?


    "Rejuvenation! Rejuve-" Breaking Haruki''s spell, Moriyana grabbed his hand.


    Filled with sorrow, her somber eyes peered at him with a gentle smile. Caressing his face lightly, she chuckled to herself as though her mind was already slipping away.


    "Hmm? So you used her daughter''s body to revive her, demon?" Descending to the ground along with her army of hundred, Helga the queen of Valkyrie stood right before Haruki''s eyes.


    Shadowing them under her body, she blocked As behind her, and from the bare minimum, Haruki could still see, it seemed the other Valkyries were holding back As for some reason. Meeting her gaze, Haruki had no clue who she was, but with little to no choice, he decided to ask for her mercy.


    "Can you heal her?" He asked, begging for the first time since the chaos began.


    "Not when her soul is attached to that wicked demon," nting ance onto the ground, Helga turned her gaze way past Haruki and Moriyana.


    Looking behind him she saw Destinia still writhing in ce as she struggled to get thence out of her unborn child. Kneeling down quickly with her eyes still focused on Destinia, Helga leaned closer to Haruki''s ears to whisper before rushing off.


    "That de in her body, hand it to me when she''s dead," Helga whispered, wanting to retrieve the other god-de she''d given As long ago.


    In utter shock, Haruki''s eyes widened realizing her sheer indifference to Moriyana''s life. For her so long as the mistress perished, she didn''t care who went down as coteral. Standing up straight again, Helga slowly began making her way to Destinia, all the while the grip of Moriyana''s fingers grew weaker against Haruki''s hand.


    "Helga! Don''t you dare do anything to Destinia!" As screamed aloud, more desperate than ever.


    Although his scream astonished Haruki for a moment, with Moriyana''s condition getting worse, he didn''t care for whatever he was feeling. Instead, turning his gaze back to Moriyana, he tried his best to heal her body. His attempts were repelled by the true essence of holy magic strapped inside the de of light, nothing he did seemed to work, and worse of it all, trying to pull the sword out only hurt Moriyana further.


    "Aghhh!" She screamed as Haruki tried for thest time to get the de out of her chest.


    "Just a bit more!" He pleaded, finally pulling the de out of her body.


    To his horror, however, the moment the de was taken out, Moriyana''s body wentpletely limp. The only moment in her body was from her eyes still tearing up as they looked right at him. Blocking the cries from As, and screams of Destinia in the back, Haruki tried to heal the burning wound in Moriyana''s chest.


    "Rejuvi-" Before he could cast another spell, his mind began to spin. At first, he had no clue what was happening, but then looking at his hand which had held the de of light a while before, he noticed deep burning grooves in his palms that were burning his strength away.


    ''A-smodia? Do something! I know there was a section in the covenant that binds our soul together so stop hiding in my body and save your daughter!'' Much like with Helga, he didn''t get any easing response, or at least he couldn''t get one because his mind shut downpletely for the de of light consumed him to thest drop of mana.


    Dropping t beside Moriyana, Haruki ventured into a deep slumber. Creeping closer to her master, Moriyana threw her arms over his shoulders, and through herst few breaths, as she inched towards death, she whispered to him but a few words.


    "Haruki Shin…I only ever felt loved by you, even if it wasn''t as pure as your love for Asuka and the others, I can''t put into words how much I love you," as blood poured into her lungs, Moriyana took her chance to bind a kiss with the only man she ever loved.


    Pressed against his lips, her mind drew weary. Her vision was the first to drain, and then the warmth of her body began to vain quickly. As cold as a drenched log, shey there in a pool of her own blood until her mind submitted in defeat.


    "I-I chose the risk, th-this isn''t your fault…" Her hand caressing her master, finally gave in.


    In silence, the army of Valkyries watched the passing of a demon''s soul. Helga was locked looking at the same, only As remained the one still struggling to get himself out of the binds of the Valkyries. Trying to fight the chains on his decaying body, he attempted to burn them off with his mana, but it didn''t work in the least.


    "Struggle as you may, those binds were created to hold down Etherios, no way in the cosmos can you ever break out of them young god," Helga mocked before continuing on walking towards her next victim. "Speaking of Etherios, I suppose it''s time to bring down that whole bloodline!"


    "N-no don''t!" Wheezing as she breathed, Destinia begged for her life with the godde still stuck in her stomach.


    "H-Helga, stop! You''re supposed to listen to me, this world''s god!" As screamed at the top of his lungs.


    Shifting her gaze towards As, Helga wore an unamused look.


    "A god that conceived with a traitor''s daughter? Don''t make meugh, you''re no god worthy of the creator''s legacy!" Without even looking at Destinia, the queen of Valkyrie stabbed her with a trident that spiked her skull like a trophy.


    Turning back to the queen of fairies, Helga kicked the godde deeper into Destinia and tore her head off her shoulder by violently pulling the trident upward. On looking at the sight, As questioned his mind and wondered if it had finally given into insanity. However, as the blood gushing out from Destinia''s neck rained over his body, he knew that what he saw was no mere illusion or a trick.


    ***


    Far away from the tragedy in the distantnd of Hestemia, the two remaining demon lords sat silently together in a castle''s meeting hall. Strangely enough, no meeting had concluded today, and nor was any nned for the day ahead, yet the two sat opposing each other in the giant ss round table.


    Something had gone wrong, and us knew it well, yet for some obscure reason Mercie wouldn''t let the truth slip down her tongue.


    "Mercie, I''m asking for thest time, where were you? And why hasn''t Inferno or the others returned yet?" Wearing a frown so deep it made him look like an old hound, us gripped his fists tight for he''d been frustrated for long enough. "And if you can''t tell me, then forget about this treaty between us and Margarette''s army. Why should I be the one to care when nobody else even shows their faces here?!"


    "Brother us," finally looking up from her painted nails, she shot us a stabbing nce. "Nobody cares if you leave, how did you not pick that up after being left here all alone?"


    Having fled the scene after Harukiid out his ns to summon Melicia, the only part that Mercie was trying to carry was keeping their mission a secret. The less people knew the better, for who knows when and where a betrayal might stab them from?


    "Fair enough then!" Smashing the ss table under his fist, us leaped off his chair and stride off the hall room. He''d be too tired to argue and too spiteful to care, thus whatever happened to the war against As was entirely in the hands of Margarette''s army and the other demon lords.


    ''Good riddance…'' Mercie thought, left all alone inside the room. ''Everything is moving too fast, and I can''t keep up with it all while listening to you nag as well.''


    To the extent of her knowledge, As had made his generals retreat back to the castle, Haruki and her siblings were headed to revive Asmodia, and to top it all off, Margarette and the rest were nning an all-out attack on the emperor''s domain to bring his tyrannical rule to an end once and for all. And despite everything lining so perfectly in their favor, for some obscure reason, she felt uncharacteristically anxious.


    "If As dies, and Asmodia is revived at the cost of another god''s body, then…" In deep thought, she scanned through all possible oues that could spring out of this unprecedented scenario. But the one that stuck with her the most was what she was most afraid of. "She''ll be the new god with nobody to rival her."


    Already being the strongest of all demon lords, Asmodia would''ve been trouble if she turned rogue at some point, however, once she possesses the body of a god, who dares conjecture what kind of atrocities would rain down from the heavens?


    "Either way," getting out of her seat, Mercie readied herself to take a light stroll. "We''re fucked."


    Making her way towards the exit, all of a sudden she heard a warping sound as if a portal had opened right behind her. ncing down her shoulder, she saw Haruki carrying a pile of bodies in every way possible. In his arms was Moriyana, biting down on Reya''s clothes, he was carrying her as well. As for Inferno and Deus, they were both lunged up his shoulders.


    "What in the creator''s name happened?" Asked Mercie, but before he could answer, his body flopped to the ground unconscious. Even when he''d been carrying them all, something felt off about his eyes to Mercie, but since she had no clue what was going on guessing was only going to lead her further away from what really happened.