The serpent crushed Ronan’s heart.

Aura watched it happen from across the chamber, her vision blurry.

She watched the light in Ronan’s eyes vanish.

"Unfortunately the ritual failed, but I am pleased I killed a future threat."

Mesmer’s voice filtered through Paula’s ruined corpse, sounding rather pleased with himself.

Aura snarled.

Bastard.

The word echoed through her mind, far more prevalent than the pain radiating through her chest.

Paula’s body finally collapsed, the possession severing as Mesmer withdrew the connection completely.

The chamber fell silent.

Aura forced herself upright, shoving aside debris and dirt. Her horns ached, high usage of demonic energy being the reason. Every movement felt like dragging herself through broken glass.

But she moved anyway, towards Ronan.

Because of the contract.

That was the only reason.

She told herself that as she limped toward Ronan’s body, ignoring the pain in her body.

This is just for the contract. It’s obvious he’s dead, but I have to check anyway.

Ronan lay sprawled near the shattered ritual basin, his chest torn open, his heart missing completely.

His eyes were closed, but Aura could tell there was severe damage done to them, along with the rest of his face.

Aura knelt beside him.

Checked his pulse.

Nothing.

Of course there was nothing.

She had watched Mesmer crush his heart.

But checking confirmed it.

Made it more real in her mind.

Ronan was dead.

Aura stared at his empty expression for a moment longer than necessary, then looked away.

A faint tug of sadness pulled at her chest, but she pushed it aside.

He was not a friend, just a tool. He saw me as the same. There is no reason to feel sadness.

She rose slowly and turned toward Maren.

The girl was sprawled against the far wall, unconscious but breathing.

Aura studied her for a long moment.

Maren had helped them find the cult.

She had been kind, in her own desperate, angry way.

But she knew too much now.

She had seen Aura’s demonic form.

She had watched Mesmer speak through Paula’s corpse.

She had connections to Luminara through her sister.

Aura sighed.

She did not enjoy this.

Aura felt slight guilt as she summoned a single violet thorn, small and precise, unlike the ones she used to attack Mesmer.

She would make this painless, if nothing else.

Maren did not react, unconscious as she was.

Aura drove the thorn through the girl’s temple, piercing her brain instantly.

Painless. Quick.

Maren’s breath stopped without a sound.

Aura dismissed the thorn, sending a silent apology to the girl.

She turned back toward Ronan’s body.

Dragging him out was impossible, even if a part of her wanted to give him a proper burial.

She was too injured, and the underground chamber was too deep.

There was a good chance that Mesmer would clean this up.

He had failed the ritual, but he was still careful.

Still calculating beyond measure.

But if he did not...

If they found Ronan...

Aura’s jaw tightened.

The Ashbourne family would invest everything into this investigation.

Vulcan Ashbourne would burn half the continent looking for answers if his son turned up dead in a demonic cult’s underground chamber.

That kind of attention was the last thing Aura needed.

She stepped over Ronan’s body, pausing just long enough to let her gaze linger on his face.

He had been far more intelligent than she had expected, far more resourceful, and far more knowledgeable. He had been a good comrade, for the short time she knew him.

And for a moment – just a brief, foolish moment – she wondered if there was a future where they could have become friends.

Perhaps he could have even become a trusted ally.

Perhaps.

However, there was no point in thinking about that now.

Aura shook her head.

She had wasted enough time.

She turned towards the exit.

I should leave now.

The contract meant nothing anymore, and leaving his dead body here wouldn’t breach it. The contract died when he did.

Ronan was dead.

But when she took her first step toward the exit, something gripped her heart.

As if warning her.

She stopped, confusion flickering across her face.

The sensation felt familiar.

A mana contract.

But that’s impossible.

The only active contract she had was with Ronan, and Ronan was–

She tried again.

One step.

The warning became amplified, like fingers clenching over her heart.

Aura froze.

Her mind scrambled for an explanation.

The contract should have dissolved the moment Ronan died.

Mana contracts weren’t bound to corpses.

So why–

"Hghhk."

A pained sound was heard behind her.

Aura’s head snapped back toward the chamber, looking for any unexpected threat that could have appeared.

But she didn’t find anything.

Another gasp.

Her eyes locked onto the source.

Ronan.

His chest – the gaping hole where his heart used to be – rose slightly.

Aura was flabbergasted.

That’s impossible.

No one survived having their heart ripped out and crushed.

Especially not Tier 1 mages with shattered ribs, massive blood loss, and yet–

He was breathing.

She moved closer. Slowly, more cautious now.

The wound was still there.

Bone fragments jutted from his torn flesh.

Blood pooled beneath him, creating a small puddle.

No Rank 1 mage should be able to survive this.

Her thoughts turned to the Demon Leech.

Could it be–?

No.

She’d never heard of a demon leech doing anything like this.

The leech fed on the body’s mana, its core, its pathways, and its lifeforce.

But those systems required the host to be alive.

Without a heart, there was no bloodflow.

No bloodflow meant no life.

So why was he still breathing?

Was it because a rank 5 parasite was somehow different–?

Ronan coughed.

Blood sprayed from his lips.

And then suddenly, out of nowhere, mana began to circulate around him.

It was far more refined than anything she’d seen him use. No, far more refined than she’d seen anyone use.

It was perfect.

She didn’t recognize it at first, more surprised that Ronan was using mana in that state in the first place.

Then Aura’s eyes widened in recognition.

Steel Bone Armament.

The brutal conditioning method that strengthened bones through repeated fractures and accelerated recovery.

She remembered Ronan had gotten it from the library.

It only worked while the bones were broken.

And right now, Ronan’s ribs and countless bones were shattered.

His body convulsed, mana flooding through broken pathways as bone fragments began healing beneath his damaged skin.

But how was he using Steel Bone Armament? It was a rank 2 skill, and Ronan was only rank 1.

Again, the leech popped in her mind.

Aura stepped closer.

"Ronan."

He didn’t respond.

He can’t hear me either from the looks of it.

Or he couldn’t respond.

She wasn’t sure which.

She opened her mouth to say something else–

But then suddenly, before she could continue her thoughts, red ribbons burst from his chest again.

Aura took a step back, readying herself, but the ribbons didn’t attack her.

They shot across the chamber, toward Maren’s body.

Aura’s eyes widened.

The ribbons coiled around Maren’s head, tendrils sliding beneath her eyelids.

Then the ribbons gouged them out.

Maren’s eyes tore free, still connected by thin strands of tissue as the ribbons dragged them back toward Ronan.

Aura watched, frozen, as the Demon Leech brought the stolen eyes to Ronan’s face.

It brought them towards Ronan’s damaged eyes.

And the ribbons turned inward.

Ronan’s own eyes were ripped out with the same efficient motions, falling uselessly to the stone floor as fresh blood poured down his cheeks.

Aura’s breath caught as she watched the scene.

The parasite placed Maren’s eyes into Ronan’s empty sockets.