Quarta froze. He put Prota down slowly, not taking his eyes off his opponent for a single second.

“How do you know that name?”

“Easy. You know, I used to be an ordinary demon. I was never “king” material. That is, until I found something very interesting.”

“...yeah?”

“Your memories.”

“...tch!” Quarta grunted. His memories…

“...yeah?” he continued, feigning ignorance.

“Yes. They’re quite interesting, you know. Words like “isekai,” “main character,” “Earth,” “protagonist…” how interesting. But you know very well that’s not all those memories contain. They hold power. Power to rule worlds.”

“...your point?”

“Well, since you’re here, I would assume you want them back. However, I rather enjoy the power they give me. So, we stand at a certain crossroads of sorts. Therefore, to avoid conflict it seems I must kill you.”

“...Yeah? Is that all?” he said before realising it would have been better if he hadn’t called attention to Prota at all.

“Well, you see, from what I understand there’s a hero in this world,” she said. “Normally I wouldn’t be so concerned about facing a hero, but according to your memories I’m somewhat fated to lose. So, there are two weapons I need. I have one. Her name is Anta.”

Prota cried out involuntarily at the mention of her sister.

“The other… is that girl you have right there.”

Quarta grit his teeth. “You’ll need to step over my dead body to get her.”

The demon king smiled. “You show such compassion for someone you see as nothing but a “character.””

Prota looked at Quarta, but now wasn’t the time for questions.

“Oh, where are my manners? I know your name, John Quarta. Mine is Diaboli Rex. Please to meet you.”

Quarta (?) grit his teeth.

[Your memories are nearby!]

[All 16 seals have been released.]

[Go crazy, John.]

The was a bright flash of light, and Quarta’s appearance changed. His body was black like a shadow, whispy, like it wasn’t solid. In contrast, his scarf and left eye were glowing bright red, the symbol on his back blazing like a flame. Red lightning flickered all over his body as he crouched down, then shot forwards like an arrow.

The ground around them flattened as their fists collided, the pressure pushing Prota away. They exchanged blows practically at the speed of light, each punch sounding like a cannon shot, cracking like thunder through the night sky.

“...” Quarta looked nothing like when he’d fought the priests. His face then had been twisted with rage, making him look like a demon himself. Now, there was nothing but concentration and anxiety as sweat poured down his face.

“Are you having a hard time?” Diaboli laughed, summoning magic out of the air.

Blasts of mana pierced through the sky, falling like meteors as the two fought on, making their fight look like one at the end of the world. The surrounding area caught on fire, setting the ground ablaze, but the two pressed on.

“A fine opponent,” Diaboli cackled. She wasn’t even tired. “I shall use it, then.”

She cracked one horn off her head, which turned into a handle for a long energy blade.

“Your own power will kill you. How ironic.”

“What the hell? We’ve barely fought and yet you’re bringing your trump card out already?” he yelled. “What kind of shit nonsense is this?”

Quarta grit his teeth and reached out into the air, a black sword forming in his left and a red one forming in his right.

Once more they charged into battle, blades clashing, sparks flying like fireworks. Each slash would have been enough to sever entire buildings, and yet the sword continued to meet sword as the two pressed on.

“You’ll… never… get her! Not as long as I live!” Quarta yelled, increasing his speed.

“Then you’ll have to die, won’t you?”

Images flashed through his head. He’d only spent about five years in this world, but the most memorable times were the six months he’d spent with her. Their first meeting, her first meal, their first touch, her joy at so many moments, and especially her birthday, her joy at her presents, how she’d tackled him with a hug… her snow white hair, her blue eyes, her cold, calm demeanor… how could he ever give any of that up?

He’d finally met someone he considered to be “real.” Diaboli was wrong. He cared for Prota because he saw her as more than just a “character.”

He would never give it up.

The fight was coming to a climax. The blades flashed faster than ever, making it look like there were thousands of blades instead of three. There was no more banter as the sounds of clashing metal rose into the air, magic flying everywhere, explosions all around, the terrain completely ruined.

Finally, they both plunged their blades into each other simultaneously. Simultaneously, they pulled their blades out and fell to the ground. Blood seeped out of Quarta’s wound, staining the earth underneath him red.

“...” he closed his eyes. They shot open as he heard a strange sound, and was met with the horrific sight of Diaboli plunging her blade back into her body, restoring the wound and regrowing her horn.

“Tch. You’ve sealed my powers for a day. There’s nothing left for me to do here, it seems.” With a grin, she flew off, her figure gradually growing smaller as the sun began to rise.

“You… bastard…” Quarta gasped as he got weaker, the blood draining out of him. “Get back here…”

Prota ran up to him then, crying. She clung onto his neck, tears dripping down her face as she buried herself into his chest. Somehow, she’d managed to survive the onslaught of attacks.

“Quarta!” she cried out. With effort, he lifted his arms and held her face.

“Cough… Prota. I- I have one last request for you. I-” he coughed again. “I need you to… to drain all of my mana. Please.”

“Wh- n-no!” she yelled, crying, sobbing, begging for something to happen that never would.

“Prota, please,” he said with a grunt. “It’s keeping me alive, but really this hurts and I’d rather not be in pain.” He gasped and coughed out a mouthful of blood. “I have to die. You’re just prolonging this.”

She kept denying it, kept pleading for him to get up, but Quarta held her through all of it, calm and collected as he waited for her to finish. Finally, she calmed down, still crying but now listening.

“Prota. I need you to take it. Please.”

She nodded, her eyes red from crying. Just like the first time, she focused as a tendril extended from her core and reached out to Quarta. His mana was like a humongous sea compared to every single other person she’d ever met, but she drank up, a continuous stream of energy pouring from his soul into hers. His glowing body dimmed as she finished, the rising sun casting a warm glow on his face.

“Prota. It’s going to be ok.”

“No! I- I just- I just-” she couldn’t finish as she broke down again.

“I just found you too, Prota,” he said with a sad smile, his voice getting weaker. “I don’t want to go either. But I feel a lot better knowing you get to keep living. So go on and live.”

“Don’t go!” she pleaded, out of tears but still crying. He patted her head, probably for the last time.

“Prota. Can you do me one last favour?”

She looked at him.

“Please. I want to see you smile, just once.”

She stared at him as if he’d asked her to fly to the moon and back, but her mouth twitched as she tried. Finally, she smiled. It wasn’t a big smile, and it definitely wasn’t one out of joy, just a small quirk of the lips, but it was there.

Quarta closed his eyes, satisfied.

“Thank you, Prota,” he said, his voice very weak now. “Remember our time together, ok? Remember it.”

“No! Don’t- don’t go, please…” she begged one last time. It wasn’t fair. She’d lost her family, gone through hell and back, only to find Quarta, who gave her family for just one day only for it to be ripped away from her again as the one person who cared for her died protecting her.

“Smile more, Prota. It suits you. I wanted to see you smile during your party, but… looks like I get to see it here instead.”

Those were the last words Prota’s newest family member uttered.

Then Quarta died.

~~~

Prota’s sobs gradually grew quieter, her tears soaking into Quarta’s shirt. The mana she’d absorbed from him flowed through her body, her white hair glowing like lightning and her eyes lighting up like spotlights. She got up slowly, her face once again passive and calm, no emotion left to express. She got up and walked away, only to return five minutes later, as if expecting something to be different. Quarta’s body was still there. She bent down and shook the body, as if trying to arouse it from a slumber. No response. She tried to pick it up, but it was too heavy for her small frame, and so that was out of the question.

For a full hour, it went on like that, useless attempts at trying to convince herself that he was alive, maybe just sleeping and that he would just wake up and everything would be fine again.

But he never did wake up.

Interestingly enough, the body wasn’t really getting any colder nor was it getting any paler as most bodies would have done, but it was undeniably dead. No pulse, no reaction to anything, and there hadn’t been any signs of breathing for a long time. She looked around as the sun began to rise. There wasn’t anything for her to do, except maybe walk back home, but she didn’t even know where home was. Her map didn’t show the town she’d grown to be familiar with anywhere nearby.

“Hey! Over there!”

Multiple men clad in white clothing carrying various weapons started running over, similar to the ones that had kidnapped her. They saw the bodies strewn around the field and whispered to each other, then unsheathed their weapons in preparation for battle. It was pretty clear they weren’t exactly here to rescue Prota.

With a single cry, they charged the small girl, who had no idea what to do. She didn’t know how to utilize the immense power stored within her. Quarta, were he alive, would have known what to do with it, but he was unfortunately not available and probably never would be. The men were getting closer. Prota got up and with no other option, faced them head on. The light in her eyes and hair dimmed a little as she pictured an orb, like the ones Quarta had summoned, and it appeared in her hands. The light flickered and wasn’t very clean, but it was there. With a flick of the hands, she fired. It went wide, but she’d consciously produced magic for the first time. She obviously was nowhere near any of the priests in front of her in skill level, but the talent in her was obvious. She tried summoning a few more, making the priests somewhat wary, but after hitting only one priest she collapsed.

Seeing this, they charged in. Her small passive face never changed as their weapons plunged into her, the red blood staining the white cloak around her. Her face remained the same. The weapons pulled out as she fell quietly to the ground, right beside Quarta. Interestingly enough, there was no pain, just a feeling of cold that spread throughout her body as her small hand reached out and grabbed that of her older brother’s. She felt tired. Very tired. Darkness overtook her as she closed her eyes…

~~~

“...I know my life is just a story, but come on, do you know how much of what happened was so stereotypically like a generic fantasy or isekai anime? It’s just lazy writing,” Prota heard a familiar voice argue somewhere off in the distance.

“Yeah, why don’t you try making an all new and original universe, huh, John?” she heard a similar voice shoot back. “What’s wrong with this universe anyway?”

“Nothing,” John sighed. “Just…”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought. Too funny.”

The voices stopped then, and Prota took the time to analyze her surroundings for the first time. She was sitting on… nothing, she saw. Just empty void. It was pitch black all around her, and yet the area felt spacious at the same time as if she was in a large room with all the walls painted black. There was no visible light source, and yet she could see her own legs and hands, which was interesting because she really couldn’t see anything else.

“...?” She got up, dusting herself off and looking around some more. With a start, she remembered what had last happened before she found herself here and checked her body. There was no wound and the cloak around her wasn’t stained. Was she dead?

No one was around to answer her question, but the voices started up again, bickering back and forth. Something felt familiar about this…

The voices were getting closer, and she could see two figures in the distance. She started picking her pace up, occasionally tripping over herself. As she got closer there was a familiar scarf…

“Oi, Zero. Is there supposed to be anyone else here?”

“...no, but… what? Why do you ask?”

Zero. Prota’s heart started beating faster. Did she dare hope it was who she thought it was?

“Zero, do you not see…”

Prota was close enough to see who the two voices belonged to now. They remained silent as she ploughed into a familiar figure.

“...Prota?”

She crashed into him, almost bowling him over as she buried her face in his chest.

~~~

Prota cried herself to sleep. She woke up to find herself curled up on Quarta’s lap as he was talking to someone.

“No way,” he was saying. “I’m telling you there’s no way she should-” he stopped as he looked down. “Oh, Prota, you’re awake.”

“You know, John, I wasn’t even aware someone could stay in here long enough to fall asleep,” Zero shrugged. “Guess you learn something new every day.”

“...John?” Prota asked.

Quarta cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well… since you’re here, I guess there’s a lot of explaining to do.”

He got up and stretched, Prota looking up at him expectantly.

“For starters, my name is not Quarta. That’s my last name, actually. My name is John. John Quarta.”

“John…” she said hesitantly. “John,” she said again, but with more resolution this time, as if trying to convince herself that the man in front of her was still the one she knew, just with a different name.

“Yeah,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “Sorry for lying to you.”

She just nodded.

“Well, we need to figure out why you’re here now,” John said. “How to go about this…”

He rubbed his chin. “Mm… let’s go with this.”

“Character Profile.”

A screen popped up.

{Character: Prota Char

Age: 7

Sex: Female

…expand

Abilities: Soul Steal, Soul Copy

Attributes: [Character], [Protagonist]}

“...Soul Steal, huh…” John muttered, looking at Prota again, who was sitting on the ground patiently. She still didn’t understand what was going on, but as there was nothing or no one else around to help, she had no choice but to wait for John to figure things out, and right now it didn’t seem like pushing for answers would help anything.

The two sat in silence as John tried to figure out what to do next. He sighed and shook his head. A bright white button appeared in front of him with the word “reset” written on it. He looked at Prota one more time. Would this work?

“Plot armor,” Zero sighed, shaking his head. “What a broken ability. Yeah, I guess this works.”

“...” John hesitated. He was pressing the button, but nothing was happening.

“...huh?”

A screen appeared in front of John.

[Form [Destiny Bond]?]