Chapter 211 Chapter 211
“Die,” he snarled, moving his blazing hands to Maxwell’s neck.
Valerie’s rage became overwhelming, rivaling that of a demon. She closed the distance that separated her from the fire demon, raising her arm with the knife. The silver weapon was plunged into Mason’s back, burying itself beneath his shoulder blade. She heard a strange sizzling sound followed by his hoarse scream.
He began to tremble, let go of Maxwell, and the light demon pushed him away immediately. Maxwell got up as fast as he could and returned to Valerie’s side. She was breathing hard and couldn’t believe what she had accomplished. The weapon was stuck in Mason’s body, and it obviously gave the demon trouble. Smoke rose from the area where the blade was. He tried to pull it out, but couldn’t since it was too far up—he couldn’t reach it on his own. Cursing, he gave up on it, glaring daggers at Valerie.
“For that you will pay, human,” he growled, intending to retaliate. However, he staggered as he walked, and it became apparent that the weapon weakened him more than he wanted to admit. The once blue fire that surrounded him faded to orange and lost its initial strength.
“You won’t touch her,” Maxwell countered and shielded her with his body. “And you’ve overstayed your welcome. Give up.” An orb of light appeared in his flat palm, flickering dangerously. The madness in Maxwell’s eyes grew.
“You and I both know that I would never surrender to scum like you,” Mason retorted.
“I will make you,” Maxwell spat. When he approached his opponent, his steps weren’t quite as sure as before, and Valerie knew that he was in pain even though he tried to hide it.
His sharp eyes zeroed in on Mason, seeing his chance to finally end it. In his current state, Mason wouldn’t be able to fend him off. Maxwell’s lips slowly curved up and formed a malicious smirk. He already had the sweet taste of revenge on his tongue, and he could not wait to go through with it—after so many years of hunting down Seth’s killer, his blood was boiling, singing, demanding that Mason die. And Maxwell let himself be devoured by his demonic nature; by the evil that resided in his mind.
His fists shook in unadulterated fury. He forgot about everything around him and became fixated on Mason. Nothing else mattered. Maxwell used the very last of his strength, summoning as much of his magic as he could. Brilliant light surrounded his body. Valerie watched in morbid fascination when it took on the color of blood before it brightened further.
Maxwell’s light magic clashed with Mason’s fire magic. The devastating power that rippled through the room threw Valerie off her feet. She landed on the ground, covered her eyes from the heat and brightness that exploded before her. It held on for a frighteningly long time. She couldn’t see the demons, didn’t know what was happening, but she felt the pain that gnawed at Maxwell’s body—he kept using too much of his magic. If it continued like that, he would not survive…
Fortunately, she wasn’t the only one who had noticed the strong surge of magic. Now, finally, the other demons entered the room—and what they saw shocked them to the core.
“Maxwell,” Shawn screamed.
“Fuck, he’s been fighting him all alone?” Brian cursed.
“Reckless idiot,” Liam cursed, looking more intimidating than she had ever seen him.
They didn’t even need to look at each other; they were such a good team that everyone already knew what they had to do. Just like before in the living room, they combined their magic and attacked Mason at the same time. Their elemental magic struck him viciously—he had no chance to evade or protect himself. In his weakened state, he stood no chance against all of them.
Valerie couldn’t see Mason anymore, was blinded by the vivid magic, but she heard his angry scream. It was abruptly cut off, replaced with an eerie silence. Only then did the swirling flow of magic die down. It calmed, disappeared, and allowed her to see what had happened.
Maxwell was alive, kneeling on the floor with his shoulders heaving in exertion. His red eyes were fixed on Mason, shining with a dark sense of satisfaction and maliciousness. The fire demon’s body disintegrated before their eyes. His skin turned unnaturally pale and gray before it began to fall apart. He turned to ash. The small particles floated upwards and disappeared like dewdrops in the morning sun. Within a single minute, Mason was gone. Nothing of him was left—as if he had never even existed. All that remained was the hunting knife that lay on the ground.
Valerie couldn’t believe it, was stunned and overwhelmed. He was gone. The relief she felt couldn’t be measured. His death meant that she would not have to hide or live in fear any longer. He wouldn’t hurt anyone anymore. Not Maxwell, not her, and not anyone else.
Valerie pushed herself up and stood on shaky legs, glancing at the eight demons that had arrived just in time to tip the scales. They looked worse for wear, but none of them appeared to have suffered any life-threatening injuries—another reason for her to be relieved.
“Thank you,” she smiled tiredly. “You arrived just in time. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
“It’s his fault for making an enemy of all of us,” Liam said. His blue eyes wandered over her form, not finding any major injuries on her. “This time, we were able to stop him.”
“We should have done so much earlier,” Maxwell muttered lowly, drawing their attention back to him. He still hadn’t moved an inch, seemed to be lost in his own thoughts as he stared at the space where Mason had died just moments before.
Valerie’s body began to move before she even knew what she was doing, and in the span of a few seconds, she had reached him. Letting herself fall to her knees in front of him, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He smelled of sweat, ash, and blood, and he weakly lifted his arms to return her hug. She made sure to support his swaying form as she embraced him. He took a deep breath and exhaled, losing the tension in his limbs and melting in her gentle embrace. Nuzzling his face into her neck, he placed a kiss on her skin.
“You’re finally safe,” he murmured. “Valerie.”
Her eyes welled up with tears. “I’m so glad you’re alive,” she whispered. “I was scared you would die.”
His proximity eased the terrible fear she had experienced throughout the past hours. It made everything worth it. They had overcome the biggest obstacle that had stood in the way of their relationship. Nobody would come between them anymore.
“I think… Seth would be proud of you if he could see you now,” Valerie said quietly.