Blade of the Demon Hunt

Chapter 14 Lina

Amir, puzzled, pushed the door open and thoroughly checked every corner of the room but found no one. The half-window was tightly closed and didn't look disturbed. Yet, he had clearly seen Lina enter.This is strange—could a demon really have the ability to vanish into thin air?Amir, perplexed, stepped inside and walked slowly to the center of the room.The room was small, with mops and brooms piled in the corners, and a wall-mounted metal cabinet with a bent door open, containing disinfectants and toilet cleaners. There were no places to hide.Standing in the middle of the room and looking around, Amir suddenly felt the mark on his wrist growing hot. His instinct for danger made him quickly turn around.Above the door, Lina, dressed in a white dress, was sprawled on the wall like a monkey, limbs spread wide. Her long black hair hung down, and her blood-red eyes were fixed intently on him.Although she still had a human form, her appearance was incredibly eerie, more like a ghost from a horror movie than a demon.Amir's eyes widened as he locked gazes with Lina, feeling as though his feet were nailed to the ground and unable to move. The mark on his right wrist had turned bright red, blood surging and feeling as if something inside him was writhing and struggling to break free.Lina's fingers, which had been clinging to the wall, suddenly moved. She pushed off with her feet and lunged at Amir.In an instant, Amir reacted, attempting to dodge to the side, but the cramped room limited his movements.Lina tackled him to the ground, her hands grabbing tightly around his neck. Her exceptionally sharp nails felt like small daggers piercing his flesh.The stabbing pain in his neck combined with the suffocation created immense suffering, and Amir could only struggle desperately."Tell me, why are you following me?" Lina snarled, her face twisted with rage. The once-pure beauty was gone, replaced by a hellish figure with blood-red eyes and sharp teeth, like a demon from the underworld.Amir was unable to speak because Lina's grip on his neck was suffocating him, but he quickly managed to calm down despite the situation.He groped around with his hands and soon found a slender metal rod. Without hesitation, he grabbed it and swung it at Lina.The metal rod he found was actually a mop handle. When Amir swung it desperately, the mop head struck Lina on the head, causing her to tilt to one side and loosen her grip on his neck.Seizing the opportunity, Amir quickly rolled over and pinned Lina beneath him. However, before he could secure his position, Lina managed to break free and flipped him onto the ground.Sitting on the ground, Amir saw Lina charging towards him. In a panic, he grabbed the mop and waved it wildly at her. The confined space prevented her from getting close for the moment, and they were locked in a tense stalemate.Lina glared at Amir and spat to the side. Suddenly, she took a deep breath, and her body began to change.Her eyes bulged out, her mouth split wide to her ears, revealing sharp fangs. Her limbs elongated, her hands transformed into claw-like appendages, and her back arched high, nearly tearing her dress apart.Fully transformed into a monster, Lina leaped up and clung to the ceiling with her limbs, hanging upside down directly above Amir.Amir looked up at the demon above him. The mark on his wrist, which had been burning intensely, suddenly cooled, and a red glow flashed before his eyes.Lina descended towards him from above, moving slowly through the air.Amir gripped the suddenly appearing dagger, sidestepped to avoid Lina's attack, and, seeing her movements slow down, thrust the dagger at her just before she landed.Lina managed to twist her body in time to avoid a fatal blow, but the dagger struck her shoulder."Ah!" She screamed, kicking at Amir with a sudden return to normal speed. Amir couldn't dodge in time and could only brace himself with his arm, taking the full force of the kick.As Lina kicked him away, Amir tightly held onto the dagger, causing a spurt of blood to erupt from her shoulder."You're a demon hunter with a demon-slaying weapon," Lina exclaimed, clutching her wound in shock.Amir, dagger in hand, stood his ground and faced her, neither confirming nor denying her accusation.Lina let out a harsh cry but then turned and ran toward the door.Amir was startled by her sudden action. Even though it was daytime and the campus was relatively quiet due to the lunch break, he worried about the potential for causing a commotion that might endanger innocent students. He quickly chased after her.Lina had already covered a good distance in the corridor and was nearing the stairs.As Amir chased her, he noticed changes in the surroundings. The demon's movements began to slow down again, appearing to him like a slow-motion scene from a movie. The dagger in his hand grew slightly warm, as if trying to communicate something.Though he didn't hear any actual sounds, Amir understood intuitively what the dagger was trying to convey. He raised his right hand and threw the dagger toward his target ahead.It was strange—his weapon seemed to communicate with him. Was it that he had experienced too much recently and his mind was no longer normal? As Amir pondered this question, the dagger flew through the air.The serpentine dagger traced a graceful arc, moving slowly forward. Amir watched as Lina, upon hearing the noise, turned her head, her face filled with terror. Each of her movements seemed to happen in slow motion, allowing him to see every detail clearly.It turned out that demons weren't as frightening as they seemed; they were almost insignificant in the face of his weapon. Amir thought to himself.The dagger struck Lina accurately in the back, and instead of a spray of blood, there was only a piercing scream as she collapsed to the ground.The dagger emitted a faint red glow as it lay on Lina.Amir approached quietly and looked down at Lina, who was twitching on the ground. He still didn't fully understand how everything had unfolded.Soon, the red glow from the dagger disappeared, signaling that Lina was dead. Amir pulled out the dagger and wiped it clean on Lina's already tattered white dress. Oddly enough, he noticed that the rust seemed to have lessened, and the dagger appeared a bit brighter.He wondered how to return the dagger. It always seemed to vanish on its own, turning into the symbol on his right wrist. He still hadn't figured out how that process worked.However, what was more pressing was what to do with the demon's corpse. He couldn't just leave it here. With just over an hour until the afternoon classes began, the area would be bustling, and this would surely cause a major disturbance.As Amir was deep in thought, he heard footsteps approaching from behind.Startled, Amir turned around to see Aziz standing there, shock evident on his face.Aziz glanced from Amir to the corpse on the ground and slowly walked over."Aziz, this is..." Amir began, unsure of how to explain. He wasn't even certain if Aziz recognized the corpse as Lina.Aziz's demeanor was strangely calm as he examined the corpse, his expression unreadable. Despite the grotesque sight before him, he seemed more contemplative than disturbed.Amir, uncertain and uneasy, was taken aback by Aziz's composure. It was baffling how someone could remain so detached in the face of such a gruesome scene.After a long silence, Aziz finally stood and turned to face Amir."I never expected this," Aziz said coldly.Amir, sensing the gravity of the situation, began to explain. "I can clarify this. If you give me a chance, I can explain everything. Lina, she approached you with a purpose. She wasn't human—she was a demon that feeds on humans."Aziz, however, seemed unfazed by Amir's words. He repeated his earlier statement, "I never expected this," and then continued, "To think one of my students would be a demon hunter."Amir felt a pang of frustration. "Aziz, please listen. I didn't want this to happen. I was just—""Wait, what did you just say?" Amir suddenly snapped back to reality and asked in shock."That's your weapon, the dagger," Aziz pointed to the dagger in Amir's hand and said, "It doesn't seem to have grown much in terms of shape; you must have acquired it recently.""What are you talking about?" Amir shook his head in disbelief and took a step back."Don't you understand what I'm saying, Amir?" After Aziz said this, his eyes suddenly turned blood-red.The dagger in Amir's hand began to heat up in response to Aziz's change. Amir stared at him in disbelief and asked, his voice trembling, "Could it be that you are also—""Heh heh heh," Aziz's laughter was a harsh, grating sound as if squeezed from his throat. "I knew that attacking someone at the school would attract the attention of hunters. But there's nothing to be done; she's too hungry."After saying this, Aziz suddenly vanished from Amir's sight, only to reappear at his right side. Before Amir could react, Aziz delivered a side kick to his abdomen, sending him flying several meters and crashing to the ground.As soon as Amir hit the ground, Aziz reappeared beside him, raising a foot to stomp on his chest. Amir quickly rolled away on the ground to avoid the attack.Aziz didn't pause despite the missed kick; he took a couple of steps and pursued Amir, kicking at his abdomen again and sending him flying several meters away.Amir curled up on the ground, clutching his stomach as waves of nausea rolled over him. He vomited, and the mixture of bile and blood emitted a sour, foul odor.Aziz walked up to him, grabbing Amir by the hair and pulling him up.With his hair being yanked, Amir was forced to kneel on the ground, his upper body leaning backward, compelled to face his enemy."Do you know what Lina means to me?" Aziz leaned over, staring down at Amir. "Do you know how much I love her? I'm going to kill you, chop you into pieces, devour you completely, and then use your remains as fertilizer on her grave, turning you into her nourishment."With that, Aziz extended his right hand, his sharp, cold nails glinting as they moved towards Amir's neck.