Chapter 2 – The Crimson Rift (The Demon's Return)
The forest trembled beneath a scream that wasn't of this world. The sky split wider, bleeding crimson fire into the air as a massive shape descended through the crack — molten wings unfurling, a silhouette that swallowed all light.
When Abyrus landed, the ground ruptured like glass under his feet. Crimson-black flames spread across the earth, turning trees into shadowed ash. His seven glowing marks burned like dying stars across his body — each pulse shaking the air itself.
Kael's breath hitched. His hands trembled for just a heartbeat before gripping Tenebris, the twin longblades of darkwind. Liora's eyes shimmered with emerald light, frost and vines beginning to coil around her feet.
Anay stepped back, his instincts screaming danger, yet his heart steady. This presence… the same one Kael spoke of in his stories.
The one that ended everything for them.
Abyrus's gaze turned toward him first — crimson eyes glowing with ancient malice. "So… you are—"
His words stopped midway. His grin widened as he turned to Kael and Liora.
"Well, well… the children from that day. You've grown. How pathetic that I failed to kill you when I had the chance."
Kael's body ignited in a gust of black wind. "You— you killed Anand and Garix!"
Liora's eyes hardened to shards of frost. "And now… you'll pay for it."
Abyrus laughed, the sound a rumble that made even the flames around him shudder.
"Then come, ghosts of the past. Let's finish what was left undone."
Wind howled.
Kael vanished first — blink-speed. The ground cracked where he had stood. He reappeared above Abyrus, twin blades swirling in a crescent arc of black and silver wind. The air split open with his strike — but Abyrus blocked it with one arm, the flames along his claws flaring violently.
Clang!
A sound like metal being crushed inside a volcano. Kael's blades sparked, his teeth clenched. Abyrus's grin deepened.
"Still fast… still weak."
He swung his arm, and Kael was sent hurtling back, slamming through two trees before catching himself midair. The forest filled with smoke and dust.
Before Abyrus could move, a flash of emerald light burst beneath him — Liora.
She didn't shout, didn't move in anger. Her calm was chilling.
Roots laced with frost erupted from the ground, binding Abyrus's feet. The moment they touched his infernal flames, they sizzled — but didn't melt. Ice crystals spread faster than the fire could consume them.
Verdalis — the spirit guardian — appeared with a piercing cry. A massive bird of green fire and wind, its wings shimmering like the northern lights.
Liora raised her hand, voice low and firm.
"Verdalis, bind the abyss."
The guardian's cry turned the air into a storm of emerald wind and crystalline feathers. Frostfire erupted, slamming into Abyrus's chest, forcing him back a step.
The demon roared — not in pain, but in surprise.
Kael appeared again, lightning-fast, twin swords cutting across the air. Wind spiraled around his blades, merging with Liora's froststorm. Together, their attacks collided into Abyrus with explosive force — a blinding storm of black wind and white ice.
For a moment, even the flames dimmed.
Abyrus looked down at the faint cut across his chest. Black blood hissed into smoke.
Then he smiled — wide and cruel.
"So, you've grown strong enough to hurt me. Interesting."
The air grew heavier, his voice vibrating through the ground. "I see now… you're the ones who killed my pets. Balgeor Vrax. Vedar. Kharid. Their souls screamed as they died. I felt it."
His flames burned brighter, twisting into tendrils of red-black energy that licked the air like serpents.
"You have my respect," he said, eyes gleaming with fire and madness. "Now I'll make sure your souls burn longer than theirs."
He vanished.
Kael barely had time to react — a crimson claw burst from behind, cutting through his aura shield like butter. Blood sprayed across the forest floor.
Liora turned sharply, freezing the air around her in a blink — Abyrus's claw stopped an inch from her neck, trapped in a cage of ice.
She met his gaze, calm but burning with hatred. "Not again. You won't take anyone else."
With a surge of power, she twisted her wrist. The ice shattered outward — sharp fragments flew like blades, tearing into Abyrus's shoulder. A snarl echoed through the forest.
Kael, bleeding but standing, wiped his mouth and chuckled faintly. "That's my Liora…"
Liora didn't look at him. "Focus, Kael. We end this, now."
Abyrus straightened, rolling his neck as his wounds sealed instantly under the heat. "End this?" he grinned. "You'll wish you could."
The seven sigils across his body began to glow — one after another, each brighter, each deeper in hue, until the seventh mark flared alive.
The ground beneath them cracked. The sky darkened into crimson night.
Every tree bent toward the demon as if the world itself was being devoured by his presence.
Kael raised both blades. Liora called Verdalis once more — the guardian spread its wings, filling the sky with green fire.
And through the burning horizon, Anay stood silently behind them, eyes wide but unwavering.
He could feel it — the surge of death and defiance, the weight of their past turning into the fire of the present.
He clenched his fists. This is their battle… their closure.
Abyrus spread his wings, flames roaring higher. "Then let's make this forest… your grave once again!"
The air exploded. Wind, flame, frost, and light collided — the first shockwave tearing through the trees like thunder.
And thus began the final battle between the survivors of light… and the demon of the Seventh Hell.
Chapter 3 – Hellfire and Frost
The forest was gone.
Where trees once whispered, now only flame and ruin remained. Crimson fire rained from the cracked sky, bathing the shattered ground in unholy light. Abyrus stood at the center of the inferno, a towering shape of molten shadow, his seven sigils burning like suns.
Kael and Liora faced him—two figures of light amid the ashes.
Liora's eyes glowed emerald and frost-blue at once, the duality of her aura rippling through the smoke. Her breath came steady, sharp. Vines of crystalized earth began to coil around her feet, spreading outward in spiraling waves.
Abyrus tilted his head, amused.
"So you can wield two elements—ice and life. Dual affinity, is it?"
Liora's lips curved, faint and cold. "Not dual."
Her foot pressed into the scorched soil, and the ground moved.
Roots tore upward from beneath the ash, wrapped in stone and ice. The vines shimmered, half green, half silver, as they lashed forward like living blades.
"Triple. Earth. Ice. And nature."
Abyrus's grin faltered for the first time. "What—"
The vines struck.
They burst through the flames,and whipping around his limbs with the force of a iron chains. The ground trembled under the spell's weight. Each tendril pulsed with layered power—root, frost, and rock intertwining as one. Abyrus's infernal fire roared in protest, burning away sections, but new vines grew instantly from the ground, reforging themselves through sheer elemental resonance.
Liora's voice rang through the smoke, steady and commanding.
"Verdalis—bind him now!"
Her spirit guardian, the great green bird, screeched and dove from the sky. A storm of emerald feathers fell like rain, each one glowing with the essence of the earth. When they touched the vines, the entire forest floor came alive—a living field of radiant green pulsing beneath the fire's glare.
Abyrus snarled, the first hints of strain on his face. "You dare bind me, mortal?"
His flames erupted outward, a hellstorm of black and red. The ground boiled; the vines hissed, shriveled—but did not die.
Liora's eyes hardened. "Kael, now!"
The words were barely out when the air behind Abyrus split open.
A ripple of dark energy, silent and swift as death, flashed across the inferno.
Kael appeared—his body wrapped in dark wind, twin swords Tenebris glowing in streaks of black and silver light. His presence was a storm contained within skin, every strand of hair lifted by the surge of power.
"Dark Strike!"
He vanished from sight, reappearing directly behind Abyrus, both blades crossing in a deadly arc. A shockwave burst outward. The wind bent trees that no longer existed. Abyrus staggered forward, a deep gash torn across his back, hellfire spilling out like liquid blood.
Liora's vines tightened at once, seizing the moment.
Verdalis soared overhead, wings glowing emerald. "Bind him to the earth!"
The vines responded instantly—spears of stone, ice, and green fury shot from the ground, impaling Abyrus through both legs, pinning him to the shattered soil.
Abyrus roared, his voice echoing across miles.
"Enough!"
The seven sigils along his body ignited again, flaring like molten suns.
Flames burst outward, burning through the vines, searing through Liora's spell until the entire forest floor glowed crimson. The shockwave threw Kael backward; Liora was forced to raise her arm, coating herself in layers of stone and frost to survive the blast.
When the fire cleared, Abyrus stood unharmed, smoke curling from his shoulders.
The wound on his back was already closing, black veins knitting over molten flesh.
Kael landed beside Liora, coughing, his blade still gleaming faintly. "He's regenerating faster than before."
Liora's brows furrowed. "He's absorbing the earth's life. The fire's feeding him."
Abyrus stepped forward, each footfall cracking the scorched soil. His smile returned—slow, cruel, deliberate.
"You've grown since that day. Killed my lesser kin. I see why Balgeor screamed your names as he died."
He raised his clawed hand, hellfire swirling into a crimson sphere the size of a mountain boulder.
"But the game ends here."
The orb pulsed, its light swallowing everything.
Kael and Liora braced themselves—Kael's dark wind forming a barrier around them, Liora's vines and ice reinforcing it. Still, the heat pressed against them like a living inferno.
Kael shouted over the roar of fire, "If we don't strike now, we'll lose the chance!"
Liora nodded, closing her eyes for a heartbeat. "Then we combine—one last time."
She slammed her hands together, and the ground beneath them glowed emerald-white. Verdalis cried from above, folding its wings and diving straight into Liora's aura. The fusion was instant—her eyes glowed brighter than ever, and wings of translucent green light unfurled from her back.
Kael looked at her, half-smiling through the chaos. "Always showing off."
She returned it faintly. "Then keep up, partner."
Together they leapt—Liora soaring through the air, Kael surging beside her with a spiral of black wind.
The sky above them glowed crimson from Abyrus's charged hellfire; below, their combined aura painted the world in green and silver.
Abyrus roared and threw the infernal sphere forward.
Liora raised both hands, summoning a wall of crystal and roots; Kael followed, slicing through the air with Tenebris Stormbreak, his twin blades spiraling wind and darkness into a counter vortex.
The two forces collided.
The explosion ripped the heavens apart.
Crimson, black, and green lights engulfed the forest, blinding and beautiful—life and death entwined. The shockwave reached beyond the treetops, shaking the very barrier between realms.
Anay shielded his face from afar, watching in awe. He could feel their spirits clashing with the same intensity as when gods once fought. His heart pounded—but his feet stayed still. They're fighting for their past… for their lost friends. This is their battle.
As the light faded, the silhouettes of three figures emerged from the haze—Kael, Liora, and Abyrus, still standing, breathing heavily.
The fight was far from over.
Abyrus grinned, blood dripping from his lip. "Impressive. Then let's see if you can stand against my true form."
The sigils across his chest flared—seven blazing marks now merging into one burning core.
The air cracked, and the world turned crimson once more.
Kael gripped his blades tighter. Liora took a deep breath, frost spiraling from her mouth. Their auras pulsed in harmony.
And Anay whispered under his breath, a chill crawling down his spine—
"It's starting."Chapter 4 — Cataclysm Unbound
The air tore open with a scream.
Abyrus's body split with cracks of molten crimson as flames bled from his veins like rivers of hellfire. The ground around him twisted, trees withered to ash, and the scent of burning souls filled the forest. His laughter crawled through the air — heavy, layered, echoing as though a hundred voices spoke from one throat.
"Do you still believe… you can kill me again?" Abyrus hissed, his eyes burning like twin suns drenched in blood.
Kael's expression hardened. "He's… shedding his seal."
Liora felt it too — a pressure so heavy it crushed the air itself. "The Cataclysm Form," she whispered. "The one from nine years ago…"
Anay stepped back, his chest tightening. The crimson aura swallowed the horizon, bending the world's colors until even the light seemed to kneel before Abyrus.
The Demon of the Seventh Hell stood reborn — wings of molten metal unfurling, seven glowing sigils burning bright on his chest, each pulsing like a heart of flame.
Kael drew a sharp breath. "Liora."
She nodded. No more holding back.
A gust of silver-black wind erupted around Kael. His aura surged — dark streaks swirling through the wind like the eyes of a storm. Two long blades shimmered into existence in his hands, forged from void and gale alike — Tenebris, the dual swords that sang with the cry of shadows.
At the same moment, a roar echoed through the sky.
From behind Kael, a colossal lion leapt forth — its mane flowing with astral winds, eyes glowing gold like burning dawn. Fenrius, the guardian of storms, descended with thunder in his roar.
Liora stepped beside him, calm but fierce — her hair catching the cold wind as ice fragments danced around her. She lifted her hand, and a glowing emerald whip shimmered into life — Verdora, alive and breathing, veins of light running through its length.
"Let's end this," she said quietly.
From above, a radiant green bird spiraled down — Verdalis, her Spirit Guardian, spreading wings that shimmered like living leaves. And beside her, from a crack in the soil, a white wolf emerged — Lunaris, eyes sharp, its breath a whisper of frost and earth.
Anay's heart pounded as he watched. He had trained under Master Kai, fought monsters, and faced illusions of his own fear — but this… this was something else.
This was war between realms.
Between fury and memory.
Abyrus laughed, the sound splitting the forest apart. "So you have grown, little seeds. The weaklings I spared now carry storms and thorns. Delightful."
His claws ignited. Flames spiraled up his arms, forming blades made of pure infernal energy. Each step he took burned the ground black.
Kael moved first — vanishing in a blur of dark wind. Abyrus turned, but Kael was already behind him, blades cutting through the air.
"Dark Strike: Twin Sever!"
Two arcs of black light sliced across Abyrus's back — but the demon twisted mid-air, catching one blade in his claws. The impact split the air, a shockwave ripping through the forest.
Liora dashed in — vines coiling from her arm, roots cracking through stone. "Verdora's Embrace!"
The whip lashed out, glowing emerald as it wrapped around Abyrus's leg — vines growing instantly, sprouting thorns of ice that pierced through his molten flesh.
Abyrus roared. "Earth and Ice… and Vines?" His flames surged, burning through the roots. "So you wield three affinities, girl?"
"Four," Liora said coldly, snapping Verdora back as frost burst beneath her feet. "You forgot balance."
Abyrus's smirk faltered.
From above, Verdalis shrieked — a cry that made the air shimmer. Shards of emerald light rained from its wings, while Fenrius, Kael's lion, pounced with thunder.
For a heartbeat, heaven and hell collided. The lion's claws tore into fire; the demon's wings crashed against wind.
Anay shielded his eyes as the explosion of light and flame swallowed everything. The ground cracked, trees turned to embers, and the sky itself looked as if it were bleeding.
When the smoke cleared, Kael was on one knee — breathing hard, Tenebris flickering dim. Liora stood beside him, blood running down her arm, Verdora trembling like a wounded beast.
Abyrus was still standing.
His body smoldered, his molten wings cracked, but his grin was wider than ever.
"So you've slain Balgeor Vrax. Vedar. Kharid. I wondered who destroyed my brothers in the lower circles."
His flames rose higher, forming horns of crimson fire. "Now I see."
Kael spat blood. "Then you should know you'll fall like them."
Abyrus tilted his head, eyes glowing with sick joy. "Fall?" His voice deepened, layered with a thousand screams. "No, child. I'll burn this forest into your grave."
He spread his arms, and all seven infernal sigils lit at once.
Anay's breath froze. The world itself dimmed. Even Hakai's aura inside him stirred, restless.
"Kael!" Liora shouted.
But Kael didn't move. His eyes met Abyrus's flame — and for an instant, a flicker of fear crossed even his face.
Abyrus grinned wider.
"Now… let's finish what I started nine years ago."
The sky split open again, this time not crimson — but pure, endless black.
Anay took one step forward, fists clenched. Don't interfere, Kael had said. This is our fight.
He trembled, every instinct screaming to move, to strike, to protect them.
But he didn't. He couldn't.
Not yet.
As the flames of the Seventh Hell roared to life and Kael and Liora charged once more into the storm, Anay whispered under his breath — his eyes glinting faint purple in the infernal light.
"End it... before I have to."
To be continued.