"It died? How?" Manny asked. The group was sitting around in the living room. Calis sat off to the side, listening in on the conversation while occasionally glancing at his phone. The sun was slowly coming up higher, pouring through the opened glass walls.
"The night those people died, the Deimon died." Lee Seng quietly answered. "He died when the Curse literally took a bite out of him. I don't know why I was trying to take care of him, but I did… In my old house… The Cape cod house… Keng found me there in my Soul world and, uh… Used the forbidden spell there and we were transported to another Realm. The Realm between Daros and the gods, I guess…"
Lee Seng stared at his hands. The couple of months came back to him. The Soul world flashed in his head. The leftover touch of the Demon Fox was still apparent. It still looked fresh. He let out a deep sigh and pushed those thoughts away.
"What happened, happened." Lee Seng waved his hand. He looked up at his friends who were patiently waiting for him to say something. Manny looked like he wanted to say something but kept his mouth shut. "Don't worry so much about me. I'm… coping with it. The first few months were hard. It's still kinda hard, but I've learned to deal with it better.
"As of now, it's not the biggest concern. The punishment is one thing but the biggest thing is what's to come… And I know I may be out of place to ask this, but I will need your help." Lee Seng looked at his friends and Calis. "All of your help."
"With what?" Liz asked. "Is there something happening that we don't know…?" Lee Seng sighed, remembering bits and pieces of those Deimons he had met. Those memories were the hardest to recall. It was like he didn't want to recall them.
"There are more Deimons out there than I think I've met." Lee Seng spoke. "The gods made that clear enough so I will probably, most likely, need your help. All of you."
"W-what can we do? A-are these Deimons dangerous?" Evan cautiously asked.
"They're crazy strong. I'm afraid things are going to ramp up soon. When shit hits the fan, I'll need your help…. To fight… To run… I don't know. That's why I need to get out of this prison. I need information." Lee Seng sighed.
"On what exactly?" Calis asked.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"D31 and more than likely… A Number who has D31 in them."
The room went completely silent. They looked amongst each other, wondering who the Number could be. Before they could ask questions, Lee Seng stood up.
"Calis, could you get breakfast sent up here for everyone?" Lee Seng asked.
"S-sure thing, sir." Calis stood up. He gave a small salute and excused himself. When Calis was out of the room, Lee Seng looked at the rest of the group.
"Who is it?" Manny asked. Lee Seng grabbed his coffee cup and downed whatever was left and played with the cup in his hand.
"It's better you don't know for now. I happened to hear it when I was… stiff." Lee Seng looked at Manny.
"What do you mean by stiff?"
"Petrified. Stoned. Stiff." Lee Seng shrugged, wandering over to the kitchen to throw his cup away.
"You can't just… Drop something like that." Manny stood up, following after Lee Seng. The others looked at each other before following. Lee Seng turned and watched his friends enter the kitchen.
"You were petrified? Why?" Olivia asked.
"It happens when a Number reaches their full control of the Protocol." Manny answered, looking behind his shoulder. He turned his attention back onto Lee Seng, still waiting for his question to be answered. "Which Number is it? What should we do? Are we even safe anymore? Y'know you drop a bomb like that and —"
"I know." Lee Seng put his hand up. "That's why I'm kinda regretting saying anything. There are Deimons around us and that's all I know. I'm more pissed about the three who took me to the lab. One had strong anti-magic powers and her captain is feisty. She's a pyromaniac who can apparently put smoke in your lungs and make you suffer."
"This is… too much to handle." Olivia commented. "Do you have anything else to drop on us?"
"That's it. I would like your help. I really, really, really want you guys to help me." Lee Seng told them. "Know helping me may make you guys enemies. Think hard about it." A knock came at the door and the group turned to look towards the door. Lee Seng moved past the group, putting a finger on his mouth as he walked to the tablet on the wall. He pushed the communication button and noticed a set of bodyguards were at the door.
"Chang, we're here with your food." Bodyguard told him.
"Where's Calis?" Lee Seng asked. "I asked him to fetch a lot of food."
"He got called to do something. Top orders. We have all this food for you. Can we come in?" The bodyguard asked. There were five bodyguards. The first one looked normal but the one at the rear… She looked familiar. Lee Seng's eyes swirled with energy and he immediately knew why she was so familiar.
'The pyromaniac.' Lee Seng thought.
"Leave it there. I'll get it myself." Lee Seng ordered.
"Sir, we have to wheel this in ourselves. You know how it works." Bodyguard 2 spoke. "Let us in, please."
"Hey, what's the problem?" Ritsuka whispered. Lee Seng turned and put a finger up to his lips. He hit the communication button before speaking.
"Some of these are my bodyguards, but those two aren't." Lee Seng pointed at the screen. "The woman in the back, I think I—" A loud explosion blew the door off. Lee Seng and Ritsuka watched as smoke billowed in and the rest of the group came running out of the kitchen.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"What the—" Manny began to say when a fireball flew forwards, hitting him square in the chest and sending him flying into a wall.
"You should've just listened, Number 11." A familiar woman's voice spoke. The silver hair captain stepped out of the smoke first. Flames billowing in her hands as the bodyguard suit showed a bit of the gold armor underneath it. She smiled at him as Ritsuka defensively put an arm up in front of Lee Seng. Captain Childs glanced at Ritsuka and clicked her tongue. "I see you have friends. This wasn't apart of the plan."
"What do you want?" Lee Seng asked. Four guards rushed out of the smoke towards the group. Lee Seng lifted his hand, beginning to press gravity down on the entire group, when a fireball flew at him. Lee Seng flew backwards, knocking into a shelf.
"Lee!" Olivia shouted. A purple lightning bolt flew straight for Captain Childs. A man stepped into it, taking the brunt of the hit and flying backwards.
"He just…" Liz whispered.
"No time to waste." Manny grunted, standing. "We need to leave." Two guards flew straight for the group. One of the guard's arms turned into metal, bending as they flew straight at Liz. A large shield flew up, blocking the attack as Olivia pulled Liz away.
"Fury's Wrath." The second bodyguard whispered. Their body glowed a bright red, releasing a blast of energy straight into the shield. The shield's aura quickly changed colors, hitting the brightest white color. The shield cracked, exploding in a mere second as Evan flew into Olivia and the entire group, knocking them over.
Ritsuka summoned Obsidian Glass, shooting a bolt of Void energy out at the remaining guard. The guard's aura grew as a large shield blocked the attack. Ritsuka gulped as he took a step backwards.
"I see you did bring your friends. Too bad. It'll always end the same for you, Number 11. It's time for you to become one of us." Captain Childs announced. She extended her right hand out and let the flames fly straight for Ritsuka. Ritsuka dodged to the side, letting the flames fly straight for Lee Seng.
Lee Seng's eyes swirled as he lifted his head up. The flames stopped short of him, building in front of him.
[Devour.]
Lee Seng sucked a breath in, watching the flames enter his body. It burned him as he continued to absorb the fiery energy. When the flames disappeared, the aura tank was rushing at him. Lee Seng quickly jumped to the left, listening to the glass explode. Lee SEng quickly pushed the aura tank out of the large hole and turned his attention to another woman stepping into view. She lifted her hand at the group. A bright light flashed past the captain and her allies, stunning the entire group in place.
'Shit.' Lee Seng thought. Captain Childs smiled as the flames billowed up her arms.
"Don't worry about the rest of them. They aren't apart of the plan." Captain Childs told her allies. "Kill them and only take Number 11 alive."