Harrowstead looked like hell on earth. I wish I could’ve been positive, but my outlook got more and more bleak with each passing moment. Despite it being dark out, the city was illuminated not by the streetlights on the paved roads but by the fiery brick buildings and burning cars lining the streets. As if that wasn’t enough, the scent of burnt rubber mixed with scents of metal and rot from the heaps of mangled bodies on the city streets. I was reminded once again of my outing with the Jikininki when I’d seen the Bounty Hunters clumped together in that black mass in the middle of a store. While I hadn’t seen that again, it likely would’ve made for a much better sight.

  There was evidence that the townspeople hadn’t gone down without fighting, though. Corpses of the Demons were strewn about just as frequently as those of the locals were. They looked like Jikininki, except without the clawed hands and with longer bodies. Something I’d noticed, however, was that the bloodiest, most mangled demons each had clumps of black fur in their mouths. Perhaps they’d each died fighting the same person?

  “Hey, Rui,” Yugo called. He’d been running beside Somnia and I, who’d been following behind a frantic Archie as he raced through the city to his family home. “What do you make of all this?”

  I knew exactly why Yugo had asked me this. While I felt a surprising amount of comfort in the fact that we both saw the same thing, the anxiety associated with our mutual realization outweighed any possible relief.

  “This is a textbook case of a Horseman attack,” I answered. Somnia’s eyes widened as I continued. “Limos summons the Curses, Zelos controls them, and then Thanatos and… I… would wipe out the survivors. It’d all be over in a day.”

  “I was thinking that too,” Yugo admitted. “But Archie said that his parents had been calling him every night for a while now, and Shuten Douji said that Harrowstead had been in a bad way for a few weeks as well. Can you recall the Horsemen prolonging an invasion like this in the past?”

  “Not that I can think of. Zelos and Thanatos were impatient. They would never take this long to finish a mission. Plus, Limos’ Curses are strong, so for the Demons to all die to the same opponent is unlikely. This could be them, or it could be some other force at play.”

  “Whoever it is, they won’t survive the night,” Somnia declared.

  “Agreed,” Yugo hissed. He took a deep breath, correcting his tone. “But before we can do that, we need to get Archie back on our side. Whoever this was was strong enough to beat back the Silent Hand. We need all hands on deck – as well as the help of this mystery fighter – in order to in here.”

  The city around us changed as we continued to follow behind Archie. Tall, brick buildings were slowly replaced by smaller, historical-looking townhouses. Once flat roads were now winding and inclined, though even these streets were lined with the bodies of locals and the bloody corpses of Demons. Though it wasn’t much of a saving grace, the homes here weren’t burning like the buildings further downtown. Archie hadn’t spoken a word since we’d gotten here, yet the aura around his body surged like Shuten Douji’s before he’d cast Lightning.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Good luck to the first Demon foolish enough to attack him…

  “I WONDER, WHY ARE YOU NOT AS ANGRY AS ARCHIE?”

  “Why would I be, Fallen Star?”

  “BECAUSE THIS CITY WAS TOUCHED BY THE HORSEMEN. THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT.”

  Fallen Star was right, but it went a bit deeper than that now. His thoughts were mine, and I’d be a fool to deny that. I’d thrown out the idea of someone else being behind this due to the harsh truth regarding my lacking strength compared to the Horsemen. I’d gotten some hits in against Zelos, but I still wasn’t enough to beat him. I wasn’t even strong enough to fight against his violating control over my body. I wasn’t strong enough to kill them, and the thought of them being here so soon after facing Zelos in Oni Prefecture worried me. And yet, the reality was that they were here. Of course they’d done this. Who else would?

  I couldn’t run from them, and I didn’t have room in my heart to fear them. As I continued to think about the possibility of facing the Horsemen here in Harrowstead, Fallen Star spoke into my mind.

  “I PRAY TO THE HEAVENS ABOVE THAT THE HORSEMEN ARE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO CROSS OUR PATH. WE WILL MAKE THEM REGRET THEIR ABUSE OF OUR POWER. MY HUNGER WILL BE SATED, AND THEY WILL BE THE MEAL THAT I FEAST UPON.”

  Once again, the city around us changed as we reached what I could only assume was the end of our journey. Archie led us up a hillside towards a building at the edge of a cliff. The road leading up the building was lined not with human bodies, but a host of Demon bodies each with clumps of black fur in their mouths. Unlike the dozens of other Demon corpses around the city, though, these ones didn’t look like they’d been lying there for hours. No, these Demons were killed recently. Some of them were still breathing, though Archie and Lochness had been sure to put a stop to that before any of us could.

  Archie and Lochness both stopped the moment they reached the top of the hill. We joined them and Shuten Douji shortly after as we each took in the same sight. A swarm of what looked like twelve Demons each scratched and clawed at the tall glass building ahead of us. Despite the creatures’ height, they didn’t stand upright. Unlike the Demons on the ground with batlike ears and winged arms, these were completely eyeless and earless with razor-sharp teeth and two slits where its nose should be. They were quadrupedal like dogs and scratched at the large, see-through window with considerable force. I scanned the closest one.

  NAME: DEMON

  APPROXIMATE LEVEL: 150

  CLASSIFICATION: COMBAT

  “I can’t see them!” Archie shouted in a voice mixed with both relief and fear. “They’ve gotta still be in there, otherwise they wouldn’t still be pounding on the glass!”

  Archie pointed into the building, urging us to check despite the howling Demons before us. I did as instructed, looking past the intricately designed display cases showing breads on one side and baked desserts on the other to see into the 1950s Synchonefsi Diner Themed bakery. The checkered floors hadn’t been lined with blood. There weren’t any bodies strewn about the red circular chairs, and the red booths lining the wall weren’t lined with Demon corpses. Either his family had escaped, or they truly were safe.

  “Let’s clear the area and check on them, alright?” Yugo called, gathering aura as he Conjured swords for himself and Somnia.

  Lochness hissed loudly as Archie sank into a battle stance, aura surging around his body.

  “Let’s make this quick!”