Aearbon was the first to awake when Rey cursed, followed by Kassi. The one-armed Sniffer kept snoring without a care in the world, while outside, the city guard was gathering to give them a final send-off and welcome them to demonhood, if their souls survived that long.

  Aearbon bent down to see outside the glass window. "This is not good," he said, stating the obvious.

  "Go, wake up Ajay, Filomena, and smack that demon on the rump, while you're at it." He sent off Aearbon, so he could have a chance to talk with Kassi alone. "Kassi?"

  She stood to walk away as well, but he wasn't going to let her get away this easily. He gripped her arm, stopping her.

  "Can you please not pretend that I don't exist?" he asked, getting no response, but her arm was slack, so it wasn't like she was actively trying to get away from him. He took that as a good sign. "How long are you going to—"

  "Until you think it is the right time to tell me the truth," she replied, then yanked her arm away and went to observe the street from the other side of the window, which was only six feet from him, but it might as well be the width of the world.

  Rey sighed, and his head fell. I would tell you everything right now if a dungeon opened up in this room.

  It wasn't like that wasn't a possibility. Dungeons could open anywhere and at anytime, but they were rare in Purgatory and much more common in Hell. They were concentrated in certain kingdoms, such as the Kingdom of Roads. There were some parts of that Kingdom where they were so common that you couldn't take four steps without being pulled into one.

  He stared at her and knew that if this went on for too long, he might lose her, but if he told her the truth without the safe sanctuary of a dungeon, he would lose her anyway. He'd officially painted himself into a corner with a jackhammer. Somehow, he found himself doing that a lot recently.

  "Why do you look like someone killed your cat?" Filomena called from behind him.

  "No, Aearbon is all right," Rey countered, making Ajay snort, but he had his eyes on Kassi, who didn't even crack a hint of a smile. Rey thought it was a good joke.

  "They're everywhere," Kassi stated, drawing them back to the problem at hand. "It looks like we're surrounded."

  "When are we not?" Filomena retorted as she came closer to the window to take a better look, which put her really close to Rey, and even then, Kassi didn't bother to move her eyes in their general direction.

  Since when have you become so secure about our relationship? Or does she not care at all?

  If you lose her, I swear, I'll snap your dick in half. Demon Rey threatened.

  Rey decided to put his personal problems aside and peered out the window at the small host of guards getting into position to give them a warm welcome. It felt like this thing would never end. They'd been in fight, after fight after fight for the past few days.

  It wasn't as if he was getting tired of it, but more like he wouldn't mind a Sunday off to think on the other things that were fucked up in his life, which was mainly everything else. He quickly used Identify on as many guards as he could and found that most were Rank 7, with some Rank 8 sprawled amongst them. He figured they were the leaders. The number was not nearly as significant as the ones they had faced in the ruins, but it was enough that they could pose a problem to them in the small, crowded street outside.

  They had also blocked both the exits, and there were a pair or a quartet of them waiting for them at every side alley, just waiting to greet them with their spears. Rey would honestly not even be concerned about them had he had his trusty weapon. There was only so much pokeing and stabbing he could do with his dagger in open combat. Back at the house in the ruins, they had enough refuge that he didn't need to worry about facing anyone in close-range combat.

  And this time, his head wasn't in the game. He wanted to curl up in a corner and have a pity party and cry to someone about why Kassi wasn't talking to him. Well, he knew why she wasn't, and he knew how to fix it, and if that shit-fucking, mother-humping dipshit wasn't watching them, it would be no trouble at all.

  "So, fight or flight?" Rey asked. Everyone, aside from Kassi, turned to stare at him. "What?"

  "You're asking whether we want to fight or run away," Filomena said. "You? Who has been so trigger-happy ever since he got into this city? You've been acting like the city is one big carnival game and you're trying to win the oversized prize."

  Now, everyone turned to look at her.

  "What?" She asked.

  Ajay placed a hand on her shoulder. "Babe, are you okay?"

  "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

  "Now, I mean this in the best way possible, but you sounded like Rey just now, with way less swearing."

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  "What the fuck?" she exclaimed when more than one person nodded.

  Rey grinned. "Maybe I've been rubbing off on you."

  He once again looked to Kassi, and there was not even a raised eyebrow or a mildly annoyed look. Nothing. She wasn't even looking his way. It was truly like she had just forgotten about him and moved on with her life. Or as if she cared so little about Rey that this didn't even warrant a look.

  Man, torturing one measly demon couldn't have caused this.

  Even Demon Rey was perplexed as he gave no bullshit opinion. Rey just sighed internally and drank his sorrows for now and focused on getting them out of here alive, one way or another.

  "Say that again, and I'll shock you with a million volts," the Sicilian snapped.

  Rey raised his hands. "Wait, you can do that already? Damn, you picked some nice skills."

  "How do you know what skills I can and cannot have?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Rey shrugged. "Because I almost picked this Element. See, how alike we are." Then burst out laughing at her rageful expression. "Just kidding. Okay, back to the question at hand, do you vote to fight or flee?"

  "A Baaghror never runs from a fight." Aearbon, of course.

  "I'm okay to run," Noidet added.

  "You don't get a vote," Rey said, making the demon sigh.

  "If we can avoid this fight this time, I'd be okay with that," Ajay said.

  "Same here," Filomena agreed.

  Kassi remained quiet.

  "Kass?" Filomena asked.

  "What is it?" She asked.

  Just about everyone threw awkward glances at Rey.

  "Do you think we should fight or run?" Filomena asked.

  "I think we should stay out of this fight, given that we barely made it out of the last one," she replied.

  "Well then, looks like we are fleeing this time," Rey declared. Truthfully, he wanted to run, too. This way, it'd look like he was listening to them as well. "Now, we just need to figure out how to get out of here. What is behind this house?"

  "More houses, I think," Noidet replied.

  Rey nodded. "Well, there is nothing to it. Everyone up to the second floor, and I'll make a hole in the wall, and we'll run out from there. "

  They climbed the ladder and went up to the second floor. Thankfully, Ajay and Filomena had brought up a torch before, so there was light. He walked to the far wall, which was made of thin bricks, and there were two ways he could go about this. He could use Repulsion and shoot the wall or the bricks one by one. Or he could use Attraction and pull them out one by one. The first way was faster but noisier. The second was more time-consuming but stealthier. Since they were running away, he chose stealth, this time.

  "Someone, keep an eye on the door," Rey said, and Aearbon took up position by the ladder. Rey looked to Noidet. "Do you know who lives in the next house over?"

  He shook his head.

  "Why aren't you friendly with your neighbors?" Rey asked.

  "Why would I need to know them? They don't even live on the same street."

  "Tch. Tch. Tch. We all know who the HOA is going to fine next."

  "What? There's a fine for not knowing your neighbors?" Noidet asked.

  "Oh yes, and a very severe one, especially if your neighbor is a Karen who won't appreciate us breaking through her wall. Maybe she'll take over your house, and then it's all water under the bridge."

  Noidet looked to the others for help, with an expression that said, 'Help! Rey is not making any sense again.'

  Rey snorted and got to work. He concentrated on one brick at a time. They shivered in place for a moment or two before flying to her hands. The concrete tried to fight him, but it always lost. Seeing as how the guards looked to be still setting up the trap, they had enough time to escape. Luckily, there were no demons on the second floor of the adjacent house.

  Everything was going great. He had cleared off half the wall when there came a knock on the door.

  "Shit!" Rey exclaimed. "Looks like Repulsion it is for the other half."

  He shot a Repulsion wave, and the remaining brick wall shot off, as if it were allergic to Rey. The wall blasted out toward the other wall, raising dust in the air. There was a startled scream from the other house.

  [+1 Magic Power]

  The banging on the door grew more intense, along with the shouts to open it, but the chair that blocked the door held it firmly in place. Rey motioned for everyone to move with a nod. Before leaving, he left a small Gravity Orb in the center of the room with fifty percent gravity. It drew in all the loose items around the room, like the chairs, table, and even the beds.

  Once the chair blocking the door loosened, the guards practically stumbled into the house and right into her Gravity Orb. Their screams started not long after that, as they were absorbed into the orb and crushed. He saw the notifications when he jumped off the second floor to join the others.

  [You killed a Demon (Exiled) – Rank 8]

  [You killed a Demon (Exiled) – Rank 7]

  [You killed a Demon (Exiled) – Rank 7]

  [+1 Magic Affinity]

  There was a pair of demons that were on top of each other doing the deed when Rey and his company landed in their house.

  He raised his hands. "Sorry about the disturbance. Pretend that we were never here. As you were, folks."

  They left the house, and Rey couldn't help himself. He started laughing at how awkward the girls felt. Kassi was literally red with embarrassment. She clearly had never seen porn before, and seeing the live version of it was clearly something they hadn't expected when they broke into their house.

  They were out on the street, which was much like the one that Noidet's house was on. The only thing was that no demons were waiting to ambush them. That made it as good as any other place where they weren't being hunted, which was pretty much non-existent in Hell. Even if they turned into demons, it wasn't like Hell was safe for them.

  "Now, where's your next hideout, Nidoran?" Rey asked.

  "That's not even close to my name," he grumbled. "I know of a place. Not really a hideout, but it's as close as we're going to get to a hideout. We can lie low there for a few days."

  "Lead the way then." Rey flourished a hand, smiling widely. He looked towards Kassi, and she showed no concern for his plight. She didn't know what she was doing to him. She turned and followed the Sniffer, and Rey followed as close as he could to Kassi, which meant he might as well be trailing a hundred feet behind her.