Thirty minutes after they finished eating, they went to the town square to see if anyone else was talking about Phylo. They wanted to gather as much information about Phylo as they could, in case they could find him before Arthur met up with them. The town square teemed with people coming and going through the shopping areas. The area was hotter than other parts of the city, probably because a lava fountain stood at its center. The town square still had the same Victorian-England aesthetic as the rest of Eilos, with the same scent of burning ash. “It looks really lovely here, right. This style reminds me of Victorian England,” Elena said as she walked beside Shane. “Yeah, it does look very nice here. I only wish that people could smile more. I hope that when we leave, we can put a smile on their faces,” Shane said as he looked at the people walking in the street. “I hope we do too,” Elena said as she looked at the people around them. Elena knew that she wasn’t like them at all, and she couldn’t even relate to how they felt. She grew up in a somewhat well-off family, so she couldn’t relate to what it felt like to be oppressed. She was human, so she could relate to the sorrow and pain they felt for being a demon. As she continued to look at the people in the city, she said, “Have you found out anymore information about Phylo? I want to help these people as fast as I can.” “No, I’ve only heard the same thing as we heard in the pub. I wonder if we will even be able to find him.” “Same here. Phylo must be hard to find. I mean, if no one has been able to catch him in over a year, he must know how to keep hidden.” “He was a former general of the demon king, so he is also mighty. I hope that if we find him, we can bring him to our cause.” “I wonder why he is going against the general in charge of Eilos. What reason does he have for making an enemy of the demon world?” “Who knows, he might know something about this world that made him turn against the demon world. He might have thought that this shouldn’t happen to their own people and decided to fight against it.” “If that's his reason, then it might be easier to get him on our side.” Even though she didn’t admit it directly, Shane knew Elena was afraid. He knew she was human, and this was a world full of supernatural beings, so it was only natural that she feared the unknown. Shane was even afraid of this world. Just last month, he thought he was human; within a month, he discovered he was an angel, and now he was in the demon world. As they continued walking through the demon world, they noticed people suddenly stopped before crossing the street. When Shane and Elena got a closer look at why the people in front of them had stopped, they saw that it was because General's army was walking by. Everyone around them was afraid, probably because of how they had been treated in Eilos. Before coming to the square, they had heard that anyone who talks badly about the general here ends up getting beaten and sometimes killed. The only reason people showed respect to the general at the moment was fear. They knew that if they didn’t show respect, then they would probably get seriously hurt. “Hey Shane, do you feel that presence currently. The amount of sorrow and pain coming from those soldiers.” “Yeah, it's poisoning. It must mean they're stronger than the others here. They’re giving the same feeling that Alexa and Neil gave when they awakened their powers.” As the army completely walked by, everyone sighed in relief that they weren’t harmed. As everyone walked by, Elena and Shane felt the presence of sorrow and pain dissipate a little. The people they were nearby began hurrying home to avoid trouble. As the crowd around them began to fade, Shane felt eyes on him and Elena. It wasn’t that someone was just looking; Shane could tell the people were staring at them with killer intent. As Shane began to worry, he grabbed Elena's hand and began to sprint around the crowd. “Hey, Shane, why are we running?” Elena asked, panicking, as Shane suddenly grabbed her hand and ran. “Sorry about doing this all of a sudden. But I felt someone watching us with killing intent.” “Are you sure, Shane? I mean, we haven’t made any enemies since we got here who could be coming after us?” “I have no idea who is coming after us. It could be the guy I pissed off early today, or the person who was looking into my room in the morning.” “What someone was watching your room. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” “I didn’t want you to worry, but now it seems like we're in danger. If you're wondering how the man looked, I didn’t get a good look at him; I only saw a scar on his right cheek. Shane and Elena kept running, trying to get away from the people chasing them. They couldn’t even spare a moment to look back to see who was following. The moment they saw an alley, they took it, hoping to throw off the people chasing them. When they ran through the alley, they hit the end of it. The moment they ran into the wall blocking their exit, they panicked. “It’s a dead end. What are we going to do, Shane?” Elena said, clutching Shane's hand tighter. “Get behind me. I’ll make sure that they back off.” As they watched the men who were chasing them, they noticed that the person leading the chase was the man whom Shane pissed off earlier when he tried to protect Elena. As Shane looked back at Elena, he noticed that she was trembling. “My, my. Look at who we have here.” “What do you want?” Shane asked, looking at the man now carrying a medieval broadsword. “I did say that I was going to make you regret what you did earlier.” “So why now in broad daylight?” “You ask why now. It's because I’m part of this city's army. So no one will care about a nobody like you. I’m the great Andras. I will surpass this general and take over this city.” As Shane looked at the men in front of him, he reached for Enyo. But before he could fully grab Enyo, he heard someone behind the men scream, “Stop!” Everyone there seemed shocked that anyone would be brave enough to try to stop the army. “Who do you think you ar…” Before Andras could finish what he was saying, he was suddenly thrown against the wall. When Shane looked at him, he noticed that he had a hole through his chest. It was undeniable that the man in front of them had killed him with just a punch. The moment Shane looked up again, he noticed that the men with Andras were all dead. They all died from being cut in half. When Shane and Elena saw that all the men were dead, they freaked out because it was their first time seeing a fresh corpse. When Shane looked at the man, he noticed a scar on his right cheek. The moment he realized that this was the man who was staring at his room from outside, he instantly grabbed Enyo and Mika. “Who are you?” Shane asked, making sure not to take his eyes off the man in front of them. “I could ask you the same thing. Why are an angel and a human in the demon world?” “We're here on business. I plan to defeat Demon King Ciro.” “Quite a big dream. Do you really think you could do it, being so weak?” As Shane looked at the man in front of him, he couldn’t sense any hostility. “I will get stronger. So, can you answer my question? Who are you, and why were you watching me?” “Fine,” the man said as he put away his sword. “My name is Phylo.” As Shane and Elena heard that the man before them was Phylo, they were shocked that he had come to them. They had heard that Phylo hadn’t been seen in over a year, so they couldn’t believe that the man staring at them was him. “Phylo, huh. The man who is the number one threat in Eilos.” “Yeah. Don’t say it too loud. I would rather not have anyone know I’m here.” “So why were you watching me?” “I wasn’t watching you. I was watching Arthur. I know he came with you.” “What do you want with Arthur?” “I’m just wondering why he came back after the war was over. Did he know that the current demon king wanted to start the war again?” Phylo asked, looking at Shane. “Yeah. He said that I was the only one who could defeat him.” “He said you're the only one who could beat him. He really lost his mind. You're too weak. So what's your name?” Phylo asked, looking intently at Shane. “I’m Shane, and this is Elena.” At the sound of Shane's name, Phylo looked at Enyo and Mika. When he noticed that he had control of the lighting, he backed up. “Huh, you actually have the potential to beat him. But the way you are now, you’ll lose.” “Why the sudden change in attitude?” “I have my reason. So why don’t we become allies?” “Well, we do need someone to show us the way to the demon king's castle. But how can we trust you?” “You’ll just have to take my word. I left the demon king army for a reason, and I want to make sure that the people here can actually have freedom, and I can’t do that myself.” As Shane heard that Phylo also wanted the people here to be free, he returned his blades to their sheath and scabbard. Even Elena, who was standing behind Shane, began to calm down at the fact that they found mutual ground with Phylo. “Sure. But I have to know, why did you show yourself to us?” “Who knows, this world is full of mysteries. I didn’t want to reveal myself, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of killing some of the general’s men.” “So what do you want to do now that we can’t stay here?” “Let’s go to a pub. I could use a drink.” “Alright then, let's head out.” As they all began to walk out towards the street, they all suddenly stopped at the sound of footsteps approaching. When they heard the footstep getting closer to them, they all reached for their blades, fearing that it was more men from the general’s army.

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