Chapter Text
“No! Don’t come any closer!”
The demon bellowed, clutching her bleeding ankle and desperately trying to scurry back into the shadows. The moonlight highlighted her pursuer who’s raven-like wings stretched out behind him, four of them. The grip on his jade spear tightened as he grew closer to the demon; his expression was blank and unfeeling.
Her eyes were blown wide open, breath quivering, ankle throbbing and tears streaming down her bruised face.
“You… You’ll regret this! I’ll haunt you with the rest of my brothers and sisters!”
She lamented, sobbing as she threw sticks his way as a futile attempt to prevent her own demise. He paused for a moment as he heard her words.
Brothers and sisters.
He slowed his steps as he pondered, a sense of pity lingering in his mind. Despite being a manifestation of sins, she still had some form of humanity. Pure evil is something that does not truly exist, a properly known fact among all angels which would demonstrate why the demon displays traits that somewhat resemble that of a human’s. Yet, the executioner cannot help but waver. The heavens preach about second chances but never think twice when it comes to demons, when the angel thought of such he recalled why he was sent down to earth to eviscerate such sinners.
Because they were given a second chance long ago yet never took up on that offer. Willingly trundling down a path of sin wether it be to their own or to another’s expense. These foul and ignorant beings who take life for granted, converting into idiots that plot against mankind and the earth that they were once blessed with, but now unable to return to that garden after disobeying God. Now, there must be someone who protects Eden from the exiled who are so eager to return, that someone is Xiao.
Then he raised his weapon, in the blink of an eye her head rolled on to the floor, black blood gushing out of her neck. Xiao watched as her body evaporated into the chilling air of night. He stood still for a moment, looking up at the sky and closing his eyes. His patrol was complete, all he had to do now would be to retreat back into heaven for the time being.. yet something felt off. The masked presence of a demon lingered in the area, it was difficult to tell wether it was because of his most recent kill or because of something else entirely.
His sharp eyes scanned the area, searching for any rustling of the leaves, misplaced objects or persons.
“Huh, you’re sharp.” An unfamiliar voice called out from behind. Immediately, Xiao ducked and whipped his head around, a devil’s tail with a series of blades attached to it just swooping over his head. In front of the angel was a devil with long flaxen hair that drooped over his shoulders like fools gold, crazed topaz eyes that betrayed his calm expression and skin stark white. He sat atop the air hunched over with his chin on his fist, dark horns protruding out of his head, the glint on his fangs in his incendiary grin and his tail retracting from the attack, curved over his head like a scorpion.
“As expected of the.. well, whoever you are.”
The blonde commented, tilting his head as if expecting an response. Xiao narrowed his eyes, twirling his jade spear between his fingers.
“No talk, straight to the point kinda guy.” The devil sighed in exasperation, rolling his eyes as a smirk tugged at his lips.
“Seriously, angels can’t even entertain a small conversation nowadays… but that doesn’t matter,” He glanced over at his hand, checking his claws in a nonchalant manner. In that moment, the angel bolted forth, a jab about to land on the devil but intercepted by a black stripe plummeting towards him, Xiao brought his spear up to block it, deflecting the attack and striking multiple times with only the echoing sounds of his weapon and the devil’s tail colliding.
“Seriously? You would think the angel that chipped off all my men would be much more formidable than whatever this is.”
Aether scoffed, trying to provoke him as he observed the angel’s attempts to get in range, parrying each of his attacks with ease.
It was then when the devil narrowly missed impaling Xiao’s chest when the realisation dawned on him, the true prowess of this sinner. The cogs in his mind turned, how could one be so strong compared to every other demon he’s killed? Xiao started to accelerate his dodging, now instead of blocking he’d meander through what looked like ribbons cutting through the sky. The devil’s smile was pressed into a flat line, he raised his eyebrows with a hint of irritation in his expression. Xiao was growing closer and closer and obviously, that’s not a good thing. Finally, Aether stood up, deciding to take this fight a little more seriously. His claws extended and he leapt towards Xiao, relying on brute force and accuracy more than anything else.
After tirelessly gnawing at each other’s weapons Xiao decided to create more distance, using his wings to propel himself backward.
The burn of exhaustion in Aether’s arms was prominent but he wasn’t worn down enough to be repelled. He stood his ground, bouncing on his feet with his arms guarding his face. Xiao had worked so hard to close the distance why would he just back away all of a sudden? The blonde was puzzled, knowing there was some kind of ulterior motive or plan but kept his eyes locked on to his target without moving from his spot.
Xiao mustered up all the strength he could, pulling his body backwards before plunging his spear into the air, straight to his target with an wind ripping effect. Before Aether could even process it, all he could see was a blade inching closer and closer to his eye in slow motion. He pushed everything in his body to move to the side, staggering on to the grass as the spear grazed against his cheek, leaving a burn that quickly healed. He looked back over to where the angel was and was going to charge in for the attack until he realised Xiao was nowhere to be seen. The blonde snapped his body around, predicting the angel was behind him.
Wham!
Something blunt hit his head, so hard that he collapsed on to the ground, legs giving out.
Xiao had delivered a crescent kick, unable to fully rely on his arms anymore. His heel hurled right into the devil’s skull, momentarily incapacitating him. In truth, he had never experienced a battle where he almost got bested by his opponent, a demon to be exact. He had used all his energy for the last attack, his muscles now aching in agony and his wings wilting. If Xiao was a mortal, he would be heaving so hard his rib cage would blow. The battle began during the night and dawn was already nearing. His patrol should’ve ended by now but instead he was inconvenienced by whoever this was.
Xiao whispered a short incantation that bound the hands and feet of his captive with inverted gravity. Shortly after gathering his bearings Xiao retreated back to heaven with the devil, planning on interrogating him before execution.