Shadow

The magic circle beneath Gin was gone and so was the restriction on the Beast. Gin swung his sword to test his new found power. 

*swoosh

A red crescent was released. It was bigger and more powerful than what he was able to produce before. He felt that he could get drunk on this power! It was addicting! 

Gin then looked at the Beast which still displayed no emotion. He squinted his eyes which had now turned into the eyes of his Demon. It glowed dangerously and he got into position. He took a breath and dashed! 

He appeared in front of the Beast and swung his blade! Surprisingly the Beast managed to retaliate by swiping its claws! *Boom! The Beast's claw and whole arm was blown back. 

The Beast was pushed back and lost its balance for a second. But that second cost it its right eye! *Puchi! Gin didn't miss a single opening after that, he relentlessly kept on attacking like a mad man. Slash! Slash! Slash! 

The Beast growled and defended and attacked as much as it could.

Blood splattered everywhere as deep cuts and gnarly injuries kept on piling on the Beast's body! Gin was determined to slay this monster and as fast as possible. But even though he was acting like a little devil, Gin still managed to prioritize Leah's safety by luring and taking their fight away from her position.

—--

A few minutes earlier, when a blinding light engulfed Little Lu. He involuntarily closed his eyes and when he opened them up he was no longer in the forest. 

But in a dark place. 

"Huh?" Little Lu woke up and curiously looked around. 

"It's so dark, b-but I can see my hands and feet. Woah!" Exclaimed the little boy as he found this situation amusing. He forgot what situation he had landed himself prior and just admired the weird sensation of being able to see only himself in this place.

He got up and started walking forward. He had no destination but oddly enough he felt he knew where he was going. He walked and walked and walked but found nothing no matter how far or how long he walked. He couldn't reach nor see the end of this dark place. It could be minutes, it could be hours… in this dark place, in this void, no one is capable of tracking the time. As Little Lu kept exploring this endless darkness he realized that he was all alone. But even so he kept a positive mindset and thought 'I'll see someone eventually'. He was unperturbed by the silence and the darkness, he was humming and sometimes skipping. Nothing seems to be able to affect him until… 

*growl* 

A growl echoed throughout. In this place where you can hear a pin drop. The Little boy's stomach growled like a monster. 

"I'm hungry." Thought the little boy as he held his belly and stopped. 

"Mama?" He called out subconsciously as panic started to creep into his heart. Little Lu has been spoiled all this time. Ever since the accident of when he was born, his parents Chris and Calir as well as every adult in the Village made sure no harm came close to him. He was spoiled by attention, love, care and most of all, food. The only time he ever felt hungry was when he skipped lunch because he and all the other kids were playing and swimming by the small river that runs across the Village. 

The little boy looked around as realization of not being able to eat dawned on him. He then runs while calling out to Calir, his mother. He had no direction, he just kept on running wherever his two feet took him. 

*Bam!

He suddenly hit something and fell on his bottom. "Ouch, ouch, what did I hit?" He wondered as he pressed and caressed his aching forehead. He looked forward but there was nothing in front of him. Only endless darkness. Little Lu got up and advanced slowly, he put his hands forward until he touched something smooth. He couldn't see it but it was there. He then ran his fingers across it slowly. It was like a glass window to the touch. A thought began to form inside the little boy's little mind. 'Am I inside a box?' After familiarizing himself with it, the little boy tapped it, and knocked on it until he eventually began banging it. He wasn't panicking, he was simply amused by it. He forgot his hunger immediately when he found something new that piqued his curiosity.

After banging it and seeing no response. He proceeded to press his ear against it to listen. He heard nothing, he thought for a minute as he stuck his tongue out and was about to lick it when he saw someone staring at him from the other side. He was frozen from shock. "Mama?" He blurted out. The one staring at him greatly resembles Calir. But upon closer look it looks more like him. Mainly because first, the one looking at him was a child and only a little bit taller than him. Second, the other one had pitch black eyes unlike his amber eyes. And third was the hair, it was a little darker than his and it was longer, way longer because it reached the hips. 

Little Lu stared at this other girl or boy for a minute with his tongue sticking out. It looked comical and they stayed like that for a while until Little Lu broke the silence. He waved his hand and said "H-Hi, I'm Lucian. What's your name?"

—--

Back at where Gin and the Beast were. 

*Puchi! Blood splattered as the Beast's wings were completely destroyed. Only a bit of flesh and bone was left attached to its back. Indicating that it once had wings. 'I can do this!' Exclaimed Gin inwardly as he looked at the Beast's condition.

The Beast now looked like a mess. It has deep cuts all over its body. Its tail was severed and its wings were destroyed and it only has one functioning eye left.

It limped slightly to balance itself before it doged to the left! *Boom! Just missed by a centimeter! Gin was relentlessly attacking it, not wasting any second. He was determined to kill it and end this nightmare. *Puchi! Another deep cut! A long fresh open wound on its neck. 'Fuck! It wasn't deep enough!' Cursed Gin. 'Almost there, I just need to hang on a little more.' 

Time was running out for the Beast but so was for Gin. He was beginning to feel fatigued and out of breath. For the past few minutes he was able to release power beyond what he's capable of… that's right. It was beyond what he was capable of. He was only feeling the setback now since the power he could borrow from his Demon was almost gone. Just as powerful as he got before, just as weak as he would be after. 

The Beast released a swamp colored ball of miasma from its mouth which took Gin by surprise. 'It still probably has more abilities!' 

The Beast then launched it like a cannon toward Gin! 

"Shit!" The little boy cursed as he gathered Mana on his sword and performed three slashes toward it. It came out as an "X" with a "I" in the middle. 

*Boom! The green ball of miasma exploded and a bit of green gas spread in the surrounding area! Some of the grass and other plant life immediately died and decayed. 

'Leah!' Thought Gin as he saw what this green gas could do so he turned and ran toward Leah. He put his sword in his mouth and bit it before he picked up Leah with his only abled arm. He carried her and placed her beside Mary's body. He then ran back to where the Beast was only to find it convulsing but it was still standing. Gin observed it as it seemed to become weaker and weaker. That made Gin heave a sigh of relief. But he still has this bad feeling. He doesn't know why but he had to finish this fast.

'I'm almost out of Mana and my body is becoming unresponsive by the second. The fatigue is also catching up to me.' he thought as he recalled crashing on a tree earlier. His body lagged for a second, a second was all it took for him to take a hit and suffer some damage. Determination and conviction reflected inside Gin's Demonic eye. 'I'll kill you!' He uttered inwardly as he once more tangled with the Beast.

After three minutes of relentless and ruthless attacks… 

*Boom! The Body of the Beast crashed as it fell down unmoving. It was riddled with wounds and it only had three legs remaining. There was a whole on its chest and if you look inside you'll see the ruined battlefield. Gin managed to pierce its chest all the way through its back. But it cost him greatly of his Mana and Energy.

"Haaa, Haaa I'm drained." Gin uttered out of breath. His eyes had now returned to normal, his black sclera receded and white took over once more. He slumped down supported by his sword as he coughed blood. 'M-My body's not responding anymore. As I thought that power was really too much for the current me.' Thought Gin as he felt a bit bitter. If only he gained that power way before then maybe Mary would still be alive today. If given another chance Gin would definitely practise hard to master that power and make it his own. But such is life… nothing goes according to plan.

The fight was one sided, the Beast was like a punching bag. But it still managed to inflict some damage on Gin because the little boy's body lagged and became sluggish a few times. Gin looked at the Beast's body one more time as he remembered its emotional eyes. During their fight Gin subconsciously wanted the Beast to scream from pain and agony that was why at the beginning he toyed with it and dragged the fight a little longer. He was still a child after all, he held a deep grudge to it for killing Mary. But seeing no response from it and feeling his energy draining at a fast pace the little boy felt a sense of urgency and decided to finish it immediately only to realise that the Beast was more tough and resilient than it seems.

'Move!' He inwardly screamed as he forced his body to stand and walked toward Leah and the others. He limped and used his sword as a cane. 

He could see Leah and Mary. He was almost there.

He stopped for a minute to grab a vine and then proceeded to limp forward.

*BADUM* 

A heartbeat echoed out… 

Gin froze as his eyes widened. 

*BADUM*

Gin paled as he slowly looked back and saw the Beast's body twitching. He forcefully bit his lips until it bled and blood seemed to flow inside his body once again.

He limped faster toward Mary Leah, mustering every strength that he could. Desperation was on his face as the heartbeat became faster and faster. "Argh!" Gin fell forward as his body spasmed but he didn't stop. He let go of his sword and crawled towards Leah and Mary. By the time he reached them the wind seemed to be blowing in the opposite direction as strong winds seemed to be sucked in towards the Beast. No! Not wind but Mana! The rich and concentrated Mana was being sucked by the Beast.

It floated up as a swamp colored cocoon coated its body. Gin mustered up all of his strength and carried Leah onto his back. He wanted nothing more than to get away from this place as soon as possible. Adrenaline once again coursed in his vein as he hurriedly wrapped her with the vine he picked up to keep her in place. He used his teeth and hands to tie the vine. His teeth bled as he used all the strength he had left. He then stood up and carried Mary's body with his only abled arm. 

Even while in a desperate situation he still never had the thought of leaving her body behind.

He took a step forward and boom! "Arrrgh!" Something exploded behind him causing him to tumble forward strongly causing his grip on Mary to loosen. Her lifeless body was thrown forward. "Nooo!" Gin screamed as he crawled forward and by the time he reached her a shadow loomed over him.