Chapter 40: Echoes of the Fallen

The light around Angel pulsed, her ethereal form shimmering in the cold, blood-drenched night. The monsters recoiled from her, their once fearless advance now reduced to desperate skittering as they backed into the shadows. Nathan's mind struggled to process the sight of her—alive, but not. Different, yet undeniably her.

"Angel," Nathan whispered, his voice hoarse with disbelief. "How...?"

She floated toward him, her feet hovering just above the ground. The radiant light around her cast long, eerie shadows on the decaying buildings, but her expression was distant, unreadable. "I'm not who I was, Nathan," she replied softly, her voice carrying a strange weight, as though she stood somewhere between life and death.

King staggered back, wiping blood from his mouth, his face pale with shock. "This... this can't be real," he muttered, his body trembling. "You died. We saw you die."

Angel's glowing eyes flicked toward King, her gaze intense but not unkind. "I did die." She looked down at her own hands, as though even she couldn't fully comprehend what she had become. "But something brought me back."

The creatures, sensing their momentary reprieve, shrieked in fear, disappearing into the blackness of the alleys. The silence that followed was deafening, as if the entire world was holding its breath.

Nathan took a step closer, unsure if he was about to collapse or break down. His emotions, already shattered by the grief of losing her, were now twisted into confusion, disbelief, and a small, fragile sliver of hope. "Are you... you?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Angel's gaze softened as she looked at him, her ghostly form wavering slightly in the air. "I don't know. I'm... different." Her voice was quieter now, more human, but still tinged with that otherworldly echo. "I remember everything, but it's like I'm not fully here."

King stepped forward, his expression hardening. "Why? Why bring you back, and for what? This place doesn't just let people go."

Angel hesitated, her glowing hands curling into fists. "I don't know why. But I was sent back with a purpose—to guide you. This isn't the end. It's just the beginning."

Nathan's heart dropped. The idea that there was more—more suffering, more death, more of this living nightmare—felt unbearable. He had already lost so much. His friends, his home, everything. Now, Angel was back, but not really, and the darkness that surrounded them had only deepened.

"Guide us where?" Nathan asked, his voice shaking with desperation. "To what? We're barely surviving. There's nothing left here but death."

Angel looked up at the blood moon, her expression unreadable. "There's something deeper than death here, Nathan. Something ancient and dark. Ching Fang's power stretches far beyond this world, and we're in its grip. You've seen the creatures, the suffering. But it's worse than you can imagine."

King cursed under his breath, dragging his hands through his hair. "How much worse can it get? We're already being hunted like animals. People are being devoured, torn apart."

Angel's eyes darkened, her voice dropping to a cold whisper. "Worse than that. There are places in this realm where time and reality break down. Souls are trapped, tortured in endless loops of pain. You've only seen the outskirts, the monsters that prowl here. But the heart of this realm... it's madness."

A heavy silence fell over them as her words sunk in. Nathan could barely breathe. The world around him had always felt wrong, but now it felt like a living thing, like it was watching them, waiting for its moment to strike.

"And we have to go there, don't we?" Nathan asked, already knowing the answer.

Angel nodded. "Yes. It's the only way to end this. We have to face Ching Fang and the Supreme Demon Court."

Nathan felt the weight of her words crush down on him, pressing the air from his lungs. The idea of going deeper into the demon realm, of confronting something as powerful and twisted as Ching Fang—it was insanity. But what choice did they have? They couldn't keep running forever. And if there was a way to end the nightmare, no matter how slim the chance, they had to take it.

"How do we even get there?" King asked, his voice tight with fear and frustration. "We're barely holding on. We don't have the strength for this."

Angel stepped closer to them, her ethereal light dimming slightly as if her power was draining. "We'll find a way. I'll guide you, but you have to trust me."

Nathan looked into her glowing eyes and saw a flicker of the Angel he had known—the girl who had fought beside him, who had shared his fears and hopes. But that flicker was faint, almost lost in the vast, otherworldly presence she had become.

"I trust you," Nathan said quietly, though the words felt heavy on his tongue. "But I don't know if I'm ready for what's ahead."

Angel's expression softened, and for a moment, the light in her eyes dimmed, revealing a trace of the girl she had once been. "None of us are ready. But we don't have a choice."

A sudden, sharp gust of wind whipped through the ruined streets, carrying with it the faint, distant sound of something monstrous—a low, guttural growl that sent shivers down Nathan's spine. The creatures were regrouping, and they wouldn't wait much longer before coming back.

"We need to move," Angel said, her voice firm. "There's a place not far from here where we can find answers, but we have to go now."

Nathan nodded, though his legs felt like lead. King groaned as he pushed himself up, wincing from his wounds. "Lead the way, Angel," he muttered, though the doubt in his voice was clear.

The three of them moved quickly, slipping through the twisted streets and alleys, always keeping an eye on the dark corners where the creatures lurked. Nathan's heart raced with every step, the constant fear gnawing at him, but something had shifted. With Angel back—changed though she was—there was a spark of something new. Maybe it was hope, or maybe it was the grim determination that had been born from losing her in the first place.

But the darkness of the demon realm was not so easily swayed. As they moved deeper into the city, the air grew colder, and the shadows seemed to stretch longer, as though the world itself was watching them, waiting for its moment to strike.

And in the distance, far beyond the ruined buildings and shattered streets, the blood moon hung heavy in the sky, casting its unholy light over the cursed land.