"Are we going to let him face the demon alone?" I ask, my eyes wide with worry as I watch him parry all the blows the demon sends his way.

"Don't worry about him. He knows what he's doing," Cer comments, watching the fight intently.

"But—"

My words die on my tongue as a deafening noise explodes in the museum. The air crackles around the demon as the shadows envelop him further, becoming a third arm, a fourth, and so on. It's almost as if from mist they have become matter, uniting themselves with the humanoid-looking body of the demon.

"What's that?" I point to the appendages forming on the demon.

"The essence of the demon is coming to the surface," Cer explains. "It's the core of his power. Ze's been trying to draw it out in the open because that's when demons are the most vulnerable."

"When it solidifies like that?"

"Yes."

I turn my attention to the fight. Ze effortlessly wields his sword, parrying each blow from the demon while making him expend more energy in order to draw out the entire essence of the demon.

The building quakes as more black fumes exit the demon's body, spreading all around him. Yet this time, instead of attaching themselves to his body, they become new ones, slowly becoming smaller solid replicas of the demon.

"Where would he get the power to do that?" Thea asks with a frown. She's glued to Cer's back, watching the fight from the crook of his shoulder.

"I don't know," Cer mentions, his tone... worried? "I've never seen a demon ascend so fast before. Just how many souls did he consume?"

"There's a chance we won't win this trial, isn't there?" I ask in a low, hopeless voice. The possibility has been on my mind since they mentioned he had consumed the demons. And if there are no souls to save, doesn't that mean we're doomed too?

Cer's features are tense. Thea averts her eyes as she bites her bottom lip.

I guess that's my answer.

Regardless of whether Ze kills the demon or not, if the souls have been consumed, we've failed.

My God... All this effort for nothing.

I swallow hard as a wave of hopelessness overtakes me. But I won't let it swallow me up—not while the fight is still raging on. Yet seeing Ze battle the demon alone makes me feel more useless than ever. I wish I had some sort of power to help him. I wish I could do something more than just stand around and watch, fear my only companion. God, but how I wish I could have done something earlier, when the demon had not yet ascended.

Yet I must face the unequivocal truth.

I am useless. And if I want to stand a chance in this game—if I want to win so I can get my beloved back—then I must learn how not to be useless.

I must learn how to prevail.