It’s the logical call to abandon Farah. It doesn’t mean she’ll die.

I made eye contact with Farah, sitting on the ground with her knees to her chest. Fear, worry, and surprise mixed together on her face as she gawked at my black-feathered wings.

“Farah. I have a plan. Don’t worry about what happens, okay?” I made the statement as detachedly as I could, as the persona of Luqa, the helper of the tailed demons. But it sounded to me exactly what it was: hollow words.

I should let her be assured. She shouldn’t have to think I left her to die. If she dies, that’ll be unfortunate. If she survives, that’ll be a blessing. That’s all it is.

Through the chaos and turbulence of the arrows of light falling down all around us, Farah listened. She focused on each word that escaped my mouth.

“O-okay. I… I believe in you, Luqa. I trust you,” she said, her final statement ringing out pure and unwavering, its clarity in stark contrast to the muddiness tainting my lie to her.

“I trust you.”

Those last three words twisted into me like a poisoned dagger. This girl genuinely trusted me. Why? Because she thought I was someone who could stand up against anything? Because I was helping her village, when, really, it was all for self-satisfaction, to tell myself I was bettering myself?

Disgusting.

The moment I faced real struggle, I fell straight into habit. I was reverting back to the way of thinking that destroyed so many. And now I was lying to her out of my own repulsive selfishness.

“F-Farah… I…” The false resolve with which I put behind my plan — no, my cowardly escape — crumbled into dust. Meanwhile, another projectile struck us directly, obliterating our barrier with a deafening crash. My teeth shattered as mind-numbing shocks passed through my heart.

“Luqa!” She shrieked as my face twisted under the intense pain.

“Haaaaah!” With a battle cry, I raised my hands up into the air, drawing more and more magical energy to rebuild another barrier.

“I trust you.”

That loaded phrase never left my mind. It roused the memories of that woman again in my mind, playing itself like reflections of a pond.

***

“I trust you with what you’ve decided, Malachi dear.” The Vasalic princess, Shara, embraced me from behind with a tender, warm hug, snuggling her head on my right shoulder with a satisfied hum.

“You really think so, Shara? I don’t know. In hindsight, it’s pretty reckless,” I sighed heavily as I rested my arms on the wooden railing, losing myself in the view of the star-filled night sky meeting the dark murky ocean. The wooden ship rocked gently as it sailed across the waters, encouraging me to meditate and stew myself in the waters of my thoughts. But Shara's pleasant warmth nestled beside me was an anchor to reality. “We don’t really even know what awaits us at Nicaea’s lands,” I said as an afterthought.

“I really, really think so. I think you’re brave for doing what no one else could do. In fact, I think you’re just the bravest man I know!” She exclaimed bubbly. I couldn’t help but stupidly smile. And I didn’t need to look to see that she had that wide but cute grin of hers.

“Heh, I’m not even a man, you know. I’m still just a boy. A stupid, naive boy who doesn’t know what he’s doing, as many of them like to say,” I said, twirling the white, silky strands of Shara’s hair that flowed down next to me. “But, I’m glad you trust me,” I said quietly, almost in a whisper.

“Not just me, y’know!” she responded smugly. “You have lord Brother on your side, of all people. And Elder Hosang as well! And also—”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” I chuckled, nudging her head playfully with mine. “But I wonder… all these amazing people, just what is it that they see in me. I’m no true warrior like big brother. Nor am I a legendary mage like my father. I’m just… some upstart prince who saw the position fall to my lap due to circumstance. And a coward afraid of battle, as well.”

“No, Malachi, you don’t get it,” she cooed. “You’re clever. You can see what others don’t and do what others deem impossible. And you’ve saved all of us here too, with this plan of yours. Right now, you are the shield protecting all of demonkind. So stop sulking around!” She started tickling me at my sides. “I’ll make you laugh if I have too!”

“Ahh!” I shrieked with less dignity than I liked, squirming around. “You stop that!”

“Hehehe! Or else what?”

***

The memories faded back into the recesses of my mind. My wings folded back into me, dematerializing into nothingness.

I can’t lie to myself. While it might be logical to leave her to die…

My right fist clenched, nails digging into my palm until I drew blood. The pain cleared me of the blackened thoughts that took hold of me.

…I’ll lose my right to live on. I will no longer be Luqa, but Malachi, in the worst sense possible. One who throws away life as if it was worthless.

“Farah! Do you trust me?” I offered my bloody right hand to the girl, still crouching on the ground. Her innocent eyes regarded me with the same childish reverence she always showed me. But this time, I met her not with my accustomed guardedness and insincerity. I truly looked. This was someone who was willing to trust her life in me. And I needed to hold myself worthy of her.

“Y-yes!” She nodded honestly.

“I see,” I murmured. “Then, stay close and stick right behind me. But don’t make contact with me! The sparks might hurt you too.”

She grasped my hand firmly as I pulled her up to stand close beside me. Time seemed to slow as I examined the situation around us. The masked man’s arrows of light still filled the sky above me, descending like heavy rain. But they weren’t as numerous as before. An end to this assault would have to come soon.

I need to act fast then. He might shoot another one of those ominous lightning bolts and cause more arrows to rain down. But for some reason, he hasn’t done so.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

The masked, winged man hadn’t moved an inch in the air. In fact, his head seemed to be slightly slumping over in… boredom? Sleepiness?

I don’t have much time to act. But if I keep defending, I’ll run out of mana at this rate. I need to be clever… barrier… what the hell even is a barrier…

My thoughts desperately reached out for any insight, any information stored within that could aid me.

[Barrier] creates a static structure of mana. It’s akin to a physical thing that tends to break apart when even just part of the structure is destroyed. It’s like…

As I stared down at the light cascading down, heralding our doom, my mind couldn’t help but go to the old Shara’s consoling words, on that night three centuries ago.

“You are the shield…”

Shield… shield…

Yes! It’s like a structure of overlapping shields! If you knock one out, the others have less support and the whole thing collapses in a wave, starting from that one missing shield. But when one of those arrows hit the barrier, I don’t want the whole structure, I just want that one shield defending against the impact… No, better yet, if all the shields folded together inwards to support that one shield from behind, that would be even better…

Despite the sight of an arrow of light plummeting directly above our heads, excitement coursed through me.

That’s exactly it. A barrier is a structure built as such because it disperses energy, but, if my aim is to defend against one attack in one instant, one strong shield is better! The only defensive spell I know is [Barrier], but if, at the instant of impact, I transfer all the mana making up the barrier towards where I want to defend…

My right hand was held directly up, potent magical energy bursting from my fingertips. The semi-spherical magical barrier around us converged right in front of my hand, forming a concave magical shield to defend against the coming arrow of light. The crackling energy making up the arrow struggled to pierce through the shield, before diffusing away to nothingness.

…then that’s a hell of a lot more efficient than a simple [Barrier]! I see now.

The swirling magical energy in my hands expanded out, forming the barrier surrounding us once again, without having to draw more mana from within me.

If only I could figure out how to do this with conditional activation instead of doing this manually. Hmm, an experiment for later.

I looked back up at the skies.

Not much longer now. We can do this. We can survive. Then I’ll still have enough mana when it’ll be time to follow up with my counteroffensive.

“Farah,” I croaked, my throat dry. “I have a plan, and I need your help. Listen to what I have to say, okay? Together, we’ll win.” A sly look crept onto my face, despite the less-than-ideal condition my body was in.

“Y-yes!” She met me with willing, resolute eyes.

***

Boredom.

Only that word could describe what Sir Phoebus felt at that moment. It was a shame, going from the fast-paced, heart-pounding clash of blades from before to this languishing wait for victory. He refused to call himself a battle junkie, but he felt almost dull having their fight end in this manner.

The masked man lazed in the air, watching as one of his divine arrows did its work, causing the destruction of mythological proportions before him. The light rained down to the ground like the gods’ judgment.

The demon boy below stood at his place, struggling to survive and protect his companion, casting that spell over and over and over as if banging his head against the wall. It was a tenacious effort on his part, the masked man had to admit.

But it was also boring.

It was boring having to watch it happen step by step. To have to just wait for the boy’s will to crumble, to wait for his surrender.

“,” the man said as he scratched behind his ear and yawned. He felt the clutches of sleep start to claim him. It was regrettable, to be forced to his mission this late at night. The warm, lively rays of the sun suited him much better. “”

The last bolts of the divine arrow crashed down in a climax of dust-raising, ground-rumbling explosions. And emerging from this dust were those demon children, as the man expected.

Calmly, the man started to float forwards toward them. He had finally resolved to end it. The boy was simply dregs, the wastes of a once powerful soul, still of threat but without the original will or power. In a way, the man completely despised what he was doing. Sir Phoebus, the protector of the young, forced to kidnap or even kill this boy, who could simply just be a victim of the tyrant three centuries past. The taste in his mouth was utterly bitter. But before that, he was the averter of evil. And the evil of the past couldn’t be left to fester into the present.

“” A boyish, soft voice cried out in the common human tongue. “” The boy, struggling to stand, pointed at the little girl hiding quietly behind him.

“” The man responded from above, despite the true opinions he held. The words the boy had said rang out as truths, but the curiosity to hear his response won over.

“,” the boy said through harsh breaths. “”

A truth? A lie? The man couldn’t quite deduce from the intricate web of truths and lies, intents and expressions that made up those statements. It made him stop for a moment.

“,” the boy continued.

A lie. That was a lie.

The man’s body tensed as he watched the boy snap the fingers of his right hand. Suddenly, the calm wasteland turned into apocalypse.

Howling tornadoes started raging around. A storm of furious winds and deadly earthen projectiles erupted. Boulders flung themselves in the air, right towards the man. Hot fireballs collided with water balls, reacting in explosions of vaporization, veiling the air in hot vapor.

But this made no peril for him. He weaved through the air, avoiding the wrath of the tornadoes, dodging each projectile aimed at him. If the boy hadn’t run out of mana before, this was surely a defiant last stand. A last stand before his fall.

As quickly as it began, the boy’s wrath of magic stopped. The winds calmed down. Dust, smoke, and mist still in the air clouded visibility, but the man’s sharp eyes found the two demon children.

“,” the boy said in a tone that Sir Phoebus found almost infuriating.

“”

“” Truth. The boy’s response was the truth. But it wasn’t an answer to Sir Phoebus’ question.

The masked man’s eyes widened as he saw it. Two small balls of light were right in front of him. Like the stars brought down to earth. But dread hit him for the first time in this battle. In a matter of milliseconds, he recognized what the spell was. Supernova. The boy had quietly and intently placed these amidst the chaos earlier. How did he not noti—

The spheres expanded into a fiery white explosion, with the fierce destructiveness of a deity. The man raced to defend himself, his arms over his face and chest. Its intense heat threatened to completely consume him.

But it was over before it could be a real threat. The darkness of night had returned as the spell finished.

The man remained suspended in the air. His breaths were ragged. Incinerated, torn white robes revealed his toned torso, covered in burns and wounds.

“,” the man in the air said despite himself. Through the remaining cloud of dust and smoke around him, he could see the demon children. No, he could see the remains of the demon boy who was his foe.

“Luqqqaaa! Aaaaaah!” The girl cried dramatically over a collapsed body. “D-don’t die!!” The harrowing shrieks resounded through the air hauntingly.

“” Sir Phoebus sensed no magical energy in the corpse the girl hugged. Had he used every single drop of mana his body had to offer? That was a death sentence, especially for a demon.

“Waaaaah!” Farah continued screaming, hunching over the lifeless body. Her sorrow bit into Sir Phoebus’ heart. He couldn’t bear to hear it. The man prepared himself to leave, but before that, he needed to take a closer look to confirm his enemy’s death.

“” Lifeless. That corpse next to her was no corpse… It was an earthen doll.

Emerging from the dust below Sir Phoebus was the demon boy, propelling himself forward with black wings, gripping in his hand a sword, poised forwards like a knight riding down with a couched lance. Blessed with the speed of the winds, he flew forwards with swiftness even the man couldn’t help but admire.

Swiftness which overwhelmed Sir Phoebus’ efforts to react. Swiftness which allowed the demon boy to reach him and impale him with his estoc.

“Gragh!” A groan of pain escaped the man as the boy's blade sunk into him, piercing him right through his chest.