Duncan didn't know if it was he had been hardwired to kill his opponent since part of his soul was linked to the Ankou or a hidden desire as Duncan felt the thrill of killing Nasima at the moment. The thought had made ignited something within the kid's heart.
However, a single image flashed through his eyes, making Duncan retract the thoughts of murdering the child of the winds. It was at the moment when he first met Nasima after being rescued by the Arks. Nasima was playing with some dandelions and making a crown out of them.
After noticing Duncan was by her side, Nasima turned to look at the boy and offered him a dandelion with the sweetest smile he had ever seen. And it was at that point Duncan knew... That he couldn't afford to kill this girl, his friend, or allow anyone to hurt her.
And as the clash ended, Duncan had never felt so alive as he chose to throw away the scythe and held an unconscious Nasima in his arms. The child of Darkness stood tall in victory as the arena morphed to the surface level. Midori, Circe, and Bryan quickly ran towards Duncan.
Meanwhile, Ashley and Tomoe slowly walked toward the children as Duncan remained silent, still clad in all his Grim Reaper appearance. The scythe was nowhere to be seen as Duncan quietly handed Nasima to the Slayer before turning around to go back home.
Ashley jogged to catch up with Duncan and placed a hand on the boy's head, gently ruffling his hair.
"I saw how you stopped yourself from hurting Nasima. Everyone was given two options to win the fight, either make their opponent bleed or fall onto the ground. You had every chance to make Nasima bleed as you did against your twin."
"Yet, you didn't and controlled yourself from going too far. I'm proud of you for doing that, Duncan. You will be the best Dementor Pillar the Arks will ever see," praised Ashley with a smile.
Duncan widened his eyes before looking at the grasslands. Bryan was still holding Nasima as he joined the duo, alongside the two girls and one fox.
"Ash is right; good work on not killing each other. Let's go back and wash up to prepare for dinner, alright?" said Bryan, going straight to the Old Chapel.
Duncan changed to his usual appearance as he shrugged and followed his teacher. But just as they reached the front door, the child of Darkness halted beside Bryan and tugged onto his sleeves.
"What is it?" asked the Slayer, wondering what was so crucial that Duncan had to tell him before they stepped into the house.
"The Ankou... The spirit that dwells within me... Hates you with a burning passion. So maybe next time, try not to be in sight if I summon him again," said Duncan, passing Bryan and entering the house.
The Slayer was stunned for a moment but quickly snapped back into reality when they saw Ysabeau sitting at the dining table all by herself. The children ran upstairs to their dorm while Ashley and Tomoe went towards Mavislin and Z's workroom.
The Slayer passed Ysabeau after nodding his head to greet her, but the High Queen stood up abruptly. Bryan sighed and halted in his tracks.
"I made sure that Nasima was fine throughout the duels. As a result, all the children are fine and have produced fantastic results from each fight. And this little girl won against Amani with her powers and skills of wielding a spear."
"However, she isn't going to win against Duncan anytime soon. After what I've seen, I don't think anyone will win against that child of Darkness for a very long time," explained Bryan, without turning to see Ysabeau's facial expressions.
"Your method of putting them against each other reminds me of how the Congregation used to function..." replied Ysabeau, with a hint of aggression in her voice.
"Is that a bad thing? Because I find my method of teaching via on-sight battles to be quite interesting and the fastest way to grow combat skills and powers. It's only at the spur of the moment that we can see the fighters pushed to their limits and break the boundaries set for them. I hate the idea of a classroom setting unless it's to understand the Basics of Magecraft."
"I got the inspiration from working under Minwoo and the Five Kings. They taught me the hard way by training through combat. Besides, Ash and I are there to supervise if anything were to go wrong."
"So you think it's okay to train children using the method you experienced? Don't you see that there's a difference? You are projecting how you were trained towards children who may not be able to handle the stress of always dueling?"