I took a step back in shock, feeling the gaping hole in my chest.

  “Conrad!” The paladin prompted, readying his weapons.

  “Aspects hear my call, War magic, Greater Fury!” The wizard chanted, raising his wand.

  Tyrien glowed with a similar red aura to my Willing Host class skill, then charged forward while casting his own skill.

  [Holy Slash]

  His sword swung, illuminating the room with a glorious glow as it cascaded towards one of the stone angels. A lance of pure light met the blade, exploding with powerful energy. The second stone angel flew towards Conrad, but he was too fast.

  [Greater Lightning Bolt]

  The roar of thunder echoed through the room as pure electricity raced from the wizard's wand towards the angel. It deflected the bolt easily, but wasn’t prepared for the second bolt that Conrad had sent directly afterwards. It struck the angel, pushing it a few feet back through the air.

  [Get up, loser.] Joshua said.

  I… I can’t. That attack was too strong…

  [Then let me fight!]

  You’re gonna kill them.

  [Either that or we all die.]

  The angel that Tyrien was fighting slowly overwhelmed him, growing faster and faster with every movement as it slammed its lance of light against the paladin’s shield with unbridled fury. Tyrien faltered, his guard falling, and it seemed like the angel’s attacks were about to breach his defences…

  [Mana Shield]

  Conrad’s face twisted in concentration as a shimmering blue shield appeared, deflecting the angel's strike.

  “Thanks!” Tyrien called gratefully, dashing back to stand directly in front of the wizard.

  “Are you gonna do something, demon?!” The wizard yelled in frustration as the two angels began to converge on their position.

  I can’t use Greater Fire Spirit, its HP cost is too high…

  [Let me out.]

  Do not harm those two. I swear to god…

  [FINE!] Joshua roared.

  [Parasitic Manifestation]

  Joshua appeared, wasting no time as he disappeared in a blur. He slammed a claw into an angel’s arm, severing it from its body. The arm crashed into the ground, shattering into pieces like a glass cup. The attack gave me a burst of HP, and I could feel the wound in my chest slowly closing. Azazel joined the parasite, flying forward and distracting the angel with a flurry of teeth and claws.

  [Blood Chain]

  A red chain appeared from the shoulder of the angel, now missing its left arm. Joshua pulled, sending the angel careening towards Tyrien. The paladin readied his shield, activating another skill.

  [Holy Guard]

  The shield glowed, and Tyrien braced for impact. The stone angel slammed into the shield with a loud crack, shattering into fragments that shot out in every direction. Fragments flew towards Conrad, who easily protected himself with a second mana shield.

  “Nice work, demon!” Tyrien yelled towards Joshua, perhaps not understanding the true nature of my skill. Joshua scoffed, but then was suddenly impaled through the chest with a spear of light.

  “You fucking bitch!” The parasite screamed in rage as he was hoisted into the air by the stone angel.

  I had regained just enough HP to move, and I summoned my Greater Fire Spirit, which flew forward and began to chuck bolts of fire at the angel. The stone statue was forced to hold up its off hand to deflect the attacks, which gave Tyrien and Conrad an opening. The paladin leapt forward, slamming his glowing blade into the arm holding Joshua in the air. The clone of me fell to the ground, coughing blood onto the pristine floor below. Conrad fired off a final bolt of lightning, striking the angel directly in the chest. Azazel joined the assault, slamming his tiny body into the angel's back. It succumbed to the combined attacks, falling next to Joshua and bursting into shards of rock.

  I breathed a sigh of relief, my HP slowly recovering from my innate regeneration.

  “Everyone alright?” Tyrien called out. Conrad and I nodded affirmatively. The pair of humans procured two red potions from thin air, tilting their heads back and drinking the contents in one motion.

  “Are you… healing?” Conrad asked, inspecting the wound in my chest that had almost fully closed.

  “A perk of being a demon,” I replied brightly, slowly getting up.

  However, at the same time, Joshua rose, then turned his gaze evilly towards the wizard. “You. You annoy me. I think I’ll—”

  His sentence never finished, my claws sinking deeply into the already injured parasite's chest. “I don’t think so," I said casually.

  Joshua coughed, his form slowly withering away as both of our HP pools lowered from the friendly fire. “Carter! You little—!” Joshua raged, clawing desperately at my hand before finally disappearing.

  [Couldn't you at least let me fight him a little?]

  No.

  [God, why couldn’t I have been reincarnated as Luminarch’s parasite instead!] Joshua shouted.

  The wizard looked shaken by the sudden killing intent he had faced from my parasite, then hesitantly showed his gratitude. “Uh, thanks? I guess?”

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  “No problem!” I replied.

  “What kind of skill is that?” Tyrien said curiously.

  “Oh, think of it like an alter ego.”

  “Alter… ego?” Conrad said slowly, mulling over the words.

  [The Aspect of Mercy has granted you access! You may now enter!]

  The massive stone gate opened, revealing a long white corridor and a second gate at the other end.

  “Shall we?” I asked. The pair of humans looked around nervously, searching for any more murderous angels, before eventually following behind me. We made our way down the corridor, reaching the entrance to the next room. I pushed the door open, the four of us filing in before it slammed shut behind us. We found ourselves in a room nearly identical to the one before it.

  “Uh, are we gonna need that…?” Tyrien asked.

  “I haven’t had visitors in many, many years.” A new voice interjected. It was an almost carbon copy of the angelic being I had met back in Mount Boom, Seraphael. Her voice felt like smooth silk enveloping my ears as her warm glow illuminated our faces in a wash of golden light.

  “How are you here?” Conrad said in awe.

  “I’m not, at least, not really.” The angel explained, “This is simply a fragment of my soul, placed here to guard over my Sanctum here on Terra.”

  “We seek your blessing, Seraphael,” Tyrien said.

  “And you may earn it, but you must complete my trial first.”

  “That being?” I inquired. The Aspect smiled, then faded away in a shimmer of golden light without answering. Then, a massive trap door opened up, and a snarling monster appeared from the floor itself.

  The animal was a strange amalgamation of fire and lion. A mane of pure golden flames surrounded its neck, standing on all four legs, at least twice the size of Fang. Two huge teeth poked from its jaw, similar to a sabertooth tiger. It had massive muscled limbs that looked like they could tear my head from my body with a single swipe, and its white fur glowed with power. Golden armour clad the animal's body, encasing its limbs and back with lightened metal.

  “Conrad! We gotta get outta here! We can’t beat that thing!” Tyrien shouted, voice stricken with fear. I turned, seeing the widened eyes of the two humans who were slowly backing away.

  It doesn’t seem that scary…

  [Watch out!] Joshua suddenly screamed.

  The Ashmane opened its jaw, sending a torrent of fire straight towards my body. I barely had time to react, throwing myself to the side in a desperate attempt to avoid being burned to a crisp. I was only barely successful, the flames singeing my magma leggings as I landed on the ground.

  “Demon! We need to retreat! That beast is too much for us to handle—” Conrad started, but the lion-like creature suddenly appeared behind him, slashing a meaty paw towards his body. Tyrien jumped forward, only barely able to deflect the attack with his shield, but he was subsequently sent flying into one of the four marble pillars holding up the room. He landed hard, rubble falling all around him.

  [You need to stall until Parasitic Manifestation is ready.]

  How am I gonna last ten minutes against this thing?!

  [You got this.] Joshua replied sarcastically.

  I activated my claws, rushing forward to try and land a hit on the creature, but it disappeared in an instant, and suddenly I was careening towards a wall, cracking the stone as I landed with a heavy thud. Azazel leapt from my shoulder, charging towards the beast with a blue aura enveloping his frame, but was casually swatted aside. He landed heavily on the opposite side of the room, his breathing slowing to become shallow gasps.

  Why is the Aspect of ‘Mercy’ having us fight so much?

  I recalled the monster info panel. It had said the animal was ‘typically friendly’, but then why was it attacking?

  [You need to move!] Joshua warned.

  Without even looking, I rolled to the side, a massive fireball crashing into the wall beside me. A crack of lightning shot from Conrad's wand, but the Ashmane effortlessly dodged it in the blink of an eye.

  There!

  A small obsidian blade was lodged in the side of the creature, tendrils of shadow cascading from its point, similar to the skill Lunarius had used back in the arena.

  Maybe it just has a boo boo?

  [Who cares?! Just kill the fucking thing!]

  No, that can’t be the solution…

  Tyrien slammed his shield into the side of the Ashmane, but the powerful creature barely even moved, opening its massive jaw and biting down on the paladin’s arm. Tyrien yelped in pain, dropping his shield to the ground and stumbling backwards.

  Conrad began to cast another spell, but I interrupted him with a shout. “Wait! I don’t think we need to fight it!”

  “What are you talking about?! We’re gonna die, you idiot!”

  “We need to get that dagger out of its side!” I yelled back, pointing towards the blackened blade embedded in the Ashmane.

  “Hurry up, you guys!” Tyrien shouted in fear, stumbling backwards on all fours as the Ashmane slowly crept towards him.

  [Summon Greater Fire Spirit]

  The wisp of fire burst forth, but rather than commanding it to attack, I positioned it directly in front of the Ashmane. The creature stared at the spirit, then it paused. Its molten eyes flickered, not with rage, but with confusion.

  I took my chance, running forward and sliding against the ground like I was rounding home base. The Ashmane started to turn its head…

  “Here kitty kitty,” Conrad suddenly cooed, catching on to what I was doing. “That's right, we don’t wanna hurt you, just look at me.” His voice shook with fear as he continued to distract the beast.

  I grabbed the hilt of the small blade, wrenching it from the beast's side as I slid beneath it. The moment it left the creature's flesh, a wave of pressure burst outward, the blackened energy snaking across its fur suddenly disappearing. It let out a roar of pain, a deep, guttural bellow that shook the ground beneath us.

  It turned to face me.

  The Ashmane bowed its head, then returned to the small platform it had arrived on, sitting back like a happy dog. I approached the creature, gently stroking its fur, which burned with intensity, although my natural resistance to fire helped quell the pain.

  “There, there, you aren’t so bad, just in pain, right?” I said softly, and the Ashmane pushed its massive head into my palm, closing its eyes and purring gratefully. Conrad and Tyrien nervously approached, glancing warily at the creature that had nearly killed us. Azazel returned to my shoulder, gingerly leaning his injured body against my neck.

  Then, the remnant of Seraphael slowly reappeared. “Congratulations! As the Aspect of Mercy, I may have a… biased perspective on things, but one thing is for sure: Your enemy will always have justification for their actions, if unreasonable at times.” She paused, smiling knowingly at the four of us. “Understanding one's motivations before making judgment… well, that is the very essence of mercy.” She extended her arms, a second platform rising from the center of the room. This time, rather than a terrifying monster, a glowing item appeared.

  [You have completed the Mercy Aspect’s Trial!]

  “It can’t be…” Conrad said in awe, staring at the shining item.

  “I know this is what we were after, but to think that it's real…” Tyrien added, his tone mirroring that of his companion.

  My eyes widened in shock as I read the item's description, and I knew I had to obtain it, no matter what the cost.