In a one-sided massacre, Jio drops the Elder's headless body after he senses someone approaching with strong Light Magic and knows it equals Sia's strength. Using Dark Magic will only prove the invaders' first claim that the Fish Village is home to evildoers, and they might use it to rally anyone to destroy "Evil."

"STOP!" A good-looking man floating in the air shouts as soon as he arrives.

Everyone stops, and the remaining invaders celebrate, knowing their hero just arrived to save them from a hellish nightmare they started.

"I'll give you a choice!" Jio shouts, trying to de-escalate the situation.

"You dare! You killed my master! Dark practitioner!" The good-looking man protests after he sees his master's lifeless body, and when he thinks of attacking, he notices a surge of Dark Magic in Jio's body.

"Dark Transformation!" Jio shouts, activating the Dark spirit's power within, and continues, "You know, you're no match and outnumbered. Leave! With the survivor to tell the tale! This is my mercy!"

Everyone can not believe what they're seeing. The villagers assume that Jio is a warrior who practices Shadow Magic since whoever practices Dark Magic will eventually lose their mind and be on a murderous path; Jio never shows any sign or traces of Dark Magic.

When one of the invaders arrogantly and boldly threatens everyone that "Meta" will destroy the village and its people, Jio releases smoke in the shape of a monster's head with only a mouth with sharp teeth and quickly charges at that specific invader and the people around him.

Everyone can't comprehend the horror they witness as Jio demands Meta's decision whether to fight or retreat. At this moment, no one knows how powerful Jio is, but in his mind, he needs to deal with the situation since he can't hold the transformation for that long and is unsure if he can protect everyone.

"Fine! I promise you. I, Meta De Vil, will erase you and all evil in this world!" Meta announces his real name to everyone as he commands everyone to retreat—he uses an alias, Meta Stone, per the De Vil patriarch's decree.

"..." Jio looks at him, speechless, and questions surface in his head about his adopted parents, the De Vil family. "You must start eradicating the invaders since they're evil!"

"Evildoer! You're a Dark Mage!" Meta protests while he waits for everyone to retreat.

"Hypocrite! But it's okay because we are the hero of our own stories, so I assume you're doing what you think is right or good," Jio watches Meta grabs his master's body and flies away.

After the invaders retreat, Jio descends and sees the horror on the villagers' faces after he finally uses Dark Magic. They don't know why his helping the village but are also grateful he didn't end everyones' life when they arrived. The Fish Village's Elder walks out of the hut to show her utmost gratitude for Jio's actions and for keeping his word.

"Why don't we talk in private?" The Elder let out to Jio.

"That would be nice," Jio respectfully replies as he bows.

During the two walks, everyone stares at Jio's every motion with their weapon drawn and ready to attack at a moment's notice—they don't take kindly to any dark magician; it's the first reason they're in this mess.

"I'm sorry about how my people look at you after helping us greatly... And by how everything turns out, we must move and find a new place we can call home," the Elder sadly expresses.

"I see," Jio sounds and continues, "Meta De Vil, is the De Vil family powerful to announce it proudly?"

"Ah, the De Vil family... They're known to be the strongest and most influential family! Sia did mention that you're not from around," the Elder answers.

"I apologize for the future problems I caused the village," Jio sincerely let out.

"Don't worry, I offered everyone to leave long ago, but they decided to fight; with the De Vil family involved, we will move somewhere far, secured, and safe," the Elder states with a hopeful tone.

"That's good to know. Can you take care of Lala for the time being as I look for the Darl Lord?" Jio requests with a concerned look on his face.

"With everything you did to the village? It's the least we can do," the Elder declares, giving Jio the last known place or sighting of Maleficia as promised.

Jio bowed to the Elder and went to Lala to tell her the plan.

"Hey, you did well protecting the villagers," Jio sounded to Lala and looked at Reko, "You too, little flying cute ball of death."

Reko followed Lala the whole time they were in the village. Reko hides in the shadow during the night battle, waiting to strike and protect Lala like her guardian angel.

"It wasn't much, and they're powerful enough to protect themselves," Lala proudly said while flying around Jio along with Reko.

"Anyways, I want you to stay with them, and I'll look for you when I'm done with Maleficia," Jio promptly said.

Lala and Reko stop flying and angrily look at Jio.

"But, but I want to come with... And you promised!" Lala protests while Reko copies Lala's facial expression.

"I'll look for you two, I promise! Maleficia is a legendary Dark Lord, and it can be dangerous," Jio explains as he holds Lala's hand and hugs her.

Reko looks for the perfect spot and joins the two.

"Okay... Make sure you give me some souvenirs!" Lala demands and hugs Jio again.

"Will do, Lala. And Reko, protect our little princess," Jio smiles as he lets Lala go and spreads his wings, soaring into the sky.

Lala watches Jio fly till his figure disappears and takes out a bag of seeds, scattering them near the dead bodies.

"What are you doing, Lala?" Sia asks.

"Nothing, just making suwe that this place will be a healthy forest in the future," Lala happily lets out while Reko flies around her.

"Oh, give me some then," Sia lends a helping hand.

Traveling alone in this desolate wasteland for two months, Jio starts to sense Dark Magic around the land and begins to trace its source. Following his instinct to a fixed direction to the East, the Dark Magic slowly gets thicker and stronger. Thanks to Jon's ability to adapt, Jio doesn't need to worry about the harmful effect of any dense and dangerous magical properties in the air.

A calming and soothing floral and sweet scent in the air immediately captures Jio's attention as he assumes that Maleficia is nearby because of the mild and pleasant aroma from the dried lavender field.

*Even with the thick Dark Magic in the air? I guess nature adapts but by the looks of it... The field is long gone* Jio thinks as he looks around.

Jio's facial expression quickly darkens and has a visible smile from ear to ear after he notices a figure sitting on top of a massive rock in the sea of beautiful and calming lavender fields. Jon morphs into armor, looking like a noble night, and falls to the ground holding a sword as Jio shouts at the top of his lungs.

"You killed my whole family!" Jio with his cracking voice.

The person meditating on the top of the rock turns his head after he hears Jio's cries, and his complexion turns grave and worried.

"I don't even know you!" The Dark Lord loudly replies in his defense.

"You'll pay for what you did!" Raging with anger, Jio swiftly swings his sword at Maleficia as soon as he reaches where the Dark Lord stands.

Maleficia blocks the attack with his arms and leaves a long and deep cut, but dark energy, like smoke, covers the wound and instantly heals.

"You took my wife, son, and daughter away from me," Jio expressed without stopping his attack, "You only cause sadness and suffering!"

Maleficia is taken aback by Jio's words and looks around, realizing the once beautiful field that rolls from a soft breeze like purple waves is now dried and lifeless; the calming scent masking its condition gives Maleficia a false hope that there's a place for him to stay.

"I'm immortal, and I have no control over this Dark Magic of mine," Maleficia explains and continues, "Please, if you value your life, get away from me!"

Jio continues to attack while Maleficia keeps his distance. To his surprise, Jio's weapon and armor remain intact, unlike the previous warriors who died painfully from the corrosive properties of the Dark Magic leaking from his body.

*A real Holy Knight? My salvation?* Maleficia thought and found himself falling on his back.

Jio pins Maleficia with his left leg and proudly announces, "Today, you'll die for all the pain you caused."

Pinned down, Maleficia looks at the sword as it produces holy light and feels its power—he's rather happy and closes his eyes, hoping the Knight to succeed.

The sword passes through Maleficia's chest, and his life force is drawn to the blade like he's being devoured. For Maleficia, dying is the ultimate goal so no one would suffer when he's around, but he starts to feel pain again and instinctively tries to take it out, fighting for his life.

"And be reborn anew! I, Jio De Vil, give you a second chance," Jio announces and pulls the sword from Maleficia's chest.

*It does feel nice to introduce yourself to anyone... Thanks! Cousin Meta?* Jio thought.

Confused and shocked by Jio's words, Maleficia heard him shout, "Dark Transformation." While Dark Magic surges from Jio's body, the magic and energies in the air get sucked by his body like it detoxifies the air and land and compresses everything to a spot, his body.

Maleficia's skin color starts to turn from charcoal black to tan, and his blood vessels with pure black blood flow through them and are now warm and red blood that pulses through his body. When the sun's warmth touches his skin, which he never had for a long time, Maleficia's tears flow down his cheeks uncontrollably—a cure he never thought possible.

Jio can also absorb or manipulate the Dark Magic around him ever since the day he devoured the Dark One. He wanted to test Maleficia before he made any deal.

"Are you the Dark Lord I been hearing about?" Maleficia asks while wiping his tears.

"No, I'm Jio," Jio blankly stared at him, "I did introduce myself! You're the Dark Lord, Maleficia!"

"I'm sorry about your..." Right before Maleficia apologizes, Jio stops him and says, "Oh! I was lying... Sorry about that. I must ensure you're a good person."

"....." Maleficia looks at him and asks, "Maleficia, who's that? Anyways I'm Daniel Christopher... I have lived for a long, long time."

"I think people started calling you Maleficia a long time ago. Can you teach me Dark Magic, Daniel?" Jio let out promptly and to the point.

"I'm sorry, but I never practiced Dark Magic before... It was part of my body," Daniel sadly answers.

Jio nodded while his pupils turned to gold, inspecting Daniel's body and noticing energy around his body that almost looked like Dark Magic but somehow different.

In the Kont Family household.

"I'm sorry, but I tried my best to get into the village on time," Meta bowed in disappointment.

"So, what happened in the village?" The patriarch asks.

"I don't know, but they have a girl that burns like the Sun and a guy that uses Dark Magic."

"Is it Maleficia?" The patriarch asks.

"I don't know... I saw a man wearing a skull mask with black fire in the eye sockets," Meta answers with horror in his eyes and continues, "I have seen what Maleficia can do, but that Dark Lord can control Dark Magic at will!"

"That's impossible cause black fire can melt anything... In legends! It might be an illusion," the patriarch answers, denying Meta's report.

"Melt?" Meta looked at the patriarch and continued, "I'll be going now... Thank you for everything, and I will repay your kindness and hospitality."

The patriarch sends him away and is still shocked that Meta is from the De Vil family. He almost sent him away when he appeared on their doorsteps when he was seven years old, but luckily Meta's teacher insisted on taking care of him.

To be continued,