The arrival of the Angels turned the tide against the demon, igniting a full-blown battle.

  One of the Angels slipped to the front and pulled Tin out of the room, towards their assigned point of safety outside.

  The mom shrieked and broke one of her arms free from a chain. With great strength, she pulled the chains together, dislodging the Angels as they fell upon one another, unable to counter her force. Then she jumped on the wall to break the remaining chains binding her legs, and climbed onto the ceiling towards another window in an attempt to chase Tin.

  Chan reacted in time and hurled holy coins at her with rapid speed; they blasted upon contact with her skin. She quickly backed off and dashed across the surface of the wall to evade his relentless attack while searching for an opening.

  Reading her pattern, he slowed down to take a few calculated steps back and succeeded in luring her forward. As she took the bait and leaped to the front, Chan aimed for her energetic crown located right above her forehead.

  “Got you!!”

  With piercing accuracy, Chan threw his dagger straight at her crown chakra, paralysing her energy. The other Angels followed promptly and shot talismans at her, which ignited spontaneously until her whole body was engulfed in holy flame.

  The devil lurched from one side to the other, growling in excruciating pain. “Stop it!!! Stop it! This is so hot!”

  “Don’t let your guard down! Corner her right now!”

  “Useless things! Useless things!” She cursed repeatedly.

  Chan led the team and circled her. They all muttered a spell in synchronism to gradually paralyse her muscles.

  However, instead of timidly retreating and bowing down, the possessed woman stepped forward, scraping her burning skin violently till it spouted out streams of blood to energise herself. One of the Angels started screaming at that gruesome sight and broke the spell rhyme, weakening their offense.

  Caught off guard, Chan screamed to step back, but it was too late. In a split second of swift action, an Angel’s stomach was punctured, leaving nothing but teeth marks around the torn flesh. Chan turned to respond, but he failed to read the demon’s movement as she jumped from one exorcist to another, knocking them out one by one until she reached him.

  Her wide eyes, filled with bloody veins, couldn’t be more profound as she stretched her arm and aimed for his neck.

  Shit! I’m dead. I’m done! There’s no way I can survive King Cobra!

  Roger’s dead body flashed before his eyes. He held his breath and looked away, accepting his defeat.

  In a heartbeat, a loud crash invaded the scene,bringing a momentary pause to the violence. Chanblinked and traced the silhouette of the source; it was Koi and the backup team.

  As if the Captain had waited to seize the right moment, his attack came swiftly and with precision. Matching the speed of the previous battle, he used his whip to assault her from left to right before delivering a massive blow that threw the demon into the ceiling above.

  The woman broke through the ceiling wall and landed right in the attic with a tortured body. Koi followed her in haste, and together with his team, they successfully surrounded her with swords.

  “What a surprise?! Were you hiding just to assess my strength?” She uttered in distaste.

  “Shut up, foul creature.” Koi spat back with greater disgust.

  Back inside the bedroom below them, a medical Angel went over to assist Chan and check his physical condition. Chan took a few quick breaths and waved his hand at the Angel. “Help the wounded exorcists, I am fine.”

  “Yes, officer!”

  “Pathetic,” He heard himself whisper as he took out another dagger from his sleeve, unable to shake away a faint heaviness in his heart. He looked back at the dead exorcists before peering into the attic through the hole in the ceiling above.

  They are already exchanging hits. get a hold of yourself. Chan hit himself on the chest.

  The demon lifted multiple storage boxes and threw them at the Angels to distract their attention, but they reacted promptly and slashed the boxes with one swing of their swords, while Koi dashed from behind to find an opening.

  “You will regret this!!” She screamed as she lashed out at the closest Angel in an attempt to grab him.

  Like a seasoned warrior, Chan quickly jumped into the scene and threw his dagger at the demon on time to cause her to dodge towards the direction, where Koi’s whip came in full force. It hit her on the face and temporarily blinded her.

  Becoming more distressed, she darted back to evade further attacks. The Angels kept up with the stamina and shot several chains at her from all directions, forcing her to fall back further.

  In light of this opportune moment, Koi lashed from a range, giving her little time to react. Although she managed to evade the first few strikes, she got hit by his rapid follow-up slashes, which ripped her flesh apart.

  “You pathetic human!” She exploded into an outburst and caught his whip mid-motion.

  Koi tried to pull it back, but she overpowered him and yanked him toward her as she opened her mouth to feed off his face.

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  However, her grip abruptly loosened as her muscles started to cramp in extreme pain. It was the whip. This captain’s whip resembled a 3-meter-long strip of rough cloth, coated with numerous sigil signs and countless tiny claws infused with potent poison.

  Crap!

  There was a visible hesitation in her movement. Reading her weakened state, Koi hopped forward and threw a burning talisman right at her crown. It sent a violent shock down her whole body, which almost forced her to spit out the devil.

  “Quick! Get the sacred pot!” Koi directed.

  In anticipation of the order, the exorcists had already taken their positions. Chan was holding the mouth of an empty pot, used for sealing demons, to face the direction of the possessed mother, while the other Angels started to chant a binding spell.

  A dark shadow eventually emerged from the body; its movement pulsed like a bending fluid resisting the pull of the spell.

  Koi took out his sword and cut his fingers to write holy spells with his blood across the blade. As he prepared to cut through the crown energy, he caught a glimpse of several shadowy hands pulling the shadow back into the body.

  What is that? So many of them?!

  “Useless! Useless!” The woman shrieked louder and flung forward at Chan with full speed, defying all the forces and breaking the pot into pieces.

  “Chain her down!” Koi ordered.

  The team immediately tied their chain whips into a knot and threw them around her neck. Layer upon layer, the weights added on her and dragged her backward as they tightened their pull.

  However, to their surprise, her strength immediately increased once again. She grabbed the heavy chains around her neck and effortlessly snapped them into pieces, sending a ripple of energetic waves down the chains and broke the whips into pieces.

  Koi advanced in between minutes of action to strike a kick, but she ducked his attack in time and glided to the back swiftly. The captain was speechless.

  This aura?

  He quickly scanned the room and noticed an obvious darkening of the surrounding area.

  “What a familiar face?” She grinned at him, showing all her bloody teeth. A swarm of insects crawled out of her mouth and dropped to the floor, merging with the shadow and reappearing all over the wall. They moved in synchronism as if bending the wall in psychedelic motion.

  “This is—what is happening?” Chan exclaimed as he looked around the room. “It seems like the power is shifting again.”

  Koi clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes. The poison effect seems to have disappeared. This is bad.

  “Change plans! We are going for physical damage! Let’s see your real face.”

  Chan sweated at this order and held his dagger tighter in his fist. He eyed the woman up and down to study every little change in her features, all the while biting his lip inadvertently. Go for heavy damage already? Damned, seems like captain has sensed the danger? I am sorry, Mrs. Sunny Yang.

  She whispered back at them in a crushing voice, “I dare you.”

  Outside Tin's house

  The rain was still pouring heavily. Hue, an angel in his mid-twenties, was carrying Tin toward the safety spot their team had prepared in advance. It was a street away, hidden behind dense bushes flanking the path and protected by high-level sigil barrier. But to his surprise, the barrier was nowhere to be found. The area was laid bare with nothing prominent in sight except a little girl, who was standing in the middle of the street, shivering under the rain alone.

  That girl was Su.

  Hue quickly drew a protection circle underneath them and covered Tin’s face as he held the little boy tightly in his arms.

  What’s going on? Even if you’re coming, you’re not supposed to be standing there! That spot was protected by our sigil barrier! Damned devil!

  He found himself panting from shortness of breath. As if she heard him, Su turned around in a jolt and looked at them. Her eyes welled up in tears, and she rushed toward them, calling her brother's name. Tin heard her and tried to release himself from Hue’s grip.

  “Get a hold of yourself Tin! This is not Su!”

  Su was now in front of them, but she couldn’t enter the circle.

  Tin started to panic. “Sister! She's my sister!”

  “No, Tin! Just look at her! She's fake, that's why she can’t enter the circle.”

  Su started crying in desperation, “Why, brother? What happened? Why did you leave me in that cold place? I thought you would take me home. I have been waiting for so long, but no one came for me.” She kneeled and bent over the ground, “I’m so scared! Please don’t leave me alone!! Su will—Su will be a good girl.”

  Tin balled out and tried to reach for her, “She is my sister!! I can’t leave her behind! No more!”

  “No, she’s not! Don’t listen to her!” He tried to cover Tin’s ears, but Tin’s fear of her death took a hold of his rationality. Her sudden appearance came like a miracle, which blurred the line between reality and desire.

  “I won’t leave you!” Tin bit Hue’s arm and struggled to free himself, but Hue’s grip was firm and secure. Agitated, he took hold of Hue’s chain, which was hanging around his belt, and caused Hue to divert his force.

  Taking this chance, Tin jumped forward to leave the protection circle.

  “Don’t touch her!” Hue pulled Tin back but missed him by an inch. “Damn it!”

  Suddenly, a figure jumped in and threw a burning talisman on the ground, pushing Su back several feet.

  “Got you!” Hue grabbed Tin again and looked up to express his gratitude, but was shocked at the sight of Zun.

  “You’re Zun! I heard you caused a big trouble in the ritual room and ran away.”

  Zun looked at Su and held her talisman between her fingers, “Shut up and focus on the enemy in front of you!”

  “You're wrong! She's my sister! Don’t hurt her!!” Tin shouted aggressively.

  “Tin, is she really your sister?”

  “Of course, I know her! I recognise her!!”

  “Tin, you are smart, look at her with your eyes wide and tell me again, is she your sister?!! If so, why are those tears so forceful and humiliating? Why are those eyes so dark and emotionless?!”

  Tin was shocked. He seized Su’s figure in his eyes as the vision of the background twirled around, out of focus. Then a tune came to his mind from his memory. It was a children's song they used to sing together after every small quarrel they had. It went like Merry, Merry, how are you? Let’s hold hands and colour the world with our smile and…

  Tin started singing to invite Su to rejoice in their reunion, but her black eyes, returned a foreign expression, and unable to finish the song. Tin was devastated.

  “And fill them with our friendship and laughter.” Zun completed the song instead and pointed the talisman at Su. “Don’t be a coward. Show your true self and quit hiding behind a child’s face!”

  “Let me call in reinforcements! They’re hiding around this area waiting for signals.” Hue was a little more energised now.

  “No need to bother. They’re all dead. Or they would have come out earlier when this fake face was destroying the barrier.”

  Hue tried to dial their number, but the line was dead. “How could this be? All of them? That’s impossible! We have around 50 angels here and 30 more positioned around the neighbourhood!”

  “That’s because we are facing King Cobra himself!!” Zun blurted out.

  “No way! King Cobra is inside the house! There is no way Captain Koi won’t know!”

  Su was frozen in the spot. The rain became heavier and colder. Water quickly surged through the place, and coloured the ground with expanding shades of faint pink that bled from hidden sources behind street corners and bushes.

  Where does the blood come from? Why didn’t I notice it earlier? The other Angels.... This…this thing in front of us is not normal. It seems to carry the storm and heavy rain with its chaotic aura.

  He took his holy sword and threw it at Zun, who caught it midair. “This would be more effective than the talisman. I will take care of Tin. Don’t worry about us.”

  Zun nodded and aimed the sword at Su. “Still not showing your face? Then get ready to fight!”