“What?” Lakshman asked while looking surprised. “You have business with the Demon Slayer?”

“That’s correct,” the Fire Dragon King, Fizard, said with a single nod.

“Yeah,” the Earth Dragon King, Gurret, said shortly.

The Demon Slayer, not knowing who they are or what business they have with herm simply said, “I… I don’t know who they are. Honest!”

“Wait! Why do you sound like we’re suspecting you of anything?” Spectra asked incredulously. “Are you forgetting? I was your only master a hundred years ago and you’ve been underground this whole time.”

“Y-Yeah…” the Demon Slayer said nervously and she watched the two men.

Lakshman narrowed his eyes slightly and said, “Explain.”

Hearing that single one, Fizard took that to mean Lakshman wanted an explanation of why they had business with the Demon Slayer. While looking at the group, they caught her eye and she edged back to be with Spectra while looking at them fearfully.

“Very well. I understand,” he said and nodded at them again. “Since the time of the ancients, the Demon Slayer has been used to do evil things that would’ve proven to be fatal to both people and the world. You must understand, Phoenix Titan that you are dealing with a highly dangerous weapon of mass destruction.”

Spectra got angry by their words and said, “Who’re you calling a weapon?! Zemitra is not like the weapons that you’re carrying! She’s a Sacred Spirit with feelings and emotions like the rest of us!”

“Yes, I am well aware of that fact, but you are speaking like that because you do not know the horrors this Demon Slayer conducted in the past times!” Fizard said in a serious voice.

“Hmph! If you believe the Demon Slayer was indeed such a weapon, then why didn’t you come when I first discovered her a hundred years back? What about the time that she remained underground and in seclusion in these hundred years after my death? Why didn’t you try and take her then?” Spectra asked scornfully.

Fizard sighed and said, “We believed the Demon Slayer to be no harm so as long as she remained there, but the situation changed when the Demon Dragon King, Razzel arrived to claim what was not meant for him. It’s because of him, we feared the Demon Slayer will be used for destruction once more!”

“Yeah,” Gurret said shortly.

“I see. That’s why, the two of the five Dragon Kings were sent here to pick her up,” Lakshman said slowly as he quickly understood. Then he looked at them curiously and asked, “So then, what’s your plan for her once you return to your clan’s home location?”

“We want to seal her away for good.”

“Yeah.”

At those words, the Demon Slayer’s eyes widened in shock. This meant that she would spend an eternity in loneliness and despair with the desire to die, but being unable to do anything instead. In the end, she was allowed to live only in with a sealed containment for eternity.

Thinking of this, the Demon Slayer suddenly had a memory flash of certain events in the past. There was destruction and chaos throughout the landscape while the disembodied bodies of people lay everywhere.

“No! I don’t want to be sealed! I don’t want to go there!” she shouted desperately and clung to Spectra for dear life.

“It is okay, Spectra! We won’t let that happen,” Spectra told her reassuringly while holding her firmly. Then she turned to Lakshman and asked, “Right, Lakshman?”

Lakshman, however, did not respond and simple stared at the two men with his hands tucked inside his pockets. At that moment, he was contemplating about what the Fire Dragon King had said.

“Thinking logically, that is the right decision to make considering her destructive nature. On the other hand, she just wanted to end her life due to her guilty consciousness of letting Spectra die without supporting her. That, in itself, does not mean she is evil or anything; it proves that she really does feel for her mistakes, but ends up creating a mess in the process of self-destructing. Mmm… This is most likely caused by events of her past, which I still know nothing about.”

Lakshman looked at Fizard and asked, “Would you mind telling me a bit about her past since you seem to know her so much?”

Fizard shook his head and said, “I can’t believe you’re asking me that silly question. Phoenix Titan, why are you pretending you don’t know anything about her? After all, along with the Phoenix Blade, the Demon Slayer was also the Contracted Spirit of the first Phoenix Titan!”

“What?!”

“Huh?!”

“No way!”

Lakshman and the rest of the girls exclaimed their disbelief in their own way. None of them could believe the world the Fire Dragon King had just told them. Even the Demon Slayer was looking really shocked by this unbelievable revelation.

“I… was a contracted spirit of the first Phoenix Titan?” she asked slowly.

Fizard raised an eyebrow and said, “That’s right. You were his Contracted Spirit, along with the Phoenix Blade before his death. Then you ended up going into wrong hands and the history is marked with the destruction you left behind!”

The Demon Slayer widened her eyes in shock and slowly said, “No… I don’t… remember any of this. I don’t remember… I… Uh…!”

She suddenly clutched her head and swayed a little, but was caught quickly by Spectra. Feeling a little dizzy, she leaned on Spectra for support while digesting everything she just heard. As far as she could remember,

“Don’t tell me you have amnesia?” Fizard asked in a disbelieving voice. Then he looked at the Earth Dragon King and said, “Can you believe this, bro? She has amnesia! Unbelievable!”

“Yeah,” the Earth Dragon King said with a single nod of the head.

Lakshman, thinking of distracting them, asked, “By the way, why is the Earth Dragon King only saying one word ‘yeah’, ‘yeah’ and ‘yeah’ as if that’s the only word he knows to say?”

“Yeah,” Gurret replied and he nodded his head at him, causing Lakshman to widen his eyes.

Fizard breathed a sigh and said, “You see, Gurret was born with a defect that doesn’t enable him to speak properly. All he could manage was that one word, but he can speak telepathically.”

“Hmm… I don’t hear his voice inside my head,” Lakshman said slowly as he tried to hear his voice.

“He doesn’t telepathically speak to other people! Just me and a few others that he wants to talk to,” Fizard said and he chuckled a little.

“Uh… It would be so much nicer to hear what he has to say.”

“Yes, but that’s his choice.”

“Mmm!”

Gurret made a sound of annoyance from his mouth and pointed at Fizard before pointing towards the Demon Slayer.

“Oh, right! Sorry! I got side tracked because the topic was about you and your speechlessness,” Fizard said brightly.

Gurrent slapped his hand on his face and shook his head in exasperation. Fizard, hearing what he had to say telepathically, laughed heartily and gave him a thumps-up gesture. Then, the two of them turned to face Lakshman and the girls once more.

“Anyway, please hand over the Demon Slayer so that we may return and seal her for good. I’m sure you understand, Phoenix Titan. We, the Dragon Clan, also want peace in the world and that peace will just not remain with her presence.”

Lakshman finally pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed them on his chest before closing his head to contemplate about everything.

“They do have a good point in wanting to seal her away. The Demon Dragon King, Razzel, created a lot of mess in his quest to obtain the strongest weapon, but that’s a different issue completely. On the other hand, if what they said is to be trusted, the Demon Slayer was also a Contracted Spirit of the first Phoenix Titan. That means, she once belonged to the past me or the old me or whatever that identical person was from my memory. Wait! Does Tetra remember this?”

Feeling a little agitated, he telepathically began communicating with Tetra due to the connection of their contract.

“Tetra, do you remember the Demon Slayer as being another Contracted Spirit of the first Phoenix Titan?”

“Um… Actually, I don’t remember a lot of the past, master.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry, but I seem to be missing a lot of my past memories. It seems the unknown events of 8000 years ago have caused this issue. Unfortunately, I do not know if what Fizard is true or not, but I do believe a sensation of closeness whenever I am near her. Normally, I dislike darkness, but for some reason, I like to be with her. It’s a, how do I put it? Hmm… Ah! A Comforting feeling to be with her.”

He did not know what to think of all this and it was creating a great confusion for him. While feeling really annoyed with all the confusing mess, he heard Tetra speak to him in his mind.

“However, I believe you should choose to do what is right according to how you think and feel. Those people have already made their decision to seal her, but you said you want to obtain her for the future. So, in my opinion, you should follow with your beliefs rather than allow the thoughts of somebody else to redirect you. Remember, you’re the Phoenix Titan.”

Lakshman was surprised to hear her speak to him in such a manner. It had been a long time since she spoke to him with such words of wisdom. At the same time, he also realised she spoke like this because she realised the confusion his mind was going through and wanted to ease him up. Other than that, she, like the rest, do not know his actual reason for wanting to obtain the Demon Slayer.

“Thanks for your wonderful words of wisdom, Tetra. I’m fine now and I know what to do. Besides, I fought really hard against the Demon Slayer to suddenly throw her away because of what they said. I made my decision to claim her and I don’t care what these idiots have to say about it!”

“Right, but what if they choose to fight you for it?"

“Screw them to hell! I’ll just beat them up!”

Tetra chuckled and said, “Really, master. You’re sounding so much like the first Phoenix Titan.”

He quietly smiled and corrected her by saying, “Whether it is the past, present or the future; I am the Phoenix Titan of all time. So, stop comparing me to the past me because it’s starting to bore me.”

“Sure.”

With his resolve made, he opened his eyes and looked towards the two Dragon Kings. He smiled at them before he said, “I’m sorry, boys, but you’ll have to go home empty handed.”

The Fire Dragon King, Fizard, looked surprised and said, “Huh?”

“You see, I fought desperately to keep the Demon Slayer alive while you two were skulking around while waiting for the right opportunity. I risked my neck several times, even to the point of fully draining myself, to bring her to this point and I’m not going to just hand her over. Besides, you may not realise, but she hates me because of my continuous attempts at saying her life when she is so desperate to die. Even so, I’ll do what I have to do because that’s what makes me who I am!”

The smile on Fizard’s face slowly vanished and was replaced by a serious expression. Even Gurrent’s face became grim with seriousness.

Fizard sighed and muttered, “No wonder the Demon Emperor decided to send us instead of the usual lot.” Then, aloud, he said, “Phoenix Titan! Hand over the Demon Slayer because we don’t want to fight you.”

Lakshman grinned and said, “Oh, really? Does that mean you’ll fight me if I don’t hand her over? Is that what you’re implying?”

Fizard saw Lakshman grinning, but he noticed the glare in his eyes. In that instant, he knew Lakshman would never hand her over without a fight.

He sighed once more and thought, “How foolish of him? I wanted to end this peacefully, but he turned this into a fight.”

At that moment, he heard the voice of Gurrent, the Earth Dragon King, speak to him in his mind.

“The Demon Emperor was right; the Phoenix Titan is a stubborn headed warrior.”

Both Dragon Kings activated their energies and began to surge with power. Both of them radiated in pure red aura that surrounded them like radiating energy as they stared at the group. The girls backed away and stepped behind Lakshman while he remained standing with the same grin on his face.

“Let’s go!” Fizard said and he leapt forward with great force.

“Yeah!” Gurrent said as he also did the same.

The two Dragon Kings rocketed forward and suddenly slapped, head first, into an invisible barrier. As the two warriors stepped away, disoriented from the sudden impact, a physical materialised that was sending lightning bolts through the edges of the barrier.

“No way… This is... Power Barrier!” Fizard said in a surprised voice.

“Yeah,” Gurret said in agreement.

They heard Lakshman laugh and say, “You’re right! It’s the Power Barrier! It’s the next level from the normal Energy Barrier, something I just recently learnt and I used you as my testing pawns to test its might. How does your heads feel after slamming, head first, into it?”

Lakshman then grinned and said, “On second thought, don’t answer that question because your very presence is starting to annoy me! Get lost!”

With a surge of his power, Lakshman caused the Power Barrier to expand quickly and hit the two warriors with shocking force. Unable to fight back, the two Dragon Kings were hurled into the darkness, where they disappeared and their presence immediately disappeared.

“Are they… gone?” Emilia asked in a worried voice.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“For now, but not for long. Those guys are almost as strong as me and will certainly come back. That’s why, I have to get this over with before that happens!” Lakshman said and he turned around and knelt before the Demon Slayer, much to her and everyone’s surprise.

“W-What?” she asked nervously.

“I’m sure you heard from the girls about me being stupid, an idiot and an oblivious person with a lot of heart, but only meat for a head.”

The girls made surprised expressions as they realised he must have heard their conversation with her earlier when they talked to her. This made them feel embarrassed and they covertly looked at each other and made wild gestures at each other that made no sense.

Lakshman ignored this and continued speaking to the Demon Slayer.

“I am sorry for slapping you earlier, but I was feeling very irritated with your behaviour. I don’t blame you for trying to die because of being lonely and everything, but your attempt to die and take others with you is wrong! That’s just the kind of behaviour that causes people like the Dragon Clan to want to seal you away permanently! That is the worst thing that can happen to you and you will not want it; unable to do anything, but watch the world go by while knowing you are stuck there forever. It will be an eternal sleep with nightmarish dreams haunting you!”

The Demon Slayer nodded in understanding to his words. She knew the kind of dreadful experience she will experience while being sealed away and she completely does not want to go there. Any many with brains would immediately cart her away due to everything she did, even stuff she does not remember about. However, she was intrigued by how determined Lakshman was when he did not want to hand her over.

“I’m saying this clearly; I want you. Both as a tool and a companion for the future. I do not want to say anything here because there are eyes and ears of beings that may interfere with the goings. However, I will not treat you like a salve or the otherwise you might expect from people with low morals. I’m a Phoenix Titan and like the title states, I am a man with great honour and respect. I will treat you like I have always treated these girls, whom I love very much!”

“Yes, but he’s never said when he’ll marry us,” Venezuela muttered in annoyance.

Lakshman turned to her and seriously said, “When we go home, we will decide on it.”

“Eh?!”

The girls were startled by his words. This meant that he was indeed prepared to marry them all. This came as a surprise to them because he had constantly avoided the topic due to him being just sixteen years of age, even though he was already considered a young adult within society at that age.

Lakshman turned back to the Demon Slayer and said, “These girls came loving me and I am attracted to them, but I am also attracted to you. Do not believe I am lying to you because I don’t gain anything by lying. I believe a straightforward honesty to do the job better than beating around the bush. That would often make people think I’m an idiot, but I don’t give a damn about what they think about me.”

The Demon Slayer could not believe his words and blushed in embarrassment. Spectra also blushed slightly, but smiled happily for her. In her life, she had always dreamt about what it felt like to be loved and such, but she unfortunately died before she could taste any of that. Now, watching the scene of romance unfold in front of her suddenly made her feel regret dying.

Lakshman held his hand out and said, “I’m sorry for causing you distress and hurting you, but I meant no harm. All I was trying to do was to get you to forget about dying and to live. So… Will you be my companion… team member… support...a Contracted Spirit?”

The Demon Slayer hesitated as she stared at his outstretched left hand. She was taken aback when he told her how he felt about her and she saw the honest in his eyes. With just one look, she knew those eyes never knew deceit and could only tell the truth. She suddenly remembered the numerous times she caused him pain and suffering in her desperation to commit suicide by destruction.

“I… I hurt you badly, I hurt you severely and I caused you so much pain. Yet, you keep on trying your best to get through to me and make me understand. I ignored everything you tried to do for me and only did my best to kill you with all of my effort. So… I don’t think I am worthy of–!”

Spectra suddenly got annoyed and said, “Seriously? Zemitra, are you forgetting you did the same thing to me in our first encounter? You went wild and nearly caused the entire ruin to collapse. Luckily, I knocked you out with brute force and saved myself the trouble of killing you. I saw that you were in pain and I decided then to help you out. Didn’t we become best friends after that?”

“B-But, Spectra… I did more than just hurt him… I… I tried to…”

The Demon Slayer was losing her words due to feeling overwhelming emotions, but everyone understood. She was a lonely Sacred Spirit with no memory of her origins and only wanted to live without hurting others. The shock of losing Spectra caused her to deny the reasons of everything and secluded herself to eventually die out from not receiving energy from a master.

Lakshman sighed and said, “The past is the past. Nobody can change the past, unless you go through time travel,” and he curiously looked at Erza, who smiled without saying anything. Then he said, “Anyway, I hurt you and you hurt me. We’ve evened out each other so there really isn’t anything that puts us against one another anymore.”

“B-But—!”

“No, buts! I’m certain, in the future, those kinds of people will appear and I promise I will protect you while you also protect me. We need to support each other because we are more than just master and spirit; our bond as lovers is stronger than that of master and servant!”

“Eh?! L-L-Lover?!” the Demon Slayer exclaimed in a shocked voice.

Lakshman turned to his lovers and asked, “I take it you don’t have a problem with this arrangement?”

“If we did, we would’ve told you,” Tetra said with a smile.

“Yes, by slapping you!” Venezuela said.

“By blasting you!” Ondine said.

“By h-hurting you!” Emilia said, a little hesitantly.

“By torturing you-nyaa!” Cantia said brightly as she transformed into her humanoid form with cat ears and tail.

“By killing you,” Erza said quietly.

Everyone looked at Erza in alarm and she quickly said, “Just joking… But seriously, by killing you.”

Lakshman shook his head and thought, “My responsibility is a bit unfair, but whatever. I’m going to have to bear with this for the rest of my life”

Coming out of his thoughts, he looked at the Demon Slayer and asked, “What will it be, Demon Slayer?”

The Demon Slayer hesitated for a moment when Spectra seriously said, “Zemitra, you’re an idiot if you let this opportunity slip by! You’re going to be together with the Phoenix Titan and that’s something super great! I missed out on my chance to fall in love with someone, but you don’t make the same mistake as me by stupidly wanting to die!”

Finally, convinced by their words, the Demon Slayer nodded in understanding. She breathed out a sigh of relief and so did the rest of the girls. They did not realise how much tension they built up over the course of this conversation because they knew they did not have the luxury of time. The worry of wondering when the Dragon Kings would return kept them on edge.

“Alright. I understand my mistakes and while I know I cannot fix any of them, I believe it is right to turn over a new leaf and start again,” the Demon Slayer finally said and she smiled at them.

“Good words!” Lakshman said and he also smiled.

Together, they raised their left arms and placed them against one another. All the girls stepped away to not get in their way. Lakshman smiled at the Demon Slayer and activated his energy, which created a magic circle to appear at their feat. The process to making the Astral Contract has begun.

Holding firmly in his position, Lakshman said, “Astral Contract!”

The Demon Slayer felt a twinge of pain and closed her eyes momentarily. A moment later, she reopened them and said, “I accept.”

As the two smiled at one another, there was an instantaneous flash of light that blinded everyone. The next moment, the light vanished and the two of them came into view. To their surprise, the Demon Slayer appeared to have grown a few centimetres in height and her facial features have changed slightly. This made them question whether it was the same Demon Slayer or not.

“Um… You changed,” Emilia said as she pointed it out.

The Demon Slayer nodded and, in a slightly balanced voice, said, “That’s right. My master is sixteen years of age and as such, I decided to make my appearance match his age.”

“Wow… I wish I could do that-nyaa,” Cantia said unhappy because she was nineteen years of age, slightly older than Lakshman.

He smiled at her and said, “It’s alright, Cantia. Age doesn’t matter and we will live longer, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Really? I’m so happy-nyaa!” Cantia said and she flung herself at Lakshman, causing the girls to stare at them with unhappiness on their faces.

The Demon Slayer chuckled happily and looked at Spectra, only to widen her eyes to see that she was turning into particles of light. As she watched, Spectra slowly became transparent and began to disappear.

“Spectra! You’re disappearing!” the Demon Slayer exclaimed in a shocked voice.

Spectra looked at her hands in surprise and sighed before saying, “Looks like it’s time for me to go. I’ve been holding this off for a hundred years after all.”

“Wait…! You don’t mean…?”

Spectra nodded at her and said, “That’s right. When I died and went to the Boarder Plane, I didn’t want to leave just yet because I still had one more task I had to complete; finding you a new master. Due to my death, you holed yourself underground and refused to listen to me at all. Now, with a new master found, it’s time I leave.”

“B-But… Spectra!” the Demon Slayer said as she began crying.

“Hey, now! You’re not a little kid anymore to cry like that!” Spectra said sternly with an incredulous expression on her face. Then she turned to Lakshman and said, “Now, you better be careful, Lakshman. If she ever cries because of you, I swear I’ll forcibly return and give you a beating like you’ve never experienced before!”

Lakshman smiled slightly and said, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Spectra nodded and said, “So then, what will you name her?”

“Name? You’re going to change my name?” the Demon Slayer asked in a puzzled voice as she slowly wiped the tears off her face.

“Of course! Otherwise, I won’t rest in peace because Lakshman constantly kept saying how evil your current name is,” Spectra said and she gave Lakshman a quizzical look. “Well? What’s it going to be?”

As everyone turned to look at him, he smiled and said, “I think the suitable name should be Silvera.”

“Silvera…” the Demon Slayer said slowly.

“Why, Silvera?” Spectra asked curiously.

Lakshman sighed and said, “Unlike Tetra’s ridiculously long name, I believe Silvera is nice for the Demon Slayer. For one thing, she has beautiful silver hair and attractive silver eyes that match with it.”

“Ah. Good choice then,” Spectra said and she gave him a wink.

By this time, her torso had vanished and her upper body was rapidly vanishing by the second. She looked at them once more and smiled happily, the happiest smile she ever had because she was happy. The contentment that came from knowing that her successes in completing the one task she was left with, finally relieved all the hundred years of stress that she accumulated.

With her whole body disappearing into particles of light, Spectra said, “Looks like my time’s up, but your time’s just getting started! Now, remember, make sure to have fun lives without wasting it on silly arguments and complaints. Try to adjust while accepting that a little bit of sacrifice is necessary for a living.”

“Thanks for your wisdom, Spectra. I will keep it in mind,” Lakshman said with a single nod of the head.

“Spectra…!” the Demon Slayer, now being called Silvera, said tearfully.

“Oh, silly. Crying again? Learn to be strong and brave like the girls you’ll soon be living together with. You’ve got yourself a wonderful companion and beautiful friends to be happy together with.” Then, with a cheeky smile, she said, “Besides, this isn’t the end of me. I’m sure you’ll see me soon… Sometime in the future, I guess.”

“R-Really?” Silvera asked curiously.

Spectra nodded and firmly said, “You can bet on it! Until then, be happy, everyone!”

With the last shout and a bright grin on her face, Spectra completely disappear into particles of light. They slowly rose high into the air and disappeared above. Lakshman looked up to where they disappeared to in the darkness and knew Spectra was headed for the Boarder Plane. He did not tell the others that Spectra will not return as a ghost because the Border Plane only gives a dead person only one chance to finish something they have yet to complete.

Still, he smiled and thought, “Thank you, Spectra. I hope you will rest in peace.”

He straightened up and turned to Silvera, who was silently crying while the other girls consoled her. He smiled, knowing that she will recover soon from this lose.

“Let’s go,” he said quietly.

She sniffed and cleared the tears off her face before she said, “Yes.”

“Ready?” he asked the others.

“Set!” Tetra said firmly.

“I’m ready,” Venezuela said with a smile.

“Yes!” Ondine said energetically.

“I am,” Emilia said quietly.

“Nyaa!” Cantia said with a wide grin on her face.

He grinned at them all and said, “Spirit Connected: Break!”

There was the sound of shattering noise before a flash light erupted, making everything go blind with a dazzling amount of white light.