New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live-Chapter 1110: An Exhibit

A boisterous laughter erupted in the sealed room, reverberating on the walls like a resonance box, making everyone present wince in slight pain, as their eardrums came close to rupturing.

Alexander slapped the demon across the face, quieting him instantly, as the demon slowly turned its head back toward him, a bestial grin on its lips.

Looking Alexander up and down, the demon’s grin faded.

"I sense demonic essence within you, but it’s weak. Are you a bastard offspring? Did you come to save me because of a pact owed?" he asked, disdain becoming apparent on his face.

Alex chuckled in response.

"Save you? Did you not hear everything I said about you while you were partially sealed? If I came to save you, do you think I would be so disrespectful?" he mocked.

The demon sneered at him.

"Hah! Whatever tactic you used to rouse me from that damned slumber, I can overlook in exchange for my freedom. But don’t you dare push your luck now that I have awakened. A pact owed does not mean safety for your soul, should you come to displease me," he threatened.

But Alex grinned in response.

He could tell by the demon’s fidgeting that its body was still not fully awake, and its immobility was most likely due to its focus on regaining control over its long-still limbs.

"Please. You look as though you’re about to collapse from weakness. What threat could you pose to me, even in my mortality?" Alex taunted with a chuckle.

The demon’s disdainful face turned to anger.

"Do not taunt me, boy. Your friends won’t save you from my torment."

The demon scanned the room, staring every person in the eye for a brief moment.

"Tch. You brought humans with you, and, despite that, my jailor got to us before I could break completely free," it spat, noticing the aura of the nine-tailed fox in the corner.

"You have changed face, fox. But don’t think for an instant I can’t recognize your soul. I can tell you have weakened since our last confrontation. A shame, really. For you, that is. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into that soul and extract every ounce of strength inside," it grinned, staring at Tian Kuo with hungry eyes.

Tian Kuo felt a shiver run down his spine from the bloodlust emanating from that stare. Even if this was one of the weaker demons in this room, it stayed a dangerous foe.

And with his body not yet accustomed to his full power, the demon was right to call him weakened.

Alexander snapped his fingers in front of the demon’s face.

"Hey. Focus on me, you ugly bastard."

The demon’s face returned to a rage-filled gaze as his head snapped toward the human.

"You little!" it started saying, before another slap interrupted him.

"Shut up. I’m not done talking," Alex groaned, already tired of the demon’s attitude.

’Why must all demons be so rude and condescending?’ he wondered.

The demon was stuck in a rage-filled stupor, the gall of this human slapping him again freezing his mind on thoughts of eviscerating him.

But Alex had no time to waste indulging his fantasies.

"I did not wake you up to set you free or to fulfill a pact owed, as you say. You are merely an exhibition to prove that my words hold the weight of truth. Now. I ask you: Are you ready to die?" he asked, his face turning into a confident grin.

The demon snapped out of his thoughts; the words bringing him back to the human standing before him.

"Die? You think you can kill me? A demon. An immortal being. Are you dumb?" it asked, feeling pity well up inside him.

"What kind of upbringing did this human mongrel receive, to think he could ever take down a demon, let alone kill one?" he wondered, feeling laughter well up in his throat.

But as he was about to burst into laughter, the confidence on the human’s face made him understand he was being serious, not rhetorical.

"You think you can kill me, mortal?" the demon asked, slowly walking closer to the human.

Alexander could feel the stinking hot breath of the demon brush against his face and had to hold himself from gagging.

"Urgh... You should take a mint. Your breath is fetid, man," Alex commented, raising his fingers to his nose, trying to block out the smell.

The demon stared into Alexander’s eyes, and before the latter could react, a penetrating presence invaded his mind, peering into his memories.

It was brief, as Alexander had fought off this kind of intrusion before, but not fast enough for the demon not to have seen exactly what it wanted.

A grin came back to its lips.

"Since you’ve decided to go this route, know that everything that’s about to happen is on you. Your soul and that of all your friends will not return to the great cycle, and it’s all your fault," the demon whispered into Alex’s face before lunging forward to his left.

Alexander’s face hardened, understanding the meaning of his threat clearly.

The demon launched at Kary like a bullet from the barrel of a gun, but as it reached her, it collapsed to the ground, skidding to a stop at Kary’s feet, coughing blood.

Kary had instinctively brought her hands up defensively and lit them on fire, ready to fight the demon, but, seeing him on the ground, fear in his eyes, as blood kept coughing out of his throat, she almost pitied him.

Gripping his chest, the demon knew instantly what was ailing him.

Deep within the center of his chest, where his wretched and blackened soul should have been, a hole was left instead.

Turning his head toward the source of his demonic essence, the demon saw the human that had freed him. A cold gaze set on him as a black flickering flame danced over the palm of one of his hands.

"What are you?" the demon asked, between two coughs of blood.

"I was going to be merciful and kill you quickly, at first," Alex said, walking toward the collapsed demon.

All strength had been sapped from him, as the source of his very life was dancing over Alex’s hand.

Reaching the demon, Alexander crouched next to him.

"But since you decided to threaten what I hold dear, I guess you don’t deserve mercy. Instead, I will watch you die in agony, for however long it takes, and in the end, I will watch the flame of your essence extinguish within my grasp," Alex said, his tone icy.

"Oh, and also, your soul will not be returning to the great cycle either, asshole."