Dangerous. Run away.

My instincts screamed against me as I fought against the one who called himself “Malachi.” Every time I ran after him, trying to attack him with my sword, I found myself having to avoid his offensive spells. He held still, not even moving an inch from where he stood.

Not even deeming me worthy of fighting me with that ominous-looking sword… This asshole really is damned arrogant, but he is powerful beyond belief. Capable of chantless magic as well.

“What’s wrong, boy?! Where did all that confidence from before go?” The youth laughed at me as I moved to evade a barrage of fire lances. They exploded in contact with the ground, raising dust in the air.

“Keep on running, coward. That’s all you’re good for.” As the dust cleared, countless stone javelins dotted the sky above, all aimed at me.

Well, that’ll be harder to dodge.

The stone javelins started spinning, turning molten from the sheer momentum and energy they held, before firing off one by one at me. With wind magic, I redirected them to slightly miss me, while cutting down any projectile that made its way too close to me. But before the molten javelins had all fired off he had conjured waves of flames crawling across the ground, coming crashing toward me.

Damn. And every time he uses magic, more and more of that black fog surrounds him. He’s using demonic magic without any regard. Does he want to turn this place into a miasma-filled wasteland?!

I jumped over the wave of flames while weaving through the air to keep avoiding the javelins. My trajectory was right toward him.

There’s my chance.

The youth looked up, in surprise.

Heh. All this fancy magic is no good if you leave yourself wide open.

“Hah!”

I brought down the sword with an overhead slash. He managed to react in time, blocking my sword with his own sword, though the full impact from my attack had caused his knees to buckle and the ground beneath him to crack.

“You insolent brat!” His sword still clashing against mines, the youth pushed back, causing me to fly back meters away. I flipped over, landing safely on my feet and catching my breath.

“What’s wrong, Mr. Malachi? Did this boy hurt your fragile pride? Fight against me with your own hands, with that special sword of yours!”

“Watch your tongue, knave!” A line of fire lances formed in front of me, before firing off one by one towards me.

Hmph, first step done. Looks like he’s decided on fighting me like this. Think I’ve gotten the idea of the repertoire of spells he’ll be using.

[Fire Lance]. A spell that I knew very well. The process of manipulating one’s mana to form those projectiles of flames and launching them was deeply engraved in my mind after years of training. I knew every step of this spell inside and out, forwards and backwards.

I never managed to find the [Cancel] spell within the spell tomes at home. But in theory, I should be able to do it. If I just actuate my mana to reverse the process of [Fire Lance]…

I raised my left hand while standing my ground, staring down the lances of flame directed right at me.

“Fool! Have you finally accepted your death?”

…then, even if this spell was cast by someone else, I could disperse and cancel it out, turning it back into pure mana and disarming the spell.

“[Cancel] -> [Fire Lance]”

Mana surged out from my left hand, swirling and wrapping around the fire lances. The flames that were threatening to incinerate me dissipated, leaving me unharmed.

Phew. That took a lot of mana… twice as much as it would take to form all those fire lances, but it worked nonetheless. Thank the gods!

“What?!” The youth’s mouth was wide open.

“What’s wrong? What happened with your magic? Maybe you didn’t put enough mana into your spell?” I taunted.

“Shut your mouth, fool!”

A whirlwind wrapped around me, threatening to rip me apart.

Tch, Lucia could do this much better.

“[Cancel] -> [Whirlwind]”

Mana surged out from me once more, and the whirlwind calmed into stillness before it could do anything.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be killing me? What’s wrong? Is it the nerves?”

I took one step forward.

I’m gonna enjoy beating the shit out of this guy.

“Gaaaaah! What the hell is happening?!”

“[Cancel] -> [Fireball]”

Fireballs that would burn my head off turned to nothingness.

“[Cancel] -> [Water Jet]”

High-speed jets of water that would slice me lost their momentum.

“[Cancel] -> [Earth Spike]”

Earth spikes formed from the ground that would impale me crumbled to dust.

“[Cancel] -> [Wind Arc]”

Arcs of wind that would cut me in half dispersed.

“Oh, Mr. Malachi, I can show you how to properly cast magic if you need it,” I said, as sarcastically as possible. “I have the experience of teaching a newbie, so I know a few tricks. Or better yet, why won’t you use that black flame you used a bit ago? You seemed pretty good with it.”

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The youth’s teeth ground, angered beyond belief. He was being made a fool of by someone half his age.

I was now only a few steps away from him. I’ve drained half of my mana, but I should still have more than enough.

“Hmph! Be careful what you wish for, mongrel!”

Those black flames again. Good, second step done. Maybe I could learn by examp—

What? The black flames aren't for me? No. They’re… directed at Tavarius and Lucia.

***

The youth watched smugly as the boy’s mocking smirk turned to despair. Two young demons, one an adolescent boy and the other a little girl, were fighting against the youth’s militia, working together to disarm and subdue them. The former moved quickly through the battlefield, splitting the spears and shattering the blades of the tailed demons. The girl called upon the winds to rout the invaders, unable to get closer to her.

They were pests. And they seemed to be friends with this boy. The perfect target.

An ominous black flame crawled like a serpent from the youth and slithered towards the two, moving in to consume them. The adolescent moved urgently in front of the girl. The black flame jumped and converged on them into a fiery explosion.

Once the black flame exploded, the two were on the ground, with the adolescent swordsman far more injured than his cousin, but both were somehow still alive.

“Hmph, resilient pests. Troops! Kill those two!” The armed subordinates hesitantly moved to surround the two on the ground. They looked at each other with heavy expressions, upset at what they were being forced to do, before deciding to follow the order of their leader.

“Hahahahah! What’s wrong, boy? Were those two your friends?” Nothing made the youth happier than to see that boy’s confidence give way to hopelessness.

“[Freeze]”

But before the supposed Demon King’s troops could end the lives of Tavarius and Lucia, ice formed from the ground, entrapping their lower body and holding them fixed.

“What?!” The youth watched with shock. Suddenly, the boy was right in front of him, fists quaking in anger. Before the youth could do anything, he found himself on the ground, facing the sky. A punch from the boy had knocked him down, his teeth caved in from the blow’s impact.

He found his arms pinned under the boy’s legs. The boy’s pale blue eyes locked onto the youth’s eyes with a stormy rage.

“Wai—” Another punch interrupted the youth’s pleas.

“Stop! Stop! St—” And yet another punch.

His attempts to throw off the boy were made in vain as arrows of stone impaled his body, holding him to the ground. One in each hand. One in each foot. Five on each leg. Two on each arm.

Leaving him helpless against the furious boy who continued to beat him down.

***

A memory from a past life quickly replayed itself in my head. A white-haired woman was sprawled on the ground, her limbs bent out of shape, her body like a broken toy. She was only one corpse among many on this battlefield. I walked through it alone, heartbroken. I knelt down beside her and stroke my fingers across her cheeks. The sight of her lifeless corpse filled me with sorrow and rage all at once.

When I came to, I found myself beating the shit out of this “Malachi.” I don’t know when I stopped. I don’t know when I started. But it was as if my body moved on its own, animated strictly by the anger that took hold of me.

I punched. And punched. And punched. Left fist alternated with right fist alternated with left fist. I wouldn’t give him a chance to speak, to beg for help, to offer empty apologies — no second chances for my enemy.

Blood caked the face of this once-arrogant youth. His limbs were shredded to bloody pieces. My knuckles screamed and ached with pain, but I ignored the sensation, putting more and more mana into fists to continue my punishment. Yes. This was the fate of my enemies. The ones who would dare to take away the ones I love. To threaten my way of life. This was inevitable if they crossed me. It was gonna be me, or him. And I would rather it be him who would suffer, who would be in pain, who would howl in anguish.

By the time I came to my senses, the whimpers from “Malachi” had stopped, any resistance in him utterly swept away. His face had become unrecognizable. But he wasn’t dead yet. That needed to change.

I laid my palm against his face.

“[Freeze]”

Ice formed around “Malachi”, starting from his head and crawling down to the rest of his body. He was entrapped in a coffin of ice along with his black sword.

“[Firestorm]”

A pillar of spiraling white-hot flame vaporized the coffin of ice with intense heat. When the flames had stopped, there was no trace of “Malachi” nor his sword left.

Hmph, so that sword was a fake after all. Of course, my Shamshir couldn't be that ugly sword he was using.

I turned to face the subordinates of this so-called Demon King, still standing over my unconscious friends. The fear on their faces, I would wipe it away along with the rest of their petty existence.

“[Black Flame: Fire Lance]”

I had just remembered. How could I forget how to conjure these signature flames of mine? Lances of these ice-cold black flames formed in front of me like a line of cavalry ready to run down their enemies. A numbing black fog surrounded me, just like the man I killed. I smiled wickedly. Unlike his sloppy imitation, this black flame was the real deal. It would annihilate them into nothingness.

This is what you get for dari—

“Stop!”

A desperate shout from someone. A brown-haired woman came running towards me, worry plastered on her face, tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

What the hell does she want? What could be so impor—

“Mother?”

The word escaped my lips out of instinct.

Why did she stop me? Did she know what these people tried to do? Don’t stop me, you human bitc—

A slap from her interrupted my thoughts. The stinging of the pain brought me out of the trance I’d been under. The black flames disappeared.

What… was I doing? What had I done?

“Don’t do it… don’t kill them…” My mother went in to hug me tightly. She was so warm. My ice-cold hands wrapped around her.

“The villagers told me what happened. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to protect you. I understand killing that man. But don’t hurt the others…”

Why? They’re my enemies.

“They’re just villagers forced to fight by the cruel man. You don’t have to kill them. Let them go. No one else was killed in the fighting. And injuries can be healed. You don’t have to fight anymore.”

They’re my enemies.

“Don’t be the type of person who treats life carelessly, Luqa,” she sobbed. Tears continued running down her eyes. “Don’t resort to killing as the only way to solve your problems, as the first solution. I don’t want you to end up like that… like someone who would cause endless tragedy.”

They’re…

“Luqa, you fought well. But you don’t have to fight anymore, now. Let’s end the violence right now, okay? Be a good boy, like you always are.”

They…

For the first time since I was born, I truly cried. I cried in my mother’s arms.

I’m so relieved. I almost made a grave mistake. I’m so glad… my mother stopped me.

“It’s okay to cry, Luqa… You were very brave today. I am so proud of you.”

I wanted to stay in the comfort and warmth of her embrace for a long time.

***

Clara carried her unconscious son in her arms. Beside her stood an injured Ersham, recovered to consciousness by her healing magic. He carried his sword in his right hand as he spoke with the invaders from the other village.

“Return to your homes, everyone. We won’t seek to punish or hurt you,” the swordsman spoke.

“A-are you sure?” The tailed demons were surprised at their treatment. They had truly intended to harm the villagers of Wehrau, though the efforts of Tavarius and Lucia had prevented them from truly doing harm.

“Yes. I understand that the man who called himself the Demon King forced you to do this. I’ve spoken with the elder of the village, and he has agreed to let you go.”

“Thank you very much! W—We don’t deserve such generosity!”

Clara joined the conversation as well.

“Your village is a few days’ journey away, right? We can have you stay here overnight if you so desire. All of you must be tired.”

“Clara… are you serious?” Ersham asked.

“Yes. These poor people have suffered,” she replied. “Show them some kindness. The world we live in could certainly use more of it.”

“I’ll speak to the elder about it, then…” Ersham said.

“Good. I’ll go leave Luqa back home and then return to heal everyone, okay?”

“Yes. We have a lot to take care of today, Clara!” Ersham chuckled.

The mother walked away, journeying up the hill to her home. In her arms, her young son muttered in his sleep, as if in a bout of vivid dreams.

“I’m… Malachi,” her son whispered waveringly in his sleep.