“SO… WE WILL BE HAVING A MEETING AND NONE OF YOU INFORMED ME?” 

Johann heard the man say while staring down at them. He looked like a military guy except Johann knew he was far stronger of course. His muscles are so large that his shirt may not be able to contain them. His pants were loose though and filled with small pockets.

“We’re not yet having a meeting, as you can see,” Kyros explained.

“Sure. I can see that the princess is not yet here. But are you even planning to inform me about this small gathering of yours? And who is this?”

“Cassian will be here soon. For now, we do not need you here,” Kyros said. “Besides, your spies should have shown you by now why we needed to be here.”

“Yeah! You were already keeping an eye on each of us, Sloan,” Clay said while smiling. “So, we don’t need to update you.”

“So you knew I was spying on each of you. Is that why you destroyed one of them?”

“That would be his mom’s doing,” Kyros said as he looked at Johann.

“Again, who is he? And why are we wasting time here? We needed to plan for our trip in hell.”

“You’re going to hell?” Johann could no longer contain his curiosity. The new guy might seem intimidating at first. But Johann did not feel the surge of panic he felt when he first saw Cassian.

“Yes, we are. Wanna come?” Clay asked before finishing his coffee.

“Just meet us later, Sloan. We still have unfinished business here,” Kyros said. But Sloan is no longer paying attention to any of them. He was staring straight at Johann’s chest before he smiled. Now Johann could sense something dangerous is coming.

“I see. Now, I get it,” Sloan said as he saw the soul of Cassian inside Johann.

“Uh-oh…” Clay said before looking at Kyros.

“You know where to bring him?” Kyros asked as he made sure his gloves fit in his hands. He would often act that way before a fight so Clay knew the plan.

“Of course!” Clay said before Sloan prepared for an attack.

“Let me deal with the sleeping princess. It’s about time he wakes up!”

An explosion was heard at the outside part of the café. The table where the three death dealers were was destroyed in half after Sloan punched it. People were shocked to see the damaged area and ran as far as they could. Some bystanders thought a bomb had detonated.

Clay carried Johann and was among the people running. Clay is already on his way to the rooftop while Kyros jumps and floats for a while before he launches an attack on Sloan. Black tentacles that seemed like a burnt tree came out from his hands. It was not as fast as the thunder Cassian could create but it was as deadly. For everything it touches could end up as ashes. His goal is simple. Stop Sloan from reaching Clay. That way Cassian will not be triggered to come out. Kyros managed to block Sloan’s path.

“You really are an imbecile sometimes, Sloan. If you wanted to pick a fight with Cassian that badly, you should wait for him to come out here naturally.”    

“Naturally? Meaning what? He’ll separate himself from that human?” Sloan asked Kyros. “Can’t you see I’m offering a faster and simpler solution here?”

He punched the dark forest blocking his path. Everything burned because Sloan could burn anything he punched or touched. He was like a walking inferno. He can set fire to almost anything.   

“Let me kill that boy and then we’ll set Cassian free.”

“I’m afraid you cannot do that for now,” Kyros said before he launched another attack to stop Sloan from moving.

JOHANN WAS STILL IN SHOCK AS CLAY CARRIED HIM.

“What is going on?! Why are they fighting?!” Johann said as Clay carried him.

“Don’t mind, Sloan. He just wanted to always pick a fight with Cassian.”

“He called Cassian a princess. What’s up with that?”

“Let’s just say that was his way of bullying Cassian.” 

It amazed Johann how he seemed weightless. Clay was already at the rooftop of the mall when he sensed something. Someone was already following him. When something swiped past on his left, Clay stopped running and faced the hunter that appeared in front of him.

Now what? Johann thought.

“Give him to me.”

That voice…

“Or else what? You gonna kill me?” Clay asked while smiling at the stranger Kyros wanted to find. “Guess what? I won’t surrender your kid to you that easily.”

“Dad?” Johann said while wiggling to see the person Clay was talking to. Johann was shocked to see the appearance of his stepfather. He wore bondages and a cape that can be mistaken as rags. His face was also covered like his hands. It was as if he was trying to cover all of his skin.

But despite his appearance, Johann could see the determination in his eyes and in his stance. He was pointing a sword at Clay which he also used to attack him a moment ago.

When Clay let Johann stand, he casually put his hands on his pockets.

“Kill me first. Then you’ll get him back.”

His stepfather attacked Clay without having second thoughts. Clay dodge his opponent without even moving his hands from his pocket. A swipe of sword and a jump was all Johann could follow before he saw Clay land behind his stepfather. When Clay pointed his hands he fired them as if he was holding two guns. And bullets made of solid air did come flying towards Johann’s stepfather. He was slicing and dodging some of it. But Clay kept on firing.

Johann did not know what to do. When Clay saw Johann try to step forward he warned him.

“Stay put or else you’ll get in trouble. And if you get in trouble, Cassian will be triggered to come out. Let me handle this.”

“You’re trying to kill him!” Johann yelled.

“Nope. I asked him to kill me but I didn’t say I’ll kill him.”

Johann saw his stepfather run towards Clay. His aim is straight to his heart. Clay opened his arms wide open before he swiped something in the air that made him cross his arms. A strong wind pushes his opponent away.

“Dad! Stop! Why are you guys fighting?! This must be a misunderstanding! I asked them to find you!” Johann said as he reached out for his stepfather.

“Stay back, son. I need to do this.”

“Dad…”   

“You can’t keep up, don’t you?” Clay laughed before shooting his stepfather on the leg so he won’t attack Clay again. “We know where to find him as long as we use you as bait.”

“What?” Johann asked. “Why—”

“He’s been stalking you for a while now. Or maybe guarding is the right term? Whatever. Ever since that accident with your mom, he knew he needed to guard you.”

“But how? How will he know that?”

His stepfather searched for something on his neck. A necklace appeared and the pendant was a ring with a broken crystal. That onyx ring was familiar to Johann.

“Dad… isn’t that your wedding ring? But… Why is the crystal broken?”

“It broke when your mother got hurt. It was how I knew something was going on.”

“And so, here we are!” Clay concluded. “Luckily, you made an easy deal with Kyros.”

“But we still have two days before our deal is over. So you will still protect me even if—”

“About that… Kyros was not being honest with the timeline he set. He did say he will find your stepfather for you. But he did not say he will not finish the task before three days ends.”

“Okay. But you are still assigned to protect me, right? And there’s still two days before Cassian is free.”

“About that…” Clay said before looking at the sun fading in the horizon. The darkness that came is similar to the time when Cassian visited Johann for the first time. It gives an eerie feeling. As if a déjà vu was happening. There was a sudden warmth and glow from his chest. Johann felt like something was burning inside of him. He can see his whole body glowing or maybe burning with a purple flame. When he could no longer take the pain, Johann yelled and the light seemed to escape from his body.

His stepfather tried to catch him. And before Johann could lose his balance, he saw Cassian standing before Clay.

“See? I told you Kyros lied to you,” Clay said. “It does take three days before a death dealer is freed from a human body. But your three days began after you met me. Cassian goes to sleep mode as he transitions to be separated from your soul during the third day. That is, if he was not triggered to come out, of course. However, if you keep using the death dealer as your protector you’ll end up like your old man right there.”

“What?” Johann asked while looking confused.

“I must admit, I slept well the whole day,” Cassian said before turning towards Johann. “Therefore… I’ll make your death as quick as possible to show my gratitude.”