Extra's Perfect Ending

Plutus stops midway after hearing the demon speak. He snaps out of the happy feeling he had. His first reaction is to assist Father Theodore, but after hearing what the demon said, he realizes that Father Theodore has lost. His heart sank. They were doomed. The church would fall, and this land would be turned into the demon's personal territory. Plutus had to kill that demon here, all or nothing. However, the demon's words halted his movement again. "Theodore is still breathing. However, if you heal him now, he might not be able to walk again." The words hit Plutus like thunder. He looked at the demon with a perplexed expression. Was the demon giving him the choice between saving the city or saving Theodore? No. Plutus realized that the demon could have killed him already, and the last opposition in this city would be gone. Why, then, did the demon propose such an option? He couldn't fathom the demon's intention. "Time's ticking..." "What do you want?" "I leave, you guys live. Simple." Reeva said with a smiling face. He didn't want to continue this fight; neither of them would gain anything from it. "Then you turn the whole city into your territory? Not gonna happen. I'll stop you before that." Plutus answered, still questioning the demon's motive. "You don't have much time," Reeva said, pointing at Theodore. "He's about to die. I won't wreak havoc in your city. Choose wisely." Truthfully, Reeva could have left already; he knew Plutus couldn't restrain him. The only thing Plutus could do was use the light to put a tracker on him. The reason Reeva was talking with Plutus was to get him to prioritize healing the bald priest over pursuing him. Plutus was stuck in a dilemma. He felt like he could trust the demon's word, but all his life he had been trained specifically for this moment, building his mental fortitude to resist any kind of temptation a demon might offer. His reaction should be to disregard the demon and attack, but he couldn't. Something wasn't adding up... Unless... The demon doesn't want them to die? If they were normal humans, he could make an argument as to why the demon might spare them, but a church priest? Leaving a 4th-circle priest like Theodore alive would be like keeping a fire by your bed. It'll burn you before it's put out. Reeva, seeing that the bald priest was about to die, quickly chose for Plutus. He used his happiness to strengthen his legs and leapt out the window. The orange glass shattered as Reeva's figure disappeared into the city. "No!" Plutus couldn't follow Reeva out since he didn't have inhuman strength. He turned to look at Father Theodore lying down and then looked back at the broken glass. He quickly approached Father Theodore to give rudimentary healing, hoping that the demon wouldn't take over the city. --------------- Reeva traveled through the city. The dark of night made for a perfect cover for him to hide. He needed to wait for the [Experiment] to run out and isolate himself. If he went to find more people, he might accidentally manipulate their happiness and end up absorbing it. One never knew what the mystic power would lead him to do. He might end up as the city's terror like Plutus said. That would be rather troublesome if the [Experiment] ran out in the middle of it. He found a nice, isolated place in an alley somewhere. He looked at his missing arm and thought over the things that had happened today. If he had just gone about his day like he always did, these things wouldn't have happened. Is this what you want, author? He asked the same question as before, but this time in a much better state of mind. That's a lot better, isn't it? More fun, right? If the author were here, he would answer like that. He smiled; he never found it amusing to talk to himself. However, imagining the answer the author would give, made him happy. "Yeah." He hated that the author was right; this was the most excited he had been in the past two lives. He would like to have more of it. However, he had enough for today. He rested his body against a nearby wall and closed his eyes. ------------------ Again, Reeva awoke inside a weird place... No, he knew this place; it was the land of reeds. The plants brushed against his face gently as he rose up. It was like last time, the land of reeds extended far beyond what the eye could see, with occasional stones littered throughout. Reeva gazed upon the land, trying to find the middle-aged man, but this time he couldn't find anyone. Standing alone, this place felt much more eerie than before. The wind pointed the reeds to one side as he started walking. He lost track of time as soon as he started walking, but then he stopped. The land of reeds came to an end at some point, and he arrived at the same place as before. The bridge that crossed the dark gap. This time he knew better than to look at the dark gap. He stepped very carefully, and his eyes avoided looking down. After some time, he was able to cross the bridge and arrive at the desolate land. The black rocks that permeated such a place were as unwelcoming as ever. He swallowed his saliva and made his way through the dark rock region. Again, the place extended as far as the eye could see. When he looked back, the land of reeds had disappeared as if it had never been there. The only path was to move forward along the dark stone. He walked and walked and walked... The endless dark stone passed by his sight. It truly looked the same everywhere he went. Until finally, the dark stone gave way to something else. In the distance, he could see something that wasn't just dark stone. A dark castle.