The Demon’s Bride

Ian brought her body closer to see how her lips leave a small gap for a soft snore to leave. Seeing that Elise was actually asleep, and that the worse case of her exhausting her power didn't happen, he exhaled a small sigh from his lips that smiled slightly, "You worry me like no one could ever do," whispered Ian before bringing her to sleep on his shoulder. 

He looked at the window and when seeing a black shadow, he opened the window to let his crow to come inside. The crow that had entered sat on the opposite sit and flapped its wings in order to let the snow that accumulated on its body to disappear.

Ian thought about Elise's words, and the name 'Gabriel'. Seeing how the dark sorcerers had gotten stronger by year from the innocent sacrifices they took, he could tell that soon the Church wouldn't be able to lift a finger against them which mean the time for dark sorceress massacre in the five land could happen any time soon.

And as if it wasn't terrible enough, there was the experiment of resurrection. If the experiments they were doing success of bringing the dead back to life, a war could break not only between humans and dark sorcerers, but Angels and the people who had defy nature by resurrecting the dead. It wouldn't be his problem if a war break, but the problem was if the dark sorcerers, who are hungry for more power caught news about Elise's power that could kill both Demons and Relics, they would also come for her to covet her power.

Seeing something on the crow, Ian narrowed his eyes and reached out his hand to curl his finger and call the crow to come closer. When it rested on his arm, he looked at the claw of his crows where there was blood and a white feather wings that was small. 

Taking the white feather, Ian saw the glow and he knew it didn't come from a white feathered bird. His crow wouldn't bother to attack a normal bird. The feather came from a person with white wings— angels. Noting how the feather didn't disappear or transform, this was a genuine wing of an angel's. But whose? Gabriel? The timing was too good to be true.

The crow was with him the entire time they were in Saltige which mean it caught the feather around the time he was busy fighting. If an Angel was there, watching them, it would mean they were watching for someone in the village.

Far from the carriage that left to White Mansion, the wagon that carry the dead bodies of the people that didn't belong from Saltige shook as it drove toward an uneven path. It was when the wagon's driver yawn that he didn't notice the weigh of the wagon lessen when a black shadow rolled from inside the wagon to the ground.

The person struggled to get out from the fabric that bundled their whole body and a coal-black hand stuck out from the fabric, followed by the rest of her body to come out when the fabric unraveled. 

"Fuck!" cursed Eleanor, she saw her body and looked at how her skin had turned horrid black. Her skin was like patches that could be peeled if she lightly rub at it. That Demon! thought Eleanor. She couldn't believe she let her guard down for a Demon to kill her with fire. But it didn't appear that the Demon was too smart despite being a higher level Demon as it didn't know that simply burning a Relic wouldn't be enough to kill them.

"You have a dirty mouth, lady," came the voice from behind and Eleanor turned her burnt face with a deeper frown. It was the same blonde-haired Demon who had turned her to the state she was now!

"You know that I'm not dead yet," said Eleanor, taking a careful step back on the snow.

Beelzebub brushed his shoulder where the snow piled on it, and his eyes grew tired as he reply, "It didn't take long to know you are a Relic. Although fake, you still have a blood of an Angel; and Angel don't die with a simple fire." 

"It seemed you know but you didn't kill me," snickered Eleanor, "It's because you cannot, could you? There was another Demon who was the groom of the Demon's Bride, but he too thought that I died. Demons are always foolish when it come to fights. They are too prideful with their power, and that would be their reason to die."

"Ah? You mean Ian," Beelzebub said, he yawned to continue, "That's wrong, lady. He knew that you aren't dead yet. But he kept you alive so I would kill you. He knew that I'll come back and finish you. Do you know what this is?" He pulled the syringe that the Relics brought.

Eleanor narrowed her eyes at it and she laughed, "Do you think just because you ask me, I will answer your question? You will have to come and kill me if you think that would ever happen."

Beelzebub wrinkled his lower lip with an expression as if he knew this would happen, "I see that negotiating don't work. I told myself about this, that sometimes it useless to keep a person alive. You just need the person to have mouth and a soul so they would speak, the rest is unnecessary." and he began to take off his coat before pulling Hallow who was inside his pocket to his hand. The chick appeared to wail, wanting to speak but his beak was glued by some magic that made him grumpy. 

Eleanor initially frown at Beelzebub's confident reply but then she pulled a confident smile, "You think that is enough to scare me? I'm not a little girl who would tremble in fear. If you think to escape from fire is my only power, you are wrong Demon."

Eleanor whose skin was burnt then pulled her hand together, clasping them to her chest and a light glowed on her. The light was bright for her entire body to be covered by it. When a second pass, the light disappeared and Eleanor appeared naked with her body looking the same before she entered the house, without a single wound or scratch. Her scorched skin that was discolored to black become unblemished and pale, leaving no trace of her getting fired alive as if time had turned backward for her.

"What do you think?" Eleanor raised her smile higher, expecting a horrible shock to come on Beelzebub but instead the man clicked his tongue as if he didn't like what he saw.

"Wear your clothes, lady. It don't look good to me to fight with a pervert who is undressed in the middle of a road," Beelzebub turned away, sighing while rolling his eyes, "What a bad day I have today to meet a woman who like to be naked."

Hallow who suddenly felt his mouth could move yelled, "Oh God! What is she doing?! Is she asking your opinion of how good her body look?" and the chick pulled his wings over his large green eyes, unbelievable at what he had seen.

"Might be, she is not my type though," Beelzebub uncrossed his arm to crack his knuckles.

Without the need to see Eleanor's face, Beel could tell the woman, who had been quiet clenched her hands, and anger contoured her face as the two continued to make fun of her as if she was a clown! 

"I will kill you two and make you my first triumph for the Relics!" Eleanor with her hand opened pulled a knife she had took to prepare herself in the fabric she was bundled upon. Who knows her decision to take her knife would be needed right as soon as she left the wagon.

"Try then," Beelzebub offered the woman the first attack. She used her knife that was shaped like crescent moon to charge and slit his neck. With less effort, Beelzebub raised his hand and pushed Eleanor's hand when the blade almost reached his face.

Beelzebub hadn't use any of his Demonic ability yet, and instead took the fight in a nonchalant manner by using only his hands. But the fun died in two minute, and Eleanor who was irked by his lazy fight, yelled, "Seem like you are afraid of me, are you?"

Beelzebub didn't ride on her provocation, instead he nodded, "You are naked after all, I'm afraid my body would get advantage of."

"You fucker!" Eleanor yelled and she continued to swung her blade dangerously when the blade slipped from her hand, Beelzebub saw how she didn't panic and instead smile. He then inclined his neck to the side to see how Eleanor hadn't carelessly let go of the blade but had done it so the blade would come back, circling to cut his neck.

"I am disappointed you know," whispered Beelzebub when catching the blade an inch away from his neck, "I thought you would do more, but you are looking less like an Angel and more of a human. Even a corrupted Angel is more powerful than you. But then you are fake," throwing the blade, Eleanor caught it, and she heard Beelzebub snapping his finger. "Time to end this don't you think?"

"Like that would happen," Eleanor launched another attack but then something happened to her body that she couldn't understand what happened. 

In the first six minute of the fight, Eleanor was the quickest between the two. Her attacks had been going steadily and fast. But for no reason, she felt her speed slowing down despite only little time had passed.

Not knowing what happened, the female Relic then felt her breaths ragged as if she had been walking up and down a steep hill when the fight had only go for nine minute. It didn't take another minute for her to feel her hands heavy like stone and she had stop. Looking at her hand, she saw both of her hands trembling in exhaustion.

"What is happening?! What did you do!" this was the Relic's first time to ever felt so much exhaustion as she felt now. She felt as if her body melting with the sweats that profusely soaking her face even in the snowy day and her muscles tingling in tire. 

"Just a little trick, but you don't have to know," Beelzebub smiled and he moved forward. Eleanor told herself to run but her body was so tired that she couldn't move a single muscle or lift her little finger. Everything she did become tiring and she could only stood still on her place, "Look at my eyes," said Beelzebub which Eleanor did, "Now tell me, what is this syringe for?"

"I don't know, G..." Eleanor opened her mouth and her words about to spill when suddenly her body move back and she blew to splatter of small chunks of meat. Beelzebub, who stood not far from Eleanor who had now turn to most blood, clicked his tongue. 

Hallow didn't know what happen but he was shocked to see Eleanor blown to bits as if the woman had dynamites attached on her body, "Did you do that?" questioned the chick.

"No, that was a curse placed for the Relics. If they spew secrets of the Relics, this would happen to them," answered Beel, he watched how the snow had turned red as it was soaked with blood. To see the pure white snow dyed in blood color, a premonition sink to Beelzebub, that something bad will happen.

"Nasty," chimed Hallow who was then picked by Beelzebub as the man wore his coat under his blood-soaked shirt. "Tell me about something. Why did you come back here to ask about the Syringe? I thought you don't care about Elly."

"It's my life's warrant," Hallow raised his brow and the Demon continued, "So Ian wouldn't kill me yet." Hallow still couldn't understand but then Beelzebub flew to sky with his wings, leaving others to later find the body of Eleanor.