The first blow tore through the air and sent out a shockwave that knocked both the demons and the soldiers standing too close off their feet, and the sand forming Kiyoshi's armor trembled as if it were about to crumble at any moment, yet it held its shape by a force greater than mere magic.
The demon's sword, capable of cutting through steel and bone without the slightest resistance, bounced off that armor with a drawn-out, hissing sound, as if it had struck something that had no right to exist in a world governed by any laws.
— You are more… persistent… — the demon hissed, taking a step back, his voice carrying not so much fatigue as a growing frustration he could no longer hide.
— And you are more… talkative. — Kiyoshi replied calmly, though his movement was immediate, sharp, and without hesitation.
Their blades clashed again, and the force of the impact sent the demon reeling back several more feet, forcing him to plant one of his swords into the ground just to keep his balance.
A slow, unsettling smile spread across his lips.
— Words can be weapons, too. And far more subtle ones.
He raised the book held in his third hand, and as soon as he opened it, black letters began to burst from the pages, floating in the air and twisting into symbols that should not be seen by the human mind, for anyone who tried to understand them paid for it with pain.
— A mind that is unprotected… is like an open gate!
The words hit Kiyoshi like a wave, but it wasn't a physical wave — it was an avalanche of memories and nightmares that didn't belong to the present, and yet he felt them as vividly as if they were happening right here and now.
Mira, dead in his arms, her eyes devoid of light. His father screaming in the flames. Himself, dying over and over again, in dozens of possible endings, each more painful than the last.
A scream tore from his throat as he fell to one knee, clenching his hands over his head as if trying to physically stop the flood of these images, while his sword began to crumble, losing its cohesion along with his concentration.
— Now you're mine! — roared the demon, moving forward with brutal certainty of victory.
He hadn't noticed one thing.
Mira.
She rose to her feet, though every muscle in her body protested, and pain washed over her in waves that would normally have knocked her to the ground, but this time something was stronger — the sight of Kiyoshi being broken, torn apart from the inside by something he couldn't even touch.
Her face tensed, and her eyes blazed with a determination so pure that there was no room for fear.
She reached out her hand.
The earth responded.
Thick, brutal vines shot up from beneath the surface, tearing through the stone and wrapping themselves around the demon's body with a force that halted its charge mid-stride.
— Die! — she screamed, her voice cracking under the weight of her emotions.
Thorns sprouted from the vines, piercing deep into the beast's flesh. The demon howled, thrashed with savage force, and broke free from the grip, flinging fragments of the plants in all directions, while its wounds began to close almost immediately, as if the pain itself were merely a minor inconvenience to it.
Mira sank to one knee, her body refusing to obey her any longer. She knew she couldn't win by force, that if she tried to keep fighting like this, she would die — and Kiyoshi with her.
And then she heard that sound.
A drawn-out, inhuman screech that cut through the air and pierced her ears like a blade.
She looked up — and froze.
A black, winged beast was falling toward them, slicing through the air, its whistle so sharp it seemed to tear apart space itself.
She understood immediately.
And she knew they wouldn't make it.
She yanked at Kiyoshi, trying to pull him away, but his body was like a corpse, trapped in pain he couldn't overcome.
In a final act of desperation, she summoned the vines once more and snatched him out of the beast's path.
In a final act of desperation, she summoned the vines once more and snatched him out of the beast's path.
The beast struck the building behind them, tearing through the stone and leaving behind a gaping hole that should have meant the end of everything in its path — and yet it survived, rising again as if destruction itself were its natural state.
— What is this?! — she screamed, clenching her hand around the crystal medallion as if it were her only anchor in a world that was just ceasing to make sense.
— Mira… — Kiyoshi's voice was weak, but steady. — Run…
— What about you?!
He looked at her, and there was no hesitation in his eyes.
— Don't worry about me.
He rose slowly, like someone pushing beyond their limits not because they can, but because they have no choice.
— I won't leave you. — she said, her voice trembling.
— Go. Now.
That single word was enough.
She understood.
He wouldn't win here. Not like this.
She clenched her teeth, grabbed him one last time, as if she wanted to remember that she was still alive… and then she turned away, and one of the members of the Forest Shield caught her and took her away.
Kiyoshi watched her go for only a moment.
Then he turned to the demon.
— We're alone now.
The demon smiled broadly.
— You're the first one to survive longer than my previous rivals.
— Thanks. — Kiyoshi raised his weapon, his voice calm, almost indifferent. — But that's still not enough.
— When I kill you… your power will be mine. — said the Demon.
— Try it — Kiyoshi replied.
This time, he didn't wait.
He vanished from the spot, and his body disintegrated mid-air into a whirlwind of sand that appeared on the other side before the demon could react.
The first strike was only the beginning — he forced his opponent to block, while the real attack emerged behind him, in the form of a tornado rising from the sand.
The Demon was hurled into the air.
And then everything sped up.
The sand around them surged like a force of nature, swirling, forming, and disintegrating all at once, until it finally took the form of something resembling water — a heavy, unstoppable mass that lifted Kiyoshi high into the air.
His hand clenched, focusing energy until the air around him began to tremble.
Then he struck.
Streams of power shot out before him and instantly took the form of blades that sliced through the air, heading straight for the demon, while others began to circle around him, forming a spinning, impenetrable barrier.
The demon tried to save himself, spreading his wings and regaining his balance in flight, but it was already too late.
The blades closed in around him.
For a moment, there was silence.
And then they crashed down.
The shockwave slammed him into the ground with a force that should have ended it all—but he still got back up, his book opened once more, and black symbols flashed across the sky, as if the world itself were about to be rewritten.
Kiyoshi landed hard, feeling his body begin to fail him, each passing second of the fight costing him more than he was willing to pay.
But he didn't back down.
The demon moved.
And in that single moment, everything fell silent
Kiyoshi took a step.
He vanished.
The demon struck — hitting only sand, which scattered into the air.
The realization came too late.
A second figure formed behind him.
— You can't control everything. — Kiyoshi said quietly.
One cut.
Clean.
Inevitable.
The demon's body split in half, and its form scattered like ashes carried by the wind, vanishing as if it had never existed.
Silence reigned in the cathedral for barely a few heartbeats. Then a scream rang out that did not belong to any of the wounded. It was a voice of hatred, pure, condensed into a guttural growl.
Arwen didn't wait. She moved with an acceleration that would have shattered human bones. Her body became a shadow that flashed past the first of the demons — a short, stocky creature with sallow skin, equipped with powerful jaws. Before it could swing its claws, her two daggers found their way between its ribs, sinking in up to the hilt. The demon groaned and collapsed, and she was already gone. She was on the second one.
This one was taller, slimmer, and wielded a long, curved dagger. He parried the blow, leaping to the side and using the momentum to spin. Her leg swept just over his head, but missed. Shocked by her speed, he took a step back, buying himself a moment. That was a mistake. In that moment, Arwen's second dagger left her hand, spinning through the air and sinking into his throat.
The third demon was different. He didn't rush to attack. He stood in the doorway, tall as a twisted shadow. His face was hidden beneath a hood, from which only two red points of light peered out. In his hands, not weapons, but a ball of thick, purple mist that pulsed like a heart.
— An interesting creature. — a shrill voice came from beneath the hood. — Fast. But just a creature.
He raised his hand and fired the orb toward Mayuri.
Mayuri stood frozen, her golden light long since extinguished. She saw death approaching, but her body refused to obey.
At the last moment, something stood in her way. The old priest, who had been catching his breath just a moment ago, threw himself in front of her with a scream on his lips and created a barrier, but the energy was stronger and pierced through the barrier. The bullet struck him in the chest, and his scream cut off with a gurgle. His body fell to the stone floor.
Silence.
Arwen froze mid-step, turning toward the priest. Her face, usually a hard mask, twitched.
— No… — Mayuri whispered. Her eyes fixed on the body lying there, then lifted to meet the demon's gaze. There was no fear left in them. Only cold, hard fury.
— See? — laughed the demon beneath the hood. — Defenseless. Weak. That's what you humans are.
His red eyes turned to Mayuri.
— You… wretched healer. You'll see your hope fade from their eyes.
Mayuri stood up slowly. Her hands clenched into fists, so tightly that her nails dug into her skin.
— Shut up… — Her voice was quiet, but it trembled with a power that hadn't been there before.
A light began to appear on her hands. But not that gentle, healing gold. It was a sharp, violet light, so bright it hurt the eyes, smelling of ozone after a lightning strike.
The demon let out a guttural sound, something between surprise and horror.
— Is that… you can't do that…
— I'll kill you… — Mayuri cut him off. Her hair billowed as if in an invisible wind. — You took my peace. You took their lives. Now I'll take yours… darkness.
She lunged forward, and a wave of pure, violet energy flared behind her. The demon screamed and raised his hands to create a barrier, but Mayuri's energy was like water that finds every crack. It pierced his defense, striking the spot of light on his chest.
— I see, you are the daughter of the god of shadows... — the demon said quietly.
The demon groaned, his body engulfed by a wave, and then he dissolved into dust, leaving behind only the smell of burnt sulfur.
Silence fell over the cathedral, broken only by quiet sobs.
Mayuri collapsed to her knees, her hands hanging limply at her sides. She was trembling, and her breathing was shallow and rapid.
Arwen was by her side in the blink of an eye. Her hands, always steady on the hilts of her daggers, now trembled as she placed them on Mayuri's shoulder.
— Mayuri… — Her voice was soft, full of a concern she had never shown before. — Calm down. It's over now.
Mayuri looked up at her, and in her eyes was reflected the full cost of what she had just done.
— He's dead… — she whispered. — The priest…
Arwen looked at the body lying nearby. Her jaw clenched tighter.
— Yes… He's dead… But he saved you…
— I… I can't… — Mayuri looked at her hands. — I'm killing. My power is meant to heal, not destroy.
— Now it must destroy. — Arwen's voice was hard as steel. — In this war, everyone who can fight must fight. Any weapon is good if it serves to protect the innocent.
— This isn't a weapon! — Mayuri cried out, her voice laced with hysteria. — It's me! My soul! What am I becoming?
Arwen grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her gently.
— You're becoming someone who will survive. — her voice was low and firm. — Look around. They need you. They need what you're doing, even if you hate every moment of it. They need someone who's willing to pay the price.
Mayuri looked at her, tears streaming down her cheeks. Then her gaze fell on the wounded lying on the floor. On their terrified faces. And she understood.
She slowly stood up, leaning on Arwen's arm.
— I'll help them… — she said quietly, her voice now steady.
Arwen nodded, her eyes once again fixed on the open doors of the cathedral.
— And I'll make sure no one else comes in here. — Arwen said.
At the same time, in front of the cathedral, Valdor cut down another demon and took a step forward when suddenly something caught his attention.
On one of the rooftops, above the devastated street, stood two hooded figures, Arthur and Sylphia
Valdor's heart skipped a beat.
— It's… them…
Valdor clenched his hand around the hilt of his sword.
— Again…
Sylphia turned and vanished.
— No! — Valdor rushed forward without a moment's hesitation.
— Valdor! — Noah shouted, but it was already too late.
Valdor ran out of the battlefield and headed toward the rooftops, chasing the shadow that had vanished between the buildings.
At that very moment, Arthur took a step forward… and jumped.
He landed heavily on the ground, and the impact echoed through the street, causing everyone around to freeze for a moment.
Dust swirled into the air.
When it settled, Arthur was already standing upright, his gaze cold. Fixed directly on Noah and Kael.
— You won't get any further… — he said calmly.
Noah clenched his fists, despite his exhaustion.
Kael raised his head slightly, assessing the situation.
— So now it's you… — he muttered.
Arthur tilted his head slightly as he drew his spear and pulled the cloak from his right wrist, revealing the red Demon Arc.
— I am Arthur. Lord Nathan ordered me to kill everyone I encounter… and you're next.
Noah and Kael stood facing him, ready to fight.