"[Ultimate Demonic Control]..."
'...No...'
That was my single thought as the demon king's grin grew far more sinister by the second...
Both Myria and I were unsure about what to do as a horrific scene began performing before us...
As his chant finally came to an end, an ominous black miasma started pouring out from the demon king's hand... It was disgusting, evil and it was heading straight for Scarlet...
"LEAVE HER ALONE!!!"
I yelled at the top of my lungs as the black miasma slowly made its way to the dormant Scarlet... It was scary... I could feel my heart contracting as I realized what this implied...
"STOP!!! PLEASE!!! STOP!!!"
I yelled with all of my strengths as tears began forming in my eyes...
'I can't... I can't... not Scarlet... not my friend...'
However... the demon king's grin only grew in amusement as he pushed even more miasma out of his hand...
'...No... I... I can't allow this...'
Without much more thinking involved I began racing at my top speed towards the demon king and the laying Scarlet...
Myria yelling in the background for me to stop... but I didn't care... I couldn't afford to lose my friend... I just couldn't...
But as I drew closer to the demon king and Scarlet tragedy truly occurred...
The miasma has been lingering over Scarlet but that was it... yet...
The miasma sensing I was drawing closer began to enter Scarlet through her nose, mouth, ears even closed eyes...
It was absolutely repulsive...
I was already at the border of desperation... when something finally pushed me off the edge...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"
Following the miasma entering Scarlet's body... painful and agonizing screams started coming from Scarlet's mouth...
In an instant... Scarlet's body began having a convulsion as it twitched in the midst of the clear pain she was in...
I no longer had the heart to keep approaching as I cried uncontrollably...
'...Scarlet...'
...
As the scene finally wrapped up...
Scarlet...
Slowly stood up...
...
...
...
But it wasn't her...
Her face...
Her eyes...
Her smile...
It was all clouded... opaqued... hazy...
Her happiness and cheerfulness, gone without leaving a trace...
I could physically feel my heart hurting as I stared into Scarlet's murky eyes...
Both, Myria and I stared in pity and sadness... as we both knew...
That wasn't Scarlet...
...
...
...
I just stared tearfully at Scarlet as she stared back...
I don't want this...
I could feel myself falling into desperation by the second...
As Scarlet remained emotionless...
"Please don't make me do this..."
I said in sorrow as my eyes filled with tears...
'I don't want to... hurt her... not again... I promised... I PROMISED...'
But... Scarlet remained with her emotionless face as she took a fighting stance...
...
...
...
My eyes started flooding with tears as I took a fighting stance as well...
"REIKA STOP!!!"
...
I could hear Myria yelling in the background... she was worried... sad... angered...
"Reika... don't hurt her... she's our fri-"
"THAT IS NOT SCARLET!!!"
...
As my eyes only further clouded with tears I turned around and interrupted Myria without hesitation... but I didn't care... it was true...
What I had before me... Wasn't Scarlet...
"I don't know how to free her from this... and she wants to fight... I have no choice..."
...
As I turned around to face Scarlet once more, she remained motionless ready to chant at any given second... And of course... an amused demon king behind her...
'...I'll kill him... I'll kill him... I WILL TEAR HIM TO PIECES...'
As fury began taking me over...
I placed my hand over Boukyaku's handle...
And I liberated my aura...
"[Master Hide Presence: Off]..."
In an instant, the atmosphere around us became filled to the brim with unimaginable amounts of killing intent...
However... as expected... Scarlet and the demon king weren't affected...
I knew after seeing both Scarlet's and the demon king's statuses that they would be immune to it... to some extent... However, I didn't imagine they wouldn't be affected at all...
Seeing this, I would be forced to go all out...
If my aura had no effect... I couldn't hold back...
'If I'm going to fight... I'll give it my all...'
...
...
...
'I'll save you, Scarlet... I promise...'
Without wasting a single more moment... I finally unsheathed Boukyaku...
It's faint blue glow lightening my vicinity...
...
'Ok... Control... Control... Control...'
As I repeated those words in my mind... I allowed Boukyaku to release more and more of its power...
I had trained for an entire month, yet was never able to attain this result...
However... at long last... I had managed to control most of the power...
As purple lightning bolts began emerging from Boukyaku's blade and power filled my body... I finally decided...
"I won't let it consume me..."
"...I will..."
"...TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT!!!"
As I yelled those last words I finally fiercely charged... heading straight for Scarlet...
...
...
...
Seeing me begin moving, the demon king's grin finally climaxed as it became far more sinister than what it had ever been... as he finally spoke again mockingly...
"Do it..."
...
...
...
In an instant... Magic power began gathering around Scarlet... In a split-second, an enormous amount of magic power had already gathered at her location...
And, only to leave me further in confusion... the unfathomably great amount of magic power began revolving around Scarlet...
'This feeling... it feels familiar...'
I wasn't sure why I would ever think this was familiar... yet for some reason... It felt as if I had seen this before...
As the magic power began materializing around her I began to see what it was...
It was forming some kind of... ba...rri...er...?
...
...
...
When it finally clicked...
'I remember this...'
...
But as I kept making my way towards Scarlet, I suddenly heard Myria yell concerned:
"REIKA!!! NO!!! DON'T GO!!!"
...
But at this point, it was too late...
Only to further confirm my suspicions... Scarlet finally chanted the skill I had been dreading...
"[Aftermath]..."
5 MINUTES...
...
The skill I had been told by Scarlet herself... had come into use once more...
The one skill that nullified... ALL damage for 5 minutes...
...
...
...
'Oh no...'
There was nothing I could do... even with Boukyaku... against that skill... nothing could be done...
I had finally managed to close the gap between us... yet that was useless now...
I immediately stopped my approach as I was left staring at the expressionless Scarlet...
I was basking in anger, frustration, and sadness for the demon king to even dare to use my friend to this extent... However, my feelings weren't able to focus for long... because, as I was still formulating my thoughts...
It finally happened...
...
...
...
"[Instant Vanishing]"
In a blink of an eye, Scarlet disappeared from my sights...
She was suddenly gone without leaving a trace... She had quite literally disappeared into thin air, leaving me utterly confused...
"Wha-?!"
"REIKA WATCH OUT!!!"
I was interrupted as Myria yelled alarmed... I didn't know what to do, or what Myria was telling me to watch out for...
Until the pain arrived...
*BOOOOOOOOM*
"AGH!!!"
Out of nowhere, I a strong kick directed at my back struck me, leaving me suffering and hurting...
It hurt so much, as the warm sensation of blood leaking came to me...
I hadn't even been able to even see Scarlet properly when striking...
But as I was struck by awe regarding the absurd technique Scarlet was using... it struck again...
"[Instant Vanishing]"
*BOOOOOOOOM*
Scarlet had disappeared right in front of my eyes again... And without exception...
I had received a powerful scissor kick directed at my very head...
I could feel my head hazy from such a strong blow...
But that hadn't been the end of it...
*BOOOOOM*
Without the use of her skills, Scarlet had just stepped right in front of me. But due to my clouded mind, I wasn't able to react... In the end...
Scarlet ended up punching me in the abdomen... reopening an old wound...
I was immediately sent flying across the destroyed fortress breaking many of the already crumbled walls as a shockwave was released when I finally hit the melted crystal wall...
"AGH!!!!"
I could feel the blood in my mouth and nose...
The pain reverberating all over my body...
But worst of all... the hurting in my heart...
I had nothing I could even do...
'Scarlet's skill... even if I was able to hit her... It would do nothing... Not even with Boukyaku... I can't win this...'
I could see from afar, Scarlet running straight at me as demonic magic began concentrating on her hand...
I knew it... in the very opportunity, she got... she would kill me...
'... Even when I try to save a friend... with my all... I'm still useless in the end...'
I felt myself falling into despair as I finally accepted the reality I had been given...
I closed my eyes as Scarlet neared at ludicrous speeds ready to blast me into pieces...
"Goodbye... "
...
...
...
But... as I prepared myself for the worst...
"[JUDGEMENT ARROW]!!!"
In an instant, a blinding light filled my retinas... even with my eyes closed...
As I reopened my eyes in response to the great amount of light I was greeted by the author of such light...
It was Myria...
She was currently pulling one of the largest and most glorious arrows I've ever seen her create with magic... both, Scarlet and I were left to stare as Myria finally released the deadly arrow...
In an instant, the arrow traveled through the ruins of the fortress as it hit Scarlet directly...
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
A huge shockwave emerged from the explosion... as a deafening sound also made its appearance from the huge blast...
But before my initial shock from Myria's power had even faded away, I turned to the origin of the blast and saw Myria staring at me with a determined look on her face...
The arrow she had fired... in the end, had not done absolutely any damage to Scarlet... However... it had prevented her movement for some se...con...ds...
...
...
...
'...seconds... ... seconds... ...seconds... ...time... ...TIME!... AFTERMATH HAS A TIME-LIMIT!!!'
"THAT'S IT!!!"
I yelled in euphoria as I quickly got on my feet and turned to the expressionless Scarlet... She was still trying to regain her footing after having been hit by such a big blast from Myria...
But as she finally stood up and faced me, I finally said...
"...I don't have to fight you to win..."
I then held onto Boukyaku's handle even tighter as I continued...
"...I only have to survive..."
4 minutes...