Azazel grinned, and his bewitching words echoed through the empty grounds. Before the echoes had even faded, his figure vanished in a flash, as if he had never been there.
Yet the power he left behind instantly took tangible form.
Almost the moment he disappeared, the scene around the outskirts of the already ruined wasteland began to warp eerily.
The light around them suddenly dimmed, and an invisible oppression blanketed the sky like a lid, bringing with it a stifling heaviness.
Those who tried to leave suddenly slammed into an invisible but incomparably resilient wall. They were violently thrown back, crashing to the ground in a daze.
"What is this? It looks like some kind of barrier!" a young man with some knowledge of the supernatural cried in terror. "It's trapped us in here! We can't get out at all!"
Panic spread swiftly like a plague.
People screamed and wailed, futilely hurling themselves against the unseen barrier, but it was no use.
An atmosphere of despair began to grow. The looks people exchanged gradually became wary and hostile. Azazel's words—'only one person will remain'—were like poisonous seeds beginning to sprout in some of their hearts.
"Everyone, calm down and listen to me!" Sam suppressed the shock and fear in his heart and shouted, trying to steady the situation. "Don't fall for it!"
"That demon wants us to kill each other. If we really start fighting, we'll be playing right into its hands and letting its scheme succeed."
He swept his gaze over these young people who shared similarly tragic pasts with him, who had likewise been 'chosen,' and did his best to make his voice convincing.
"We're not enemies. Our common enemy is that yellow-eyed bastard outside. As long as we stick together, we'll definitely find a way out!"
Under