Chapter 11:

CLANG!

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The dark mage was stunned. The boy, the half-dead piece of trash, that asshole, he was alive. Not only was he alive, he still had enough strength to fight back?

The demon was stunned. There should've been no way for the human to fight back. The human should've been dead, but what was this! The human was releasing an insurmountable amount of force; the human felt too strong.

Elin's blade almost touched the mage's neck. A bead of sweat ran down his neck, he backed away. The demon's palm which made contact with his sword had a deep wound on it. A bit more force and it would be sliced.

The dark mage ran away, he was scared. He was scared of the swordsman in front of him. He was scared of the boy, who was barely 14.

He was scared. He felt his insides churn, he couldn't see straight as the beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. He felt nauseous; he wanted to throw up right there. The fear he felt now couldn't be compared to anything he had ever faced before. He was sure he was going to die today.

Elin was slouched. His whole body seemed to have barely enough energy to even stand, yet he was clashing with a demon. He was emanating some sort of aura. He felt strong, extremely strong.

The demon was scared. It was scared to act. It was scared of death.

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I.

Will.

Protect.

Everyone.

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Both the demon and the mage were taken aback. They were taken aback by Elin's weak voice. The energy in the voice was weak, it was small. Yet it was the loudest thing in the cave. The dark mage swallowed cold saliva.

Elin slowly rose up from his slouched position. His golden eyes had a flame in them. The flame was raging, it was hot. It was raging, it seemed to come out of his eyes and burn everything. The blue flame, the flame of will, the flame; it scared the demon.

The demon pushed Elin back. Elin didn't even budge. It backed away two steps. Then, four steps. Then, ten.

Unknowingly, the demon had taken 10 steps back.

It was too scared.

Elin had some blue mist around him, burning and flickering like a flame. His body seemed to be on fire. The blue flame engulfed him. His sword had blue mist around it.

Elin looked straight at the demon.

Its face was different. It wasn't the disgusting smile, or the frown; it was of terror.

Elin took a step. The demon was still, as still as a statue. It couldn't move back anymore, it was now paralyzed with fear.

The demon knew what the swordsman had done to seem this strong. [Robur], the demon knew the principle behind this strange power of will humans had. However the swordsman in front of him was different, his sword was able to hurt him and now he had the capability to kill him.

Elin was in front of the demon.

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[Sword slash: Type 5]

First sequence: The Sun

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Something had happened. There was no sound; there was not even an indication of what had happened.

The demon didn't understand what had happened. The dark mage had the fear of god fall on his shoulders for the first time in his life.

The demon's limbs were vaporized. The demon began to fall as it had no way to hold itself up without its legs. It tried to block the sword, that it couldn't see, but it wasn't useful. Its wings were torn apart. It was naked; there was nothing else it could do.

In the last strike, Elin's sword broke into multiple pieces. He held the hilt and a small part of the blade.

For Elin, time itself seemed to stop as he looked at the falling body of the demon. It was slow, its hollow eyes held fear.

It seemed almost pitiable in that state. But, Elin had no mercy for it.

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[The Sun]

True Midday

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A single punch; it seemed to have no power behind it; but it was one single punch. That one single punch made contact with the demon's chest.

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BOOM!

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The demon's entire body was gone. Nothing else was left. It's horns, hands, legs, wings, everything was gone. Its head fell on the ground.

Elin stood there. His right hand which still held his sword had been shattered. But, his face held no emotion. He was cold. He turned his head towards the dark mage.

The dark mage fell on his knees. He began praying.

The dark mage never believed in god. He had no reason to, he was abandoned. No one helped him. He was alone. He helped himself. He believed in himself, so that was why he hated god. Someone or something which was a hope for other, yet he was ignored. He hated god.

That was why he became a dark mage, to show others that there was no god. To show others that their prayers meant nothing to god. That was why he killed, why he experimented, why he became heartless. That was why he made that connection.

Now, none of that mattered.

But, he was praying. He was scared of dying.

"H-How? How did you-How are you-...How can you still move after using it?" The dark mage looked at Elin. He was frightened. He was next.

"None of your fucking business. Time is running out. Answer my god damned question!"

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There was an incredible silence. The demon's head tried to regenerate as it began rolling around.

The dark mage wanted to laugh. He wanted to cry. His hope of survival wasn't dead. He still had a chance.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The dark mage vomited large amount of black blood on the ground, he looked up for help.

The pain was excruciating, more than a mana rebound.

He saw two blue flames look back at him. Elin looked at him with contempt; he gave no pity to the man who seemed to be praying to god, even though he was a mage, a dark mage at that. Elin looked at the man, begging on the ground, he realized the man's time was running out, he needed to get the answers quick.

"Who told you about this method?" Elin asked the dark blue flames through the armor burned even more fiercely.

The man couldn't answer, he was too scared, and in too much pain.

Elin sighed.

"This method of summoning while convenient requires a lot of sacrifices. However until the sacrifices are sufficed, the demons satiates itself on the host's mana or a supplement; in this case would be the sacrifice stone which ran out of power when you were flaunting your strength some time ago. But, what do you think will happen when the host runs out?" Elin's eyes were cold as he described the man's fate.

He had no reason to have mercy or feel empathy for this disgusting bastard.

"Tell me. Who told you about this method?"

"I-It was Miss Ve-"

The dark mage's voice did not come out. He touched his throat; he noticed something weird with his body. The dark mage began to shrivel up like a dried raisin. He lost all his moisture, as he began to age rapidly.

The man felt excruciating pain. He felt each part of his body as it was being sucked dry from any energy it had, he felt the pain of drowning and dying from thirst at the same time.

"What's happening to me?" That must have been his thought, as he looked at his own slow demise. The dark mage looked at his hands as it began to shrivel up.

His fingers began to fall apart. They fell on the ground, and began to turn into ash.

He looked at Elin in his last moments. His eyes told something, but Elin couldn't care less.

Elin turned around and saw the demon. It had regenerated everything other than its horns. It was in rage.

"Come at me, you ugly bastard!"

The demon rushed at Elin. It had its hands in front of it, as it readied an attack.

It was so close to Elin. So. Close.

Elin had lowered his position. He was in a position which was unbecoming of a swordsman. His posture was of someone who was about to throw something. Something like a spear.

[VIRES]

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BOOM!!!

The spear made contact with the charging demon immediately. It went right through forehead and its entire upper body was destroyed.

Thud!

Its lower body fell beside Elin making a dull sound.

The demon was no longer regenerating, since all its "nutrients" were gone.

The fight was over. The fight which should've been won by the dark mage, only one stood victorious; Elin.

Elin wanted to move his hands. His entire body was numb; he felt nothing below from his neck. He was paralyzed.

Twitch.

His fingers twitched as he intended to move them. He felt nothing. He felt tired. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep.

He held onto the broken sword, which couldn't hold up during the final strike, even while losing consciousness, a warrior never let go of their weapon.

He was tired. He closed his eyes.

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His consciousness drifted away; he wanted to wake up before it was too late. But-but he was too tired.

"You have many to protect don't give up.", A voice, a voice he was extremely familiar to. It was Eleanor's, but it seemed a bit deeper, rougher.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~", Elin took a big breadth, he felt his heart beat.

His heart was pounding, it was so loud.

"That voice..." It was his own voice but, he didn't say anything. He opened his eyes.

He wanted to move his hands again. He wanted to rub off all the blood on his face. His right hand tried to move. He felt excruciating pain; both of his hands had shattered under his armor.

He looked at the spot the demon was at. The spear was dug into the wall, he looked at it. He needed to get that before going out and maybe some evidence too. He looked around and saw a dark mana stone.

He looked around, trying to move only to feel excruciating pain each time.

"fuck."

He still needed to go home. He moved his legs towards the entrance of the cave slowly.

***

Elin came outside of the cave, he looked up. His eyes were extremely heavy, but this time he didn't close them. He was in too much pain.

The sky was about to turn orange. It was almost evening. Elin moved his feet towards the town, he was so close.

One step. He took one step.

He felt as if he was going to fall. He stumble in front, he used all his remaining energy to lift his legs forward. He stopped himself from falling.

Two steps. Three steps. Four steps. Five steps.

He could no longer walk. He fell on his knees. He was too tired.

"Help!" He wanted to ask for help, but no words came out.

He fell on his chest; he had no energy left to hold himself up.

"help."

***

Elin woke up. He was in an unfamiliar, yet familiar location. The ceiling was wooden, and somewhat moldy. The bed seemed to be barely holding up, and the quality of the bedding seemed questionable too. The smell of his environment was awful.

His eyes were heavy, he moved his hand. He couldn't. He jolted awake, he looked around.Beside him was something that was reflecting the light from the setting sun.

It was her armor.

"Oh! Young man, you're awake, or should I say young miss?"

"Huh?"

The blue haired thug greeted him awake. He made a sheepish laugh.

Eleanor suddenly realized why this place was familiar. She was at the inn.

***

[DAWN BREAKER INN]

Eleanor was no longer on the bed. Her hands were crudely bandaged, and some sort of first aid and healing seemed to have been provided as she was asleep.

Eleanor looked at her hand, she was still holding onto her broken broadsword. The first aid seemed to be done on top of the weapon. Eleanor was a bit sorry for the person who had done first aid on her, but she did not show her emotion.

Eleanor sat on a crude chair. In front was a table which had one broken leg, which was fixed with bandages. On the other side was the thug. He held something in his hand, he sat with no manners; his legs crossed. His hand held a bag, and his index finger had a ring; this ring was new. Eleanor was interested in this ring as she eyed it again, hoping to get it on her way out.

From the moment he entered the room, he didn't exactly have the same brashness as when they first met. Something seemed to be eating at him, as he looked at Eleanor.

"Well, I don't know what shit hole you went to get this battered up. But, I have to give it to ya! Even while dead unconscious you held your sword and spear. That's some warrior spirit! I tell you", the thug was loud, and laughed as he recounted how bad of a condition Eleanor was in.

Eleanor glanced at the bandages around her hand. She brought up his hand which held the broken sword to look at it, this small action made her feel excruciating pain as she twitched every so often. But she had to keep up the act; the dynamics of the conversation had yet to be decided.

"Ugh! Before that tell me how did I get here? And what time is it?"

"Ah! You don't have to worry; the sun was just about to set. Also, my subordinate saw you half dead in the middle of a forest. That guy investigated a bit and the suspicion of a dark mage and also found traces of a demon. So-", the thug threw something on the table.

The bag landed on the table. It made sound of metal colliding with each other. The table wobbled at the sudden impact. It was trying its best to hold itself up.

"Hmmm? 30 gold!" Eleanor was flabbergasted.

"That's the compensation for your work." the thug replied.

Eleanor wanted to accept this reward, but she wanted something else more. She almost died, so 30 gold might've been a lot but, it was not worth her life.

"You know what? I like the sound of 30 gold, but I almost died. I don't think this much is worth my life, the life of this barony's baroness. I did fight a demon y'know. A. Demon. Let's make our relationship stronger and give me that ring." Eleanor emphasized the 'baroness', and 'demon' part as she pointed, with her bandage wrapped hand, at the ring.

"A demon? AH! That's right. You did do that. That seems reasonable, and you are the baroness", the thug agreed?

It was surprisingly easy. Too easy.

"Of course, I would reject but-", he stopped his words, he seemed to be remembering somethings before continuing, "Yes, I would reject but the circumstances seem…different now"

He looked at Eleanor, his eyes held some deep rooted sorrows it seemed. But, he didn't spoke about it; neither did he try to bring it up. The thug looked at Eleanor, all the brashness now gone, as if all of that was just an act. He looked a bit sad, for some reason. Eleanor couldn't figure it out.

"Maybe he was a friend of my father? My father was quite a benevolent lord at his time, maybe he feels guilty that he made his friend's daughter fight a demon?" Eleanor made some conclusions.

"Your brother-", the thug spoke, but before he could speak another word.

Eleanor moved as soon as his words left his mouth.

"I would choose my next words carefully if I were you", through the extreme pain, Eleanor forced herself to fight.

Eleanor leapt in front with all his might. She stepped on the table, and slashed in front. She was sure, she was sure the attack would land. She knew the thug was strong, but she was also sure the thug was weaker than the demon. At least Eleanor could hold him off, she did not know what the man was about to say, but if appearances did not lie, it was likely the man had kidnapped her brother.

Through all the pain, Eleanor pushed through again. She needed to escape and formulate a plan to save her brother.

But, this thug was not normal. He was strong very strong. The thug caught the sharp spear. No damage was done to his hand, not even a scratch.

Eleanor tried to push him away. It seemed to have no effect as the thug just stood there. She pulled on the spear, but-

"What's up with this guy's grip strength?" She thought to himself erratically, she put more force on his feet.

The table's crudely bandaged leg broke. Elin fell but was caught by the thug.

"Come on!!! I just fixed that!" The thug suddenly raised his voice.

"You bastard!" Elin punched the thug on the face...attempted to, with his other hand which held the broken sword.

The fist was caught like it was natural. The thug looked at the spear, surprised. He caught Elin in his arms as he was falling to prevent further damage. He stared at Eleanor.

Silence emerged between them for the split of a second as the thug sighed once more. Eleanor was embarrassed, and the thug was hiding his sadness to the best of his capabilities.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, young lady."