CHAPTER 10: OBLIVION

Azrakan was still smiling, his scarlet eyes burning in the night. His horns chimed softly as he tilted his head, like an actor on stage ready to declaim.

He raised his arms, his chains jingling like church bells. His eyes lit up with a feverish gleam.

— "Aaaaaah... what magnificence! What foresight! He planned... everything! From your very first steps, he set his pawns, laid his traps, spread his nets. Every breath, every tear, every scream at your beginning... were nothing but the strings of a symphony he had already written."

He burst into a guttural laugh, his shoulders trembling as if in a trance.

— "What a sublime king I serve! A king who sees farther than the sky, deeper than the abyss! A king before whom even your gods... are nothing but helpless spectators!"

His ecstasy lasted a few more seconds, his words dripping with sickly adoration. Then, suddenly, he stopped, regaining an almost serious air.

— "Ah. Yes. Hm, hmhm... forgive my outburst." His grotesque smile stretched once more. "I was forgetting my mission."

He took a few slow steps, his boots clapping on the blood-soaked earth. His burning eyes seized us one by one.

— "You know... this world you’re trying to save from the demons’ claws?"

A silence. He leaned slightly forward, his black lips revealing his fangs.

— "It was ours first."

I thought my heart stopped.

Azrakan chuckled, caressing the air with his long, pale hands.

— "Your so-called noble races... your arrogant elves, your decadent humans, your greedy dwarves... they are the colonizers. They are the ones who tore our lands from us."

His smile twisted into a feral grimace.

— "Every century, they summon heroes like you. Always the same puppets, called to massacre our people in the name of their so-called gods."

He burst into laughter, sharper, crueler.

— "And us?! We are nothing but the victims! The black beasts of their tales... when all we ever did was try to survive."

His voice grew caressing, almost tender, though his eyes gleamed with sadism:

— "You understand, don’t you? You are the tools of your oppressors. The playthings of your false gods. And I... I came to remind you of that."

Miyu clenched her katana, her eyes blazing with hatred.

— "And that justifies your massacres? That you kill women, children, innocents? You’re nothing but monsters! You deserve everything that’s coming to you!!"

Her voice cracked through the silence like an insolent blade.

Azrakan went still. Then, slowly, very slowly, he turned his head toward her. His scarlet eyes shone with a foul light, and his smile stretched until it deformed his face.

I felt my blood freeze. Cold sweat ran down my back. Even Aurelia trembled in my hand. Fuck... I knew it. Genesis would be useless against him at my level.

He stepped forward. One step. Two. Each jingle of his chains rang like a funeral bell.

Stopping before Miyu, he leaned in slowly. His pale, oversized fingers framed her face. As if holding her between metal pincers.

His fetid breath slid against her lips.

— "Never interrupt me again... when I speak."

His tone was caressing, almost gentle. That was worse than a threat.

Then, with a sharp movement, his other hand shot out.

A backhand. Brutal.

— CRAAACK!

The shock rang out in the night. Miyu’s face whipped to the side, her body thrown like a doll. She flew several meters, crashing heavily onto the muddy ground. Her katana slipped from her hand.

A streak of blood splattered the earth. She coughed, spat red, her lips twisted in pain. Her arm hung grotesquely, broken by the impact.

I wanted to leap forward. But my legs refused to move.

Yet Miyu rose. Slowly. Trembling. Her eyes still burning with rage, despite the blood running from her chin. She sat back among us, her breathing wheezing, her broken arm dangling against her side.

Azrakan brushed his hands as if slapping Miyu had been nothing but a trifle. His black smile stretched again.

— "Where was I... before this vile little thing interrupted me?"

My breath caught. In my head, only one phrase spun, looping like poison:

I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you.

Azrakan chuckled, as if he could hear me. His eyes lit with mocking amusement.

— "Ah yes... you, the heroes."

He spread his arms wide, theatrical.

— "Did you know you are the strongest ever summoned? Never. Not a single generation gathered a hero of SSS rank... and blessings such as yours."

His eyes slid over each of them, slowly, savoring our tense faces.

— "All worthy of praise... all sublime. The Demon King himself would be honored to have you at his side. As comrades. As equals."

A rougher laugh rose from his throat.

— "Because at heart... we are nothing else. Beings like you. Blessed. Played by the same cruel gods who take delight in our battles."

He leaned closer, his fetid breath brushing our faces.

— "Take me, for example. I was nothing but a defenseless demon. Nothing. An insect. And then I received my blessing... rank A."

A wicked smile split his lips.

— "And here I am. Lieutenant of the Demon King’s army."

My guts twisted. So that was it. Everything depended on blessings. Not blood, not race. Only... the gods’ voice, their whim.

I gripped Aurelia, my breath trembling. My brain boiled. If that’s true... then there’s a flaw. Everything can be decided by blessings.

My lips moved before I could stop them.

— "Tell me more."

Azrakan arched a brow, intrigued.

I held his gaze, heart in tatters.

— "You say you’re the victims. That it was the gods and the noble races who reduced you to this. That we, the heroes, are just their tools. So then..."

A silence. His mouth stretched into a mad smile, his eyes blazing with jubilation.

— "... you confirm this world was never ours? That your wars... are only the gods’ cruel games?"

Azrakan’s laugh exploded. A thick, booming laugh that shook the night.

— "Finally... finally a hero who asks the right questions!"

He savored each word, each tremor of our bodies.

— "Yes... this world was ours. Before your ’noble’ races came. Before they raised their stone cities, their arrogant temples, their lying gods."

He paced, his chains clinking like a death knell.

— "And every century, your priests summon a hero. Always the same cycle. Always the same farce. Heroes against demons. As if it were written... from the start."

He burst into grotesque laughter, his horns vibrating in the night.

— "But I... I know. I know it’s the gods pulling the strings. Not the Demon King. Not your pathetic kings. The gods alone make us dance, puppets in an arena."

His eyes blazed, his voice rising, vibrating with fanaticism.

— "The Demon King is not a tyrant. He is our liberator! He is the one who wants to break the circle! And you..." His long, pale finger pointed at us. "You could be his allies. His brothers."

My breath was ragged. My heart pounded against my ribs. I tightened Aurelia... but I smiled.

— "Fascinating." My voice trembled, but I forced a false calm. "So we are... the same playthings."

Azrakan chuckled, satisfied.

— "Exactly."

I inhaled deeply. Then, slowly, I lifted my eyes to him.

— "If that’s true... then at least let us stand."

His smile half-faded. I went on, my voice low:

— "They are broken, still trembling in their own vomit. If you truly want to talk... then let them heal. Show that your words mean more than their humiliation."

A heavy silence. The chains jingled as he tilted his head slightly.

Then, in a lazy voice, he replied:

— "Hmmm... fine. So be it."

He snapped his fingers.

— "You may move. As you wish, dear heroes."

Hikari gasped, slowly lifting her head. Reina clenched her teeth, rising with effort. Miyu, arm twisted, groaned but grabbed her katana with a furious gesture. Ayame, pale, placed a trembling hand on her daughter to comfort her.

And me...

I raised my eyes to Azrakan. A smile spread across my lips. Wide. Unexpected.

The demon froze, surprised. His scarlet eyes narrowed, intrigued.

He didn’t understand. But it was too late.

There was something I had hidden. From everyone. Even from them. Because my blessing wasn’t just Genesis. There was another skill, one I had never dared to use. Never.

Why? Because it demanded too much. Far too much. More than my body could give.

Azrakan must have been watching us, calculating each of our actions. He knew about Genesis. But this other skill... he didn’t.

And now that we could move freely, now that this demon approached with his puppet’s smile... I knew this was the moment. My mana, I had almost none left. But this skill could feed on something else.

In exchange. In sacrifice.

So I chose.

My right eye.

An irreversible price. Something that would vanish forever.

The pain was atrocious. As if a white-hot iron pierced my skull from within. I felt my retina burn, my nerves sear, my socket empty. Half my world went dark in a geyser of agony.

But I held on. Because I wanted to see this demon suffer.

So I spoke the words.

— "Oblivion."

Azrakan froze. His chains jingled in the silence, his scarlet eyes widening in a near-human jolt.

Me, though blood flowed from my eye, I smiled.

He understood. I understood.

And the girls, they saw only a word. A word incomprehensible. But they did see the panic that, for a second, crossed the Demon King’s lieutenant’s gaze.

I raised my head, my smile stretched wide by pain.

— "You thought I had only one card?" My voice shook, but each syllable vibrated with rage. "Genesis was only a façade. A weapon I could show."

I spat blood, my empty eye pulsing with agony.

— "But the truth... is that I have another power. Older. Heavier. More... absolute."

Azrakan opened his mouth, his fangs gleaming, ready to insult, to roar.

But then...

There was nothing.

What was missing, what had vanished... was his tongue.

Miyu staggered. Her left arm dangled grotesquely twisted, the bone nearly piercing through her flesh. Her breath was ragged, her chest marked with burns, her eyes drowned in blood and tears.

And yet... she rose.

Her clenched fingers gripped her katana. The blade dragged against the ground, grating, then ignited with scarlet fire. Wild flames, untamed, devouring even the air around her.

Before her, the demon.

The floating shadow, who moments earlier had ruled over us like an invincible entity, recoiled. Slowly. His twisted body trembled, his black claws faltered in the void. His eyes, once blazing with arrogance, shrank back into their spectral sockets.

He was afraid.

So he tried to flee. His outline swelled, his claws turned backward as if to rip himself away from the room and sink into nothingness. But at that same instant, the ground cracked.

A streak of ice shot forth, swift as a serpent, sliding across the floor. It caught the shadow, coiled around it, and pinned it to the ground with a sharp crack. Spikes of ice burst out, piercing his warped form, holding him fast.

— "You won’t move again," Reina whispered, her scepter aimed at the monster.

The demon struggled for a fraction of a second, but his claws froze instantly, trapped in frost.

And then Miyu, panting, arm broken, dragged her flaming katana toward him...

— "...Hhhh... HHHAAAAA!!!"

Miyu’s cry erupted, guttural, inhuman. She rushed forward.

The first strike severed a charred arm.

The second ripped open his torso.

The third drove the blade to the hilt, and already, scarlet flames poured into the wound, devouring the demon from within.

He did not scream. Not a sound. Only the roar of flames engulfing his carcass.

— "HHHHAAAAAAA!!!"

Miyu howled with each strike. Her voice rang out, savage, bloody, torn. Her tears flew, her blood splattered her face, but she struck again. Again. Again.

Each blow made the ground quake. Each drive of the blade opened new breaches. Each scarlet spark consumed a little more of what was left of the shadow.

— [Level 11 reached.]

— [Level 12 reached.]

— [Level 13 reached.]

— [Level 14 reached.]

Her hand was breaking, her muscles tearing. She was nothing but a beast, possessed by her rage.

The demon was already nothing but a charred corpse, a shredded shadow. But to Miyu, he was still breathing. To her, he still had to suffer.

She lunged, a savage howl on her lips. The scarlet blade sank into what remained of his spectral skull. Then she twisted, stabbed, stabbed, stabbed again. Each blow unleashed gouts of flame, each impact scattering fragments of ash into the air.

— [Level 15 reached.]

— [Level 16 reached.]

— [Level 17 reached.]

— [Level 18 reached.]

There was nothing left to kill. But she kept going. Her strikes hammered the ground, shredded the remains, drove her katana into ashes already dead. The demon’s silence made the scene even more insane. Not a scream. Not a groan. Nothing but the flames’ roar... and Miyu’s screams.

— "DIE!!! DIE!!! DIE!!!"

Her katana blazed like a sun, spewing unbearable heat. The flames swallowed everything around, floor, corpse, leaving only a red inferno.

— [Level 19 reached.]

— [Level 20 reached.]

— [Level 21 reached.]

— [Level 22 reached.]

Then, in one final cry, she raised her katana. Her broken arm dangled, her body trembled, but she brought the blade down one last time.

A sharp impact. A wave of flames.

The rest of the demon burst apart, reduced to a rain of black ashes consumed by fire.

And nothing remained.

Nothing... except Miyu, in the heart of the blaze.

She was still screaming, her red eyes drowned in tears, the incandescent katana stuck into the ground like a burning cross. Her ragged breath mingled with the flames, as if she were burning from the inside along with the monster she had just annihilated.