Chapter 11:

Consequence

Three Legendary Swords

While their blade clashed, Xarax raised his left leg for another stomp. Shinji threw his full weight forward, trying to push him off balance but his strength finally gave out.

"Fork!”

Shinji staggered. Xarax stomped the ground with brutal force, sending him flying backward. With a cruel smile, Xarax swung his sword, unleashing a massive razor wind. It tore through the air, struck him and exploded on impact.

"AHHHHHH!!!”
"Hooomann!”

Akira instantly dropped her support magic and dashed toward him as he fell.

"Perfect!”
"Yosh!”

Xarax unleashed another aerial slash while Rizai ordered a swarm of knives forward, one glowing brightly. All of them streaked toward her.

"AKIRA! Seven o’Clock!!!”

Chrono fired desperately but could only hit a few. She had no time to react and her life flashed before her eyes.

Ethereal Realm, 100 Years Ago
A group of tweens spirits gathered on a floating island where a river poured off the edge, refracting the sunlight like scattered jewels. They hovered in a circle without feet, surrounded Akira who wouded badly in the center, the grounds cracked beneath her.

"Heal! Heal! Heal!”

They shouted together, clapping their hands, cheering. Akira lay there, her forehead touching the ground, her entire body trembling from the pain engulfing her.

"Come on, peasant!”
"Don’t worry, we still got more clothes for you!”
"Quick! I want to test my new skill!”

Another tween spirit approached quickly, fiery flame-wings flaring behind her. She held a staff topped with a tiny pumpkin head and bat wings.

"Why you guys hurting her?”

Her wings vanished as she floated naturally again. The others turned toward her and smile brightly.

"Without me?!”

She smirked and their cheers grew louder.

"Ruri has arrived!!!”
"Ruri! Ruri! Ruri!”

She raised her staff high and an orange magic circle formed way above Akira.

"Hora hora! Heal! NOW! THIS IS AN ORDERRRR!!!”

Akira glanced to the incoming spell, a meteor-sized fireball dropping above her. She cast a healing spell on herself along with other support magic.

"They said… Spirits are wise and others are evil… But to me, there’s no difference…”

An Hour Later…
Akira slowly floated past the neighbourhood, filled with tiny houses no bigger than a shoeboxes. She gasping with mana nearly depleted. The ground dry under the harsh sunlight and the heat shimmered in the air.

"What?! No corn?!”

One of the Royal Knights barked, gripped a halberd.

"Ye- yes, Mr. Knight! We have improper water management here… We already filed a complaint but no action has been take-”
"AHHH! EXCUSES!!! LAZY PEASANTS!!!”

A group of Royal Knights raised their halberds and cast a punishment spell on the farmers. Akira looked away, frowned.

"For a century… We seen the same thing, we felt the same pain... Time marching yet nothing has ever change... Why?! How long more… How long more we going to suffer like this!"

She closed her eyes and clenching her fist.

"If only… If only I have power… If only I can use offensive magic!”

She gritted her teeth and slammed the door to her home, trying to ignore the painful screams.

"Omitan! Im hom-”

Her eyes suddenly widened and her whole body trembled.

"OMITAN!”

She dropped to the floor and hugged the penguin-like monster’s lifeless body, her one and only source of comfort.

"Omitan! Omiitann! OMITAN! DON’T LEAVE ME! OMIIIITANNNNNNNN!!!”

Her tears poured like a waterfall, the one pain she could never heal with her magic. In the following days, she secretly learned one of the forbidden magic, a terrifying spell capable of reviving the dead, at the cost of the caster’s soul.

"Ultimate Magic: RESURRECTION!!!”

A magic circle expanded beneath her, glowing light piercing through her home and drawng the entire village’s attention. She was shortly arrested by the Royal Knights patrolling the area before she could even complete her spell.

Royal Court Hall
Her arms were bound tightly by magical chains as she floated before the Spirit King and the royal family, surrounded by guards and servants.

"Any last words, criminal?”

The king asked then Akira nodded.

"Yes! I’ve learned the true meaning of evil! We were taught that demons, humans and fallen angels are evil, while we… Spirits, are wise… But we were WRONG!”

The king frowned, the princess flinched and the rest stared sharply at her. Akira lifted her head, voice rising.

"The true evil is us! We believe others are evil and proclaim ourselves as sacred! We’ve been blinded by these delusions for generations! OPEN YOUR EYES AND LEAVE THE PALACE FOR ONCE!!! SEE THE TRUTH OF OUR KIND!!!”

The king frowned, the princess eyes’ widened and the royal family enraged. The king then banished her to the Abyss of No Return, the Human World.

"I have nothing more to lose… Not until I met them…”

Two voices echoed in her head.

"I wan- I need to save my son but I need your help! Please! Be my vessel!”
"You have the ability to heal someone, and you don’t have the power to hurt anyone… That means you’re a good person who likes to help people! I find that attractive, nothing funny bout that!”

Present…
In that instant, a black figure appeared, shoving her aside. A rain of kunai and shuriken hit the incoming knives. But the figure took Xarax’s aerial strike and the magic exploded. The shockwave blasted Akira off her feet.

"Who-?!”
"Is that-?!”
"What?!”

The ninja collapsed instantly from the hit while Akira fell face-first.

"Huh?”

She glanced to her back before slowly crawled toward Shinji, who lay on the ground gasping, Moeru Yona beside him.

"Hoo-… man!”
"Fork! He-… Hurt me-… Mo- more than… Teacher’s comment! Gkkk! Uhh!"

She tried to cast a healing spell but he gently held her wrist.

"Adva-… Hooman?”
"No! You shoul-… Ughh! Heal that… Ninja! He-… Ugh! Saved your life! Akh- ugh!”

Xarax gasped and despelled his Demonic Aura. He shifted fully into Demon Form, red skinned, black winged, abandoning his heavy blade behind.

"Hah! Haaha! Your legend… Ends here! Why? Why he still alive?! He’s been hit so many times!”

He slowly approached them.

"But-…”

Akira’s voice cracked.

"This is… Ugh! An order!”

Shinji said and Xarax froze mid-step.

"Do you… Ugh! Believe in… Me… Akira?”

He knelt while trembling, smiling to her.

"Hooman…”

She smiles back and squeezed her eyes shut.

"I never once doubted you, Shinji!”

Her tears streamed down her cheek and Xarax flinched.

Xarax’s Memory Flashback
Back in Ethereal Realm, wherever he went, he became a laughing stock to his fellow demons, everyday for hundreds of years.

"Wind magic? Hahaha!”
"Don’t say that man, he’s a W!”
"Yeah, a weakling! Hahaha!”

Even in the Beast Domain, but the laughter never stop following him.

"Why?!”

All his magic bounced uselessly off a sand dragon on the desert mountain beneath the cloudy sky.

"Why?! Why was I born with the weakest element?!”

The dragon flew straightly toward him yet he struggle to damage it.

"Storm! Claw! Geyser! Tornado! Sheet! None of this working!”

A lightning striked blasted down from the sky, killing the dragon in one shot.

"Wha-”

Then suddenly it arced toward Xarax.

"What the-?!”

He panicked and covered his eyes.

"You ok?”

A voice asked accompanied by zapping noises. Xarax opened his eyes and immediately dropped to his knees, head bowed.

"Pri-… Tha-thank you, Demon Prince, Sae! For saving this poor, weak peasant life!”
"No need to be so formal! Get up!”

The prince said but Xarax shook his head.

"Im sorry Prince Sae! I cant-”
"This is an order!”

He flinched and stood slowly, still bowing.

"Why you save this peasant with the weakest element, Prince Sae?”
"Weakest element? Nonsense! There’s no such thing!”

The prince frowned and Xarax sighed deeply.

"Pardon this weak peasant Prince Sae, but easy for you to say when you have the strongest elemen-”
"Who said that?!”

The prince snapped and another lightning bolt struck nearby.

"I- I- Im sorry! Prince Sae!”

The prince turned aside, arms crossed.

"The only weakest element here is your faith! You trust whatever people say, and you don’t believe in yourself! Doesn’t matter what element or type, magic is all about mental strenghts! Unfortunately… That’s what you lack!”

Present…
Xarax, in his Demon Form went berserk, releasing his Demonic Aura to its full extent. His power spiked so violently that even Rizai and Chrono felt the pressure crushing their chests.

"Wha-… Woy! Boss hang pi mana?! (Where did your boss go?!)”
"Co- commander…”

Rizai’s face turned pale, his body trembling like an earthquake. Akira, however, ignored everything happening around her and focused solely on healing the ninja.

"I thank you for saving me and the kids… But I still wont forgive you for attacking ma hooman!”

Xarax poured every last drop of his mana and energy into a single, ultimate form of his magic. The vortex spun like a wild typhoon.

Shinji gasped, struggling to stand properly. He held the katana two-handed, pommel near his chest, blade poised behind him.

"DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! YOOOONNAAAAAAA!!!”

Xarax roared, but inside his head, his inner voice whispered with bitter honesty.

"My magic is weak… It always will be!”

Then, with everything spent, he hurled his final attack. Shinji met the attack head-on.

"WHAT?!”

Xarax froze in shock as his mana drained away, his magic bending unnaturally, drawn toward the sword instead of detonating.

"Heh… I’ve been waiting for this! After my last battle with your second commander, I learned something valuable! I saved my energy, just for this specific MOMENT!!!”

Shinji smirked, stepped forward and with both arms raised, he slashed his katana down in a crushing arc. A concentrated wind-aerial magic burst from the blade, ripping toward Xarax.

"Ah… So this is…”

Time felt slow as his body erupted with his own magic.

"...the true power of my ‘weakest element’ huh? I should’ve believe in you, princ-…”
"COMMANDERRRR!!!”

The strike detonated. The explosion hurled them all through the air, tore buildings apart, and reduced the hall to a roaring cloud of dust and debris. The entire city shuddered. Birds scattered. The river roaked. Distant sirens echoes. Citizen in the streets looked up at the dark sky night.

"What th-”
"Sonic boon?!”
"Nah, must be those illegal miners!”

Chrono and Akira regained consciousness on the rubble. Shinji lay on the ground, unconscious while Rizai lost control, spawning knives faster than ever, each glowing with magic.

"Adeiii kepala aq… (My head…) Sheet! Where’s ma gun?!”

Chrono scrambled as his gun lay far away. Akira shifted into Spirit Form as her mana depleted.

"I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!!! ALL OF YOU!!!”

Rizai screamed, squeezing every last drop of energy. Chrono managed to grab his gun and fired, but the knives formed a living shield, one gone, another taking its place.

"We need to get out of here!”

Chrono reached for Shinji but Akira shook her head then stared at Rizai.

"There’s nowhere to run… No need to, either…”

She spoke even though no one could hear her. Suddenly, every floating knife dissolved into sparks of light. Rizai’s body ignited with a searing blaze, flames erupting across his skin.

"HOT! HOT! WHAT?! WHAT’S HAPPENING?! AAHHHHHH!!!”

Rizai shrieked, thrashing as the fire consumed him. Chrono frozed in shocked while Akira simply turned her gaze away.

"That is what happens when you lose control of your emotions... You act without a second thought... This is the consequence of selling your soul to a demon and forcing replicated magic beyond its limits!”

Her words lingered like judgment, as Rizai’s screams echoed into the night.

End of Chapter 11…

Extra 011:

Luna rummage through the meeting room, checking every corner with growing frustration.

"Una? What you doing?”

Yuki walked in after washing her hands.

"My donut… Its gone…”

Yuki froze. Her eyes flicked to the side and an awkward laugh slipped out.

"Ohh ho ho… May- maybe… Someone ate-”
"WHO ATE MY DONUT?!”

Yuki trembling, glancing left and right as Luna’s stare sharpened.

"I- I- I donno… May- maybe… Ha- Habara? Haa- ha…”

Luna suddenly loaded a magazine into her Glock.