(Rebecca Storm POV)

"But that's not the reason I brought your attention to the sword. It's because I believe that the war was all caused by the soul inside that sword."

"WHAT?!"

The reason for the start of the war was a highly debated topic among experts. Mitchell had an interest in this as well, so as a side hobby, he joined these groups to communicate his ideas.

The most common theory was that a demon somehow took control of the entire demon domain and attack the human domain because of their greed.

However, this theory has one major flaw. The support of the people. For a government to run properly, it must have the trust of its citizens.

Previously the demons and humans were on friendly terms, so many demons would be dissatisfied. However, even so, wars have still been declared before. Humans and demons have had many wars before, but they usually end within a year or two.

The prolonging of a war would be the main problem. Losing millions of soldiers would demoralise the general population, meaning that government would have to sue for peace.

Yet this didn't happen. The government still had the full support of the demons, despite the deaths. This was especially confusing since the demons and humans did not have any major conflicts in 50 years.

Since many demons weren't dissimilar to humans, many half-human-half-demons appeared, also known as demonoids. There was an extremely close relationship between us two species, so demons and human marriages were somewhat common.

Yet, this made the fact that the government had the support of the majority of the demon population absurd. After the start of the war, the demonoids were all eliminated.

"I always believed that all demons were somehow mind-controlled into committing these actions."

"Well that theory is the second most popular one, but it has two major flaws. To control the entire population of demons is impossible, even for SS ranks who specialise in it. Even controlling thousands simultaneously is extremely difficult, let alone billions."

I replied with my counterargument. Matthew also interjected.

"And using subtle manipulation may allow the user to control more people, but the user has to constantly reinforce the control for it to work over a long period of time. And even if someone could control the entire population, why wouldn't they just eliminate humanity themselves? Nobody would be able to stop him."

"Those are all valid points. But if I told you that using the contamination attribute could also be used to control others."

"Hmm? How?"

Thomas voiced his thoughts to Mitchell. Despite our disbelief, we continued listening to his explanation.

There were two known ways to control the mind. The person either had to have the telepathic or soul attribute.

Those two attributes were the only ones that could control the mind. The only thing contamination attribute could do was weaken a person's mental defences.

"Well, recently has been a drug that has spread that allows the user to control others."

"Giecephamine right?"

Even though we rarely entered the human domain, we weren't completely ignorant of matters occurring there.

Using poison to mind control others would be a long-lasting solution especially if the body doesn't recognise the poison to be harmful.

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"But still. To construct a poison like that would be too complex. The brain doesn't have enough computational power. One mistake in constructing the poison and it would cause an entirely different effect."

"Don't judge the soul in the sword by normal standards. I couldn't imagine how powerful it was when it had a body. It would be unimaginably strong, we wouldn't even compare. Maybe it is at the rumoured SSS rank."

Mitchell replied to my theories.

"Then, if it was that strong, it would explain how the mind control would even affect other S ranks. It also explains why it used to such a roundabout way to defeat us, it couldn't do it itself."

Lyra interjected with that last comment. After she spoke, everyone fell silent. A gloomy atmosphere surrounded us.

We all felt conflicting emotions. Centuries of pain and suffering all caused by one soul. Though this was all just a theory, we were certain that the soul in the sword was a major contributing factor.

I felt anger bubbling inside of me.

'WHY!'

I wanted to know. What was the purpose of the war? Why did it take control of the demons? Why declare war on humanity?

I wanted to ask the soul these questions, but after learning how powerful it was, I was hesitant to even touch it.

Thanks to his soul attribute, Mitchell could see all souls. He constantly reminded us that the soul inside the sword was extremely powerful.

We once thought we were at the peak of the world, yet we just discovered something so powerful, that we wouldn't be able to compare.

"Okay, let's kill the soul now. I've recovered enough mana. Let's go guys."

Mitchell suddenly stood up and started walking to the sword.

"Huh?"

We all stared at him.

"How are supposed to kill it? Didn't you just say it was extremely powerful?"

I questioned him.

"I said was. In its current state, it is much weaker. Even though the original being must have had god-like strength, it is now just a soul. Especially since it lost its current vessel, it is just ashes in the wind compared to before. I can kill it now with your help."

"Can I ask it some questions first?"

I wanted to ask all the burning questions I had on my mind.

"Unfortunately not. No matter how weak it is, it is still an ancient being. If it controls you, then humanity is screwed."

I had curbed my disappointment. I could always try to find out later.

"WAIT! Can't you use the mana you have to remove the poison on all of us? Then we'll all attack it later."

An idea suddenly popped into my head.

"No, it's not possible."

Mitchell responded despondently.

"Why not?"

"By the time we have recovered enough mana it would be too late. The soul is currently in a weakened state because it lost its vessel. However, it is recovering quickly."

"If we wait any longer, then we won't be able to kill it easily. If it recovers to its full power, then killing it is nigh-impossible. Even if all the current S ranks team up as it could control one of us while we are busy trying to kill it. I'm not taking that risk.

With that last statement, my comrades all stood up and stood around the sword.

***

(Mitchell Storm POV)

I gathered all the remaining mana I had and prepared to destroy the sword. Matthew, Lyra and Thomas did the same.

I linked their mana to mine and prepared to attack the sword. Soon our mana clashed with the swords. We all soon heard a voice in our heads.

"HOW DARE YOU TRY TO KILL ME! I AM THE GREAT AKH..."

"Shut up."

I didn't let him finish.

"You don't deserve a voice after what you've done."

"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I AM THE SON..."

"I don't care whose child you are. To us, you're just a monster who caused the destruction of our beautiful continent."

I could feel what little mana I had left leaving my body. Even if I ran out of mana, I still wouldn't stop. He fought back desperately, hoping to survive.

I stopped his soul from recovering while my friends desperately tried to kill what was left. He needed to die now.

"NO No no..."

After what felt like an eternity, his voice started to weaken. He was fighting back even harder, but his soul was already in bad shape. His capability to fight back was decreasing.

Proportionally our ability to fight was decreasing, but we had the advantage currently. I could see his soul slowly cracking. The end was near.

*BOOM!*

A shockwave of mana was released from the sword, spreading for miles. The soul finally shattered. It's over now.

But we weren't going to survive. Even though the poison had weakened drastically with the death of its caster, the lingering mana was still enough to kill me.

My soul was in terrible shape after extracting more mana than I had.

I could only feel the faintest amount of mana in my body, desperately trying to fight a losing battle while trying to keep my body functioning.

I could feel my body slowly weakening as I blinked in and out of consciousness.

I turned around to see Rebecca in tears. I wanted to see my beautiful wife's face one more time before I died.

I staggered over to her. I wanted to hold her once more. Though, I never made it to her before my body gave out on me.

As my face lay flat on the ground, I tried to look up one more time, but my body was listening to my commands. I couldn't stop my eyelids from shutting.

I was glad to sacrifice my life to kill the evil that plagued our continent for centuries. If I had 100 more lives, I still make the same choice.

I guess my only regret was not being strong enough to get over to Rebecca and hold her one more time.