Chapter 13
Gazel stared at the man dressed in a pristine white suit, his heart tangled in complicated emotions.
The man looked nothing like a demon.
Flawless skin. Handsome face. Immaculate posture. The way he carried himself made him seem like the perfect gentleman.
And yet…
The scene around him betrayed that illusion completely.
Demons knelt across the ground, heads lowered, not daring to even glance upward. Their voices trembled as they called him lord.
This cannot be the devil… can it?
Gazel's heart shook violently.
The air itself felt tense, heavy, suffocating, as his father locked gazes with the handsome devil standing before them.
Sorial steeled his heart and forced his expression into calm neutrality. His blue eyes glowed faintly, deep anger burning at their core.
"Why are you here?" Sorial asked.
The supposed devil studied him for a moment.
Then he smiled.
It was not cold. Not cruel. Not devilish.
It was warm. Bright. Like a long lost brother greeting family after years apart.
That smile only made their father tense even more.
"Why the cold face?" the devil asked lightly. "Can I not check up on a long time apprentice?"
Sorial's gaze darkened.
The devil clicked his tongue and glanced around, surveying the destruction. He looked back at Sorial, that same warm smile still present, though a subtle malice now settled within his red eyes.
Sorial noticed it.
"You seem to have been quite busy," the devil said. "Slaughtering them all."
He tilted his head.
"You do know you just killed thousands of humans, right? Is that righteous by your standards?"
Sorial scoffed.
"Humans?" he repeated coldly. "Cursed humans are no longer human. They are monsters. Rabid beasts that must be purged before they destroy everything."
His grip tightened around his sword.
"And the one responsible for ruining their lives is you. You damn devil."
The devil smiled wider.
"Oh, I ruined no one's life," he replied calmly. "I only gave them a gift."
His eyes gleamed.
"The more they embrace it, the stronger they become. A gift that grants immortality and power. Is that not what humans desire the most?"
He spread his hands slightly.
"How can you call my righteous act vile?"
Sorial's eyes hardened further.
"You are especially talkative today," he said. "Get to the point. Why are you after me?"
The devil answered almost instantly.
"Oh, you already know why."
His voice softened.
"I need you, Sorial. So what do you say? Join me. Even now, I will accept you with open arms."
His smile deepened.
"You will be granted immortality and power beyond what your Azura could ever reach. Beyond its limits."
He waited.
"So. What do you say?"
Sorial's hand remained firm on the hilt of his white odachi. His gaze was cold, distant.
He looked at the devil neutrally.
Then scoffed.
"Tch. In your dreams."
His voice sharpened.
"I would rather kill you than join you. Your existence itself is a disease that needs to be purged."
The devil's smile dimmed.
He slowly shook his head.
"So that is your choice," he murmured. "Same as always."
His red eyes turned colder.
"You are as stubborn as ever. But that will not save you tonight."
He extended one hand toward Sorial.
"You are either with me or against me."
Sorial answered with action.
A massive shredding wind current exploded forward.
It never reached the devil.
The attack rippled midair, abruptly changing direction and crashing into the kneeling demons to the side, exterminating them instantly.
The devil did not react.
He did not flinch.
His gaze drifted past Sorial and locked onto the figures standing several meters behind him.
Gazel and the others.
The devil smiled.
"I see you made yourself a nice family," he said calmly. "I will be taking them anyway."
Then he vanished.
The next thing Gazel felt made his heart nearly stop.
A dark, suffocating presence loomed directly behind him.
Before he could react, a white gloved hand gripped his shoulder.
An overwhelming pressure descended on him. Absolute. Dominating.
Gazel could not breathe.
Could not think.
Hopelessness crushed him.
Then, just as suddenly, the pressure vanished.
He collapsed onto the ground, chest heaving violently as he gasped for air.
He was alive.
Then he saw it.
His father stood in front of him, unmoving. Firm. His words hissed with restrained fury, power trembling beneath every syllable.
Sorial's gaze was locked high above.
The devil walked calmly through the air itself, expression serene.
"You will not let me have you," the devil said lightly. "And you will not let me have any of your children."
His smile returned.
"Just how greedy have you become?"
Sorial's heart no longer thundered from fear.
It pounded with rage.
His eyes lowered, wind pressure building rapidly around him. The air screamed, bending, compressing, warping under his will.
Then he spoke.
His voice was cold as steel.
"Whoever dares to lay a finger on my family…"
The wind surged violently.
"…will pay."
He vanished.
In the next instant, Sorial was already in the air, his white odachi slicing forward with speed and power that put everything else to shame. It was as if the laws that restricted movement had shattered.
A blink.
His blade pierced straight through the devil's heart.
Sorial's gaze furrowed.
The devil dissolved into white smoke.
Then a voice whispered directly into his ear.
"I truly hold no malice toward you, Sorial."
The devil appeared several meters away, stepping out of nothingness. Calm. Composed. Untouched.
"But you have become far too much of a nuisance these past years."
He raised a finger and pointed downward.
"At first, you had no visible weakness. Now you do."
His finger hovered over the five figures below.
Sorial's expression changed instantly. His voice rumbled like restrained thunder.
"Do not you dare."
The devil chuckled softly and shook his head.
"No. I will not go for them, as long as you can stop me."
His red eyes gleamed.
"I will humble you with a duel. If you win, I will let them go."
He paused.
"If you lose, their fate will be mine to decide."
Unease crept into Sorial's heart.
Trusting the words of a devil was the last thing he would ever want to do.
But right now, he had no choice.
If he wanted his family safe, he had to defeat him. Just once. Just here.
"I accept."
The wind howled loudly, condensing tighter and tighter around his white odachi. Power flooded the blade until it screamed.
The devil smiled faintly.
"I see you have grown confident," he said. "I will honor you with a duel."
Reality rippled.
From the void, two daggers tore outward, their surfaces glinting with malice. The aura around them promised pure destruction.
Then another appeared.
This one was darker. Abyssal. Its presence swallowed light.
The three daggers floated, shifting, circling the devil's body like predators.
Then both moved at once.
What followed was destruction unlike anything before.
The sky itself split apart. It felt as if existence was tearing at the seams as they clashed.
Gazel and the others could not see the battle. Not truly.
They could only feel it.
The residual energy pressed down on them like a mountain. The world trembled. Flashes of light tore through the sky, followed by thunderous booms that shook their bones.
They watched helplessly.
Hoping.
No.
Believing.
His father would win.
He had to.
That belief shattered when a figure came crashing down.
A massive impact. The ground exploded. Smoke surged high into the air.
When it cleared, Gazel's heart froze.
His father stood there.
Blood oozed from several large gashes carved across his body. The white odachi was still clenched in his hand, but his face was pale. Dim.
Broken.
Then, in a heavy, pained voice, Sorial muttered two words.
"I lost."
To be continued.