The portal behind them fizzled into darkness, and silence settled across the scorched realm. Ash danced through the air like burnt snow, and the cracked obsidian ground beneath their feet pulsed faintly, glowing as if hiding fire just beneath its surface.
Kayla and Layla stepped forward.
"I don't like this place…" Kayla muttered.
"I don't either but this is where she likes to hang out," Layla replied cautiously.
They moved through the darkness until a familiar presence stopped them cold.
Lilith.
She stood waiting, motionless, wrapped in regal stillness. Her white dress floated just above the charred stone, impossibly clean. Her long black hair shimmered like oil under the crimson sky. Crimson eyes pierced through the haze, locked on them.
"So?" she said smoothly. "How'd it go?"
Kayla tried to sound casual. "It was fun. Where are we going next?"
"Child's play," Layla added with a cocky grin. "Still don't know why you wanted us to destroy that place."
Lilith tilted her head, the faintest shadow of amusement brushing her lips.
"The reason isn't important. What about the Velari?"
Kayla snorted. "The kid? He's not even worth your time."
"Doesn't sound like you killed him."
"A low-level demon could kill him," Layla said, brushing a finger against her torn sleeve. "So I left after I kicked his ass."
Lilith paused.
"Hmm… I see."
Then the world changed.
The very air collapsed on them. A suffocating weight fell from nowhere, pressing their bodies downward. The stone beneath their knees cracked with the force. The playful arrogance on their faces drained in an instant.
"Ma'am?" Layla whispered, dread crawling up her spine.
Lilith didn't move. Her eyes stayed cold.
Then came her voice.
"KNEEL."
It wasn't yelled. It didn't need to be.
The command tore through the air like thunder, reverberating through their bones. The ground cracked beneath them as they dropped instantly, crushed by the force behind that one word. Fear gripped them completely.
A black shadow fell from the sky—fast and heavy.
Hallel landed before them like a meteor, stone splintering outward in waves from his impact. His presence made the very world feel wrong. The twins dared not lift their eyes.
"Welcome back, Hallel, my lord," Lilith said without a flicker of emotion.
Hallel ignored her, his glare pinned directly to the two groveling before him.
"Did I hear you correctly?" he asked, voice low and dangerous. "You ignored a direct order?"
Silence.
They sat frozen, terrified even to breathe wrong.
"Answer me, brat!" he barked.
"I—I didn't think you would—" Layla started, but before the sentence finished, the pressure increased again.
Her body hit the stone hard, flattened by an invisible weight.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed in pain.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Hallel snapped. "You forget your place, child!"
"I'm sorry!" she cried.
Kayla immediately bowed, hands to the ground. "My lord, please forgive her. I can tell you what happened if it pleases you."
"You are in no position to make requests," Hallel said coldly. "Your position as Ashen Crown is the only reason you're still alive right now, and I consider that grace. Don't you?"
"Yes, my lord," Kayla whispered, terrified.
"DON'T YOU?!" Hallel roared, and the pressure on Layla intensified again.
"YES MY LORD!" she screamed through the pain.
Hallel stepped toward her and finally released the weight. Layla gasped, her body twitching.
"You will tell me what happened to that Velari. Now speak."
Hallel loomed above her, unmoving.
Layla hesitated, her voice catching. "We attacked him like we were told and—"
"Morvella." Lilith's voice sliced through the moment.
A shadow slithered across the ground like smoke before forming into a massive demonic arm. It reached up and slammed Kayla into the stone by the face.
"That command was directed at Layla. Who told you to speak?" Lilith asked calmly.
Kayla groaned, dazed. Layla tried to speak but stumbled.
"We… I just—"
"You're pissing me off," Hallel snapped, summoning his death ax.
With one massive swing, he cleaved through the ground, launching a wave of force that sent Layla flying. She crashed back down hard.
Before she could recover, he appeared behind her and slammed his ax into her back, driving her into the stone.
"I SAID SPEAK!" Hallel barked, landing beside her again.
Broken and bloodied, Layla pushed herself to her knees, coughing. She finally told him everything.
"So you willfully ignored orders!" Hallel growled, his voice a jagged blade echoing across the scorched realm.
"No, my lord! You misunderstand—"
"I misunderstood nothing!" he roared.
A violent surge of energy erupted from his body, dark and suffocating. He began walking toward her, each step heavier than the last.
"My lord—please have mercy! I will obey you, please!" Layla begged, her body trembling under the weight of his presence.
"My love," Lilith's voice cut through the rising fury like silk over steel.
Hallel turned, scowling. "What, woman?!"
"Why don't you let me handle this?" she said smoothly. "It's only fair, considering I gave the order."
Hallel paused, the fire still dancing in his eyes. Then he lowered his ax.
"Fine."
Lilith stepped forward, her expression unreadable.
"Layla."
"Yes, ma'am?" Layla's voice was small, uncertain.
"Choose a body part."
"I'm sorry?" Her confusion was instant, genuine.
But Lilith didn't repeat herself.
Without warning, a massive demonic arm erupted from the ground and punched Layla's shoulder with such force that it vaporized the entire limb. Only the upper half remained.
"Aaaaagggghhhh!" she screamed, crumpling to the ground, blood spraying across the stone.
"Don't make me repeat myself," Lilith said, her voice flat and bored.
"Leg, ma'am!" Layla shouted instinctively, pain distorting her voice.
"Good. Grab her."
Morvella, now towering and monstrous, reached out and seized Kayla by the leg.
"Ma'am, wait—please!" Layla cried, her eyes wide with horror.
"You said a leg, right? Then a leg it shall be," Lilith replied with a twisted smile.
RIP.
The sound echoed across the realm. Morvella tore Kayla's right leg clean off, and her scream followed—a raw, piercing shriek that cut through even the heavy air.
"Ma'am—please!" Layla sobbed.
A black ax slammed into the ground beside her, the impact shaking the earth.
"You speak out of turn again and I'll kill you," Hallel warned coldly.
"Yes, my lord," she whispered, her entire body shaking. They're stopping her from healing herself… This is bad. This is very bad.
"Layla," Lilith said again.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Pick another body part," she said, her grin widening.
Layla stared down, barely able to speak. Her voice broke.
"Arm, ma'am."
"You heard her," Lilith said to Morvella without emotion.
Another violent rip.
Morvella wrenched off Kayla's left arm.
"PLEASE STOP! I'M BEGGING YOU!" Kayla shrieked, her cries echoing far into the blackened skies.
Layla dropped her head, clutching the stump of her shoulder, tears streaming down her face.
"Please… I'll do anything… just spare her…"
Lilith crouched beside her, her voice soft and slow—like poison dripping from a glass.
"Oh, Layla… your loyalty touches my heart. Truly. But do you think loyalty alone is enough to erase failure?"
She rose slowly, each word laced with a deeper threat.
"So let's try this again."
Layla's breath caught.
"Layla?"
Please not again, she thought.
"I'll make a deal with you."
"Yes, ma'am?" she answered quickly, barely able to breathe.
Lilith's aura darkened—ominous, suffocating.
"Layla… Kayla… as of this moment, you two have been demoted to Ashenborn. I expect you to strive for your rank back so let me make this simple for you."
Her voice dropped, sharp and final.
"Either you bring me that Velari's head…"
She turned her back, her silhouette outlined against the fire-drenched sky.
"…or you bring me both of yours."
Silence fell, choking and absolute.
"Do you understand?"
"Yes! Understood, ma'am!" Layla shouted, desperation cracking her voice.
"Perfect. Put her down."
Morvella dropped Kayla's mangled body without care, letting it fall like discarded garbage.
"You have a week," Lilith said, her voice already fading as she walked away. "Now get out of my face and take your sister with you."
"Yes, ma'am."
Layla limped to Kayla's side, her remaining arm trembling as she touched her sister's bloodied face. With what strength she had left, she formed a portal of swirling shadow—and vanished into it, taking Kayla with her.
The black portal ripped open in the center of a ruined sanctuary. The moment Kayla and Layla emerged, their broken forms collapsed to the stone floor beneath them, gasping and bloodied. They looked up slowly—confused.
The space around them resembled a forgotten church. The ceilings were high and cracked, stained glass warped and shattered, and broken pews littered the shadowed chamber.
But it wasn't empty.
Two figures stood waiting near the altar.
Layla's eyes widened.
"Where…." she started, then gasped. "Killian, sir?!"
The tall man before them turned slightly, his pale lips curling into a smirk. His long coat drifted behind him like tattered scripture pages, and his red eyes glowed with quiet malice.
"I see they beat the respect into you," Killian said coolly. "Or is it because you consider us friends now, hmm?"
"It's your status as one of the Covenants," Layla replied quickly, forcing herself upright. "I must show you respect."
"So respect, then. Hmm?" Killian said, tilting his head. "Got it. Must've been some beating and I heard you got demoted. How unfortunate."
"Please, sir… Why did you bring us here? This wasn't the location I picked," Layla asked, eyeing him warily.
"I just wanted to help," Killian said casually—and then, to their shock, he knelt down.
A soft red glow wrapped around his hands. In seconds, both Kayla and Layla's wounds vanished. Their severed limbs reformed in glowing spirals of demonic energy. Their breath returned. Their strength, restored.
He rose to his feet again, still smiling.
"I want you to be at your very best when you fail," he said. "That way, it'll be more enjoyable watching Lilith take your life."
"You bastard!" Layla snapped, clenching her fists.
"There's the disrespect I like," Killian replied, clearly amused. Then his expression darkened slightly. "And fair warning."
He snapped his fingers. A swirling portal opened behind them.
"Your death won't save you from Lilith's wrath. She'll follow you to hell if she has to."
He stepped forward and, without another word, shoved both of them into the portal.
It snapped shut behind them.
Silence returned to the ruined church. Dust drifted through crimson light from the cracked windows.
Killian stood alone for a moment before letting out a low chuckle.
"Things are getting interesting, hmm."
He turned and walked toward the exit, boots echoing across the stone.
"Let's go, Tahini."
"Coming, my lord," came the soft reply as the second figure—cloaked in black and crimson veils—followed behind into the darkness.