"Don't worry Scarlet... Hang in there..."
As I muttered that, Myria looked at me with concern as I looked back...
"Don't worry Reika, we will surely save her..."
"Yes, I know..."
As I smiled honestly and my tears fully cleared, we began advancing through the forest and further into demon territory...
※
It had been nearly 2 days since I began to journey into demon territory with Myria and to say the least... I'm pretty sure I would've been forced to retreat or worse if I was alone...
We had been fighting several high-ranked monsters and beasts ever since we managed to get out of the 'Forest of Nightmares'. During our time here in these, I had noticed the demon territory was very peculiar... the ground was covered by what seemed to be snow... but upon closer inspection, it revealed to be ash... It was quite creepy, to be honest, and it got even worse when the dead trees seemed to have been burned... Both Myria and I were surprised and a little scared by what could possibly lie ahead... but our worry for Scarlet was much more potent than our fear...
During our exploration deeper into the demon territory, we had seen many battles with humans fighting demons. The humans were quite clearly losing every encounter we found... but at no point did we intervene... If we were to be found out we might risk our single objective... Rescuing Scarlet...
But of course, we didn't manage advance through the demon territory without having fight a monster or two for food or because it was unavoidable... In the end, we fought increasingly stronger beasts, ranging from basic hellhounds to infernal wolves and even a hydra...
It took us at least 1 hour to beat that thing... It was tough with its absurd regenerative abilities and its toxic breath but in the end, we managed to bring it down without me having to rely on 'Boukyaku'. Right now, I only have to use 'Boukyaku' as a regular sword to prevent my mind from being controlled, and so far, it's going well.
Anyways, after many mishaps, we were now well on our way to the 'Galvan Fortress'. Apparently, according to what Haruto told Myria, the 'Galvan Fortress' is one of the military headquarters for the demon army against the humans, and as such it was quite heavily guarded.
However, the peculiar thing about these headquarters is that they were commanded by the demon king himself under regular war circumstances according to the intel gathered by the Everdian Kingdom... I know those guys aren't trustworthy, but I doubt they have much reason to lie to their heroes... So I'll take Myria's information as valid...
But as we remained walking I was finally able to spot something in the distance...
※
We were currently hiding behind some burnt trees and, thankfully, due to the ash we had covered ourselves in, we had gotten closer than expected to the huge and ominous structure...
The 'Galvan Fortress' was larger than both the Everidian's and Litherm's castles combined and it looked much more menacing as well... It had shards of sharp jet-black stone protruding from the ceiling while its outer walls were made out of black crystals... and to top it off... the walls were far taller than the tallest spire in Myria's castle...
The whole place was crawling with demons of all sizes and types... Furthermore, there were multiple beasts and monsters which were willingly obeying the demons as patrols... Myria and I were left shocked to see such a structure.
It was truly an unfathomable fortress...
"Hey Myria, how can we... enter 'that'..."
We were supposed to remain quiet in order to avoid attracting any attention to us... yet I felt so much anxiety just looking at the fortress that it made me anxious enough to ask...
But I guess Myria was just as anxious as me because she immediately replied uncertainty...
"I-I don't... know..."
Just seeing the sheer amount of demons patrolling made me aware of how important this place truly was...
...
...
...
'Can we even do this...?'
Immediately after simply seeing the sheer size of the place I began to question if we would be able to fulfill our objective...
'Scarlet is most likely stuck in there... but...'
I didn't know... I was... hopeless... I had been anxious to save Scarlet to this very moment yet, after arriving and coming to terms with reality I no longer knew if what I wanted would be possible...
'But... am... I... useless... again...?'
I could feel myself losing to desperation and anxiety quickly as I grabbed ahold of my head and shook it...
'No! No! No! I won't allow myself to lose her... but... how can I save he-'
*clank*
...
Just as I was placing my hands in order to better my spying position my left hand placed itself over Boukyaku's handle...
I looked at my belt curiously as an idea came to mind...
'Alright then... guess we'll do that...'
With a smile returning to my face and hope to my soul, I turned to Myria still deep within thought and asked her...
"Ok, Ready to do this?"
※
A smile swept across my face as I became ready to run...
Without much more to wait I finally yelled what I had been itching to say for the past hour:
"GO!"
As I yelled, suddenly all of the demons in the area turned their attention to me... Their looks were filled with disgust, hatred and even pity...? But I didn't care... I just started running with everything I had straight into the wall of the fortress without a care in the world...
I bet every single demon present was thinking that I was mad... but I exactly like planned, without wasting the opportunity, I heard a chant coming from behind me:
[HEAVEN'S WRATH]!"
Yep, we had planned all of this and as Myria's chant came to an end an arrow as bright as the sun shot out in my direction, barely missing me... But hitting its intended target...
The wall...
The moment, Myria's arrow hit the wall a blinding light emanated from the now, cracked wall... But that wasn't it, just as the blinding light appeared, soon followed a monstrous shockwave that made my flowing hair, fly backward and forced me to cover my face from the amount of debris flying everywhere...
But...
In the end...
I made it...
I ran as fast as I could as I unsheathed 'Boukyaku' and went through the huge hole Myria had just created for me...
...
...
...
I had been expecting something like this, but not to this extent...
Inside the fortress was a large open area with hundreds... no thousands... of demons inside who immediately turned to look at me in shock...
'Let the show begin...'
As a grin appeared on my face and my grasp on Boukyaku tightened I took a deep breath...
Taking a second to release all of my negative emotions and concentrate all of myself into my control...
I chanted...
"[Absolute Oblivion]..."
3rd Person P.O.V.
The second Reika's chant came to an end... the unimaginable happened...
Reika's body was engulfed in rampant bright blue flames that began expanding outwards like shockwaves from an explosion...
They expanded so fast, the demons were left unable to respond...
All the demons combined were unable to do anything, despite all efforts...
In the end... all of them faded out of existence in a split second...
Myria's P.O.V:
Just as I had seen Reika enter the 'Galvan Fortress' just as planned I immediately began to retreat...
'I don't know what you're planning Reika... but I'll believe in you...'
However... just as the demons who had seen me began giving chase, I heard a loud explosion coming from behind...
I turned around in shock only to find a...
I couldn't quite describe it...
It was a ginormous tornado of blue flames erupting directly from the center of the complex... and if my sights weren't failing me...
The walls made out of crystal were... melting!?
I was simply looking at something beyond imagination...
'So this is [Absolute Oblivion]... It is a lot stronger than what she described...'
I was left to stare in awe as the blue hurricane began consuming all of the demons who weren't lucky enough to escape, while the remaining ones simply ran away due to nasty aura the hurricane leaked...
'Alright, Reika... You can do it... Go save Scarlet...'
Reika's P.O.V.
'COME ON REIKA HOLD IT TOGETHER!!!'
It was unfathomably painful... I could feel my urges to destroy everything on sight... I heard the voices telling me to let go louder than ever... My head was spinning... but I still wouldn't let go...
'COME ON!!! JUST A LITTLE LONGER!!!'
I could literally feel my body being crushed every time I tried to fight back... I felt my head, my will and my soul being torn apart by the pressure...
'ALMOST THERE!!!'
But, my power was reaching dangerous levels... I could feel my consciousness fading and my power leaving my grasp... My control... leaving me...
'no... no... NO!!!!'
Until... a single image came to my mind...
'Scarlet...'
'Yes... I need to do this for her... I'm doing this to fix my mistake... I won't allow myself to be overpowered by my own skills...'
"it is all... FOR SCARLET!!!!"
I could see the demons, the walls, the structure being distorted and evaporated around me as my power was hitting its limits before running wild...
But in the end...
...
...
...
I did it...?
...
...
...
I could see no more demons before me...
I did it...?!
I MANAGED TO CONTROL IT!!!
"NOW! BACK!!!"
As I yelled with all my forces, I began to see the flames slowly wither away...
The flames were pouring into my body as I felt the pressure, stress voices and pain going quiet...
Finally...
In the middle of the disaster that had just taken place...
Everything went quiet...
As I fell to my knees panting I could only look around me hazily as I thought to myself...
'I really did it... I finally controlled it... I can... control myself...'
And just as I was recovering a smile in my face, I heard footsteps echo across the empty burned carcass of the fortress... While a friendly voice called out to me...
"REIKA!!! YOU DID IT!!!"
It was Myria... Who despite me being tired and out of breath didn't hesitate to hug me...
"I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!!! REIKA!!! I'M SO PROUD!!!"
Myria was almost strangling me right now... but that didn't matter...
I felt happy... I had finally controlled myself... And we would now get to rescue Scarlet...
...
...
...
But in the midsts of our cuddling a hoarse voice spoke making us turn in shock...
"Well, I knew you would come but not with that flashy of an entrance..."
...
...
...
It was the demon king...
He wore his smug smile while holding an unconscious...
...
...
...
""SCARLET!!!""
We both yelled in desperation seeing the demon king overconfident smile while holding our friend in his hands...
Just seeing my friend being held by the demon king made me become enraged...
"YOU MONSTER!!! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!"
But only gaining a far bigger grin the demon king laughed loudly as he responded threateningly...
"Well, it's not what I did to her... But what I'm about to do..."
The demon king suddenly placed Scarlet on the ground as both Myria and I remained wary of his next move...
But contrary to our beliefs... he didn't attack... rather he simply spoke...
"Scarlet... She is your friend, right...?"
Neither of us responded... yet the demon king seemed pleased just by looking at our expressions...
"Well, I know how strong you both are after that light spectacle you just put on for me... So I won't fight you..."
...
As the Demon king reached out to Scarlet's forehead... I became paralyzed as I remembered a part of the demon king's status I had neglected before...
I can't believe I made such a stupid move...
During our fight... when he placed Scarlet in between us...
'It was a test...'
But as I was submerged in my desperation... My worst nightmares became a reality...
"I'll let her... Fight you!"
""NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!""
Myria and I yelled at the top of our lungs as the demon king chanted...
"[Ultimate Demonic Control]..."