"Dammit.." Ryu had just started running towards Jake when he saw a large claw enlarged in his peripheral vision. His mind spun fast to come up with a solution. "Wooden clone!" With the amount of time he had with him, he could only conjure a single one. The clone braced itself for the impact, crossing its arms infront of its chest. "Boom!!" Ryu felt like someone hit him with a bat and his body was flung away. His eyes landed on the huge black beast that attacked him. It was a wolf, very similar to the juvenile wolf that Darla and he had killed together. It's just that this one was huge. It was easily thrice the height of a human. It's teeth were just as sharp albeit much longer, with even more powerful claws. One hit from that thing had completely destroyed his wood clone. Nonetheless, the clone absorbed most of the impact and despite bleeding from multiple locations, he was in a much better condition then Jake, who had fainted from the intensity of the wound.

"Haaahh.." Sophia had been on the move just when she saw the beast swipe at Jake. She was relieved that atleast Ryu managed to save himself from a grievous injury. Her sharp hands engaged it in combat. She had decided to give the fight whatever she got. Jake's fate was still unknown. The boy was losing blood with every passing minute. Kyro and Kira awoke from their reverie once they heard Sophia's arms collide with the wolf's claws. Kira wanted to check on Ryu first but taking a look at the badly wounded Jake she and Kyro ran towards him at once. Why did this have to happen now? They were just on their way out from this god-forsaken forest. They had wanted to help but the amount of blood and gore made their blood freeze in their veins. "Use his clothes. Wind it all around his shoulder. Stop the bleeding." 

Ryu had to scream the order for them to begin acting. He managed to get up, checking on the severity of his injuries he found a few deep cuts all over his arms and a sprained ankle. He knew those two won't be able to handle Jake's condition and he slowly began moving towards them. On the other side Sophia had been on the offensive for a few minutes now but she hadn't been able to penetrate it's hide. The beast was as spotless as in the starting. Looking at their fight Ryu discern what actually hit them. The beast was vanishing from plain sight while it fought Sophia. Bastard was actually using shadows to move around. It wasn't too outrageous since it was a magical beast. The wolf they fought in the caves must be too young to use this shadow ability. This unique ability just have been the reason why neither he or Sophia could notice it inching closer to them.

"Ahhh..." Sophia was injured. The wolf managed to get a hold on her arm and tried to break it off but luckily she was quick witted and began attacking its eyes, only then it backed off. She saved her arm but lost any use of it. "Ryu, take them and get away." She screamed at him without even looking back. She was simply no match for this guy. He was just playing with her all along. She could not manage to put a single scratch to its pelt all this while. The best plan she could think of was to let the rookies run away and she try to hold this guy down for as long as possible. With enough luck atleast they might survive.

This was only the second time Ryu was in extreme despair. First time was the mental encounter with that divine being via the krypto vines. Somehow he managed to survive the ordeal. But once again he found himself in a similar situation. There was no saving them. Their best bet was Sophia and now that she too had been injured, the rookies found her hopes getting dashed one by one. Just then Ryu noticed the wolf's eyes stay on Kira for a while before it engaged Sophia once again. He knew she can't respond to him at such short notice thus he ran, with his sprained foot. Sure enough. Just after swiping it's claws twice at Sophia it vanished into the shadows.

"Kira!! Move away!!" Ryu struck her with his body. The girl fell away but her position was taken now by Ryu. *Thud* This time there was no clone to take the impact for him. His eyes blacked out for a while as he flew away. He can definitely feel his little life slipping away. 'How did all come to this? Fuck.. I haven't even got to enjoy this life fully.' He can only think about these things as all the strength had left his body. *Hoowwl* The beast looked annoyed having failed to kill Ryu twice in a row. "Brother Ryu." "Ryu!!" They wanted to run towards him but Ryu saw them faint and fall midway. Everything happened too fast. None of them ever got any chance to process what hit them. Just the howl of the beast was so powerful that it knocked out the only two guys left standing."You fucker!!" Getting rid of them, the wolf then turned around when Sophia's sharp bladed hand made a large gash on its snot. *Grrrr* Their fight ensued once again.

Ryu had endured the pressure radiated by the beast and managed to keep himself concious. He lay flat on the ground with his abdomen ripped open. Earlier the pain was so intense that he nearly lost his mind but now everything was calm. He can't feel his limbs. He can't feel a thing. The loss of blood has left him insentient. He watched with gritted teeth as the Sophia was throw around like a rag doll but kept coming back and attacking the beast with her sheer will power and hatred.

'You are going to die, kid.' A calm voice echoed in his mind. It didn't took him long realise who's voice it was. Now that he was on the verge of death, all the bindings over the demon had loosened, making it surface once again. 'What do you want?' He can very easily anticipate what this would want at a moment like this. 'Haha.. why ask when you already know?' Ryu kept quiet. There was no way he was relenting control over his body. 'Hehehe.. look at that boy. 5 minutes. That's how long he will survive. You really want to let him die even after having the ability to save him?' He was talking about Jake. The boy was thoroughly battered from a single unsuspecting attack. Ryu's mind filled with images of the three friends playing together. He can see all those times vividly in his mind. It was the demon's doing. He was the one making these images flashes of these memories.

'Fuck.. I ain't even the real Ryu.' He balled his hands in frustration. He wanted to say that he didn't even had such deep connections with these guys. But that wasn't true. All those previous memories had completely assimilated with him. He can't really tell the difference between the real Ryu and the transmigrated one. He felt real lobe for Amelia. He felt real connection with his friends. These relations were not as superfluous as he has made them out to be. 

'The there is that another one. How do you think his mother will react when she comes to know how her son was gutted by a beast?' Ryu focused on Kyro. The boy had been a bit of a wimp at all times but that didn't mean he was any less of a friend to him. Suna will be devastated at his loss. 'And didn't you promised to protect the little girl? She really is a gullible one, believing in everything you ever told her.' Some traces of tears formed in his eyes. Kira didn't deserve this ending. All this felt like an anomaly to him. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. 

'And what about one desparately holding on, despite losing all her hopes haha.. She sure is a determined one. Giving her all even against a beast on a whole realm above her.' Ryu eyes opened wide. He never realised the difference between them was so large. 'What? You didn't know? Hahaha.. then let me enlighten you a bit. That shadow wolf could have killed her off in a single strike. But it loves the thrill of hunting it's prey down. The more the prey struggles, the more thrilling the hunting experience. Let me tell you what is going on in the girl's mind. 'I should have kissed the boy, when I had the chance.' She is talking about you my boy hahaha.. you should be happy that a girl is thinking about you when so close to her death hehe..' 

The demon's words only pained his heart. He saw ahead of him Sophia completely covered her blood, her other hand fully broken. Yet, the girl still stood up. 'Stop it. You idiot. It is just playing with you.' He had lost his ability to talk, way back. All he can do was to scream in his mind. 'You think she doesn't know that? She had known this fact all along. Despite that she would never go down without a fight. That's just how she is, isn't she?' 'Agghhhhhh.... Fuck all this..' 'You are too weak brat.. You don't have a choice.' Ryu closed his eyes and the next time he opened them, all his confusion was replaced with tranquility. 'What guarantee is there that you will save my friends, after I let you take over?' 'hahaha.. You are misunderstanding something here kid. You are the one who is out of options, you don't have the capability to put conditions me.' 

Ryu's eyes didn't flicker even once. In front of him the wolf had placed one of its paws on Sophia chest, pressing her into the ground. 'Looks like it is done with playing around. You better hurry kid. However powerful I might be, I can't bring back people from their deaths.' But contrary to what the demon believed, Ryu shook his head. 'Unless I get an assurance, you are getting nothing. Both of us can die together.' The demon was frustrated to say the least. He had gone to great lengths to put Ryu on a guilt trip but in the end the boy was still putting condition on him. It wasn't a big deal for him to save his friends but it was just that, demons were inherently arrogant being, he can't have a brat order him around. 

It took the demon some time to come face to face with the reality. 'Haha.. Good. Brat, you really impressed me. Let's do it your way then. I promise you that I will save them once I take over. I will even heal them back just to sweeten the deal hehehe.. So, what do you say then?' 'What can I say? It's just a promise.' The demon's frustration level shot through the roof. 'Ohh.. I forgot you are still wet behind your ears. You only need to know two things about a demon. Firstly, you can never hope to defeat a demon one on one. Secondly, we always keep true to our words. Now hurry up. Once she dies, I can't do anything then.' Ryu had no way of knowing that this guy was really telling the truth. What options did he have? 

Formerly he was just bluffing with the demon. Fortunately, he was the one who blinked first. Ryu closed his eyes and with that his consciousness faded. He was not sure if he would ever be back again but at the very least his friends can be saved. The next time his eyes opened they were glowing deep shade of red. All the wounds on his body closed in a matter of seconds. The guts spilling of of his body were sucked and resealed back in. The deep cuts all over his arms had skin form over them at rapid pace. His body was growing. His hair grew wildly until it reached the same length as his body, turning to a darker shade of green. His body levitated and all the ragged clothes fell down. His height was easily 8 feet, with muscular body. This transformation was more thorough than the last one, showing the increasing grasp of the demon's soul over Ryu's body. He brought his hands in front, looking at them with interest. "This is better. Still not a complete transformation, but I can work with this also hahahahaha.."