The moment the world broke still, I jumped toward the demon's gigantic arms. It's a strange thing, to see a horse walking on hind legs. It's even stranger to realize it has arms shaped like those of a human's. Its gnarly hands had more than seven fingers though, tightly wrapped around the glowing sword's hilt.

I kicked its fingers hard and heard them crack. Then I took the sword out of the beast's clutches. My back and legs worked in unison as I lifted the sword away from the beast's hands. I grunted, huffed and puffed, then heaved the weapon up. I almost fell off the beast's arm. That would have certainly caused my death, a funny one at that.

I imagined the demons' faces as they looked at me, my body squashed underneath the sword's weight. Horsie would get his a.s.s whopped by the demon king. Agatha would finally meet her end, probably served as dinner to one demon or another. I shook the thoughts away. I didn't have time to fantasize about my accidental death and what it would cause.

I held the sword high up, a more difficult feat than I'd expected. I swung it then at the beast's hideous face. The demon's sharp, unnatural teeth showed from beneath its fat lips. The sword hit its nose then buried itself deep within its lower jaw.

The sword cut through its flesh and bone easily. I saw the weapon glow within its mouth. My hit ought to hurt pretty badly. I smiled, retracted it with great effort then jumped on top of its sliced jaw. My feet wobbled as I landed, but I endured. It felt as though I was carrying two horses on my back. Jumping with all that weight ought to have bad repercussions later.

I brought the sword down once more on the beast's hideous head. The sword cut through its skull. I heard the m.u.f.fled sound of air suddenly leaving an enclosed s.p.a.ce. I knew I hit a vital point then. Essence would burst out as soon as the time stop spell subsides.

I looked down at the other demons. Far from me was Agatha. Jumping down, gigantic sword in hand, wouldn't be wise, but I wanted to kill that woman no matter the cost. I had but a few seconds left. I could feel the internal clock ticking. I wouldn't reach her on time. So I turned to the next best thing, another horse demon, closer to me than Agatha.

I pointed the sword in front of me. I didn't care to aim. All I needed was land properly. My hands had grown sweaty already. My breathing became unstable. I had but a few swings left in me.

There was a whole different mess inside of me at that moment. My essence swirled, fighting off the Fragment's. I had provoked it, used the stop spell more than three times in one day. So its energy seeped, trying to fight me off, the one who's not strong enough to tame it.

Part of me fought that energy back. It wasn't enough to repel it back to the Fragment, but I couldn't dedicate more essence to the task right now. I had to take care of the demons first, worry about taming the Fragment later.

I jumped out at the horse below; making sure the sword I s.n.a.t.c.hed was pointed at the demon's flank. The landing was rough. My bones shook as my feet touched the ground, mainly because of the added weight of the gigantic sword. The internal clock of the stop spell started ticking faster. I was out of time.

The glowing sword had touched the ground though. I had sliced through the monster's body in one fell swoop. When the stop effect depleted, I heard two distinct howls. The gigantic horse was holding its head, wailing terribly. The one I had just cut in half howled once then fell silent.

"W-what?" Agatha spoke in a hushed voice. "What just happened?"

Goat head started bleating and snorting. "Underestimate a Stalwart…" it said before its voice came to an abrupt stop. The gigantic horse whose face I bashed twice fell on Blaspho with a loud thump.

"You!" Agatha turned toward me. "How did you get that sword?"

"You've underestimated me for the last time b.i.t.c.h!" I said.

I heaved the sword high above me, pointing it at the sky above us. One well-placed swing would end her in seconds. The only problem was that she could dodge it at any given moment. I was struggling to remain conscious. My essence fought the Fragment inside me. I was facing three demons and a woman who was adamant on seeing me suffer.

I pushed my right foot ahead of me then swung the sword as quickly as I could. For the bigger monsters, the horizontal swing I performed was problematic. They couldn't dodge it on time. For Agatha, she only needed to jump high up to avoid the attack. That was fine. I needed to isolate her. If my swing could finish her posse, I would be content to face her alone, even if it meant my death.

My teeth clattered and my bones vibrated as the sword I swung came to an abrupt stop. I looked to my left, realizing something had managed to block the attack. The only remaining horse demon had bit hard on the blade that was supposed to cut through it easily. I thought I could repeat the same feat I did with the two demons earlier. I was terribly wrong.

The first one didn't have the luxury of seeing the attack coming. I sliced through the second one thanks to the momentum of my jump. The third swing I took relied on my own strength, which was nothing compared to the demonic kind. The horse bit through the sword, its energy seeping through its teeth, and pushed the weapon away.

At that moment, my strength gave away. I could no longer wield that celestial weapon. I let go of it, facing Agatha and its remaining monster companions. They looked angry, ready to rip me to shreds. That was exactly what I wanted. The horse demon fell on its four knees though. It spent a lot of energy to stop my previous attack.

"Didn't see that coming, did you?" I screamed at Agatha.

"You impulsive brat!" she yelled back at me. "You've just made your situation even worse. I could have negotiated something with the king, to save your life at the very least."

"You?!" I scoffed at her. "Save my life? Since when did Agatha care about other people's lives?"

"I watched you grow Myles," she said. Her voice had grown tender, like a mother speaking to a son she hasn't seen in ages. "I watched you play in that desolate place we called home. I watched you care for your mother and sisters. I have great respect for you Myles Stalwart."

"Don't you dare speak of my parents, you treacherous b.i.t.c.h!" I screamed at her.

"You didn't give us any choice," she said, her voice still tender, caring. She was also advancing toward me, her hands outstretched. "Utar was going to burn the slums to the ground if we didn't give them up."

"And the responsibility to give them up fell to you," I said, feeling anger boil inside me, as well as the Fragment's essence that was wreaking havoc. "The great Agatha sacrificed her good face to turn into a spineless snitch for the Church."

"Careful little boy," she hissed at me. "I tolerated your insults long enough. I was even willing to overlook you offering me to the demon king."

I snorted at her. "You're only overlooking it because it allowed you to grow stronger." The other demons were walking around me. I was about to get surrounded. "From a snitch for the Church to a snitch for the demon king! Tell me Agatha, how does it feel to be someone else's b.i.t.c.h? You've grown stronger, even stronger than Raiya when we met her back then. What did that cost you? Did you suck the demon king's c.o.c.k?"

She lost it then. She jumped at me and punched me in the stomach. My feet departed the floor. I was flying upwards, folded in half as my conduits expanded furiously. Eva was shouting some unintelligible words. I could no longer shut her out. I felt hard knuckles against my left cheek. Blood left my open mouth and nostrils. I was flying horizontally this time.

Then I felt a kick to my back. I thought some disk in my spine had broken by the crunching sound that ensued. I no longer felt pain as well. It was the end for me. I could at least embrace this kind of death. I wouldn't allow them to capture me or hand me to their king. I'd rather die. I provoked Agatha's wrath and got what I deserved.

I fell to the ground and every bone vibrated. I felt something burst inside me. I knew I was bleeding, both internally and externally. My ears buzzed. I couldn't hear anything Agatha was screaming at me. I closed my eyes, ready to accept death.