III

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Arc III Chapter 15

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Aurora watched the spectacle. The demon flailed in desperation, lashing out in a state of uncontrolled frenzy. The demon smashed his sharpened claws again, and again, and again, and again, and again against her barrier. Each strike proved a failure. Each successive attack proved futile. Her shield stood firm in the face of the onslaught. No ground was given, as even the smallest rupture in her shield reformed in an instant.

“Grmrmrmrmrhmmmr!!!” The demon roared in frustration, his anger rising. The creature began to realise that the tides of battle were turning against him. The initiative was still on his side, but his momentum was lost.

“Pitiful ... Pathetic ...” Aurora raised her dismissing gaze. Her lips smirked in open mockery, hardly taking the fight as seriously as caution and diligence would demand. “Your lacklustre efforts dismay me, demon. Such might, and yet you are unable to hurt a little girl ... What a disappointment.”

“DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME, HUMAN!!!” Kakos fumed, close to the breaking point of total rage induced madness. Insanity befell him, consuming his entire being.

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“Hehehe ... Hahahaha ... Hehe ... Hahahahaha ... Hehehehe ... Hahahaha ... Hehehehe ... Hahahaha ...” Aurora broke out in maniac laughter. Her ominous laughter intensified, growing stronger and stronger, filling the venerable hall of ancient Valentia. It was the cold and icy laughter of a girl who had seen the apex of power before. “Hahahaha, me underestimating you ... Hahahaha, your words truly amuse me, demon. I must ask you, does your arrogance know no limits? You have the impertinence to presume that I deem you even remotely worthy of consideration ... You are most certainly mistaken.”

“GGGGGraaaaaaaaghhhghgghghghghgh!!!” A primordial roar cut her short. A gargantuan explosion followed, and a thick cloud of dust and debris cover the ruins of Valentia. The enemy unleashed a beam of concentrated mana, a stream of hellish fire, from point blank. Not that it mattered. Her impenetrable shield prevailed, suffering negligible damage at most. Her shield regenerated and plates and layers of dense purple mana hardened.

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The dust cleared and Kakos' silhouette reemerged. The madness in his eyes betrayed his frustration. “HOW?! HOW is this possible?”

Aurora raised her gaze to meet his glare. Her lips mustered a saccharine smile. “...”

“Gggggrrrrrghhhhh, don't you dare mock me, human!!!” Kakos repeated his attack. Another beam. Another explosion. And more dust. Yet her shield stood firm and reformed and regenerated.

Aurora tilted her head. Her condescending, patronising giggle broke the silence of the battlefield. “Are we finished?”

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“...” The demon refused to answer. Instead, a murderous glare was his response. For the first time, the enemy chose silence over verbosity. This was probably the consequence of acute mana fatigue, as his irrational frenzy demanded a price. The demon overexerted his limited reserves, depleting much of his mana far too quickly.

“I guess so. You know, my friend, you might have posed a threat to me a millennium ago, but not any more. Certainly not in your current state. You are a mere shadow of your former self. You are a relic of the past.” Aurora raised her hand and snapped her fingers. A magic circle materialised in front of her. Her circle glowed purple. It was the colour of her pride, her strength, her soul. “It is time to end this farce. You have already decisively overstayed your welcome, demon.”

Her spell activated. A vibrating pulse of darkness shot through the hall, catching the enemy by surprise. Her attack struck from close range, hurling the demon straight into the nearest wall like a mere rag doll. His entire body crashed through the stone wall in a torrent of rubble, debris, and more destruction.

“Grmmrmrmgmgmg!!!” Yet the enemy rose again. His glare sharp and his eyes burning with hatred. “Listen, human, I won't go down this easily!!!”

Aurora clicked her tongue. Her voice betrayed a hint of annoyance. “Stubborn, aren't we? Your kin appears to be made from sterner stuff.”

Aurora commanded her mana. Her magic answered her call. An endless cascade of magic circles shaded purple manifested behind her petite figure. A myriad of circles plastered the entire hall from the floor upwards to the ceiling, from left to right. The circles adjusted their aim and collectively locked onto the enemy. Elimination. Extermination. Eradication. The demon shall not be suffered to live.

Kakos' gaze fell on the mysterious girl as he stared into the dark, bottomless abyss of her soul. Her innocent smile exuded a sense of lingering danger. A smile cold and inhuman. A smile shrouded in darkness. For the first time in his life, he felt an emotion thought unknown to demonkin. He felt fear. Kakos never understood the human concept of fear. It was a pesky emotion only appropriate for the weak and the powerless. He was a demon. He was a fearless and invincible apex predator feeding on the souls of the mortals. He understood thirst. He understood hunger. He understood hatred. He understood anger. He even understood pain. Yet he didn't understand fear. At least, he thought. Every fibre of his being was shivering, shaking, trembling in existential dread in the face of an enemy he was unable to match. This was fear ... This was the emotion of the weak ... How he hated it.

“Grrgrgrgghghghgh, bring it on, human!” Kakos snarled in defiance, unwilling to give up.

Aurora furrowed an amused eyebrow. Her hands caressed her precious doll. “Defiant to the last breath ... ... ... How befitting of your kin. Not that it matters.” Her bombardment commenced. Her circles unleashed an incessant storm of fire and fury, a symphony of demise that would level everything standing in its way and grind even the hardest stone to dust. The enemy was meant to be cleansed from the face of the earth.

Flaming spears pierced the demon. Her purple mana was forged into deadly projectiles of blazing darkness. Her spears impaled his torso, his thorax, his abdomen, his limbs, digging deep into his flesh, shredding muscles, sinews, and bone alike. His body was turned into a smouldering carcass of mutilated and torn flesh. And yet the demon persisted through the sheer strength of his will. His soul flickered in the dark, fighting the inevitable.

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Kakos was panting. His lungs were gasping for air, for fresh aether. Was this the end? No, not by a long shot. Not as long as his flame was still burning brightly.

Kakos mobilised his last strength. His mutilated body rose from the ground, emerging from a pile of debris. Bested by a feeble ... human ... Impossible!!! He was a daemon! He was Kakos! He was the beginning and the end! He was ...

A single purple spear split Kakos' cranium apart. Bone splintered and the iron shade of blood stained the floor red, as his lifeless corpse hit the ground.

“...” Aurora closed her eyes. The battle was over.

Kakos was no more. After a millennium of captivity, the creature named Kakos finally ceased to be, his existence from now on forever erased from the annals of history. His corpse decomposed and dissolved into a fine mist of aether. Nothing would remain of him. Such was the fate of his kin. He was born from the void of nothingness and the wicked arts of man, and he would return to nothingness. His essence would fade, and the tortured and entrapped souls of countless thousands would at last find peace.

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