Chapter 24: The Burden of a Soul

Several things happened all at once. Marin’s spell was finally ready. For a moment, Sen had thought it wouldn’t come into play; the fight had been all but over. But now, the demon was on the move again, and his guard was down. Marin’s spell hadn’t taken so long because she needed to prepare it. It’d taken a long time for her to slip through the demon’s defenses. As she did so, its eyes went blank and it fell to its knees.

The wards around it weakened, and Sen saw an opportunity. Grabbing Mary’s soul would be impossible while she was within a full-strength demon ward, but now, with him disoriented by Marin’s spell, Sen could act. He couldn’t worry about her body. His only focus was her soul. After they finished the creature off, he’d resurrect her. He just had to hold on to her most precious part long enough to.

[Susanna has almost finished rune repairs. Any moment now you’ll be able to release the technique.]

They’d almost fallen off the cliff, but everything was alright. They’d save Mary and—

Snake charged the incapacitated demon, and Sen cried out. “Snake, no!”

It was too late. A scaled hand plunged into the demon’s back and reemerged with a demonic heart impaled on serpentine claws.

Snake looked at Sen with a sneer. “What? I struck its heart. The girl’s fine.”

Marin’s control couldn’t overcome fatal damage to the body. The demon’s eyes refocused, and its head lifted. The strength of its wards rekindled, even more powerful than before, and it shook violently. Sen’s connection to Mary’s soul snapped like a thread pulled too taunt.

Sen cursed and slipped his fingers forward, fumbling to find it again.

But it was gone.

Mary’s soul was gone. The demon might have been the one to eat her, but Snake had been the one to seal her fate. The idiot still didn’t even realize the danger he was in.

Only the demon’s hand moved, and it reached back to grab Snake by the neck. Two green hands fumbled at the demon’s powerful grasp, trying to free himself from choked airways. The demon’s heart fell and squelched on the floor. It slowly started crawling back towards the demon until it melded into its foot and slowly swam through its body until it was where it belonged again.

The demon turned its gaze to glare at Sen. As it stared at him, it smashed Snake into the ground, and green blood splattered among the dust.

Tonka and Ano finally emerged from the tunnel where Mary had come from. Tonka skidded to a stop, and Ano’s pillow halted in the air when they noticed the demon just in front of them. They both looked around for Mary.

The demon moved before anyone was ready, charging straight for Sen. Half of his attention was still on Milim, ensuring the runes didn’t destroy her body by teleporting her away into nothingness. The other half now had to throw up a rapid defense.

He needed to move carefully. If he used a spell that was too powerful, he risked severing his hold over Milim. Too weak, and he might take a devastating blow of his own. He activated Enhanced Cognition and Time Crawl within a second. The demon seemed to move normally while the others moved in slow motion. It was fast.

“Glacial Candle-Pierce-Maxim!” From the tip of his finger an ice-blue aura resembling blue fire shot toward the demon. It didn’t dodge. It just continued to barrel towards him. The attack pierced its chest, and its entire body convulsed once before the damage was healed.

Sen felt sick when he realized the demon was slowly consuming Mary. She was trapped inside it, and he was only consuming her to heal itself mid-fight. It was all the reminder he needed that most demons deserved to die. Slowly.

He willed Mana Protection to activate. There wasn’t time for another spell, not one that would do anything to deter the creature, and he couldn’t let Milim fade away. He’d endure.

He jumped to the side, pulling the demon away from Milim.

The greater demon followed, when it reached him it drove an uppercut into Sen’s core that sent him shooting into the roof of the chamber. His back smashed through several feet of rock, and despite the strength of Mana Protection, his ribs threatened to crack under any additional pressure. Both of his mental enhancements slipped away as gravity pulled him back toward the earth. He could fight. He could kill this thing. But not without sacrificing a friend.

So he’d endure.

He’d prolong the connection as long as he needed to ensure Milim’s greatest chance of survival. Sen wasn’t sure where that came from. He’d watched people die before. He’d lost his only friend in this world. But here and now, he was driven by a single objective.

Overwhelming Victory.

He was done compromising. He wouldn’t let anyone else die today. No more.

As he fell toward the demon, the creature opened its mouth and a breath of green flames formed in its throat. Sen closed his eyes. He had no choice but to trust in Mana Protection. In battle, even delaying for a few seconds can be the difference between victory and defeat.

He just had to endure.

In that moment, for just a split second, he sensed Mary’s still beating heart. It was faint, and she was certainly on the verge of death.

But she was alive.

“I’ve got it!” Susanna called out!

Sen’s eyes ripped open, and he released his hold on Milim. He repositioned himself into a dive heading directly toward the demon and its attack. For a split second he glanced at Milim, and she smiled, mouthing a message to him.

Stolen story; please report.

“You’ve got this.”

When he next saw her, she’d know he’d proved her right.

“Mary’s still alive!” he cried out. Mana Aggression surged through him, and he endured the flames that rolled over his body, bringing a powerful fist across the demon’s face.

It grunted at the blow. The demon leapt backward, gaining some distance to assess the situation. Sen wasn’t the only one acting now.

Susanna’s golden hand lowered her onto the battlefield. Girch rolled his neck. Alari readied her blade. Snake lifted off the ground with a groan. Tonka and Ano exchanged a look and nodded. Even Dasai and Marin seemed uncharacteristically ready to fight.