Into the Darkness: Devotion

The night stretched longer than the day. The sun shone for sixteen hours, yet darkness reigned for twenty-three.

I had been walking for ten hours straight, encountering neither monsters nor life.

For a time, it rained fire, but that had already passed. All it took was an umbrella of blood to shield me.

Beyond that, nothing. Only silence, darkness, and the sound of my footsteps.

By now, Astrea must have woken up, he's likely already reached the mainland.

He can be incredibly fast. Most of the time, he held back, but during that fight with the Black Death, he moved faster than anything I had ever seen.

Light and darkness are opposites, yet they are more alike than anything. Both exist in balance, bound by the same laws.

Dark energy, like light, moves with the same velocity, sometimes even faster.

Even if he can't maintain that speed indefinitely due to his low stamina, he'll still reach me soon.

Astrea, despite his words, is a monster. He thinks he can hide it from me, but I've known him my entire life.

We've been together since conception, it's only natural that I can sense something wrong.

From the look in his eyes, I can tell when he's sad or angry. I can tell when he's happy or conflicted.

I see the emotions he tries to bury, so I know when he's about to break.

I'll be in trouble when he finds me, but it'll be fine because he'll praise me after his anger.

And that's all that matters.

Of course, I don't care for peace. I know despair is coming.

In this cursed world, happiness never lasts. Sooner or later, the hatred locked away in its cage comes for us all.

No one escapes the curse.

My hand rested on the hilt of my sword. In the distance, I saw a flicker of fire.

At first, I thought it was a remnant of the fire rain, but as I looked closer, I realized, it was too large.

Much larger than a normal fire.

I quickened my pace.

I started to run toward it, and soon, I began to hear screams and the clash of metal.

The fire became a ring, encircling a vast area.

From inside, I could hear it clearly, it was a struggle, a battle. But the flames were so dense that I couldn't make out their shapes.

I drew my sword and sliced my arm down the middle, letting the blood spill onto the flames.

Then I leapt through the fire.

When I landed, the ground was charred black, bodies scattered everywhere, at least fifty.

Only one person remained standing. The screams and clashing had fallen silent.

And it was someone I recognized, Castor.

After digging around, I'd learned the truth about him.

This man was Castor Sternheart, the strongest mage and the finest swordsman in the empire.

I thought his name sounded familiar, but seeing him in person was what truly surprised me.

His skin was smooth, clean, flawless, a fawn hue without a single blemish.

His dark red eyes burned like fire.

He wore a long white coat with a black, curved sword hanging from his side.

His slicked-back black hair framed two horns, sharp and twisted like a goat's.

White laces adorned his black boots, and his pants were a plain, earthy brown.

With his hands in his pockets, he turned to me and smiled.

"Hey there, Artoria."

I flinched, staring at Castor. Before I could respond, a demon's blade was pressed against my neck.

"You move, you die," the demon said, staring back at Castor.

I made a silent vow in my head.

'I want the power to slay this demon!'

[You are granted power. In exchange, you must kill the demon.]

Castor drew his sword and pointed it straight at the demon.

"You will lower your weapon, or I'll unleash the power of the world's favorite upon you."

I had heard the rumors. After mentioning his name to others, I learned that his Gift was known throughout the world.

As the empire gave up on the war against Calstum, a kingdom on the western continent that almost rivaled the empire in size, stories spread.

It takes up the entire southern region of the continent, and they had been at war for so long that I heard stories of my father fighting in it.

After he got out, the war ended a few days later. But Castor had been a prominent figure.

At the age of ten, he managed to lay waste to the entire left side of the kingdom.

He caused permanent damage, they had to rebuild. In fact, I heard that only recently they finally returned to their former might.

But despite all that, the demon didn't react to his words, only pressed down harder against my neck.

The problem?

I had already been infused with the power to kill him.

"Hey."

The demon turned to me. I kneed him in the gut, spun around, and kicked him back.

Castor took the chance to charge, but as he swung, the demon parried and swung back.

Castor managed to deflect the strike, and I lunged in.

Blood swirled around my blade, remnants from my wound, and I pierced his chest clean through.

The demon laughed while gripping my blade.

Then, as Castor attempted to cleave through its neck, it twisted unnaturally and kicked me back.

At the same time, it grabbed Castor by the head and slammed him against the ground.

I looked down at my dripping arm and ran my finger across the wound. Then I flicked my fingers, splattering blood across the ground.

"Castor! Move!" I screamed as the blood began to bubble up.

The demon turned to me, his blade appearing in an instant, flying toward my chest.

I ducked under it.

Blood rose from the ground and began spinning.

Castor stood up, raised his hand, and leveled it at the demon's back.

As the demon swung at me, I lifted my blade and tapped his, redirecting it. Then I placed my hand on his chest and dug my nails into his skin.

He glared at me as a massive fireball slammed into his back.

I held him in place as another fireball struck.

Then Castor screamed, "Move!"

I smiled at the demon and pushed him back, slashing across his chest.

Castor unleashed a massive fire spear, as large as a person, and it lodged itself into the demon's back.

I saw his eyes flash.

Then he collapsed.

But I didn't get the confirmation from the Gift; he was alive, just playing dead.

I knew Castor had more than just fire magic. He wielded mana in its raw form and possessed a few obscure abilities.

But he couldn't have been prepared for that.

 I couldn't even hope to react as the demon seemingly teleported behind Castor.

I tried to move, but an invisible force gripped me, as if warning me.

[Vow broken. Removing power.]

What the hell? That's never happened before. Granted, I've only used it ten times, but this was never part of its conditions.

I collapsed to the ground, crushed by the pressure the demon emitted as it punched Castor in the back, sending him tumbling across the charred dirt.

I struggled to lift my arm, but it felt impossibly heavy, as if weighed down by something unseen.

"Castor, he has gravity magic!"

Castor turned to me as the demon brushed the blood off its chest and leveled its sword at me.

"Artoria, you are a very smart young girl. I do indeed possess gravity magic, but I also have a few more... affinities."

Castor staggered to his feet, making an attempt to run toward me. I tried to crawl out of the way, but black flames began swirling around the demon's palm.

I forced my body down, and a blazing orb of dark fire shot toward me. 

Castor, at the last moment, managed to get in front of me, slicing the fireball in half. 

The flames roared past us, scorching the ground on either side.

Castor gritted his teeth, his body trembling from the strain. "Artoria, stay down!"

The demon didn't give him a moment to breathe. It surged forward, its blade flashing in the dim light. 

Castor parried the first strike, sparks flying as their swords clashed. 

His blade was swift; he swung again, aiming for its neck, but the demon ducked and retaliated with an upward slash.

Castor spun out of the way, thrusting his sword, but the demon deflected it and countered with a horizontal slash. 

Castor blocked, pushing the demon back, then followed up with a vertical strike. 

The demon couldn't react in time, blood surged from the deep wound in its chest.

But the demon wasn't done. It snapped forward, headbutting Castor with a sickening crack, then waved its hand.

Flames erupted, lifting Castor into the air with a surge of gravity magic. 

I couldn't move, the oppressive force pinning me down like invisible chains.

But even if I could, I wasn't sure I'd be able to help.

Castor roared, unleashing fire from his mouth, but the demon countered with black flames of its own. 

Their clash created heat so intense it felt like standing under the noonday sun. 

Then I saw it, a subtle movement of the demon's hand, tracing a small circle in the air.

I tried to shout, to warn Castor, but my tongue felt tied in knots. 

Looking down, I saw a crimson skull etched into my palm, a mark of blood, the consequence of an incomplete vow.

But I hadn't broken it. It canceled on its own. 

Why was I being punished?

I gritted my teeth, forcing my bronze arm to move.

 As I pushed myself up, the ground erupted violently beneath me, launching me into the air. 

My vision blurred, the world spinning, and then everything went black.