Chapter 210 Chapter 210
Their only purpose was to kill her. She knew that much. Mason placed his bets on her being Maxwell’s weak spot. It wouldn’t surprise her if he were just waiting for her to perish so she would inadvertently take Maxwell with her. Valerie would show him that she wasn’t that easy to kill. No, she was tenacious. She had always been.
With that in mind, she made use of the magic that had become a part of her. She forced it to awaken once more and let it pool in her palms. Her light was stark white and blinding—the two demons decided to perceive it as a threat since they tensed up. Their blazing eyes scrutinized her, followed each of her movements closely as they searched for a weakness they could exploit.
Valerie shot a beam of light at the first demon, hurling it back. However, the second one used that very moment to attack her. It jumped and lunged at her. The action happened so fast that she had no chance to avoid the monster. Its claws dug into her shoulders and pushed her to the ground.
She landed on the floor, found herself faced with the sharp teeth of its mouth, and the unbearable heat it exuded. With her hands on its chest, she held it back from reaching her, but her arms were already trembling in exertion.
“Fuck,” she cursed, summoning more of her magic. Her eyes narrowed. This damn monster needed to be stopped—it held her back. She would rather support Maxwell than be delayed by this low-class demon.
A blast of pure light was released from her hands, hitting the demon’s chest and throwing it off her. She didn’t waste a moment and pushed herself up, running for the nightstand where Travis’s knife was. With that weapon, killing the demons would become so much easier.
As soon as her hand closed around its handle, her fear receded. Turning back to the two demons, she found one of them injured and unwilling to get closer to her, while the other one already advanced towards her a second time. Now, though, she was prepared and evaded it.
When it jumped past her, she used the knife and stabbed it into the demon’s flaming body. It screeched and writhed, smoke rising from the wound. And then, it died and turned to ashes. Seeing the effectiveness of the weapon, Valerie forgot about her fear and didn’t hesitate to approach the remaining demon.
It eyed her, baring its sharp teeth at her. The tables had turned, and now it was the demon that was driven into a corner, not her. She didn’t plan on losing her life to a creature like this, and since she didn’t have time to lose, she came up with a plan to take it down.
Valerie used her light to blind the demon, stealing its sight and making it impossible to see her. Its sharp ears picked up the sounds of her shoes on the floor, but it couldn’t properly defend itself and was caught off guard when the hunting weapon sank into its burning body.
The demon stood no chance, disintegrating just like the other one before it. Valerie couldn’t believe what she had done—in the past, she would have never been this brave. However, she didn’t have time to dwell on her victory. A very sudden loud sound made her flinch. Her head snapped around, eyes focusing on Maxwell and Mason.
Mason had been slammed into the wardrobe in the corner, the wood breaking and splintering under the impact. The flames that surrounded him briefly vanished, but once he recovered, he threw Maxwell a death glare, and the fire returned—blue and so hot that Valerie could feel its heat all the way to the other side of the room.
Her returning fear caused Maxwell’s rage to grow. He lost control of his magic for a short moment, radiating hot light that blinded everyone around him. Mason and he clashed again, fireworks and sparks of magic shooting in all directions. She narrowed her eyes, followed their movements with her eyes, and froze in horror when she began to notice something.
Maxwell was doing it again; he was using too much of his magic. She felt his heavy exhaustion as it merged with his all-consuming anger. He probably didn’t realize it himself, but if he continued like this, he wouldn’t make it.
Valerie panicked as she tried to come up with a way to help him. Her magic alone couldn’t stop someone like Mason; no matter how hard she trained, a human couldn’t reach the same level of strength that a high-class demon possessed. Human bodies weren’t made to handle large amounts of destructive magic. She was at the end of her tether already, felt a familiar ache in the tips of her fingers that signaled she needed to stop.
Thankfully, her magic wasn’t the only weapon she had. Maybe Travis’s knife would help. It had served its purpose against the other demons, and she was sure that it would cause dire damage if she managed to hurt Mason with it. She glanced at its engraved silver blade, clutching the handle.
Suddenly, she heard Maxwell’s low curse, and simultaneously, searing pain exploded in her arm. Mason had overwhelmed him and held him down, his knee digging into Maxwell’s chest. Maxwell writhed, tried to push him away, but the fire demon had the upper hand. He ruthlessly stared down at him, hatred shining in his gaze.
Maxwell’s fierce expression crumbled as he held in a scream, not wanting to give Mason this kind of satisfaction. Valerie couldn’t watch this any longer. She needed to interfere.
Staying behind Mason’s back, she sneaked towards him, holding the knife and readying herself to use it. This man didn’t deserve any mercy—he was responsible for terrorizing countless people, and she couldn’t let it continue. And most importantly, she couldn’t let him hurt Maxwell. A sinister feeling was roused inside of her, foreign to her peaceful self. Darkness grew in her heart and consumed it. She clenched her jaw, her brown eyes locked onto Mason’s back. Maxwell sensed the unusual change within her, his ruby eyes falling on her momentarily. Seeing her run towards danger, he struggled harder against Mason’s grip, attempting to push him away. His body radiated light, but Mason wasn’t deterred by its heat.