The demon kept his gaze on Alya's body, who was panting, breathing heavily. On her forehead, twelve black marks appeared at that instant.
The streets were calm. The urban buildings were silent, as if the world had stopped.
The horned entity wore an insane smile upon seeing Alya fallen, pierced by his sword, still stained with blood. But something was wrong: the blood on the blade didn't drip—it was slowly being sucked into it.
On that silent street, Revild stood still, engulfed by colossal fury. His vision locked onto Alya lying on the ground and the demon laughing beside her.
Otakura, further ahead, could do nothing but clench his fists in fury.
Without hesitation, Revild's blue eyes shone intensely. His muscles swelled, his strength fully concentrated, and then he shot forward like a human missile toward the demonic entity.
The demon caressed his own face with the dark arm that gripped the sword's hilt. Between grotesque fingers, his twisted face grinned with insane happiness.
Revild's advance was like thunder. Pebbles floated in the air, the glass windows vibrated on the verge of shattering. Mere millimeters from his target, Revild's fist was poised to crush.
The demon didn't flinch. His confidence was absolute. The ambiguous smile remained.
"Uron… Urono… UROGUNO!"
The demon's guttural voice echoed in an ancient, forgotten demonic tongue. At that instant, the sword reacted.
The dark arm, rugged like living shadows, grotesquely opened an eye in its center. The accompanying sound was pure dread.
The eye locked onto Revild.
A soundwave echoed down the street, electrifying, vibrating air and ground alike.
The dust dispersed, and Revild lost momentum. His muscles screamed. He tried to move his fingers—they wouldn't respond. His entire body was paralyzed, frozen like a statue.
Meanwhile, Alya lay on the ground, bleeding from her abdomen. The black marks on her forehead had dropped to eleven, one already fading, nearly leaving only ten.
The demon stared at Revild with contempt.
"Did you really think you'd reach me? Too bad… you're nothing but a pathetic human."
The blade of the sword began to change. From its metallic appearance, it now burned with vivid crimson tones. Two sharp tips, like black tubes, pierced the demon's own flesh, dyeing the blade an even deeper red.
In the blink of an eye, the electric hum returned.
And then... the demon was behind Revild. A deep slash appeared on his left shoulder.
The blood that poured from the wound floated toward the cursed blade, consumed instantly.
Revild collapsed to his knees, coughing blood, his trembling hands clutching the dirt. The paralysis broke with that cut, but his heart beat faintly.
The demon smiled wider.
"My sword likes your blood. I think she'll want more."
But then, at that instant... twelve black marks appeared on Revild's forehead too.
Alya's count had dropped to ten.
∆∆∆∆∆∆
Otakura watched everything, powerless. Rage boiled inside him. The heat from his feet melted the ground, and his arms glowed like burning embers. His breath released flames.
With furious impulse, Otakura launched himself at the demon, his speed absurd, leaving a trail of steam and incandescent dust.
The grotesque eye of the sword spun, fixing on Otakura and also on Sasha and Takimira, who followed close behind.
Another soundwave reverberated.
Otakura's flames extinguished. His velocity was cut. His body froze completely.
The same happened to Sasha and Takimira.
The putrid stench of the sword spread like a toxic mist.
The demon drew more blood into the blade. The wind and dust were swept aside by an unseen force.
In the blink of an eye, the demon was gone.
Then came the slashes: across the backs of Otakura, Sasha, and Takimira. Deep enough to make them clench their teeth in pain, but not enough to drop them immediately.
The blood didn't reach the ground—it was devoured by the blade.
"This is wonderful. I'm loving this…" the demon said, walking slowly, savoring the cruel scene.
Otakura and Takimira dropped to their knees, coughing blood. Twelve black marks burned into their foreheads.
Sasha remained standing, panting. Twelve black marks pulsed on her skin. Her vision blurred, but she saw the demon approaching.
"I-I'll use it… even if I can only… use it once a day… I'll use it anyway…"
Her voice was a desperate whisper.
The demon grinned, getting closer.
With brutal effort, bringing her fingers together and forming a circle, Sasha whispered:
"Mirror of Reality, Flower of Flames!"
A wave of revulsion swept through the demon's body. His vision spun. Everything became darkness.
When he opened his eyes, he was in a silent field. Thousands of rose petals floated.
Confused, he grabbed one of the flowers to sniff it.
BOOM!
The rose exploded in his face. Flames engulfed him. The fire spread to the other roses. Everything around him erupted in explosions of blistering flame.
∆∆∆∆∆∆
Back in reality, smoke filled the air. The demon's clothes burned, and he coughed up blood, which was immediately devoured by the sword.
The grip of the blade tightened around his dark arm.
With a grotesque crack, he disappeared and reappeared behind Sasha.
By the time she noticed, the blade had already impaled her abdomen.
The searing heat of the metal inside her delivered excruciating pain. Two tubes emerged from the sword arm, drilling deeper.
"I'm going to die… I don't want to die… I just wanted to be useful once… why do I have to die?" she thought, drowning in despair.
Her arms, trembling with cold, tried to hold the blade that impaled her, but her vital energy was already drained.
Revild drove his fingers into the dirt, groaning in exertion. The paralysis was gone, but the damage lingered. His mark was down to seven. Alya's was five. Otakura and Takimira, nine.
The demon yanked the sword from Sasha, and the blade drank deeply.
"Too bad… I got you good. I bet that hurts, huh? But with two cuts, your count will plummet."
His smile was icy and cruel.
Sasha was still standing… but barely. Her mark dropped to four.
In the blink of an eye, Revild appeared before the demon, gripping his face and slamming it into the ground.
The impact was brutal enough to crack the earth. The demon howled in pain, blood pouring from his mouth.
But he rose slowly, as if nothing had happened, spitting blood and cracking his neck.
"You're strong."
He tried to advance, but agony erupted from deep within him. His gaze blurred.
"How… how did you do that?! I'll kill you, human!"
But then… Sasha's mark reached zero.
Her eyes widened. Her wounds burst open wider. All her blood surged toward the blade.
Her body withered. She collapsed, lifeless.
Otakura, Takimira, Alya, and Revild stared, horrified, at her fallen form.
The demon grinned with insane pleasure.
"My sword still wants more…"
His footsteps echoed heavily across the street.
Revild clenched his fists. Koloris's words echoed in his mind.
"Fourth Resurrection."
A crack. Revild's body stood still for two seconds. Then it moved again.
A dark, blue aura enveloped him. His grin twisted into madness.
He vanished.
The demon's eyes bulged. The sword's eye tried to paralyze Revild again, but the magic was shattered.
The punch landed like a meteor. The demon's jaw nearly broke—two teeth went flying.
Before he could regain focus, Revild smashed his face again, hurling him into a wall, obliterating it.
"This is impossible! How can a human use resurrection?!"
The demon staggered, trembling. Revild advanced like a grim specter.
Desperate, the demon resorted to the unthinkable.
"Seventh… RESURRECTION!"
An overwhelming aura, even greater than Revild's, engulfed the area. The air distorted.
But the demon's body didn't move.
After thirty seconds, the aura vanished.
He coughed one last time, blood gushing.
And then he collapsed. Dead.
Silence.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the corpse.
The only thing heard was:
"What… just happened here?"