“Yes…”

The silent room went through a huge bang with the transformation of Nedeira. 

Her gentle blue eyes turned to dark orange, her soft pink hair now was black as the raven, she stood as a new entity, powerful and daring.

Her naive and friendly aura was gone.

Karyan faced this formidable being. 

He removed the already damaged cloak from his body. His perfectly well chest was visible and covered in small dark scars.

"I guess this is it…"

Sera coiled protectively around his wounded arm. His long green hair fell gracefully, catching the faint light as his golden eyes reflected a warrior's determined revenge.

The king's laughter morphed into desperation, collapsed. "I kept my promise, now free my soul!" he begged the demon, only to be dismissed with a disdainful gesture.

Sin tightened his grip on his staff. Reverie, pushed aside, slowly got up, staring at the transformed Nedeira in disbelief.

Karyan, smirking at the demon, mocked the twisted actk. "What an ending, huh?" His voice was calm, betraying none of his inner thoughts.

The demon in Nedeira's body smiled wickedly. "Foolish snake, you have already lost," it taunted with a voice that was once sweet, now filled with darkness.

Karyan's laughter rang out, "An ending? This is merely the next battle," he retorted, his eyes locked on the demon's.

Karyan's chant filled the room, a deep vibration that summoned the energy around them. The air pulsed with power as his snakes responded, ready for their master's command.

"Come then!" Karyan shouted as he stepped forward, the wrath of the wronged emanating from his being. 

The room seemed to finally respond, the snakes moved as a single force of retribution, their master's will was like their own.

The demon launched at Karyan, who nimbly dodged Sera's grip.

"You think you want to defeat me? I am a power incarnate!" the demon boomed, Nedeira's form was like a vessel of pure evil.

"You wear a stolen body," Karyan replied, unflinching. "We will free her and you will just die trying."

The serpents struck with precision, a relentless tide of scale and venom against the usurper. They were an extension of Karyan's will, each bite stroke for freedom.

"What have I done…?" The king lay forgotten, his dreams of power and control felt like a wiped dust. 

 His demon, his ambition, his very soul, slipped away like shadows at dawn.

And Karyan, the serpent master was going to take it away from him. 

With Sera's presence on his arm and his own strong spirit, he was an example to the enduring strength of those who fight for their goals.

The demon housed in Nedeira's body, began to weave her potent hypnosis. 

Her eyes swirled pools of dark orange, fixed on Karyan. The air shimmered with unseen energy as her power sought to ensnare his mind.

"You cannot resist," the demon's voice, a corrupted echo of Nedeira's, filled the room. "Surrender to my will."

Karyan, feeling the tug at the edges of his consciousness, focused on the bond with his snakes. 

Sera tightened her embrace, trying to remind him of her shield against the encroaching control.

"Your tricks won't work on me," Karyan spat, his voice was sharp, cutting through the demon's spell. "I've seen real power, and you are just a shadow hiding in someone else's skin!"

"Sssshhh…shhhhh…" The snakes hissed in agreement at once like a chorus. 

 They surged forward, a wave of venom and scale, each strike aimed at the demon. But the creature was strong, its new body lending it powers that were not its own.

With a wave of Nedeira's hand, the demon unleashed a counter-assault. A blast of dark energy rippled through the room, sending snakes flying. 

But for every serpent that fell, two more seemed to rise.

"Is that your best?" Karyan taunted, even as he dodged another pulse of dark magic. He knew he was outmatched, but giving up was not in his nature.

The demon laughed, a sound that held no joy, only malice. "You think you can outlast me? I have eternity on my side."

Karyan glanced at the fallen king, reminding himself and making sure the bastard won't flee. He replied to the demon, "Then you will spend eternity fighting, for I will never yield!"

Again and again, the demon struck with Nedeira's hypnosis, each attempt was more forceful than the last. Karyan could feel his focus slipping, his connection to his serpents fading away.

Sin, on the sidelines, could only watch in horror. "Karyan!" he shouted.

The demon, sensing victory, pressed harder. "Bow to me," it commanded, forcing itself into Karyan's mind.

But Karyan, with a mighty effort, pushed back against the hypnotic power. "I bow to no one, especially not a thief in the night!"

"Gaaaaah!" With a final surge of strength, Karyan unleashed a torrent of energy. It was raw and wild, a last desperate gambit. The snakes responded, their attacks continued relentlessly. 

To Reverie they looked like a reflection of their master's spirit.

Yet, the demon's grasp on Nedeira's powers was too strong. One by one, the snakes succumbed to the hypnosis, their movements slowed down, their attacks ceased too. 

Karyan staggered, his body and mind was at their limits. 

He looked into the demon's eyes, not with fear, but with a challenge. "I'm sorry, but as someone who made a deal with a king and was able to threaten Sin, you're so weak," he gasped.

The demon merely smiled, confident seemed to be his triumph. "Then we shall meet again, serpent master," it promised.

As the room stilled, the demon turned at Sin, "traitor to your own kind," he spoke loudly. 

But Sin didn't move. He froze in the air instead, and Karyan couldn't understand why? 

When they fought each other, Sin was cunning and malicious, someone one could never trust and mocked its true potential. 

But now? The blue haired demon he had met not long ago seemed like a butterfly in Nedeira's palm. 

"Why?" Karyan whispered to himself, "why can't you fight this demon?" He asked aloud. 

Sin turned to Karyan, clearly hearing his thoughts even in the middle of the breaking walls and never-ending noice of the drums. M

"Because he's our father," he replied smiling. 

And with a small crash of the hands, the demon squeezed Sin's body like a ripped piece of paper.

"Just a waste of my time," Nadro sneered, lowering its hand. 

As Karyan watched his friend fall, he quickly ran to catch him. 

"Venom!" He yelled and the big anacond caugh Sin with its mouth. 

"A human helping a demon? This is entertaining, ahahahah!" It laughed. 

"This is the entertainment house I wanted before, king!" It addressed him.

The king was motionless, with no signs of life. 

"No!" After seeing Sin being safe in venom's mouth, Karyan focused on Nadro. 

"I'm sorry, but the king is mine to deal with!" 

Nadro glared at Karyan, not saying anything. 

"Humans…you are so persistent and so oblivious to everything…" 

"And demons has no-" 

"We did once…we were kings to earth, and now we're being treated like slaves and having to beg for a soul in exchange for a life…I will end this here." 

Nadro slowly rose up from the ground, its eyes shut tight in concentration.

 It seemed to be aware of every single person in the house, the town, and even the entire country. "Let it all stop..." Nadro murmured, before opening its striking orange eyes. 

Suddenly, shards of mental anguish shot out from its gaze, piercing into the minds of everyone present. "Now, turn against each other," it commanded.

Reverie clutched her head in agony, overwhelmed by the sharp and crushing pain assaulting her mind. 

"Aaaah!" Karyan dropped to the ground, his pleas for relief echoed in the air too.

Outside the entertainment house, the sounds of screams and shouts filled the air, as if the entire kingdom was on its knees, begging for mercy. 

Swarms of black and orange butterflies fluttered in the vicinity, each one were harvesting the lives of the innocent.

"Yes…"