As Vlad continued clearing out the remaining hordes in the forest, everyone returned to Adam, celebrating their successful victory. The evolved humans, confident in their newfound strength, believed the civilization was now safe.
Suddenly, Vlad's body was violently thrown to the ground near Adam and the others. Vlad, a powerful demon, being treated like a ragdoll was completely unexpected. A figure walked over, holding Vlad's head by the hair.
"Don't make any movement. I've calculated a defensive measure to fight it off," Lyra whispered via neuro-link, her voice urgent.
"We're unsure of its abilities. However, the scan shows that it's more powerful than a special variant. It has the signature of evolving into a demon."
As the figure walked closer, Vlad was seen smiling, even as he was held by his hair. "It caught me by surprise," he said via neuro-link. "It can solidify my body, making me unable to liquefy and merge back. Don't worry, it can't kill me."
"So you're the one causing problems for Serbas," the figure said, then tossed Vlad's head onto the ground near Adam. "Don't move!" she commanded, and everyone became instantly paralyzed.
"I'm Jennifer, as you can see, I can kill every one of you. However, Serbas has only one instruction for me, so I don't need to do anything else. So I'm letting you go." Jennifer walked closer, scrutinizing everyone.
Suddenly, from behind, Azrael slashed Jennifer in half with his scythe, her body dropping to the ground.
Jennifer looked at Azrael, licking her lips. "What a beautiful boy. I wonder if Serbas knows about you."
Before Azrael could slice her again, chains began emerging around him as another man appeared, pulling Azrael to the ground.
"You let your guard down, Jennifer. This boy would be a good present for Serbas and make him become a demon as well," Duncan said.
"Leave the boy alone, Duncan. He is still a child," Jennifer retorted as her body re-merged.
Another demon appeared from a black fog. "We are free to do whatever we want. So just take the boy, Duncan," Waylen said.
"I'm planning to. This would give me a better ranking from Serbas. If anyone wants the boy, you need to get through me, and that includes you, Waylen," Duncan challenged.
Adam quickly coded the ground, causing all three demons to suddenly disappear with the very earth they stood on. Everyone was freed from the demon's spell and could move. Adam broke apart the chains holding Azrael, changing their code with Codex. As their mana was removed, the chains became brittle.
Azrael broke free, as adam is looking up at the sky. Lyra shot her spears, thousands of them moving quickly into the sky. A black mist formed as the spears pierced through the black fog. As it cleared, the three demons had vanished from sight. Lyra's scan showed that they were no longer within the radius. Adam and Lyra watched the mana disappear in the mist, teleporting them away.
"Whatever their purpose was, they got what they wanted," Adam said.
"What would they want?" Johan asked.
"Vlad's blood. That's their goal," Azrael stated.
"It seems Serbas is experimenting with the special variants and further evolving them," Lyra informed, piecing together the information.
"If those demons are further evolutions of special variants, Vlad's blood may actually be some key Serbas needs to unlock an evolution line."
"So the war we fought was just a distraction for their main goal of getting Vlad's blood?!" Adam exclaimed, realizing the gravity of the situation. Serbas had outplayed him twice, demonstrating his cunning tactics. Adam informed everyone as he needed time to think. Lyra gave instructions to return to their camps to rest, as they needed to figure out Serbas's actual plan before it was too late.