Evan spent the day with his hands and feet bound as Isaac peppered him with questions. He answered with half-truths, enough to satisfy the man without giving him anything useful or making himself a bigger problem.
He had no idea how much time had passed since entering the strange Rift, but one thing was certain: the night he entered was long gone. For all he knew, it could already be the next day, or even the one after that. He could already imagine Hye-jin screaming at him if he ever made it out. Still, he had a plan, although he had no idea whether it would work. It was a gamble that could cost him his life and the children theirs. He could only hope his luck held out a little longer.
At least Isaac didn't spend every waking moment hovering over him. Most of his time was devoted to preparing for the sacrificial ritual. He climbed up and down the tower carrying materials, worked at his alchemical bench, and disappeared to the upper floors for hours at a time.
The books and alchemical instruments scattered throughout the workshop made one thing obvious: Isaac was a genius. It was a shame that someone so brilliant had become a madman. Whether he had always been like this or had been corrupted by the Demonic Artifact, Evan couldn't say. For now, all he could do was wait and see what the man had planned. Eventually, boredom lulled him to sleep. When he opened his eyes again, Isaac was dragging him up the stairs.
"Are you starting the ritual?" Evan asked. "Want me to monitor it for you? I can give you some tips."
Isaac ignored him and kept dragging him upward.
"You do know you can just remove my foot bindings and I can walk on my own, right? Look at you already huffing and sweating."
His only answer was silence.
On the rooftop, Evan found a ritual circle already drawn across the stone floor. The wyvern sat at its center, unbothered by the bound, crying children scattered across the outer nodes.
"Brother Evan!" Tyler shouted as he saw Isaac dragging Evan.
"You two know each other?" Isaac asked.
"Yeah," Evan said without bothering to lie.
"And here I thought you were here out of curiosity," Isaac said with a mocking smile.
"Can’t it be both?" Evan replied with a smirk of his own.
Isaac answered by dropping Evan at the top glyph of the ritual circle. Unlike the smaller glyphs where the children were placed, the one beneath Evan was larger, positioned just beside the central circle where the young wyvern sat.
"The seat of honor," Isaac said. "Since you are so proud of your work, I figured you would enjoy participating in it."
"Are you crazy?!" Evan shouted. "I have been very helpful to you, and this is how you repay me?!"
"As a fellow practitioner of Demonic Arts, you should be happy that your junior is spreading his wings. With this, I am one step closer to my revenge. I will make them all pay. Those church members. Those government officials. All of them!"
The children screamed as Isaac activated the glyphs, feeding energy into the outer markings. One by one, they ignited along the perimeter, burning with a crimson glow as dark violet lightning raced across the lines. Rather than rushing toward the center, the energy crept inward, as though the entire array were coming to life.
Blackened energy seeped from the embedded crystals in thick, swirling coils, drawn toward the activated glyphs before threading through the connecting channels. Layer upon layer, the energy coiled into a tightening spiral around them, like a noose drawing closed.
Only then did it reach the central sigil. Crimson light erupted from the stone, while converging streams of violet lightning hammered into it from every direction. The air grew heavy, pressing down with a suffocating weight as the children's screams were gradually swallowed by the raging storm and Isaac's unhinged laughter.
In the midst of it all, Evan watched the ritual reach its final stage. The horror on his face lasted only a heartbeat before giving way to a grin. "Got you."
KRRRRAK—BOOM!
Evan knew exactly what the ritual was meant to do. It should have drained the souls and life force from him and the children, then fed that energy into the wyvern, using their despair and fear to strengthen the demonic beast. Instead, the current abruptly reversed, draining the creature at the center.
The beast roared as it realized what was happening, thrashing in an attempt to break free, but the binding glyphs held it firmly in place.
"W-what? What is going on?!" Isaac shouted.
The man tried to halt the ritual, cutting off his power and even attempting to disrupt the circle, but nothing changed. The gathered force refused to obey, veering from the center and racing toward the top glyph, directly into Evan. It flooded his body, coursing through every vein.
"Aaargh!" Evan choked out. It felt as if his body were being burned from within while lightning scorched his nerves. The agony was so intense he wanted to black out, but he could not.
[The Cry Later skill has been activated.]
The ability kept him conscious, leaving him fully aware as his body seemed to split apart and knit itself back together. He clenched his teeth, swallowing another scream clawing its way up his throat.
The Suppression Cuff around his wrist burned as the foreign energy pushed it beyond its limits. The restraint, designed to suppress his own mana, had no answer for the power flooding into him from outside. With a sharp crack, the binding shattered.
Evan rose to his feet. A veil of darkness clung to him, covering him from head to toe. His fingers stretched longer, his nails sharpening into claws as the storm surrounding him gradually faded. At the same time, the ritual circle began to dim, its symbols losing their glow. Without Isaac's control sustaining it, the unstable spellwork was rapidly collapsing, giving Evan the opening he needed.
While the wyvern was still reeling from having its essence ripped away, Evan closed the distance in an instant and drove his fist into the creature’s torso. The blow sent a violent shockwave through the air, hurling the beast out of the tower and down toward the ground below.
"Draemir!" Isaac shouted as the beast was flung away.
"That’s the name you gave that thing? How tacky," Evan said as he approached Isaac at a measured pace.
"You!" Isaac hurled dark flames at him, but Evan did not even bother to dodge. The flames dissipated against his body.
"You think that weak fire is going to hurt me?" Evan asked. "Maybe before, but not anymore. Not when I am overflowing with this much demonic energy."
Isaac kept firing flames like a madman. "Die! Die! Die!"
Evan shook his head and grabbed him by the front of his hoodie, slamming him hard into the ground. The blow left a massive crater beneath Isaac, his eyes rolling back as pain overwhelmed him.
"You're too loud. Sleep for a while," Evan said. Then he shifted his attention to the children, who were pale-faced and wide-eyed.
Evan stood there awkwardly for a moment. There was no doubt he looked terrifying. He could not see himself, but he imagined his hair standing on end, whipping about as though caught in an invisible storm. His teeth felt sharper too, giving him the appearance of some monstrous banshee. He pushed the thought aside and approached Tyler. The boy flinched as Evan crouched in front of him.
"Sorry for scaring you guys," he said, raising his hands to show he meant no harm. "I know I look frightening right now, but it’s still me. Brother Evan."
Tyler hesitated for an uncomfortably long moment before giving a weak nod.
"Good. Let me remove those bindings." Evan broke the chains restraining the group and moved on to the others. Fear still lingered on their faces, but at least none of them backed away. Once all the kids were freed, he gestured for them to follow. "Come downstairs. I know a way out."
He led them to Isaac’s living quarters and looked for the strange device Isaac had used to open the Rift. Evan soon spotted it on a table and indicated it to Tyler without moving any closer. He had no intention of touching it himself. Demonic energy was still swirling around him, and the last thing he wanted was to accidentally interfere with the device’s inner workings and discover the consequences firsthand.
"There. You hold this," Evan said.
Tyler picked it up with both hands.
"This opens the Rift portal. It should take us to an abandoned warehouse near the park where Isaac kidnapped you. Do you still have your phones?" Evan continued.
The children shook their heads.
"Then go grab my bag," Evan said, gesturing toward the shelf where Isaac had tossed it.
A girl stepped forward and retrieved it.
"The code is 09100325. You can use my phone to call the police once we’re out. And before we leave, please don’t tell the adults about… this form. It is a bit hard to explain."
The kids nodded like bobbleheads.
Evan tried to smile, but the children all flinched. He promptly let the expression drop. Geez, am I that scary? "Alright. Let’s get out of here." He led them toward the Rift opening, which only he could see.
"But Brother Evan… are you going to stay like that?" Tyler asked.
"I’ll deal with it later. The priority is getting out of here." Evan told himself to remain calm. He didn’t feel completely demonized. If he had been, he should have already lost his mind. So maybe it wasn’t permanent. Maybe he only needed to expel the excess demonic energy, and everything would return to normal. At least, he hoped so. He needed to do it fast. If it kept accumulating, he might not remain himself for long. And if Reid came back and saw him like this, that would be a one-way trip to exorcism.
Evan pointed toward where the Rift exit should be. "Alright, point it here and—"
SKRRAAAAK!
He whipped his head around and saw it clinging to the side of the tower, forcing its snout through the wide window. It reared back, jaws opening wide, before spewing a terrifying stream of flames. He stepped between the children and the attack, raising a wall of dark fire that swallowed the incoming inferno.
"Tyler! You and the kids head out first!" Evan shouted. "Shoot the gun at the spot I pointed to and pass through the portal! Wait half an hour before opening it. I should be able to deal with this guy by then!"
Tyler did as he was told, activating the Rift. The children scrambled through the opening and vanished back into Nova Terra. Once they were safe, Evan turned his full attention back to the wyvern.
The beast forced itself further through the window, the tower trembling beneath its weight. Evan darted forward and drove his fist into its snout, knocking the beast's head back. However, the creature recovered almost instantly, its claws snapping forward and catching him before yanking him out of the tower.
The two of them crashed through the outer walls, sending broken stone and shattered railings tumbling into the open air. For a moment, there was nothing but the roar of the wind and the rain of debris as the floating island and tower loomed above the endless void below.
Evan twisted in midair, tearing himself free from the wyvern's grip before demonic energy flared around his arm. He hammered his fist into its chest, sending the beast spiraling away into the darkness.
The beast retaliated, releasing a torrent of flames toward him. He met it head-on, blasting the attack apart with demonic energy. He then propelled himself upward, kicking off compressed blasts beneath his feet as though climbing invisible steps, racing back toward the tower. The wyvern gave chase, its wings cleaving through the void winds as it closed the distance, claws outstretched and ready to tear him apart.
The moment Evan landed on the rooftop, the beast came dropping down after him, aiming to crush him beneath its weight. He slipped aside at the last instant. The collision demolished the tower's upper structure, scattering chunks of stone in every direction and reducing the ritual circle to unrecognizable fragments.
The wyvern hauled itself upright with a furious roar. He charged forward, and instead of throwing another punch, drove his fist into its open mouth. His claws pierced the soft tissue and sank into its brain. He then channeled a concentrated wave of power. The wyvern's head ruptured from the inside, and its massive body went limp as gravity took hold.
Evan seized its tail and, with one heave, hurled the beast back into the void. Darkness swallowed the creature whole, leaving nothing behind. With his enemy gone, he dropped to one knee as the last of the demonic energy sustaining his transformation faded. The shadows cloaking his body dissolved, revealing his human form once more. The moment the power vanished, the exhaustion from the fight hit him. Pain wracked his body in violent waves, like his organs were being twisted and crushed inside his chest. He coughed, and blood spilled from his mouth before he could stop it.
A shadow fell over him.
Looking up, Evan met Isaac’s bloodshot glare.