Page 296 of Psycho Devils: Aran's Story 2

It hurt so fucking badly.

Huffing with what felt like punctured lungs, I followed Xerxes.

As I shuffled slowly across the field, I discovered firsthand why Xerxes had led armies for Mother. He was exacting and demanding, but he was also endlessly patient, and I wanted to obey him.

He was a natural leader.

I hobbled pathetically. Tiny shards that Xerxes had missed stabbed through my sensitive feet.

We proceeded at a snail’s pace, but he never shamed me or complained. Not once.

Halfway across, I narrowed my eyes at a strange structure protruding off the far side of the field.

Xerxes looked back and followed my gaze.

He halted.

We both stared.

The bodies of the devil, leviathan, and assassin competitors were piled in a tentlike structure. The devil’s long femur bone propped them all up.

We looked away at the same time.

Xerxes’s voice trembled as he said, “Left leg, step.”

We continued forward.

Neither of us mentioned what we’d seen.

Minutes later, we finally neared the crowd of students and competitors standing at the edge of the arena.

They watched my pained progression with wide eyes.

Horror on their faces.

My harsh breathing was uncomfortably loud in the silence. I nearly collapsed from the agony in my feet, but I didn’t.

In front of everyone, the angel competitor tapped her foot impatiently with a smirk on her face. She was mostly unharmed and looked bored. Around her, the angel legion postured arrogantly with their noses in the air like they were better than everyone else.

They thought they’d be the ones chosen by the gods.

I was half-naked. Frozen. Covered in carnage and gore. Yet I knew in my bones that I’d experienced more in my twenty-four miserable years of life than they had in all their combined immortality.

You could see it in their eyes—wide and clear.

There were no shadows.

You could see it in their actions—the angel competitor had a fifteen-foot wingspan of crystal wings to protect herself with, yet she’d killed the others so she wouldn’t have to suffer.

Disgusting.

The angel competitor fell to her knees as she covered her ears. The rest of the angels winced and covered their heads like they were blocking out some sound.

“I needed to protect myself. I’m sorry.” She sobbed on the ground as she convulsed like she’d been electrocuted. She babbled incoherently to herself.

Just like their captain had after they’d lost a teammate in the second challenge.

Students backed away from the angels.

---