I opened my eyes; I was still hunched over but no longer in pain. The light was gone, and time resumed like normal. The demon charged at me.

He raised his sword above his head and prepared to swing downwards. He reached me, and I moved to the right as the demon turned his sword down.

The demon looked a little surprised. As the sword touched the ground, he slashed upwards at me.

I leaned back, dodging the attack. I turned and sidekicked his face. My kick broke his face. He squealed and spat out some teeth.

I looked at him and chuckled a bit innocently. He looked a little funny. I then spartan kicked him with enough power to create a blast, sending him back flying as a ragdoll.

I walked forward slowly. Everything seemed different now. I knew my place in this world. I could feel the cool air brush against my face.

"DEMON'S ART," The demon yelled.

He was about 50 meters away, hovering about a meter off the ground. The air rumbled as snow, ice shards, and ice boulders formed around him.

"Destruction of Boreas," The demon continued as the trees began to fall and the snow and ice began moving forward at incredible speeds. Trees fell, and dirt flew as the wave came at me.

It only took a few seconds to reach me, but I jumped, soaring 15 meters into the sky, reaching the top of the smaller pine trees.

The snow wave crashed and passed underneath me. I hovered in the air. I made eye contact with the demon. He mouthed something at me, but I couldn't tell what he said over the sound of trees falling and the wave demolishing everything in its path.

The demon began to run at me as gravity brought me down. His eyes pierced me. He jumped and met me mid-air with his sword. I let my arm get cut off, and I shoulder-checked him. We fell, and I focused on regrowing my arm.

The landing was rough. His snow wave had ripped the ground apart, and the roots were showing—a shallow ravine formed with tree splinters, leaves, and branches.

The demon got up, but before he could do anything, I bashed him with my nearly recorded arm. This disoriented him for a second, but he came back at me with a jab with his free hand.

I dodged and countered with another fist. He blocked it with his sword, and the momentum carried me forward. He tried to carve my head, but I stopped him. We clenched into a huddle, not letting go of each other. I grasped his wrist, the hand with the sword in it. I elbowed him in the face and made him lose grasp of his sword. I then conjured whatever power I had to punch him repeatedly.

Shockwave came off my fist as the punches connected with the demon. Finally, I made a trusted hand open into his chest and tried to pull out his heart. I grasped it; it was slimy, warm, and beat within my fist.

I began to pull but felt a weird, struggling sensation. The heart wouldn't come out.

The demon screamed and headbutted me with a mushed face.

I was stunned. The demon's heart slipped out of my hand as I fell back. My hand shook from the temperature of his body. He was freezing.

The demon, still recovering, started randomly swinging his sword around him. The swings were nowhere near me, but as he turned, he cut my face.

The cut wasn't deep, but it still hurt. I pulled back out of the range of his sword.

This demon was still immature, almost like a kid. He looked as old as I was; maybe he aged physically but not mentally.

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The demon recovered his eyes, stopped swinging, and faced me suddenly. He stood on guard.

"Who taught you how to fight?" He asked.

"Why should I tell you?" I countered, "All you've done is try to kill me."

He chuckled and let his sword down. "You fight like a novice, yet your instincts and senses keep you alive." He said.

"Well, for a novice, I'm kicking your ass," I said back.

"Ha, You gripped my heart, yet here I am standing. You are incapable of killing me." He changed his defensive stance, holding his sword in front, ready to attack.

"Demon's Art-"

The surroundings shifted as ice formed on the ground, branching towards me in a tree-like cone.

"Current of Ice."

He dashed forward as the ice around him swirled and followed. Within a second, he was in front of me. The cold rushed into my face and frosted my eyelashes and air.

He drove his sword into the left of my body. The sword didn't reach my body, yet I felt the force, and the inertia took me. The power sent me flying as the current of snow formed and shredded my body. My skin slowly disappeared as my muscles became mush.

The current pulled and sent me flying across the forest. Trees splintered and joined the snow in impaling and shredding me. Eventually, the current slowed. I couldn't see where I was.

All I knew was that it was a bloody torso with a skinless head with no eyes.

I stayed motionless as petals reformed on my body. My head and ears reformed, too. My eyes slowly started working again as light blurred into my vision.

"You awake now, finally." The demon said, standing over me.

My limbs are still regrowing; I can't move. I was naked, powerless, and limbless.

"I wanted to wait to kill you." The demon said as he squatted down. "You know, let you wake up for the grand finally."

He stood there talking to me. My vision blurred, and his sounds faded. I closed my eyes.

"This is all you amount to," a woman whispered. " You're not done yet."

I looked back at the demon rambling on. Petals were forming behind him. My heart hadn't regrown back yet as he had destroyed my body.

"Reach to the depths of death," She continued. "Grab hold of it."

The ground cracked as I focused all my regenerative capabilities on my right arm.

The demon laughed and grabbed his sword, ready to sever my hand. He held his head proud, making a show of my useless efforts.

"This is your power." Her voice gets louder.

"This is your truth." She beckoned,

"This is who you are." She roared.

In my grasp, I felt a cool but familiar sensation—a sword's hilt.

The demon brought his sword down.

Within a second, I slashed across, bringing the weapon right to left. Not only severing his arm but also slashing his eyes.

The demon squealed and stumbled back; he wasn't used to the pain.

My left arm regrows, and slowly, my legs. The demon lurched back towards me, beginning to slash and stab. I countered with my sword.

CHINK CHINK CHINK

Within seconds, attacks are all deflected.

"Palm," I let out calmly.

I pushed forward with my newly regrown left arm imprinting the demon's stomach.

"URGH!" the demon let out as he flew back, leaving a trail of random white-coloured petals. He rolled on the ground and slid to a stop.

My legs regrew, and so did my torso.

The demon got back up, holding his stomach.

I looked at my sword. It was a black one-handed sabre in an almost flame-like shape. The guard was a shadowy black but also flamed shape. The hilt was wrapped in leather and black as well.

I channelled the power within me. The ground shook as I took a stance, and petals formed around me as I dashed forward.

The demon dashed as well. We met halfway, exchanging furries of clashes between our two swords. Petals and snowflakes rushed along both sides, clashing and fighting their battles.

The demon yelled in fury and stepped back to go back in with faints. His swordsmanship was good. He was trained well but was still inexperienced. My battles with Orion over these past few months helped me progress further than this demon had.

The demon had enough, and as he slashed, he chanted, "Demon's art," He jumped back and pointed at me. "Spear of Ulr."

A spear made of ice formed and soared past the demon towards me.

As the spear approached me, I closed my eyes, thought back, and focused on the woman's voice. I could still hear it chanting. I lowered my stance, ready to pounce.

"D--on—-t." The voice remained distorted as if it were far away.

"D--on -rt." The voice got closer, as the spear was now only moments away.

"De-on -rt." Ahh, I see; that's what she's saying.

"Demon's art," I yelled, the spear only a meter before me. "Paradise Falls."

I pounced, slashing the spear vertically towards the demon.

"huh?" The demon said as his body became two halves.

The spear shattered, and Petals fell, showering the ground. The demon's body plopped onto the ground as I walked over. The demon tried to get up, but I stomped on his head, making his body go limp. Finally, I grabbed onto his heart and pulled with all my might. The heart resisted as i felt a force pulling the heart back in. Biological wires, maybe muscles, came out with the heart, but gradually, it let go one by one until the heart separated from the cavity in his chest.

His body screeched, and his skin turned grey. What was left of his reforming head stopped moving, and the snow petals disappeared as the temperature rose.

The heart slowly turned to ash, floating away in the breeze.