Chapter 48
Anastasia Lang's POV
The demon was back on its feet almost immediately.
But instead of attacking, it simply stood there.
"Don't tell me we didn't hurt it at all?" I asked, refusing to believe it. "It was like our attacks just... disappeared the moment they touched him."
"No," Taylor said.
His narrowed eyes remained fixed on the demon while the scorpion on his shoulder traced slow, circular movements.
"They didn't disappear."
"They're still flowing."
"What?" Azalia asked.
"Look."
I turned back toward the demon, but all I saw was its body—whole, untouched, completely unharmed.
"What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?" Rosalie asked, her voice beginning to edge toward panic.
"The currents," Taylor answered simply.
I could've killed him for those maddening pauses.
"Inside him," he continued, "Aaron's blood is still flowing. Stacia's poison. Rosalie's bone magic. Azalia's voice."
"What?" Azalia blurted out. "It reached me too?"
"So that's your magic," I said, turning to him. "You can see—and manipulate—currents."
Taylor didn't even look at me.
I took his silence as confirmation.
"Then..." Azalia began, thinking out loud. "How do we fight him?"
"We don't."
Taylor's answer came without hesitation.
"Your abilities are already fighting him."
Another pause.
"I think..." His gaze sharpened. "I might be able to help."
With those words, he extended both hands in front of him and slowly closed his eyes.
Silence settled over us.
It felt as though everything had frozen.
Even time itself.
I watched the scorpion on his shoulder.
Its movements became quicker.
Sharper.
More frantic.
But nothing around us changed.
We couldn't see what was happening.
We had no idea what he was doing.
And that uncertainty was terrifying.
"Is it working?" Azalia asked quietly.
Then a thin blue vein appeared beneath the demon's pale, almost translucent skin.
A red one followed.
Then green.
Then orange.
They spread through its body like living veins, pulsing beneath the surface.
A moment later, they collided.
And for the first time—
the demon screamed.
Its body doubled over in agony.
I clenched my fists, a flicker of frustration rising inside me.
I hated that I had to rely on Taylor.
For once, there was absolutely nothing I could do.
And despite always having people willing to help me, I'd spent my entire life relying only on myself.
My gaze shifted to Aaron.
Before I realized it, my feet were already carrying me toward him.
"Stacia," Azalia called, hurrying after me. "What are you doing?"
I knelt beside his body and gently took hold of his twisted hand, searching for a pulse.
"Magic dies with the mage."
The words echoed in my mind.
There was nothing beneath my fingertips.
I moved my fingers higher, already preparing myself to accept the obvious.
Then—
I felt it.
A weak.
Uneven.
Heartbeat.
"He's alive," Azalia breathed, a radiant smile spreading across her face, dimples appearing in her cheeks.
And somehow, her smile was contagious.
A heartbeat later, the demon's body erupted in a blinding flash of light.
Azalia's map let out a sharp chirp.
She hurriedly pulled it from her pocket and unfolded it.
Trial Complete. The exit lies through the portal.
None of us needed to say a word.
Taylor and Rosalie were already beside me, and together the four of us lifted Aaron's unconscious body and carried him toward the portal.
"Rosalie! Stacia!"
I hadn't even opened my eyes before I heard Tarven's voice.
The moment the healers took Aaron from our arms, Tarven pulled both Rosalie and me into a fierce embrace.
"I was worried sick about you." He exhaled heavily. "No... we all were."
For just a second, I allowed myself to relax in his arms, letting the tension I'd been carrying finally slip away.
I couldn't believe it was over.
"And do you have any idea how terrified we were?" Rosalie began, wrapping herself even tighter around her brother.
I quietly stepped back, giving her all the time she wanted with him.
It looked as though we had been the last to return.
Most of the first-years were already here.
The healers hurried Aaron away, with Taylor limping after them.
I started to follow—
but another scene caught my attention.
At the center of the gathering, in front of one of the massive screens, stood Airis and Miloran.
Opposite them were Dilraba, Cosmei, and Kharma.
All members of the Strongest Twelve.
Miloran was gesturing wildly, just as furiously as Kharma.
Dilraba seemed to be reporting something to an enraged Airis, while Cosmei stood silently, watching the exchange unfold.
I immediately headed toward them, searching for Ria.
The demon had completely driven thoughts of her from my mind, even though I'd known all along she could be in danger.
Then I saw her.
On the screen.
My pace quickened.
"Airis, I can't teleport you in there. Not because I don't want to."
Dilraba's voice echoed nearby, but my eyes never left the screen.
I recognized the demon immediately.
Surrounded by flames.
The very same one I'd seen in my vision.
And Ria...
She was walking straight into the heart of the fire.
A wave of pure terror crashed over me.
God, how I'd hoped it had only been a dream.
"What is she doing?" I interrupted, stepping beside Miloran.
"It's part of their trial. We all went through something similar," Kharma replied, her voice carrying the quiet authority of someone accustomed to being obeyed.
She was the representative of the Realm of Death.
Rumor had it that Hell itself—the most feared and contradictory place across all twelve worlds—had given birth to her.
"No." Airis's voice cracked through the air. "This isn't part of the trial. Everything's gone out of control."
His jaw tightened.
"We already have one death on our hands."
My eyes darted back to the screen.
Ria.
Kaeron.
Pria.
Loretta.
Who else had been with them?
...Or were they talking about Aaron?
But Aaron was alive...
"Who died?" I asked quietly, turning to Miloran.
"Seris."
Tarven's voice answered instead.
He had stopped beside me without me even noticing.
"His magic released smoke."
Everything inside me went cold.
Magic only released smoke when the demonic gene stopped functioning.
And if the demonic gene stopped...
...there was only one possible outcome.
Seris was dead.
"Just open the damn portal," Airis growled. "Or I won't be responsible for what happens next."
I'd never seen him like this before.
Even Thari—the sky harpy who embodied one of the Twelve primordial forces—hadn't stepped to his side.
"Airis, that zone is sealed. There's nothing we can—"
Mr. Shiford had barely begun speaking when Airis ignored him completely.
His gaze shifted to Dilraba...
...then to Cosmei.
Somehow, Cosmei still managed to look almost smug—
until fear suddenly washed over his face.
"Either you send me in there..."
Airis's voice turned deadly calm.
"...or he stops breathing."
At that exact moment, I saw Cosmei's hands fly to his throat.
My eyes widened.
Airis had cut off his air.
Even Kharma stopped arguing with Miloran.
"No!"
Dilraba lunged toward Airis—
only to be blocked by a thick wall of earth that erupted between them.
I didn't even see who had raised it.
But one thing became painfully clear.
We had to save our friends.
And if Dilraba was stalling for time...
...then we had to use every second she was giving us to find another way.
Illariana Arden's POV
I wasn't listening to what the others were saying.
All I could see was the demon standing before me.
And I was going to destroy it.
My magic had no right to disobey me anymore.
Today...
Either it would submit to me—
or we would both die.
I gathered every ounce of anger.
Every shred of hatred.
Every spark of frustration.
Then I sent it coursing through my body—straight into my magic.
This time...
it answered.
For the first time, I truly felt it yielding to my will.
"Kaeron. Loretta. Hold its arms," I ordered.
I wasn't going to rely only on myself when people stood beside me, willing to fight.
I wouldn't take away their chance to strike back.
And then I realized something.
It wasn't breathing fire.
It was swallowing it.
Which meant...
We needed to feed it something it couldn't digest.
"Time for your last meal," I muttered to the demon, not caring whether it understood me or not.
There was no point fighting the flames it released.
We had to destroy the source.
My eyes met Pria's.
I gave her a slight nod, hoping she'd understand.
She did.
A sphere of crackling lightning began to form between her hands.
A shell.
One that could contain my fire.
I poured my magic into it, compressing the flames tighter and tighter until they were squeezed into a single blazing core.
It had been devouring our powers one by one.
But if the lightning trapped my fire inside its body...
it wouldn't have time to spit it back out.
Together, we hurled the sphere straight into the demon's gaping maw.
It roared in fury, struggling against the shadow bindings that held its arms.
The creature's entire body convulsed as it swallowed our attack.
For one endless second...
the world stood still.
So did my heart.
Then—
with a deafening crack—
the shadow bindings snapped apart, setting it free.
Then something inside me shattered.
The demon's wide, fang-filled mouth curled into a smile.
A triumphant roar burst from its throat.
I couldn't move.
Couldn't believe I'd made a mistake at the one moment that mattered most.
My lips trembled.
I clenched my fists, fighting to keep myself together.
Fighting to stay strong.
But damn it...
I was the weakness.
"Ria..." Pria said softly, resting a hand on my shoulder, as if she could not only see my pain but feel it herself.
I shook her hand off.
"You should have saved Seris instead."
The words came out barely above a whisper.
The demon let out another growl, almost as if it agreed with me.
No one answered.
Silence settled over us, giving my words room to sink in.
To be understood.
"Listen..." Loretta began.
Another roar cut her off.
"You don't—"
The demon roared again, drowning out her voice.
All of us turned toward it.
And that's when my confusion deepened.
The demon was gone.
In its place churned a vortex of fire, devouring itself from within.
Its roars grew weaker.
More pained.
As though something inside it was being torn apart.
"Did... did it work?" Pria asked.
"I hope so..." Loretta started to answer—
but this time she was interrupted not by another roar...
...but by a sharp, ringing snap.
A portal tore open before us.
Dilraba stepped through it.
She was as pale as a ghost.
My eyes dropped to her hands.
They were covered in blood.
As though she had been fighting a battle every bit as brutal as ours.
"It's time to go back," she said.
"And quickly."