The cold wind blowing from the foot of the mountain cut into Zach's skin like a sharp blade.
Without thinking any further, Zach threw himself down the slope toward the crowd of villagers—only for Eldon to grab the back of his coat and pull him back.
Zach turned toward Eldon, his eyes blazing with rage.
There was anger in Eldon's eyes as well, just like in his own—but the expression on his face made it clear that he was barely managing to keep it under control.
"We have to stay calm. Otherwise, not only will we fail to save Harper, we'll get ourselves killed right here. And we can't forget that there's a demon after us—one that could jump on us at any moment."
Hearing those words, Zach forced himself to calm down and listened.
"We need to move as fast as possible—but carefully. The villagers are almost done with the ritual. And we also need to find the informant who warned us about what was happening here. He disappeared right after contacting us."
As Zach nodded in agreement, he glanced toward Axel.
Noticing the look, Axel turned his head toward them.
"Are you okay? If you're not feeling well, you can stay back and keep watch."
Axel was an angel—or rather, he had once been one. Now, people like him were called fallen angels. He had defied Heaven's laws and, as punishment decided by the angelic council, had been cast out.
Though that punishment had stripped him of most of the angelic power he had been born with, he was still strong enough to stand his ground against demons.
The real problem wasn't Axel's power.
It was his will.
Once, he had been a respected commander within the angelic army directly beneath Heaven's archangel. Now, he was struggling to survive among wretched, sinful humans.
This ancient being—who had fought fearlessly in countless brutal wars between Heaven and Hell—had lost his heart and courage because of what had happened to him.
He hid it well, but for Zach, reading fear in someone's eyes was child's play.
As Zach and Eldon watched him, Axel trembled in place at the sight before them.
He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. He muttered something under his breath in the angelic language—words whose meaning only he understood.
Then he turned back to them with steady, determined eyes.
"Come on. Let's save our friend from those miserable fools who sold their souls to the devil."
Zach and Eldon responded with smiles that openly betrayed their excitement.
The operation to save Harper—and put an end to the villagers' madness—had begun.
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Even while they were still gathering themselves, Eldon had already constructed the plan in his mind, carefully considering every detail. Now, all that remained was to put it into action.
The villagers were performing the ritual at the entrance of a mine at the foot of the mountain. In the center of the area, a circle had been drawn in blood. They danced around it, singing in an unknown language.
Inside the circle were various symbols and inscriptions, all written in blood.
Zach knew that both the writing and the language used in the chants belonged to the demonic tongue. He had encountered such things before. He also recognized the meanings of many of the symbols inside the circle.
At the very center, Harper stood crucified.
Her face was deathly pale. She must have been terrified—and utterly exhausted.
Who would ever believe that this small girl was a complete genius when it came to firearms and explosives?
Zach moved slowly around the crowd, keeping low behind the rocks. He needed to get as close to Harper as possible. Once everything started, his window of opportunity would be extremely short.
When Axel took his position, he signaled toward Eldon.
The moment Eldon caught the signal, he stood up and shouted:
"Now!"
Eldon's powerful voice echoed across the entire mountain slope.
As the villagers turned toward the sound in confusion, Axel unleashed his angelic power, creating a massive, blinding flash of light.
Zach had expected this—he had already turned his head away.
Axel raised his arms and hurled the brilliant mass of light toward the ritual site with a sudden motion.
"BAMMM!"
The impact was so loud that for a moment, Zach thought the ground itself had split in two.
So this is what the power of a true angel looks like, he thought.
Using the dust cloud rising into the air and the villagers scattering in panic as his opening, Zach sprang forward and sprinted toward Harper.
With a few sharp strikes of his sword, he cut through the ropes binding her.
They didn't have much time. The dust cloud was already starting to settle. They needed a place to hide.
That was when Zach's eyes fell on the mine entrance behind them.
It was their best option.
He immediately lifted Harper into his arms and ran straight toward it, plunging headlong into the darkness spilling out from the mine.
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Harper slowly opened her eyes.
Zach was standing in front of her.
"Zach…"
"Shh!" Zach silenced her at once.
"They're here. They're looking for us. We can't make too much noise. How are you—can you move?"
Harper sat up and quickly checked herself.
"I think I'm fine. No visible injuries. But couldn't you have rescued me before they crucified me?"
She rubbed her stiff neck as she spoke.
"Sorry, princess. You're so short we didn't even notice you weren't with us."
Harper scowled and punched Zach in the shoulder.
Zach looked at her with a grin that made it clear he was enjoying teasing her.
She was fine—just a little dazed.
"If I weren't a half-demon, that punch might've dislocated my shoulder," he said.
"I know better ways to do that. If I had my equipment, I'd show you."
At that, Zach reached behind his coat with a devilish smile and pulled out something wrapped in black cloth, holding it out to her.
Harper stared at him in shock.
Zach's smile never faded.
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The two of them began moving deeper into the mine.
They could hear the villagers' voices echoing behind them. They had to find another way out—fast.
The only thing illuminating their path was a gas lamp they had found hanging on the wall.
The moment Zach heard the villagers getting closer, he grabbed the lamp with one hand and Harper's hand with the other, pulling her deeper into the mine without hesitation.
Harper was clearly struggling, but there was nothing they could do. They had to keep going. Otherwise, those crazed villagers would kill them.
After moving forward for a while, Zach suddenly stopped.
"What the hell is this?"
His face was filled with shock.
An iron door stood before them.
Various motifs were carved into its surface. The most striking of all was the figure carved at the very center—resembling a demon's face.
Harper stepped closer and ran her hand over the metal.
"This isn't ordinary iron."
"Heavenly iron," Zach said. There was an unmistakable tremor of unease in his voice.
"Whatever's behind this door needs to stay locked away," Harper said.
Suddenly, Zach shouted in excitement.
"They're not trying to summon a demon into our world—they're trying to free one that's already imprisoned here!"
Harper stared at him in shock.
Zach spoke with fear written all over his face.
"No… if that's the case, we're already too late."
At that moment, the villagers' voices echoed from behind them.
Harper quickly grabbed Zach's hand and pulled him behind a rock.
The villagers searched the area, then turned back.
That was when Harper touched Zach's shoulder and pointed.
"Look. A hidden tunnel."
A narrow tunnel stood before them—so small that both of them would have to crawl. Its entrance was covered by a few wooden planks.
They didn't waste any time.
Zach went in first, and together they crawled through the tight passage.
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Before long, they emerged into a wide chamber carved deep into the rock.
The moment Zach stood up, he swept the gas lamp around the room.
He was left speechless by what he saw.
Harper, who stepped up beside him, froze as well.
The walls were covered in various religious symbols. Alongside them were inscriptions carved in the demonic language.
Before Harper could fully understand what she was seeing, Zach began to speak.
"Centuries ago, the boundary between this world and Hell wasn't as clearly defined as it is now. High-level demons could cross over far more easily.
Back then, demon hunters would imprison the high-level demons they couldn't kill or send back."
"But imprisoning a demon is far more difficult than killing one," he continued. "You need very specific materials."
"Heavenly iron," Harper said.
Zach nodded.
"An enormous door made of heavenly iron, buried deep underground—and now this place."
He gestured toward the chamber walls.
"This is a ritual chamber used to imprison demons."
Harper slowly looked around the room.
"Freeing a demon from imprisonment is much easier than calling one back from Hell. That's why we need to get out of here quickly, regroup with the others, and decide what to do next."
As they searched the chamber for an exit, Harper suddenly shouted:
"Bingo!"
Zach turned toward her.
Cool mountain air was seeping through the edges of a rock leaning against the wall.
"Come on, handsome. Do your thing," Harper said with a grin full of mockery.
Zach scowled and pushed against the rock. Eventually, he managed to open a gap wide enough for both of them to pass through.
Without hesitating, they slipped through the hidden passage.
Moments later, they emerged from another concealed opening on the mountainside.
They continued along a narrow forest path.
Suddenly, a voice rose from the darkness between the trees.
Both of them tensed.
Zach raised his gun and shouted:
"Show yourself, or I'll shoot!"
"GO AHEAD—IF YOU THINK IT'LL DO ANY GOOD!"
Before Zach could pull the trigger, the demon lunged out of the darkness and slammed into him.
They rolled across the ground together.
"Damn you."
"You can curse me all you want, human—it won't change the fact that you're about to die!"
As they struggled on the ground, the demon drove its claws into Zach's side.
"AAAH!"
Zach screamed in pain.
He drew the sword strapped to his back and slashed at the demon.
The demon leapt backward at the last second, narrowly avoiding the strike.
"PATHTIC, SLY FOX!"
Zach's plan had failed.
He had deliberately let the demon injure him, hoping to create an opening to finish it in a single blow. But now that chance was gone.
The situation had grown far worse.
His previous wounds hadn't fully healed, and this new injury only put him at an even greater disadvantage.
Yet despite that, a thrill rose within him.
Being pushed this close to death set something ablaze inside him.
A devilish grin spread across his face as he stared at the demon.
The demon laughed with its hideous voice.
"DO YOU REALLY CALL YOURSELF HUMAN? YOU'RE NO DIFFERENT FROM A MONSTER!"
Zach said nothing.
He drew his revolver and fired twice—one shot at the demon, the other toward its escape route.
His prediction was correct.
The demon dodged both bullets—but one grazed its arm.
"ARRRGH!"
The demon screamed in agony.
The bullet, forged from heavenly iron, burned its flesh. For a demon, the pain was worse than the fires of Hell itself.
Zach didn't wait.
He charged.
The demon slashed back with its claws.
Zach's sword was knocked from his grasp.
He fired two more shots.
The demon dodged again.
As Zach lunged to retrieve his sword, the demon grabbed him first.
It seized him by the back of his coat and hurled him into a tree.
The cracking sound of the trunk echoed through the dark forest.
Zach tried to stand—but he was gasping for breath.
The demon advanced, smiling wickedly.
A gunshot rang out.
"Zach!" Harper shouted.
She was holding a high-powered shotgun.
The gift Zach had given her in the cave.
The demon leapt backward.
As it turned toward Harper, Zach used his last two bullets.
One missed—but the other struck the demon square in the chest, piercing one of its hearts.
"ARRRRCHHHH!"
The demon's scream echoed throughout the forest.
Zach savored the sound.
He stood, grabbed his sword, and slashed deeply across the demon's back.
As the demon lashed out in retaliation, Harper fired again.
The shotgun blast tore through its claw, severing it completely.
The demon screamed as Zach continued his assault.
When his sword pierced the demon's second heart, it collapsed to the ground.
Its strength was gone.
"Spare me, human!"
The demon's plea filled Zach with satisfaction.
He slid a single bullet into his revolver, spun the cylinder, and snapped it shut.
"You've got one chance in six. Let's see if God shows you mercy."
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Harper fired again—destroying the demon's remaining heart.
Zach turned toward her.
"You're no fun at all."
"At moments like this," Harper replied coldly, "you look more like a demon than they do."
Zach only shrugged.
Together, they continued down the forest path, disappearing into the darkness.