"Exactly. But don't think that it could have changed anything," said Carce, facing Parkus. "We presented the claim to various kingdoms in the continent, yet none believed us. Besides, it was foreseen that whatever would happen to try and stop his rise to power, he will come out on top, no matter what. Even I didn't understand what that meant when the Oracle spoke, but we tried to prove it wrong... only to be proven wrong ourselves."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Parkus.

"We tried to search for this young child and sent someone to monitor and kill him if he ever showed signs of proving the prophecy. The monitor was killed by wandering bandits shortly after. We tried deterring him, giving him wealth to satisfy his demands thinking that it would free him from poverty. He was then robbed by everyone he knew in the town he lived for he had no family. Those who he treated as friends betrayed him out of greed and left him with nothing but regret and anger. In a sense, you could say our actions molded the child. We tried killing him directly after years of waiting and planning to make sure that nothing would go wrong. That led to the death of his lover and the death of the assassins we sent due to his unbridled rage. From then on, anyone we sent was killed ruthlessly, escalating the prophecy. We played into the hands of fate, and every Kayrus knows of that fact for they knew this and decided."

Parkus looked grim. He stared at his feet for the longest time trying to come to grips with the entire situation. He wasn't sure what he should do now, nor what he should say. If anything, he knew that he should be at least angered, but to what extent?

"Did you know about this as well, Carima?" he said, looking at the woman in question with stern eyes.

"Yes. I did. Forgive me for not telling you sooner. I did not know how to express it without there being any misunderstandings. You might have had believed me, and you might have had not. But saying that to just anyone, it's not natural. If I were to atone for that fault in place of my kin, then I would do it, but not by that method. I would have atoned my own way, by helping you rid of the threat somehow."

"Well, I don't really care what you plan on doing. But if you want to take your rage out on me or either of us, then do it after we've done what we came here to do. I'll even oblige if it means atoning for the sins we caused, even vengeance for your father's loss, even if it was indirectly caused by the Kaiser." Carce started descending further without waiting for Parkus, who trailed behind them a few meters behind.

Carima glanced at Parkus, feeling a pang of guilt hound at her as she saw his downcast face.

They had made it to the very bottom, a wide berth that extended out further, covering an area that had been adorned with shattered statues, devastated murals and images, and strong traces of miasma.

Carce brought his orb of light to the center to illuminate their way. He looked down where the image of a forest separated by night and day were etched onto the ground, a circular outline showing where it ended. The only disturbing thing about it was that it was deeply slashed across by something, the trace seething with a purple flare.

"The trace is faint due to the seal, but it’s there. Beyond this is where lord Calicel is. Carima, help me with the unsealing spell."

Carce positioned himself opposite of Carima and started chanting, tracing out intricate signs in the air as they disappeared, glowing brightly before flowing into the seal right below them. Slowly the entire inner sanctum's lowest floor started lighting up, the candles and torches illuminating the dark depths.

However, from within those dark depths were two eyes that shone like gold. Its breath was toxic, heavy, and eerie. It saw the chamber being illuminated and had awoken from its slumber.

It saw three figures, each one having their own distinction of energy. It felt hungry despite having been filled to the brim. The greed of its species was prying into it, coercing the shadow hiding within to emerge, slithering slowly towards the three.

"Hey, Why does it feel like there's someone else here?" asked Parkus. "The place feels like its moving, too, and it's not an earthquake."

"Ignore it. We have to finish this. We're close. This should be the last step. If we can release lord Calicel, then we can finally defeat the Demon."

Parkus' sword started glowing and ringing from within his head, alerting him of a threat. The owner of the sword felt heavy as well as if there was a great weight bearing down on him. He turned around, looking at a deeper corridor that had no light to offer him any help of deducing what was inside. However, Parkus saw two yellow dots becoming bigger and bigger as it came close.

Parkus took a step back and drew his sword, feeling his legs tremble and his gut panicking. As a cold sweat ran down his back, he called out to the two concentrating with the unsealing.

"Carce, Carima, what the hell is that thing?!" yelled out Parkus as the thing came out of the darkness and into the dim light of the lowest sanctum's floor.

It was a large monstrous being that had the lower body of a serpent and an upper body of a man's, having the head of a bull's, one horn was broken off. It exhaled through its nose and looked down at the three before it. The presence that it exuded was no short of an exaggeration. The three froze in their tracks, the two stopping their hands in the process of the ritual.

"N-no, it can't be... Why is it down here?" said Carce, his eyes displaying the expression of disbelief and wavering strength as he muttered the same thing again and again.

The two Kayrus were unable to say anything for what seemed like the longest time, but Parkus stood firm despite the pressure.

"What are we dealing with now?" he asked.

"It's the Demon," said Carima, snapping out of the trance. "We have to get out of here, now!" she said, shaking Carce's shoulder, pulling him away from the entrance of the vault.

The Demon roared, its eyes flaring fiercely as it wound up and punched, aiming for Carima and Carce, who were trying to make for the stairs.

"Watch out!" yelled Parkus out to the two, running at the Demon with his sword drawn, empowering himself with the strength the strange sword was supposed to give to its user.

Parkus slashed at the Demon's serpent side but had his blade deflected on impact. He retreated and saw the Demon's fist hit the floor, creating a blanket of smoke and dust to cover up the scene.

From that, however, emerged the two, though scathed, were not harmed fatally. Carima retaliated with a flurry of magic from the four elements, aiming at the Demon's torso, which was the most wounded part of all, save for the head, which had minor looking scars and one across its left eye.

"Parkus, try to distract him! We need to escape from the sanctum!" yelled Carima.

"Leave it to me," he responded, imbuing his sword and himself with even more power, managing to draw out enough to make him think that his weapon was cooperating for the first time in a while with him.

"Don't fail me now," he muttered, cutting the air and sending a shockwave of gold crescent blades at the Demon. It wasn't enough to make it move, not even enough to wound it. But it did catch its attention.

"That's it, just follow me for now."

Parkus started running to the dark corridor where the Demon emerged from, trying to draw it away from the Kayrus. But his plan was foiled in a matter of seconds and the Demon whipped its tail on the columns and forced the corridor to a close. Parkus turned and faced the Demon with nowhere to go. He simply smiled and chuckled to himself.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, but alright. Do you want to play it like that? I'll play along then. Just so you know, I'm not a pushover for anyone, even if it's a Demon." With an exhale, Parkus smiled despite the quivering in his body. His sword started glowing stronger, giving him the courage to take a step towards his enemy.

"Where the hell are you anyway, Johann?" he thought to himself for a while.

"Get a hold of yourself, Carce!" said Carima, backhanding the dazed Kayrus across the face. Carce blinked and held his cheek which had been struck.

"Good. You're finally back. Listen, we've run out of options. We're down to escape. But we'll need to work together for that to work. We don't have that long. I doubt Parkus can hold back a Demon on his own, so pull yourself together and start thinking before we all die down here."

"There's no escape. If we flee from this, we won't be able to do anything to stop it from draining the entire Grove dry. It's either we defeat it here or open the seal," said Carce with an expressionless face, standing up and looking at the lopsided fight between Parkus and the Demon.

Parkus was being tossed here and there, forced to be on the defensive as the Demon fiercely attacked and breathed a corrosive breath of fire at the gold-clad Parkus. He glanced at the stairs heading back up and saw the gap that they had to ascend in order to escape. From there he knew that it would be impossible.

Carce jumped off the platform of the stairs and readied his bow, creating it from his energy, and aimed it at the Demon's head, firing a volley of arrows that he controlled with magic, weaving them into a pattern, then activating them once more to open intricate circles, raining down a furious barrage of arrows at the Demon. The act caught its attention, turning away from Parkus, who was down on the ground, barely managing to stand after taking the brunt of its attacks.

"Stand, Parkus. We're far from over. If you have been holding back, then now's the time to stop. I will unleash everything I have against this monster who took everything away from me. Will you help me?"

"No need to ask. But alright then, I haven't gone all out for the longest time. I guess this is as good a time as any to start."

Parkus knelt and drove his sword to the ground. Hey stayed silent at the Demon headed for Carce and created a link between it and him.

Cadence, bound by the gold chains. I'll unlock those bounds, so give me your power, everything you've got. I can't draw this out. If I waver for even a second, then I lose. So before it starts to bear down on me, I'll have to beat it to the punch.

Carce cast a spell that allowed him to run fast. Circling the Demon, he kept barraging it with arrows, keeping its attention away from Parkus, who he saw kneel.

He fired three arrows, two away from the demon and one at its torso. He ran until a wall prevented him from going further.

The Demon breathed its corrosive breath of fire. With a snap of a finger, Carce disappeared before the corrosive breath dissolved him into nothing, reappearing at one of the arrows that he fired earlier, launching more from his position. Then he teleported to another one of his arrows and barraged the Demon from there.

The Demon did nothing but simply kept its eyes on Carce as he moved about. It was as if it was observing, waiting for its chance to strike.

As a pattern began to form, the Demon lunged, striking the wall where Carce was closest to, knocking him off balance. As Carce fell, the Demon formed a ball of darkness on its hand and blasted a rippling wave at Carce.

The aftermath was nothing. There was no trace of Carce anywhere. Thinking that it was over for the Kayrus, it turned its attention to Parkus, who hadn't moved an inch.

"Did you think you could extinguish the fire of a Kayrus' might that easily?"

The Demon turned its head down to where the sounds were coming from and saw the Kayrus on his torso, hanging on to the third arrow that was fired at it earlier.

Carce placed his hand on the Demon's torso and cast a spell, creating a circle with strange and alien symbols on it, glowing pure white. He then leaped from the Demon as it slapped the part where he was then fired another round of arrows before snapping his fingers and disappearing from the Demon’s sights.

The Demon started looking for the loose Kayrus, sensing his scent and immediately turning towards one of the staircases where he was perched up, an arrow drawn back with a powerful shine and a sharp tip poised to pierce.

Roaring wildly, the Demon drew back its arm, aiming for Carce with a fist clad in a jet-black gauntlet.

“I won’t let you!” yelled Carce. His eyes started glowing brightly, and so did his untamed, golden hair. The Mark Carce had left of the Demon’s chest started resonating, then expanding around its body in the form of Kayrusian characters. Soon, the Demon was enveloped with them. Chains started appearing from thin air, attached from the Demon and onto the walls of the sanctum.

Carce released the arrow, hitting the Demon square on the mark that he had placed. A great flashing light burst and blinded every open eye, dying down immediately to display the results of his efforts.

Carce chuckled. “I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. You’re not even dazed by it.”

The Demon still stood unscathed. The rage in its eyes, however, started manifesting itself. The Demon roared, breathing fire at Carce, who almost didn’t make it in time.

It rampaged, pulling off the chains binding him from the walls, forcing the sanctum to crumble. Finally free, the Demon turned around, sensing an immense amount of energy.

Parkus had opened his eyes and was surging with a golden glow around him. His sword had become ornately gold and was adorned with glittering jewels fit for a king of great prestige. The wielded had eyes that were glaring at the monstrous figure before him. A great amount of confidence swirled, and it seemed that he wasn’t the same person at all.

Parkus launches himself at the Demon with a single step, connecting a fierce slash with another, and finally a powerful, echoing punch that pushed the Demon inches from where it originally stood.

However, despite the newfound strength, the Demon matched and even surpassed the power Parkus had despite the gap in size. It was faster, stronger, and wielded an immense amount of power drawn from the Grove. The Demon put that on display.

It conjured a massive beam of energy with one hand, forcing Parkus on the defensive with ease, then struck the ground with the other, creating a crack on the ground that made its way to where Parkus stood and erupted. The eruption sent him to the air where the Demon coiled its serpent’s tail around him, constricting Parkus tightly and inciting a yell of pain from him. His power, nevertheless, managed to hold itself together to prevent its user from being crushed to death.

Once more, the Demon turned its head, feeling an even greater amount of power surge from nowhere. It saw Carima standing with her arms extended and her fingers weaving signs to the seal beneath her, slowly opening.

Suddenly it was struck with an arrow on the back of its head, taking its attention off Carima. “Where do you think you’re going? We’re not done yet. Parkus!” he called out. “Don’t tell me that’s all you’ve got?” He said mockingly.

Parkus ground his teeth and strengthened his core, slowly prying the tail open with sheer force. Soon, the tail gave way and allowed him to break free. He leaped from its tail and sent a shattering punch at the Demon’s face, then a powerful slash wound from above.

Parkus landed back on the ground and retreated in front of Carce.

The Demon held its bleeding face, then looked at the two, smiling and laughing. The gesture along was enough to put off the two of the most and catch them off guard.

With a great amount of dexterity, four arms appeared in addition to the Demon’s two others, covered in a purple glow. The Demon barraged the two of them with punches then unleashed six purple orbs at them, exploding on impact.

The power of the explosion knocked Carima off and brought her back, disrupting her concentration.

She saw Parkus and Carce emerge from the dust barely hanging on. The Demon still bore down on them, and using her Kayrus eyes of clarity, she could tell that the Demon was still holding back a fraction of its power. And though it was a fraction, it was an amount that would no doubt finish them off.

She then started conjuring her own magic to help against the Demon, stopping only because of a hoarse and wavering voice that called out to her.

“Leave this to us, Carima! We’re depending on you to bring him back. Just keep going even if we go down. I haven’t even given my all yet,” said Parkus with a transparent grin.

She looked at the two for a while then continued with the ritual as the fierce and fluctuating battle commenced once more.

"Just how big is the Grove? It feels like a while since we’ve left the hideout."

"You won’t understand as much," said Mors, glancing back at me. "But the Kayrus use a special type of magic that expands a certain space to make it larger than it seems from the outside. Having a large amount of territory means that there’s a chance someone might try and take us over. The outer sanctuary is close, just keep up. I don’t want to waste any precious time."

The four of us have been running ever since we left. Not exactly knowing where we’re supposed to be going, I just kept an eye out for anything that might pop out from out of nowhere. The only strange thing is that, after having fought off a lot of things in the Grove right as we came in, I haven’t seen anything so far. It’s as if they don’t even exist, and that the only thing here are dead trees and rotting soil. I’m even a bit hesitant about all this Demon stuff since I haven’t seen it personally, but I’d say the current state of the Grove is already proof by itself.

"Why haven't I seen anything else here besides us?" I asked.

"I can tell you that it's not because they're nonexistent. It's more that they're running away from something," said Mors.

"I can feel a strange presence in the direction we're heading to," said Lianne with an expression of concern. She didn't look as frightful, but it felt like she was nervous for some reason. It didn't let her slow down, however.

But what she was talking about, I couldn't feel it. I wasn't much for sensing the presence of everything around me, it's simply that the hairs on my back stand and my gut grumbles when I'm not feeling safe. Instincts is what it's called. I looked to Dietrich, asking him whether he could sense anything that I couldn't.

"It's faint, but yes, there's something out there, no doubt about it. It's too vague to tell from what it's coming from, but I can only guess one suspect in charge of the disappearance of the inhabitants in the Grove and the source of the strange power."

As we made it to the outer sanctum, a large town-like scene that had been broken down and demolished by a monster, we heard a roar that blew a slight breeze towards us. It was blood-curdling, the way it seemed like it was fighting against something. I don't know how I could tell, but somehow, the message just came through. I was now starting to truly believe in the thing existing.

Mors rushed us to a what was once a magnificent structure made of marble. It stood at least three stories high and housed a great amount of Kayrus in charge of the Grove's order and way of life. Now it was just a remnant of that. The roof and the walls were nowhere to be seen, and the three stories were reduced to none. What remained was a wide expanse of ground where a large hole could be seen, stairs leading the way down.

The three others who were with me displayed no surprise on their faces for they've already been here. They knew what was coming and was prepared for it. I had no real worries myself since I had no attachments to the place, but remembering the time when my own home was put to the axe, I felt a part of my past die down with that. I'm sure that's what they're feeling inside, Mors and Lianne, of course.

Approaching the entrance to the depths, we encountered a Kayrus sitting by the still standing walls of the structure. Lianne immediately rushed to the Kayrus' aid and questioned him relentlessly, thoroughly examining the Kayrus for any wounds. She heaved a sigh of relief right after, seeing that he had already been taken care of. The mention of Carce, Carima, and Parkus' names made my eyes open, however.

"They're alive and well, Oracle Lianne. They were the ones the brought me here!" said the Kayrus, rejoicing in his state, slacking his shoulders as a great weight had been lifted from him. A tear fell from his eye as he bore the sight of Lianne as a sort of goddess. "I knew you we were. No, we all knew. Even if we doubted at times, we knew that you would be safe and well. Thank goodness that you are."

"Carima and Carce, where are they?" she inquired, looking around as if lost herself.

"They went down the inner sanctum to unseal lord Calicel from his slumber. But..." the Kayrus looked down, fear apparent on his face. "I don't like what I've been hearing from the sanctum. There have been sounds of something else down there, and I'm worried that something has happened to them. I would go, but in my state, there is nothing I can do. I don't even know what else is below there. I've been uneasy."

"It's the Demon," said Dietrich, stepping forward and looking down at the dark pit with no source of light save for a dim glimmer down below. "It's been sleeping and eating down there ever since."

The Kayrus' mouth was agape, unable to say anything for a while. "Then we must help them! The one who destroyed all our homes is down there! The one who took my family away from me, no everyone--"

The Karyus went silent as Lianne placed a hand on his shoulder. "Please rest easy and leave it to us. I know that you've felt great sorrow, but please stay strong for a little bit longer." she stood. Her face was dignified, having refreshed her confidence and purpose, she started walking towards the pit.

Mors and I followed but stopped as the ground began to tremble.

Immediately, Mors pulled back Lianne to safety, leaving Dietrich and I to figure out what was going on.

From the pit emerged a large monster that had the head of a bull, the body of a man, and the lower body of a serpent. It had imposing, dark wings and six arms in total, each one bound with a metal brace.

It carried with it someone, coiling it with its tail, then letting it go after reaching a height.

Dietrich positioned himself and caught the falling person. The pointed ears and the gold hair immediately said Kayrus, but the face was Carce's. He had been reduced to such a state where his body was covered in wounds and was beaten so badly that his right arm was bleeding from the shoulder down.

He was placed down on the ground near the Kayrus where Lianne immediately started tending to him.

I wanted to ask my own questions such as where is Parkus and Carima, what happened down there, and how was he beaten so badly. But my attention couldn't take itself away from the thing flying overhead.

Mors and Dietrich looked up menacingly as if requesting for a grudge to be paid back in their own terms. They didn't at all fear the thing, but instead was even stretching their bodies in front of it, preparing.

"It's gotten a lot larger than before, hasn't it?" said Dietrich, sizing up the thing.

"You humans use the proverb, The bigger they are, the harder they fall. It doesn't matter if it's larger than last time. It won't change the fact that I'll drive it to the ground and make it regret even disturbing my peace."

Mors extended his hand where a scarlet ball began to form, unfurling to become a bird made completely of fire.

It was small, to say the least. But after letting it fly by itself, the bird slowly grew in size. The heat it shed was beginning to grow strong as well. This continued for more than a few seconds until it had grown twice our size.

In danger of burning the dead trees around us with its fire, it had ascended a manageable height.

Mors ordered it to charge the Demon. Letting out a loud squawking noise, it tore through the air, shedding its feathers made of fire, which then turned into smaller forms of itself. The bird had gotten close, but by then, the feathers that it had shed multiplied into hundreds of medium-sized firebirds, each one charging for the thing.

The sky exploded as the army of firebirds crashed into the flying terror, creating a strong blast of wind that we felt below.

"Did that get it?" asked Dietrich calmly.

"Hardly. It's testing us. That was just a test. Don't you dare hold back, including you back there," he said, directing his voice at me. "I don't know what you're capable of, but you better make yourself useful."

His voice meant it. Even if he was being mocked for looking like a child, the face he made was sincere and clear of any jest. If any, he might be the most serious one of us three right now. But I don't dislike that. Back then I thought the only way to get a sort of strength from nothing was to find something to devote your victory to, but there are a lot more reasons. Now can be because of someone's will to win back what they've lost.

I drew my sword and thought up the things I had to prepare for. The spells, the techniques. Seeing the two in front of me, rather than feeling nervous, I felt resolute and prevalent. This was it. With the end of this thing would come the end of this chapter, but the continuation of a larger story. I guess that sounds more ominous than it seems, but that's what it feels like to me.

"It isn't such a bad feeling, having something to fight for. It's been a while since I've felt that myself. But you can rest assured that I'm not going down anytime soon. I've got a lot of people to prove something to. Failing here means that all that talk they've hammered into my head will mean nothing."

As the cloud of smoke died down, the Demon blew the rest of it away, letting out a harrowing roar, leading to it hovering close to the ground, its wingbeat knocking every insignificant thing away as we stood firm. The battleground was to be the former sanctuary for the Kayrus, and the enemy is the very being the set fire and defiled it.