"Don't worry. We will be out of this place sooner rather than later." Darius assures them.
As the group is walking out of the village towards their carriage, they notice a woman sitting on the top of the hood.
"You guys are really starting to get on my nerves." She says.
She jumps off of the hood and lands in front of them.
"Akuji! What are you doing here?" Cyrus asks.
"pffft, Nice tail!" Akuji snickers. "I'm surprised that you are still of sane mind even after being infected.
"What do you mean?" Cyrus asks.
"I mean, you haven't changed into a monster. You've maintained your humanity while still reaping the benefits of my work. If you weren't the one who murdered all of my pets I would have given you a comfy spot on the winning team. But alas, I have to deal with you pesky humans. You need to pay me back somehow." Akuji says.
"So what, are you going to take care of us yourself now? Cyrus says.
"That is exactly what I'm going to do. You four have made a mockery of me among the rest of my kind. Because of you, I am the only one of my comrades who have failed the complete the task handed to me.
Akuji rises into the air as energy envelops her body.
In retaliation Cyrus's team readies their weapons and Cyrus ignites his blade and when the blade ignites, he notices a problem. The blades color had changed from a dark black to a bright yellow.
Cyrus doesn't get the chance to question this chance before Akuji appears in front of him striking him in the chest knocking him to the ground.
"I'm gonna show you just how weak your species can be. I'm going to kill you right here and now!" Akuji yells as she raises her hands up high and swings them down causing flames to manifest and crash around the group.
Raising her staff, Hannah attempts to shield the group as Darius and Eryn approach Akuji from both sides.
Eryn thrusts her rapier forward, but a wall of fire is created between her and Akuji blocking obscuring her vision causing the attack to miss its mark.
Darius takes this chance to jump into the air bringing his sword down on Akuji's head.
Akuji blocks this attack with her hand but Darius's feet land on the ground and he pushes off, sending both of them sliding across the ground.
Sliding down the slide of his sword, Akuji slams him against the ground before using his body to jump up spinning in the air before landing on the ground next to Hannah.
Hannah is shocked for a moment as Akuji slams her palm into her stomach unleashes a wave of flame that quickly envelop Hannah completely.
Cyrus leaps into action and rushes towards Akuji with Eryn and Darius in tow.
The two of them clash, Cyrus attempting to use his new strength to his advantage.
Akuji however is quicker and stronger than Cyrus giving him no time to make any progress in their battle.
Akuji slams Cyrus against the ground several times before raising him up and throwing him towards Darius and Eryn.
Darius manages to catch cyrus while Eryn continues on gathering energy in her blade.
However, this gives Akuji enough time to unleash another blast of fire upon them.
Unleashing her own energy Eryn cuts through the flame and hits Akuji in the shoulder.
Seeing this chance Cyrus attempts to teleport himself behind Akuji.
unfortunately He is unable to do so, Instead his body flashes a blindingly bright light causing everyone to fall to the ground as they clutch their eyes.
Cyrus ignores this strange new ability and uses Akuji's moment of weakness to stab his blade through her chest.
Akuji releases a yell of pain. As she stumbles backwards.
Refusing to miss this chance Cyrus floods his blade with energy increasing its size exponentially as Akuji tries her best to push him away.
With a final burst of power, Cyrus sends his blade straight up, tearing her body in half from the waist up.
Her body parts scatter everywhere as blood spurts from her torso.
Feeling exhausted from using so much power Cyrus falls to his knees in exhaustion.
As he falls He notices Akuji's body melt away in into the ground leaving behind A red gem in its place.
running up to him Darius helps Cyrus stand up as he collects the gem.
"Are you alright?" Darius asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Cyrus says.
"I don't know if I can say the same for Hannah though" Darius says.
Cyrus looks over to where Darius was pointing and sees that Hannah has passed out with burn marks scattered across her body.
"We need to get her Back to the city now." Darius says.
"Right." Cyrus replies as he and Darius carry Hannah to the carriage.
Grabbing the reigns Eryn hurries the carriage along as Cyrus begins to ponder his new power.
He decides to try to learn more about this new ability later
Right now he just wants to focus on helping Hannah.
Cyrus and Darius stop the carriage outside of the city gates and let the guards know about Hannah injuries.
The guards take her to the nearest healer and the group follows.
When they arrive at the Healer's office, they find Hannah already resting comfortably.
"She'll be fine. She lost a lot of blood but she should be up and moving around in a few days," the healer says.
"Thank you very much," Cyrus says.
"I am curious how she managed to gain such wounds though. there aren't many placing around here with monsters that can cause so much burn damage to such a wide area. It's not possible for any normal monster to do that.
"We aren't sure either. This was how she was when we found her," Cyrus lies.
"I see. Well, I hope you won't have any further trouble." The healer says as he walks past them out of the room.
Once the door closes, Darius turns to Cyrus.
"There's no need to blame yourself for this. You can't expect to protect us every second of every day." Darius says.
"Hannah will be fine in a few days just like the doctor said. All we can do now is wait for her to wake up and decide what to do from there. I know you guys were close but standing here with that look on your face isn't going to help her.
"I know, I know. I just feel bad." Cyrus sighs.
"I know you do. But there's nothing you can do about it now. the best think for you to do right now is to relax your mind and try to think of something else. she'll be fine." Darius reassures him.
Taking a deep breath Cyrus calms himself down and walks over to Hannah.
He sits down and gently strokes her hair.
Darius comes over and sits by him for a bit before they both leave and go back to their rooms.
***
Sitting on his bead Cyrus begins to gather energy in his hands to find that his black mist had been replaced by bright light.
The orbs of energy begin to spin around as he holds them tightly in his grasp.
Forcing himself to ignore this new ability he concentrates on the energy ball attempting to revert it back to its original form.
After several minutes of effort and concentration he finally succeeds.
The orbs color begin to shift into their misty black form as the light within them fades.
Grabbing his rod and filling it with this energy he begins ignite it as the blade shoots out a dark black. swinging it around a bit he decides to run some tests of his own.
First he tries to change his energy back to the light form which in turn begins to shift the blades color staring from the hilt. Shifting the blade back and forth between forms for a while he sets the rod down before standing up.
Now that he has a better hold on switching between each element he decides to test his other abilities.
Using his light energy, he attempts to mimic his shadows abilities.
First he tries to envelop himself in the light but it is unsuccessful. Instead the light rapidly begins to fade as he spreads it across his body.
Next he attempts to create a shield of light but again it is ineffective. Rather than creating a physical manifestation of the energy it creates a sort of transparent cone lighting up wherever his hand is facing. While this happens though, Cyrus notices that the light emitted had been increasing in heat. He deactivates the power quickly before setting his room on fire.
After thinking for a bit he decides to test one more thing. Lifting up both hands he gathers light energy in one hand. Then he attempts to gather dark energy in the other. Unfortunately whenever he summons the new energy, the previous one dissipates and changes to match the current form.
Trying a few more time to no avail,Cyrus decides to rest for now. He could always test it out tomorrow.
***
Opening his eyes Cyrus finds himself staring at two large masses of land in the distance. Each mass of land launching wave after wave of explosive energy at each other. The world shakes after each blow from the two colossi.
After a while a familiar man appears beside him.
"Well this is a bit odd. You shouldn't be able to enter this place." Andrew says looking at Cyrus. "how were you able to enter into your subconscious once more. it's supposed to be impossible."
"I don't think I did anything special, I had just fallen asleep." Cyrus says.
Andrew nods and continues to watch the battle.
"I'm sure that you've noticed the battle raging within your body currently. Both my island and the newly created invaders islands have been locked in conflict with each other since it's creation. luckily we have entered into a stalemate. if not for this I'm not sure what would happen to your body. I'm also guessing that this is partially the reason for that form of yours. however, I should warn you that the longer this fight goes on the more likely it is that your body will be torn apart in the end." Andrew says.
"So what exactly do you want me to do?" Cyrus asks.
"Not even I am sure what your best option is to handle this situation. The only advice I would off you is to find a balance between both that invaders powers and my own. As long as you keep the two Islands power in check, it should minimize the decay until we can find a more permanent solution to the issue."
"Alright then. I'll do my best to do what I can" Cyrus says.
"I'm sure you will. Now you must get going. I will send you out of this realm for now. Do not worry. If you find yourself here again I will always be able to send you back to reality.." Andrew says.
"Thanks. I'll remember that." Cyrus says as he gets ready to leave.
"Good luck out there." Andrew says as he places his finger to Cyrus's forehead.
Cyrus floats up high above the ground before disappearing.
***
Waking up in the morning Cyrus finds himself lying in bed.
He jumps up and looks around his room before finding it empty.
Looking out the window Cyrus finds that he is still in the city.
Feeling his stomach grumble, he Gets dressed and heads downstairs to get something to eat.
Taking a seat in the bar below the inn he orders a meal and sits there munching on his food.
As he finishes his breakfast he thinks about what he needs to do next. He doesn't know what would be the best way to handle this situation.
If he kept doing what he was doing he might eventually lose control of his body.
Thinking about it, he decides to head towards the guild first. Letting the commander know about the demons defeat should come first. Remembering what she said before they fought, it seemed like she wasn't the only demon causing trouble in this world.
In order to prevent future conflicts from happening Cyrus wants to stop whatever these other demons are doing.
Getting up from his table he leaves the inn heading towards the guild.
***
Entering the guild, Cyrus Makes his way towards the commanders office.
As he reaches the door he hears a voice coming from inside.
Turning the doorknob, Cyrus opens the door to see a woman of roughly thirty years of age speaking with the commander.
"This is unacceptable Barin! We've told you time and time again about your actions. This is the last warning I'm giving you." The woman exclaims.
"I understand your concerns, but I have my reasons for doing this. Just give it a little more time." Barin says trying to explain himself.
"A little more time? You expect me to wait months for a job that could easily be completed within a few weeks! You need to learn to make sacrifices. I don't know how you rose to such a position when your this soft," She says slamming her hand down on the table.
"Look, I'm sorry about this, but you have to trust me. I know there's a way to resolve this problem without having to sacrifice so many of our people." Barin replies.
"Fine! I'll give you another week to deal with that monster. If you don't have this solved by then I will have no choice but to Offer the sacrifices in your stead.
"Thank you. I will not disappoint." Barin says as she leaves.
Once she is gone the Commander turns to Cyrus.
"Ahem. I'm sure you weren't here to listen to that mess. What brings you here today young man?" he asks.
"I wanted to tell you the news about the demon that attacked the town of Brian." Cyrus explains the situation with the demon including its defeat.
The commander listens intently as he takes notes. After a minute or two he stands up from his chair With a creepy smile on his face.
"You're telling me that you were able to beat a powerful demon by yourselves!" he says excitedly. This is great news! This is really great news!"
Cyrus lets out a small nervous laugh as Barin runs over to him and grabs him by the shoulders. "How about helping me out for a bit with my own demon problem? You seem like you can handle yourself so I'd like you to help me take care of this thing.
"What do you mean. There's another demon causing trouble already! You want me to go fight another one?!" Cyrus exclaims.
"That's right. I wanted someone capable of defeating it. So far there hasn't been someone like that but here you are. the perfect candidate. so let's get started." He says as he pushes Cyrus towards the seat and sits him down. "Now before you say anything, let me just explain the situation. Recently a demon has set up base in a far off town named Serenity. After making that town its base no one has been able to enter the town without disappearing. If that wasn't bad enough the demon has also begun demanding new sacrifices for the town and if we don't provide them he was going to go on a rampage through the country. I was hoping that maybe you could somehow help us get rid of the demon in the town before the deadline."
"Uhh... I don't know. This sounds a little risky. I barely able to take down the last one." Cyrus says.
"The reward for this mission would be incredibly high. Think about it, You could become rich from just defeating this one demon for me." Barin is on his knees at this point.
"Plus you would also be providing a solution for all the sacrifices that would happen." he adds.
Cyrus thought it over for a moment.
"Fine, I can at least see what I can do." Cyrus says as he stands up.
"Great! Just Great! Well leave right away." He exclaims while dragging Cyrus off and out to the street.
Walking down the road, Cyrus looks back at the building thinking about what he just got himself involved in.