Lain

Gov’es stares at me with a shocked look as I finish speaking, his breathing picking up speed at he stares at me.

I doubt that he understood my words, but it definitely feels as if he understood something. My mood, my resignation, my look, something manages to get the message across that I am going to have to kill him soon.

His eyes go down to my left hand and finds the black circle that adorns it. Just looking at it is enough for anyone to understand the contract that I made. Its contents pushed to the front of the mind of any who looks at it by some magical means.

//Protect humanity for 300 years.

I don’t believe that it takes him very long to come to some understanding. I am the only person here that can keep him under control, and I certainly have more important things to be doing than suppressing a single prisoner. And if I can’t stay here to keep him under control, then he can’t be left alive…

Billybilly shakes him a bit and asks him something, her tone sounding worried. He returns her a few quiet words, but his eyes never leave me, as if he expects me to attack at any moment.

It takes a second for his words to set in for the female before she flies into a rage, throwing herself over the table at me. My shadows quickly move and bind her to the table as she squirms and rages at me, cursing as spittle flies out of her mouth, her teeth bared in a desperate bid to try and bite me.

Gov’es rises as well, but I force him back into his chair with my shadows. Standing up, I grab the plates and the ball of fire before walking out of the room without a word.

As I leave, I release them from their bindings and then lock the door. I can hear Billybilly cursing as she slams against the door on the other side, right as I lock it.

“Haaaaaaah… hooooooh…”

A long breath in followed by a long exhale, I close my eyes and focus on controlling my emotions as I ignore the soldiers that are standing guard just outside of the room.

After a few breaths, I finally open my eyes and move. Handing the plates off to one of the soldiers without a word, I head over to the room next door and walk inside.

Waiting inside is Lieutenant Colonel Roberts and Nathaniel. They both turn to look my way as I enter, looking away from the rampaging Billybilly that is throwing around the chair I was sitting on.

Nathaniel gives me a concerned look. “How are you doing?”

“Ehh… I’ll be fine. Nothing that a few visits to my therapist won’t fix with time…”

“If you need me to, I can-“

“No. I’m the one that decided to take him prisoner instead of just killing him. I’ll be the one to do it. Besides, I resolved myself to killing people a long time ago. Every time I left the house to go scavenging with dad, I knew that there was a chance that I would have to fight for my life at any moment. That I might have to kill another person to stay alive. That hasn’t changed now…” I say as I rub at the black mark that adorns the back of my hand.

Watching the two Hobgoblins for a short while, I see as Gov’es tries to get Billybilly to calm down as he holds her and whispers something to her.

Eventually, I have to ask, “Sir, about the female. I’ve confirmed, she can’t use magic and she is only a little stronger than a normal human…” Though I leave the question itself unasked.

“You have nothing to worry about, we will be keeping her as a prisoner of war and treated with all the rights of one. We’ll keep her here until you get a chance to bring her back to base; it wouldn’t be safe to transport her without you.”

Yeah, if she were to scream and attract a bunch of monsters towards the soldiers… With me alone, I could just run her back to base with little issue.

“Thank you, sir.”

Because I have to remain nearby to keep his magic suppressed, I take a seat and remain in the room with Nathaniel and my boss for a few hours, chatting about a number of things as the time passes.

Right now, besides Nathaniel, my Demons are back inside and are getting some quick rest before we have to set out for the city in the afternoon. I offer for Nathaniel to go and do the same, but he refuses, not wanting to leave me alone right now.

While we were watching the Hobgoblins, the two of them spent a long time just talking with each other. I have no idea what they talked about. Could be anything from goodbyes to escape plans, though after a while, there conversation grew a bit too passionate and grew to the point of the two of them having sex in one corner of the room.

I asked if we could leave and give them some privacy, but I got refused because we shouldn’t leave them unsupervised. So, I just turned my head and pretended not to be watching…

Nathaniel asks, “Why are they do that? Is this really the kind of situation for this?”

The Lieutenant Colonel just clears his throat and says, “Lain, would you care to answer that?”

“… Well. If I knew I was about to die, I would certainly want to spend my last moments with Sky in my arms.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess that make sense…”

“Would be better if they didn’t spend it being watched though…”

“I doubt they know that we’re here, you have nothing to worry about.”

Still doesn’t make me feel any better about watching them… Jeez, she is really shaking her hips…

…

A long and awkward while later, they eventually finish up are just holding each other, cuddling in the corner. Gov’es doesn’t take his eyes off of the door, as if he is just waiting for someone to come through. Probably me.

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“Lain.”

“Sir?”

“It’s time. You still need to gather your men and do your final checks before your mission. Don’t drag this out too much longer.”

“… Yes sir.”

Looking to Nathaniel, he looks like he wants to say something, but can’t find the words. I just nod to him and then turn and leave. Outside the next door is a couple of soldiers standing guard, they don’t say anything as I approach the door and unlock it.

Holding the doorknob, my eyes go the marks on my left arm. The contract and the promises I made.

One last thing I can try. Otherwise, I have to kill him.

I open the door and Gov’es is quick to stand up, putting a hand on his mate’s shoulder to keep her sitting behind him. She glares at me with hate in her eyes as she is held back from charging me.

A few words from Gov’es gets her to stop, a resigned look on her face as he moves forward. Despite only being an inch or two taller than me, he stands with the posture of a man twice my size. Clenching his fist, he gathers as much flame as he can to coat his hand, his breaths raising his bear, muscular chest as he gazes toward me, ready for a fight.

The best I can do is try.

Taking a breath, I dig deep into myself and let my inner Devil out a little. My mind instantly cools like I just pored a glass of ice water into my skull, a small smile coming to my face as my Field instantly begins to darken the room in a slight haze of smoky shadows and void filled corners. Up above, the light in the room begins to dim until it is barely lit. Even the flames covering his fist become shadows of their old selves, barely producing a flicker of light.

This is nothing like it was when I had made the contract for three hundred years, but what I have to offer now can hardly be compared to that.

“I offer to make a contract.”

With those words, my Field forces a connection between us, his eyes widening as my words reach him and meaning is found.

“In exchange for sealing your power and peacefully remaining our prisoner for two years, I will spare your life and guarantee that you are treated properly and with care. If you break this contract, your life is forfeit. Do you accept?”

“I care not for your contract Grey Demon! I will not accept. I only ask that you spare Billybilly’s life.”

“Her life was never on the table, not part of this negotiation. She is already our prisoner and is not a threat to us. She will not be harmed and is to be treated properly and with care. The very same thing that I offer you now.”

“Then I have even less of a reason to accept.”

“You would rather die than be our prisoner?”

“I would rather die fighting, than betray Father. I will not accept any offer from you Grey Demon. Though, you have my gratitude for sparing her life.”

“I am offering you a chance to be with her, to raise your child…”

“And my child shall grow to one day to kill you. Even if I fail, even if Father should fail, one day, one of us will succeed.”

“… You are not strong enough to kill me.”

“I don’t have to be.”

…

“This is regrettable, but I have tried. You have my respect, Gov’es the Hobgoblin.”

“I am a demon, as my father has named me!”

“Ah, then, Gov’es the demon, I, Lain the Demon Queen, the first Devil of this new world, shall honor your resolve. This negotiation has failed, come, face me with everything you have, and die with honor.”

“Ah.”

The contract refused, and our decision made, I retract my Field so that it is no longer suppressing his. Rolling his neck and stretching his shoulders, I watch as his flames spread to coat his black and red ash-coated skin.

Without a word, I turn and open the door leading him out into the hall. Even showing my back to him, he doesn’t attack, and simply follows me out in silence. When Billybilly tries to follow us, he stops her with a raised hand and simply shakes his head no.

The guards initially panic at having a flaming Goblin leaving the room, but I wave them down and order them to stay and guard the prisoner.

Nathaniel and the Lieutenant Colonel are quick to follow, and while I expected them to ask what I am doing or try to stop me, they don’t and simply follow in silence.

It doesn’t take long for us to work our way outside, and we quickly end up with a following of soldiers following us, come to watch this final moment. They are all warriors; they don’t need words to understand what is about to happen.

…

Standing out on the cold snowy runway of the airport, Gov’es stand apart from me at a fair distance, as all the soldiers that followed us outside remain a safe distance away to watch as they shiver in their coats.

Fire dances over his body and melts away the surrounding cold in lines of steam, while shadows crawl over my person like living appendages, melding into each other and seeping out from the folds of my clothes like some mollusk leaving its shell or an octopus reaching out with searching limbs to explore to depths of some dark place.

We stand and look to each other for a short while until we both suddenly move; no signal gives the start, but we move at the same time regardless.

Our Fields are the first to clash, and while I could simply smother his and win this instantly, that would be wrong. I won’t disgrace him by denying him the chance to fight back. So, I instead match his power and slam my Field against his as we wrestle for control over the surrounding mana with our wills. The air around us shakes and distorts as heat and darkness wrestle for dominance, clouds of powdered snow and hissing steam showing up wherever they clash.

An explosion at his feet sends him rocketing towards me, his body aflame like a living comet as he goes for a straight flying punch. I answer by manifesting two bladed tendrils from my back and sending them at him, cutting through the air and smacking the air with a whip’s crack.

Before he can get cut down, he blasts the air above him, and dodges down, landing hard on three limbs just below the lashing shadows before blasting off towards me again, a fire amassing in his fist as he draws near.

I pull back to avoid his fist, the heat radiating off of it lightly burning my skin as I deliver a kick into his ribs.

His bones crack under the blow and he coughs up a mouthful of blood, but still he moves, fire blasting out of his back to keep him from getting blown away by my kick. With my leg practically buried into his side, he swipes out with his other hand to try and claw my face off with burning fingers.

I quickly catch his hand, the flames covering his arm happily eating into the flesh of my palm as I hold him back.

Spitting in my face, he gets his blood in my eyes and temporarily blinds me as I am forced to close my eyes.

In the split moment that my eyes are closed, he punches me in the gut. The fire that he had been building up in the palm of his hand violently explodes as his fist meets Kevlar.

The air pops with a loud clap and then I lose the ability to hear, the feeling of something warm flowing down from my ears. Heat washing over the both of us in a violent wave as an explosion rolls over me. I can feel my skin burning as my clothes are set alight.

Even as I burn, and the desire to scream fills me, I hold it all down and move forward. With his fist still buried in my stomach, I grab him by the shoulder, pulling him forward, and them spear him through the heart with my hand.

I open my eyes though the blood and fire, my vision tinted red, and watch as he grabs my arm weakly, blood pouring out of his chest and mouth as he fights to remain standing.

Pushing down with my Field, I take control of everything and extinguish the fires that are coating our bodies and everything around us, my body smoking and parts of skin still bubbling and popping as my regeneration kicks in. The hearing in both of my ears is quick to return first with a pop as the noise of the world suddenly comes rushing back to me. People are shouting and running towards us, but I ignore them, my eyes and attention are only for my opponent.

“You fought bravely and died with honor Gov’es.”

Staring off into the distance, he slowly speaks out some final words through his bloodstained lips.

“Sihnenar Fitfif… Sihnenar Billybilly… Sihne-nar… Faltarune……”

He slumps forward in my grip, his head ending up on my shoulder as he dies. Reaching up, I grab a length of his black hair and have my shadows cut it off. Then, with my hand still in his chest, I pull on my shadows and manifest them, the image of burning fires fueling their creation, the feeling of my own skin burning to his flames giving them power, the story that Sky told me, guiding my shadows to do as I will.

It starts as a small flame, nothing but an ember of nothingness, but within moments, it grows into an inferno as his body is suffused with black flames that emit no light, no heat, and no smoke.

His body does not leave any ash as it falls apart in my hands. It simply ceases to be. Not but a bit of dust remains as he is deleted from this reality, the flames devouring him whole as he falls apart in my hands.

Eventually, he is gone. Nothing left of his body but a length of black hair held in my hand and some grey dust caried on a breeze.

“Thank you, Gov’es…”