The sensation on his hand felt tight, the warmth competing with the chill of the northern lands. Alice looked at him, just as he looked back at her, but the tears streaming down her face seemed to choke her up so she didn’t say anything. She just held his hand and smiled through the tears.

Gabriel used her hand as support to pull himself up, water dripping off his head as he stood up and directed his gaze towards the claw. He and Alice got to enjoy a small intermission, but that was naturally only because the rest of the party was still fighting the claw.

In fact, after he tore away one of its fingers the claw had only intensified its attacks. Even now it was trying to rush at Gabriel to tear him to pieces to sate its anger. The others were doing their best to keep it back, naturally also trying to figure out ways to take it down.

But it wasn’t perfect, nothing ever was. Gabriel saw them on the side, getting hastily dragged away by the other knights. Three new corpses, two were completely frozen while the third had its midsection completely crushed by one of the talons. That was the price of Gabriel’s conversation, and it wasn’t even a price that fell on him.

Thump

Strangely enough, looking at the the knights dragging away the corpses with all their might, twisted expressions marring their faces, he felt a sting in his chest. It was different from the sensation he recently started to get with Alice, bleaker. He felt like clutching his chest, as if that would squash the sensation.

"Ah…"

As he thought about that movement, he understood. He hadn’t experienced it before, but he had seen others suffer from it. His old Master in particular, the one who first taught him about the tenets, would show that movement fairly often. When they trained, when he brought Gabriel on missions, when they returned successfully, when they didn’t return with as many as they left with. He clutched his chest, a somewhat twisted and bleak expression on his face.

"Ha…Ha… Haha…"

The laugh just slipped out. The sensation in his chest was miserable, a dull and continuous sting that made him want to squash his heart. But still, it slipped out.

"Haha… I can actually feel guilt, Alice. I… I can actually feel bad for others."

He couldn’t help but speak to the nearest person when he understood that sensation. Guilt. Someone like him was actually capable of feeling guilt after becoming human. He, who had killed hundreds. He, who had bombed entire apartment complexes to fulfil his orders. Someone like him could actually feel bad for someone else.

The battle kept raging in the distance, Arioch and Caine serving as the main attackers while Teresa focused on disrupting the claw. The remaining knights coordinated their attacks so that the gap between Arioch and Caine’s attacks didn’t grow too large. They were truly doing an excellent job. But it wouldn’t be enough, Gabriel knew that.

"I’m going to kill it, Alice. But I’ll need help."

Gabriel let out a long breath, as if to empty his chest, as he spoke. Feeling emotions suddenly, becoming human, it was all well and good. But that didn’t mean that he could let it distract him from what needed to be done. No, in fact, it only made him more determined to make sure that it was done properly.

"What’s the plan?"

Alice’s voice came from behind. It was still rather hoarse, but it seemed as if she came to the same conclusion as him and smothered her tears. Her fingers however were still twined around his, the sensation of her tight grip running up his entire arm.

"I need a sword, so I’m going to use Akasha. I’ll need Arioch to lure some demons here that I can use. While he’s luring the demons, someone will need to occupy the claw so that I can focus fully on recuperating some of my mana. After that…"

His words trailed off a bit towards the end. What would he do after using Akasha and pulling out his ‘sword’? Well, he didn’t actually know what shape this sword would take so he couldn’t say. But his ‘shield’ took one of the claw’s talons, so surely the ‘sword’ would be able to do even more, right?

"Alright. Let’s go kill it then."

Truthfully, the plan was anything but certain. But Alice’s voice was filled with so much confidence that it didn’t even seem like she considered the possibility that it would fail. They had decided to kill it, so that thing would die here today.

"Iras, Jawul Et Ka." (Lightning, Dwell In Me.)

Gabriel heard Alice chant a spell and the crackling of lightning. When she finally let go of his hand, he felt some wind rush past him and she was gone. A bit of azure lightning streaked through the sky and crashed down upon the claw, Alice stomping it down into the ground.

"Fen, Quetz! Bring it down."

She spat out a cold order, as if the hoarse tenderness and smiles from earlier were all false. That switch… Perhaps that was a habit she had stolen from him. Fenrir and Quetz immediately acted upon her order, a whirlwind forming beneath the claw while Fenrir crushed down upon it with gravity. For a moment, the claw was stuck between the two conflicting forces, Alice retreating as quickly as she had arrived.

"Makar, Alect." (Lava, Rise.)

The earth beneath the claw burst open as glowing magma shot up like a pillar, mixing with the whirlwind to form a whirlpool of molten stone. Meanwhile, the gravity from above still pushed down on it, as well as the attacks of the knights.

"Alice! If you can push it back down where it first spawned then I should be able to seal it again. I’ll need blood from both you and Arioch, as well as a generous bit of blood from the knights, but it should work!"

Caine, who looked a bit dishevelled now, got closer to Alice as he unveiled his plan. If it was the head or the heart then he could forget about sealing it again, they would be well and truly fucked if they didn’t manage to escape. But a claw, just a single claw… That should still be possible if they pooled everything that they had, plus a little extra from the deceased knights. Grim, yes. Necessary… Very much so. But Gabriel, who had reached them now, obviously had a different plant.

"I’m going to kill it, Caine. That thing can’t be allowed to escape, be it from here or from your seal. If it restores itself… No. It will die her."

Gabriel had seen the possibility within that black box of souls. The completed Azui, that ancient demon… This empire wouldn’t be able to handle it, this world wouldn’t be able to handle it.

"…"

Caine’s expression couldn’t help but stiffen somewhat. What did Gabriel know? Even Arioch didn’t know that Azui was sealed here, much less that it was split into several parts that could be reunited. Even Caine only learned about it after his 30th loop. The special soul that Azuras had brought in… Just what the hell was it?

"Are you confident that you can kill it? The previous attack only took a finger. More accurately, how many of my men are planned as sacrifices?"

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Now it was Arioch’s time to speak up. One hand was raised to the sky, controlling a massive hunk of earth that he brought down on the claw like a meteor. Taking advantage of Fenrir’s gravity, it smashed into the claw and crushed it down against the earth, lava sputtering around it.

His expression was heavy, grim. The men dying here, they were his knights. Not only was a thing like this hidden in his territory, but his men were also dying because of his ignorance. To get revenge for the deceased he was naturally keen on killing this thing, removing it from his territory entirely. But if that plan required the lives of all his soldiers… He would need to know if it was worth it first. Otherwise he would never be able to face their families.

"I’m going to kill it. I need demons and mana. Even if I can’t kill it after that, it will be weak enough that the rest of you can finish it off."

Gabriel didn’t speak of odds, didn’t use grand words to instill confidence. He said he was going to kill it, that was it, no more needed to be said. Arioch observed him for a second, his gaze lingering on his eyes for a moment before he called out.

"Almanar! Use all the remaining blood, lure some of the surrounding demons here! Now!"

"Yes, my Lord!"

A quick order was met with an even swifter response, the old knight breaking away from the rest of the men. He was tossed a few vials by some of the knights and quickly dashed away. The demons in the area were being scared away by the pressure coming from the claw so it would take a fair bit of this bait to rile them up into a state where they were frenzied enough to ignore the claw.

"… Alright, going for the kill it is."

Caine had no choice but to accept the situation. Killing a piece of Azui… It would be the first time it happened so he had no idea what effects it might produce. In the loops, Azuras was the only way to fully subdue Azui so there had never been a loop where he didn’t get it. But well… That body was technically Azuras so who knew what sort of results that may produce.

"I’ll dig it down. Caine, I leave the follow up to you. Alice, just do whatever you please."

Arioch quickly adopted to the situation. He didn’t know Alice’s capabilities so he didn’t bother trying to give her orders, just leaving her to her devices would be enough.

"Tarak, Sarash Hui Azack Ka’e Kin." (Earth, Swallow And Rend My Foes.)

Arioch spat out a long spell, a thick brown mist of mana filling the air around him as he pushed both hands down. The earth beneath the claw tore open like a maw, earthen tendrils coiling around its talons as it was pulled down while struggling. Once beneath the earth, Arioch brought his hands together and the maw closed, a deep rumbling filling the area as Gabriel felt the earth move beneath him. He could imagine the claw down there, buried alive as the earth pressed against it to seal it in its tomb.

But naturally, this wouldn’t be enough. The earth suddenly froze and erupted, shards tearing through the air like arrows. Fenrir and Quetz acted quickly, and it was a rushed defence by the claw, so it was deflected without much issue. But the claw still tore free, its talons ripping it out from the earth.

"Iras, Jawul Et Ka." (Lightning, Dwell In Me.)

The same spell as earlier was muttered, but this time it was Caine who cast it, revealing one of his two affinities. He disappeared in the blink of an eye with the rumbling of thunder, appearing beneath the claw that had just torn its way out of the earth.

His knees bent and his hand landed on the hilt of the sword that hung at his waist. Gabriel could feel it, the sheer level of energy that gathered in him. Up from the earth, through his feet and into his waist, from his waist to his shoulders, and from his shoulders to his hand. In an instant, he gathered as much as he could handle.

"Iras, Zamut." (Lightning, Cut.)

He drew the sword with a simple spell and swung it through the air, all the power that he had gathered swarming the edge of his blade. A thunderous rumbling, as if the earth itself was turning over. A bright light as if the sun had dawned upon the earth.

The edge of the sword cut clean through one of the claw’s talons, the force of the attack continuing on to cut through another one of the talons. The force of the crackling lightning was strong enough that the claw was launched skyward, the cut itself continuing onward as it tore into the nearest mountain and left a visible gash.

It looked like a spell honed to the extreme, but Gabriel could feel it. A slight sensation, a soft nudge at the back of his mind. That wasn’t just a spell, it was mixed with Caine’s Unique Magic, his ‘sword’. He looked pale as a result, his arms trembling as he held the sword. But the power… it was devastating.

Gabriel perked his ears. He could already hear some distant sounds so it seemed as if the knight had actually already encountered some demons. No time to waste, he would have to do his best to quickly gather his mana, closing his eyes as he slowly started to take deep breaths.

"Alice, can you get me some pills from Teresa?"

He spoke between each deep breath. Teresa was the one making their drugs and medicines so she naturally had a few pills that would help you gather mana faster. The materials used to make the pills weren’t exactly good for the body, but they weren’t all that bad either. They were like alcohol, in smaller doses they wouldn’t do anything harmful. Many warriors used them as a last resort when they were alone.

The sounds were coming closer. He also heard the claw moving about violently. He’d love to restore his mana naturally, but now wasn’t the time for that so he’d have to make do with what he had.

"My Lord, I’ve brought them!"

Almanar’s voice came from the distance. Not too far away from the mountain that now had a gash thanks to Caine so it seemed as if the lizard-men that had moved in there were still lingering about, not entirely willing to give up their new home. That would explain why he found demons so quickly. The pills weren’t quite that fast so it seemed like they would have to give him about 30 or so extra seconds after he got the pills.

"Ali…"

He opened his mouth to ask for the pills again, his eyes still closed so that he could focus on the flow of mana. But his words were cut off by something soft and slightly moist blocking his mouth. He touched them earlier so he already knew what Alice’s lips felt like. Lips, she was blocking his mouth with her lips.

Shortly after, he felt energy pour down his throat. Mana. She was pouring her own mana directly into him. It was certainly much faster than the pills, which only made it easier to take in the surrounding mana. But if the two parties weren’t properly in sync then the differing flows of mana could easily clash and erupt within the body.

But Alice and Gabriel had been with each other for several years already, they had trained their mana together from the start. As such, no such clash happened within him. No, Gabriel simply felt a fire spread through him. It didn’t start in his throat, but rather in his chest. It was like a spark flickering alight, igniting a forest that hadn’t seen rain for years. From his chest to his lungs, from his lungs to his throat and stomach, to his legs and arms, to his head to his toes.

He burned. Every inch of him felt as if it was on fire. His eyes shot open, but the world was still dark. Her hand, it was covering his eyes. Thanks to that, he couldn’t see her lick her lips when she finally pulled back.

"The pills would be too slow, this is the fastest method. Now go, show them."

"Iras, Jawul Et Haral." (Lightning, Dwell In Them.)

Her breath was hot as it hit his face, as hot as the fire that threatened to swallow him from within. Lightning flowed into him from that breath, competing with the fire as it coursed through his veins. His muscles, his nerves, he felt them work at many times their normal speed as they were blessed by the lightning.

Alice stepped aside as she removed her hand from his eyes so he could see Almanar and the demons straight ahead, quickly rushing over. He just needed to raise and lower his legs once, unleashing the fire and lightning that seemed to fill his very being.

A whoosh and a rush, that was all he felt as he vanished and appeared again a bit above the group of lizard-men that Almanar was bringing over. Looking at them, his entire body feeling alight, he felt as if he could do anything.

He scanned the group of demons and quickly found his target. The largest lizard-man. A bit over five metres tall, a scorpion-tail that ended in two hooks, and a single curved horn growing on the left side of its head. This was their leader, the strongest among them. That would be the one.

"Nergal. Skull."

A simple order, yet a grim one. Naturally, that cute little spirit of his was all to happy to follow it. The shadow cast by Gabriel’s body stretched out, bubbling tentacles reaching for the lizard-man. It used a frozen sword to cut at them, but the tentacles simply collapsed into flies and reformed in the air around the demon.

When it cut two of them, two more dug into its skull. When it cut those two, three new formed and continued digging into its skull. It quickly became sluggish, blood pouring out of its head. But Nergal kept digging and tearing until the demon fell to its knees, its mouth opening and closing as its brain was laid bare to the cold winds.

And that was when Gabriel descended on it.

"Akasha, Sarash." (Demon, Swallow.)

His hand plunged into the exposed brain and turned it to mush, his mana pouring out as he activated the spell. Akasha, the spell domain governing demons and beasts. And from what he was told, it also contained his sword.

And sure enough, when the spell activated and covered the demon, a burst of vibrant blackish-violet light poured out of it and swallowed Gabriel. Coming from the light, he heard his own voice, or at least the voice used by the ‘him’ he saw within the black box.

"You burn yourself for the world as a shield, Gabriel, so isn’t it just fair if you burn the world for yourself as a sword?"