The battle was amazing to watch. Faced with these odds, the sisters had to pull every trick he knew of them out of the pointy hats. Fire rained all around the large backyard, lightning crashed, claws slashed, fists punched and powerful kicks echoed through the night. He could feel the magical power saturating the air, driving his adrenaline higher and higher as the Demon Lord watched the show.<br/><br/>Their tactic of drawing the Daevas outside was useful and highly effective. It tok the advantage from their hands. Demonic fireballs were designed to kill, not to act like fire-starting spells, so highly usable inside houses without burning oneself. The middle sister’s fire abilities would be more dangerous to use inside, as she would put the entire house on fire, which would be harmful for the witches even more than the demons.<br/><br/>Pity his Daevas were too stupid. He really needed to start recruiting smarter minions, smart ones preferably without ambitions of their own. Those were difficult to find, unfortunately.<br/><br/>Sha’Kos bristled at the chicken king insult but he would make them pay later on. As they got inside to get the Vicar, his original timing for the big entrance, the powerful demon waited. Plans were adjusted. He would have to shock them, profoundly, even more than he had planned before. Just for their insult, he wanted to make them feel unsafe. He would target them at their home.<br/><br/>Minutes later, he was ready, observing, bodiless, a faint black cloud, hovering all around the street, connect to every shadow around their house, the James Manor. When they arrived and got out of the car, walking on the sidewalk towards their house, escorting the broken vicar, Sha’Kos deemed the timing right. They would see him for the first time now.<br/><br/>The night seemed to grow darker, the streetlights muting, fading, before exploding in hissing rains of glass shards. Trees swaying in an unseen, chilly breeze, before starting to wither, dying slowly, but surely and visibly. Wooden fences had their white paint chip… before the wood started rotting. Grass withered, before blackening as if affected by a year long draught. A sense of fear and malevolence filled the street.<br/><br/>On the entrance path to their front door, still more than a dozen yards away from the witches, the Darkness seemed to gather, a cloud forming, gathering, condensing into a black cloaked figure. Then, golden marks and runes, etched in his skin, started glowing, with an otherworldly light, and two blazing eyes opened, facing the witches.<br/><br/><strong>“Hello, James One, Two and Three. You seem to have been looking for me. I even overhear something about declaring war on me? Whatever did I do to deserve this? Is this about the Vicar’s family? I assure you… it wasn’t personal. It was all your fault really. Or was it killing that other witch? Or any of the others that died? Or is it indeed more personal? Maybe a friend?”</strong><br/><br/>At this, he smirked, revealing lethal, glistening white fangs in his wicked mouth, as he continued, in a thick, menacing purr, like a lion would when closing in on his prey,<strong>“Oh that is right… you don’t know about the cop yet… Sorry for spoiling the surprise.”</strong><br/><br/>As he said this, his eyes flared, and four loud bangs filled the air. The tires of their car had exploded… followed swiftly by the windows cracking and bursting and the paint chipping, the metal underneath rusting. He knew this was a mere annoyance only, but he intended to taunt them, and to kill the Vicar. But then, he noticed the squeal from a girl, a young, adorable little thing, her puppy in her hands, standing on the porch of the neighbouring house, staring in fright at him. Oh. She was a much tastier target than the Vicar, whom was well guarded, surrounded by the vicar.<br/><br/><strong>“You won’t be able to save the cop, just like you now failed to protect the small child here…”</strong><br/><br/>At these last words, his eyes flared again. From all over the porch she was standing on, shadowy tendrils extended from the darkest corners, and fast as lightning wrapped themselves around the girl, starting to choke her, while the puppy sprang from her struggling little arms, yapping in fright. With a crack, her neck broke, before the sisters could react, her lifeless body dropping to the floor.<br/><br/>With a last malicious sneer, Sha’Kos turned back to the sisters,<strong>“Well, it was fun meeting you. I look forward to seeing you close by again.”</strong><br/><br/>As he shimmered away, to his captive, the redhead detective, one last shadowy tendril lashed out and stabbed the puppy, which died with only last mewl…<br/>