~30 Minutes Ago on Another Side of District 8~

Sana skipped, humming to herself as she followed behind Lia.

“Hunting. Hunting. Hunting the stray. Once I find you, you won’t be getting away.”

Aww, look at you all happy.

Ugh, shut up…

What’s got you all excited? Never seen you skip and sing like this before. 

It's none of your business.

Sana continued walking, trying her best to shut out the voice ringing through her head.

“Wait. He’s up ahead.” 

Lia stopped, pointing ahead. In the distance, a tall bald man with piercings on his head stood in front of a line of people. The people that were lined up seemed completely out of it, potentially unaware of where they even were. He then pulled out a large, sledgehammer and swung it, battering the person in front of him. Sana immediately began sprinting towards the stray who immediately noticed her.

Come on! Bring me out again! I’ve been itching for some blood here!

Fine! So stop being so annoying!

Green energy coated Sana’s forearm as three green animated eyes appeared atop of the energy.

“Unleash, Bezial!”

Hahahaha!

The green energy then dispersed and materialized into the gauntlet with the horned creature on its front. Sana, at a fast speed, reached the stray and lunged at him with her gauntlet. The stray reacted by pulling one of the dead bodies and using it as a shield. The claws on the gauntlet stabbed right through the body. The stray pushed the body onto Sana and jumped back as the other people that were lined up walked off in separate directions, seeming as if they didn’t know where they were going.

“You’re… Sana Azaroth and that’s Lia Azaroth behind you.” The stray sighed. “They said you’d probably show up… Listen, you mind leaving? I was kind of in the middle of something and I’m on a bit of a timer.” The stray spoke with a deep, slow voice.

“Of course not! You’ll have to die here!” Sana said, pulling her claws out of the body and setting it down. The eyes on the gauntlet glowed for a moment. “Big sis, I’ll take this one!”

“Alright, I trust you to handle him. There’s something I need to check with those people, so I’ll be back.”

Lia walked off in the opposite direction, leaving Sana and the stray alone.

“Well, looks like there’s no getting out of this.. At least I won’t have to deal with the both of you. To be honest, I don’t think I could’ve won… Anyways…”

The stray pulled out a small capsule filled with red pills. He then took one out and tossed it into his mouth. 

“Rrrrrrnnnnn….”

He began twitching erratically, making a strange groaning noise. He then stopped moving. Sana stared in confusion as he stood there, frozen. Suddenly, he began moving again.

“WOOO! That felt GOOD!”

The stray who was, just a moment ago, lacking any sort of energy was now full of it, yelling and jumping up.

“See this stuff right here?! This is GOOD STUFF! Demonic energy booster pills! You take one and you’ll be feeling like you got fire burning up your ass! Wanna try one?!”

“No…” 

“Heh, suit yourself!”

Demonic energy booster… pills? What is that? 

Never heard of anything like that during my time. Doesn’t matter though— go spill some more blood already! 

Sana, again, dashed at the stray attempting to strike him with her claws. The stray raised his sledgehammer and slammed it into the ground, creating a large shockwave that pushed Sana back slightly and caused some of the bodies of the people he had killed earlier to fly up.

“Catch!” 

The stray began swinging his sledgehammer at the dead bodies like a baseball bat, sending them flying towards Sana. Sana dodged 2 of the bodies and caught the 3rd one that flew at her, making her claw accidentally sink into the dead body. 

Sorry about that, whoever you were…

The eyes of the horned creature on Sana’s gauntlet began glowing again. Sana pulled the claw from the dead body and set it down. 

Mmm, that tasted amazing! I’m feeling pretty nice right now! Keep it up!

The stray slammed his hammer again, creating another shockwave. Sana jumped over it and at an even quicker speed than before, dashed at the stray and lunged at him. He dodged but immediately met a kick to the liver. Making the stray stumble a bit, Sana pivoted her foot and threw a side kick to his abdomen, sending him reeling back.

Hehe, learned that one from Lucen!

“Yeesh, what a kick! I gotta up my game!”

The stray took out the capsule of pills again and tossed another in his mouth.

“Nrgnnnn….!”

Like before, the strays head twitched erratically but this time, even more so as he groaned louder. Suddenly, a burst of red energy erupted from his body.

“WOOOOO!!! Alright! Let’s do this again!”

This time, the stray rushed Sana, swinging his hammer wildly. Sana ducked through each swing with quick speed.

“Stay still!”

After another swing, Sana circled around the stray and struck him diagonally with her claws across his back.

“GAH—“

Sana then front kicked him in the back, sending him stumbling forward a few feet away.

“Having fun?” Sana giggled mockingly.

The stray held his back as blood ran down it. Groaning, he once again pulled out the capsule and dropped the rest of the pills that filled it into his mouth.

“NRGNNN… ARGHHH!!!”

He dropped to the ground on his knees, his fingers scraping against the concrete. He held his head, groaning even more intensely than last time. Then suddenly, an even larger burst of red energy erupted from his body. Standing up, Sana noticed a heavy change in his appearance. His eyes were completely red and his skin was shriveled.

What happened to him…?

Might wanna be a bit careful this time. I still need some more blood before you can finish him!

Thanks for the observation, genius…

The stray stood up and raised his sledgehammer again. He then repeatedly slammed it into the ground creating a multitude of large shockwaves. Chunks of the concrete flew up into the air and the stray hit them with his sledgehammer at Sana. Sana dashed to the left as concrete flew behind her.

Can’t get close to him… But what should I do?

Hey, look at that there. You know what I’m thinkin’ right?

A few feet from Sana was another one of the dead people the stray killed. Sana stopped and dodged a few more pieces of concrete thrown at her.

I really don’t like taking blood from humans— Even if they’re already dead… 

You already have…

Those were accidents!

You have no choice if you wanna hurry up and end this fight. Take their blood already!

As the stray lifted up his sledgehammer again, Sana stabbed the dead body with her claws. The eyes on the gauntlet began glowing again and a green aura surrounded it.

Ahh, that was delicious! Nothing beats human blood! Hell, anything’s better than feral blood.

Don't get used to it!

The stray swung his sledgehammer down again as more concrete flew up. He chucked the pieces of concrete at her again but immediately, Sana moved, running at a speed even faster than before. She quickly closed in on him before he could swing his sledgehammer again and hit him with a roundhouse kick to the liver, sending him stumbling back. She then swung her claw diagonally, leaving a large green and black claw mark in the air. 

The claw mark stayed in place as Sana circled around the Stray. The stray swung his sledgehammer wildly but Sana ducked quickly and side kicked him in the gut, causing him to stumble backwards again.

“GAHHH!!!”

Due to stepping back, the stray’s back came into contact with the claw marking left in the air by Sana. A large claw wound opened on his back as he dropped his sledgehammer. Sana stepped in front of him, the aura around her gauntlet glowing brighter.

“Disappear!”

Sana swung her claw again, leaving a large, glowing green and black claw mark across the stray devil's torso. The stray dropped to the ground and its body faded into particles. As she watched the stray fade away, she spotted the capsule he had rolling on the ground. She walked over to it and picked it up, observing it.

I’ve never heard of demonic energy pills before. Where do you even get something like that and for a stray to have it too…

All those pills couldn’t save him from being a victim to my power though, hahaha! 

“Done here?” 

Sana turned around to find Lia who had returned.

“Yup! Mission complete!”

“What’s that in your hand?” Lia noticed the capsule Sana was holding.

“The stray used these things called demonic energy pills. He ate all of the ones in here though. Even without a Song, it made him strong enough to do all of this to the ground with a normal sledgehammer.” Sana pointed to the ground that was cracked, had many holes, and was covered in rubble. 

“Do you know what they are?”

Lia took the capsule from Sana and studied it. “Strange… This is the first time I’m hearing about this. Maybe Weld will have an idea of what they are. I’ll contact him.”

“By the way, what were you doing while I was fighting the stray?”

“I’ll tell you after we’re back. We should meet up with Vonica and Lucen for now.”

Sana paused for a bit, looking around at the dead bodies still on the ground. “What about these bodies though? I don’t think we should just leave them here...”

“Hm, give me a second.”

Lia grabbed the dead bodies and lined them up next to each other. She then conjured a red and black flame and released it towards the bodies. The flame covered the area as the bodies were reduced to ashes.

Find peace.

“Let’s go.”

Lia and Sana and their way back to the meeting point.

~20 Minutes Later~

Vonica quietly walked back to the meeting spot as she held Lucen up and gently sat him down against a wall. A few minutes later, Lia and Sana arrived. Lia’s eyes widened as she saw Lucen, passed out and covered in cuts.

“What happened?!”

Lia and Sana ran over to check on Lucen. 

“Feral devils. He fought them off while I took care of the stray… He will be alright, luckily. We can heal his visible wounds when we return.”

“I see…”

Vonica took a deep breath. “I think this was a mistake.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lia, you sent him with me intentionally because you wanted for him to experience actual fighting, right? Your expectations are too high for what he can do. He is capable of handling himself and is quite strong but he has not learned to wield his power properly yet and he has the limitations of a human. He could have lost his life today.”

“You’re… right.”

“I understand your mindset and that this was necessary but… I am not sure this was the best way to go about this.”

With those words, Vonica walked into the abandoned building where the Transfer Seal is. Lia and Sana stood in silence. 

“We should head in too…”

“Yeah.”

Lia picked up Lucen and carried him into the building. She set him down and picked up the seal, activating it. The group then returned to District 3 in silence.