Well… I guess I'll always be nothing more than a stupid demon to her.
I still don't know what darkness lies buried inside her or why she harbors a hatred for demons that borders on obsession. I wanted to reach out, to say something, but the words died in my throat.the thought of her just saying that really makes my heart ache
"Hello!" I shouted into the void, my voice cracking the silence.
The world shifted.
Reality twisted violently, as if the fabric of existence were being torn apart and stitched back together by a blind god. The graveyard vanished. The land beneath my feet cracked, the stone foundations collapsing into a roaring, burning abyss. Jagged monoliths of obsidian floated in the sky, suspended by raw power, while pillars of flame spiraled endlessly in every direction.
This place was different. It didn't just feel hot it felt alive.
Raw, primordial energy surged through the air, magic so dense it pressed against my skin like a physical weight. Every breath I took felt like inhaling liquid cinders, searing my lungs.rushing adrenalien through my veins
"Stop right there!" a sharp voice barked metallic, commanding, and cold.
"One more step and you lose your head~" another voice followed, syllables dripping with a sweet, playful malice.
"Oh wow," I muttered dryly, shielding my eyes from the glare. "If I had a silver coin for every time I heard that one…"
I glanced sideways at Yuri, expecting a quip. She was stone-faced, her hand already gripping the hilt of her blade.
"What are you looking at, demon?" she snapped, her eyes reflecting the orange glow of the pits.
"Nothing," I replied flatly. "Just checking if you were still alive."
The ground erupted.
From the heart of the inferno, a body rose slowly, as if being forged from the flames themselves. Fire swirled around her form, weaving together to shape a short, crimson-and-gold dress. Her hair was a brilliant blonde, but the lower strands burned a deep, incandescent red, glowing like dying embers in a hearth.
Then the wind began to scream.
A violent hurricane tore through the battlefield, whipping my hair across my face and nearly taking my jacket with it. Yuri and himori braced themselves as the gale threatened to uproot us. I used my arm to block the gale winds reaching my face ,At the eye of the storm, another figure coalesced graceful, ethereal, floating inches above the cracked earth. She wore a long, flowing white-and-emerald dress that fluttered endlessly. Her hair was blonde as well, but its tips glowed with a vibrant, forest-green light.
"What an entrance," I teased, though my pulse was racing.i could feel my heart beat on my throat
The girl in red smirked, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "I'm Akari. And that over there is Liora."
"We are the First and Third strongest High Humans," Liora added calmly, her voice carried by the wind.
"Well," I said with a lopsided grin,a rise of my shoulders and arms as I look to the side "which is which? You're starting to confuse me."
Akari clicked her tongue in annoyance.then her light grin disappeared instantly replaced by a death stare "I'm Akari titled the Flame Master, First Strongest high human"
"And I am Liora,of the wind gale" the wind wielder said, her emerald eyes fixed on me. "Third Strongest."
My chest tightened, a cold knot forming in my gut. So far, I've met five of them.
Yuri,Fifth. Himori,Fourth. Liora,Third. Akari,First.
Which means… Kiyomi is the Second.
A chill that had nothing to do with the wind ran down my spine. I was trained by the Second Strongest High Human. I swallowed hard, the sound of my heartbeat roaring in my ears like a war drum. This isn't a fight. This is going to be hell.
Akari stood perfectly still, her eyes closed as if listening to the fire. Liora's green eyes were unblinking, reflecting the dancing flames around us.
"I'm Justin voidborn Khoas," I said, standing tall. "Heir to the Demon Throne."
"Hm," Akari murmured. "Strange. I sense four beings, not three… two are so close they almost overlap."
So that's how she perceives magic as distinct, living entities. Terrifying.
"What is your business here, demon?" Akari demanded, her voice dropping into a chilling register.
"First of all, I have a name it's Justin," I said, rubbing my temple. "Second, I'm here to see the Witch."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Liora began, her dress billowing. "You shall not pass unless you"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," I interrupted, drawing my blade. "So we're fighting. Let's skip the monologue."
Akari nodded slightly. "Orders from the Heavens. No being may gaze upon the Witch."
It was time for another gamble. I tightened my grip on Esta. If Yuri nearly ended me with a single strike… these two might erase me from existence. Still I have no choice.
Akari raised her hand. Molten fire poured from her arm, shaping itself into a massive, blazing broadsword. Liora lowered herself into a predatory battle stance, her eyes locking onto mine like a hawk.
I clasped my hands together then, with a final look at the world, I pulled off my ring and tossed it into the abyss.
Darkness exploded from my back.
Black wings tore through my shoulder blades, feathers sharp and metallic as razors. My body surged, growing twice its original size. My teeth elongated into fangs, and my mana began to roar, a chaotic, unchecked gale of power. Burning feathers fell like black snow into the flames below.
I beat my wings once, a thunderous sound, and rose into the smoke-filled air.
"Let's get this over with!" I roared, my voice a deep, inhuman growl.
The wind howled. The flames surged.
I barely raised my blade in time as Akari's fire-sword crashed into mine the sound of metal shrieking against heat was deafening.
"AHH!"
Something a pressurized blast of air struck my stomach. Pain exploded in my core, and I was launched backward, spinning through the ash. I flipped my wings hard, the air resistance nearly snapping my bones, but I stabilized myself.
"What an attack," I muttered, spitting a mouthful of blood.
I raised Esta, the purple gem on the hilt pulsing in sync with my rage.
"Oh cursed blade indulge yourself in the black flames and grant me the power to make my enemies bend to my will!"
Black fire erupted from the hilt, swallowing the steel in a violent, flickering chaos then snapping back, coating the blade in a slick, oily darkness.
I froze for a split second. I didn't know I could do that. Every time I enter this form, my body moves on its own, guided by some ancient, violent instinct. What the hell is happening to me?
I charged. Akari blocked with a wall of fire. Liora struck from the flank kick after kick, each one a sonic boom forcing me to dodge relentlessly.
Then a kick slammed into the center of my chest.
I crashed from the sky, a meteor of black feathers hitting the ground. The earth split apart as a massive crater formed, dust and smoke swallowing the battlefield. I pushed the rubble aside, coughing up thick, dark blood.
Damn it. Two against one. My mana was draining too fast.
"Inferno Magic: Flame Ball," Akari declared.
The sky turned a bruised crimson. A massive sphere of compressed fire formed above her blade, glowing white at the center.
Shit.
I rolled back just as the sun-like sphere slammed into the ground, a pillar of fire erupting with enough force to melt stone.
"Wind Cutter," Liora whispered.
The air pressure became unbearable. A crescent of slicing gale tore toward me, invisible and lethal.
"I can't move—!" I snarled, pulling my wings inward to act as a shield.
The blast hit. I blocked with my right wing barely my body skidding backward, my boots carving deep furrows in the rock.
"Uuughh!"
Suddenly Akari was right in front of me.
She was too close. Her expression was dead serious, her eyes still tightly closed. Her flames began to eat through the protective mana of my wing. Her blade pierced straight through the joint.
With a sickening tear, my wing fell.
I landed hard on my side, staring at the severed limb on the ground.
"Regeneration!" I snarled, reaching for the power.
A crimson-and-black magic circle flared beneath me pbut nothing happened. No healing. No regrowth.
"…What?" I whispered, horror dawning on me.
Akari smiled faintly, a cold, pitying look. "Wings are made of pure, crystallized magic. Once they are severed by the Flame of the First, they never grow back. The connection is cauterized."
She watched as the wing burned away, feather by feather, turning into gray ash.
"You're worthless now," she added coldly.
I clutched the empty, bleeding space on my back, my breathing ragged and heavy. But something felt off. Why is Liora holding back? Why isn't she finishing this?
I clenched my fist, the stone beneath my palm crumbling. Time for one last, desperate gamble.
"Dark Beam."
Two magic circles formed, overlapping to compress energy into a sinister, concentrated black beam. Liora raised her hands to conjure a barrier but Akari teleported in front of her to intercept it with her fire-blade.
I slammed my palms into the ground, cracking the floor to propel myself. I moved faster than the beam, a blur of shadow.
I delivered a brutal kick to Akari's ribs, launching her aside.
The beam hit Liora point-blank. She crashed into a massive floating boulder, shattering the mountain-sized rock into dust.
I stood upright, my chest heaving, a wild, jagged grin on my face.
Akari rose slowly from the rubble. Her eyes finally opened.
There were no pupils. Blue flames burned endlessly inside empty, hollow sockets. A thick vein pulsed on her forehead, vibrating with rage.
"Ohhh," I muttered, taking an involuntary step back as sweat rolled down my face. "I think I really pissed her off."