Capturing My Demon King Costar

MY COSTAR HELPS ME FINISH THE JOB

Yao Shen's hands shake with the effort he's making to try and keep the sword's blade away from his neck.

Si Wang looks in confusion at his actions. "What are you doing?" He narrows his eyes, and Yao Shen almost falls to his knees with the strong wave of compulsion that hits him.

The voice in the back of his head tells him to drive the sword through Xin Hulei's heart and watch the light go out of his eyes. He fights it on his own, determined to prevent himself from hurting Xin Hulei.

But there's something else -- a conflicting force that won't let him harm a single hair on Xin Hulei's head, and instead makes him turn all the violence on himself.

Xin Hulei looks at Yao Shen's trembling hands in confusion, but then realisation strikes him.

"The contract," he says, his words carrying the weight of his regret. "The contract won't let you harm me."

That's right. How could Yao Shen have forgotten.

He falls to the ground on his knees, still trying to hold the sword away from his neck. "Good, that's good."

"Stop this," Xin Hulei shouts, his crimson eyes flaming with hatred. "He will kill himself if you continue this."

"But why?" Si Wang screams.

Yao Shen can feel the moment he lets go of the compulsion because his arms lose all their strength. The sword drops from his limp fingers with a metal clank.

"Because we've signed a contract with our blood," he says, panting harshly. "Neither of us can damage the other."

Yao Shen looks up at Si Wang and laughs. "You've lost, even before you really started you had already lost." He giggles, almost mad with relief. "We signed that contract before we had any feelings for each other. He thought I was acting weird, because of your 'instructions' as the system."

What delicious irony.

If Si Wang had never tried to manipulate Yao Shen by pretending to be a 'system' perhaps his plan today would have succeeded.

For the first time, fate was smiling down on them.

His legs shaking, Yao Shen stands up from the ground. Xin Hulei goes to his side and helps him up, picking the fallen sword as they raise.

Si Wang stands still, looking at the two of them in utter shock. "It can't be...I..."

"You've lost," Xin Hulei says, pointing the sword straight at his chest.

"Why is it never me?" he groans, his hateful eyes fixed on Yao Shen. "Why do you never choose me?"

Yao Shen is tired of this conversation. He's tried of Si Wang's whining, and he's tired of centuries, millennia, of this game of cat and mouse.

This ends today.

He summons the last of his strength and whispers a few words under his breath.

Despite his exhaustion he smirks the moment Si Wang's eyes start burning with hatred. "What are you doing? Where have you gone?"

Yao Shen is obviously not going to answer and give his location away. That would ruin the whole point of being invisible.

Xin Hulei remains where he is, pointing the tip of the sword at Si Wang's heart. Holding his position, as if this is something he has agreed to do with Yao Shen.

Quietly, he makes his way towards Si Wang. He pulls the drawstring of his hoodie, unspooling it slowly.

He holds his breath when he's close to Si Wang, and then, holding the drawstring between his hands circles his neck with it.