With a single strike, the mysterious man lunged at the girl, but she deftly dodged his attack. Then he hurled acid from his second head while grasping her hand, causing her to fall as his long tongue emerged from his third head. He rushed toward her, intent on finishing her off, saying:
"Your soul is mine, and Ronald also."
But fate had other plans this time. The girl stood firm, and Ronald rose to his feet. His eyes burned redder than his own blood; his nose had grown long, sharp, and serrated. He sprouted four additional arms, making six hands in total, with spikes protruding from his ribs and tails with toothy heads like a savage beast poised to pounce on a helpless prey.
He hurled those spikes, piercing the man's body, then threw a mace that severed his leg, forcing him to collapse to the ground. Ronald declared fiercely:
"Who do you think you are to claim Ronald's soul?"
He leapt onto him, knocking him onto his stomach, then kicked him hard until his entrails spilled from his mouth, saying:
"Perhaps I let you play and pretend to be strong—but not to this extent."
Ronald turned to the three-headed man who challenged him with a thunderous voice coming from each head:
"Do you think you are capable of defeating me, you miserable wretch?"
The creature replied painfully and with difficulty:
"Your soul is not the only one threatened, but you and those you attack!"
Ronald responded with a loud voice, his eyes blazing like embers, and his arms moving violently:
"I've had enough! I won't allow you to take any part of me. My soul belongs to me, and I won't let you or anyone else harm it or those I love."
The creature sneered mockingly as it attempted a powerful strike, but Ronald skillfully dodged and said in a chilling calm:
"True power isn't just in killing, but in mastering the darkness within me. Behold my true form, the demon you don't know."
In a lightning-fast moment, Ronald struck the strange creature violently, saying:
"This is your end."
The creature vanished as the ground beneath them shattered, while Ronald and the warrior girl stood side by side, stronger and more united than ever before.
Ronald gazed at the innocent girl whose genuine smile never faded, expressing a pure love like those fairy-tale stories of love at first sight. But his cold, deadly red eyes did not see love; they saw another victim, an easy prey walking into slaughter.
Yet that sweet, beautiful voice melted his hardened heart like stone.
"Ronald, please follow my voice; you will find your path. You are better than this."
Sincere words slipped into Ronald's mind before his heart, and he saw resistance beginning to appear. He sobbed, confirming it:
"Please, save me?"
The demon replied:
"You want someone to save you? Me? God has given me power over you because of your deeds."
Ronald:
"But I have harmed no one. I fed and watered even the weakest creatures."
Demon:
"Do you think your Lord is unaware? No, everything is inscribed in the Preserved Tablet. Remember those days you came home drunk and elated. How many people did you kill along your path, and a woman you raped?"
Ronald, denying:
"It's impossible that I am that person."
Demon:
"Were you pious? I was witness to every vile deed you committed. On the contrary, I covered you and possessed bodies to keep you from prison and worse acts, just so you could enjoy your freedom."
Ronald:
You are lying! My whole life, and you lie to me. You don't even exist; you're just a hallucination of my mind.
The demon, laughing mockingly:
No, I exist and am older than you. You're the one lying to yourself and believing those hallucinations. Do you think you are better than me or some saint? You are worse than me. There are jinn demons, and you are a human demon.
Ronald, screaming:
Please stop, I can't take it anymore.
The demon:
Are you weary of the truth? Since when did speaking the truth become an excuse to escape human reality, based on sin, sex, and lust?
Ronald's strength suddenly collapses; he falls to his knees, crying out in pain. The girl gently approaches, holds his hand, and soothes him:
"I am with you, Ronald. Love is stronger than anything. Don't let this darkness consume you."
The demon refuses to leave, shouting threateningly:
"I will not let you go! You belong to me forever!"
The girl replies calmly and firmly:
"I am with you. Love is stronger than anything."
The demon vanishes in an explosive scream, leaving Ronald and the girl in a new silence, with a gleam of hope shining in their eyes.
Ronald stood with great difficulty after an intense inner struggle with his beloved demon, as he used to call it, leaning on the shoulder of that mysterious girl who had suddenly appeared as if sent by God to save him from his doomed fate. With those enchanting eyes, she looked at him and said,
"You are fine, Ronald, the time has come to end."
Ronald, struggling:
"Yes, but it will return."
Sarda:
"Then I will be here when it does. Anyway, my name is Sarda."
Ronald:
"Nice to meet you, and you seem to know my name."
Sarda:
"Everyone here knows you, Ronald."
Ronald:
"Really? I didn't know I was famous.
"Sarda:
"You are the key to restoring balance to this world we live in and the other realms."
Ronald:
"How so?"
Sarda:
"It's still too soon to know, but now we will go spend the night in a nearby inn.
"Ronald:
"Lead the way."
Sarda led the way, with Ronald following behind until they disappeared from sight. Then, red eyes appeared in the shadows, saying in a rough voice,
"It seems we have found our quarry, something to fight and die for."