Rey ripped open the stomach of a city guard while simultaneously stabbing another in the jugular and getting a nice face wash of demon blood. It had been two days since they arrived in the city, and he had to say things were going quite nicely, if he said so himself. He knew he was sitting on the cusp of hitting Rank 8, just a few more high-ranked kills, and he would make it there.

  [You killed a Demon (Exiled) – E+7]

  [You killed a Demon (Exiled) – E+7]

  The same was probably true for the rest. Out of them all, Kassandra was probably the closest to hitting Rank 7. After all, her arrows gave her an unfair advantage in stealing kills from everyone, which she had gotten a knack for. Yesterday, he almost activated Gravity's Domain under her feet to put her in timeout, but he could never do that to her. She could nuke their makeout sessions completely, which were already on probation after his demonic voice performance. He really needed to clear that up with her. Not to mention, she probably thought he was a psychopath, as did the others, given that he was giving in to his demonic urges more often than not.

  He flicked another demon into the wall and cracked her skull open. This was a passerby, but Rey didn't discriminate when it came to killing demons. In his book, one demon was as good as another.

  [You killed a Demon (Exiled) – E+5]

  Fuck! Waste of my Mana. Correction, all demons are not created equal.

  But still, he had enough Mana to spare. Now that he wasn't handholding his friends anymore. They were turning into nice little psychopaths themselves, especially Aearbon. His roars were probably the reason why the steady stream of guards hadn't stopped coming their way. Rey wasn't complaining in the least. They were like the Batman torchlight, yelling at every city guard to come collect their life insurance policy.

  At one point, he was fighting back-to-back with the tiger, and he quickly realized it was no fun, since most demons ran from the tigerman just because of his sheer size. So, Rey attracted himself to a city guard with a bulbous head and smashed him into the ground with Repulsion. His skills were thriving thanks to a Magic Power stat that was frankly a little ridiculous for his Tier and Rank.

  [+1 Magic Power]

  [You killed a Demon (Exiled) – E+7]

  He loved that it was one of the stats that came to him easily, just like Dexterity. If it weren't for the training in his personal gym, he would still be a glass canon. Someone who could hit hard for two attacks, then run around poking them with his pointy stick. That wasn't to say that he could infinitely keep popping off gravity attacks. Unlike his Gravity's Domain skill, the other skills took a lot more Mana.

  Gravity's Domain took one small chunk and then continued on a low simmer for the foreseeable future, while the others took considerable chunks in comparison to pop off. If someone saw his Magic Affinity stat, they would think he was in the D-Tier.

  They were fighting in the courtyard of a guard tower on the east end of the city. From the last group of Sniffers, he had learned that this was the least defended guard tower. If they needed to make a big difference, it would be here. He wanted the prince soiling his little diapers, and taking out his guard towers across the city would be as good a strategy as demolishing various neighborhoods.

  A guard tried to stab him, but Rey blocked his thrust by using Attraction on the corpse of his brother. The guard gritted his teeth and tried to yank his blade out, but he was too late. Rey activated Gravity Orb right where his head was. His orb did what it did best and crushed the demon's head, killing it instantly.

  Rey had learned through various applications that he could do this. He couldn't activate it inside someone's head, but where his head was, that was fair game. All these enemies provided him with plenty of live experimental material. They were like rats, and Hell itself was Rey's laboratory.

  There weren't many guards left, and he wanted the rest to get some kills as well. So, he decided to take a breather and observe their progress. Ajay was the one they were gunning for the most, since he had been burning neighborhood after neighborhood. If anything, Rey figured, he might be even closer to reaching the next Rank than Kassi.

  He thanked whichever metaphysical being that had sent him back in the past with his memories. Filomena was fighting a little farther away from him. But even still, his eardrums were ringing with all her bolts. He was surprised more guards hadn't come to reinforce this guard tower.

  The others had been reluctant to attack this guard tower, but Rey said he was coming to this guard tower with or without them. So, they followed him in the end, and he was mighty thankful for that. However, he hadn't explained to them why he was so adamant about destroying the guard tower. He would get around to having that conversation with them sooner or later. Given the murderous looks they were giving him, it would be sooner rather than later.

  After a few minutes of tense fighting, all the guards had departed the tower. Even the passersby who had come to view the fight had fled when they realized they weren't safe from the carnage as well.

  Rey clapped his hands. "Good work, team. Has anyone reached the next Rank yet?"

  They all just huffed and gave him looks that told him that he wasn't on their best friend list anymore. All save for Aearbon, who took every word from Rey's lips as if a command from his god. If only all things could be as easy as that.

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  "Now, will you tell us why you had us attack this place?" Filomena seethed.

  The Sicilian was always angry with him these days. He might have done his part in earning that ire, or then again, he might not have. Who could tell? Clearly not Rey.

  "Isn't it better if we talk once we depart the scene of the crime?" Rey replied.

  "No!" She snapped. "Ever since we've stepped into the city, you've gone off the fucking rails. You're totally unhinged. Kass, tell me I'm wrong."

  Kassi sighed. "Rey, will you please tell us what your plan is?"

  Rey smiled. "You know I can never refuse you anything. All you had to do was ask."

  "I did ask you," Filomena cried.

  Rey frowned, then shook his head. "No, you didn't. Anyway, you wish to know Captain Rey's grand plan to strike at the heart of this kingdom?" They waited patiently. He pouted. "You're no fun. My plan is simple. I'm trying to sow so much chaos in the city that our patron would be so proud that he would cream himself in his pants. Why?"

  He pointed to the ominous building in the middle of town that they could see even from here. "You see the palace over there. Razgorel is hiding himself there. Technically, not hiding but more like living there, and that place is so heavily guarded that it would make this one look like a bouncy castle with cockroaches. So, how do we get the slum lord to come out of his castle?"

  "We burn his city," Kassi replied.

  "And that is why I love you." Kassi's cheeks flushed for some reason, and Filomena passed smiles her way. Rey didn't think much of it and carried on. "This is why we're destroying his city, but not because we want him to come out and face us here. It is still his city, and we'll never be able to challenge him here. No, we're going to attack his pawns. Make it seem his city is unsafe, even for him. Terrorize the place so much that the prince has no choice but to leave the city. I know he'll head for his haunted house of booby traps, also called his summer palace, and we're definitely not headed there, as my dear Kassi, that will be your last stop in our journey through Hell."

  Her eyes widened. "You mean to ambush him on the road."

  "Ding! Ding! Ding!" Rey cried. "The award for beauty and brains, or as I like to call it, the Hermione award, goes to Kassi. Yes, that is my ultimate goal. The prince maintains control of his city with his guards and panty Sniffers. Once we take out most of the Sniffers, his asshole will begin to clench to prevent the shit from dripping down his legs. When he thinks he is safe, we will pounce, but before that, one of us needs to hit Rank 10, so we're on the clock."

  "And if one of us isn't at Rank 10 by then?" Ajay asked.

  "Then we would've lost our window, which should be motivation enough to get one of us to Rank 10. I'm thinking Ajay would be the fastest given all the heathen burning he has been doing lately."

  The others nodded in contemplation, but he could tell by their expressions that what he had said made sense. There was no other way to get to the prince without going through a literal army of demons.

  "So, we attacked this guard tower to sow more chaos?" Filomena asked.

  Rey nodded. "That is correct, Miss Thunderbolt. There are eight guard towers across the city. If we take out even half of them, that should be enough to get the fear diarrhea to start running down that triclops's leg. Now you know everything. Why do I feel like I just jinxed myself?"

  Aearbon nodded. "Terror is the most effective strategy when dealing with a foe that has greater numbers, but we cannot afford to make a mistake in this mission. If we lose even one of us, then the rest will crumble to dust."

  "Wow, ye of little faith," Rey said. "Talk about pissing on my parade. So, that is why I command all of you not to die at all. Not even once."

  Kassi snorted. "Easier said than done. Well, I should be safe as long as I don't go meet Razggorel."

  Rey's face fell. "Yes…" She noticed, but before she could say anything, he spoke up. "Okay, we'll leave through the back side and quickly. Aearbon, I can trust you to make a hole in a stone wall."

  Aearbon nodded. "I will get it done."

  "Alright, everyone, follow our Tigerman. I will follow once I've destabilized the whole place with a few love balls."

  They nodded and moved off one by one, but Kassi stayed behind, making Rey frown.

  "Thought you might need someone to watch your back."

  Rey shrugged. "Sure." He was about to start chucking Gravity Orbs when Kassi slid her hand in his. "What's up?"

  She smiled and kissed him. This was the first time in two days, so he didn't let go until she pulled back first.

  He couldn't help but smile. "Firstly, thank you, but what did I do earn this?"

  "Now, you're going to pretend you don't know."

  "I'm serious, Kassi. I don't."

  "You said you loved me."

  "Oh…OH!" Then realization dawned. This was the first time he had said so in this timeline. He had totally forgotten that they hadn't said, 'I love you' to each other in private yet. "I'm sorry, it just came out in the moment. It's not that I don't love you. I do, but now that I think about it, I should've said so privately."

  She snorted and shook her head. "You know, for some reason, I had expected it to come out just like this. Especially after how you conveyed your feelings to me."

  He grinned. "Honestly, that should've made things obvious, but hey, the cat's out of the bag. Besides, we could die at any moment, so why wait and play the long game? I love you, Kassi. I've loved you for a long, long time."

  She wouldn't know the true extent of those words, but someday she might when they are finally out of the watchful eye of that demon that slept on a bed of Wargoth feces. Then he would tell her everything. How long he had gone without her but his love of her never faded. Even when he turned into a demon, the ache in his heart never truly went away. No matter how many succubuses he slept with. Not even after Izarth, and that whole business.

  She couldn't help but smile. "You'll forgive me if I don't say it right away. I need some—"

  "I'll forgive you anything," he replied.

  "Thank you. If you love me, will you answer me one thing truthfully?" She asked.

  Here it comes. She wants to know about that demon voice.

  He hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear. "When the time is right. I'll tell you everything."

  Her head nodded beside him. "Okay."

  Rey pulled back. "Well, let's pull this bitch down."

  He activated Gravity Orb in all corners of the tower, then activated Gravity Domain with 70% gravity. The whole place started to crumble under the pull of the increased gravity.

  Rey grabbed Kassi's hand as they ran from the crumpling building. They found the others down the street waiting for them. As a crowd gathered, they watched the whole place crash to the ground. He shut off his Orbs first and let the stone chunks of the tower rain down on the demon corpses.

  Rey pushed through the crowd with his friends behind him. Once they were clear of the crowd, he stopped and turned to his friends.

  "Now, is everyone clear what we need to do?" He pointed to the guard tower. "We just need to do more of that. A lot more of that. So, let's go make our patron proud."

  The others nodded.

  "Okay, you need to do better than that. Channel your inner Joker." Rey laughed in a maniacal laughter mimicking the clown prince of Gotham, but his friends stared at him. "We'll work on your demon laughs later."