Page 146 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

The demon laughs at me, and in a moment of inattention, his tentacles hit me straight in the chest, flinging me to the back of the room. I hit the wall and crumble to the floor, pain erupting in my entire body.

Blood pours from two incision sites where the sharp spikes of the tentacles hit me.

It’s hard to move without groaning in pain, but I push myself to get up.

More blood stains my clothes and drips to the floor.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. All my years of training come back to me in a split of a second. This is likely a level two demon trying to ascend to level three. Dangerous, but not unmanageable. With a level one, I could have had an easier time finding its energy core and destroying it, but this demon seems to have built an armor around his chest. Somehow, I need to penetrate that armor.

Yet my wounds are not closing, so I am completely out of energy.

“Minnie, here!” Mine’s voice echoes in the hall. I turn to look at him, surprised to see the multitude of items he’s holding in his arms. Items that might have spiritual energy in them.

My optimism resurfaces.

But before he can reach me, he has to evade the demon’s tentacles. To my surprise, he does.

Quite easily.

I blink.

He’s nimble on his feet, moving almost as if he’s floating while dodging every attack. I suppose his physical prowess might be attributed to his training in the military, but it is my first time seeing him like this.

He’s…magnificent.

And he’s not even doing anything.

He’s just evading every blow with such grace, it’s like watching a dancer on the great stages of Aperion mimicking an ancient battle where the protagonist easily subdues the demonic forces.

I don’t evenlikeAperite dance performances. Yet I find myself mesmerized by Mine’s performance.

He’s entirely unscathed as he reaches my side and gives me a handful of different objects—a mirror, an ancient comb, a small silver box, and a brooch.

The moment I touch them, pure energy washes over me. My wounds knit together until I’m completely healed. This time, there’s so much energy, I get lightheaded.

His shrewd eyes look me over, noting the blood stains.

“You’re all right?”

“Now I am.” I smile.

“Good. Go kill that demon.”

I give him a nod, though for a short moment, I’m unable to take my eyes off him. Danger swirls around us, and the demon is one second from attacking again, yet the look in Mine’s eyes as he watches me makes something within me vibrate.

It’s strange. Unfamiliar. But it makes me giddy in a way that only killing demons did before—which is itself odd since I’m hesitating to kill the demon just to get another glimpse of him. He might bejusta human, but he is a magnificent one. A brave one, despite my previous misgivings.

A tentacle strikes in our direction. I push Mine out of the way and summon a shield of ice around him. If he moves, it moves with him, making sure he’s protected at all times.

He doesn’t protest. In fact, he seems rather pleased with it.

Good.

At least he’s not like those males who do not like a female doing things for them. He’s taking his role as a human companion to a goddess quite seriously, even going out of his way to help me. I suppose that earns him some extra points in this courtship of his.

The magical items yielded enough energy that I’m able to fight close to my regular standard. I summon my ice blades, rotating them around just as the demon sends his tentaclesflying toward us again. When he notices he cannot hurt Mine, he strikes at me.

I deflect the blow and cut through the tentacle, but this time, I infuse the sharp edge of my swords with a dash of cryos—the secret ability my clan is known for. Instead of regenerating or even duplicating, the tentacle flesh is cauterized with a layer of ice that consumes it from within until the entire thing falls off.

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