CHAPTER 111: FAREWELL KISS

«I was sure Raelos would be able to get some results... At least, when the venerable Cassian Thalukvar returns to Earth, I’ll have some good news to give him. Akashi betrayed us. Velshekar disappeared. Velune is working with the Monster Reapers. Eskari was defeated... If Raelos failed too... how could I even report back?» Zhurvak mutters—the blue amphibious creature with dozens of yellow eyes.

Raelos warned him about the destination, so he materialized there a second after the incubus arrived.

He sits on the edge of a nearby rooftop, watching the fight with growing excitement. That excitement explodes into pure joy when Hakuto is struck dead by lightning.

«Go, Raelos! Go! You’re the best!»

Zhurvak jumps and cheers like a crazed cheerleader.

«H-Hakuto...» Chantal murmurs.

Her whole body trembles as she staggers toward Raelos.

When she sees Hakuto killed by his own father, a new spark lights up in Ana’s eyes.

As she realizes what just happened, she lets out a scream even more desperate than Chantal’s.

Ana didn’t kill him directly, but she helped cause it by stopping Chantal.

That truth crashes down on her like a landslide, burying her in terror and guilt. «What have I done...? What have I done...?» she whispers.

Her eyes fill with tears as she stares at Hakuto’s charred, smoking corpse lying nearby.

Chantal breathes deeply. Her teeth clench. Her fists tighten around the hilt of her heavy sword.

«D-Damn incubus... you killed Hakuto... how could you...? I... I... I’LL KILL YOU!»

Then... an explosion of pink flames bursts violently from her body.

The shockwave destroys everything around her and sends Ana flying, rolling across the ground after being blown dozens of meters away.

«You’re even hotter when you’re pissed off, you know? I think I won’t kill you even after I get all the info I want. It would be a real shame to send such beauty to the land of the dead. You’d make the perfect little whore to stand by my beloved daughter,» Raelos grins.

But Chantal doesn’t listen.

She bends slightly at the knees, gripping her weapon tightly and...

—SWISH!

The large sword of solid blood wrapped in pink flames slices Raelos’s chest.

«W-What the hell...?!» Raelos shouts, shocked.

He didn’t even see it coming—the blade was already on him in a blink, even though she was almost twenty meters away.

The slash is fast and powerful, but it barely scratches Raelos’s tough skin.

Chantal vanishes again.

She appears above him, sword raised, ready to strike, but an electric field bursts from Raelos’s body, hitting her head-on and blasting her backward.

Still, she doesn’t give up.

She stretches out her arm again and...

«Blood Word lv.1: Burst!»

This time, the blast is much stronger than before... but not enough.

Raelos simply punches it away with a fist full of electric power.

Raelos is about to counterattack, but something distracts him.

Ana, no longer under his control, is slowly walking toward Hakuto’s body.

Her eyes overflow with tears.

«Ana, what the fuck are you doing?! Get back here now!»

Raelos’s eyes glow violet, and Ana’s do too.

She turns toward him, wings spread, ready to fight at his side...

...but that mental manipulation is interrupted.

A new burst of energy explodes in Raelos’s face.

For a moment, he got distracted by Ana.

But Chantal, still falling, took the chance to fire another Blood Word Burst—and she lands on her feet.

«Stupid little girl...» Raelos growls—blood dripping from his mouth and nose.

It’s his first real injury in the entire fight.

Chantal crouches again, sword in hand, ready for another charge.

The pink flames around her burn brighter than ever.

Out of the corner of his eye, Raelos watches Ana.

She is now kneeling beside Hakuto’s corpse.

She lifts his torso slightly and rests his head on her chest like a pillow.

Her tears fall on his face.

Their lips are just a breath apart as she whispers.

«Hakuto... I’m sorry, Hakuto... it’s all my fault... it’s only my fault... If I had died that night at Ashiya Rock Garden, none of this would have happened. You spared me. You even freed my mother from Velshekar’s prison. Your death... was the price of your kindness... your generosity... It’s not fair... it’s not fair! I love you, Hakuto. Since the very first time I saw you... and more and more each day. Even when I was in São Vicente, I never stopped thinking about you. I dreamed that someday we could live the love destiny had planned for us. But maybe happiness... being loved... just isn’t meant for me. You, on the other hand, have so many people who love you, my beloved Hakuto... Because of me, many people suffered. You most of all. I don’t want to cause pain to anyone ever again...»

Then, Ana’s lips touch Hakuto’s.

Her tongue slips into his mouth in a kiss he can’t return.

At that moment, Ana’s body lights up with a faint violet glow.

«Ana, you damned bitch! Don’t you dare!» Raelos growls.

A sphere of crackling plasma forms in his hand, ready to throw it at Ana.

But Chantal beats him to it.

«I’m your opponent, asshole!»

Her blade brushes Raelos’s neck—he is forced to dodge at the last second.

If it had landed, the blow could have been fatal.

«You’re pissing me off, you filthy bitch!» Raelos snaps.

He unleashes the electric blast at Chantal, hitting her squarely.

Lightning and sparks explode around her, ripping her skin and locking up her muscles.

«The bitch is your damn mother!» Chantal shouts back, furious and desperate.

Her regeneration kicks in just fast enough.

She recovers from that brutal hit and throws herself at him in another desperate charge.

But Raelos doesn’t cast another electric spell.

His eyes glow violet.

He’s using mental manipulation again—but not on Ana this time.

He’s targeting Chantal.

But...

—SWISH!

The huge blood sword, wrapped in pink flames, slams into Raelos’s arm, cutting it slightly.

«Y-You damn bitch! How the hell did you resist my charm?!» the incubus roars.

He punches her in the stomach with a violent electric strike.

Blood bursts from her mouth, her body torn by deadly shocks.

«Because I like pussy, you bastard!»

A burst of violet flames erupts from Chantal’s body, engulfing Raelos completely.

But once again, the damage is minor—just superficial burns.

Chantal grits her teeth hard.

She’s tried everything, but none of her attacks have done more than scratch him.

She’s running on fumes, her body broken and exhausted.

«Enough! Time to sleep, bitch!»

Raelos slams his fist into her face.

It sends her flying nearly twenty meters through the air.

The impact cracks the ground beneath her—her unconscious body lies in a pool of blood.

Ana’s tongue moves deeper inside Hakuto’s mouth, filled with passion and sorrow.

Her tears never stop falling onto their cheeks.

Then... Hakuto’s eyes barely open—just two faint slits.

«Hakuto... I’m so happy you woke up... I was starting to lose hope...» Ana murmurs.

A radiant smile spreads across her face, even as tears and despair still fill her eyes.

«Ana...» Hakuto whispers, his voice faint. But something feels wrong.

He tries to touch her—to place his hand on hers—but his fingers pass right through her, like she’s just a hologram.

«Ana... what’s happening...?» he asks, dazed and confused.

«I love you, Hakuto... I love you more than anyone in the world. ’We’ll always be together, no matter what, for the rest of our lives’. I love this phrase... I think staying by someone’s side, no matter what, is the truest form of love... So I’ll stay with you forever, my beloved Soulmate... until death parts us, again...»

As she speaks, Ana’s body becomes more and more transparent.

Her outline fades.

She is no longer flesh and blood, but a cloud of shimmering violet particles.

Hakuto realizes it when he looks past her.

The lower half of her body is already gone.

The rest is quickly dissolving into that swarm of glowing violet particles, like fireflies fading into the wind.

Hakuto tries to hug her.

But again, his arms pass right through.

«T-This can’t be happening...» Raelos mutters, his voice trembling.

Only now does he finally notice the scene, just after knocking Chantal out.

His wings spread wide—he dives toward them like a lightning bolt.

«I’m so happy, Hakuto... we’ll finally be together forever...»

Those final, almost inaudible words leave Ana’s lips.

And then... every last trace of her body vanishes.

The tears she left on Hakuto’s face are the only thing that remains of her.

«Hakuto Tendo... how dare you! How dare you take my beloved daughter from me! I’ll kill you again, you bastard! But this time... it’ll be forever!»

Raelos is inches away from hitting Hakuto with a full-powered electric punch when...

—BOOM!

A blinding, violent violet wave erupts from Hakuto’s body.

It slams into Raelos and launches him through the air.

He bounces across the ground like a skipping stone before crashing into a nearby building and vanishing under the rubble.

A second later, a violet explosion bursts out from under the debris.

It reduces the rubble to dust.

Raelos rises, more furious than ever—a storm of violet lightning spirals around him.

He’s about to launch his counterattack, but he suddenly freezes—petrified—when his eyes land on Hakuto again.