CHAPTER EIGHT — The Final Duel

The demon panicked.
If he let her gather more power, he was finished.
He lunged first, striking for her heart—
CLANG!
Elen blocked his blade with one hand.
One.
Hand.
The demon’s eyes widened.
“…Impossible…”
Elen stared at him with dead, emotionless eyes.
“Is that all?”
She flicked her wrist—
CRACK!
The demon’s sword shattered like glass.
“WHAT—?!”
Before he could move—
BOOOOOOM!!!
Her kick launched him through multiple trees, tearing the forest apart.
He coughed blood, terror overtaking him.
“She’s… stronger than any demon I’ve ever met…”
Elen appeared in front of him instantly, scythe raised.
“This is for hurting him.”
He scrambled back, summoning countless shadow spears and hurling them like a storm.
Elen didn’t move.
She spun her scythe once—
WHOOSH!!!
A vortex of purple light erupted, disintegrating every spear into dust.
The demon’s voice cracked.
“She’s a monster…!”
Elen vanished again.
He felt her behind him—too fast to react.
Her whisper chilled his spine.
“Don’t run.”
She swung.
He dodged at the last possible second—but the wind from her attack severed half his arm.
He screamed.
Elen grabbed his face and slammed him into the ground, cracking the earth like broken glass.
“This is for trying to take me from him.”
She lifted him by the throat. Her aura roared, turning the sky purple.
The demon trembled.
“W-wait! If you kill me, higher demons will come! They’ll hunt you! They’ll—”
Elen’s voice was quiet. Deadly.
“I don’t care.”
Her scythe glowed brighter than ever.
The demon cried out.
“NO—PLEASE—!!”
Elen whispered:
“…Die.”
SHIIIIING!!!
A single swing.
No explosion. No scream. No body.
The demon was erased from existence.
Silence fell.
Her scythe dissolved into light. Her power faded. Her knees buckled.
She turned toward Ivan.
His lifeless body lay still.
Her fury collapsed into heartbreak.
She crawled to him, gathering him in shaking arms.
“Ivan… please… don’t leave me… I can’t live without you…”
Her tears fell onto his cold skin.
Then—
His fingers twitched.
Very faintly.
Elen gasped.
“Ivan…?”