"...I will be leaving now…"
"Why? Stay with me, please…" Claudina pleaded. Her hands reached for her but she moved away.
"You can't always be a crybaby. You are an adult now."
Her voice broke. "But that doesn't mean you can't stay."
"You know I can't."
Then I'll stay here with you!" she said hopefully. Tears fell down freely "I've looked everywhere for you and if I can only see when I am dreaming then I don't ever want to wake up. Let me stay here."
"I can't let you do that either. There are people who need you. People who are counting on you."
"I don't care about other people! They are simply a means to an end!!"
"They don't be like that...they followed you precisely because you gave them shelter. Just like I did to you."
Claudina looked down, ashamed and crying. "...I don't care…"
She floated over and pressed herself on her cheek. "Don't cry. I am sure we will meet again."
"When?!" she demanded. "You said it last time and look where we are now! I can't hold you, I can't see you, is this the meeting you were talking about?!"
"You say we will meet again but when will that be? Another decade? Or twenty?! Or answer me this why are my memories with you so foggy? Until a few months ago I didn't even know you name and now I do!! Why?!" She looked down, lower lip clenched tightly in between her teeth. "I want to remember you...I want to see you..."
She was silent for a long time. "...I am sorry you have to deal with this pain. If I could I would lift it up from your shoulders and put it on mine but..."
A distant clock ringed in the cold darkness. "I am sorry I have to go now..."
"WAIT-"
"...As long as we look at the same starry sky we will meet again. I don't when. Maybe tomorrow, maybe in the next life but we will meet again."
"So for now I am going to say goodbye but see you later, Di. Take care until then."
The ball of light then disappeared like little jets of light taking off.
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
"...Ahh, see you soon, Ophelia."
The sweet fragrance of the winter blossoms was overwritten by the stench of iron. The cold luminescent moon hid behind its clouds at the tragic scene of the fallen soldiers. Sweat mingled with the ash of fallen warriors, and the air was thick with tension
The Demon King took a step forward, slow and lethal. His draconic eyes glanced at the steel melded with fresh blood. He surveyed the desolation. Slowly a grin appeared on his face. The once-mighty army had been decimated, their hopes crushed beneath the weight of his power.
Red smoke-like aura rippled out of his body as he outstretched his hands. He's power seemed to surge from the fallen soldiers, as if he drew strength from their despair.
He looked up at the Heavens, eyes blazing with fire that promised Evil.
Evil pure enough to tear down their golden throne made up of lies.
"...Had your fun?" Augustus' mane twitched. His eyes gazed down. "I FORGOT THE ANNOYING ONE REMAINED."
Ezra caked in his soldiers' blood grinned eerily. Blood ran down from his hair to his chin. He uncovered his sword with the mad grin plastered on his face. Gold aura swirled out of his body.
Baron hissed, his iris dilating and fur standing on end.
The demon king merely raised his eyes.
He opened his maw words, the words leaving him. "HUMANS ARE FULL OF SURPRISES AREN'T THEY?"
"You haven't seen anything yet!" He lunged forward, jumping on the piles of bodies as leverage. The demon king saw him coming. A small magic circle appeared to his side and through it pulled out a large greatsword. The iron was pitch coal and from the sword faint screaming of the damned could be heard.
Their clash was a dance of cosmic forces, a symphony of steel and magic that defied mortal comprehension. The emperor's movements were as swift as the flicker of a serpent's tongue, his sword glinting with stolen celestial light. Each strike he unleashed seemed to tear through the fabric of reality, a resounding thunder that mocked the heavens from which his power was pilfered. The demon king, shrouded in an air of timeless wisdom, moved with an ethereal grace, his blade an extension of his omniscient will. With each swing, he wove a tapestry of arcane knowledge, intertwining the very fabric of existence with every elegantly executed maneuver.
The earth trembled beneath them as their energies collided, unleashing shockwaves that tore through the battlefield. The skies darkened, and lightning crackled, bearing witness to the magnitude of their confrontation.
The peculiar magic of Ezra proved to be fetal to the Demon King. His magic seemed to rip open the fabric of reality.
The Demon King blocked an incoming slash with his own. Their swords clattered against one another, the force sending a loud shockwave through the battlefield. The white lilies dripping with blood shivered in their onslaught.
Augustus sneered, sharp fangs poking out. "...WHAT GREEDY HUMANS YOU ARE TO STEAL FROM THE CELESTIAL HEAVENS!!"
Ezra kicked off the ground and landed back, red face shined with sweat. He laughed with an edge. "Is that so wrong? Power moves people and greed is just a means!"
"AYE. MAKING SINS INTO MEANS OF ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS…" He pounced at him, sword drawn like a stinger. "SUCH MINELA CREATURES YOU HUMANS ARE!! YOUR GREED WILL BE THE MOST DELICIOUS OF ALL!!"
Without the Celestial Heavens magic the Emperor's mastery of magic was unparalleled. He conjured massive storms and summoned arcane elements, attempting to overpower the Demon King with a barrage of destructive spells.
The Demon King however did what he did best, take and absorb his power. He raised his hand and his body absorbed the magical energy, enhancing his own power with every attack.
In a surge of raw energy, the Demon King shattered the Emperor's magical defenses and closed the distance between them in an instant.
The Emperor retaliated with skillful swordplay and devastating spells, but the Demon King's power proved too overwhelming.
"Tsk! You leave me no choice!" They dashed for one another once more but this time the emperor wielded the Celestial Heavens magic around his sword. He leapt in the air, sword raised to slay the Demon King. The Demon King couldn't move in time so he raised his arm in defense. He growled at the sting that came from the Celestial Heavens' magic. "VERMIN!" The sword cut through his impenetrable hide. Augustus looked at his twitching and failing arm withering in the soiled grass. "ARISE!" The arm grew with an explosive sound, scattering Ezra away. Great currents of wind made the ashes fly like speckled snow in a blizzard.
Before he flew off the courtyard he jammed his sword onto the hard ground and grinded his heels to stillness. He looked up eyes wide as his hari flew around.
His mad smile returned with a twisted mirth. "AHAHAHA!! Excellent! Excellent! Bravo!! Yes, that is what I want! Show me more strength that I can conquer!"
The Demon King's arm transformed into five grotesque monsters that hissed, clawed and bit one another. Their large maws could easily fit four houses and their long arms could fit inside a large swimming pool. They all stopped biting when they saw Ezra kneeling with his sword.
With a shared while they stampede over eager for their meal.
Only Ezra didn't move. As they came closer, he lifted his head and cupped his hands around his vision. When he opened them in the motion of a blooming flower the monsters were dead.
Rather they were bitten off by something larger, more ferocious and hungrier thing.
Judging by the baffled but enraged look the Demon King sported, Ezra knew he had won. With a sly smirk he got up with a jovial air around him. Stuttering and prancing while swinging his sword carelessly like a young boy eager for his first sword practice, he approached the Demon King with a cockiness.
"Well, well, well, how the tables have turned~" he purred out smoothly.
Augustus narrowed his vision. "BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR WORDS, HUMAN. FOR WHAT YOU SAY NOW CAN'T BE TAKEN BACK."
Ezra laughed, bemused. "Oh? Why shouldn't I? I have won! Me! Not the so-called omniscient Demon King!!"
He lowered his gaze, eyes twinkling with an unreadable emotion. "I WOULDN'T BE SO SURE ABOUT VICTORY YET…."
"Huh? What do you mean by th-"
Something soft and light landed on Ezra's hair. Soft and innocent like a flower petal.
But something about it wasn't right.
Ezra looked at the thing in horror. "What the hell is that?"
"SHE'S FULL OF SURPRISES, THAT ONE…"
"I asked what the hell is it?!"
"YOU WILL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH."
A small butterfly the color of blood was nestled on his hair like ruby shimmering under the moon. It flapped its wings once, twice.
One by one they all came in a swarm, blanketing the sky. They swirled around him like a tornado.
At first he was confused but when he saw the Demon King backing away, he flew into a panic.
He summoned his stolen Celestial Heavens power and slashed at the butterflies but it seemed to only gather more like a moth to a flame. He unleashed more of his magic.
But they kept coming back. If he slashed through one, rather than falling to the ground they would multiply in the air and circled around him like vultures leering at fresh meat.
His eyes were slowly changing color to gold, the Celestial Heavens' magic consuming him. If he continued using the stolen magic, his body will turn into those of the Celestial beings. During the transformation process he will suffer unimaginable pain and die. He persisted though. Through the mind numbing pain of having his mana depleted to the butterflies now starting to attack him, tearing at his flesh inch by inch.
"No! Why am I losing here?!"
The red tornado circled around him, rendering him escape to the outside world.
He refused to give. He will rather die by transformation than being eaten alive from these carnivore insects.
Letting out all off his stolen magic in one giant supernova, he unleased an explosion so great that the demon king had grip on to the ground for dear life least he gets blown away.
When it ended, he sneered in triumph only to scream and rave. The swarm had only increased in size, flapping, clicking their blood red wings. Their fluttering wings sounded like applause as if they were mocking his attempt to escape.
"No, no, I am all powerful! I can't be defeated!! I CAN'T!!!!!" With the Celestial Heavens magic gone he used his remaining mana to try and escape. He shot sparks, he flooded the area, he crackled lightning, summoned blizzards but none of the attacks worked on them.
"I WON'T LOSE!!!! I AM THE STRONGEST!! I CAN'T!!!! I WON'T, I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS!!!!"
His last words were drowned in the red butterflies. With one final spin they all flew up before bursting into lurid pink flower petals, floating and swaying in the air.
The Demon King lifted his snout and sniffed the air. The flower petals landed on his horns and snout.
The overwhelming smell of iron was covered by floral sweetness.
"HAD I KNOWN THIS WAS POSSIBLE I WOULD HAVE MADE SURE NONE OF THEM COULD LEAVE MY DOMAIN."
He turned around.
Leaning on Baron was Claudina with her hand stretched out. Her eyelids threatened to fall. On her chapped lips was a smirk of victory. "...Consider us even, Your majesty," she huffed out. With that she fainted again.
"duCheSs, dOn'T diE."
'She's not dead yet.' He looked to the other side. 'I doubt anything can kill her now...' Picking off a petal from his shaggy mane, he twirled it around his clawed fingers. '...The last time I saw these vicious creatures fighting was when I had started to fly. My lord father warned me to never get close to them. I now see why...' The petal burst into flames and fell in snowy ash on the bloodied grass.
Augustus stepped forward. He gazed from Baron to the sleeping human on his arms. 'Indeed we are, Saintess of time, indeed we are…' His bloodied cape swished around him.
'Baron, tell this to your owner when she wakes up. The next time I come I won't just take my subject but also my bride.'
As the survivors emerged from the rubble, they looked upon their fallen comrades and mourned their losses..
Neither the demons nor the witch could be found.
The emperor could also not be found. All that was left of him was his sword.
Dawn was breaking. People gathered around to see the destruction of the palace. How they had slept the entire night without smelling the smoke was beyond them.
Murmurs of sorrow chimed with the bells. Cries of loss echoed.
But rumors spread among the common folk.
The demon king had come to slay the good emperor. When both the demon king and the emperor were weakened a witch with a heart as black as the night came to kill off the demon king. She would have killed the emperor as well but he used the last atom of his life force to kill her.
The emperor, their last bastion of hope, became a symbol of their indomitable spirit and unwavering determination
They vowed to rebuild, to carry on the legacy of the fallen, and to stand united against any threat that dared to challenge their world.
In the still of the darkness, the hulking demon jumped from roof to roof, carrying a human in his arms. His long ears flopped in the wind and his thousand eyes scanned the area, surveying if anyone was looking at the leaping demon.
And if they looked, well he hopes the duchess will think it's her own blood...