AZ and Ahsan dropped Maya off at her home before heading back to the clinic.
Noi greeted them at the door, bowing slightly. Her usual calm smile wavered when her gaze met Ahsan's, a faint blush flickering across her cheeks. Ahsan nodded back awkwardly, while AZ strolled in like he owned the place — which, in a way, he did.
"Alright," AZ said, sinking into his chair and gesturing to the seat across from him. "Your first official day as my assistant. Excited?"
Ahsan sat down, wary. "Let's just say… curious. So what's my first task?"
AZ grinned. "Rest."
Ahsan blinked. "You mean meditate or something?"
"No," AZ said, stretching his arms behind his head. "I mean literally rest. Relax. Do nothing."
Ahsan stared. "What kind of assistant gets paid to do nothing?"
"You're not getting paid," AZ said dryly, pointing toward a bookshelf crammed with dusty tomes and brightly colored manga. "Pick one. Consider it mental training."
With a sigh, Ahsan grabbed a random manga and flipped through a few pages, trying not to yawn. AZ, meanwhile, sat in perfect stillness — until he lazily snapped his fingers.
A coffee mug floated off the table, drifted through the air, and landed neatly in his hand.
Ahsan jumped. "What the hell—how did you do that?!"
AZ took a slow sip, his expression cool. "This is something you'll learn later. Some call it telekinesis. I call it Revert."
"Revert?"
AZ nodded. "Anyone with a soul can use it. The stronger your soul, the stronger your pull. But push it too far…" His eyes flicked to Ahsan's leg. "...and your soul starts to decay. That's why we take things slow."
Ahsan's gaze hardened with resolve. "I'll learn. Whatever it takes to fix my leg."
"Good," AZ said, glancing at his watch. "Because your rest time's over."
Ahsan raised an eyebrow. "What now?"
AZ stood, rolling his neck. "Cleaning time."
Ahsan smirked. "You're seriously making me mop floors?"
AZ's grin turned sharp. "Not that kind of cleaning. Demon cleaning."
Ahsan turned toward the window. The sun was sinking behind the city skyline, bleeding orange across the rooftops.
Sunset.
His pulse quickened. AZ had warned him before—Demons roam freely at night.
AZ looked at him and said calmly, "Today's training. If you pass, you get a gift. If you fail—well, you die. Ready?"
Ahsan swallowed hard. "What? What task?"
AZ's mouth quirked into a half-smile. "Follow me."
They stepped outside. Night had already fallen. Even through the enchanted glasses, Ahsan could see the demons flooding the sky — larger now, bolder, moving like a gathering storm. Some were close enough that their stench cut through the glass's protection; others hovered at the edges of vision, circling with curious hunger.
AZ spoke softly. "Remember when I said the demonic limb is slowly becoming part of you? That means it's no longer visible to other demons. But the scent remains. The presence remains. And that means they'll always be drawn to you at night. You can't hide forever — emergencies happen. So tonight's task is simple."
He turned, eyes glinting beneath the streetlight. "We walk to the playground. On foot. The demons will swarm around you, whisper to you, brush against you. But they don't know you can see them. So you must stay quiet. Ignore them completely — until we arrive. Understand?"
Ahsan nodded, throat tight.
The walk began. The night pressed close, thick with scent and sound. Shadows peeled from the walls — demons, dozens of them — circling like vultures. They sniffed the air, traced invisible lines toward him. Some hissed in his ear with promises of power; others mimicked the voices of loved ones, trying to crack his focus. A few slammed against the barrier of air that kept them at bay, shrieking in frustration.
Ahsan fixed his gaze forward and forced each breath to remain steady. Every step felt like balancing on a ledge over an abyss. He endured the whispers, the taunts, the phantom touch of cold breath against his neck. He counted his heartbeats — steady, steady — refusing to twitch, to flinch, to look.
One flicker of fear, and the swarm would descend.
AZ walked beside him in silence, watchful but unmoving. He let Ahsan bear the weight alone.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they reached the empty playground. The swings creaked softly in the wind. Ahsan's legs trembled, but he was still standing. Still breathing.
AZ stopped beside him and smiled — calm, almost proud. "Congratulations. You passed."
Relief crashed through Ahsan, a long, shaky exhale leaving his chest. "I thought I was a goner."
AZ's smile faded. He reached for the black machete at his hip — a blade so dark it seemed to swallow the light around it. He drew it free with a whisper of steel and shadow.
"You still are," he said quietly.
Before Ahsan could react, AZ swung. The machete cleaved through the nearest demon, splitting it cleanly in two. It dissolved into a mist of black motes that scattered like ash.
The others recoiled, a ripple of panic breaking through the night — then fury.
Hundreds rose at once, a storm of wings and teeth blotting out the sky.
Ahsan staggered back. "Are you insane?! Now they know we can see them!"
AZ sheathed the blade with deliberate calm, his eyes never leaving the horizon. The swarm circled above, seething with hunger.
"Like I said," he murmured, voice low and even,"It's demon cleaning time."
Ahsan watched the sky plummet. Thousands of demons peeled off the cloud above and began to descend, a living black rain. His heart slammed against his ribs so hard he felt it in his throat. He glanced at AZ and found the man impossibly calm—composed as if they were waiting for rain to stop rather than for the world to end.
Running felt pointless. The demons were already everywhere. Ahsan didn't know whether AZ had a plan or was simply inviting them both to die. Panic coiled in his gut.
AZ raised his right hand with an economy of movement, snapped his fingers, and said, "Revert."
Something impossible happened. The air convulsed as each demon strained and turned inward, their howls bending into a single, tortured chorus. Bodies that had been spread across the sky hunched and collided, forced by an unseen current until all that hunger and black motion compressed into one tiny, writhing sphere of darkness. The ball fell, slow and inevitable, into AZ's palm.
AZ smirked. "Perfect."
Ahsan stared at the tiny orb as if it would explode. "How did you do that?" he blurted.
AZ smiled and explained, "Revert forces an object to change its direction, position, and location. I made all the demons force into one single point. And now, they are this ball in my hand."
Ahsan could barely process it: thousands of demons reduced to a ping-pong-sized mote. The raw scale of the power knocked the breath from him. Just how strong is this Revert magic?
AZ handed him a shopping bag. Inside lay a black leather jacket with orange highlights. Ahsan grinned despite himself. "I mean, not gonna lie, the jacket is pretty badass. But you scared the hell out of me for an ordinary jacket?"
"Nope. It's no ordinary jacket. This is just like your enchanted glasses. But unlike the glasses that made the demons disappear, the jacket will make you disappear for them. I exclusively ordered it for you from Japan. Though it will not work if you attract their attention like I did. Use it during our missions and at night."
He shrugged the jacket on slowly. It settled around him like it had been made for his shape—neither hot nor cold, weightless in a way that felt exactly right. For the first time since the game, with demons still circling in the distance, Ahsan felt something like safety.
AZ pocketed the little ball of darkness as if it were nothing and said, "So, that was today's training. Tomorrow, be at my clinic at 2 PM. Don't be early, don't be late. 2 PM, sharp."
Ahsan nodded. He felt braver than before—eager, even—ready for whatever came next. AZ then showed him his phone and said, "You were making hilarious faces, so I decided to take some pictures. Don't mind, yeah?"
Ahsan saw the photos: his face contorted in forced calm, eyes wide in terror when the demons lunged. He groaned. "Delete them. Now."
AZ shook his head. "No, not before I show them to Noi."
Ahsan felt a chill. "You wouldn't dare…"
AZ grinned and bolted. "Catch me before I show them to her. Bye…"
Ahsan sprinted after him, but AZ was already a blur. Panting in the dark street, the jacket snug around his shoulders, Ahsan promised himself—loud and furious—that once he was healed, he would punch the calm, infuriating exorcist until AZ begged for mercy.