'No, no, no… this can't be happening. This can't be happening!'
Nico's eyes trembled, his gaze landing on Henry's lifeless form.
'Why? WHY? WHY?' he roared internally.
He staggered back, falling on his rear. His hands shook, reaching forwards toward the farmer's limp body.
Nico's mind knew that Henry was dead, yet his heart refused to believe so. This was the second time someone had sacrificed themself to protect him.
The brown-haired boy touched one of the remains of his raven-haired friend; the warmth of the body part dissipating rapidly, until it left behind a cold, empty shell.
Nico's heart shattered.
Like a dam, a flood of tears burst from his bloosdhot eyes, dripping down onto Henry's deceased body below.
"Henry…" Nico's raspy voice echoed barely above a whisper. Another torrent of tears escaped his eyes.
A dry sob racked his throat, before he released another agonised, pain-filled scream.
Nico clutched his head, his mind in complete disarray. He couldn't breathe.
This was all just a dream. A very, very, unpleasant one.
Right…?
Nico howled for the third time, the grief gnawing mercilessly at his chest. Why couldn't he have just died?
That would have been ten - no, a hundred times better than the gut-wrenching pain in his chest.
A few steps away, Lucas stood in stunned silence, watching the current scene unfold in front of him. He remained in a daze, before he unconsciously growled, "Commoner trash! Why must you all get in my way?!"
The haughty heir had been so close to finishing off the brown-haired gnat who annoyed him to no end.
Nico's cries suddenly ceased. He lifted his head and turned to face Lucas, staring deep into the noble's eyes with a bone-chilling gaze.
A shiver crawled down the redhead's spine.
"What did you just say?" Nico asked quietly.
"Huh?"
"What did you just say?" Nico questioned again, voice raising slightly in volume.
Lucas just stared blankly at him.
"I said: WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" Nico roared, fury blazing in the depths of his maroon pupils.
The arrogant noble flinched, taking a step back. Shocked at his own cowardice, Lucas stared at his hands for a second, before shifting his gaze back toward the brown-haired trainee.
He sneered, "That piece of vermin is the lowest of all commoner trash,"
Silence stretched between the duo after that declaration. Nico just blinked, showing a blank expression on his pale face, before he threw his head and laughed.
"AHAHAHAHAHA! You and your stupid pride."
Nico clutched one side of his face and doubled up in laughter.
The sight of the tears streaming down his face, and his sudden, deranged cackling, served to project the image of a mentally unstable youth.
"Maybe freedom from this wretched world isn't so bad, after all!" Nico continued to laugh, his voice quickly turning hoarse, which unnerved the Stanburg heir even more.
Multiple arrow shots away, the White Cobras, attracted by the shrill cries, snapped their head in their young master's direction. They quickly hurried over.
Once they got closer, the bandits pieced together what was happening based on the mangled body that lay dissected crudely on the grass.
Mad-Eye - the man with the slanted eye - whistled at the sight. Shifty, Skinny, and Silver Tooth did the same.
Only the Boss had a grim expression on his face. The bandit leader stepped forward, shielding the heir of the Stanburg Family with his large frame. A fake, sorrowful expression appeared on his face as he addressed Nico, "There is no need for further bloodshed. Just give up."
"Give up?" Nico stopped laughing and trained his vacant gaze on the group of bandits, his eyes boring into the bald man's face. "Even this world has tried its damned hardest to get me to give up and failed. What right do you have to say that?"
The brown-haired boy clutched his face tighter and resumed his wild cackling. Oh, how laughable it was that they brought up the excuse of preventing further bloodshed to get him to surrender without a fight.
What a bunch of fools…
As Nico's laughter and sobs reached a crescendo, his eyes started to flash green. Slowly at first, then the flashes turned more frequent. His jagged birthmark - which had remained dormant for his entire life - suddenly shone with a green hue.
Watching the strange phenomena unfold, the Boss took a cautious step back and urged Lucas to do the same.
The other bandits remained still, carefully clutching for their weapons with wary expressions. One or two of them debated whether or not to quickly strike at the brown-haired trainee, and deal with him so that there was no abrupt danger.
However, they had no more time to think…
All of a sudden, popping sounds resounded from Nico's body. Following that, an eerie pitch-black hue flared up, enshrouding his whole figure.
The White Cobras shivered under that baleful and sinister aura.
Wherever the black hue touched Nico's body, a drastic change occurred. His legs elongated, stretching his frame. Bones snapped and refigured themselves. The knuckles in his hands extended, piercing through his skin, ending in a razor-sharp point.
His skin then turned as dark as onyx, reflective in appearance with a slight metal sheen.
Nico's Camp Uniform abruptly tore apart. In its wake, a set of membranous wings bloomed behind his back. The feathers were pitch-black, glinting ominously in the brightness of the day.
Another crack resounded from the boy's forehead, blood splurting in the air. A serrated horn rose from the wound, its material composed of some strange alloy material.
His eyes turned bottomless and gained a darker shade. So too did his hair change.
The bandits froze. A bead of sweat slid down their faces as their bodies trembled, refusing to move.
What they were seeing right now was the stuff of nightmares. It had no right existing in the waking world.
Gazing into the boy's pitch-black eyes that flashed green every so often, leaving thin streaks of verdant lightning in its wake, Lucas paled considerably.
That dark void made him feel powerless, and insignificant… like he was an ant who had to bow down to a greater species.
In the face of Nico's sudden transformation, his family background mattered not one bit!
"A D-Demon!!" Shifty pointed a trembling finger in Nico's direction.
Shifty, Skinny, Silver Tooth, and Mad Eye paled.
"Die!" Nico growled, his thoughts consumed with grief, rage, and madness.
The demon's figure blurred, vanishing from its spot.
"Watch out!" Shifty roared, his body tensing to the extreme.
His other three colleagues followed suit.
Nico - now a Demon - suddenly appeared beside the bandit with the slanted eye. The pitch-black hue covering his body burgeoned as he punched out.
Strong gales were generated from the sheer force contained behind the attack. Mad-Eye, whose eyes widened into saucers, trembled for a second before he forcibly composed himself. He swung his sword with a desperate expression.
The weapon and Nico's fist clashed.
A small bang echoed.
Mad-Eye quickly disengaged, his feet leaving two streaks through the ground. His arms quaked violently from the power of the Demon's strike. The man looked down at his silver weapon and turned as white as a sheet.
With every passing second, thin cracks spread rapidly through his sword. That was not all, and perhaps not what had frightened him the most. Instead, the tip - which had come into contact with the ominous energy surrounding the Demon - started to crumble slowly.
As Mad Eye watched with a slack jaw, his weapon disintegrated right in front of his eyes. An expression of pure horror filled his face.
He staggered back in shock. All thoughts of paying attention to the Demon's movements were gone from his mind.
Which quickly proved fatal…
…Nico's adamantine arm pierced through the man's chest.
The Demonic energy ran amok through the bandit's body, quickly disintegrating him into a pile of ash, which swirled and scattered into the wind by a sudden breeze.
The other bandits unconsciously stumbled back, stunned by their fellow criminal's quick death.
Nico, now determined to exact his vengeance, had no other thoughts than to end those who had killed his friend. Even if he had been in his right mind, it would have proved unlikely for him to be able to resist the power coursing through his veins.
In this strange state, Nico felt a sinister will brush against his mind. He paid it no heed, paying more attention and energy to dealing with the White Cobras.
His gaze shifted toward another target, figure blurring once more.
The Demon made quick work of Shifty, Skinny, and Silver Tooth. Even as their agonised screams filled the air, he did not stop.
Especially the scrawny bandit, whom Nico had tortured the most for injuring Henry before they had been ensnared in the mirror's spell.
He turned around and sniffed, instantly locking on to the Boss and Stanburg Heir. They had just reached the treeline that would allow them to escape deeper into the forest.
Instinctually, Nico found the bandit leader's location through a mixture of smell and sharp eyesight.
He growled and strode towards the wicked duo. Behind him, three bodies slumped consecutively to the ground, slowly crumbling into a pile of ash.
Lucas, who watched the massacre of the White Cobras unfold, paled even further. Suddenly, he fell, his feet tripping over a rock.
The fiery-haired boy hastily crawled backward, doing his best to put as much distance between him and the terrifying demon.
Standing in front of the once conceited heir, the Boss had an extremely grim look on his face. He quickly placed a Mana Crystal at the base of the mirror.
The bald man closed his eyes.
A crimson light flooded the surroundings.
The Boss hurriedly opened his eyes and… cursed. That damned Demon remained unfazed, seemingly impervious to any type of mental attack.
The bandit leader used the looking glass two more times, each time with more and more panic, until… in a decisive moment, he flung the mirror away, grabbed his axe, and rushed toward the menacing lifeform with a nasty expression.
His muscles bulged as his axe chopped towards the Demon's neck. Nico merely stepped to the side and allowed the weapon to sail within inches of his cheek.
The Boss did not let up, chaining each attack in hopes of catching his foe off guard.
Another chop, followed by a feint and then a cleave. Nico evaded the attacks with ease. It was as if he was toying with a lesser lifeform that was beneath his notice.
Finally, after a few strikes, the Boss paled for the first time. Cold sweat trickled down his back. The source of his sudden fear… lay crumbling on the ground. His axe splintered apart, most likely from getting too close to that baleful energy.
Within an instant, Nico struck. He desired the pitch-black hue that covered his hands to part, and so his body responded instinctually.
As his scaled hands gripped the bandit leader's bald head, he slammed the portly man into the ground, face-first.
A sickening crunch of broken bones resounded. Again, and again and again.
The leader of the White Cobra's pained screams rang incessantly in the clearing.
Nico gazed at the fruit of his efforts. The man's face was mangled beyond belief, yet he somehow still lived. Almost all parts of the wicked criminal's features were swollen, and ballooned out of proportion.
Black and blue bruises, mixed with hints of crimson littered the Boss's face.
Several of his tooth were cracked and eventually dislodged.
The Demon grinned sadistically. He leaned down and whispered in the portly bandit's ear, "Do you repent?"
The Boss glared at the former brown-haired trainee through his swollen eyelids, "N-Nev..er"
"Insolent fool," Nico promptly snapped the man's neck. The bandit's lifeless body slumped to the ground, what little life left, departing his eyes forever.
The dark-haired demon turned his attention on to the Stanburg heir. Lucas shivered under the cruel gaze. A dark stain slowly spread in the area around his crotch.
His eyes were dilated in pure terror as his body shook in extreme fear.
"S-Stay b-back! If you do anything to me, my family will end you! I am the Heir of the Stanburg Family! If you spare me, I promise to give you many riches!" the fiery-haired noble stuttered, still crawling backwards.
Eventually, his back met the bole of an old tree. Lucas cursed under his breath, now that he was effectively trapped with no way out.
The Demon made his way over to him, one agonising step at a time.
Lucas shakily stood up, his limbs still trembling. He had seen what that creature had done to the White Cobras. He knew he stood no chance.
The noble bit his lips until they bled. He could not see a way out of his current situation.
All hope seemed to be lost… until it wasn't!
The Demon abruptly stumbled and swayed.
Lucas's expression turned optimistic. He raised his nose haughtily in the air.
However, a second later his expression fell and his eyes widened. A scream of anguish ripped through his throat.
Lucas glanced down, an expression of disbelief twisting his prideful features.
That hateful Demon had punched a hole through his stomach. The young noble unconsciously staggered and clutched at the wound once his adversary had removed their scaled fist - which had caused even more damage from its exit than its entry.
Lucas coughed up a mouthful of blood, little drips of crimson dripping from his lips onto the ground below. He weakly glanced at his foe and attempted to raise his noise one final time.
However, before he got the chance, a crushing force slapped him away into the distance…
…his fate now unknown.
After quickly dealing with Lucas, Nico staggered and swayed. An intense dizziness washed over him.
He felt light-headed, and he noted hazily that the strange state he had entered was slowly being undone.
Nico's eyes drooped.
Just before he lost consciousness, overwhelming pain flooded his senses. He idly discovered that it was both tangible and intangible, physical and emotional, crushing and oppressive.
His body slowly fell to the ground, a scene of carnage surrounding his once demonic figure.
Darkness then rushed up to greet him in its familiar, and empty embrace…
… a void, where all his pain would cease to exist.
A relieved expression appeared on Nico's face.