The siblings had exited through the back of The Hive. Before leaving, they saw Big Bull and the others being stripped of their money and dragged out by the club's guards. Himika took advantage of the commotion to change quickly.
She swapped the seductive space-themed outfit for something far more discreet: a simple black handbag and a long beige trench coat that covered her from head to toe, hiding the exotic purple skin of the former heroine. She caught up to them at the rear door.
They followed the dancer through the foul-smelling alley and onto the main street, walking behind her in silence. The city's nightlife was lively—too lively—but decadent, polluted, and dangerous. They walked a long distance, carefully avoiding alleyways; even the ones lit by streetlamps radiated danger to their demonic senses.
"Katherine-san and I agree this is a bad idea, Onii-sama," Catherine murmured, her voice a taut whisper slicing through the night wind. They walked a few steps behind Mina, instinctively forming a protective rearguard around Devyus. "It is neither prudent nor intelligent to accept help from a dancer you met less than an hour after the first civilian tried to rob us."
Devyus did not reply immediately. His eyes, hidden deep in the shadows, followed the young woman guiding them. Was she a companion? He was unsure. The word was both unfamiliar and strangely compelling.
"Onee-sama is correct," Katherine added, adjusting her glasses with a precise motion that betrayed her anxiety. "Based on the data I've gathered, this action contradicts 92% of our established security protocols. Additionally, given the events of the last 24 hours, the probability of this being a calculated trap rises to 34.7%. And I hate when I am right."
Devyus came to a stop, making both sisters freeze as well. His gaze never left Mika.
"Look at her," he commanded, his voice low but bearing an authority that silenced further protest. "Look beyond the flesh."
The sisters obeyed. Their feline pupils contracted, and the mundane world dissolved under their demonic vision.
They no longer saw just a girl in a worn-out coat and scuffed leather boots.
They saw her aura.
A chaotic and mesmerizing manifestation.
A deep blackness—ten years of pain, betrayal, and loneliness—coiling around her spirit like a strangling serpent.
But at the center of that darkness pulsed something astonishing:
A vibrant, luminous pink light, pure and fiercely powerful, breaking through the shadows in jagged, overwhelming bursts—like a lighthouse fighting its way through suffocating fog.
That kind of light—
that tenacity—
in a place as rotten as this city…
shocked them.
"What does it mean, Onii-sama?" they asked almost at the same time, their skepticism momentarily overtaken by raw curiosity.
Devyus did not answer immediately.
This was not the first time he had seen an aura like that. In other dimensions—worlds where hope was more common—he had witnessed it. But here, in this reality, in his dimension, it was extraordinarily rare.
So rare that even the auras of his Nine Captains—the strongest warriors under his command—lacked that particular, stubborn brilliance. It was the essence of a fallen hero—but not a broken one. A purity possessed by very, very few.
There were good-hearted people, yes.
But once they touched the dark, their aura twisted or vanished.
Then there were others, like his captains—especially Tsubaki—whose auras shifted depending on their convictions, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. But for his captains, the darkness did not vanish nor change shape; it was a principle, an identity that refused to be altered.
Himika's light was different.
A light that refused to die.
"We're here," Himika interrupted, stopping and pointing toward a narrow alley that looked like an infected scar between decaying buildings.
The three demons stared at the place with open disbelief. The air smelled of rot and humidity, echoing the scene with the orange-haired girl—only worse. This alley was deeper, darker, more desolate.
The ex-heroine shrugged at their expressions, an awkward, slightly embarrassed smile tugging her lips.
"I know it looks bad, but my place is up there," she explained, pointing upward.
High above, almost invisible, hung an ancient fire escape—rusted, unstable, leading toward the top of a deserted building. It had seen better days. It would take too long to climb, and it definitely wouldn't hold all three of them safely.
The siblings exchanged confused glances.
Devyus simply nodded.
"I guess we can wait for one of us to climb and signal, or try to check how much that thi—"
She didn't finish.
Strong arms slid beneath her legs and back, lifting her cleanly from the ground in one smooth, effortless motion. Mika let out a startled gasp, her cheeks flushing a brilliant pink as she found herself held like a princess in Devyus's arms.
"Sisters," he said, holding Mika securely.
"Yes, Onii-sama?" they responded in unison, immediately shifting into alert stances, scanning the alley for threats.
"What are you doing?" Himika stammered, embarrassment and confusion warring in her voice.
Before Devyus could reply, a blast of cold air struck her.
He bent his knees—and with explosive power, launched upward.
The world blurred into neon light and shadow. Wind howled past them as they rose in a gravity-defying arc, leaving the filthy alley behind. In less than a heartbeat, his boots touched the concrete rooftop fifty stories above.
He set Mika down gently. She remained still for a moment—dizzy, overwhelmed—as the city sprawled beneath them.
Minutes later, two more figures emerged.
Catherine arrived in a graceful leap, landing in a feline crouch.
Katherine appeared in a blink, glasses flashing with reflected city light.
Three demonic gazes turned toward the door.
What waited behind it was not a home.
It was a past that still breathed.
"If you've reached this far… thank you for walking through Devyus's silence."
"Your thoughts matter — even one word helps me keep building this world."
© 2025 D.S.V.
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