Daniel's voice—once dull, now weighed with a strange sense of caution. His eyes appeared uneasy, and suddenly, he was on edge.
"Joshua…"
"What?"
"There's an Owl on your shoulder."
"...!"
Upon hearing his words, my head swerved to my left in one swift motion. When I saw nothing, my gaze darted to the right.
Yet, there was still nothing.
Was he messing around with me?
"There's…no owl.." I muttered, feeling my built-up tension dissolve quickly. I expected Daniel to admit my words and chuck it up as a random (uncalled) joke. But he didn't say anything.
In fact, he looked even more tense.
"Just stay where you are…" he whispered, slowly pushing his right leg backwards. His right hand clenched tightly unto his cross, whilst his other one pulled out his rosary.
Daniel's eyes were fixed on me, and I nearly felt swallowed up in his stare.
Was he still joking around?
"Urmm…"
He was taking a battle stance, and I could see blue rays of light rising from his cross. Daniel was muttering words that I couldn't hear, and his lips were moving faster than I could read.
Silently, he made a prayer. And immediately, he charged at me.
Eh..?!
My reflexes kicked at me, and I threw my weight backwards, kicking up dust ahead. In that single second of movement, I saw a blue line shoot up from beneath, splitting through the empty space.
The space that I once stood in.
Daniel's first of his twin swords slashed upwards, leaving a streak of blue light that formed a thin arc. It rose from the position where my waist was.
"What are you-?"
My legs staggered backwards, but I managed to restore footing with my left leg. I swung my arms out at him, waving in retreat.
But he didn't stop.
"I TOLD YOU TO STAY STILL!" He screamed, and his voice was a lot heavier than usual. Veins bulged from all over his face, connecting like raging channels, and his expressionless gaze was broken asunder in an instant.
Daniel lowered his body even more and lunged at me, wielding two blue swords that glowed in divine energy. As he moved, a streak was left by the two swords that he held, forming two straight lines behind him.
He reached my position very quickly—albeit too quickly.
As it was too late to react, I raised both arms and tried blocking, flexing all muscles in my forearm at once.
Daniel stopped right before me, and slashed at my shoulders.
"Tch!"
I expected an impact—but I got none.
"….."
Suddenly, Daniel screamed.
"KARGH!"
The Crusader that once bolted at me…was now hurtling backwards at an intense speed.
A huge gust of wind slashed at my face, causing my hair to flutter wildly. It happened the moment I lowered my arms, and the sight that met my eyes was twice as shocking as Daniel's sudden barrage of attacks.
I could see a red trail of blood escaping his mouth as he went. You would think he had lost his consciousness, but he was still firmly gripping his twin swords.
What attacked him?
After rolling a few metres away, Daniel managed to get to his feet. I could now see his rosary, circling rapidly over one of his swords. However, if there was something else that drew my attention—it was the screaming in his eyes.
His mouth was opened down, and his eyes looked bloodshot. From the distance that he now was, it would be impossible for him to attack me as quickly as earlier…but….
The problem was that he wasn't trying to. Rather, he seemed to be screaming at me with every fiber of his being.
At that moment, time seemed to stop.
Everything started to move slowly under my eyes. Footsteps echoed, and inaudible screaming appeared audible—like a grave warning from a fear-stricken observer. Daniel was running as fast as he could, but he appeared slow to me.
When he drew closer, I realised he wasn't looking at me—but beyond me. Further past my position, holes were definitely drilled from how hardly he was staring.
Why?
What's wrong?
What's behind me?
I was curious to know—oddly undisturbed by the sudden intensity of the atmosphere. I was calm, and I couldn't explain why.
In truth, I was simply too slow.
Too slow to notice. Too slow to observe. And too slow to react.
I turned to look backwards. But my movements were even slower than Daniel's. My head tilted over my neck at such speed that it could be likened to a snail's. My heart, once beating slowly, began to pace up. My mind, once calm, began to harbour unease. It creeped into—no, it rushed into my heart…but somehow…it was slow.
And then, past the screaming, past the fear, past the echoes, past the ominous feeling, past the unveiling yet unrecognised despair…was 'it'.
Ba-dum!
My heartbeat was especially loud at that moment.
When I saw the demon, my heart seemed to stop. It froze in my chest, and it felt like it had been replaced by a rock.
Standing at 8 feet, it grinned at me.
.....
"....."
As if petrified, I stood still, head turned, eyes locked.
The demon was sentient—I could tell. From the disturbingly familiar sense of hunger in his eyes, the knowing grin on its face, and the unmoving stare that chained me to my position, I knew, definitely, that it reasoned.
And its form was terrific.
'Its?'
He easily towered over me, yet there was no shadow. His frame blotted out the sunlight yet I had only noticed.
How long did he stand there?
Shadows that writhed formed his body. They moved like dark, unsteady streams. However, it was a hundred times more abhorrent to my eyes, than that of any demon I had seen.
Faces, many of them. The shadows would move erratically and create humanoid faces—different shapes, different ages, and different people. The visages were birthed with disturbing precision. To my horror, their expressions were one and constant.
It spelt terror. 'They' spelt terror.
The faces appeared all over his body, leaving only its actual face and the center of his chest—where an owl was lodged.
The head of an owl stuck out from his chest, with the rest of its body completely submerged in that shadowy pool—in that…dark Hades.
I saw flesh..barely. But it appeared eroded. From the neck of the owl downwards, all that met my glimpse was decaying flesh, and a bare skeletal structure. Yet the owl was alive.
It blinked.
My eyes were still locked with the demon's—the several eyes that stared down at me. Aside the large number of milky white eyes, and the wide grin that exposed serrated fangs…there wasn't more to its face.
Yet, it was terrifying. Very terrifying.
How long was I going to watch?
I had to fight this thing!
Fight?
Ba-dum!
My body trembled.
I could feel the quake getting louder and louder. At some point, anyone would be able to tell that I was shaken.
Fear. It suffocated me.
Ba-dum!
It looked like my world was steadily running to a slow but sure end. And when I almost lost myself in fear, Daniel screamed at me.
"GET OUT OF THERE!"
"NOW!"
"...!"
Daniel suddenly sliced past my blind spot. And in that instant, he pushed me away.
…..
I watched.
Unable to move, I watched.
My body felt like it was paralysed, so much that even while I fell, it refused to move. My reflexes were nowhere to be found either.
I watched. And they clashed.
Twin swords and dark claws smited each other in equal amounts of brute force. Sparks were sent flying, and the demon—now actively attacking, was bearing its weight down on Daniel's swords.
The battle had begun.