Clop, clop.

The tall, powerful demon-horses crushed the muddy street underfoot, revealing the pitted and uneven blue-brick road surface beneath.

The young man held the reins, looking straight ahead.

Behind him, Zhang Xuan rode in pursuit, both awed and apprehensive. "Commander Shen..."

"Don't speak."

Shen Yi offered the mild reminder.

Zhang Xuan froze for a moment, then realized that all along the street, the townsfolk with their dull, numb expressions had stopped what they were doing. At the sight of the black armor on his body, their clouded eyes had begun, at last, to flicker with something.

With so many gazes washing over him.

Zhang Xuan straightened instinctively in the saddle and kept pace behind Shen Yi, sweeping quickly down the street.

To offer a people who'd been crushed beneath demon rule for years even the smallest thread of hope — what was needed wasn't soft words. It was a back so certain of itself it held no question at all.

The black armor unbroken, the blade's edge still keen.

The Demon Suppression Division had returned to South Peak City, and demons would be brought to justice for it. Blood debts repaid in blood.

The two demon-horses soon arrived before the Demon Suppression General's residence.

Shen Yi glanced sideways at the skull on the pike, its features long past recognition, and reached out to lift it free, passing it back.

"Commander Shen."

Zhang Xuan looked at that skull, and something in his chest suddenly locked up tight. He gathered it against him with one arm.

Within the sprawling Demon Suppression General's residence, a mass of dazed people had gathered, some of them stripped bare and rinsed clean not long before, still naked as they ran out to see.

In this demon city, decency and propriety had long since ceased to exist — those were things only the living had any right to consider. What they were was nothing more than a collection of walking dishes on the hoof.

"Notify the Demon Suppression Division. Take back this city."

Shen Yi's voice was unhurried — pitched just right for those nearby to…