He laid as victim of being immolated, in front of the Twin Gates that towered in front of him. One was wide open, the home to the Great Phoenix, who used his Gate as a perch to watch over him. The other was wrapped in a chain of rainbow flames, shimmering like broken glass.

“Weakling.” The Phoenix mocked him. “This is the state you should be in.”

The Phoenix stepped off its perch. As it landed, the wind from its wings put Kagami out. He felt relief, but he was nothing but a black crisp.

“Finally, I have won against you, brother,” the phoenix said. “Today, has been a fruitful day. For today, you bowed to me. Pleading for power, because you are weak.”

He had nothing to say.

And the Phoenix crowed its victory, puffing up his chest.

“Your will to go on is nothing but a candlelight on its last stump.” The Phoenix leaned in. “Give me your body. I shall take care of all your enemies. I shall save your beloved wife. Give me your body, and I shall make it all come true.”

How do you do it? Kagami remembered asking his wife. Even though I beat you, you kept on coming after me.

His wife. His beloved, and beautiful wife smiled at him, tilting her head so lovingly.

Do you want to know? The answer is simple you know.

The answer she gave had went through one ear and out the other. It made no sense to him. She never gave him a straight answer, openly declaring he would get it if he were ever in her situation.

He…kind of got it.

As he pushed himself up, his ring finger broke off. His knees cracked. Half of his face fell, crumbling into black ash when it hit the ground. But he stood up and met the Phoenix’s avian stare.

The phoenix gave a low rumble. It was clearly amused by his display.

“So you still wish to go back out there? All you will face is despair. It’s not like you can fight, not while my flames seal your Gate.”

He couldn’t move his lips, but he understood that this space was special. He spoke not from his lips, but his heart.

My wife is waiting for me out there.

The phoenix gave a mocking screech

“Wife? You won’t be able save her. You won’t be able to do anything.”

Those words hung over him like a guillotine, but Kagami, couldn’t help himself. He opened his mouth, which cracked like a spider’s web, and managed to fill the void with his laughter. The void responded to his new state of mind and in turn his body healed. The missing fingers and face reformed, and the black skin shattered, replaced anew.

“I don’t understand? What’s so funny?”

Kagami wiped a tear from his face.

“She’s not the one that needs saving.” Kagami smiled. “I am.”

“Aria told you the future. You’re cannot save her!”

“She’ll be fine.” He meant that. “I know, that no matter where she is, she’ll get out of it. Hell, she always survived fights with at my peak. And if I-” He swallowed, It was hard to say, because it meant he had to admit it. ‘-died, I know she would cross space and time to find me. The best I can do, is at least be wherever she is.”

“…You’ll fail.”

“But she won’t.” Kagami snapped back. “I’m sure, if she was in the same place as I am now, she would have faith in me. So I will have faith in her.”

“You’ll be useless outside!”

“Right now, that is the truth, but I will find a way.” He pointed at his Gate. “To defeat you and open that. To get stronger without it if I have to.”

“…Fine, go ahead. Leave once more. I’ll be waiting here to take your body.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I’ll never give it to you,” Kagami said. “Expect to be disappointed.”

#

Pure madness would be the best word to explain what was happening in front of Subaru. When you put three elves(?), a demon twice his size, and the Black Sun monster in an all out battle royale, things were definitely going to be crazy.

The mind could only process so much information, but he saw the Black Sun stand her own against all four of them. One of the elves whipped a red ribbon and she sliced it up into little chunks. She dodged when the space around her distorted and the ground underneath it got pulled and squished like a tiny ball. She stabbed the third one through the core before the elf could show of its power. The Demon carved the ground where she stood with ease, and she dodged just as easy.

She deflected a bar of red. Subaru formed a sound bubble, bracing himself. The Demon stepped between them and struck the ground, peeling the ground like a scab. It used the ground as a shield, and the red bar exploded.

Bits of rocks rained down, one of them bounced off his sound bubble.

The Demon looked back to check if they were alright. Confirming Subaru was alright, the Demon walked forward to deal with one of the elves that was coming in their way.

“What are you doing here? The Warden is gonna be very angry at you.” The shorter elf gave a hideous laugh. “I can’t wait to tell on you.”

The red bar hit him square in the chest and exploded. When the explosion settled, the Demon stood there with only a scrap of blood dripping from its chest.

“What? What is your skin made out of?”

The Demon smacked the elf with the face of its axe and it flew somewhere in the forest.

Without the other elf, the Black Sun quickly dispatched the remaining elf, opening up its neck with her sword. Blue blood spurted from its new mouth. Then it fell on the ground.

The Black Sun turned to them and pointed her white blade at them. There was no mark of uncleanliness on the blade, it reminded him of a blanket of fresh snow.

“I’d rather not have any more bloodshed if it could be helped. Stand aside, and give me the prince.”

Honestly, Subaru wanted to take it. She was a good person, he could feel it. She was different from the other Black Sun members he knew.

Which led to a question from him.

“Why are you doing this? I don’t get it. You’re not like the other Black Suns. I can tell! You don’t have the fervent insanity of a believer. You aren’t really doing it to save the world are you? So, why are you aligned with them?” Subaru observed.

Her blade lowered just a bit.

“I do it for love.”

There was a deep sadness to her voice that Subaru heard and he knew in his heart that she could not be reasoned with. What greater reason is there than that of love?

“I see.” Subaru shut his eyes tight. “Then there is nothing that I can say is there?”

“No.”

The Demon stepped forward, and the masked woman gazed up at the towering giant. To him, she must look like nothing but a pest.

“Being big only makes you a bigger target.”

The Demon looked back at him as if telling him to go and take Kagami. He still didn’t understand why the Demon was protecting them, but he did that.

“I take it, you’re telling me to defeat you before I go after them?” He heard her say as he scrambled for the trees with Kagami on his back.

Subaru looked over his shoulder as the Demon roared. In a white flash, the woman cut the Demon down. Its axe dropped with a loud thud. Subaru’s eyes widened as he saw her turn her attention to them.

A woman in love was truly a dangerous monster.

The Demon grabbed her and chucked her. Subaru had to admit, he didn’t think that was enough. She righted herself in the air, but a red bar shot, grabbing her by her ankle, and she was yanked down somewhere else.

At some point he had stopped, because he knew he wouldn’t outrun her. But now he could. Subaru rolled his shoulders to position Kagami better and made a mad dash.

This time he was able to pass through the threshold of the sea of trees and scarred battlefield. Escaping to safety.

#

The Bandit King had followed after Subaru, and a moment later the Black Sun assassin returned to the forest clearing, pulling a broken Harold by his hair, tossing him right next to Ariel.

With herself incapacitated, all Ariel could do was observe this battle. Though her master had given her a name, she had yet to develop a technique that would allow her to fight on par with other Named Dolls. Her Overdrive Form allowed her to use Aura to physically enhance herself. One of the most basic forms of Aura.

Ariel compiled a report and sent it to her Master. Her Master’s returned a reply a moment later.

“Is Harold’s core intact?” Ariel asked the Masked Woman.

“You’re still alive?” The Black Sun asked, studying the broken Ariel. Coming to an answer, she nodded. “I see. No, his core is broken. There is no light coming from it like yours.”

“Unfortunate.” She mentally reported this to her Master and waited for instructions. “My Master wishes to extend an invitation to you.”

“I’m not interested,” she said. “My goal is only to kill the Prince. You can tell your Master that if he stands in my way, I’ll kill him, and anyone that he puts in his way. ”

She started to walk away, to which Ariel called out to her.

“Are you not going to kill me?” She asked.

“I have no interest in killing someone that can no longer fight,” the woman said. “However, when you can fight, and you stand back in front of me, don’t expect any more mercy.”

#

Upon the kindling of the flames, Kagami opened his eyes to the darkness of another unfamiliar ceiling. Based on the lingering stench of vomit, Kagami surmised that Subaru had brought him back to the cave.

Kagami sat up, his back was hurting, and his throat was parched. He looked around to see if there was any water, stopping when he met a familiar gaze in the darkness.

“You should have listened to me.” A deep voice resounded from the Bandit King. Then he paused for a second. “You look like shit.”

His ex-roommate sat in front of him, tapping the face of his great broad axe as if he considered cutting Kagami down there right here.

Kagami rose up a hand though, forcing a smile across his tired face.

“Hey, Walnut. Nice to see you again.”