The thick smoke hung heavy in the air, swirling through the blackened treetops and choking the breath out of Luci, Daniel, and Brianna as they pressed forward through the forest. Flames licked the edges of their vision, casting the scene in a sickly orange glow. The smell of burning wood was overpowering, the heat searing their skin with every step. Ash drifted down like snow, sticking to their faces and clothes, adding weight to an already suffocating atmosphere.
The fire had started hours ago, a relentless blaze that had consumed everything in its path, and still it raged, growing hotter, wilder. Each snap of a branch or crackle of a flame seemed to push them forward, faster, desperate to escape.
Suddenly, the underbrush ahead crackled, and their eyes snapped to the movement. From the smoke, a figure emerged, stumbling toward them with wild eyes and erratic steps. She wore a flowing white gown, now streaked with soot and dirt, her long black hair tangled and matted against her face. She gasped for breath as she spotted them, her face a mask of pure panic.
"Help! Help me!" she screamed, her voice breaking with desperation. She stumbled and fell to the ground, collapsing at their feet, her body trembling violently.
Daniel reacted first, his instincts kicking in as he rushed to her side. He dropped to his knees beside her, his expression softening with concern. "Are you alright, my lady?" he asked, his voice gentle as he helped her sit up.
The woman nodded weakly, though her body still trembled. "Yes," she whispered. "I'm... I'm alright." Her voice shook, betraying her fear. "I was fetching water from the stream when... I saw it. A demon. It wasn't like the others. It looked like a heaven's enemy."
Brianna, standing a few feet away, crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, her face unreadable. "Heaven's enemy?" she repeated, her tone flat, bordering on disbelief.
Luci, standing behind them, felt a flicker of amusement bubble up inside him. **Heaven's enemy?** The term brought a smirk to his lips. **Could it be one of my brothers or sisters? That would be fun. I wouldn't mind tearing them apart.**
The woman's breath came in shallow bursts as she continued, still visibly shaken. "I... I ran here when I saw the fire. I thought there would be knights nearby."
At the mention of knights, Brianna's expression barely changed, but a faint tension rippled through her posture. Her arms uncrossed, and her eyes flickered with a hint of suspicion. "Knights," she said slowly, as if testing the word, "in the middle of a burning forest?"
The woman, whose name she later gave as Martina, straightened herself a little, though her eyes remained wide and fearful. "Yes," she replied, her voice softer now. "I thought the fire would draw knights here. I... I have sheep nearby. Please, you must drop your weapons. They'll be frightened."
Daniel, his heroic nature always eager to protect, was quick to agree. "Of course," he said with a kind smile, already loosening his sword from his belt. "We wouldn't want to scare your animals."
Brianna, however, didn't move, her gaze narrowing at the suggestion. "Hold on," she said, her voice calm but firm. "This could be a trap."
Daniel laughed, brushing off her concerns with a wave of his hand. "Come on, Brianna. She's just scared. There's no harm in helping."
Luci, who had been watching the scene unfold with quiet amusement, kept his thoughts to himself. **A trap? I love traps. Especially when I know there's no way out.** He dropped his weapons as well, though he knew they were unnecessary. His true strength didn't lie in mere steel.
The three of them followed Martina deeper into the forest, the smoke growing thicker and the flames more intense. As they walked, Daniel continued to reassure her, making light conversation. Brianna, still wary, kept her eyes trained on their surroundings, alert for any sign of danger.
Eventually, Martina stopped at the edge of a small clearing, the flames casting long shadows that danced in the wind. She pointed to a spot near the center of the clearing. "This is where I saw the demon," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'll just fetch my water pot from the stream. Stay here."
Luci's eyes narrowed as he watched her retreat into the smoke. Something about her story didn't sit right with him. **Fetching water from a stream in a burning forest? No one does that unless...**
Before he could finish the thought, the ground beneath them erupted into motion. A net shot up from the dirt, snapping closed around them with lightning speed. Luci, Daniel, and Brianna were yanked off their feet, each trapped in separate nets, suspended several feet in the air.
"Of course," Luci muttered under his breath, a smirk playing on his lips. "A trap."
From the shadows, Martina reappeared, now standing with her back straight and a satisfied smirk on her face. In her hands, she held three ropes, each connected to the nets that held them. "Gotcha," she sneered, her earlier fear gone, replaced by cold confidence.
Brianna, hanging limply in her net, turned her head toward Daniel, her face as calm as ever. "I told you it was a trap."
Daniel, tangled helplessly in the ropes, sighed. "Sorry, but I couldn't just leave a cute girl like that."
Luci, already working his way out of the net, tore through the ropes with ease. His chains shredded the net as if it were made of paper, and he landed on the ground with a soft thud, brushing the dirt from his clothes.
Daniel, still struggling to free himself, looked down at Luci with wide eyes. "How did you get out so easily?"
Luci shrugged, feigning indifference. "My chains tore the net," he said, though he knew the truth was far more complicated. **The ropes couldn't hold me,** he thought. **But it's more fun to pretend to be weak.**
Martina, looking momentarily surprised, quickly recovered. She tied the remaining ropes to a nearby tree, drawing a small dagger from her belt. "I don't know how you escaped," she said, her voice dripping with malice, "but I'm going to kill you."
Before she could advance, two figures stepped out from the shadows, their red eyes glowing eerily in the dim light. Both had razor-sharp teeth and long, claw-like nails, their skin a deep crimson hue. A single horn jutted from each of their foreheads, and beneath the horns pulsed a red gem that glowed with dark energy.
The only difference between them was their attire: one wore all white, the other all black.
"You've done your job," said the one in white, his voice low and menacing. "We'll take it from here."
Luci's eyes widened slightly as recognition hit him. **The Push and Pull Twins,** he thought, his smirk returning. **My brothers from Hell. Last time I fought them, I knocked them out with one punch. But now... now I have these chains.**
Daniel, sensing the twins' power, tensed, his body instinctively readying for a fight. "Their energy... it's different. These aren't like the other demons."
Brianna, her face as expressionless as ever, spoke in a flat tone. "So this is a heaven's enemy."
Without another word, Daniel and Brianna lunged at the twins. But with a single gesture, the twin in white sent Daniel crashing to the ground, as if an invisible weight had crushed him.
Brianna, moving in for an attack, found herself immobilized as the twin in black raised his hand. Her arms twisted painfully, her joints feeling as though they would pop out of place. She gasped, her voice barely a whisper. "L... Lu... C... Ci..." Her eyes rolled back as she lost consciousness, her body slumping in the net.
The twins turned their attention to Luci, who stood calmly in the clearing, his chains still wrapped around his arms. "Now," said the twin in white, a cruel smile on his face, "let's deal with the one in chains."
Luci's smirk deepened. **The Push and Pull Twins... They're as weak as ever. I know their tricks. But these chains...** He flexed his arms, testing the restraints. **Can I beat them like this?**
With a cold smile, he stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. **Let's finish this.**