Page 239 of Psycho Devils: Aran's Story 2

Vegar and Zenith swore violently. I turned back to my teammates to see what the commotion was.

Both demons stared at Luka with frowns.

It took me a second to realize the problem.

Fuck.

The air around Luka glimmered black, but he didn’t have a weapon.

His cheeks tinged pink as the darkness disappeared. He looked down at his hands with defeat, unable to make eye contact with any of us.

My heart pounded harder in my chest.

New plan.

We had three competitors and one liability, so we needed to focus on protecting Luka. Instead of offense, we needed to prioritize defense.

Luka rubbed at the back of his neck.

“It’s fine,” I said and pulled my teammates into a huddle. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”

I explained my plan, and the demons nodded in agreement.

Luka frowned. “No,” he spat.

“It’s the only realistic thing we can do to ensure we don’t lose,” I explained slowly.

Luka rubbed at his face. “I don’t—”

He was cut off by a loud horn and Lothaire shouting, “The brandished weapons are accepted. Begin.”

The arena erupted in violence.

Competitors threw themselves at one another.

A few Xs popped up above the heads of people who weren’t quick enough to avoid the attacks.

The demons and I fell back into a protective circle around Luka. He hunched low and made himself small behind us like we’d planned, swearing loudly to make it clear he disagreed.

We shuffled backward as a group.

I held my dagger out in front of me, and the demons pointed their swords forward. We moved swiftly across the field until Luka’s back was pressed against a pillar.

The three of us formed a wall in front of our weaponless teammate.

Salty air stung my wide eyes.

We waited.

It didn’t take long for the conflict to find us.

Across the field, two angels pointed their mammoth ice swords at us. I was grateful the demons also had oversized weapons or we’d be fucked.

Seconds later there was a crash as flaming ice slammed against ink.

Blue locked against black.

With their swords intertwined, I darted forward and slashed my daggers across the angels’ exposed biceps. Unlike when I’d stabbed the shifters in the beast realm, they didn’t disintegrate into dust. Sad.

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