Whoosh.
A strong wind blew toward us. Cuts formed, and blood dripped down from my cheek, arms, and legs. "Ugh... What was that?" I looked at Alma and felt a sinister aura. 'He didn't even move... And that aura he's emitting felt familiar. Why?'
Isaac, who was standing next to me, completely fine asked. "Is everyone alright?" I looked back to see Rona and Ronald. Ronald was on the ground struggling. He had a few minor injuries on his body and one deep cut on his stomach. He was grunting a lot as the pain was unbearable. Rona was by his side, holding his hands and crying. Tiny slime was sitting on top of Ronald, healing him. However, due to his age and experience, he can only heal minor injuries. Isaac panicked and quickly rushed to Ronald's side and performed first aid.
"Ronald? How...?" I mumbled. Rona screamed. "Lil! In front of you!" I turned in front. 'Huh?' I could only see but couldn't react as I was hit on my face and thrown to the wall. "Argh! Kahh! Hacckk!" I dropped to the ground on all four and coughed. Some blood spilt out of my mouth. 'That was a punch? That's crazy strong. I flew nearly 10 meters.' I staggered as I got up.
"Rona!" I heard Isaac scream. I looked up and saw Alma gripping Rona's neck. Alma's hand that was gripping Rona's neck tightened every passing second. "Haah... Hah..." Rona struggled to break free, but Alma showed no sign of letting go. I gritted my teeth and shouted. "Hey, slime! Why don't you fight someone your own size?" Tiny slime looked at me in confusion and teared up. "Blu?"
'Not you, tiny slime...' I bowed in apology towards the tiny slime. Alma stared at me in anger and let go of Rona. Rona dropped to the ground, and Isaac moved towards her. He helped her sit up and looked at me with worried eyes. Alma walked towards me slowly. I looked at Isaac and then Alma. 'This isn't looking good... Hahaha.'
Suddenly, everything stopped moving as if time stood still. 'Huh? Did time stop? Cool!' I looked at Isaac and shouted. "Isaac is stupid!" But he didn't respond.
I heard a familiar sound in my head. "I knew you were nothing but trouble."
I looked around. "Lyndall? Where are you?"
"No use looking around. I'm in your head."
"My head?"
"Anyway, here. I'll give you some of my powers. Use it wisely."
"Why are you helping me?"
"Only a priestess or another demon can kill a demon."
"Demon? Alma is a demon?"
"No. The aura emitted from the soul is definitely human. Judging by that human soul, he must have made a contract with the demon inside him now."
"How do you know that?"
"I can see it. The human soul. A human soul is bright and full of life. One human soul is able to strengthen a demon's power by tenfold. That's why demons tend to feast on human souls to make themselves stronger or to lengthen their lifespan. Due to demons' nature, demons went frenzy and started consuming hundreds of thousands of human souls. A law was later imposed that if a human decided to make a contract with a demon, the demon would be able to feast on that human's soul in exchange for granting that human's wishes. However, the demon can only take a portion of that human's soul for each wish. Of course, the size of the portion depends on how big the wishes are."
"Eww..."
"Looking at this human's soul, it's grown so dim that the soul will soon fade out. This human wasn't born strong. He must have traded a large portion of his soul, or else there's no way he would be the strongest Devo."
"Oui..."
"It's a pity, though. Of all demons, he chose that demon."
"What's wrong with that demon?"
"He is devious and cunning. He will do whatever it takes to be the strongest demon... Even killing his own family. Moreover, he detests humans a lot. He probably tricked that human into wishing for greater power."
"What do you mean?"
"That human shouldn't have lived till this long. In fact, he should have died when he was 5 due to his weak constitution."
"Weak constitution? Really?" I scanned Alma's body from head to toe. 'He looks bulk, though...'
"The demon must have 'healed' his illness and tempted him into wishing for more. And well, you know, humans, the definition of greed.
"You said the demon hates humans, yet he's using a human... Ironic. Oh, ya. How did you stop time? It's so cool."
"Stop the chitchat and focus."
I suddenly felt dizzy. Weird memories that I had never seen before were flooding into my brain. The feeling of death. The smell of blood. The sight of body parts. Those memories made me nauseous. "Ack! What is this?" I rubbed my eyes. Lyndall grabbed my head firmly. "Focus if you don't want your friends to die. These memories will guide you. Embrace it." I hesitated, but seeing my friends struggling for their lives, I decided to let myself go. I closed my eyes and dived into the memory.
I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was a demon cursing at me. 'Who...? Where is this place? Is this Lyndall's memories?' I looked up and saw a red sky. Tick. Tick. It was starting to rain. 'Rain? No. Why is the rain red? This isn't rain. It's blood.' My mind started to panic, but my heart was still. 'This is so confusing. I can't comprehend any of these.' I looked around and saw human body parts scattered on the field. 'Ugh... I felt like vomiting. Where am I? What is this place?' I tried to move my body, but I couldn't.
"Hey! Are you listening to me?"
'Huh?' I looked straight and saw the cursing demon screaming at me.
"I'm going to defeat you here and now. I'm going to be the Demon King and make everyone kneel before me."
'Oh, right. I can ask this demon where I am.' I tried to open my mouth, but it wouldn't open. 'Oui... Is this mouth sealed?'
"Yah!!!" The demon rushed toward me and wanted to throw a fist at me. I tried to move my body, but nothing happened. 'Not another fist on my face.' As the demon threw his fist at me, my body dodged on its own. I clenched my fist and punched the demon's head as hard as I could. The demon's head exploded, and blood was splattered on the ground. I was horrified by the sight. Strangely, I couldn't smell the blood and felt fear in myself. 'I forgot I'm in a memory. But why is it so vivid? I could feel the force when I punched that demon.' My eyesight went blurred. 'Huh? What's happening?'
I opened my eyes again and saw Lyndall sitting next to me. I sat up immediately. "Lyndall, just now that memory was yours, wasn't it?" Lyndall kept silent as he stared at me.
"What? Why are you staring at me like that?"
Lyndall shook his head. "Never mind. So you know what to do now?"
"I do, but I don't have the strength to one-punch him like that."
"That's why I'm lending you my powers. So follow the dream."
"Easier said than done." I stared at Lyndall for a while. "Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"What's your deal with that demon? He seems to hate you."
"It's a demon thing. He used to ask me to fight him all the time, though it is always a one-sided match. He was way too weak to be compared to me. And he always starts a fight with a punch in the face."
"I noticed. Old habits die hard. After so many centuries, his fighting skills are still the same."
Lyndall nodded. "Time's up. Good luck, and don't die." Lyndall waved his hands, and everything returned back normal.
"That was so weird." I looked at my hands. 'Can I do it?'
"Lil! Watch out!" Rona shouted at me. I looked up and saw Alma raised his fist to punch me. I calmed myself and followed what I had seen in Lyndall's memory. 'He's going to hit me with his left fist first.' I clench both my fist and raised them in front of me. Alma threw his fist at me, and I quickly leaned to the side. Alma's punch slipped right past me. I pushed Alma's left arm with my left hand and threw a punch back at Alma as hard as I could. Alma's head flew off, leaving his body standing right in front of me. Isaac and Rona sat there in shock. I looked at my right fist, which is filled with Alma's blood. "Blood..." I turned to the side and vomited. "Blergh... Ugh... Gosh, the smell." I felt a bit lightheaded and dropped to the ground.