearing Aiden addressing him David quickly took off the weapons case on his back and rummaged through it, clumsily taking out a metal bat from the case.
Mai, her expression serious suddenly snatched the metal bat from David and threw it towards Aiden.
"Boom, Boom," meanwhile Aiden who was actively avoiding the demon's sledgehammer-like fists caught the bat without even looking at it.
"Whoosh!"
Aiden closed in quickly striking the demon's crab-like legs, "bam," the sound of a small thud could be heard, but the demon showed no reaction.
In a phantom-like manner, the demon raised one of its six legs, "swoosh," it struck down, but Aiden avoided it by leaning back slightly letting the limb hit the ground.
"Bam," he struck again at the same spot he hit before and this time the demon shook a bit seemingly feeling the pain.
Like this Aiden would move from side to side shuffling under the demon's six carb-like legs while dodging the same legs that pierced at him with alarming precision.
The more he dodged the faster its legs became, but Aiden wasn't playing either.
"Bang!"
He hit one of the demon's feet while burning a sizable portion of his soul energy and finally "crack," the sound of its bones cracking sounded out making Aiden smile in elation.
But then a heavy tingling sensation could be felt at the back of his neck causing him to look upwards while dodging.
Above him was the demon's main body, Aiden was currently under the demon so its feet covered him like a dome.
Above him were the joints that connected the demon to its limbs but there he noticed a slit that he was sure wasn't there before.
Aiden, his confusion evident narrowed his eyes, and as he comprehended what that slit was his eyes widened.
Quickly he rolled out of the encirclement of the demon's feet and just as he escaped "spurt," a huge lump of greenish mucus was shot to the ground letting out a sizzling sound as it made contact with the soil.
"Why the fuck would its mouth be in a place like that?" Aiden thought as he narrowed his eyes.
Meanwhile, David gasped, his eyes widening in dred.
"That's a new attack," Serena muttered as she stared at the demon.
Mai, her voice feeble, felt her arms trembling, subconsciously she found herself rooting for Aiden.
"Aiden, be careful," she tried to yell, but her voice only came out as a feeble whisper.
Right now the group had no time to comprehend the reason behind Aidne's increase in strength, the situation didn't allow it.
Ethan on the other hand seemed to be hiding something, his internal struggle manifested in furrowed brows, swiftly, his eyes darting between the ongoing battle and an undisclosed decision.
Meanwhile, Aiden's knuckles turned white as he swung the baseball bat closing in on the demon.
"Bam!"
A metallic thud echoed as the bat met the demon's monstrous form.
Aiden grunted, beads of sweat streaming down his face. The demon's skinned torso trembled again but that didn't quell unease settling in the pit of Aiden's stomach.
"Whoosh!"
The sound of the air tearing suddenly sounded out making Aiden's ears twitch, "it's too fast," he thought in shock.
"Pirce!"
Something pierced his shoulder earning a grunt from Aiden as he backed off, his eyes darting around looking for the source of the attack as his heartbeat quickened.
David who had a clearer view of the battle from his location yelled, "Aiden, it's those arms at its back, those fucking arms can launch spikes!"
At this revelation Aiden frowned heavily, the demon had four arms, two long arms about five meters long that served as sledgehammers, and another two arms about two meters long that protruded from its back.
"Swoosh!"
Another spike brushed past his arm drawing another stream of blood.
At the same time, Serena, frustration etched on her face, exclaimed, "Ethan, do something! You haven't used your Contract yet, you've got to have something up your sleeve, your energy power or whatever!"
Hearing Serena's shout Ethan hesitated, his eyes betraying the turmoil within. "It's not that simple, Serena. I... I need the right moment." He lied.
Meanwhile, David, powerless in the face of the demonic onslaught, muttered, "This is madness. We can't win."
Aiden grunted bearing the heavy pain on his shoulder, the projectile stuck in his wound prevented his healing ability from fully healing his wound.
With Aiden In front of it the demon had a much easier time using its sledgehammer-like fists to attack, but Aiden, despite his Injury dodged with relative ease, what he was really weary about was those dysfunctional arms at the demon's backside.
"Do you guys plan to wait here all day!" Aiden suddenly yelled he was buying time for them to escape, but all they did was stand there and watch.
At the sound of Aiden's voice, the group decided to leave, "what about Kevin?" Mai's voice suddenly sounded out.
Serena, her expression stern, declared, "We have to move, and we can't carry dead weight. Leave him."
Mai's eyes narrowed as her voice sounded out weakly, her calm appearance cracking ever so slightly, "No, we can't just abandon him!" She said.
Meanwhile, Ethan caught between morality and urgency, added, "Mai's right, but time is against us, we have to leave him, besides, he'll drown if we take him along, he can't swim in this state "
The decision was made, and the group, sans Kevin, ran towards the river.
The demon sensing movement turned its attention towards the ground of humans desperately running towards the river.
"Pay attention you fucker," Aiden yelled as he closed in on the demon yet again landing a solid hit on the demon's lower body.
"Bam!"
The sound of a thud could be heard as Aiden's hit connected.
Aiden focused on his struggle, grunted through gritted teeth, "Just a bit more time!" He thought as the group plunged into the river.
With that Aiden became entangled with the demon yet again, his eyes filled with determination as he navigated under its limbs.
"Pirce, pirce," the demon's legs pierced the ground at a speed that kept on increasing.
Sensing the sudden increase Aiden frowned, "it's getting faster," he thought.
Aiden was right, the demon was getting much faster than he could handle.
Under the encirclement of the demon's legs, Aiden dodged and dodged but the demon just kept getting faster.
Suddenly Aiden felt a tingling sensation at the nape of his neck and without hesitation, Aiden burned soul energy for an increase in speed leaving the encirclement in the nick of time.
In the next moment, the demon spat out a mouth full of mucus melting a good portion of the soil as a sizzling sound filled the air.
Before Aiden could react his perception went into overdrive, "boom," a sonic boom sounded out as the demon's arms slammed down.
"Bam!"
It hit nothing but dirt, as Aiden jumped out of the way.
Aiden paled, the speed of the earlier attack had exceeded what he could handle.
He only managed to avoid it by burning a large amount of his soul energy.
Right now Aiden had gone from being filled to the brim to almost running out of soul energy.
"I can't win," Aiden thought in dred.
Quickly he turned to run away trying to go around the demon and jump into the river like the rest of the group.
But as soon as he created some distance the demon raised its two dysfunctional arms revealing a few holes in each of its palms.
In the next moment "pu, pu," blurry white spikes were fired from its palms cutting through the air at an impressive speed.
"Tang, Tang," Aiden suddenly turned around deflecting these spikes in the nick of time. Because of his distance, his perception was able to warm him in time.
Unfortunately, Aiden had underestimated the force of the spikes, he staggered, desperately fighting against the overwhelming force of those bone spikes.
The dialogue became strained gasps and pained grunts, the urgency palpable.
Unknown to Aiden, someone opened his eyes amid the chaos.
It was Kevin, his eyes blurry as he looked around.
"Clang!"
The sound of a collision drew his attention as he watched Aiden struggle with the demon.
"Where's everyone?" Kevin thought, feeling briefly disoriented as he watched Aiden struggle, desperately staggering with each attempt to block the spikes.
"No, I have to save him," an irrational thought suddenly appeared in Kevin's mind as he ran towards Aiden, picking up the blade that Mai had disregarded earlier.
Aiden's perception had been focused on picking up the metal spikes, "Tang, Tang," he blocked a few more as he grunted.
Imagine his surprise when he saw a figure jump into the air stabbing at the demon's back with unwavering determination.
Aiden paled, "KEVIN NOOOO!" He yelled trying to stop Kevin who had long since activated his Contract, his arms turning rock hard as his strength increased.
But something happened those dysfunctional arms which were focused on shooting Aiden suddenly bent unnaturally like the demon had eyes at the back of its headless body.
Swiftly the demon's arms extended like they were made of elastic, and in the next moment, they caught a hold of Kevin who widened his eyes in shock.
"Wasn't the demon supposed to be weakened?" He thought as he felt those cold and unfeeling hands latch onto each of his arms with an abysmal grip.
He had thought that the reason Aiden was able to fight the demon was because the demon had been weakened somehow.
Kevin suddenly felt an overwhelming force, pull at each of his arms, the force increasing with each passing second.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
Kevin screamed as the force stretched out his bones ultimately dislocating them.
Amid his suffering Kevin opened his eyes, his orbs meeting Aiden's.
Kevin, in pain and agony suddenly stopped screaming, his eyes locking onto Aiden who stared on powerlessly, his face pale from exhaustion as tears leaked out from his eyes.
Seeing Aiden's tired expression, Kevin smiled at him.
In that moment Aiden couldn't hold back anymore, "K-Kevin," he called out weakly as tears flowed down his face.
"Ripppppp!"
The sound of shredding sounded out as Kevin was ripped in half, his organs exposed as his blood bathed the ground, his memory lost forever.
"Ahhh Fuck, Fuck!" Aiden yelled In confusion, his eyes not believing what he saw.
In that moment his morality compelled him to fight this lost battle and avenge his lost friend.
But his rationality prevailed in the end as Aiden quickly ran towards the river.
"Soul Storage!"
Aiden yelled in his mind and a white soul appeared on his hand, this was one of the human souls he had gotten back at the stadium.
Without delay, Aiden stuffed it in his mouth hoping to heal his injuries and recover his lost soul energy, at this moment Aiden had already jumped into the river.
Suddenly, "pirce," a spike pierced his back before he could be fully submerged, luckily Aiden had already jumped In.
"Plung!"
The sound of a splash could be heard. Meanwhile, the demon losing all its targets stood there for a while, after a few hours of standing in one place it moved.
Its two dysfunctional arms suddenly extended picking up Kevin's remains and stuffing it into the mouth at its lower body.
"Crunch, Crunch," the sun slowly rose signaling the dawn of a new day, but the day was bland as the sound of the demon chewing Kevin's remains welcomed the morning glow.