Act 1 - Deity's Pawn
The summit war between the human heroes and the remaining pro-war demons were about to reach its conclusion until a mysterious third player had came and forced herself into the board. Ren, Karis, and the defeated demon lord, Damian set their gazes at the sky where a winged girl was gathering storm clouds around her staff.
"Oi, oi, what's the deal this time?" Ren asked, directing his question over to Damian.
"Why are you asking me? Isn't she on your side?" Damian snapped back.
"Heck if I know, I haven't met her before."
"Here it comes, Ren!" Karis called out.
"Yeah, I know!"
Soon as Karis alerted Ren, the winged girl lowered her staff and pointed it to her targets below. Then, a large bolt of violet lightning descended fiercely onto the ground.
"Ren! Be careful! You can't get injured right now. Kurumi-san is still regenerating!"
"I'm well aware!" Ren replied to Karis' concern as he raised his glass sword into the sky. The color of the blade shifted from its crimson shade color to a purple one, matching the color of the incoming lightning. Then, as the lightning got close to his immediate vicinity, it suddenly changed its course, heading straight for Ren's weapon.
"Hm?" the girl looked curiously as she witnessed her attack spontaneously changing its mark. After seeing the lightning continue to miss, she finally ceased her attack, waving her staff to cut off the lightning stream. As the flash of the lightning finally calmed down, she saw below her Ren, holding up his blade, seemingly unscathed.
"Shit, that was heavy," Ren complained while holding the handle of his blade with two arms.
The girl, seemingly taking interest in Ren's strength, began her descent to the ground. She halted the flapping of her wings and let gravity do its thing. She landed elegantly, a few distance away from the three before her. She then looked at Ren with a cold, lifeless expression as she surveys him from head to toe.
"What's your deal?" Ren asked aggressively, pointing his blade over to the girl.
"You are a threat that must be eliminated. Your existence in this world is a problem for Kidul-sama," the girl replied.
"Kidul? Again with that name? Aren't you also a hero summoned here from Earth? Why are you siding with whoever god you're talking about?"
"Kidul-sama's will is absolute. And his will dictates that you are to be eliminated," the girl said as she brought her staff up again. This time, purple mana particles started gathering at its core.
"It's no good. She's completely brainwashed," Ren observed as he noticed that the girl had a rather monotonous behavior. He prepared himself for combat once more. Karis did the same and equipped her twin blades.
"You're going to fight too?"
"You must be exhausted after fighting too much. I'll lend you a hand."
"I'm not really tired, but whatever, you can dance if you want."
"Then let's go!"
After confirming her participation, the two of them then rushed towards the girl with their blades trailing behind them. The girl then called forth another round of lightning strikes, this time, the bolts scattered through the battlefield, attempting to block Ren, and Karis' path. She then also prepared a round of sharp objects made of feathers revolving around her body.
Ren and Karis dodged the falling bolts with ease, however, as they got closer, their enemy started sending the feather objects surrounding her. Karis was able to easily deflect the projectiles since she had two blades, meanwhile Ren had to be smart about his evasions since his options were rather limited.
"Oh, I know!"
Recalling about his ability to control time, Ren attempted to make use of it once again. Now that he had a better understanding of his ability, he can now activate it willingly with a higher success rate. As he was running around, dodging the incoming attacks, Ren briefly closed his eyes, and opened them again. Sure enough, the visualization was perfect and he had now activated the ability.
"I see, it's not time stop. It's time dilation. I'm travelling in a dimension where time slows down infinitely until it's almost as if it wasn't moving..." Ren inferred as he observed his surroundings getting slower for every second he spent in the 'time distortion mode.' However, one thing he also observed was that his vision was getting darker the more he travelled in this state.
"Of course, if everything slows down but me, light will also cease to move," he analyzed.
Just before his field of vision went completely dark, he deactivated the ability once again.
"?!" the girl was surprised as Ren suddenly changed position in the blink of an eye. She aimed more of her feather projectiles over to Ren. But then again, she blinked her eye, and Ren's position was different once again.
"I know Kurumi can't die but, I still don't appreciate you doing my wife like that!" Ren exclaimed as he got within range of his enemy. He swung his blade, targeting her chest with extreme speed. However the girl managed to evade by using her wings to propel herself backwards. Ren's strike barely missed, however, another one immediately followed. This time, it was Karis who went on the offensive as she finally reached their target as well.
She swung both of her blades from one side onto the other, using her twin blades to complement each other's sharpness to cut through the girl's robe. Again, the girl utilized her wings to send herself further back, but as she did, Ren was on her again.
The two continued with the cycle, relentlessly chasing after the girl as she kept getting pushed back. Damian watched in awe as Ren, and Karis fought together with perfect coordination. They covered each other's downtime, and deflected any incoming projectiles that flew on the other's way.
Left with no choice, the girl decided to regain her height advantage, flapping her wings and hovering onto the air.
"I'll lose my accuracy like this, but no matter, you won't reach me from up here."
"Hoh? So the bug decided to fly in the air. That's quite smart coming from a mindless pawn like you."
"I am no pawn," the girl replied as she sent another volley of lightning strikes towards the two below.
Ren and Karis, with their target in the air, and a set of lightning strikes targeting them, were back on evasive action. The lightnings were more manageable this time though as the origin was a bit farther away.
"Damn, guess I'll resort to magic for now. Karis, buy me a few seconds."
"Right!"
Ren then threw his weapon over to Karis who caught it in mid-air. She then sheathed one of her weapons and used Ren's blade as the alternative. After lending his blade, Ren began concentrating on his spell weaving, bringing his hands together, and gathering mana orbs in it. Karis used Ren's blade to absorb any incoming lightning strikes, and used her regular katana to block some of the feather projectiles still flying about.
"Clouds, and lightning, how about some rain to complete the set," Ren said as he raised his hands in the air. Karis noticed that the clouds above were getting denser, turning the sky darker than it already is. She also felt the humidity in the air increasing, and some strong winds brewing. Raindrops also began pouring from above, wetting the battlefield.
"A rain, and some winds to wear her wings down. Now let's just play the waiting game."
The rain grew stronger, almost torrential and the flying girl was getting wet all over. The fact that her wings were spread out and flapping around made her soak herself even more. Soon, the girl felt her wings getting heavier as they absorbed the water falling down on her.
With his setup complete, Ren reequipped his yoyos and started lashing them out onto his opponent above. The girl did his best to dodge the incoming attacks but because of the water accumulating in her wings, and her robes, her movements became sluggish. Ren then clashed both of his yoyos to create a strong explosion which pushed the girl back a bit. He then used the cover of the explosion to sneak his yoyos, and entangle them around the girl's wet wings.
"Got you!" Ren exclaimed as he tugged strongly onto the strings of his yoyos, dragging his flying enemy down to the ground where he was. However, the girl strongly resisted Ren's pull as she did her best to flap her restrained wings. She managed to fight back a bit, but ultimately lost the tug-of-war.
After last strong tug, the force became too much that Ren was able to sever the girl's wings. Without them, the girl then started falling down due to gravity. The added weight to her clothes even added to that, making her fall faster, and harder onto the ground below.
She then landed with a loud crash nearby Ren, and Karis' position. Smokes puffed out as her impact on the ground sent some dirt particles flying. After a while, she reemerged out of the smoke. Blood gushed out of the part where her wings was severed, and some parts of her head to as she landed quite hard on it. However, despite the seriousness of her injuries, her lifeless expression remains.
"You're one tough nut to crack huh?" Ren remarked as he retrieved his yoyos which were holding the wings along with them. He grabbed the wings, crumpled it firmly, and tossed them on to the ground beside him.
"..."
"Speak up woman. Who is this Kidul you speak of, and why do you, a summoned hero from another world, dedicate yourself so much to him?" Ren asked the girl who was quietly staring at him.
However, she didn't respond, instead, she briefly closed her eyes, as if concentrating. Ren looked at her with a questioning glance. As he tried to approach the girl, she suddenly opened her eyes which were now shining with a golden light. Her mouth also twisted into a devious grin as she set her sights on to Ren.
"I see, so you are the hero that I've been hearing about," the girl said although her voice didn't sound feminine at all. In fact, Ren felt as if he was hearing the voice of someone like the king's he'd met before.
"So you're Kidul huh? I get it now, this girl had become your vessel. Did I get it right?"
"No, you're far off. Although your guess earlier about this girl being brainwashed was spot on. This time however, I am merely borrowing her body to communicate with you."
"And why do you need to speak to me? I'm not the least bit interested about whatever your deal is. I'm just curious about that woman," Ren replied unamusingly.
"You wanted some answers right? Then I'll give you what you want. This girl is indeed, a summoned hero, however as my people called for her, her soul was sacrificed to me, and they were able to embed a new soul into this body. An empty soul that shall serve as a seed that shall grow with time, and when the seed has grown and then bore fruit, I will be there to harvest it, and that fruit will be the key to my resurrection into this realm!"
"..."
"Just earlier, those two heroes over there had their soul sacrificed into this body, thus giving it a massive boost in progress. Once this body has consumed yours, and those two demon lords' souls, it won't be long before I resurface into this world!"
'Two? So Arthur's still safe,' Ren thought to himself as he took a quick glance over to his body.
"I must say though, that girl I thought I killed earlier had a rather unique soul. I couldn't harvest it no matter how hard I try. Whoever deity her soul was linked to must've been quite the big shot."
"Deity? Linked soul? I see, so you're familiar of how the summoning process work."
"Of course, I am a deity from the ancient times, I know how that spell was crafted. Nevertheless my time is almost out. Enjoy your remaining moments as I call upon the true strength of this hero. I'll see you soon when your soul is consumed by this body," Kidul said as he made the girl's eyes close once more. As she opened them back up, all injuries inflicted on her had begun to disappear. Even her wings started regenerating although it seemed like it's doing more than just that.
The girl curled her body up into a fetal position as a golden lightning from above strike her body, and enveloped it with a golden aura. Damian, and Karis watched in horror as the girl's body began morphing.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Act 2 - The Power of a God
"Karis! Hand me my weapon and move away from this spot immediately!"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah of course!"
Surprised by Ren's sudden orders, Karis immediately threw to him the weapon that was lent to her. She then ran to her fallen brother and picked him up from the ground. She wrapped his arm around her shoulder and proceeded to walk away from the two fighters.
"Hey, what are you doing?! Let go of me!" Damian said as he tried to weigh himself down to stop Karis from carrying him.
"I've lost already! Let me die in peace!" he shouted once again.
However Karis didn't mind his complaining and just went on to the evacuation area where the unconscious Arthur, and the currently regenerating Kurumi was. Karis saw that Kurumi had already restored her top half. Karis quickly went over to her, carrying his brother along.
"Kurumi-san, can you hear me?" she called out.
"I'm...fine...*hic* It hurts," Kurumi sobbed.
"Where's Ren? *hic* I want to go home!"
"Sorry, Ren is still occupied at the moment. Could I ask you to spare some of your blood to heal my brother, and Knight-san?"
"*hic* Got it... I still got one vial over there, also could you go grab my leg for me?"
"Sure."
Meanwhile, back at the main stage, Ren was covering his face as the strong winds brought upon by the high concentration of mana blew against him. He couldn't approach the girl one bit as a single step forward for him caused him to take two steps back by the opposing force.
Slowly, he witnessed the girl underwent a transformation as she remained in her fetal position. More wings started to sprout from her back. It increased from a mere one pair of wings to now three. She also lost her robe as it burnt away from the concentration of electricity in the area. This left her entire naked body exposed to the environment, making her absorb the natural electricity from the surroundings straight into herself. Her transformation finally came to an end as she spreads out her wings, exposing her majestic naked form to her enemy. Her hair, skin, and aura had also been dyed white, making her look similar to an angel, bathed in the light of the heavens.
"My name is Baracciel, servant of the great god of lightning, and justice Kidul-sama. By his will, I shall exterminate all you sinful beings, and cleanse you all for the rebirth of our true ruler," the girl declared in a monotonous voice as her wings glowed with blue lightning. Random lightning strikes descended onto the ground, incinerating the bodies of the fallen demons.
"Well well, it seems the bug has transformed into an angel. That's one strange evolution I must say," Ren remarked.
"Target. Confirmed. Goal. Kill."
The girl, who referred to herself as Baracciel aimed her palm towards Ren. At that moment, a barrage of blue lightning descended from the heavens once again, targeting him.
Ren tried to absorb the attack once again with his sword, but the strain of it was getting worse than before. Soon enough, he was forced to let go of his weapon, and dodge away on his own. He took a look at his palms and saw it slightly bruised after holding onto his blade too much.
Ren clicked his tongue and took a glance at his other companions. Karis was currently convincing his brother in drinking Kurumi's vial. Arthur was placed nearby them as well, probably Karis' doing. Kurumi was also almost done on restoring her full body. Seeing all of them gather in one spot, Ren screamed at them.
"Karis! Take the portal and go! I can no longer guarantee your safety!"
"But, we can't leave you alone!"
"Just hurry up and do it!"
As he was shouting his order to Karis, Baracciel shifted her gaze onto where Ren was looking. Her eyes flinched a bit as she detected four life signatures in that direction.
"Target. Shift. Goal. Kill."
Baracciel, with her massive wings, flew over to the four.
"Why you!"
Ren grabbed his sword and followed right behind her, although it seemed like he'll need to act fast else his comrades would be in danger. He closed his eyes as he was running. With the bodies of the demons all cleared out, he needn't worry about running over anything. He then focused his concentration to activate his time ability again.
Once again, he found himself in the dimension in between seconds as he observed Baracciel's movements getting slower. However, Ren was now familiar to the limits of this ability so he had to act fast. He caught up to Baracciel and aimed his blade onto her back, attempting to sever her wings. Then, something strange happened. Ren heard a cracking noise from somewhere. He tried to look at the source of the noise and spotted a crack, suspended in the air. The moment he saw the crack, he felt his perception of time return to normal, and Baracciel was no longer in front of him, evading the sword strike. Ren's momentum brought him rolling over on the ground but he brought himself back up immediately.
"Time Control. Confirmed. Activate: Chronoshield," Baracciel declared as her white aura intensified briefly before toning down again.
"I take it, that won't work again. Oh well. At least I caught up to you."
Ren attempted to attack her again, but Baracciel was quick to act. More lightning strikes descended onto Ren, however instead of the sky, they were now coming over from Baracciel's wings, giving Ren less time to evade the attacks.
In the meantime, Karis was still having trouble convincing her brother to take the vial filled with Kurumi's blood.
"Put that thing away! Didn't I say I've lost?!"
"Yes, you've already lost but is that really going to be the end of it? Ren spared your life! Use it wisely!"
"He didn't spare me, he had no plans to. That girl just went and interrupted us before he could finish me off!"
"But he protected you didn't he!" Karis exclaimed. Damian was reminded of when Ren covered him under his umbrella when the lightning strike descended upon them. The thought made Damian grit his teeth more in frustration.
"Why are you so persistent on healing me back up anyway! Do you expect me to help your master in fighting that angel. Look! He's even having difficulty fighting her! What chances do I have?!" Damian said as he observed Ren, and Baracciel intensely fighting against each other in the rain. For the first time in his life, he had felt the despair of being powerless against an enemy.
"To think that woman could've killed me but instead waited for the perfect opportunity. You don't know how frustrated I am. So leave me be, and escape from this place! I leave the fate of our people in your capable hands," Damian said as he slowly lowered his hand in defeat. He closed his eyes, waiting for Karis to drop him down and abandon him... but that time never came.
"I... I was not fated to be the victor of this fight."
"..."
"Then, I'll lend some of my power to you."
Damian's eyes opened back up in an instant after hearing Karis' strange condition. He looked at her with an expression of disbelief painted on his face.
"What are you..."
"I'll lend you all the demon lord essence you need, saving just enough for me to keep myself alive. So please, help Ren."
"Why? Aren't you afraid that I might use that power to challenge your master once again?"
"I'm not afraid. After all, I'm confident that Ren will defeat you if you did but also, I'm confident that you won't do it," Karis replied without hesitation.
"How can you be so trusting?"
"You've already declared your defeat. And we're not raised by our father to be people that go back on our words."
"You dare bring up his name after betraying our race."
"I didn't betray our race, I'm securing them a better future than what you have in mind. Now please, drink this and go help my master."
After a long while, Ren had been growing tired of the defensive battle that he's been doing. Approaching Baracciel was no easy feat as her electric concentration gets stronger the closer he went to the center. Doing anything from far away was a no go either as his projectile attacks always evaporates before they could meet their target.
"Shit. Looks like I'll have to resort to an Apocalypse-Tier," Ren decided. He set his gaze over to his companions. His eyes went wide as he saw Damian, resting his palm on top of Karis' chest, just above the area where her heart is. Meanwhile Karis looked like she's in pain. Ren was having doubts but he could tell this was part of Karis' plan. He decided to let his defensive battle continue as he tried to take Baracciel's attention away from his comrades.
"No, not yet, they're still within range," Ren said as he brought his blade up in the air. the incoming lightning strikes were once again attracted to it like an antennae, but it was all part of Ren's plan to buy some time. He concentrated himself while ignoring the sensation of his palms getting electrocuted. It was difficult but he persisted. As he was preparing his attack, his blade's color began shifting into a darkish-blue shade. At that moment, the electricity had lost its attraction to it, and now went for their intended target.
However, before they could reach, Ren's body had disappeared from his origin, making the lightning miss their shots. Baracciel calmly turned her head on the surrounding, attempting to track Ren's location, but he really was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, Baracciel spotted something shine from the corner of her eye. She turned her head to get a better look at it, but then it happened. Ren reappeared, and disappeared again. And then once again, he reappeared from a different place, then disappeared. The same thing kept happening over and over while Baracciel attempted to hit him with her lightning strike, but he was still moving too fast.
"Technique. Unknown. Checking: Time Abnormality. Verdict: False."
Just then as she was analyzing the situation, Ren had appeared a few feet in front of her with a wide grin on his face.
"Got you! [Event Horizon]!"
As he screamed his attack, multiple slashes with a black core, and white edges appeared from out of nowhere. The attack pierced through Baracciel's lightning barrier, and managed to cut off all three pairs of her wings. She also suffered some damage as her exposed front received some serious cuts. Blood oozed out of her open wounds and dripped down to her feet as she fell to the ground once more.
Even though badly wounded, Baracciel landed on the ground graciously. Her wings fell beside her, still retaining their glow.
"Hehe, how's that. That's kinda exhausting though," Ren panted after delivering his attack.
"...Damage. Serious. Soul Consumption: Activate."
"I know right. Who said this was going to be easy," Ren said as he saw Baracciel's wounds all healing up, and her wings regrew for the second time.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Act 3 - Paradise Lost
"Karis-san! Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I just feel a bit tired."
Kurumi rushed over to Karis who was looking like she was struggling to even stand on her own feet. Karis' body swayed weakly from side to side and was about to fall over, thankfully Kurumi managed to catch her before she totally collapsed.
"So, this is the power I longed for. It feels wonderful! Don't blame me for what happens next Karis," Damian remarked after finally achieving his goal of completing the demon lord's power.
"It's fine. I trust you, oni-sama," Karis replied weakly as her breathing got rather ragged.
Ren's battle with Baracciel had came back to square one as she regenerated the deep cuts that Ren inflicted earlier. Ren was forced once again to play the defensive game, dodging the electric strikes, or either absorbing them into his blade.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Ren saw the person he was fighting way earlier, jumping in on the battle to help.
"Behind you!" Damian exclaimed as he went and cut off Baracciel's wings. The unsuspecting girl turned her head around in surprise after receiving the sneak attack. However, as she did, she already found herself falling to the ground. Ren immediately came along and readied his sword to attack Baracciel while she was in free fall.
Ren successfully connected his attack as his blade sliced through Baracciel's chest, leaving a wound so deep that her internal organs became visible. The girl was sent flying backwards with Ren's attack, causing her to roll over on the wet bedrock as her blood painted it with its color, and her flesh splattered around.
Damian landed right beside Ren after they finished their attacks.
"Not bad, Demon Lord," Ren commended.
"Former. I don't deserve that title now," Damian replied.
As they were busy talking, Baracciel sat up from her position shortly after getting knocked away. Her guts spilled out of her stomach, and her beating heart was exposed for everyone to see. She held her hanging parts with her left hand to keep them close to her body.
"That is disgusting," Ren remarked.
"Let's finish her off while we have the chance," Damian suggested.
"I'm with you on that!"
The two rushed towards the fallen angel, but was then pushed back as a strong breeze blew towards them. Ren focused his eyes on their opponent, witnessing her rise up again from the ground as her body regenerates.
"Damage. Serious. Soul Consumption: Activate."
"Again?" Ren said while still preventing himself from being blown away by the winds.
"What do we do?" Damian asked.
"Tch. Only thing I can think of is take her down and keep stabbing her while she kept on reviving."
"Possible but we must be quick about it. We kept getting pushed back if we stood by for so long."
Baracciel once again descended into the sky but instead of her usual lightning attacks, she closed her wings and enveloped herself into them.
Ren felt an ominous attack incoming and decided to rush her while she was in stasis. As he did so, he took a look at his companions who were still nearby.
"Kurumi! Take Karis, and Arthur then go!" Ren ordered.
"Right!" Kurumi responded as she brought Karis along to Arthur's body to try and fetch the two of them at once. Karis, ever since letting her essence be taken by Damian, was in such a weakened state that she can't even walked by herself. Smears of blood on her mouth showed that she already tried to consume Kurumi's blood but it didn't help her at all.
"I-it's fine... let go of me for a while, then use your blood to heal Knight-san back up. That sh-should be easier," Karis suggested.
"Are you sure? Isn't it dangerous for you to be left alone?"
"I'll be fine. G-go."
As told, Kurumi then slightly let go of Karis and gently sat her body on the ground. She then went ahead and ran towards the unconscious Arthur, holding the vial with some leftover blood after being consumed by Damian.
Kurumi went and turned Arthur's body around. He was still unconscious but Kurumi could feel him breathing so he was still not dead.
"Knight-san. Knight-san. Are you awake?" Kurumi said as she shook Arthur's body in hopes that maybe he was already half conscious but she got no respond. She then brought her vial over to Arthur's mouth and shifted it so that none of the contents would spill out of his lips. Kurumi then shook Arthur's body some more to force the blood down his system.
"Please wake up. Knight-san!"
Meanwhile, Ren, and Damian were already closing in on Baracciel while she was still in her stasis. The two fighters approached the angel on opposite sides, leapt towards her and brought their blades to meet in the middle. However, before they could connect, Baracciel suddenly spread her wings wide open, pushing the two off, and sending them back on the ground. A black orb appeared near Baracciel's chest. She brought her palms to cover the black orb, channeling her power into it.
"Commence Ultimate Spell: Paradise Lost."
As she declared her attack, the orb expanded like a flash of light. Ren and Damian got engulfed by the dark expansion. However, it didn't stop at that. As it grew, it extended as far as reaching Ren's companions.
Having consumed Kurumi's miracle blood, Arthur bolted straight up as he felt an ominous power approaching them. Arthur instinctively carried Kurumi in his arms and jumped away.
"Wait! Karis-san!" Kurumi called out, reaching out her hand as she saw the dark expansion reach Karis, engulfing her in it as well.
"Crap! What's happening?!" Arthur said as he was confused by the current situation.
"What's this?"
Ren opened his eyes shortly after sensing that the flash from earlier had vanished. What he found was an area of complete void. There was no ground, no sky, absolutely no trace of anything of the area he was in before. He looked around the empty space. Beside him, he saw Damian, also floating in the empty void, and far in the other side, he saw Karis with her hands on the non-existent ground, carrying her weakened body.
"Karis!" he called out.
"I thought I told you to get away?!"
"We were about to, but then I got caught up in that dark explosion. Where are we anyway?" Karis replied.
"Heck if I know," Ren replied angrily. He felt a bit upset as Karis was stuck with them wherever they were, not to mention, she looked completely out of shape.
Ren was about to go and tend to her, but paused as he saw something in the corner of his eye.
Baracciel stood before them, her wings now enveloped in a dark aura, completely different from her angelic wings before. Her eyes had also changed, from a normal unexpressive eyes, they were now glowing with a blackish color. Her wings spread wide, showing off her slightly changed form to the two. Black lightning flashed all around her. Just then, mirror images of herself appeared all around the void dimension, first covering the sky, then the walls, then finally, the ground. Everywhere Ren, and Damian looked, Baracciel's body with her wide-open wings, was there.
"All will fall to the might of Kidul-sama," the puppets declared in unison as they raised their staff and aimed it to the two. Just then, black lightning emerged out of the wings of all mirrored images and hit everyone in it.
"Gh!"
"Gwah!"
"Kyaa!"
All three screamed in pain as the lightning bolts electrocuted their body. Damian knelt in his position while Ren took a look at Karis. He saw his wife's body collapsed slowly onto the ground. He rushed over to catch her and held her into his arms.
"Karis!" he called.
"Haa... haa... haa..." Karis couldn't reply as her exhaustion was already too much to bear. She could only let out a few gasping breaths as Ren held her.
"Karis!" Ren repeated, caressing her face.
"I'm f-fine... haa... I'll be ok," Karis answered, mustering her strength to let out her voice.
"Are you sure?" Ren asked again, sounding worried for the first time in his life.
However, before Karis could answer, Ren detected another wave of lightning strikes approaching. He covered Karis' body with his own, preventing her from getting damaged any further.
"Gh!"
Ren gritted his teeth as he received another round of lightning strikes. Damian, on the other hand, was able to dodge the attack as he already knew of it but Ren couldn't do the same because he was holding Karis.
"Damn you!" Ren exclaimed after the electrocution, swinging his blade onto the nearest Baracciel. However, his blade hit nothing. The blade simply phased through the body, and as his momentum was carrying him, another round of electricity shocked him.
"All the sinners shall be punished. Surrender your lives for the great Kidul-sama," the angels all sang again in unison as they bombarded Ren with lightning strikes.
Soon enough, the successive electrocution burnt away Ren's upper clothing, leaving his bare body exposed for the next round. However, before it came, he briefly let go of Karis and acted to the opportunity given to him.
"[Event Horizon]!" he repeated the attack he did earlier to try and hit as many mirror images at once, but it was futile. All of the attacks hit nothing at all. After finishing his attempt, he saw all of the angels again charging up for another electric strike but before they did, Ren raised his sword in the air, which had changed to its purple color. All of the lightning strikes were directed to the blade, but Ren felt his knees shake as shock of the electricity travelled to his hands.
"You! Hurry up and find the real body!" Ren said to Damian.
"Leave it to me!"
As told, Damian went around, hitting as many mirror images as he can. The doubles were all intangible, yet their lightning attacks were real. Damian dodged any lightning strikes in his way while continuing to find the real body.
"No good! Everyone I hit is an illusion!" Damian exclaimed.
"Keep trying! The real one's gotta be one of them!"
Once again, Damian went around and hit every single one of the Baracciels. He went in one direction and used Ren's position as a basis to see if he had made a full rotation. Just like before, there was no solid hit. Ren's knees shook harder as the electrocution grew stronger. He felt his hands burning a bit due to the increasing heat of his blade.
"Nii-sama!" Karis suddenly called, summoning all her strength to raise her voice as loud as she could. Damian heard her call and immediately turned his attention to her.
"What is it?!"
"Ab-ove! Look a-bove!"
Following his sister's tip, Damian strongly observed above him. All he could see though was the fake angels that he had already attacked earlier. However, he squinted his eye as he saw something shimmered from among the mirages. He instinctively hopped up towards the shiny object and swung his blade at it, but was surprised as a staff emerged out from under one of the mirrors and blocked his strike. Just then, the lightning strikes pinning down Ren had ceased and he was now finally able to move.
He looked up to where Damian is, and saw Baracciel, hanging upside down as she protrudes from one of her clones.
"I see, so the real body was neither of them huh. Quite tricky for a linear-minded pawn like you," he said.
"..."
"So, what happens if we break that thing? Will you die?"
"Soul Core. Required for harvest. Prevent Destruction," Baracciel replied.
"I see, I see. Good of you to answer us at least once."
"Soul Core. Harvest your souls. Death Imminent," she declared as she descended upon the space where Ren, and Damian is. Once again, she displayed her terrifying form as she spread her wings wide open.
"Heh, I don't like the sound of that. Seems to me like we're on a time limit here. It's now or never," Ren said as he prepared his blade and braced himself for the final battle.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Act End - Demon Lords
My name is Damian.
I was born from the union of the leader of the demons, and his wife, my mother. With that, it was already set in stone that I was next in line to be the ruler of our glorious race.
However, there was one problem.
I was born with a twin sister.
With that, I was forced to share half of the essence that our parents bestowed upon us at birth. As a result, the throne of the demon lord were to be shared between me and my sister. That was not an issue for me, however she soon showed her true colors... she was too kind.
As one of the demons that was fated to rule our entire race, I was trained to be a conqueror at a young age. I drowned myself in studies in the art of war, trained my body until my bones nearly broke, and improved my charisma so that even as a child, all of our subjects will bow in my presence.
However Karis... she showed no signs of becoming a proper demon lord. She does not see the hierarchy in the demon society. She treated everyone, even the low-class demons, with care, and respect, even though she was supposed to be the one to be the recipient of such treatment. Seeing her interact with our people in such a carefree manner, I began to think that her potential as a demon lord was being wasted.
Nothing had changed until that certain day.
Our father died in battle against the humans on our invasion to gain their territory for the sake of our people. Our mother died shortly after. And so what was left was only me, and my twin sister. When the day almost came that we were to inherit our father's title, my sister made such an absurd proposal. She wanted to negotiate with the humans for peace, and cohabitation.
Why?
Why do us, a race with such a proud history of the strongest surviving hardships, had to settle for cohabitation with such a lowly race.
I was so angry at her for saying such a thing, and so I ordered for her to be imprisoned in her own room after sealing her power in case she gets any crazy ideas.
However, she escaped, or was helped to do so at the very least. And the next thing I found out about her, she was already the pawn of some human.
How humiliating.
That's what I thought until I met him, the man who she so respect and admire with all of her being. After crossing blades with him, I knew at that moment, I was no match for this guy, even with the full power of a demon lord, there was no way I am winning against him. At that moment, I thought the demon race was finished.
But I was proven wrong by my sister. I can see that what my sister had with that man was not just something shallow as respect of his power, but a mutual respect between each other, and that was when I thought, did my subjects really respect me? Or are they only afraid of my inherited title, and power? Maybe this is why Karis was very loved, and admired by our people while they looked at me with fear in their eyes.
Can the demon race even last long even if I were to win this battle? What would happen if I got weak? Would they still see me as I am now?
Maybe she was right all along.
Maybe violence, and subjugation was never the key for our everlasting reign.
Maybe coexisting really was the answer all this time to preserve our race in this new world. After all, how many demons were like me who still stuck to the old ways of our warmongering history, and how many demons are like her who just wanted to live a peaceful life.
Father. Mother. Did such a thought come across you once during your time of rule?
Did we really need to have such conflicts with the humans?
Even now, I find myself fighting side-to-side with one without realizing it. Against a common enemy that I didn't even know was coming. Is there still time for me to change my ways?
Ren, and Damian fought fiercely with Baracciel for the third time with her fully regenerated body. The battle was harder this time around however as stray lightning shots came out from anywhere within the empty void. Ren also cannot fight as much as he wished since he needed to stay close to Karis whose body was already so weak that Ren couldn't risk to have her take any more additional damage.
The frontline battle was left for Damian to handle alone. He summoned all of his strength as the completed Demon Lord to try and take down Baracciel.
"Damn! Die damn it!" Damian exclaimed as he relentlessly swung his blade to the angel while jumping to catch her in the air. He switched between targeting her, and the mysterious shiny object that Karis had pointed out earlier. Baracciel was so insistent in protecting it though that Damian was getting more and more convinced that that was the key to this strange dimension.
However, Damian felt something odd. He noticed it just now but he felt that as every second passed, he seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. His breathing was accelerated, and his limbs felt heavy.
He recalled what the angel said to them a while ago.
"Soul Core. Harvest your souls. Death Imminent."
"I see, so it's draining my lifeforce as I remain here, maybe that's why Karis looked so much in pain. I have to destroy it at all cost!"
Now that he was familiar of what's on the line, Damian decided to risk it all and summoned all his strength.
"Hero!" he called out.
Ren, who was still busy deflecting the stray lightning strikes looked at him.
"I'll destroy that shiny object with everything I got. After I'm done here, I won't be able to fight anymore! Finish her off once you got the chance!"
"I see! Agreed!" Ren replied.
With that, Damian then focused all of his remaining energy to create one final strike. He swapped his blade to the chained blade that he used earlier in his duel against the hero. The double blades changed colors as they absorbed the Demon Lord's essence, turning from a shade of crimson red to a scarlet one. Flames also emanate from it, extending to the chains that hold them.
Damian whipped his chained blades in the air as the fire that it possessed swirled around, creating a burning circle above him.
"It's now or never!"
Damian then lashed his blades onto the shiny object. Baracciel caught both of them with her staff, however the chain wrapped around it, tethering them to each other. Damian then tugged on the chains as hard as he could while its burning flames charred his palms. He ignored that pain as best as he could since he cannot afford to fail his final attempt.
Baracciel was pulled closer, but she fought back as she flapped her wings to bring her back up. With an opposing force now present, Damian tugged again, but lifted his body off the ground, pulling himself towards his target.
As Damian flew towards her, Baracciel threw waves of electric strikes on him, but again, he ignored the pain with everything he got. Left with no choice, Baracciel put up her electric barrier once again, but something was strange. Compared from before, it looked weaker as the its color was a lot paler.
"I see! You've exhausted all your electricity with those clones!" Damian exclaimed, noticing the massive downgrade.
Damian used his body to bulldoze through the electric barrier. Cracks appeared on it as the Demon Lord charged it with his shoulder, brought upon by the momentum of pulling himself with his chains.
"Kh!" Baracciel grunted for the first time. She let her staff go just before Damian could reach her, causing him to fall down with it. Damian however, quickly untangled his chains on the staff, and proceeded to whip them again in the air.
"!!!"
However, his lethargic feeling was getting worse now, and his heart couldn't keep up with his activities. He stumbled a bit, but forced himself back up to face the angel, with blood dripping out of his mouth.
"Fall down!" Damian screamed as he lashed out his blades, this time entangling it with Baracciel's wings. He tugged again as hard as he could, lifting his body off again as he went flying towards the resisting angel.
"This is my last attack!" Damian thought in his mind.
As he reached his peak height, he quickly withdrew his blades, turning them back into his great sword. He then prepared to make one big swing as he approached Baracciel in his flight. The angel tried to defend, covering herself with her six wings. However, Damian's eyes were not on her in the first place. He swung his sword, destroying the shining object that Baracciel was trying so hard to protect.
Baracciel's eyes went wide as she realized what just happened. Meanwhile, Damian, after exhausting all his strength fell down to the non-existent ground below. As he did, he noticed cracks appearing all over the dimension.
"I did it..." he said weakly after landing flat on his face.
"Futile. Strength. Exhausted. Demon. Kill!" Baracciel exclaimed. It was the first time that she had let out such a strong voice after being monotonous for so long. It was taking a long time for the fake dimension to be destroyed completely. Baracciel used that chance to prepare one final attack.
She converted all of her mirror images into lightning bolts and gathered them in her hands. She then reshaped all of those bolts and combined them to create one giant lightning lance. She aimed the attack over to the collapsed demon before her, but before she could fire it out, Ren was already jumping towards her.
"!!!"
"You're mine!" Ren exclaimed.
Baracciel quickly redirected her lance over to Ren who was already within melee range. Ren swung his blade to deal the finishing blow to the angel, however, his enemy responded immediately as she sent her lightning lance over to him with lightning speed. However, she barely missed as her attack grazed by Ren's cheek.
"It's over!" Ren screamed as he brought down his blade, slashing Baracciel across her chest.
"Gh!" Baracciel groaned, coughing up blood from her mouth as she received yet another fatal wound. However, Ren didn't stop. He quickly repositioned his blade with one arm, and pointed its tip to her chest. He then pointed his free palm above him. He quickly gathered some mana, and shortly after, launched a strong blast of wind from his palm, causing him to quickly fall to the ground, driving his blade into Baracciel's chest. They landed with a loud crash below on the floor of the breaking realm.
"It's done," Ren said as he continued on pinning down his blade onto Baracciel's chest. Baracciel tried to push him back with all her strength, but the position they are in puts her in a massive disadvantage.
"Hey! I know you said you can't fight anymore, but I suppose you can still finish her like this! I can't let go!" Ren called out to Damian. However, as he set his eyes on him, he felt something odd. Damian's eyes were wide open for some reason, and his expression was indescribable. It wasn't even a look of amazement for taking down their enemy.
Ren felt a chill run down his spine. He hesitated, but summoned all his courage to look behind himself.
Far on the back side of the breaking void dimension, he saw his dear wife, lying on the ground, as a giant bolt of lightning impaled her through the chest. Blood gushed out her mouth and on the hole that the lightning lance had pierced through
At that moment, Ren's limbs felt weak. His grip on the blade also loosened as a result, letting the angel push him back, and fly away to recover. However, that was the least of his concerns at the moment, he quickly lifted his shaking legs as he ran towards his dearest wife with a look of horror painted on his face.
"Karis!"