Genno and the possessed Alisha fought intensely as they tried their hardest to avoid every hit or strike thrown at one another, dodging blows while sending his fists onto her body, blocking and counterattacking by delivering a series of strikes into his enemy's unguarded spots, kicking legs in an effort to trip each other, and even punching her face multiple times.
Using her knife, she tried stabbing him but was swiftly grabbed by the wrist. She yanked forward, and his elbow slammed her guts harshly, making her stumble backwards in annoyance. However, she managed to regain her footing from the sudden attack before retaliating by unleashing a flurry of slashes towards him.
Despite the futility of this fight, Genno kept on defending himself against those wild swings until he finally succeeded in grabbing her arm, pulling it forward, before swiftly swinging her body around midair and tossing her across the stone floor as if it were nothing to him.
As soon as her back hit the surface beneath her, Genno sprinted towards Alisha with a raised fist. However, before he could reach her, he noticed her blade aiming directly towards his head at frightening speed. Quickly sidestepping sideways, nearly avoiding the sharp edge of her weapon altogether, tackling her in a forceful manner.
Both of them stumbled toward the nearby wall from impact alone, breaking a few bones and cracking the bricks themselves as they fell to the ground, groaning in pain. She laughed in amusement at this. Lifting herself, Alisha used her strength to toss Genno away like a ragdoll, standing tall without batting an eye.
Throwing her only weapon away, she cracked her knuckles with flashing smirk. "It be fair if I just used my fists," Alisha claimed before sprinting towards her target in furious fashion. "I wouldn't want to disappoint you, would I?" She asked rhetorically at her opponent, who didn't bother answering in the first place.
Quickly dodging incoming strikes that she throws at him, he narrowly avoids her left hook that nearly grazed his nose, only missing an inch or so away from landing on target. Reacting quickly, Genno jumps aside to dodge a right punch directed toward his abdomen.
Unfazed by the pain but rather further annoyed at the thought of being beaten into submission, she gave him another wide smile with great pleasure in having the chance to beat him senseless until he was nothing more than a broken doll lying dead on the floor.
She would've wanted to use her powers at this point, but it isn't right, for there are still plans ahead to be executed by a certain party whom she is serving loyally to the bitter end. Only until then do they have to stay true to their nature and let the course of fate proceed as planned.
Faint sighs escape from Genno's parted lips while keeping his guard up from any incoming assault that she might use next. It didn't take long when she charged at him once more, launching another series of attacks that were easily evaded by his swift maneuvers alone, deflecting a couple punches with palm blocks while being careful not to block the full brunt of her blows as it would surely knock him out instantly.
He was confused at the possessed individual's ability to challenge a hand-to-hand combatant despite never understanding the martial arts this demon is using. "How are you able to keep up with me? Your strikes seem random, and yet they aren't. You know the timing of my attacks, so where did you learn of them?" Questioning his enemy as his curiosity got better at this creature.
Alisha only laughed as they continued throwing punches and kicks back and forth relentlessly. "Do not assume that we lowly demons lack the skill of fighting," she countered, jumping backwards and retreating out of range. Shaking her head in disappointment, she crossed arms on her chest and said, "After all, we can hear the thoughts of others, and you, the soon-to-be awakened one, is still bound to earthly desires," smirking playfully at Genno.
Being caught off guard by being the awakened one, she took this opportunity to jump once more towards him, hitting his forehead with her knee, stunning the monk momentarily before opening her mouth wide, revealing rows upon rows of sharp fangs that resembled shark teeth rather than humans' teeth.
Opening his eyes in time, he instinctively moved to the side and threw his fist into her mouth, breaking her entire jaw into pieces before being knocked back several yards from sheer force alone as she spat out her blood that was gushing out, spilling across the ground like waterfalls and landing onto the cold floor.
Puffing his chest up because he was so close to getting seriously bitten, he took this time to inspect if Alisha was still conscious or not. And it turns out she is indeed still active, with glowing eyes staring straight into his own orbs, smiling widely once more.
"You shouldn't be worried about me."
When she said those words, Alisha grabbed a nearby rock and swiftly smashed it onto the side of his left knee, shattering his kneecap on contact, which caused him to wail in excruciating pain, collapsing onto one leg while clenching onto the injured joint as if it could somehow alleviate some amount of suffering coursing through every fiber of his being right at this very second.
Slowly, she stood up with her bones cracking and popping loudly as they popped back into place with loud cracks. "Ahahaha..." Evil laughter escaped from her throat as she grinned evilly at how miserable the sight is. "What happened to that big talk of yours?! Are you already giving up?! Come on, I just destroyed your knee!" Taunting mockingly at the suffering man.
Wiping off excess blood and saliva mixed with spittle from her own chin, she flashed a cheeky smile before taking one step forward. "Are you going to cry for Daddy?"Is Papa going to come rescue you?!" Teased the possessed woman with a childish tone in mocking his father's relationship with him, "Go on, call for him to save you! Go on, go on! Oh wait, you had to witness Papa's death, haven't you?"
In any circumstance, Genno has always trained his emotions to be controlled by the whim of his will. However, this is the one thing that he can never prevent, no matter how many attempts at meditation he has made in recent years. The reminder of his beloved father's demise due to his being incapable of saving greatly hurt his heart to point out that he won't dare say anything in response to the demon's taunting.
But the psychological play this demon is doing is really beginning to affect him, and not in a good way. The thought of being the once-broken child he was after losing his father was his deepest regret that never faded out of mind since it has been imprinted deeply within his memories.
"Quiet, demon!"
Genno, with all his willpower, tried to stand up despite how much his left leg was screaming in utter agony, just to do a simple movement. Blood continuously poured from his injury, but he ignored it as best he could, focusing only on the demon that's responsible for all of this in the first place.
Alisha was both amused and disappointed in not being able to hear him snap to show his weakness, but perhaps this is how he always acts, like on a daily basis, being stubborn to a fault. "How boring. I wanted you to lash out and curse me to hell or something. What a dullard; you don't have that much entertainment value like this whore you spent your time with," she said in a bored tone, rolling her eyes at how predictable this monk is.
Hearing those words spoken from those dirty lips of hers, Genno isn't giving up so easily. "If you think I would be susceptible to whatever games you are playing, you are wrong," he boldly claimed, refusing to cower away from the enemy's attempt to rile him up even more.
Shrugging her shoulders as a means to indicate that it is merely a waste of energy and time for her to be here, "look at yourself with that broken knee; you won't be able to properly fight, and trust me, I will drag your asshole halfway around this little world just so it can prolong your suffering until you beg me to kill you," she informed of her intentions.
Raising both of his fists, he coldly stared at her with a challenging demeanor, "Then bring it on; if you really want to waste time doing things differently, then I won't stop you from it," declaring himself that he is ready to continue on regardless if it leads to him being killed or not; he will not go down without a fight.
"You don't understand," she responded as she licked her lips eagerly. "You will be wishing for death itself after what I'll put through. Now let us stop with the fighting and talk about why I'm here instead," offering suggestions before taking one step away from him to give herself some distance in case things get messy, "do you wish to speak or continue fighting?"
Narrowing his eyes, Genno was highly skeptical of this demon's manipulations, but if he is going to learn why Asmodeus is here in the first place, then perhaps there is no harm in listening for a little while. After all, he isn't fond of resorting to violence.
"Speak, demon," Cold said as he lowered his fists before slowly falling on his rear in a sitting position. "Talk if you desire it so badly; I'll listen as long as it takes for you to tell me the reason why you are here," complying with the demon's wishes, albeit still prepared to fight if the need arises.
Seeing that she was successful in making the monk sit down, she followed suit by dropping herself onto the floor in front of him. "Let's make—" Alisha tried to speak but was quickly interrupted when the monk cut in without hesitation whatsoever.
"If you are planning on making a deal, then I am afraid to say that it is futile to ask because I refuse to align myself with a monster like yourself," firmly telling the demon of his views and opinions regarding her kind that he will never make any contract with her in a thousand years.
Not wasting a single breath to respond, she immediately disagreed, "What an idiot, I'm not looking for such things," crossing her arms in mild frustration for assuming what she was about to ask when it had nothing to do with making deals, "In fact, I have something else that might interest you, so kindly listen," snarling back at the monk, who fell silent after receiving a harsh insult.
"Do you know Seth is destined to die?"
The sentence alone caused the monk's eyes to widen greatly when it reached his ears, making it feel like something just stabbed his chest a few times before twisting its blade for maximum effect: "Excuse me?" His expression morphed into disbelief as he processed what she just said.
Smirking in satisfaction, Alisha knew this would get his attention easily. "What? Did I stutter? Then let me repeat it for you!" She gleefully explained, repeating her words like a broken record, "Your dear friend Seth is destined to die in the future." These were the exact words she repeated over and over again.
Genno can feel goosebumps crawling all over his skin at hearing such claims being told to him, but that would soon be replaced by disbelief: "Really? I doubt a being like yourself who cares more about killing and destruction can be a fortune teller," he doubted as he refused to believe the demon's claim is true at all costs.
She sighed, standing up with a flick of her fingers as she instantly healed Genno's kneecap, which he realized right away after the pain had disappeared. A gasp of surprise left his throat upon knowing what had happened to his wound that had been hurting moments earlier.
"Wha—"
"Now, do you trust me?" Alisha tiredly asked, feeling drained of having to continue this stupid conversation with humans, "Are you going to listen or not?" Waiting patiently for the monk's response, anticipating whether he is going to reject or accept the offer of wanting to help.
Genno was conflicted. On the one hand, it is possible that she might be telling the truth after what Alisha had done in repairing his injured knee, but on the other hand, it could be simply gaining his trust by pretending to heal his wounds, when in fact, it's a trap that she is setting up for him to take the bait.
After weighing out his options while continuously staring down at his feet, he decided to agree with the possessed woman. Sighing exhaustively, "So when are you going to explain it to me?" However, the moment he asked his question,.
Alisha and the demon possessing her disappeared; they completely vanished out of sight, much to his confusion. "Huh?" Was that the last thing left out of his mouth, vanishing into thin air after telling him about his friend's impending demise?
No, he doesn't want to believe it because it cannot be possible at all. He wouldn't allow it; he cannot let Seth die no matter what happens. As he turned around to return back into the stairway, he said, "I don't know if that demon was lying or not; it is not going to change the fact that I'm Seth's best friend and brother in arms."
