Chapter 70-The Eye of the Devil

Old-Man F and I stare down our opponents for a brief moment, and when we see that they're no longer moving, I finally let out a sigh of relief, and drop down to one knee.

"Jeez, that was rough!"  I sigh.

"That was tight, huh?"  Old-Man F snickers as he peers over his shoulder at me with a smirk, "An enemy you can't brute force your way through."

"No kiddin'!"

"Though I'm proud of you, Noah," Old-Man F continues, "You really took charge in that fight.  I wouldn't have won that without you."

My eyes widen.

"Th-thank you!"

"Though I am curious…" Old-Man F adds as he rubs his chin, "I wonder how that masked guy was able to switch our places like that?"

"I wonder…" I mutter as I take a step towards the de-masked man and the obliterated fountain.

I then kneel down next to the unconscious de-masked man, and judging by his wrinkles and gray hair I can tell that he's, well…OLD.

"I almost feel bad being so hard on an old man like that," Old-Man F scoffs.

I turn and peer over at my master.

"Just like-"

"SHUT UP!

I then turn back to the de-masked man and turn his (not dead, but unconscious) body over so that I can get a good look at his face.  And when I do, I can't help but to let out a short scream.

"AHH!"  I cry as I stumble backwards and fall backwards on my butt.

"What, what is it?!"  Old-Man F cries as he hustles over to me.

Old-Man F looms over the de-masked man as he kneels down next to me, allowing him to get a good look at the man's discolored eye.  The de-masked man's right eye has a black sclera with a reddish-brown iris.  And rather than a stand pupil, the center of the de-masked man's right eye has a bunch of random lines in a dark blueish-green shade.

"Agh…" I gag, "Why does his eye LOOK like that?"

Old-Man F's eyes widen.

"N-no way…" he stammers, "It…I can't be!"

"What is it?!"  I snap, "Just spit it out, old man!"

"That right eye…is the Eye of the Devil."

I raise an eyebrow at Old-Man F.  "What does that mean?"

"They're called DEVIL EYES," Old-Man F explains, "Devil Eyes grant their owner a special ability separate from the ability to E-Charge.  Less than 0.001 PERCENT of the population is said to wield a Devil Eye.  Whereas E-Chargers stem from God and the forces of nature, Devil Eyes are said to come from the power of the Devil, and embody some sort of intangible "concept."  That symbol in the center of that man's right eye is supposed to represent what his Devil Eye can do.  Though it's in some foreign language that I can't read.  Not that I CAN read to begin with…"

"No kiddin'..." I marvel as my eyes widen.

"That "symbol" there is a character in a language known as "Japanese."  It means "switch"."

All of a sudden I feel an intense pressure come from behind me.  The sinister sort of overwhelming pressure that makes you feel like nothing more than prey looming under a fierce, hungry predator.

And a kind of pressure that I've never felt before.

My entire body tenses up and a chill is sent up my spine.

"When did he…" I begin to whisper.

"-Get there…?"  Old-Man F finishes.

And then, in the blink of an eye, a man appears before us, and kneels down before the de-masked man with the strange, discolored eye.

Our eyes widen.

"It's like…he teleported…" I shudder.

"But the masked man didn't use his Devil Eye's ability…" Old-Man F trembles as well.

The new man sighs.

"Oh, The Lord had such high hopes for you," he sighs, "However…you failed us…and now, you must be disposed of.

"H-how did he get here?"  Old-Man F shakily asks, "Footsteps, breathing…my razor-sharp senses didn't pick up on anything…"

I open my mouth, but I'm not even able to choke out so much as a single grunt.

I'm petrified by fear.

The man then reaches down, and in one fell swoop…

He plucks the Devil Eye out of the masked man's skull.

The new man then reaches into the folds of his matching red and orange sun-decaled robe, and pulls out a mysterious jar with a coarse green liquid sloshing about inside.  The man sighs as he unscrews the top, then plops the eye into the green liquid.

The severed Devil Eye stares at me.

The man slips the jar back into his robe then stands up, causing Old-Man F and I to flinch.

But rather than paying attention to our presence, the man simply makes his way over to the blue-fire man, and kneels down next to him.

"You failed us," the new man says, "If only you defeated the Water Charge and his master…then you could have become our Lord's NINTH SUN."

"N-no…please…" the blue-fire man stammers as he stares up at the new man, tears springing in the corners of his non-Devilish eyes, "D-don't kill me…"

"I don't have a choice…" the new man sighs, "By failing your mission, you brought shame to the name of our lord.  The Lord doesn't tolerate weaklings in his family.  I can't let you live and run free.  You KNOW too much about us…"

The man then reaches out and palms the face of the blue-fire man.

"YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR WIELDING THE ELEMENT OF FIRE."

And then…a burst of steam explodes from the new man's palm, steam so thick and so hot that my flesh stings even from here.

I can't imagine how hot it must be when it's being blasted into your face.

The blue-fire man dreams.

A blood curdling, HORRIFYING scream that I don't think I'll EVER forget, even if I lose all of my memories again.

The new man continues excreting that same blazing steam from his palm until the blue-fire man's flesh begins to liquify and rip off of his face.

I flinch and look away.