Talzer was going around, tensed and utterly disoriented. He was without direction, just a demon out of his mind. He kept hearing the horrible explosions in his imagination.

Kael, on the other hand, was confused as to what the demon was doing. The demon, at times, return to the same path it took, circling back to the same area where it already went through. He wondered if Talzer wanted to get away from him, but that’s assuming that the demon was aware of his presence. It was evident that the demon was unaware of him, so he waited and continued on, tailing the erratic demon.

Eventually, Talzer arrived in the nearby town. He rushed to enter the town, but was blocked, as the guards saw his demon form. He was panicking and became enraged. He almost attacked the guards, but someone stopped him.

“Let me handle this one”

Kael was far from the said town, monitoring the demon’s actions. He was about to intervene, when he realized that Talzer will attack the innocent guards, but the figure that interrupted the demon made him stop, deciding that he should continue observing from afar. And so, he kept on monitoring the demon, but he was getting nearer, in case the figure couldn’t handle Talzer.

All of a sudden, the figure moved, quickly reaching Talzer. Kael was astonished. The figure threw himself against the demon, hurling it away from the town. But even if that would be enough, the figure seemed to be unsatisfied. He rushed towards the demon. He seemed motivated to put an end to the demon.

But then, away from the sight of the guards, the figure suddenly changed his attitude towards the demon. What’s more surprising is Talzer’s behavior in front of him. The demon kneeled, and greeted him with great respect.

“Great Lord”

Kael could see the interactions between the two, and he can hear their conversation. But he couldn’t see what the figure looks like in great detail, as his magic steadily weaken without his notice. But, Kael should have seen the figure, as he heard the words that he wasn’t ready for.

“You were followed”

The words of the mysterious person shocked Kael. He knew that his magic should almost be undetectable. The only being he knew that could see through his magic was the demon king. And so, a horrible thought got on his head.

“Hmm.. I don’t think I can beat this one”, the figure said. He looked at Talzer and suddenly, he lunged at the demon, piercing the demon’s chest with his arm. “This is faster”

Talzer’s demon heart was plucked out of him. His body dissolved to dust. The figure stared in the direction where Kael was.

“I knew you can hear me. How are you that powerful human?”, the figure said. He paused like he was waiting for an answer, then he continued. “Well, I hope I could never see you again”

The figure quickly ran away. He was so fast that he created a sonic boom.

Kael was unprepared, but he tried to go after him. But it was too late. The figure managed to escape from the vast area that he can detect. He quickly expand his spatial sense, but, he stopped abruptly. He felt a strong, excruciating pain coming from his heart. It was tingling, like sharp spikes were growing, piercing his body from the inside.

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‘What’s happening?’

Kael fall to his knees. He couldn’t maintain his spatial sense. He grasped his chest, but he accidentally wounded his chest. The stain of blood made him look at what caused it. It was his fingers, almost entirely consumed by mana crystals.

The pain vanished after he stopped using mana. But the mana crystals remained, and even if he couldn’t see it, he knew that the crystals were growing. He knew that he needed to close the pathways he created through “Late Cost” to prevent further damage to his body.

Despite the predicament that he found himself, the thing that he was more worried about was letting Talzer escape. He was defeated. There’s a demon that was able to escape from him. What’s worse is the possibility, that there could be one more that was clearly stronger than Talzer.

He gave up the chase, and went back to Cleron. He returned with a burdened heart.

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Disbelief.

Earl Gideon couldn’t believe what he saw. When Elalios pointed at the fight between Kael and Talzer, he witnessed a battle even he couldn’t pull off. Kael was dominating Talzer, the same demon that he was having trouble against.

He saw a child fighting against the demon. An absurd sight and yet, Earl Gideon was relieved. He didn’t know why, but he felt that all became well now that he saw Kael, able to stand for himself. Impossibility is not a problem. The important thing was that Kael was unharmed.

When Elalios was struck by a dark orb, he witnessed the worry on the child’s face. He witnessed the miracles that Kael did, healing Elalios, like his servant wasn’t at the brink of death just a second ago.

He was also healed. In just a few seconds, his body returned to its pristine condition, a feat that even the greatest healers of the kingdom could never do. He knew by then that Kael didn’t need his help in fighting Talzer. So he did what he thought was good. He let Kael chase after the demon attempting to escape.

After Kael left, the town was in silence. Earl Gideon waited for Elalios to wake up, and when Elalios did, he assisted the man without saying a single word.

Two days passed, Cadell and Seqina arrived in the town. They were shocked to see that the castle was destroyed. Elalios filled in all the details of what happened. They apologized to their master, but the Earl prevented them from doing so. Instead, the Earl commanded the two servants to help mitigate the chaos that the battle caused.

Earl Gideon was alone with Elalios. Over the past days, he didn’t ask Elalios about Kael. But he wanted to, and Elalios knew that about the Earl.

“I apologize for hiding things to you, my lord”, Elalios kneeled.

“You’re protecting him”, the Earl said.

Elalios lowered his head.

The Earl sighed, then he let Elalios speak. The things that Elalios told him revealed what truly happened when he was away. Kael became a different person in his mind.

Another day passed. The Earl was patiently waiting for Kael. There’s no guarantee that the child will ever return, but still, he waited. Cadell was with him, as the old man voluntarily offer his house to the Earl.

Earl Gideon looked at the door every time it opened. He was hoping to see Kael. But many times did the door opened, and all that he saw were his servants. Evening arrived that Kael was nowhere to be seen.

“My lord, I think we will never see him again”, Cadell said, pitying his master.

The Earl was silent as he was looking at the door. He had the same thinking, but another side of him denied it.

Cadell wanted to do something to comfort the Earl, but then, Elalios suddenly opened the door.

“My lord!”, Elalios shouted.

The Earl didn’t need to be informed further. He saw what Elalios was holding on his arms. It was Kael. The child’s body was in a sorry state. Kael was being consumed, his body was being crystallized.