I did not hesitate the moment the Demon appeared. I raised my hand above my head and a ball of golden fire shot into the sky. The fireball flew wide of the Demon and soared high before exploding in a shower of golden sparks.

The Demon grinned confidently as the firework reflected in his red eyes. “Calling for help, Aurielle? That is not like you.”

“I should say the same. You normally avoid direct confrontation.” I replied as I looked up at Dragon’s Nest floating overhead. In response, purple energy wrapped around my body as a second layer of defense on top of my domain. “How many Alphas are going to die just so you can have a chat with me?”

“A minor loss,” The Demon said with a shrug, “Berith’s orders take precedence over our little game of war.”

“And what are Berith’s orders?” I asked skeptically.

“I am simply delivering a message. Berith has invited you to have a little chat with her tomorrow, a parley if you will.”

“Ha, this is new,” I chuckled, “And what if I refuse to walk into this obvious trap?”

In a single blink, the Demon standing in the air above me disappeared. An instant later, there was a whisper right next to my ear. I could feel the Demon’s breath on my neck as he spoke. “You do not have that choice.”

I leapt forward as flames exploded out from my body in every direction but before my feet could even touch the ground, the figure of the Demon appeared directly where my leap was going to land. I used my domain to catch myself in midair and glared at the Demon.

He had a wide smile on his face, exposing rows of inhumanly sharp teeth. “You cannot escape me, Aurielle. Even when you were at your peak, you could not stop me from doing as I please, much less now.”

“Perhaps not,” I said as I floated up slowly so that I could get closer to Dragon’s Nest without drawing the Demon’s suspicion. If I could reach the halls of the Preateritum remnant, there was a chance that Mare would be able to limit the Demon’s movement.

Unfortunately, my plan was short-lived as the Demon vanished in a blink again and appeared above me. His domain spread out like the tides of an ocean as the area around me was locked down.

“Come with me peacefully and I will not harm those little humans you seem to have grown attached to.”

“Peaceful is not really my style. If you want me to come with you, make me.”

My eyes glowed with power as all the undead in the area responded to my command. Dozens of crows dived down from the cover of the clouds. They were like small missiles as they plummeted towards the Demon.

The Demon barely even glanced at the incoming birds as his domain wrapped around the small creatures and ripped them to shreds before they could even approach. I tried to protect the most important of the flock with my own domain but the Demon was far stronger than me and easily overpowered my attempt. All I could do was let those few with blue crystals explode in hopes it would drain the Demon’s energy slightly.

Ten blasts of golden flame lit up the sky but none were close enough to do the Demon any harm. He shook his head with a sigh. I barely had time to register the Demon had teleported again before he appeared directly in front of me. His hand reached out in a blur and closed around my neck. The purple energy of Dragon’s Nest creaked in protest as it barely held against the monstrous strength in the Demon’s grip.

I grit my teeth in frustration as I tried to think of a way out of this. The Demon, Seir, had always been the most difficult of Envy’s seven for me to deal with. In the past, I had only been able to fight Seir by filling the entire area with continuous fire, a feat I was not capable of yet with my current strength. I still had a few traps in place that I had intended to use on the Ciel general but I doubted they would do much to a Demon like this.

I heard slight cracking sounds from the purple energy around my neck as the Demon lifted me into the air. I lashed out with an explosion of golden flames aimed at the vile Demon’s face but before they could strike the Demon’s domain, the flames vanished into what looked like a crack in the air. My fire reappeared a moment later, a short distance behind the Demon.

“Face it, Aurielle. You are helpless in front of me. Bringing you back now was not a part of Berith's plan but I see no reason to let you roam free. From this day forward, you will be my little toy." The Demon said as he moved his face uncomfortably close to mine. I shuddered as a long tongue licked across the shield of purple energy protecting my face.

The sound of thunder rumbled across the battlefield as a sudden flash of light struck the Demon’s arm. The flash of light completely bypassed the Demon’s domain. With a sound like metal grinding against metal, a small cut was left on the Demon’s arm.

“Get away from her, you monster.”

Surprised by the sudden injury, the Demon released his grip on my neck. I took advantage of the momentary respite to create another explosion of golden fire that propelled me backwards before turning to look at the source of the voice.

“Mom?” I remarked in surprise.

Lightning crackled around my mom’s body as she stood in the open field. She was sweating lightly and breathing hard as she pointed her sword at the Demon. A few drops of the Demon’s blood dripped from the tip of the silvery blade.

The Demon looked down at the cut on his arm before shifting his attention to my mom. “I was just thinking about who I should use to teach Aurielle the price of defiance. You will do nicely.”

“Mom, get out of here!” I shouted in a panic.

My mom did not respond to my shouts. Her eyes were locked onto the Demon without blinking as she calmed her breathing.

“It is far too late for her to run now,” the Demon said with a chuckle. In a blink, he suddenly disappeared from where he was standing.

Simultaneously, my mom crackled with electricity as she also moved. My mind was barely able to register what happened before the Demon reappeared next to where my mom had been standing a moment before. At the same time, a crackle of electricity appeared behind him. The sound of grinding metal rang out again as a new cut appeared under the Demon’s ear.

“Huh?” the Demon breathed in confusion as his hand reached up to touch the cut on his face, “How did you...”

The Demon vanished again as he teleported a short distance away. Before the Demon even vanished, my mom had already swung her sword in the new direction. Her blade blurred, as if in two places at once, the moment the Demon reappeared. A new cut appeared on the Demon, this time grazing his neck. His face turned dark as he looked at my mom seriously for the first time.

“You can see where I am going to appear and even bypass my domain? That is quite the talent... A talent I cannot allow to exist.”

Mom remained silent as she kept her unblinking eyes focused on the Demon. He teleported once again and with a crackle of lightning, Mom moved as well. My eyes could not keep up with what was happening as the two of them flashed from place to place dozens of times in just a few seconds. I was amazed by what I was seeing as Mom held her own against one of Envy’s strongest Demons. Even among the Thriteen Divisions, there were only a handful of people capable of that. It was incredible but I knew it could not last long. Even if Mom could see where Seir was going to teleport to, she lacked the strength to leave anything more than superficial injuries on the tough body of the Demon. I had no idea how long she could keep this up before running out of energy but there was little doubt in my mind that it was not as long as the Demon. Before that happened, I had to find a way to help her.

Thinking quickly, I started creating small glyphs of fire scattered around the battlefield. These glyphs floated in the air and near the ground randomly and acted like a minefield. The moment I spotted Seir appear near one of the glyphs, it detonated in an explosion of golden fire. The first time this happened, The Demon was completely caught off guard, allowing my mom to get three successive strikes in the same spot on the Demon’s neck.

While the damage my mom could do to the Demon in a single attack was limited to small cuts, the longer the fight continued, the more precise those strikes became. Mom continuously cut at the Demon’s eyes and that same spot on the Demon's neck until blood was freely pouring down the front of his body. My glyphs came in handy as they slowed the Demon's teleportation.

The fight between my mom and the Demon lasted less than a minute but within that time, they had each teleported across the field hundreds of times. It was a fight I could not even begin to keep up with. I tired to use my undead to limit where the Demon could teleport to but it was not very effective. The talents of my Immortal Guard up on the floating island had even less of an effect as the Demon was impossible to pin down long enough for any of the abilities to bypass his domain.

Unfortunately, I was right about my mom’s limitations. I could feel her energy get weaker and weaker with each move she made and Seir felt it too. Eventually, Mom slipped up. She was too slow to react and got hit by the Demon. The purple energy from Dragon’s Nest protected her from the brunt of the damage but she was still sent flying into the ground.

“Mom!” I shouted as I rushed to her side.

She was breathing heavily as she laid, unmoving on the ground. “I did… all I could…” She said through gasping breaths.

“You did amazing, Mom,” I replied with a proud smile. I then turned my smile towards the Demon. He had a scowl on his face as he glared at my mom with his cut-up eyes. “It seems you are out of time.”

In the distance, Dom and four other domain warriors were quickly approaching my location in response to my distress signal. The Demon saw this and his face turned red with fury. For a moment, I thought he might attack us despite the quickly approaching reinforcements but even though his gaze was focused on my mom with bloodlust he did not move.

“I hate it when Berith is right about these things. I guess I really do have to do things her way,” The Demon said with a sigh, “She will be waiting to speak with you tomorrow at noon at the edge of the blood mist. Come alone.”

“Do you really think I will listen to anything a Demon has to say?” I asked incredulously.

“We know you will,” Seir replied with a bloody smile before suddenly disappearing.

I silently stared at the empty air where the Demon had stood a moment before as I considered his words. I acutely felt the effects of overusing my talent as my head pounded in pain. I could do nothing but sit down in the dirt as the sounds of battle still raged in the night.

“You are not really going to go, are you,” Mom asked as she struggled to get her own breathing under control.

“Probably,” I whispered softly.