"Haha, I will take good care of you. So, what's your name, Windy?" Sparrow's voice was laced with the casual arrogance of a victor speaking to his prize.

He looked at the wind spirit demigod, who stood with his head bowed, his form flickering with shame.

Being sold out by his own God was a humiliation he would carry for a thousand years. But his loyalty was absolute. He would follow his master's order.

"My name is Windy, indeed," the demigod replied, his voice a low, defeated murmur.

Sparrow burst out laughing, a sharp, mocking sound that echoed in the misty clearing. Windy gave him a sharp side-glance, his form swirling with annoyance, and turned away.

"Alright, alright, I won't laugh at your name anymore," Sparrow said, his laughter finally subsiding. He turned his attention to the real prize.

He stepped forward and plucked the True Beauty Pill from its stone pedestal. The moment his fingers touched it, an intoxicating wave of pure, perfect energy flowed into him. He held it in his palm, a universe of potential. He immediately struck a defensive stance, his senses on high alert, waiting for the trap to spring.

Windy, ever the loyal soldier, did the same. A powerful gust of wind erupted from him, clearing the surrounding trees in a perfect circle, creating an open battlefield with no place for an enemy to hide.

They waited. One second. Ten. A full minute stretched into an unnerving silence. Nothing happened.

"I was certain there was no demon here," Windy said, relaxing his stance slightly. He trusted his senses, and they had told him the area was clear.

"Yes, I was sure, too," Sparrow lied, his own heart finally slowing its frantic beat. They turned and began their journey back towards the shimmering purple portal that led to Kitsune's world.

But as they flew, in a dimension they could not perceive, an invisible demon chuckled, a low, guttural sound like grinding stone and tearing flesh. He licked his lips. "Two prey at once, ain't i lucky?" the voice whispered.

In the next instant, he was there. Sparrow and Windy, flying at full speed, didn't see a figure or a wall. They simply hit… something. It was like crashing into a mountain that had appeared out of nowhere.

The impact sent them hurtling backward, their divine forms tumbling through the air. As they righted themselves, the invisibility spell of the demon broke, and they saw what they had hit.

Their hearts froze. It was a creature of pure nightmare. It was vaguely humanoid, but its form was a shifting mass of condensed shadow, with too many limbs and a dozen slowly blinking, crimson eyes that held no malice, only a cold, predatory hunger.

Horror washed over them. Windy reacted first. He unleashed a gale of razor-sharp wind, weaving it together with a torrent of blinding light magic from Sparrow.

Together, they created a swirling prison of elemental fury, a cage of wind and light that enveloped the colossal demon.

Upon seeing their spell connect, they didn't wait to see the result. They turned and fled, a silent, shared understanding between them: run.

But the demon just smirked, a gesture that was terrifying on its shifting, shadowy face. It was a look of pure, condescending amusement. He opened a mouth that was not a mouth, but a tear in reality, a black hole of pure oblivion, and inhaled.

Their combined spell, a technique that could have leveled a small city, was simply sucked in and devoured.

"Run like a prey," the demon's voice echoed in their minds, a chilling, terrifying promise, "and I will catch you like a hunter."

He vanished, turning invisible once more.

Sparrow and Windy felt the connection to their magic shatter, and a new wave of terror washed over them. The demon was coming.

"Windy, you wait here and stall him! I will deliver the pill to my master!" Sparrow shouted, his voice cracking with desperation as he pushed his speed to its absolute limit, leaving Windy behind without a second glance.

In that moment of pure terror, loyalty to an ally was a luxury he could not afford. Survival was the only currency that mattered.

"Why should I?!" Windy shouted back, turning to follow.

"Because I said so!" Sparrow retorted. "And your master has ordered you to listen to me! Now do it!" He knew it was a cruel, selfish command, but it was his only chance.

Windy stopped in mid-air, the order of his own God a chain around his soul. He gritted his teeth, his form flickering with rage and despair, and turned to face the empty air, to face the invisible monster that was hunting them.

Just then, the voice of his own master, Snatcher, echoed in his mind, a lifeline in a sea of terror. "Don't die, you fool! That is not your master! Retreat to our portal! Now!"

Awakened by the voice, Windy felt a surge of joyous relief. With a final, hateful glance in Sparrow's direction, he changed course, flying desperately towards the location of his own world's portal.

"That fool really stopped to fight that monstrosity," Sparrow thought with a sliver of relief, his eyes locked on the shimmering purple portal ahead. It was a beacon of hope, of safety. He was almost there.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, he hit the invisible mountain again. He bounced back, his body aching, and the shadowy, multi-limbed demon reappeared before him, its dozen red eyes blinking slowly, its form radiating an aura of absolute triumph.

"Oh?" the demon's voice echoed, filled with mock disappointment. "Where has the second little fly gone?"

Sparrow didn't answer. He poured every last ounce of his remaining power into a single, desperate act.

A sun-bright flash of pure light erupted from him, a magical explosion designed to blind any creature for a precious few seconds.

'He can't invade my world,' Sparrow thought frantically as he turned to make a final dash for the portal. 'He should be fearful of my master!'

But the demon wasn't affected at all. The light was simply absorbed into its shadowy form. It smirked, a gesture of final, playful cruelty. It reached out one of its too-many limbs and snatched Sparrow by the legs, its grip like solid iron.

Sparrow was lifted into the air, his world turning upside down. He looked up into the swirling, shadowy face of the demon, into the dozen red eyes that held no anger, only a cold, predatory hunger. He saw the tear in reality, the black hole of a mouth, opening to consume him.

In her God space, Kitsune felt it not only as a mental, but as a physical blow too. A golden thread of connection that had bound her to Sparrow for centuries suddenly… snapped.

The world went silent. A scream of pure, undiluted rage and loss tore from her throat, a sound that cracked the sacred cherry blossom trees in her realm and sent her other lifeforms scattering in terror. "No… No, you can't die like this! I spent everything on you! Return to me!"

[Master, Kitsune's only demigod, Sparrow, is dead,] Thea's calm, emotionless voice reported to Sunny. [I suspect that vixen will be coming to you for help as soon as her sanity returns.]

"You sound quite harsh, Thea. Did she do something to offend you?" Sunny asked, a rare amusement in his voice. He was intrigued by this flicker of human-like personality from his perfect, logical system.

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