Asmodeus felt guilty because of his actions. The departure would be delayed. However, it couldn''t be stopped or changed now. Instead of lingering on such thoughts, he remained silent while listening to the sounds coming from inside the cocoon.

"I wonder what you will become..."

***

Meanwhile, inside the cocoon, Sheila''s mind and body were being picked apart and gouged out piece by piece before slowly merging with the demon blood lingering inside the cocoon. Her soul was forcefully dragged from her old body as the sinister forces twisted and crushed the intangible source of power into a deformed and monstrous shape.

''Where... where am I?''

Sheila felt no pain nor had any idea what was happening around her, as if she was being held in a deep slumber. The surroundings changed back to the kingdom of Grigor''s castle, but this time, the sky was dark, with red lightning dancing everywhere. Monsters covered the city below the castle as far as she could see.

This scene caused her heart to race because the knights she once met in the past were dead, their bodies torn apart or hanging from sharp stakes like dried meat in front of the butcher. Bloodstained everything while cries of despair echoed endlessly, causing the place to resemble a living hell.

The people she was trying to protect in the past, who had helped her multiple times when she needed them, had disappeared.

"What.... where is this?!"

However, she felt something, an energy that made her desire to run towards it. Nostalgic, beloved... something that attracted her body and soul in the same direction.

She rushed towards the location, her feet almost slipping in the pools of blood and muddy liquids. Then she slipped and fell down the cracked wall, her ribs aching as she rolled on her back only to see the destroyed inner wall, broken doors and dried moat.

''It hurts... but... why is the world so empty?!''

It was at that moment she heard something, the sound of metal clashing in the distance over the small mound beside her.

''Ahh, it is the knights. They must be there.''

She stood up again, feeling her entire body aching, especially her bones. Even her hands were twisted, and her breathing became more and more erratic as she kept climbing. Her body swayed and staggering as the bruises and bloody wounds on her body became worse.

"Ah?!"

Sheila slipped, her hand holding the stone wall lost grip before her body rolled down the stones, her bones cracking because of the heavy impact.

Despite her fall, she felt a sense of desperation and determination while pulling herself up; each time she put pressure on her hips and right shoulder, an unbearable pain flooded her body, almost causing her to lose consciousness.

***

When she reached the top of the outer wall, Sheila could see several tall figures standing further away from her location. However, there seemed to be only five monsters left in the place as the corpses littered all over the place. A group of people who fought against these creatures also died without even leaving traces of their presence.

No... five monsters were fighting a single pair of people.

"Why? What is this sight..."

Alan''s corpse was impaled a few metres from where the group fought. Even Liana and the other women who she recognised all lay spread across the battlefield, bloody and torn apart. Experience new stories on m v|l e''-novelhall.net

Yet in the centre, with an arm missing and his right eye blinded, Asmodeus fought alone while protecting someone... It was a strange yet beautiful demon with red skin and a beautiful pair of silver and golden eyes.

"How did a mortal survive... interesting, no, you are not human but a demon?" Mephisto, the god of death, spoke to Asmodeus, his eyes and nose turned up as if mocking him for daring to even remain alive after being near him.

"It matters not anymore..." Asmodeus grunted while spitting on the floor.

"Tell me... Asmodeus, how does it feel to be face to face with the true criminal who killed your mother and father with a curse?" A gust of wind passed as the dull, lifeless eyes of Asmodeus began to burn with anger, despair and frustration.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

Asmodeus charged at the god of death with a broken sword in one hand and a broken arm that could barely hold anything, including its weight, without snapping off. There was no elegance—his form from the inn when she met him was all but gone as he attacked relentlessly.

"If that''s all, I can see why your little lovers are all dead," Mephisto grumbled. After hearing such mockery, Sheila watched as Asmodeus lost control and kept charging with a crazed look on his face.

No matter how many times his broken sword slashed towards Mephisto, the male just flicked the air and created a divine wall that stopped all of Asmodeus'' attacks.

Slowly, the demon started to grow weak before falling to the ground with blood gushing out from every open wound. His chest became distorted and crippled under Mephisto''s attacks.

Mephisto snorted. "You call yourself the heir of Satan? What a joke..." A black ball of darkness appeared beside Asmodeus, and with a sudden flash of darkness, half his body vanished, blood spurting from the half-destroyed organs that suddenly vanished to the strange attack.

"I am not done..." The dark, bloody aura around Asmodeus'' body started to thicken, causing the entire area to sink and crack under the pressure.

[You see him suffer. Now tell me. Do you truly accept his blood to become a demon and never forsake him? You have one chance, choose, or your soul will never know peace!]

''Were the feelings I felt ever my own... Or were they all created by Lumina''s obsession?!''

"I...I am unsure about this all... I want my feelings, not ones forced on me!!"

[Lumina is dead. Any feelings you feel now are your own—her powers are not able to overwrite a person''s mind even after death. The affection you feel now was created by you, yourself!]

[But know, he won''t forgive you easily, and the path he has chosen will be full of suffering and difficult battles. Can you truly accept that?] The voice paused as if expecting an answer.

''What is the purpose of asking me if I cannot decline!''

Her body began to move toward the collapsed male, the world frozen, yet the dark ball that caused Asmodeus to fall into this state was close to his head. Yet Sheila hugged his bloody, dying body.

"Even if he keeps hating me until the end, I will accept his wrath and never forsake him again!"

[Good...] The voice seemed pleased.

"But...."

Suddenly, a tremendous wave of energy emerged around her, almost causing her soul to explode.

This sudden burst of energy forced itself into her body, but the nostalgic power made tears stream from her eyes—as the world became dark, Asmodeus vanished from her arms, and the image of the strange male called Mephisto also disappeared.

[Never forget what you said, but don''t give up hope.]

[Forgiveness will come to those who deserve it.]