The demon king gazed at Baron. 'This nonsense I hear about you trying to get salvation, is it true?'
Baron only nodded.
The demon king scoffed.
'Well this feels awkward…' Claudina looked between the two demons.
With the momentary pause from the demon king she gathered her bearings.
The demon king, Augustus ασрянber the strongest demon known in the Void. His strength is only rivaled by Lord Nyx, the god residing in Nyxrif. A thousand years before the Great War the moment he came to power over the throne, he had waged war with the Celestial Heavens and in association the five gods. The Void continued to send demons to terrorize the humans even during the war. However after the war ended, there were no armies of demons waiting to attack the gods.
Rather there were no more battles between the demon king and the human realm except for the demons that were summoned or those who breached into here by themselves.
"…Should I leave?" Claudina offered but Baron only latched onto her more. The demon king tutted at the behavior.
'So you have decided to side with humans?'
Baron looked away in shame. "…iT's noT LiKe tHat."
'Then why do you hesitate to come back to the Void. Don't tell me the ownership mark is true.'
Instead of answering he showed the mark on his underbelly.
The demon king's eyes widened like teacups. He didn't say anything for a long time. '…You shame your race.'
"…I wAnteD sAlVatioN. bUT tHeRe wAs nOne In ThE vOiD."
'That's why you will ask a human and saintess no less.'
Oddly Claudina found the tone as a disappointed father. "Baron, maybe you should apologize to him," she whispered to him. " BuT WhY?"
"Just do it! It's better that way."
"i aM SoRrY yoUr mYjesTy."
'Silence you fool!'
Claudina tried to fix the situation, "Your majesty if I may-"
'And you!' She flinched back from the harsh tone. 'You cursed wretched saintess of the time god! You did this! It's all your fault!'
'Demons are inherently prone to irrationality. No matter how civil they pretend to be at the end of the day they will go back to their unreasonable violent roots.' She narrowed her eyes. '…Even with Baron and the other saints it would be a fight to death to defeat the strongest demon know in history. He's been alive before the Lord Gaia so he's incredibly strong.'
The demon king's hateful eyes landed on the beast. Claudina noticed it too for she instantly went in front of Vixie with her sword drawn at him. "Touch a single hair of her and I will leave with your blood smeared on my face." The beast squawked at him in jeer.
The demon king growled. Sparks ignited out of his hands. 'This insolent….!'
"YouR mYjesTy thE duchESs iS noT aT fault! I iNsiSTed sHe wOUld gIve mE salvAtIon!"
'Demons cannot be saved, Baron! I tried! We can't be saved!' His voice had a certain crack to it as if remembering a past incident.
"eVen sO i'Ll tAke oN hEr pUnishMent!"
'Then you leave me no choice…' he raised his hand the sparks now coming together. Baron opened his mouth to spit out a fire ball when-
"You are wrong."
Both demons stopped. Claudina faced Augustus with fire burning in her eyes.
"Demons can be saved. They can receive salvation." She clenched her fists on the hilt. "You imply you searched for salvation. You looked for your subjects which I have great respect for but the only reason you weren't able to find it was because you yourself didn't reach out for it. If your selfish enough to look for salvation only for yourself you could gotten salvation for the rest of the demon race."
"The reason you were searching for salvation in the first place is because of the curse in the void; 'every demon will be exterminated on the black moon of the Celestial Heavens'. You can't take on the Celestial beings without putting the Void in danger and so far you don't have any clue when or what this black moon is."
"However if you wanted to find out about it, you could have found everything about it."
Augustus' reptilian face scrunched up in anger. 'What are you trying to say here?'
"You don't wish to be saved from the curse." She sneered. "You didn't truly ask for salvation. Baron reached out to me so I will fulfill his wishes to be saved from the curse. You didn't so now you won't let anyone else ask for help either."
A stretch of silence followed her words. then something exploded.
"DuChess lOok oUt!" Baron may have shielded Claudina but her eyes were not covered. Hence she witnessed the demon king's cruelty.
The imps exploded into a gruesome version of themselves with multiple eyes bulging out of brain shaped veins. The crawled on the sandy beaches before coming together into one living, pulsating red mass. Behind her Vixie was in no better form. A butcher's knife popped out of thin air and started to slash at the screaming and now bound beast.
Claudina's eyes blazed in anger as Vixie disappeared into a blood ridden mess.
"…Baron let me go," she said quietly. Hesitantly he did so. However the moment she was out of his grip she jumped and stabbed through the demon king's chest.
'Argh! Foul, lowly human!'
Claudina said nothing. Instead she focused where the heart were. Though she stabbed through his chest there was no way to confirm she got to his heart.
Different demons had different anatomy. Just by stabbing through the chest didn't mean his heart was supposed to be there. It could be in his head or his stomach.
The demon king grabbed her by her torso and threw her on the sandy beach. He stomped his foot on top to keep her from moving. She yelped in pain, the Stars' Blessing slipping out of her hands. Baron tried to come forward to help but Augustus shot him kilometers away.
'How humiliating for a demon such as me to try to bargain with a human like you…' He didn't look at her but the words had enough hate for Claudina to stop pushing off his boot clad foot.
"Because you refuse to reach out first is why the Void's fate is sealed!" she yelled.
Augustus finally looked at her. 'You…will have a cursed fate...' Clouds started to gather above them. The sea turned inky black.
Her eyes widened before she slammed her fists on his foot and clawing and scratching his leg with renewed vigor. The tides angrily crashed on the shore.
'A fate…which you will never…escape…'
"Get off OF ME!!!" She used all know spells against him but a honey comb shield would protect him. Holy magic would only leave him with burns. Tears were starting to sting her eyes. The boats on the harbor rocked with each wave while the sails were being ripped off by the wind,
"O' Holy Heavens! With darkness behind and the path forward is sealed, give me strength to shatter the obstacle that stands before me!" She punched him until her knuckles bled. But he didn't deter. Instead he crushed her even further.
'…A fate…where everything you love…and care…will perish…'
"S-stop…it," she choked out. Tears rolled out while her lashed got stuck on her cheeks. She continued to fight back. Wriggling and squirming, trying to get up.
'…Your destiny will be rewritten….you will never be able to save…those you love…'
She took a breath and gritted her teeth. It's all or nothing on this!
'You will suffer…with their deaths on your hands…'
"πιält κρύднее πάγEis!"
The demon king reeled back clutching his sides in pain. Meanwhile Claudina staggered back up and hurried to get her sword. She panted, gulping mouthful of air.
She glared at the demon king through her hair. He was still in pain. She exhaled and bit her lip. Even if she killed him now it wouldn't matter.
He had already cursed her. A curse from the demon king was akin to one of the five gods' divine judgment. And there was no way to reverse it either. The curse will forever be ingrained into her soul till her last breath. There was no saying the curse would leave her even if she ascends to the Celestial Heavens.
"…Horns…" she quietly mumbled.
By now the demon king had gotten over the pain as he slowly asked her to repeat herself.
She looked up, her eyes dead and cold. "Since you cursed me, you should leave your horns as compensation…" Suddenly she yelled and swung her sword over his head. The blade gashed over the previous cut.
The demon king realizing what she had implied send the red mass of imps her way but she cut it down with a swift motion.
'Tsk! This isn't over! I will come back for Baron and at that time I will make sure to take him with me!' A blood red portal opened up behind him. Snake like tendrils were reaching for him while a repugnant smell wafted out of the portal.
"Shut UP!!" The blade sliced off a good 1/3 of the horns. Before the demon king could react the portal pulled him in and closed itself.
Claudina was shaking. She felt weak on her knees. Blinking back tears she raised her head to look up the sky. The dark clouds were already going away and the storm was gone.
Nothing happened.
Nothing bad to anyone happened. Anyone but her.
She clenched her hands. "As saints we should be prepared to put our lives on the line. However I am the only saintess who would rather protect my own people than others."
A single tear rolled out. She quickly rubbed her face before smiling. "Who cares about the fates! I am a realist! Why should I believe in something one says is true but is not able to prove it is true? Until I see it for myself I don't believe in fate."
She looked at her left. A trial of dust was flying in the air. "…And I am the master of my life. I will not bow down and meekly obey the Celestial Heavens' roll of the dice."
Baron came tumbling in front of her. 'DucHEsS arE YoU alRigHt?" he asked laying face down.
"FuFufu~ Of course I am dear. I just saw off his majesty. But are you alright?"
He nodded. "I aM gOod. SoRrY dUCheSs."
She shook her head with a fond look. "Silly child. Up we get now and in we go~ You need to rest. Afterwards I look at your wounds at the inn."
"Mmh!"
Claudina gently got him up on his feet before rushing him inside the Ancient power. Then she brushed of the sand from her body and went on trekking back to the inn.
When she walked through the door in her sand and sea drenched self the saints bombarded her with questions.
"Why are you wet?"
"Where were you? We were just about to go find you!"
"Is that blood on your hair?!"
"Why do you have a demonic presence on you?"
Claudina blinked. "I am…quite alright. No need to panic. As for the blood and presence I found a demon on the beach. I took care of it, don't worry." She managed to slide past them and to the banister of the staircase. "I am tired now. I will see you all in the morning." With that she raced up the stairs, avoiding any more questions.
After washing up, feeding Baron and changing her clothes she heard a knock. Thinking it was either Oriane or Shulia she opened it.
Sullivan was standing there with a grim expression.
"…Do you need something?"
He signed. "The matters requiring my visit are not something I can say out here in the hallway."
Alarmed on hearing his real voice she drew him inside.
"Why is Oriane Mauve whining about your fate being changed?" he asked her the second the door was closed.
She faced him in surprise. "How…?"
"She is able to see the threads connecting one's fate to the world tree. Her eyes are what you would call an 'All-Seeing.' Luckily the girl herself doesn't know she possess such powers else she would spend the night parroting to the others. Now tell me why has your fate changed all of a sudden?"
Claudina blinked. She had seen Sullivan as a man who hides his mysterious person behind a childish façade. Now the image was broken to reveal a cold man who thought of the others as a burden. She smirked. 'Didn't Shulia once said he was an ex- heretic? I wonder what other secrets are there about this saint.'
"Well?"
She beamed and took a brush to untangle the knots in her hair. "It's a secret~"
Sullivan frowned. "Ill mannered bitch…"
"Hahaha! Says the perverted geezer. If I am a bitch you are pretending to be a child. You are even worse that a bitch."
She put the brush down. "But I will tell you this. Even with my fate changed and destiny rewritten I alone am the master of my life."
Claudina face him again. "If there is one path cut out for me then I will create a new one out of nothing and walk on it. And no one decides what I can and cannot do. Not you, the gods or the Celestial Heaves. No one!"
Sullivan's eyes widened. "…You will go against the fate?"
She sneered. "I will. What can it do to me? Screw me over? Hah! I will like to see it try!"
Lowering his head, Sullivan smiled in wonder. "Seems my worries were needless…I will leave now. Goodnight Claudina."
"…Goodnight Sullivan…" She had a bitter feeling on her heart seeing him leave. She perused her lips. "…If have any regrets you should say them Sullivan…"
Sliding under her sheets she blew out the candle. Facing the above bunk bed she had one last thought before falling asleep.
"Forbidden magic seems to be more efficient than Holy magic when it comes to demons…"
Two days later Claudina was standing in the evacuated park as instructed by another note.
The note was found in the same spot as the previous one, only the carrier pigeon had turned into a mini monster that was setting things on fire. It was soon put down and buried in the backyard of the inn
The whole island was put in a large trance like state so they wouldn't walk in the ongoing battle. Earlier Sylvester and she performed a ritual where they could stop time for a few hours so the trance state is longer if things went south.
The grey clouds were unmoving but the breeze were still blowing and bringing the salt with it.
Her black hair swayed in the wind. Beside her Baron crouched on all fours trying to appear as small as possible for Shulia was glaring holes into his skull.
"Oriane be a dear and go stop Shulia. She's scaring Baron," Claudina said without taking her eyes off from the distance.
Minutes ticked by yet no one came in the desolate park occupied by the saints.
Until something or someone stepped out of the forest overlooking the park. The saints' sense sharpened.
Snakeskin cape trailed behind them like a wedding train. Silver of pale fingers were poking out of the sleeves while their head was lowered like a bat's. They stopped right in the middle of them.
Slowly they turned.
Baron rose to his feet. He sniffed the air. "DucHesS thE weIrD hUmaN iS NearBy."
"You hear that? We are going to smash that rodent's face in today!" Shulia exclaimed already pulling out her Holy sword. "Accursed demon summoner!"
Claudina squinted at the caped person. She stepped forward. "…I am here after three days. I missed my ship because I prioritized your needs. If you were shy, you could have written a letter agreeing to confront me in the eastern empire rather than doing all this." She smiled gently. "Do tell why you have called me in a troubling way. I was in luck that a ship will come in a day. I don't wish to miss that as well."
A low croaking voice answered her. "…It's not me who has grudge against you. It's her…"
Notes:
"σπечwert" meaning Sword
"ασрянber" meaning Silver
"πιält κρύднее πάγEis" meaning Colder than ice