#2 EXIT HERE

'Darkness, I mean not darkness.'

There's always a vivid dream just before someone wakes up. Ash was in one of those situations.

'Demon lord and I fighting to death- I win and boom...No that's not what happened... I mean it sort of did.'

Groggily waking up from the nice dream, buried in rubble- felt like nothing new to him. Buried deep within.

'Can't see the light- nor do I now which is up. Just my luck' Giving some time to just feel his body, he had overdrawn his mana. Crap...

Just exhausted and run down, He lays there, slowly gathering up whatever energy he could to get out of the rubble. Digging his way through, breaking out of the sizable heap of rubble. If one had happened to be trekking across the Everglades and came across the scene; they'd have watched a bloody hand shoot straight up, breaking past the pile of rocks, giving anyone a one-way ticket to death by pissing their pants.

Ash managed to claw his way out, collapsing on the once beautiful cliffs- his eyes closed, gasping for air, exhaustion had long since broken him down.

What seemed like an eternity later, he could regulate the mana in him- taking a look at his surroundings, the dense forest was still alive and well. Not a huge amount of damage could be seen. The crisp cold air mixed with the earthiness of the trees had woken Ash from his rest- The two once brightly shining suns were blending into the serene night sky.

'How long was I out for, the suns are going down already- damn maybe a whole day.... maybe a couple of days. I have to move'

Ash had gotten himself out, taking some time to make sure he was capable of travelling back to the Capitol, he decided to look at the scene itself. A huge part of the cliffs had broken off in his duel with the Demon Lord, the very edge of it and slates of rock had crashed down directly below into the Everglade Forest. No signs of the demon lord itself, it should have been perished in the battle, but here Ash was... alive and well.

Ash lingered. He needed to know. Did he do it?

He couldn't summon the Holy sword anymore, it had done its duty. Being embedded into the Demon lord, the sword itself had used its very being to destroy the heart. Ash had barely enough mana to make it out of the forest itself- either that or he had to scale the delicate aftermath of the once sturdy cliffs. He would have to deal with getting of there later.

He needed to know. A renewed spirit was lit in his eyes. He started moving the debris waiting to see the aftermath of his battle.

----

Ash sat down, leaning against a tree- daylight breaking through the leaves of the forest. Its been more than a week or so, the huge piles of jagged rock had been pushed aside, they formed a ring, leaving a gap to enter from... a skeletal figure could be seen laying inside the circle. Ash was directly looking at it.

This was the former Demon lord.

He had spent days, feeling traces of the Demon lord's mana signature- desperate to get of the presence, he had exerted inhuman strength, ripping the rocks & leaving deep scars on his hands. He left traces of his blood on most of them. When he saw the skeletal figure of human remains laying there, Ash had remained still. He stared at the figure before walking over to a nearby tree and sitting down with his back against it.

This was the Demon lord...he was sure of it. He just couldn't understand why there was no longer a presence of mana from it.

Being born into the world of Cerra, one intrinsically develops mana from young. Be it anyone from the 3 continents- the Beast lands Eria, Demonkins Ustos or the human continent, Xandar. The general populace would think that mana only develops once you can create mana rings around the heart. Technically true, but any creature or being from birth, would inherit mana.

Its in their blood, more importantly, it was in their bones. Had the Demon lord been vanquished, mana should still be in its bones- its how crime scenes are identified, how anything is analysed. Through the process of identification of ones mana circuits and exposure.

No one person is the same, be it of blood relatives or twins- their mana would always differ- the laws of nature would make sure of that.

Yet... here Ash was, looking at the one figure devoid of it. This human skeletal figure was a freak of nature; the fact that maybe the Demon lord was not able to use mana within itself and was able to survive, using mana from nature itself was a feat unbeknownst to many. Maybe the royal family would have experienced something similar to this.

Its not to say that mana doesn't come from nature. Mana is inherent within nature itself, one and the same, an invisible force of energy, willed into every being. No one know if its always been there, but its widely popular theory that mana fully develops in a being by developing the mana rings; something the general populace have come to accept.

Being part of a force to vanquish the Demon lord, Ash was privy to information to understand that mana is in fact in everyone, since birth. Ash stared at the remains a while longer, before standing up- just as he was, something caught his eye...

A wisp.

Mana.

Ash rushed into the circular monument, he saw something. He was sure of it.

'What was that? Wait, its mana- there, gods, there it is. Its really the there.'

Flooded with relief, Ash picked up the skull- the shape was evident enough that the Demon lord was once a human being, Ash looked closer- spotting the mana signature, he could feel the presence of the once infamous Demon lord. After he got back to the Capitol, he could rest knowing the terrors would stop.

Ash look at the rest of the bone laying on the ground, he couldn't leave them behind- even the slightest chance of revival, Ash burned the bones- completely to ash and cinders, burying the ashes deep in the ground of the circular monument.

The final resting place of the Demon lord.

Carrying the skull, Ash looked at the burial grounds one last time before heading into the Everglade Forest.