A fallen foe and the victor. Silence chills the surrounding area, then a cry.
"You stupid idiot!"
"Stupid….. Idiot?", asks Mic.
"SHUT UP!!!" Belze screams out embarrassed as his cheeks are left flushed red. "Anyways this isn't looking good."
The before present black marks grew even further. Now they covered 80% of his body. His messy, laid down hair that was black and brown was now slowly changing into a shade of cloud grey. As he was shaking as if he was writhing in pain you could see the other changes beginning. His other horn as well as more cracks on his face, even his other eye.
"First I'll burn this forest to the ground, then this country and then the world. All shall be trembled by the call of my name and their eyes burnt out by my appearance." Clearly changing due to effects of the demonic power as the edge lord within him began to bare more.
"It won't be long before he destroys this whole forest.", says Belze, who turns to Mic with a strange look of concern.
"That is the least of the problems. If he finishes transforming then…."
"Shut your mouths up there or I'll come for you and shut it myself."
"This feeling. It's almost close to the same feeling of Lord Lucifer.", continues Belze.
"He's getting more and more powerful."
"I said SHUT UP!!!"
As he lashes out the air pressure from his force spreads out into the forest and shakes the leaves of many trees. Animals are seen running for cover or have fainted from the foreign presence in nature. Belze and Mic also feel the pressure and unbeknownst to them are shaken by the force.
They become silent.
"Hm, Better. Now let's see, I've never felt this good before." He starts stretching as if to test his new found flexibility or maybe even his new found freedom. He then gives a menacing smile as he raises the sword to his shoulder. The small veins on his bicep start to bulge as he grips the handle of the sword tighter. With one outward swing, numerous trees in his vicinity began to fall in sequence. Cleanly split trees fall to the ground.
Above him, Belze is trying to retrieve the sword from him but to no avail. "I have been trying but something is blocking me from taking back the sword. Seito, you need to stop this." Seito simply looks up with a face of disgust.
"You're really getting on my nerves."
Hell's flame appears around the sword while Seito is just standing there.
"He's summoning the flames? How? This shouldn't be possible without my help."
He cracks his necks and swings the sword once again. Another shockwave erupts.
"Good."
Now the black marks have taken over 90% of his body.
Seito then places back the sword on his left shoulder and the flames re-appear. He starts to walk forward.
"Something needs to be done quickly." Mic exclaims.
Then Belze thinks frantically as he shouts, "W-What about your parents? Will their hard work be for nothing? Will you really betray their trust like this?", ask Belze.
Seito flinches. He is seen stuck in place and for a second he is dazed but eventually he shakes his head and snaps out of it. He continues walking.
"Sh-Shut up."
Seito whispers to him softly while placing one of his hands over his face.
"And Hima? Are you going to just leave her without the big brother she adores?"
"No!! The noises..."
He begins to lose his footing as he starts to stumble around. His eyes, fluctuating from full black with purple pupils and how they normally were, brown.
"Huh? Ah! Ahh!! AHHH!!!!"
Seito starts screaming and shouting out in serious rage as he holds his head.
"Hima! My family…. I'm in control. No, let go. This power, you WILL OBEY ME!! You are mine to control, not the other way around!"
As if he was in a fight with himself he begins to flail around, shouting, screaming, shouting, screaming. A cycle that seemed like it would never end. Then slowly he turns around and starts taking steps to the closest tree.
"Give in to me! I will make you even more powerful" words that came out of Seito's mouth but they didn't seem to be his either. What was happening to him Belze and Mic unable to help seeing this as a trial he must overcome.
"Get out of my head. This is my body and mine alone" Seito blares out. These words sounded more like him. Left foot, right foot. Slowly, creeping ever closer. Then there he stood. A tree that wasn't cut before stands before him. "You need me. I can give you everything you've dreamt of". "Get out". Still fighting Seito reaches out and grips the tree. "Give in and let go. This is your purpose, it is your DESTINY!". Then for a bit, silence, only the rustling leaves could be heard, if only for a moment. Then, "I said…." Seito takes a deep breath then raises his head. "I said GET OUT!". Seito swings his head forward and slams his head in the tree. The sound reverberates around the nearby forest as Seito's eyes keel over and he falls to the ground, fully unconscious.
There he laid on the ground, 5 minutes had passed and nothing, then. The markings that were washing over his body began to vanish. The horn and the cracks follow. His eyes also became fully normal. Finally, his hair went back to normal. Slowly he began to get up, his whole body, clearly exhausted and overused, seemed as if it was hit by a bus.
"I feel I got run over by a stampede of magical beasts." he exclaimed while trying to stand on his own two feet.
"Oh wow, he actually went back to normal." Mic says without seeming to care however you could see the look of relief on his face.
Mic looks over to Bel while giving him a faint smirk. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Belze questions. "Who knew you could tug at someone's heart string like that? You're adorable"
"Wah?" Belze exclaims. He then lays his head low, shaking, as if he was about to cry.
"I AM NOT ADORABLE! FEAR ME!" He bursts up and flexes as if to seem intimidating however it had the opposite effect as he was just a cute dog. Mic burst out laughing.
Seito, still staggering, says with the little energy he could muster, "Thank you Bel...". Seeming to be running on adrenaline he quickly falls down again.
Mic looks over at him.
"Seems the transformation and the sword's stamina depletion was too much for him to handle"
"So heal him already."
Mic closes his eyes then opens it back.
"Hmm… I won't be able to fully heal him."
"What, why?!"
"There is so much more malevolence in him than before and with the power I am able to use it wouldn't be of much difference"
"Before?", he says as he looks at him beside him.
"Yes, it would appear to be so."
"So it wasn't just my imagination," Bel says as he looks deeper at Seito.
"It seems the transformation has awoken something in him. Something, nefarious"
"So what is it exactly?"
"It seems to be an alter ego created of pure demonic energy, but how? Something like this is unheard of normally. A boy without any magic power yet shows so much promise without it?..." baffled, Mic explains.
"Is this why they wanted us to save him and give him power?" Bel asked as he scratched his head. "It is possible, but we won't know unless we need to."
"Can we expel it from his body?", he asks intently.
"I'm afraid not. It has hidden itself after Seito went unconscious. Trying to find it now would require us to probe Seito and that would do more harm than good." "This is giving me a headache," says Belze.
"We'll have to put that aside for now. I'll only be able to bring him back to consciousness and relieve some of his pain. It should be enough to get him home. We will have to hope an angel is preparing a divine prayer for him so this much is acceptable for now."
Mic closes his eyes and a white magic circle appears over Seito's body. Seito's body began to shine as a bright light. Seito then slowly wakes up and sits up.
"Ugghhh…. I felt like I died, again."
"Come on, you need to get out of this forest; you are in no condition to fight anymore monsters."
"I need a sandwich."
Seito struggles up and moves onward as they guide him through the forest. He felt as he walked on that he gained a lot, but at what cost? After a decent bit of walking he finally reaches home. As he was about to open it he hesitates. "Is this okay? Won't they freak out? I'm bloodier than a freshly killed chicken." As these thoughts ran rampant in head he took a deep breath and gripped the door handle. "I need them to see, I need them to know that I'm changing, whether for better or for worse." He pushes the door open.
"Mom, dad, I'm back."
"Oh dear.", says Mrs. Ken as she has her hand on her mouth.
"Huh? Seito, what happened?"
"I wandered into Dart's forest and fought with the beasts of the forest. You know, training."
Hima slowly comes down the stairs.
"Seito! Who did this to you!? I'll kill them dead.", as she runs down the steps and goes in front of him.
"It's ok, I won", says Seito before he puts his hand on her head and slowly rubs it.
She starts acting like a kitten
"IMPOSTER!!!," Mic shouts as Bel tries to hold him back.
Seito asked for some space and went to clean himself up. He took a shower as well as applied basic first aid to himself. Seito then gathers his family and explains to his family what had happened in the forest.
"You defeated the beast of the forest?," says his father in awe.
"Those injuries!", says Hima to herself with tears in her eyes.
"I'll live, all I need is rest."
"But?", as his mother is questioning his judgement.
"It's ok" he holds both his parent's arms. "I promise, I'm okay, this is something that had to happen but I've never been better". He draws them closer to him and hugs them both, Hima, feeling left out, grabs at his waist.
"If you say so dear." his mother has given up trying to fight it. Seito gives a peaceful smile. He kisses them both, as well as Hima or else he wouldn't know peace and tells them goodnight. He slowly makes his way up to his room. He falls in bed and as to appear instantaneous, he immediately falls asleep.
Somewhere, a dark figure is seen in a corner talking to itself. "My time will come, your body is my birthright and I will claim what I am owed".