Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
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Before I could react, Alex jumped between us and blocked the attacker's arm blade with his katana. I ran farther inwards, so I wasn't as close to the edge. Alex was pushed away by our attacker. I looked over and saw Yuki was on the ground, tightly grasping her left thigh. I could see blood running down it.

I looked at the attacker.

Draco: "Who are you?!"

He looked at me with an emotionless expression, even while wearing the mask. He had a voice that sounded dead and emotionless.

???: "I believe I'm being referred to as The Shadow"

This was the guy killing all of those exorcists!!

Alex and I locked eyes and we instantly had the same thought. If we keep fighting this guy, we would be killed. Yuki, debatably our best fighter, is down already. Alex is the only one capable of actually fighting this guy, meanwhile I'm just standing there. I don't have my sword either, not that it would help much.

Yuki surprised the Shadow by throwing one of her daggers at him. She caught him off guard and the dagger went straight into his head.

A normal person would've been killed instantly. However the Shadow simply reached up and pulled it out of his head. The deep hole in his head started to close and heal on its own. Soon, it was like it never happened.

Alex: "What is this guy?!"

The Shadow appeared in front of Alex with blinding speed, slashing at him with his razor sharp arm blades. Alex parried and went in for a strike. The blade of his katana lit up in flames, maybe fire could permanently damage him. Before it could land, the Shadow's body exploded with some kind of black mist. Immediately, the flames on Alex's sword went out and darkness engulfed us. The only thing I could see now was the slightest glow of the Shadows eyes.

With whatever courage I somehow had in my body, I yelled at him.

Draco: "What do you want!!!"

Shadow: "I come baring a message. My Master has been keeping an eye on you, Draco Himeko. He has a proposition for you"

I heard Alex yell out to me from somewhere in the darkness.

Alex: "Don't listen to him!!"

I was about to turn away when he spoke again.

Shadow: "It very well could save the lives of not only you, but your friends as well. Well, the friends that are still alive anyways"

I knew he was talking about Chris. I couldn't save him, but could I save everyone else? I knew I couldn't protect Nozomi if it came down to it. So would listening to him be a good idea?

Draco: "What's the proposition?"

The Shadow held out his hand to me, as if he wanted me to take it.

Shadow: "I will take you to him, just take my hand"

I heard Yuki scream from somewhere behind me.

Yuki: "Dumbass!! Don't listen!! He's trying to trick you!!"

I slowly approached him. Something about him was slightly comforting, though I didn't know why. I placed my hand on his and my vision went black.

When my vision returned, I was in a large dark room, almost like a throne room. The walls were lined with torches that burned a pale green flame. At the end of the throne room, was a large staircase that led to a massive throne made of some kind of black metal.

Sitting on the throne was a tall man dressed in all black. However while he did have a grey shirt on, his black cloak covered the rest of his body. I could just see a pair of dark grey pants and black shoes. The sleeves of his cloak looked torn. His spiky black hair was almost as dark as his clothes. His fiery red eyes looked cool and collected. On closer look however, he looked stoned out of his mind. His eyebrows were down, seriously close to his eyes and he had a calm, way too relaxed smile.

???: "Mr. Himeko, it's a pleasure to meet you once again"

Instantly, I was skeptical. I'd never once met this guy in my life, so either he was lying or he was hiding something from me.

Draco: "Who are you?"

???: "Right to the point are we~? I must say that I'm not against it. I rather admire that about you"

He stood up from his throne and started slowly walking down the large staircase that led up to it. The closer he got, the more I realized how tall he was. He was definitely taller than me, since I was eye level with his shoulders.

???: "You may refer to me as Darcel"

He held out his hand.

Darcel: "I would like to make a deal with you, in exchange for keeping your end of the bargain, I can help you with your current issue with Armageddon~"

I backed away a little.

Draco: "What do you mean? How could you possibly help?"

Darcel: "I know the locations of four of the sins~"

Draco: "Y-You do?!"

Darcel: "Of course, and I'm even willing to help you slay them. However, all this comes with a cost, I hope you know"

Draco: "Like what? My soul? Way to be original"

Darcel: "No, of course not. The kind of payment I require is quite fair for the help I'm giving"

Draco: "Then what is it?"

Darcel suddenly gave me a twisted grin.

Darcel: "I want you to kill Satan"

Draco: "Uh, yeah, that was kind of already the plan"

Darcel: "Then it should be an easy deal, right~? As an added bonus, I'll even help you learn to use your Dragon Bane"

I covered up the back of my hands.

Darcel: "Oh yes, Himeko, I know all about your secret power"

He turned away from me.

Darcel: "But just as a little helpful tip, everyone knows. After your fight with the Sin of Lust, your powers aren't very secret anymore. So, before you die due to your lack of experience, I will be your teacher"

Draco: "Why should I trust you? You have that murderer working for you, The Shadow"

He turned and grinned at me.

Darcel: "Oh come now, you can't be mad at a man defending himself, can you~?"

Draco: "There was an exorcist with 28 stab wounds!"

Darcel: "That was entirely his fault. I had no hand in that"

Draco: "Why are you going around killing exorcists anyways?"

Darcel: "They've been after me for years, called me a traitor for not agreeing with how they ran things"

Immediately, I felt a connection with this guy. He was fed up with them the same way I was.

Draco: "If you really wanna help me, then why did you send him after us?"

Darcel: "Really, I thought you could figure all of this out on your own. What do you think would've happened if he just strolled up to your door and asked politely. Do you honestly think that you would've believed him?"

Draco: "Fair enough"

Darcel waved his hand and a glass of wine appeared in his hand.

Darcel: "You see, I tend to avoid conflict if at all possible. I don't like fighting, I prefer to be more civilized about these kinds of things. Satan, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. So, if you could kill him, that would be splendid"

I looked at him skeptically again, as something didn't add up.

Draco: "Why do you even want him dead?"

Darcel: "Forgive my bluntness, but that's a rather stupid question. He's causing the end of the world"

Draco: "That's not what I mean. You seem to have a personal vendetta against him"

Darcel: "So you caught onto that, did you? I must say you aren't as clueless as you appear"

He took a sip from his glass.

Darcel: "I was separated from my sister very early in life. To this very day, I have not been able to find her. She is likely dead by now. However I still have hope"

Draco: "Satan did that?"

Darcel: "Indeed, so all the more reason to help you, I suppose"

Without any warning, The Shadow appeared a few feet away from Darcel.

Shadow: "He must be returned. His friends aren't too keen on us kidnapping him"

Darcel: "I suppose you are correct. Take him back"

Draco: "Wait! What about my training?"

Darcel: "When you dream, your training will begin. For now, take this"

A book suddenly appeared in my hand. The cover was pure leather and had a dragon symbol on the front, identical to the ones I had.

Darcel: "Practice what you see in the book. With it, you should be able to locate your first Sin. Though I must warn you, the closest one is by far the most dangerous. I wish you luck"

The Shadow appeared behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. Darkness surrounded me once again.

When the darkness cleared, I was standing on the roof of Yuki's mansion. Yuki and Alex were still there, however once they saw me, Alex ran over to me. Yuki couldn't because of the wound on her leg.

Alex: "Dude! What happened to you?!"

Draco: "I... I think I just met the only person who can help us"

After regrouping with Nozomi and a barely conscious Asuka, I told them what had happened to me. Yuki seemed the most skeptical about it.

Yuki: "He just gave you that book? For free?"

Draco: "In exchange for killing Satan"

Yuki looked at me like I was an idiot.

Yuki: "Yeah, okay, what was this guy's name?"

Draco: "Darcel, at least, that's what he told me"

Yuki's eyes widened.

Draco: "You know him?"

Yuki: "K-Kind of. I read about him back in the House of God's library. The book discussed who he was in the House of God. Apparently, he was a runner up for the leader, like how May is now. However... something happened that made him public enemy number two"

Alex: "Who's number one?"

Draco: "Probably us, now. But what did he do?"

Yuki: "No clue, the page was ripped out that went over his sins"

Alex: "Can we trust this guy?"

Draco: "We don't have much choice. He's the only source of information we have"

Yuki: "I know we were interrupted before, but what I said still stands. We're better off just staying here"

Yuki wrapped one arm around Nozomi and pulled her closer.

Yuki: "I have my Nozomi, so all is good"

Nozomi: "My Nozomi~? How cute!~"

Yuki blushed.

Yuki: "S-Shut up!! I-I don't speak bottom!!"

Nozomi: "Sure, cutie~"

Alex: "Get a room"

Yuki: "You're just mad that you'll never be able to get a room with any girl~"

Alex: "Saw that coming..."

Even half conscious, Asuka managed to get us back on track.

Asuka: "Then what should we do? Yeah, we'll be safe here for a while, but say we're the last people alive on earth after Armageddon, Satan's army will only be targeting us. They'll find a way in"

Nozomi: "Asuka's right, we should at least try to cut our enemies' numbers down. All it takes is a simple earthquake or flood to get rid of this place"

Yuki: "I guess you have a point..."

Alex: "You only listened because Nozomi agreed"

Yuki: "Do I need to knock your lights out?"

Alex: "Just joking, relax. But yeah, we should at least try. If it goes south and we can't beat them, we'll retreat"

Asuka: "How do we find them?"

Draco: "From the book"

I set it down in the middle of all of us and opened to the first page. At first, there was nothing on the page. However, the book started to levitate off of the ground and the pages turned by themselves. It suddenly stopped on a page and fell back to the floor. When I looked at it again, I saw some kind of ritual that had to be performed.

Draco: "A ritual?"

Yuki: "Yikes, definitely not. That's some dangerous territory. That's like, Black Magic and curses mixed into one"

Draco: "Black Magic?"

Nozomi: "Demons have their own classes, kind of like us exorcists. Some specific opposites are Holy Magic and Black Magic, Necromancy is the demon version of the Summoning class, they even have dark elements, which is corrupted forms of said element"

Draco: "So, what? We need a demon to cast this ritual?"

Yuki: "Yep, but rituals always call for a sacrifice"

Alex: "Two things we don't have"

A voice came from the shadowy corner of the room.

Shadow: "I can be of some assistance"

We all turned and saw The Shadow in the corner of the room, leaned up against the wall. Yuki and Alex immediately grabbed their weapons, however I held my hand out.

Draco: "Cool it, he's with me"

Yuki: "He's what?!"

Shadow: "Listen to your friend, because as of now, you don't have many options available to you"

He stepped out of the darkness, walking closer to us.

Shadow: "Master Darcel has ordered me to be in charge of protecting Draco with my life"

Yuki: "With your life, yeah, sure, even though you're a Demon"

Shadow: "And what does that matter? You need a Demon for the ritual, don't you? Unless you have a spare demon lying around, I'm all you have"

Yuki held her dagger at him.

Yuki: "You cut my leg you bastard, I'll be sure to return the favor!!"

Draco: "Cut it out!"

I looked up at him.

Draco: "What do we have to do?"

Shadow: "First, draw that ritual circle you see on the page. Make sure it's exact unless you want to get pulled into the depths of hell"

Alex and Nozomi got to work right away, drawing out the circle and runes on the floor. Yuki was keeping an eye on Shadow, as he wanted to be referred to as.

Not the hedgehog.

Meanwhile, Asuka and I tried to figure out the steps to the ritual.

Asuka: "This feels wrong..."

Draco: "I know, I'm sorry, but we really don't have much choice here"

Asuka: "I'm not complaining, I'm just worried. Anyone who has started using black magic has gone down a dark path. I'm... worried about you..."

I may have blushed a small bit, since she was the only other girl besides Nozomi to worry about me this much.

Draco: "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I have you and everyone else to knock some sense into me if need be"

She smiled.

Asuka: "I'll aim for the head"

Alex interrupted.

Alex: "Hey, quit flirting, we're done"

Draco: "W-We weren't flirting!!"

Alex: "Sure, uh huh"

I rolled my eyes.

Nozomi: "What does it say next?"

Asuka: "We have to put the demon in the center and have it bleed onto the circle"

Yuki: "Damnit... My Dad's going to kill me for getting blood on the floor"

Shadow walked into the circle and pulled out a dagger.

Shadow: "If I'm not mistaken, you have to chant the incantation in the book while this happens"

I looked down at the book and saw a small body of text that was written in another language.

Draco: "What the..."

Asuka: "It's Latin, just try your best"

I took a deep breath as Shadow drove the dagger into his chest just before I began chanting. His blood leaked down his body and onto the floor. The white lines of chalk that was used to draw the circle began to glow a bright red.

Draco: "Peccata septem, per coelum et infernum, ostium Armagedonense aperit, intra septem dies et septem noctes. Super peccata septem, voco"

Even though Shadow had a dagger in his chest, he wasn't dying. It was as if he physically couldn't.

The circle then began to form large hands, like that of a clock. Three hands of a clock formed in the center of the circle, pointing outwards in multiple directions. The light from the circle faded away, leaving only the hands of a clock, floating in the air. However they were constantly changing, likely due to the sins that were around. Only three hands pointing meant that they couldn't show all of them at once.

All that was left now was to pick one.

Immediately, I looked back over at Shadow. Sure enough, his wound was healed as if it never happened. Thank God he's on our side.

Draco: "Which one should we go to first?"

Shadow: "This one seems to be the weakest, we should start here"

He pointed at the hand pointing straight north.

Draco: "You can tell?"

Shadow: "Yeah, most Demons can sense these things, if they know the general area"

Yuki: "We're really doing this, huh? We're going to try and kill Satan and the Sins?"

Alex: "Not like we have much choice"

Nozomi: "What about Asuka? She can't go out right now, her wound still hasn't healed yet"

Asuka: "N-No, I'm fine. I can still fight"

Just saying that sentence alone was a struggle for her.

Draco: "Nozomi's right, you need to stay here"

Alex: "Then who will stay to keep an eye on her? It can't be Nozomi because she's our healer. Yuki and I are the best fighters we have, and Draco needs to go with because of the whole Dragon Bane thing"

Yuki: "How about we leave Shadow here? It would be safer if we didn't take him along"

Shadow: "So even though you don't trust me, you find it safer for me to stay here with your helpless and powerless friend where I could possibly kill her without any issue over me going with the four of you who stand some what of a chance against me?"

For the first time, Yuki was actually speechless.

Yuki: "Fuck you!!"

Draco: "Okay! Guys! Calm down!"

Shadow: "I can ensure that she will be taken care of"

He got down and drew smaller circles on the ground, slightly more demonic looking than the one we just did. As he rose, two figures emerged from the magic circles. Almost immediately, I had to close my eyes and turn away.

He had literally just summoned two succubus inside the house. I didn't get much of a look at them, but they were definitely succubus. I looked over at Alex and he was doing the same as me.

Shadow: "These two can stay here and watch over her. They are professional healers and will take care of whatever your friend needs"

Nozomi: "Y-You can summon succubi?!"

Shadow: "Yeah, they're like my assistants"

After asking Yuki what happened later, I found out that the two succubi bowed to Shadow, saying "As you command, Master" with a lustful giggle. They then proceeded to take Asuka upstairs for her to rest.

Asuka said one thing before vanishing up the stairs.

Asuka: "Be safe, don't you dare die"

Draco: "We won't, we'll be back for you"

Once we were given the all clear, Alex and I turned back around.

Yuki: "Virgins..."

Draco: "Oh, I'm sorry, would you have rather had us staring at them?"

Yuki: "No, but you could've just done something to make you look like less of a pathetic virgin"

Nozomi: "Knock it off, please"

Yuki: "Alright, but only because you asked"

I made a mental note to always have Nozomi with me when I argued with Yuki.

Draco: "Should we head out, then?"

Alex: "Yeah, let's go meet up by the car"

Shadow: "I'll direct you"

I watched them walk towards the front door, when Nozomi suddenly latched onto Yuki's arm, hugging it tightly.

Yeah, she calls us virgins and yet she's always shy around my sister. Not sure how to feel about that.

Alex kept trying to start a conversation with Shadow, however he kept silent.

Just as I was about to leave, I looked back down at the hands from the circle. At first, I thought I was looking at this wrong. I rubbed my eyes to see the exact same thing.

The hand was pointing right towards Nozomi.

Draco: "What..."

Yuki: "Draco! Move your ass!"

I looked down at the hands one last time, just to make sure I wasn't imagining it.

I wasn't.

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