"Say, Setty," Serrano said.

"Yeah?" I said, snuggling against his back. He was fluffier than the premium pillows back home.

"First, stop that! Second, can you really not use your powers."

I rose. "About that-" I stopped talking, and instead ran a finger across his back and tapped it twice.

He jumped leftward as directed, narrowly avoiding a purple fireball.

I smiled. Seemed he managed to have my signals memorized. I had come up with them earlier to communicate during battle.

"Finally found you," Bylet said as he stepped forward. He cracked his fingers and formed a sphere of darkness in his left palm. "Dad is mad at you for what you pulled back in Xeleria. And so am I!" He dashed at us but Serrano jumped high into the air, avoiding his claws.

"Your dad is alive?" Serrano asked, incredulously.

Bylet snickered. "Father is a fox but like a cat, he is a man with multiple lives. I wonder if tigers also have multiple lives. You better hope so!"

The demon-abysmal shot the sphere at us.

Serrano swatted it toward the ground with his tail. He winced as parts of it were destroyed.

"Seems I overestimated my durability," Serrano said, wincing. Thankfully, it didn't take long for his tail to heal.

Bylet spread out legs and let out a growl. "Bring out your true power, tiger!"

"I can't," Serrano said. "This tower is preventing me from using my angelic abilities."

He sighed. "Wanted to defeat you at your full power, but seems I can't have that joy. Oh well, you're still going down!"

I jumped off of Serrano's back as soon as he touched back down.

With my index finger, I directed he go left, that I would go right.

The two of us flanked Bylet and charged at him.

The man in purple armor formed two new dark spheres and launched them.

Serra and I jumped at the same time, avoiding them.

Bylet's eyes widen as we closed in on him. He held up his hands and unleashed black flames on us.

Serra leaned his body back, narrowly avoiding the flames. I did the same thanks to zen mode.

Bylet gritted his teeth as he grasped our feet. Both of us winced as a stream of darkness poured out of his hands. Thankfully, he hadn't used his flames. Although, Serra might have been able to handle those better. Given his Kasai no Ki blood.

Serra whacked his helmet off with his tail and I followed up with a punch to his face.

Bylet recoiled and slammed his hands on the ground.

"Be careful!" Serrano yelled as he jumped back. "He's going to transform into his dragon form!"

I didn't need him to tell me that. My body moved on its own, detecting the danger.

The blond man's armor appeared to merge with his body as he grew in size. Rocks rained down on us as he transformed into a giant nine-tailed onyx dragon.

Bylet unleashed a roar, causing the entire floor to give in under our feet. Serrano and I spread out our wings and jumped up the rocks, trying to avoid finding ourselves at the bottom of the pile. The stones weren't the issue, but being incapacitated long enough for him to stomp on us.

The demon swung four of his tails at me and another four at Serrano.

"Serra!" I yelled as one of the tails hit him.

Much to my shock, Serra clung to the tail with his claws, piercing the dragon's scales.

Bylet let out another roar, causing the floor he now stood on the crumble.

"Get off of me, insect!" Bylet yelled, slamming Serrano into the wall. Light from the outside poured into the tower, but a pink wall of light kept us from flying out.

"Serrano!" I yelled.

My fiancé continued to hold on even as he winced from the pain. Blood dripped out of his wounds which closed almost immediately.

Why wouldn't he let go of him? He might've been an abysmal, but his healing wouldn't last forever.

Serra swung his hind legs back and forward before jumping. Bylet's tails thrashed, but like someone trying to hit a flying insect, he kept missing as Serra zipped around with the grace of a professional acrobat.

Bylet roared yet again, sending more debris into the air. At this rate, he'll destroy the entire tower. Wait, was that Serra's objective?

Serrano kicked one of Bylet's tails and jumped up. The way he moved reminded me of a swimmer kicking the edge of the pool to gain some momentum. But hadn't he done track in college?

The more Serra continued to jump around, the more I was reminded of parkour. I used to do it in my youth, much to the dismay and horror of my guards and father.

Did Serra learn to run and jump like that while on the beat? The more I saw of it, the more I could see the connection with track and field. Serra was an incredible jumper and runner, no doubt. Doing so without an ounce of fear made it more impressive, given how he used to be as a kid.

Serrano somersaulted through the air and glanced at me. He pointed to the ground—tons of stone lay underneath me. Only a little more and I should be able to bury Bylet with it.

I reached for my ankle bracelet, transforming it into its weapon form.

Bylet turned to look, drawn by the bright orange light.

"How can you use your angel tool? Is the power of the tower weakening?" He stared at the holes he had made in the walls.

I spun my meteor hammer and flung it at him. It punctured holes through each tail in its path, which were a total of five.

Bylet growled and unleashed a stream of flames outward, melting the stones.

I clicked my tongue and raised the hot rocks into the air, pelting him with them.

Bylet reverted to his standard form and covered himself in a sphere of fire.

The man was buried beneath all of the stones he had loosened.

"Is it over?" Serrano asked.

"No, I haven't broken past his barrier, much less shattered his core."

Serrano gasped as the outside of the sphere of stones turned red.

"Damn it; he's breaking through!" I yelled, trying to keep the melted rock under my control. It was hard to do so. Solid stone was much easier to manipulate.

"You think I'm that weak to lose to you just because you can use your angel powers?" Bylet roared as he burst out of the hot rock.

I smirked as I avoided his fists. His movements were uncoordinated. Rage wasn't helping him at all.

My eyes widened as the room became covered in smoke. My body moved away from it, but I soon found myself surrounded again.

I spun my meteor hammer, blowing it up.

"Looks like you're in need of some help," a voice called out as some of the smoke cleared.

Flying in the air was Vapula.

Great. Just what we needed. Another demon.

"I don't," Bylet said, panting.

Vapula smiled. "Well, you have little choice but to retreat. Else my smoke will start to hurt you too. Remember, you aren't a pure-blood."

Bylet clicked his tongue and flew upward.

"Go guard Camio. We can't have them interrupt him."

"Interrupt him from what?" Serrano asked as he gave chase to Bylet.

"Oh, no you don't!" Vapula said, appearing beneath him. She struck Serra in the gut with a knife resembling an icepick, flinging him into the ceiling several meters above. "Bylet, I leave the task of finishing that one to you. My business is with this knight. She has a debt with me."

I smirked. "A debt? That can't be. I am not the type to borrow."

She laughed. "Very funny, dove." Her smile faded. "Sadly, this is no laughing matter."

"Oh, it's not? Because all of this is pretty haha funny to me."

Vapula raised her signature black pipe to her lips. Like back in the palace, she unleashed concentrated plumes of smoke at me. This time, she vanished.

I moved aside as she appeared on my left side and tried to slash me with her long claws.

"So, this is the zen mode that Camio mentioned," Vapula said, leering at me. "Instant movement without having to think about it. But every technique has a weakness, and I'm sure this is no exception to that rule."

Yeah, the weakness was making me distracted. But long as I my mind remained clear, she wouldn't get a single hit on me.

My eyes darted upward as Serrano screamed. Bylet had him pinned against the wall. His claws had impaled his side.

"Serra!" I yelled.

Vapula dashed at me and kicked me, sending me toward Serrano. 

Bylet smiled and grasped me by the neck. "Nice one, Vapula. You made easy work of her."

"Setty," Serra said, wincing. "I'm sorry. I keep getting in the way."

"It's alright," I said, increasing my mana output.

Bylet yelped and let go of the two of us. He stared at his burnt hand with wide eyes. "So, this is how a burn feels like."

I reverted back to base and grabbed Serrano. With him safe, it would be easy to return to zen mode.

"Damn it! You aren't getting away from me that easily!" Bylet yelled, flying at me.

I flew out of the way and whacked him on the back with my wing, sending him plummeting into the ground.

Holding Serrano with one hand, I spun Alma with the other. "Die, demon!"

Vapula appeared in front of the attack and held her hands outward, taking it head-on.

What? Why was she doing that?

"I won't let you kill Bylet. Margaret would never let me hear the end of it if I did."

I gritted my teeth at the mention of that name. She was the one who manipulated Nao and helped Itou take over my cousin.

"Where is she?" I snapped. "Where's Margaret?"

Vapula smiled as she threw Alma to the side. "You really wish to know? If you meet her, you likely won't survive."

I appeared behind her and kicked her neck. Much to my surprise, she didn't budge much.

"Remember what I said before I departed? I wasn't using my full power."

I moved my foot away from her and flew up. The air around her was growing incredibly dense. Smoke began to pour out of her body, melting everything it touched.

"Hey, if you continue that, you're going to hurt your companion," Serra managed to say through gritted teeth. Though, I doubted he cared. It was likely to avoid her going into Second Hell.

Vapula snapped her fingers. Bylet vanished from where he had fallen. "Thanks for the reminder."

Serra bit his lip as he reverted back to his humanoid form. He probably shouldn't have said a thing.

I held out a hand and warped us away from there. Though, I couldn't take us out of the tower. The space was well-built. It would take some focus for me to actually do so. Unfortunately, the upper floor was also guarded by the same sturdy defenses. 

"Huh, sis?" Rosa said as I appeared not too far from her. She was with Yuko and much to my surprise Kohri. Also with them was a red-haired woman with verdant eyes.

The hairs on my back rose as I felt an incredible amount of electricity coming our way.

I slammed the ground and rose the earth. Great, I got away in order to heal Serra from the demonic venom spread through his body, but it seemed that wasn't an option with all these enemies running around.

"Take Serrano. I'll fend off our attacker!"

"What happened to him?" Rosa asked as she helped him stand up.

"He got hit by Bylet," I said as I pushed back against the beam of electricity. "I failed to protect him."

"N-no, don't blame yourself," Serrano said. "It's my fault for always getting injured." He stepped forward and raised his hands into the air. They reverted into tiger paws. The electricity arced upward, flowing into his body.

"Woah," Kohri said.

"Serra can use lightning?" Rosa asked, stunned.

"W-what are you doing? That's demonic lightning!" I snapped.

Serrano winced. "I don't want to sit down again. Know that I'm being foolish, but I can't let you do all of the fighting. Apart from you, Yuko, Tetsu, and I are the only ones who can use their powers in here."

Rosa sighed. "That's true."

I huffed and directed my eyes forward. "Fine."

Serrano smiled and stood next to me. "Plus, I know how to get rid of demonic energy!" He stopped drawing electricity into his left hand and instead pointed it forward. "Weaken the wall a little."

"Huh?" I asked, but I did as he said.

Serra closed his eyes and fired off a blast of concentrated black energy ahead. The electricity beam stopped.

"Did I hit him?" Serrano asked, smiling.

I stared at him in awe. He had sent the guy flying back with a ray of pure demon energy. "H-how did you do that?"

He snickered. "I learned how to do that while fighting Bylet's brother," he said, leaning his head against my shoulder.

"Serra!" Rosa yelled.

I stared at his wound and saw that the demonic poison had disappeared.

"You healed yourself?" I asked.

He smiled. "Yeah, but seems I have to rest."

I grabbed a hold of him and sighed. "Are you dumb? Don't push yourself this far!"

He smiled slightly. "I'm just copying a certain princess."

My cheeks flushed. "Idiot," I said as I gave him some of my mana. "Rest for now. We might have to fight again real soon."

Seemed that I didn't have to say it again as Serrano quickly fell asleep. He seemed so peaceful despite being covered in ashes and dust.

"We'll leave," Rosa said, giggling as she pulled Yuko away.

"Is the princess going to kiss the prince?" Yuko asked, glancing back at us.

Kohri snickered. "I think so. Maybe he'll wake up."

"This is awkward," the red-haired lady said, turning away.

"W-what? I'm not going to kiss him!" I yelled, chasing after them. Seriously, I wasn't anywhere as brave as Yuko nor Rosa when it came to kissing.

I stopped and turned toward the right.

"What's up?" Kohri asked, glancing at that direction.

"Think I found your brother and Tetsu."

"Master!" Yuko said, running ahead of us.

"Hey, wait up!" Rosa yelled, giving chase.

I looked behind my shoulder as a white haired boy staggered toward us. "Man, that sure was a heck of an attack," he said, gripping his chest. "I didn't expect to get hit by my own cursed energy like that."

I glared at him. So, Serra's attack hadn't finished him off after all, but he didn't appear to be in a much better state than my fiancé.

He smiled. "It was nice seeing you again, Princess. Hopefully, our next meeting will turn out better," he said as he vanished.

My eyes widened. Why did he talk as if we knew each other? Had I met him before? Something about him did feel strangely familiar. But, I couldn't pinpoint what it was. His hair? But the only ones I knew with white hair were my Etsuo, Maki, Uncle Aza, and Conrad. Well, Tetsuya too after his revival. There was also Kaliq and his son. But, he wasn't any of them. So, who was he?

Although, his aura did remind me of the people of Munil. Maybe he was one of the other residents that saw us but we hadn't interacted with. But then how could he be here? Kaliq said his people couldn't live outside of their dimension. Or was he the exception? Clearly, he was a demon, so maybe some half-breeds could.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^. Thoughts? Predictions? Theories?**