บท 16: Chapter 16- Small game (1)

'Look at you finally letting your true colors show, Devil,' Emilia, unlike before, refrained from slapping him upon hearing his words this time.

She knew he would likely dodge it again, possibly even opting to kiss her.

With great effort, she managed to control herself, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists, all while averting her gaze downward.

"Heh, I know you are impatient, but you can pounce on me. No need to control it," Feeling amused, Damien playfully teased Emilia with his eyes, admiring how she kept her teeth in check to control her anger. Her cute demeanor only fueled his desire to playfully push her buttons even more.

Of course, not pressing those two pinkish buttons yet, but her patience.

"I will kill you," Emilia gritted her teeth, glaring at the man who was now overstepping boundaries, attempting to test her patience.

As she noticed his smirk, she knew what was coming next. All she could manage was a disapproving click of her tongue, showing her irritation with a simple "Tch."

'How cute, but...,' Damien definitely wanted to tease her more but found it not the right time as he noticed Amelia looking towards him. He retreated his head back from Emilia's face while taking a deep breath of her scent to annoy her even more.

"Basta—" Emilia wanted to curse this guy but before she could, Damien's words interrupted her.

"Amelia, Can I have your phone for a bit?" With a smile, Damien stretched out his hand, knowing that right now she doesn't have any other option but to give him her phone.

"Um, but..." As usual, Amelia hesitated to give her phone to him, knowing how he always used to ask for her phone only to get her personal number.

But the moment she caught Emilia's stern gaze directed towards Damien, Amelia knew that this wasn't the moment to repeat past mistakes and let that woman have upper hand. With a resigned nod, Amelia reluctantly retrieved her phone and passed it to him. "Here."

'Really?' Damien found it amusing how Amelia showed reluctance in giving her phone, and after a slight struggle, he finally took it before putting it in his pocket, slightly confusing her.

"Damien? Why keep it?" Amelia feeling confused tried to inquire the reason for him to not use it and place it in his pocket but before that Damien interrupted.

"Now we need to escape this place safely, Emilia. Can you help me with something?" Damien asked urgently, directing his attention towards Emilia while feigning ignorance of Amelia's presence, trying to provoke her into following the direction he wants her to go.

"Huh? What help?" Emilia pointed a finger towards herself, feeling confused by his sudden change of expression, which seemed genuine and filled with urgency to escape the place.

"Wait, I will help you," As soon as she caught wind of his words, Amelia wasted no time stepping between them and declaring assertively with a proactive demeanor.

'Very predictable,' As Damien witnessed the events unfolding exactly as he had foreseen, a smug smile formed on his lips. He then shifted his gaze to Amelia and motioned towards a tall window in the corner of the room."Let's do some calorie-burning work, shall we?"

Bang! Bang!

"Kugh?! He is a monster!" In a state of terror, the man screamed and tightly held onto a pistol, frantically pulling the trigger.

Edward, covered in blood and holding a piece of glass, evaded the incoming bullets, moving in a zigzag pattern before thrusting the glass into the man's throat.

"Agh!...p-lea-se?!" The man's eyes widened in horror as a shard of glass entered his throat, his desperate plea cut short. Edward's cold gaze reflected a deadly resolve, blood staining his face like a grim mask of battle. Despite the man's wordless plea, Edward showed no mercy as he swiftly severed the vines constricting his throat.

THUD

The man's lifeless body, now filled with blood in his neck area, fell to the floor with a loud sound. The ground was already littered with several more corpses, their hands busily cleaning the guns that had run out of bullets.

"Haah....Haa...damn it!" As Edward cried out, he clenched his teeth and looked upon the lifeless, bloodied bodies of the men now lying on the ground. His skin bore the wounds of multiple bullets - some lodged in his legs, others merely grazing his shoulder.

Luck was on his side as a few of the guns jammed just as they were aimed at his head, buying him precious time to eliminate some of the professionals.

"Damien, you Bastard!!" As Edward cried out, the memories flooded back to him of the moment when that man had taken Amelia while she was unconscious, clearly revealing his sinister intentions towards her.

Disregarding his bloodied wounds, Edward pivoted towards the hallway where Damien had fled. He dashed after him, the agony of his bullet wounds a familiar sensation from his days as a battle-hardened veteran.

"Amelia, can you hear me!?" After just a short amount of time, he had already made his way through several meters, frantically calling out the name while his mind raced with various thoughts on what Damien might have done with Amelia. 'I will shred you, bastard, if you touch her!'

'Calm yourself, Edward,' suddenly calming himself, realizing that he was indeed overreacting. Instead of panicking, Edward paused before taking out his phone and dialing Amelia. "Pick up the phone, damn it!"

Ringing

'Finally,' Edward felt relieved as the call connected. He instantly yelled, "Amelia! Where are you? Did that guy do something to you?"

"Agh! Damien, stop it! My legs hurt, Ahh! I can't take it anymore! Ahnn!" Came a voice from the other side of the call, which took Edward off guard, causing his eyes to widen before stammering, "A-amelia?

"N-no, Damien, don't stretch my legs. Ahh! It's too deep! Stop, let's stop now! It hurts! Ahn, no!" Another series of voices acted as the last line, which snapped Edward's mind.

As his last ounce of internal energy burned, he demolished the phone to dust, his red eyes blazing with intensity as he sprinted down the hallway, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"DAMIEN, YOU BASTARD!! I WILL SHRED YOU!"