As he ran away, Connor suddenly felt a pressure in his mana core. He hit the ground hard, clutching his chest and wheezing.
"It's your chance to save them. You didn't have any problem fighting in the Void," said Lumi, staring down at Connor with a serious expression.
"That was because my life was on the line. But now, I have a choice to run away and be safe. I'd be stupid not to take that!" exclaimed Connor, pinned to the ground by a gravitational force.
"Are you the one doing this? What's happening?!" he added, with a look of annoyance.
"When we made the contract. I didn't make it fifty-fifty. I set up terms so that I would be able to exert more control over your mana," she said.
Connor glared at her. "You bitch..."
She didn't say anything; just stared at him with a pained expression.
"Alright, fine," said Connor, relieved when the pressure in his core went away.
He generated an aura blade and approached the fighting. A few soldiers were running away, they looked at the boy with confusion. Gunfire was blown away. The sword-wielding soldiers were pushed away as stone spikes burst from the ground.
Why am I doing this? It's definitely not for that piece of shit angel. Do I want to be some sort of hero and save those soldiers? Can I even do that? Or have I become battle crazed?
The man- no, it was a demon...had dark green hair and a pair of curling horns. He wore a torn jacket over a muscular body. Broken handcuffs were on his wrists.
Connor held the golden blade of light tightly. Sweat started to drip from his forehead.
Fuck it, let's just go, he thought, before charging.
The demon turned to look at him, tilted his head quizzically and advanced. He jumped forward, sending a shockwave of mana that propelled soldiers and horses alike. Bullets and sword strikes were blocked by reinforced arms as the demon grabbed two nearby soldiers by the head.
Connor's eyes widened as he ducked to the left, then to the right. "Wha-"
Thrown like projectiles, the two soldiers splattered to the ground. The demon was now standing in front of Connor, piercing him with his rose-colored eyes. The last light of dusk shone on the boy's dark blond hair as he advanced, blade in hand.
"Hey, why are you even attacking them? I don't know what happened in these years, but why did a demon representative kill an Archmage? You guys were just starting to get accepted by society. Why ruin it all?"
The demon stayed silent.
"You don't speak English? I-"
A fist flew into Connor's face. It was stupid to even try talking, he knew that, but still tried it. Then, the fist was redirected, as the demon opened his fingers. Connor didn't even have time to gasp as the Demon reached into his mouth, grabbing his tongue. The boy stepped back in panic, before feeling a surge of pain in his mouth.
The green-haired demon was holding his tongue. He threw it on the snow, dying it red.
"Augh! Gah," gasped Connor, unable to speak as blood dripped from his mouth.
His opponent grinned. "Can't yap anymore? Demon got your tongue?"
This guy is so corny...but, damn it hurts! ARGH! Lumi can probably heal- wait, no...I shouldn't rely on that bi-
Connor slashed with his mana-generated weapon, aiming it at an incoming fist. It was a feint, another punch was coming. In that split second, Connor wondered if he should lean into the punch to reduce damage, but it was a risky move. If he timed it wrong, he would die, and his opponent had the higher mana level. So he dodged to the side and immediately aimed his sword at the waist. A kick was incoming. The blade was redirected towards the leg, when-
The demon caught the aura blade. A small flicker of hope reignited in Connor as he absorbed the blade into his right fist. But the demon dodged the punch and ducked down to aim for his chest. The boy put his two arms into an X across his chest and channeled mana to block. He was still sent backwards, almost falling on his back, until he regained balance. A mist of snow powder was drifting around from the force. A blunt stone burst from the ground, making him fall to the ground. Stone arches were formed from the ground's earth as they imprisoned Connor, tightening him to the ground.
"You said something about getting accepted by society? Bullshit," uttered the demon, before showing him the broken handcuffs on his wrists, "Look at what they did...I will not kill you since you're an outsider."
He walked away with his back turned. Connor stared at the dusk sky as the sun slowly set.
I'm not done yet.
He unleashed all his mana to generate his pyro affinity. The stone cracked as he momentarily lit his limbs on fire. With a huge effort, he broke free from the stone and dashed forward. Snow powder flying into him in the cold air. The crunch of icy snow on the ground. Light flashed into his hands as a pair of daggers formed from a fallen angel's light mana.
Stone spikes jumped from the ground, but the boy broke through them. His left dagger was held normally, while the right one was in a reverse grip. Using a spinning top motion to cleave through the stone walls trying to trap him, Connor lunged at-
Releasing a shockwave of mana, the largest yet, the demon finally turned to look back at Connor. His expression seemed to say: So you have chosen death.
And that was when a lighting-charged dagger cut through the air and grazed the demon's left horn. The muscled man stopped. Connor didn't know how it happened. Maybe it was the thrill of the fight, luck, or whatever, but he had focused a huge source of mana into his right dagger which had produced electro mana, a deviation of pyro. Connor fell to the ground, he would've laughed if he still had a tongue. A one in a million stroke of luck had made him generate electro mana...but he missed. Exhausted, the boy looked at the approaching demon who was scratching his left horn-
A bluish-net was launched from somewhere as it suddenly wrapped around the brawny demon. He struggled on the ground as the net electrocuted him. A soldier with a glowing rifle that seemed like a weird-looking Arcane Armament approached.
"Well done, kid. Are you okay? We have healers," he said.
More soldiers approached the demon and started to rain bullets. The demon's mana was wasting away as he struggled against the net and the shots.
A tall man with whitening hair and a beard approached with a rifle. He had a badge on his jacket uniform which indicated the rank of Colonel.
"Alright, you can shoot the demon. It's too powerful for us to contain," he said to an earpiece.
Almost immediately, a sniper bullet flew from a long distance, piercing the demon's skull. Blood poured on the snow.
The man extended a hand towards Connor. "You did well back there. Have you considered joining the Neustrian army?"