Kerlic was alternating between attacks and dodges, listening to all of the witch’s commands. Only 15 seconds remained until the witch had to go. He had to make the most of it.

Right as he dodged another attack someone spoke.

|Now that Geus is no longer watching, I shall adjust the rules.|

The powerful voice interrupted both Kelric and Sepaleu, the bear. Both froze up completely.

|My new rules consist of the following. Kelric has to survive for one minute without ‘her’. And Sepaleu has to kill Kelric otherwise, both Sepalue and Geus will be summoned to ‘The Battlefield of 8th Hell’. Enjoy.|

The rules had changed, but no matter how he looked at the new rules, they worked in his favor. He didn’t have to kill the bear anymore, and the witch wouldn’t be annoyed by Geus. It was a win for Kelric and the witch, and a grand loss for Geus and the bear. It was a short moment of hope for Kelric. And for Geus and the bear… He could only wish them good luck.

After the short interruption, the battle continued. With the strong voice now gone both of them could move again. The bear took advantage of this and flung itself at Kelric again. Only 10 seconds remained with the witch, and after those 10, he had to survive 60 more without her.

He narrowly dodged the bear, because of the witch. The bear’s tall figure looked down at Kelric. It seemed to be… agitated? What was going through its mind? Did it have feelings? Did it know why it was fighting? And what would happen if it didn’t kill Kelric? The chance of it having a fully-fledged mind was basically zero. Still, he wondered, what emotions would it be feeling right now? Would it be bloodlust or was it shrouded in misery? Kelric held no way to peek inside its mind, so for now, such things remained unanswered

The next best thing Kelric could do was to sympathise with the bear. But feeling sympathy for something that is going to kill you isn’t the best choice.

Kelric had dozed off in those thoughts. The witch had to wake him before he would be sliced into pieces.

“Oi kid! Now is not the time to do that!”

He snapped back into reality, the enemy’s feelings didn’t matter in a life-or-death battle. The only problem was Kelric waking up on the late side. The bear’s claw was right above him. Only moments removed from splitting his head.

“Block up, or something!” The witch yelled desperately.

This was the first time she acted like this. Moments prior she knew exactly how to survive. She always sounded sure about herself. Now she sounded unsure. Unsure if Kelric would survive. She didn’t trust her own words. They might not work right now. Nothing could be changed, that’s how it always was.

Once again Kelric followed the witch her commands. He felt the change in the witch’s usually calm nature. It felt weird to him to hear her speak in an unsure tone. Even then, trusting her was his only choice. He pulled his sword up and held it up with both hands. One hand on the grip, and the other under the blade.

The claw clashed down on the sword before had fully prepared. And then…

SNAP

It seemed as if time froze. It was more than just a feeling. Everything actually slowed down.

Shattered pieces of metal flew through the air. They scattered and sparked brilliantly under the sun. The small pieces looked an awful lot like stars. It felt wrong enjoying such beauty at such a time. But was there anything wrong with enjoying a beautiful sight? Why would there be?

Alongside the smaller pieces one giant piece flew. It was his sword, which had been broken in half. It didn’t matter to him for this short moment. The giant piece reflected the sun in a way that it looked like the sun. True beauty in a moment that should be full of despair. The bright sun shining between the stars of the night sky.

A contradictory phrase. Even if it was contradictory, it felt natural. Natural in an unexpected way.

Aside from the sparkling pieces of metal, something else was happening. The intense flames of the bear’s claw welded the sharp edge of the blade, or at least what remained. His blade turned blunt. Cutting anything with it became difficult. Even the softest of things might not get cut by it.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The whole situation wasn’t something someone should look at and be entertained. Rather such a situation should invoke a feeling of destruction. And such destruction belonged to the bear. The bear that shattered a strong sword, and a sword that sacrificed itself for its owner. The one invoked destruction, the other protection. If one of them didn’t exist the situation would be entirely different.

It seemed that ‘Geus’ Challenge’ was absolutely unfair. The only possibilities for Kelric all resulted in a loss for him, and always in a win for the bear. Doubts crossed his mind. This situation was the worst. His sword, the witch, and keeping distance, they all had or were going to disappear. Close-range fighting against the bear, without a weapon or the help of the witch. A nearly impossible fight. His only help was Sapaq, who twisted the rules to fit him better. Sapaq too couldn’t be counted as help. Without him, the situation would’ve never taken place. But because of him, the situation became a lot easier. So what was it? Did he help? Or not?

It was a weird mix of emotions, it was really weird. What was such a feeling called? Does a word for it exist yet? It might.

And so time continued. The shattered pieces of metal speeded onto the ground and the bear was about to swing his claw again. Yet time still felt slow. Something still felt out of place. What was it? What was the cause of the weird moving of time? Were it his feelings? The courage to keep fighting? Or the despair that came with the removal of the witch and his sword? Or was it something entirely else, way beyond his grasp?

While thinking deeply he dodged another attack, it was the last move the witch helped in. The witch had to go now.

“Don’t die on me, ki-”

And so her voice dissipated. He knew what she wanted to say and laughed lightly. Yet the weird feeling remained. What was it? The more he thought the more he realised.

This feeling. He had an experience not too long that felt like this. It was the same as in the void, the place he entered when he tried to summon an element. It felt familiar, but also so far away. It was the same feeling but also wasn’t. It was… something.

He wrecked his mind trying to figure out. Time felt slow, yet not as slow as before. He could think without the fear of being attacked. But then again, he could still be attacked by something other than the bear. Absolute safety could never be guaranteed, definitely not in an unfamiliar environment.

Time regained its flow again. Still, Kelric hadn’t found a way to explain the feeling. And as time flew again, so did the bear. The bear ready to unleash an attack, suddenly froze up.

And Kelric froze up aswell. What happened? With a claw above his head, both Kelric and the bear stood absolutely still. What was happening? Then the grass stiffed up. The souls of the forgotten ones froze up.

Something enormous was happening. What was it?

The bright sky above the grass slowly descended into darkness. The bright blue sky grew pitch black.

|Who dares attack my domain?| Even Sapaq felt it.

The darkness continued on with its march. The darkness engulfed the sky further, and further. Until even the bright sun couldn’t shine any longer. This was definitely worse than fighting the bear. What was… Ah.

It was then the realisation came. This was the void. The void had taken over the plane of grass. Kelric was sure of it. It was definitely the same place. He knew what to do to win against the void.

He tried his methods from back then. Nothing happened. He had slight control of his emotions. Still, nothing changed the dark void. Another realisation came through quickly. It was clear. The void this time was beyond his control. The void wasn’t focused on him.

No, this time it was Sapaq. Sapaq, a demon who endured a generation-ending war, who lost his loved one, who had to become the guardian of the forgotten. He wouldn’t be able to control his emotions to settle the void.

Even if Kelric didn’t know everything about Sapaq, he felt it. There was no way Sapaq could control it. If the void scavenged around freely here Kelric wouldn’t live to see another day. Even worse the reminiscence of the forgotten would be gone. In such a moment, saying ‘utter devastation’ would be a harsh understatement.

In such moments Sapaq still remembered his duty. He was the guardian of the forgotten but didn’t want more forgotten.

|Out!|

Kelric’s mind numbed and his body felt weak. Sapaq was going to bring everyone away to safety. Kelric, The witch, Geus, And the bear, Sepalue. Everyone would escape except… The grass couldn’t be brought outside. The same was true for the bonsai tree, containing the soul of his loved one, Sari.

This couldn’t be called everyone. It was only four. But for Sapaq saving four was better than none.

It was the most he could do in this situation. That was how ‘The Great Eastern Demon of Banished Ones’ sacrificed himself.

In reality, calling him a demon was wrong. He was technically a demon, but he didn’t feel like one. No demon would consider even saving a measly four beings. Yet Sapaq did.

And he saved them.

***

It was an abrupt ending to the challenge. It couldn’t even be called a decent ending. At the climax, the void intervened.

It had happened a few days ago already. The fight seemed to have even altered the cave. All hell was breaking loose. It didn’t look good. Escaping the cave was the only thing left to do.

Kelric sat in the safe spot, talking to the witch, when a random thought entered him.

“What‘s Ragnel doing right now? Would he believe me if I told him what happened here?”

And the answers to that?

Ragnel wouldn’t believe him.

And Ragnel was also in the middle of getting his ass kicked, that’s why he wouldn’t believe him. Because he couldn’t think straight at the moment.