Chapter 2 – The Crimson Rift (The Demon's Return)
The forest trembled beneath a scream that wasn't of this world. The sky split wider, bleeding crimson fire into the air as a massive shape descended through the crack — molten wings unfurling, a silhouette that swallowed all light.
When Abyrus landed, the ground ruptured like glass under his feet. Crimson-black flames spread across the earth, turning trees into shadowed ash. His seven glowing marks burned like dying stars across his body — each pulse shaking the air itself.
Kael's breath hitched. His hands trembled for just a heartbeat before gripping Tenebris, the twin longblades of darkwind. Liora's eyes shimmered with emerald light, frost and vines beginning to coil around her feet.
Anay stepped back, his instincts screaming danger, yet his heart steady. This presence… the same one Kael spoke of in his stories.
The one that ended everything for them.
Abyrus's gaze turned toward him first — crimson eyes glowing with ancient malice. "So… you are—"
His words stopped midway. His grin widened as he turned to Kael and Liora.
"Well, well… the children from that day. You've grown. How pathetic that I failed to kill you when I had the chance."
Kael's body ignited in a gust of black wind. "You— you killed Anand and Garix!"
Liora's eyes hardened to shards of frost. "And now… you'll pay for it."
Abyrus laughed, the sound a rumble that made even the flames around him shudder.
"Then come, ghosts of the past. Let's finish what was left undone."
Wind howled.
Kael vanished first — blink-speed. The ground cracked where he had stood. He reappeared above Abyrus, twin blades swirling in a crescent arc of black and silver wind. The air split open with his strike — but Abyrus blocked it with one arm, the flames along his claws flaring violently.
Clang!
A sound like metal being crushed inside a volcano. Kael's blades sparked, his teeth clenched. Abyrus's grin deepened.
"Still fast… still weak."
He swung his arm, and Kael was sent hurtling back, slamming through two trees before catching himself midair. The forest filled with smoke and dust.
Before Abyrus could move, a flash of emerald light burst beneath him — Liora.
She didn't shout, didn't move in anger. Her calm was chilling.
Roots laced with frost erupted from the ground, binding Abyrus's feet. The moment they touched his infernal flames, they sizzled — but didn't melt. Ice crystals spread faster than the fire could consume them.
Verdalis — the spirit guardian — appeared with a piercing cry. A massive bird of green fire and wind, its wings shimmering like the northern lights.
Liora raised her hand, voice low and firm.
"Verdalis, bind the abyss."
The guardian's cry turned the air into a storm of emerald wind and crystalline feathers. Frostfire erupted, slamming into Abyrus's chest, forcing him back a step.
The demon roared — not in pain, but in surprise.
Kael appeared again, lightning-fast, twin swords cutting across the air. Wind spiraled around his blades, merging with Liora's froststorm. Together, their attacks collided into Abyrus with explosive force — a blinding storm of black wind and white ice.
For a moment, even the flames dimmed.
Abyrus looked down at the faint cut across his chest. Black blood hissed into smoke.
Then he smiled — wide and cruel.
"So, you've grown strong enough to hurt me. Interesting."
The air grew heavier, his voice vibrating through the ground. "I see now… you're the ones who killed my pets. Balgeor Vrax. Vedar. Kharid. Their souls screamed as they died. I felt it."
His flames burned brighter, twisting into tendrils of red-black energy that licked the air like serpents.
"You have my respect," he said, eyes gleaming with fire and madness. "Now I'll make sure your souls burn longer than theirs."
He vanished.
Kael barely had time to react — a crimson claw burst from behind, cutting through his aura shield like butter. Blood sprayed across the forest floor.
Liora turned sharply, freezing the air around her in a blink — Abyrus's claw stopped an inch from her neck, trapped in a cage of ice.
She met his gaze, calm but burning with hatred. "Not again. You won't take anyone else."
With a surge of power, she twisted her wrist. The ice shattered outward — sharp fragments flew like blades, tearing into Abyrus's shoulder. A snarl echoed through the forest.
Kael, bleeding but standing, wiped his mouth and chuckled faintly. "That's my Liora…"
Liora didn't look at him. "Focus, Kael. We end this, now."
Abyrus straightened, rolling his neck as his wounds sealed instantly under the heat. "End this?" he grinned. "You'll wish you could."
The seven sigils across his body began to glow — one after another, each brighter, each deeper in hue, until the seventh mark flared alive.
The ground beneath them cracked. The sky darkened into crimson night.
Every tree bent toward the demon as if the world itself was being devoured by his presence.
Kael raised both blades. Liora called Verdalis once more — the guardian spread its wings, filling the sky with green fire.
And through the burning horizon, Anay stood silently behind them, eyes wide but unwavering.
He could feel it — the surge of death and defiance, the weight of their past turning into the fire of the present.
He clenched his fists. This is their battle… their closure.
Abyrus spread his wings, flames roaring higher. "Then let's make this forest… your grave once again!"
The air exploded. Wind, flame, frost, and light collided — the first shockwave tearing through the trees like thunder.
And thus began the final battle between the survivors of light… and the demon of the Seventh Hell.