14. World of the Darkness

Somewhere in a dark place. A demon and a high school boy sat cross-legged and faced each other. Candles are their only source of light. Unfortunately, the demon's interlocutor was actually sleeping in that position.

"Randy!"

"Randy!"

"RANDY!!!"

Dalor called the boy's name until he accidentally shouts at him. His voice blew out the only candle in this place.

"Whoa!" Randy woke up and was shocked by a very loud sound.

"You're finally awake, you idiot!" Dalor scolds the boy.

Randy looked around and then looked at the demon with a puzzled face on his face. He also noticed Dalor's unusual tone of voice. If it's pitched like that, then Randy must listen to the demon's words seriously.

"Why did you call me here?" Randy asked in bewilderment.

"Why?! After you almost lost your life because of being careless, you ask why?! I need to use almost all of my power to heal your damn body!" Dalor narrowed his eyes and brought his face closer to the boy.

Randy's eyes opened wide and glared in fear upon hearing Dalor's words. His body shook violently, cold sweat began to fall all over his body. He never thought to think about this.

"Lo-lost my life?! Shou-shouldn't we only need to use healing magic to prevent it?!" Randy looked trembled at the demon.

"Even though it was a World of Time Fracture where Valkyries and Justiciars could use magic freely. But dead is dead!" Dalor returned his body to its original position.

"Th-then... I've been fighting all this time without thinking about the consequences?" Randy slowly lowered where he stares.

His gaze was blank as if he had experienced death.

"Relax, you only need to get it right. You can save the world too if you are serious when doing that!" Dalor tried to calm the boy down.

But his word only makes him more trembling even more. His hand clenched tightly, blood oozing from his wounded grip.

"Th-that doesn't calm me down at all!" Randy closed his eyes, tears falling from there.

That boy shows his true self. He is a coward, not a brave man who will die for anything he believes. He always realizes how weak he was without this power.

Dalor looks angry at Randy's cowardice. His instinct to kill the boy was increased too highly. But due to he was sealed, he can't do much.

"Kill me, please...!" The boy's sounded so low when he said that.

That words do not make his killing intent grew higher. Instead, he felt increasingly disappointed and wanted to torture him for the rest of his life.

"You damn weak mortal!" Dalor grabbed and grip Randy's shoulders with his four hands.

"Have you forgotten your promise to them?! Those you have given a promise to return their friends!" Dalor reminded Randy of Ira and Hannah.

Before being released by Randy, those two behavior felt like was forced by something. But after Randy transforms their necklaces, they became as they should be. Their bodies feel light and easy to express their emotion afterward.

Randy became even sadder after remembering it.

"Not only that! Did you forget your mission-... Your goal?!" Dalor glared. "You said you wanted to save them from Apate, right?!"

"Right now it looks impossible, but if you keep transforming their necklaces. Then you won't be fighting alone!"

"The Valkyries and Justiciar will fight against Apate at your side!"

"It's not impossible!" Dalor gives him hope.

Randy didn't say anything. All he did was open his eyes and avert his gaze.

What he saw right now was the darkness of this place. He realizes it from the start, he was running from his trouble all this time. And the punishment for those who run away from their trouble is that hollowness of the darkness.

Slowly but surely, Randy looked back to the candle, the candle that becomes their only light source. He began to see a light as his will to fight this trouble began to grow. He must not run from this, for the sake of that light. He will fight that trouble.

He stared back at Dalor who was waiting for his reply. He looked bored at the boy.

"I will fight it, okay?!" Randy stood up and looked down at Dalor.

"I will save them all!" He hit his own chest signaling that he was ready for the worst consequences.

"But remember this carefully, I'm only doing this because I want to protect someone, not for anything else. If my reason to fight is gone, then I'll stop doing this and don't want to know what's going on anymore!" Randy made a condition to the demon, even though the condition was completely useless for the demon lord.

A sly smile appeared on the demon's face. He seemed satisfied with Randy's answer.

"That's amazing, I thought at first you were just a fool who was easily influenced. But after hearing your speech earlier, it seems that you are not someone they usually call a hero. Rather, just someone who wants to fight to fulfill his desires and ego." The sly smile looked very satisfied with the boy's answer. "You really aren't an angel but a demon, huh?"

Randy looked down at the demon's face. He looks at that face with a serious look. "I'm neither an angel nor a demon. I'm just a human!"

"Why do you say that? Aren't humans just the incarnations of either demons or angels?" Dalor looked at the boy who was standing impolitely.

"Humans are not one of them! Humans are not angels who always obey what their master says, nor are demons who always ignore their masters." Randy closed his eyes as he understands the meaning of his own words.

"Humans are creatures beyond that! They have both natures that neither you(Demon) nor angels have! They have something called a heart!" His eyes opened and glared at the demon bravely and firmly.

"No matter how good people are, they still have evil nature that can harm others. Vice versa, no matter how cruel humans are, they also have a kind heart even if it's just a bit!" Randy shout loudly at Dalor and then sat back down with him.

Dalor was speechless by Randy's speech. His mouth slipped slightly and laughed loudly. "Hahahahaha!"

"Why are you laughing?" Randy put on a foolish face.

"Well, you remind me of someone I used to know!" Dalor was still laughing out loud.

"People you used to know?"

"A long time ago, 2000 years ago. A person with ordinary looks. He once became a god after snatching that status from the old lady. But after that fight, he refused to be called a god because he said he was a human. And humans shouldn't be despite their nature, they must not call themselves god because they are never perfect. He only calls himself a high king! The strongest king in the universe." Dalor tells the story of the time before he was sealed.

"And your words are similar to that man, are you his reincarnation? Of course, it's impossible, you're different, coward, and don't even fit to be called the reincarnation!" Dalor laughed at the boy.

"That person, even though he is already at the very top, but he doesn't want to be called more than an ordinary human. That man really knows what the meaning of life is." Randy held his chin in amazed after hearing that person's story.

"Well, you're feeling better now, aren't you?" Dalor questioned the boy mentally.

"Hmm(nods)... I'm feeling better." Randy looked at the demon firmly.

"You can wake up now. They are waiting for you." Dalor allowed the boy to go. "If you're having trouble, don't hesitate to ask for help from someone around you. Not only J and W, but also friends who can help in the real world." Dalor gave Randy some advice before they finally end this session.

"I will sleep for a month to restore my power. Until then, farewell... Take care!"

A light came to Randy and blind his eyes. His eyes closed in pain from the light.

***

In a hospital, someone is lying in the bed. There were loud cries from several women that can be heard from the outside.

Randy slowly opened his eyes. His eye meets a guy who might be a doctor. He looked at the boy in shock. He backed away until he fell and fled from the room.

"Gho-ghost!" He screamed as he ran outside.

Suddenly the crying stopped, and they looked toward the door. But it seems they just see it as a casual thing that might happen.

Randy didn't understand what had just happened. But he tried to get up from his bed and look around. Unfortunately, the place was dark enough, he can't see anything, the only place he could see was the door where the frightened man use to left.

Randy walked out of that door. His eye trembled by the light. But as soon as he can see around him as normal. There are many people standing in front of that door.

"I have confirmed, it was my son!" Said an old woman who was crying.

"M-mother?" Randy called out to the person who might be his mother.

Suddenly the people who were there were shocked in disbelief. They even started to take a step back to escape. The person in front of him was his mother. But there was something strange about their gaze. Except for the mother.

He quickly hugged his son tightly. "You're really Randy, right?!"

Randy was confused by what happened. He looked at Farida and Ilham. And strangely, there's the student council president, the class idol, and the shy girl.

No one explained properly. Randy tried to look back and saw the sign on the door of the room.

Morgue

"Heh?!" Randy looked surprised.