When the skies darken by fallen light, one trained by demon blood shall rise to bring the age of peace or the era of chaos…

***

Backsen stared at the gates that stood in front of him. Beyond the gate was the door into the tower. He pushed the gates and with all his strength, it eventually began to move.

“Move!”

Yamaryu shoved Backsen aside and pushed the gates himself. The gates flew open with ease and Yamaryu continued on. Backsen stared at Yamaryu before being helped up by Neir.

“He touched me!” Backsen angrily shouted.

“Now Backsen, don’t take it literally. He was just helping you out.” Neir said to calm Backsen down.

“He touched me…” Backsen growled.

“Yes we know, but just pretend it never happened. We have more important things to do, remember?”

After a while, Backsen eventually calmed down. Everyone walked past the gates and approached the doors that led into the tower. As they got closer, Yamaryu noticed a shadow and looked up where a massive creature descended from above.

Yamaryu vanished as it crashed exactly where he once stood. He eventually appeared from behind Backsen and told him to back away.

“Back off, I’ll take care of this.”

Yamaryu approached the creature. It was a massive manticore. It seemed to be chained to the door’s frame. It was essentially the guardian of the tower.

Yamaryu drew his blade, the Legendary Demon Sword Ashara. The blade shimmered as Yamaryu summoned spirit blades which flew towards the manticore. It pierced into its flesh, slightly stunning it. The manticore roared and attempted to tackle Yamaryu, though the latter dodged, jumping into the air. The manticore’s tail lunged towards him and in an instant, Yamaryu sliced the tail off.

As he landed, he turned and spun his sword as it began to glow brighter. The manticore turned and attempted to tackle Yamaryu once again. Yamaryu waited for it to get closer before he unleashed his attack. When it was only a few meters in front of him, he made his move.

[Devil’s Dark Steel]

He swung his sword and a wave of energy passed through the manticore. Seconds later, millions of vortexes surrounded the manticore, slashing the beast into countless pieces and when it was done, only blood and tiny bits of flesh fell to the ground, creating a seemingly pile of flesh.

Yamaryu took a deep breath as he dispersed the Ashara. He turned around to face the door and with a simple touch, it opened up. He turned and glanced at Backsen and Neir. He smirked before entering the tower.

“Well, with Yamaryu rampaging through the tower, it should be easy enough for you to complete the initial steps, correct?” Neir asked.

“Yes. I can do my work in peace. Just… make sure he is in control. I fear that he may turn into whatever demonic form he took and mistake me for dinner.”

“You have nothing to worry about. You wouldn’t serve much use to him anyway. Now then, let us proceed.”

***

After some time traveling the seas, they arrived at Noril. Sanctifaust looked around and gazed at what he considered the most beautiful town he had ever seen. He always wondered why his father had left Noril, his hometown.

As he walked through the streets, following Lux to the church, he could not help feeling nostalgic. Two kids passed by, playing around. He stopped and watched them play with wooden swords. It reminded him of when he horsed around with his brother when they were only kids.

“Sanctifaust? Are you there?” Lux asked, grabbing Sanctifaust’s attention.

“Can’t we meet anywhere else?” Sanctifaust said. Lux shook his head.

“Sanctifaust, I don’t know why you’re so afraid of the church. You and your brother. I can still remember when you and your brother entered Mother Miari’s church with your father for the first time. You two bawled your eyes out. After that, you two never went to another church or holy ground ever again unless the situation was dire. Do the gods really scare you that much?”

Sanctifaust glared at Lux and rolled his eyes. He could tell Lux was being provocative and a little overconfident. After their fight, Lux has been shoving it into his face, how he was now stronger than him. It made the ship ride longer than Sanctifaust would have wanted it.

“Damn it, fine!”

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Soon, the group arrived in front of Noril’s Church where Mother Miari awaited them inside.

Lux and Veirna entered the church grounds but Sanctifaust hesitated. He could feel eyes staring daggers at him though no one looked his way. It wasn’t physical stares that were directed on him, rather spiritual ones.

He didn’t find out until Yamaryu had told him. The truth about his blood. His father, a human, had two sons with his mother, a demon.

There was one thing that those who are Holy despise. Demons. The opposite of what it means to be holy. Though there are those who are able to access divine powers even though they possess “Unholy” bodies, they can access the divine strength of Dark Gods. Holy beings buried by the light that they once followed.

Lux turned and looked at Sanctifaust, noticing he was still hesitating from entering the church grounds. He sighed as he began to move his feet, not making eye contact with anyone. Eclipse, who followed Sanctifaust, let out a sigh and nudged Sanctifaust forward, signaling him to go faster. Sanctifaust looked at Eclipse and smirked.

“Yeah yeah, I got it girl.”

Once he reached the door of the church, the group walked inside and eventually stopped in front of a room. Veirna opened the door and waiting inside was a woman dressed in white robe with golden outlines looking out the window. She turned and when she spotted Sanctifaust, a tear streamed down her face.

“It’s been too long, Sanctis.”

Sanctifaust blushed and scratched the back of his head.

“How many times have I told you not to call me that?”

Mother Miari chuckled. Everyone took their seats and Mother Miari began to explain.

“Are you aware why you are here, Sanctis?”

“Yes, Mother Miari. You want me to accompany this prophesied hero?”

Mother Miari nodded. “Yes. In the prophecy, it is mentioned that the hero will be trained by that who possesses demon blood. Though it is not specified who, I am certain it is you. The only other demon blood that it could’ve referred to would be-”

“Yamaryu… So you knew about my lineage?”

“Yes. I was there when you two were born. Me along with several others were told to keep this a secret by your father. Though, it seems secrets do not last long.”

A sad face slowly crossed Mother Miari’s face and Sanctifaust could tell what was on her mind.

“If you need some time, I can leave.”

“No, it's nothing. Let’s go back to what we were talking about.”

Sanctifaust sighed. Guilt lingered in his heart. The death of Trishia still affected Mother Miari.

“So who is this hero of yours?” Lux asked suddenly. “You told us about her, now can we actually see her?”

Mother Miari nodded and turned to the door.

“You can come in now!”

Sanctifaust turned as the doors opened. A woman with red hair entered and looked at Mother Miari before turning to Sanctifaust.

“Sanctis, this is Liuva Urio, the prophesied hero. Liuva, this is Sanctifaust Terania.”

Sanctifaust stood up and turned to Liuva. Liuva looked at Sanctifaust before staring at his missing arm.

“What happened to your arm?” Liuva asked. Her face was worried but her tone was curious.

“My brother cut it off.”

A long silence filled the room. Lux palmed his face and let out a deep sigh. Mother Miari stood up and approached the two, breaking the silence.

“Sanctifaust here is going to train you to become the hero you are destined to be. Isn’t that right?” Miari turned and looked up at Sanctifaust. The latter scratched the back of his head and sighed.

“Sure.”

Mother Miari placed her hands on Liuva’s shoulder.

“From now on, he will take care of you. I expect you to treat him the same way you would treat me. I need to return back to Neriopa to handle some business.”

She then turned to Lux and nodded before being escorted out of the room by Veirna.

“Well, that’s done. Before you go off now, I have a gift for you, Sanctifaust.

“And that is?”

Lux stood up and snapped his fingers. A hooded figure walked into the room, carrying a case. They set the case on the table, bowed to Lux and then left the room. Lux walked over to the case and opened it, allowing Sanctifaust to see what was inside.

“About your arm, I think you should try having an artificial one. My mages and blacksmiths have been working on this thing ever since you left. You should really thank them when you get the chance.”

Sanctifaust stared at the jet black metal prosthetic arm that was in the case. He inspected the arm as he took it out of the case. He noticed that it possessed claws and what seemed to be an arm-mounted blade.

“When the arm is equipped, it will immediately be suited to its user. So all the muscle memory you lost in your original right arm will all be contained in this arm once you put it on. The claws and the arm-mounted blade are a little extra from yours truly.”

Hesitant, Sanctifaust glanced at his missing arm. Then he remembered what had happened that day. He could still remember the searing pain that engulfed his body that day.

Sanctifaust attached the arm to his shoulder and after a few seconds, the arm began to move. Sanctifaust fiddled with it a little longer before drawing his blade. It was almost as if he had never lost an arm.

“Well now, you enjoy your new toy. I have some business to take care of as well.”

Before Lux left, he whispered something into Liuva’s ear. After he left, Liuva spoke.

“L-let us go to the guild, shall we?”

Sanctifaust turned and nodded, following her out the door.