The day before the deadline, I didn't go anywhere. Figured the best move was to spend the first half of the day at home, sleeping and building up strength. Most of the prep work was done. All that was left were the final touches — the dirtiest and most critical part of the whole plan.

  Toward evening, I told Mom I was going to bed early. Then I climbed out the window, slid down the drainpipe, grabbed some things I'd stashed along the way, and snuck onto Mr. Yunor's farm down the street.

  A little effort, and there I was — standing in the henhouse, staring at a bunch of startled chickens.

  "Sorry," I said flatly, pulling out a bottle and a knife. Luckily there was a bucket nearby. I caught the first chicken, slit its head off without blinking, and drained the blood into the bucket. Then I did it again. And again. I killed every single one of Mr. Yunor's chickens, and I genuinely felt bad about it. But between the lives of a dozen hens and my own, I'll pick mine every time.

  I poured the blood into the bottle, climbed back out, and hurried off. The last missing component — acquired. Time for the final preparations.

  Back at the old warehouse, I started painting symbols on the floor and walls with the blood, building a massive demonic trap the gatekeeper wouldn't be able to escape. It would block his teleportation, limit his power, and significantly improve my odds.

  Once the construct was finished, I used a rope to suspend myself in the center of the warehouse. My feet couldn't touch anything — otherwise the demon could appear directly beneath me, just like last time, and I'd have zero time to react.

  With everything in place, I let out a long breath and waited. And if I'm being honest, it was the longest, most miserable wait of my life. I'd sat in cages for weeks waiting for the next fight, but this was different. One mistake, and I'd have to go through hell all over again. I was confident I could kill Ramuil faster this time — maybe fifty years instead of two hundred — but even that was too long. Better to pay him a visit later, once I'd gotten strong enough on the upper rings.

  Hanging from a rope isn't exactly comfortable, but I tried to make the best of the downtime. Meditation posture doesn't technically matter, but the normal one's a lot easier. Still, I managed.

  Inhale. Spin the energy in my stomach. Push it through the budding channels. Exhale.

  Over and over.

  I am one with the world.

  I am one with nature.

  I am one with the elements.

  I am one with the Spiral.

  I am power. Power is me.

  This went on until I heard the first roosters crowing outside.

  The moment I did, my eyes snapped open and my hand went to the knife at my belt.

  The countdown was in minutes now. He'd be here soon.

  "Hey! What are you doing up there?!" A sudden shout made me flinch and turn my head.

  Chloe had walked into the warehouse.

  "What the hell is all this?!" She gaped at the bloody symbols on the walls.

  "Get out of here! Now!" I shouted. The demon could appear any second, and if Chloe stayed, she'd be breakfast. "Run!"

  "Stop yelling at me!" she snapped. "I can go wherever I want! What kind of game are you playing? Your mom lost track of you — she's already thinking the demons actually—"

  She choked on the word, because right beneath where I was hanging, a vortex of scarlet light bloomed open and dozens of hands reached up toward me. Chloe screamed bloody murder. I swung on the rope and slashed it at the right moment.

  I misjudged the drop a little and hit my hip hard on the landing, but the hole was already rushing toward me. Seconds mattered. In one motion I sliced open my left palm and smeared blood across the unfinished section of the magical construct. The room erupted with light — the blood-written symbols ignited, flooding the warehouse in crimson.

  "Aaah! What's happ—"

  "RUN!" I snarled at the stupid girl, and in the next instant the magic expelled the demon into our world.

  How do you describe a gatekeeper demon? Easy: a massive worm, thirty feet long, covered in human hands. And now this entire thing was here, thrashing in convulsions.

  Crimson lightning struck the demon immediately, and a moment later some of the symbols burned out.

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  "Tch..." I grimaced. Not enough. But I hadn't been banking on the trap killing it — just singeing it and pissing it off. What I hadn't expected was the thing being this big. I'd hoped it would be two or three times smaller.

  The worm arched and launched itself upward, only to slam back down with a crash that shook the earth. The impact knocked Chloe off her feet. I only stayed standing because I'd instinctively braced for something like that.

  The shock of the transition was wearing off. The demon propped itself up on its many hands, swiveled its "mouth" toward Chloe and me.

  "This is bad."

  The demon charged straight at us — so fast it was like being shot out of a cannon. I threw myself aside, and the only reason Chloe didn't get swallowed whole was that the demon was after me, not her.

  I barely dodged in time. The gatekeeper plowed into the warehouse wall at full speed, almost smashing through it. The sheer force of it... Credit to whoever built this place — they did solid work. If the structure had been even slightly weaker, the demon would've broken free, and the whole plan would've gone straight to hell. As long as it stayed inside the blood magic construct, it couldn't slip back into the space between worlds.

  "Over here!" I yelled, drawing its attention.

  The demon pushed off the wall and floor with its countless hands, wheeled toward me, and charged again.

  "Good boy," I snarled and yanked the rope.

  The trap I'd prepared fired. Sharpened metal pipes — the ones I'd spent forever grinding to a point — slammed into the monster's flank, punching through its hide. It shrieked in pain so loud they probably heard it on the other side of town.

  Didn't care.

  Not the time.

  The demon thrashed and roared, but it was still alive. The wounds weren't deep enough to finish it.

  That's when Chloe snapped out of her terrified sobbing and bolted. At first I was relieved — then I saw the demon turning toward her.

  "No! No! No! No! You piece of shit! I'm right here! HEY! It's me you want!"

  I didn't like Chloe. The kid needed a good belting, and regularly. But I absolutely did not want her eaten by a demon — even though, Lords as my witness, it would've solved a few problems for me.

  I sprinted straight at the demon, which was already coiling up to lunge and swallow the poor girl in one bite. I was faster. I leaped, grabbed one of the metal pipes sticking out of its body, and the demon flinched from the pain mid-lunge, veering off course. It smashed into the wall again, and a chunk of the roof came crashing down. Thankfully outside the building, not on our heads.

  I couldn't hold onto the pipe — this goddamn weak body — and went tumbling across the ground. I think I blacked out for a couple of seconds. The demon's roar snapped me back, and seeing no sign of Chloe nearby, I sprinted for the next trap.

  I jumped, clearing the trip rope, and the demon was already barreling toward me.

  "Come on, you bastard! Come on!"

  One of its hands hit the trigger, and a massive log rigged with stones swung in from the left and slammed into the demon. I'd spent half a day hanging that thing, rigging up the lever system, and it paid off. The impact knocked the demon sideways — right onto the sharpened wooden stakes I'd prepared.

  Still not enough.

  If the demon had been the size I'd expected, the metal pipes alone would've killed it. But I'd planned for this too.

  While the demon struggled to pull itself off the stakes, I scrambled to the other magical construct. I pressed on my palm wound, squeezed out fresh blood, and smeared it across the unfinished section.

  "Die," I grinned and stepped back as the circle lit up. The demon sensed something — it convulsed, trying to wrench itself free of the stakes, but too slowly. The construct had already made contact with the demon's blood pooling on the floor near the trap, triggering the reaction. "Endo quar azuki-to!"

  The demon seized up. It stopped trying to free itself. Its agonized roar became something deeper — full of despair and raw suffering.

  Now.

  I charged, leaped straight onto it. Dozens of hands clawed at me, trying to grab and tear me apart, but there was no strength left in them. Ignoring them completely, I drove my knife into the demon's flesh and ripped it open. I cut and cut, again and again, while the paralyzed demon thrashed in agony beneath me.

  Its muscles were incredibly tough, but I'd sharpened the knife well, so they gave way eventually — though not always on the first try. Finally I reached the organs, and then its heart. The demon seemed to sense it. It went perfectly still, stopped twitching, and I grinned and plunged the knife in. Scalding hot demon blood sprayed me head to toe, but I ignored it, reached inside, felt around until my fingers closed on a small stone, and ripped it out.

  The demon let out one last roar — the final one — and collapsed. It nearly crushed me. If it had fallen just a little differently, I'd have been in serious trouble getting out. But apparently the spirit of the Spiral was on my side today, and I crawled free without help.

  I was filthy, caked in a thick layer of stinking demon blood, holding a demon core in one hand and my trusty knife in the other. And I felt like the happiest person in the world.

  I'd won. Against all odds, I'd won. Survived. Set myself free.

  "You... you killed it? You actually... killed it?"

  I turned and saw Chloe hiding behind a pile of debris.

  "Killed it," I nodded. "But you didn't see that."

  "What?" She blinked in confusion.

  "You heard me." I deliberately walked a wide arc so she wouldn't realize I was cutting off her exit. "Chloe, you're going to forget everything that happened here. Me, the demon, all of it. Neither of us was here."

  "But the demon—"

  "We don't know who killed it," I insisted. "Let the adults make up their own stories. A wandering sword master, the Lord of Justice's agents, whatever. But I'll say it again — you and I were never here. You saw nothing. You know nothing."

  "What if I tell everyone?" she shot back in that familiar, grating tone of hers.

  "Then I'll kill you."

  Chloe recoiled like I'd slapped her.

  "Y-you wouldn't dare! Everyone would find out!"

  "That would be my problem," I shrugged. "But it wouldn't help you. Nobody can know who killed this demon. And if you breathe a word of it, I'll make you and your family pay."

  "But... you killed a demon... you're a hero, like—"

  "Promise me," I demanded. The girl had gone white. "And know this — if you break that promise, it won't just be you who dies. Your family too."

  "You... You're a monster!" she screamed.

  "Correct," I said with a friendly smile — which only made it more unsettling. "But if I hadn't become one, I wouldn't be standing here right now. Promise."

  "What if I don't—"

  "Then I kill you right now and make it look like the demon did it. Nobody would ever suspect me. Promise, Chloe. I don't have time for this."

  "I... I... I promise..."

  "Good girl."