Asmodeus felt guilty because of his actions. The departure would be delayed. However, it couldn't be stopped or changed now. Instead of lingering on such thoughts, he remained silent while listening to the sounds coming from inside the cocoon.
"I wonder what you will beco..."
***
anwhile, inside the cocoon, Sheila's mind and body were being picked apart and gouged out piece by piece before slowly rging with the demon blood lingering inside the cocoon. Her soul was forcefully dragged from her old body as the sinister forces twisted and crushed the intangible source of power into a deford and monstrous shape.
'Where... where am I?'
Sheila felt no pain nor had any idea what was happening around her, as if she was being held in a deep slumber. The surroundings changed back to the kingdom of Grigor's castle, but this ti, the sky was dark, with red lightning dancing everywhere. Monsters covered the city below the castle as far as she could see.
This scene caused her heart to race because the knights she once t in the past were dead, their bodies torn apart or hanging from sharp stakes like dried at in front of the butcher. Bloodstained everything while cries of despair echoed endlessly, causing the place to resemble a living hell.
The people she was trying to protect in the past, who had helped her multiple tis when she needed them, had disappeared.
"What.... where is this?!"
However, she felt sothing, an energy that made her desire to run towards it. Nostalgic, beloved... sothing that attracted her body and soul in the sa direction.
She rushed towards the location, her feet almost slipping in the pools of blood and muddy liquids. Then she slipped and fell down the cracked wall, her ribs aching as she rolled on her back only to see the destroyed inner wall, broken doors and dried moat.
'It hurts... but... why is the world so empty?!'
It was at that mont she heard sothing, the sound of tal clashing in the distance over the small mound beside her.
'Ahh, it is the knights. They must be there.'
She stood up again, feeling her entire body aching, especially her bones. Even her hands were twisted, and her breathing beca more and more erratic as she kept climbing. Her body swayed and staggering as the bruises and bloody wounds on her body beca worse.
"Ah?!"
Sheila slipped, her hand holding the stone wall lost grip before her body rolled down the stones, her bones cracking because of the heavy impact.
Despite her fall, she felt a sense of desperation and determination while pulling herself up; each ti she put pressure on her hips and right shoulder, an unbearable pain flooded her body, almost causing her to lose consciousness.
***
When she reached the top of the outer wall, Sheila could see several tall figures standing further away from her location. However, there seed to be only five monsters left in the place as the corpses littered all over the place. A group of people who fought against these creatures also died without even leaving traces of their presence.
No... five monsters were fighting a single pair of people.
"Why? What is this sight..."
Alan's corpse was impaled a few tres from where the group fought. Even Liana and the other won who she recognised all lay spread across the battlefield, bloody and torn apart. Experience new stories on m v|l e'-
Yet in the centre, with an arm missing and his right eye blinded, Asmodeus fought alone while protecting soone... It was a strange yet beautiful demon with red skin and a beautiful pair of silver and golden eyes.
However, her chest was wounded, with an enormous gaping hole in the centre. The battle and whirled suddenly froze, causing Sheila's eyes to widen. Her pupils dilated while the sense of pain inside her body increased.
[Are you enjoying the sight of what might co to pass in the future?]
'Who?! Where are you?!'
A void called out to her, making the beautiful priestess look around, ignoring her broken arm and injured ribs. She felt the voice was familiar, yet foreign.
She was terrified of this voice because it sounded like sothing that would end everything—it was neither loud nor imposing but gentle and calm, like a teacher trying to guide her towards sothing.
'It reminds of Lumina... I don't want to hear it!'
[Oh My? Are you comparing to that silly girl... I must say, Sheila, as a woman that my future spouse saved, why are you so stupid?] The voice replied.
'Future Spouse... Asmodeus?'
Sheila realised the aning of such words, which sent shivers down her spine. She didn't know why, but it felt obvious to her who the spouse could be, and the fact he was fighting right before her eyes added to her hunch.
[Fufu, not so dumb after all. Well, this is the world where he didn't choose to save you and forever held that regret in his chest.]
'What do you an, he hates !'
Serena's voice was filled with a hint of jealousy and irritation. Not that Sheila was overly special, but her death in this world caused chaos.
[Your death, although it should have ant nothing, you took your own life instead of becoming a demon. That action created a small crack in his heart... that crack grew and expanded over and over... until he began to distort, fall apart and lose the brilliance he once held.] Serena comnted with a snicker.
'I don't believe you!'
But no matter how much she tried to deny the claims made by the Goddess, deep down in her soul, a piece of it understood that there was truth in her words.
'How did she know I almost took my life...?' Her mind was focused on thods of silencing this goddess that threatened her belief and morals as a priestess rather than focusing on Asmodeus.
When it ca to his safety, Sheila believed nothing would hurt him. This kind of trust and devotion bordered on the ridiculous. It was lingering feelings and emotions from Lumina's obsession and vision of Asmodeus. The man, in her eyes, was akin to a god and skewed her judgnt.
'He will find a way.'
For a mont, there was silence, then suddenly, an imnse wave of energy exploded, pushing the remaining knights away, the demonic aura causing most of their armour to crumble away from them.
Everything died... the female demon, the monsters and only Asmodeus with a single arm and eye remained, yet his gaze beca hollow, his spirit vacant.
[Yes, he won... But the cost was everything he loved and cared for.]
The next mont, the skies turned black and began to crackle with lightning; a strange occurrence followed with the sky opening, and a male with black hair slowly descended. He was dressed in blue and gold clothes.
Sheila felt terrified. This thing wasn't a human, nor a demon. It was sothing else.
[This is the man who tricked Lumina and the man destined to kill Asmodeus...]
Sheila watched as Asmodeus struggled to remain standing. The silent battlefield slt like burnt flesh and crushed roses, an earthy yet sour scent. Sheila could barely breathe without gagging as the man reached the ground and stepped towards Asmodeus, who could only stand and let his arms tremble.
"How did a mortal survive... interesting, no, you are not human but a demon?" phisto, the god of death, spoke to Asmodeus, his eyes and nose turned up as if mocking him for daring to even remain alive after being near him.
"It matters not anymore..." Asmodeus grunted while spitting on the floor.
"Tell ... Asmodeus, how does it feel to be face to face with the true criminal who killed your mother and father with a curse?" A gust of wind passed as the dull, lifeless eyes of Asmodeus began to burn with anger, despair and frustration.
"MOTHERFUCKER!"
Asmodeus charged at the god of death with a broken sword in one hand and a broken arm that could barely hold anything, including its weight, without snapping off. There was no elegance—his form from the inn when she t him was all but gone as he attacked relentlessly.
"If that's all, I can see why your little lovers are all dead," phisto grumbled. After hearing such mockery, Sheila watched as Asmodeus lost control and kept charging with a crazed look on his face.
No matter how many tis his broken sword slashed towards phisto, the male just flicked the air and created a divine wall that stopped all of Asmodeus' attacks.
Slowly, the demon started to grow weak before falling to the ground with blood gushing out from every open wound. His chest beca distorted and crippled under phisto's attacks.
phisto snorted. "You call yourself the heir of Satan? What a joke..." A black ball of darkness appeared beside Asmodeus, and with a sudden flash of darkness, half his body vanished, blood spurting from the half-destroyed organs that suddenly vanished to the strange attack.
"I am not done..." The dark, bloody aura around Asmodeus' body started to thicken, causing the entire area to sink and crack under the pressure.
[You see him suffer. Now tell . Do you truly accept his blood to beco a demon and never forsake him? You have one chance, choose, or your soul will never know peace!]
'Were the feelings I felt ever my own... Or were they all created by Lumina's obsession?!'
"I...I am unsure about this all... I want my feelings, not ones forced on !!"
[Lumina is dead. Any feelings you feel now are your own—her powers are not able to overwrite a person's mind even after death. The affection you feel now was created by you, yourself!]
[But know, he won't forgive you easily, and the path he has chosen will be full of suffering and difficult battles. Can you truly accept that?] The voice paused as if expecting an answer.
'What is the purpose of asking if I cannot decline!'
Her body began to move toward the collapsed male, the world frozen, yet the dark ball that caused Asmodeus to fall into this state was close to his head. Yet Sheila hugged his bloody, dying body.
"Even if he keeps hating until the end, I will accept his wrath and never forsake him again!"
[Good...] The voice seed pleased.
"But...."
Suddenly, a trendous wave of energy erged around her, almost causing her soul to explode.
This sudden burst of energy forced itself into her body, but the nostalgic power made tears stream from her eyes—as the world beca dark, Asmodeus vanished from her arms, and the image of the strange male called phisto also disappeared.
[Never forget what you said, but don't give up hope.]
[Forgiveness will co to those who deserve it.]
User Comments
0 comments from readers