Empty words

Kira and Arisa collapsed onto each other, holding each other up from falling down.

The smoke cleared and Demen stood at the end of the clearing, with a furious expression he cursed out to Kira.

“Why do you constantly stand in my way, you should have died already! I was chosen by god not you!”

“That god that you love so much isn't anything close, the only reason he gave you this power was to hurt humans. That’s all you have been doing isn't it, everywhere you take that crest there’s more and more demons following.”

“You’re spouting nonsense, shut up.” Demen replied with a deranged look.

“That’s probably the worst part isn't it, you use people and toss them aside like dirt but you were the one used in the end. Ko needed someone gullible and easy to use in order to spread demon through the lands.

It’s actually something that I realised after hearing about you and Ko’s meeting, why would he need someone like you? Why give power away, when everything he does is for a reason?”

Kira raised a finger into the air and pointed directly to Demen with a scowl. “I bet you don’t know the requirements to becoming a demon do you!”

“Shut up…shut up.”

“It’s to expose mana to someone who has an affinity for it, even the smallest trace of it could cause someone to turn.”

Demen stumbled around and gripped a hold of his head. “I said shut up!!”

“Add some negative emotions and you have a demon. You people have been running around making 3 more demons than the one that you kill.”

Demen's eyes widened and surrounded himself with a flash of energy.

“SHUT UP!!!” Demen screamed.

The energy around him burst out into a wave of pressure that sent Kira stumbling back on his feet.

Cracks of light broke on Demen's skin that released particles of ash into the air. His body was in the process of crumbling again but this time at a higher rate than before.

“No-no this can’t be…I won’t accept it, I wasn’t being used! You’re doing this aren’t you…if I kill him, can I stay a god, Ko? That was the deal; you promised me the power to change the world!!”

Demen screamed out to the sky with rage, flailing his arms about as if he was able to grab something.

“It’s over, no more pawns in your game willing to sacrifice themselves for you.” Kira said assertively.

Demen frantically searched around for someone or anything that he could siphon from, after seeing nobody left he widened his eyes in panic. He rushed towards the collapsed wall that lied in burnt ruins, and tried escaping.

“He’s running for it, we can’t let him get away! Dammit my legs are like goo-”

In a sudden flash of speed Arisa broke free of Kira's hold and rushed towards Demen. With a sudden snap he turned back to Arisa and let off a startled glare, the desperation in his eyes warned both of them what would come next.

A purple claw made of mist shot out from his chest and crept towards her with its wide reach. The claw wrapped itself around her body in a single grasp, restricting her completely.

“I am sorry that things turned out like this little Arisa but this is the best action for everyone. You and your family died for a good purpose, if only you could see what I will turn this world into.”

Demen’s grinned triumphantly as the claw around her body started retracting back towards him, forcing her mana from out of her body.

A white light was almost completely drawn out of her tattered robes; Arisa felt the warmth slowly leave her body.

Arisa felt the final moments drawing near and turned to Kira standing behind her in awe, she closed her eyes and gave off a large pearly smile.

“I was glad you’re okay too…Kira.”

“To hell with that, what kind of end is that for you? You’ve been fighting all this time, how is this any different! I won’t stop fighting and neither should you!” Kira bellowed with frustration.

He gripped hold of the claw around Arisa’s body and tugged at it, falling back in place so that he could pull it towards him.

The tug of war from Kira forced the claw towards him and Arisa, which allowed her mana to fall back into her body. A flicker of light flashed back into her eyes as sweat dripped down from her forehead.

“I won’t- stop fighting! Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Arisa screamed with everything she had, she took a step backwards and forced herself further and further away from Demen.

Demen's jaw dropped at the sight of his Astral Claw being overwhelmed, and her mana disappearing from his grasp. The cracks around his eye shattered into larger tears that ran through his body. His leg completely cracked open from the large amount of fissures.

The leg broke apart which shattered into a bunch of pieces, fading away into ash.

Demen fell to his knee and felt the connection between the Claw and him growing smaller. “I won’t let go, even if it kills me.”

Kira halted his chants to Arisa and stared into Demen's eyes, making a serious expression Kira muttered to him.

“Hopefully.”

A single flame spawned in the palm of Kira’s hand that spread across the claw, it burnt down its arm towards Demen.

In a flash of light, the flames had fully encompassed him in a shadowy inferno that melted away the claw. Arisa stumbled back as her mana fully merged back into her.

Demen crumbled away into a trail of astral dust into night sky, as he sat in the centre of a roaring flame that grew smaller the more that he faded away.

The expression on his face as the flames consumed the remainder of his fractured body was nowhere near the way Demen usually looked. Every trace of his usual superiority had been stripped away; Demen lowered his head with widened eyes and waited for death.

“This is your chance, to say everything you want to get off your chest. There won’t ever be a better time.” Kira said as he turned to Arisa.

She stepped forward gingerly and anger filled her eyes, she wondered on what she could possibly say that would be able to sum it up. Memories filled her head like a slideshow from everything that he had done and caused.

“…”

Demen raised his head at Arisa and stared into her eyes, in that moment he saw the fear in her and let out a faint chuckle. Demen returned his usual smile as she stared down at him in a panicked state.

She opened her mouth but no words were able to leave her throat, her chest raced at such a speed that she thought her heart would break through her bones to leave her body. Everything started blurring into a thick haze, leaving only Demen's sadistic grin in perfect focus.

The last of Demen's particles disappeared along with the final embers of Kira’s flames; the only thing that remained was a scorched patch of dirt.

Kira wanted to comfort her but had no idea what he could possibly say, he had been through similar circumstances and hadn’t gotten over it himself. He had no idea where he could start or if it was even his place to begin with.

Arisa wiped her eyes with her arm and then turned back to Kira with an elated smile. “Thank you Kira.”

Those words filled him with a bittersweet taste in his mouth as he nodded in agreement.

-

After that they made their way through the estate of the manner to inspect the damage and luckily they found a section of the manner that hadn’t been completely destroyed. The handmaid’s chambers which were separated from the rest of the building managed to survive with little to no damage. They spent the next 4 nights resting there when Kira woke up from sleep.

“Oh you’re awake; thank goodness I thought you were out for good.” Arisa sighed as she changed his face cloth.

“What do you mean, how long was I sleeping?”

He suddenly sat up which caused the cloth to fly off his face and on to the floor. The sun was at its highest pique and the destroyed remnants of the manner were cold.

“3 days…” She replied awkwardly.

‘That’s quicker than I thought…still my body is really sluggish. That’s the first time I’ve used my mana like that, and I went and over did it.’

“Just be sure to get a lot of rest and you should be okay.”

Kira stared at her and noticed the mana inside her body moving in an erratic fashion. It looked unstable as it morphed and retracted in weird shapes.

“Arisa are you feeling alright? There’s something weird going on in there.”

Kira pointed his finger to Arisa’s chest which caused her to blush. With a reddened face she covered her chest and took a step back.

“Yes…why do you ask?” She asked gingerly.

Kira noticed bags under her eyes and sweat running down the sides of her head, causing him to jump up from his bed with an engrossed glare.

“I told you I’m alright, now if you’ll excuse me I have to get some water!”

Arisa swatted him away and walked towards the door, before she was able to slide it open she fell against the wall with a light whimper.

“Arisa!”

**note from the author**

Thank you all so much for the continued support with the series, you guys have really been amazing. This is officially the end of Volume 1, Volume 2 will continue 26’th of October (Wednesday). I know it’s a bit of a wait but I want to stock pile chapters and make sure to plan out the plot well, I plan to make volume 2 way better than the first and I can’t wait to start. So make sure that you stay followed because I might post earlier than that.

Kira will return.

Stay safe guys, bye~