"Chloe? Is everything ok? Did you accidentally break something?"
"Nothing mum! Everything's fine, thanks!"
I can't afford to let more people get caught up in this mess.
"Look, I know you are after me. Let's take this somewhere else, there's no need to involve innocents."
"Well if that is your wish Originator, then I shall happily oblige."
Sheathing her blade, the lady began writing an incantation in the air.
"Tomorrow, midnight, at the rooftop of your academy. Be punctual or else the lives of every mortal in this house will be taken."
Finishing the incantation, she sends the floating magic circle to Alice who then placed her palm over it, sending some mana of her own into it.
"Contract Complete."
Nodding her head in acknowledgement, the lady gave Alice a final message before vanishing into the air.
"Atallia. I look forward to our duel."
"Atallia? What does she mean Alice? Our lives will be taken?"
Clenching her fist, Alice looked away from Chloe, unable to look into her new found friend's eyes.
"Alice, you can talk to me. What happened?"
"No...stop. There's no point, I'm sorry to have dragged you all into my mess. God damn it, I'm really sorry Chloe."
Unable to stop her tears, Alice broke down as she knelt on the floor bending down, covering her face with her hands.
"Alice..."
Why was I even born again? I'm powerless, weak and I only bring pain and suffering to those around me... Just leave me alone...
"Chloe?"
Embracing Alice from the side, Chloe gently pat her head, stroking her hair as she spoke in a calming voice.
"Talk to me Alice, let me help you. I'm your senior after all, is it wrong for a senior to help her cute little junior? Besides, Rey would be worried too. I'm sure that woman after you is evil, then if that's the case, isn't it my duty as a mage to cleanse such evil from this world? I'm fine with the contract you agreed to, its safer than to fight here and risk my mum and Rey's lives."
"Chloe... I... I..."
Digging her face into Chloe's embrace, Alice continued bawling however, she felt safe, something she had not felt in a long time. The warmth Chloe brought upon her was immeasurable, this feeling comforted Alice who began calming down, wiping her tears off her face.
"I...I am the reincarnation of Atallia, the Original Demon Lord."
"Demon Lord?"
"Sorry! I know you must be afraid after hearing that! Sorry, sorry! If you change your mind I'd understand, I'll face her alone and..."
"Afraid? If all Demon Lords were as cute and friendly as you, why should anyone be afraid?"
"Chloe... You humans really continue to fascinate me, exceeding my expections. Then again, for some reason, this feels slightly familiar."
Standing up onto her feet, Alice composed herself before explaing her situation to Chloe.
"This is my seventh day of reincarnation. I don't know who summoned me back and for what purpose, but I do know there's something in my heart that tells me I have to save this world again. So far I've encountered a demon who sent an assassin to capture me, though I suspect he doesn't know I am the reincarnation of Atallia. Ah forgive me, humans do not have the knowledge of Atallia. Though my memories are blurry, the name Atallia belonged to the Originator of Demons, the mother of Demons. That's the only name I remember so I believe I am her or was her. This tremedous soul within me further proves me belief."
"Atallia. Sorry, the name really doesn't ring any bells. However we were taught that the original Demon Lord was a being named Lucifer Morningstar. Never was there the name Atallia in any historical recordings."
Lucifer? Morningstar? This name...my head...
A sharp, piercing ring followed by the flow of her memories playing in her mind like a movie sent Alice crashing down onto the floor.
"Lucifer? Lucifer... My Lucifer..."
Shedding a tear, the pain was too immense rendering Alice unconscious as Chloe rushed to her side to aid her.
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"My Lord, a contract has been established between Atallia and I. Tomorrow midnight, I shall make her yield and bring her back with us."
"Good. Very good."
"However my Lord, there seemed to be an issue. I'm afraid the mortal accompanying her seems to prove a bit of a challenge. I could sense her raw soul's power, it's almost on the level of basic Demon Lords."
Wrapping his fingers tightly around the lady's neck, Exslav lifted her up as the lady struggled to break free but to no avail.
"Watch your words half-blood. How dare you speak so highly of a mere human. Do not taint the title of Demon Lord in the future."
Releasing her from his grasp, the lady immediately bent down on one knee, apologising for crossing the line.
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Taking a sip of coffee, Frederik continued reading the book given to him by Lisbeth.
"Armaggedon. A war that happened during the creation of humanity. The final battle between Angels and Demons. What's this? A human warrior of light, Lance. Why isn't this in the historical records of the Human Realm?"
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Rubbing his forehead, weariness had caught up to Frederik who had been awake ever since the incident at Vizior Park. Placing a bookmark before closing up the book, Frederik took off his spectacles before entering his bed. Though he was tired, he couldn't help but recall his encounter with Alice, the first time he felt fear, fear of something unknown, something deadly.
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"Alice? Alice?"
Opening her eyes, Alice could see Rey as she glanced around, realising she was in a hospital ward.
"I passed out?"
Letting out a sigh of relief, Rey nodded his head as he reached for a wet towel to help clean up Alice's face.
"You were sweating quite a bit, the doctor said you had a fever and that you probably collapse from fatigue."
*grumble*
"Eh..."
Embarrassingly, Alice grabbed a pillow, covering her face with it, looking away from Rey who broke into fits of laughter.
"Meanie..."
"I'll go get you something to eat, there's a cafeteria downstairs, give me some time alright?"
Getting off the chair, Rey headed out of the room to help purchase food for Alice as she peeked at him exiting the room. Beside the door, she noticed a clock that wrote 11:48 PM.
It's this late already? That was so embarrassing, stupid human bodies... I wonder where Chloe is...
Looking back at the clock, to her disbelief, Alice realised the date had already changed. It wasn't the 25th of April anymore, it was the 26th.
"The contract! Don't tell me Chloe went there on my behalf? That idiot!"
Tearing off her IV drip, Alice opened the window before leaping out of the ward in her patient gown, running as fast as she could to the Academy.
"Terra...ah...my body..."
A sharp pain tore through her chest, forcing Alice to stop as she grimaced in pain.
So I can't use spells...The Academy, I've memorised the map of this town, if the hospital is here, the Academy should only be a few blocks away!
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"You're not Atallia. Where is she?"
Raising her sheathed blade at Chloe, the lady demanded an answer.
"She's too busy, couldn't make it for her appointment. I've come on her behalf, do you think you could settle for that?"
"The time's now 11:51 PM. The contract must be fulfilled at 12 Midnight. Failure for Atallia to show up means the end of your family, you do realise that right?"
Calmly readying herself, Chloe smiled replying.
"Mhmmm, I completely understand. That just means I have around 8 minutues to take you down right? I assume killing the contract maker, terminates the contract as well?"
"Foolish girl, you think a mere mortal like you could even hurt me?"
Purple sparks of lightning surround the woman, wrapping her fingers around the handle of her odachi, she unsheathed it and in that very moment, she had closed the distance between Chloe and herself, launching a swift yet precise strike at Chloe's neck, beheading her.
"You never stood a chance idiot."
Swinging her blade downwards, she scattered the blood of Chloe onto the floor before sheathing her blade.
"Wait."
The blood began to evaporate as the head of Chloe began turning into solid ice.
"Bastard!"
Pulling out a blade once again, the lady nimbly shifted her balance onto her right foot, allowing her to generate inertia into her right arm as she swung her odachi 180 degrees, turning her whole body to strike a large ice javelin that had been launched towards her, shattering it into hundreds of pieces midair before it could reach her.
"Your reactions are fast. However, can you deal with this?"
Raising her hands up, Chloe formed thousands of icicles, hurling them all towards the lady.
"You dare underestimate me?"
The same purple sparks began enveloping the lady, empowering her physical capabilities, allowing her to run faster than before as she managed to dodge the bombardment she was facing.
"Lightning Slash!"
Summoning a purple streak of lightning from the sky, it struck down onto her blade, empowering it before she slashed at the giant group of icicles above Chloe. This sent a huge wave of lightning, crashing into the icicles, destroying them instantly, putting an end to the bombardment she was receiving.
Without giving the lady any second to re-position herself, Chloe dashed at her, creating two ice swords into the palm of her hands, slashing at the lady who narrowly managed to absorb the impact by blocking the attack with her own odachi.
"Too slow!"
Empowering her legs with the lightning, the lady sent a powerful quick strike onto Chloe, sending her into the ground as she was unable to react in time. Spitting out blood from her mouth, Chloe could feel her ribs had been damaged from the impact, yet she stood up, fighting against the pain, readying herself for her next attack.
Seizing this chance, the lady zoomed forwards, slashing at Chloe who had conjured an ice barrier in front of her, absorbing strike after strike. Unrelentlessly, the lady pressed the attack, summoning the lightning once more onto her blade, she managed to break the barriers set up by Chloe, only to be denied the final blow as Chloe speedily replaced the broken barriers with new ones.
"You're just prolonging your death! Besides it's almost midnight, give up already mortal!"
Holding her ground, Chloe's breath became heavier and heavier as she tried her best to focus on creating barriers non-stop, matching the speed of the lady's attacks.
I have to find an opening... I can't keep defending like this, my mana will run out eventually. That blow, I'm losing too much blood...
The left side of her clothing was soaked red in her own blood, the strike she had received managed to tear through her flesh, opening up a huge gash, yet Chloe remained unhinged.
"I'm getting tired of this human! Final Art! Three headed Serpent Strike!"
Covering her entire body with purple lightning, the speed of the lady's attack tripled, forcing Chloe backwards as she struggled to keep up with her barriers.
She's getting even faster? Her blade, its glowing purple, here it comes, her final attack.
Breaking the sound barrier, the lady suddenly thrust her blade forward at Chloe before she could even replace the barriers that had been broken.
Here's my chance!
Putting all her weight towards her left, Chloe managed to evade the attack, leaving the lady wide open to her own counter attack.
Raising her left arm, Chloe summoned a row of ice spikes, that erected off the floor, piercing through the lady's body causing her to drop her weapon.
"Bastard...Urghhhh...How...Your just a..."
"Human? So what if I'm a human? I might be physically weaker than you, I might have less power than you, but yet, I defeated you demon. Now break the contract, or die."
"Die? How cute of you to say that. You think it's over?"
Twisting her body, the lady snapped the tips of the ice spikes off, colliding onto the floor with the spikes still penetrating through her flesh.
"Stop, don't you want to live? I said stop! Or else, I'll have to kill you!"
"Surrendering to a human, is a fate much worse than death. Us demons have pride you know? I'll never..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Exslav appeared above her, sending a quick powerful blow towards the back of her head, rendering her unconscious before tossing her body aside.
"That pathetic woman isn't one of us. How dare she calls herself a demon, disgusting half blood."
Fixating his eyes of Chloe, the man's gaze sent her mentally into despair as she fell onto her back.
"Stop...don't look at me..."
This power, raw power...I can't even move... Help... Someone... Please help...
"Sorry Chloe, I'm late."
Appearing beside Chloe, Alice stood there with a smile on her face.
"Alice... You shouldn't have come, your body..."
"It's alright now Chloe, I'm here for the contract is fulfilled. Go, go back to your family. Forget this ever happened... Finally, thank you Chloe, your brother for being my friends. Now go!"
Despite the pain coursing through her body, Alice's hair turned red once again, unleashing waves of hellfire at Exslav as Chloe watched on.
Her power... She can handle herself... No... Her body won't last...
"I'm not going anywhere! Take it!"
Feeling a sudden surge in strength, Alice turned around to see Chloe conjuring a magic circle. Chloe had begun transferring the remaining mana she had left into Alice before collapsing onto the ground, completely fatigued as her eyes began to close.
"You can do it..."
"Chloe... I'll protect you, I'll protect everyone this time!"
Exslav brushed the hellfire away, unleashing his own hellfire at Alice, who easily negated his attack as well.
"Such power, you really are her reincarnation. Fun, this is going to be fun!"