The Path of Truth: Dark vs Light

"I have come to complete one mission...Kill Kyria." Darkness said and his spiritual energy filled the room.

"His aura...it's so powerful.." Lionel's partner said.

"Great observation Sherlock, he's a Fallen Legend of course he's this powerful." Lionel said.

Kyria summoned some knights and dashed towards Darkness and bellowed. Darkness snapped his finger and spirit chains grappled around Kyria's legs and held her down. Lionel grabbed his partner's hand and swiftly left the area.

"W-Wait, what are you doing? What about-"

"Grace, screw Kyria. This is her karma. You think I'm gonna defend some stuck up Religious bastard who wants us dead?! Let's go!" Lionel ran off holding Grace's hand.

"You traitors!" Kyria bellowed and glared then looked at Darkness. "Ryoya, how the hell are you not dead?"

"Easy...I simply was brought back to life. I don't know who did it, might've been a Dark Lord...but all I know is I will kill you here and now!" Darkness summoned his sword and a seal shined on his hand. "Die!"

Darkness slashed then a beam of light shot up from the ground and Darkness jumped back, dodging the beam. He stood up and looked at Kyria. She stood up and her eyes began forming the Yaoke and she smirked.

"I'll have your head as an offering to our Goddess. I'll kill you and you shall be nothing more than a simple and disgusting memory you inbred worm!" Kyria bellowed and her aura surged powerfully and Darkness glared at her.

"You're nothing more than a failure of a daughter...you and your father disgust me. I will send you straight to hell, where your Goddess belongs!" Darkness said.

The hideout shook and Grace tripped down the stairs. Lionel looked back and caught her. They both ended up falling down the stairs, but Lionel took most of the damage, protecting Grace. Lionel groaned a bit and Grace sat up.

"Lion, are you okay? Are you hur-" Grace noticed someone standing over them.

Lionel looked up and noticed the person as well. They stayed in silence for a bit.

"Dark Zodiacs...Follow me. I shall lead you far from this battle." The person said.

"We don't need your help...I don't care about who you are." Lionel said defiantly.

"Come on...what choice do we have? He's our only hope of escaping this place alive." Grace said. "Who are you anyway?"

"My name...is Cipher. I work with Arcane to complete a task. If you come with me, your safety is guaranteed." Cipher said.

"Cipher..." Grace said and stood up.

"Ugh...fine." Lionel stood up slowly and dusted his clothes off.

Cipher adjusted his mask and turned around then walked off. Lionel and Grace followed him. Cipher began explaining why he even came to the Spirit Realm and they listened with open ears.

"Darkness! I'll end you!" Kyria dashed towards Darkness and went for a barrage of attacks using her lance.

Darkness dodged them all quickly and parried her last attack then palmed her stomach and she was blown through a wall. Darkness looked at Kyria and walked towards her. Kyria groaned a bit and stood up. Darkness sensed illusions and dodged their attacks.

"What the...he dodged invisible illusions..?!" Kyria said in disbelief.

"The Darkness will dim your light!" Darkness bellowed and spun then slashed at Kyria. She blocked the attack and grunted then was blown through the window.

Darkness followed and Kyria opened her eyes and saw him. He slashed down and Kyria blocked it and sparks flew. They both crashed to the ground and Darkness noticed Kyria was gone. Kyria bellowed and appeared above him and stabbed her lance through his back. She smirked and Darkness's clone shattered into particles then reformed into phantom swords and slashed at her. She blocked them and Darkness appeared in front of her and punched her stomach and spirit energy exploded. He bellowed and sent her to the sky.

"Say hello to your Goddess! Ravaging Dark Spikes!" Darkness bellowed and dark spikes surrounded Kyria and crashed into her at once and exploded.

Darkness looked at the large puff of black smoke in the sky then dodged Kyria's lance and she warped to her lance. She picked it up and slashed at his neck. Darkness looked at her and saw her wide smile. Darkness closed his eyes and dodged the lance last second and palmed the air. An invisible force struck her in the stomach and she groaned then she was blown away through the gates of the hideout and rolled on her side. He opened his eyes and noticed strands of his hair falling.

"Now my hair is 3 centimeters uneven.." Darkness said and held the strands of hair in his hand.

"How can he possibly be so powerful...? Even the Yaoke isn't helping..! How can that demon Yufumi draw out the Yaoke's power..?!" Kyria panted and stood up slowly. "Darkness I will kill you...I must! kill..! Kill..! KILL! KILL!"

Darkness looked at Kyria and noticed her aura growing darker. Kyria made no noise as her dark aura consumed her. She began laughing like a maniac and the marking on her forehead shined brightly.

"KILL! KILL! I MUST KILL YOU!" Kyria laughed.

Darkness smirked and looked at her. Kyria looked at him and her body shook and she gripped her lance tightly and the crystal in the lance shined brightly.

"You know...When Stella lost control of her darkness, at least she was cute when she did...but you. You're just as ugly as your Goddess." Darkness taunted then chuckled and laughed. "You think you can defeat me with your dark form? You're mistaken."

"Shut up...and just die!" Kyria bellowed and dashed towards him.

She jumped and slashed down with her lance. Darkness caught her lance and grabbed her face and slammed her into the ground. He noticed her dark aura was surrounding his arm. He chuckled and gripped her face tighter, crushing her skull.

"That's enough Darkness." Cipher said and looked at him.

Darkness heard the voice and stopped. He looked up and saw Cipher. He stood up straight and turned normal then Cipher adjusted his mask and looked at Kyria.

"Kyria will be my enemy to kill...but not yet." Cipher said.

"Who are you..?" Darkness asked.

"My name is Cipher. Hero of all Four Realms. I thought you would know that Darkness." Cipher said.

"Steven..?" He tilted his head.

"Correct." Cipher said and his cloak flowed in the wind.

They looked at each other for a while and allowed their reunion to sink in for a while and then Kyria slowly stood up. She took out a dagger and Cipher noticed then pushed Darkness out the way and smacked the dagger from her hand and aura surrounded his arm and he punched her stomach.

"Stay down if you know what's good for you." Cipher said and Kyria fell to her knees and threw up blood a bit and fell face first on the ground.

Cipher looked at Kyria and his aura vanished then he walked off. Darkness followed and they talked for a bit up until they made it to a hidden base and Cipher stopped then looked at Lionel and Grace. Lionel crossed his arms and huffed a bit and a tiny flame escaped from his mouth.

"We will have a special ally joining. My sister, I'm sure you're familiar with her legacy. Her name is Emilia. She is a Time Master and my partner. Get acquainted with your home. I will be giving you all missions once I think you all are ready." Cipher said.

"Right!" Grace smiled determined.

"Whatever you say." Lionel said.

"Hm.." Darkness crossed his arms and closed his eyes. 'Steven died a long time ago...this can't be him under the mask, but whoever is has his mannerisms and his nature mastered.'

Meanwhile with Sephora and the others. They sat in the Temple and Sephora went over the plans for the month. Suzumi yawned and leaned her head against Mikoko and Mikoko looked at her and smiled then looked back at the plans.

"Uhm...Ms. Sephora...where is Yufumi? She's been gone for a while now." Shizaki said.

"She went out to do something. She will return shortly.." Sephora smiled and closed her eyes. "She's playing a very important role other than killing Nymphira. She's doing something very important."

"What could that be..?" Shizaki thought and tilted her head.

"Don't bother thinking hard about it kiddo. It's something you won't understand." Miyachi ruffled her hair and looked at her.

"I know...but what if she's in danger." Shizaki said.

Miyachi looked at Shizaki and smiled a bit then closed her eyes and her smile faded. She took Shizaki's hand and stepped outside the Temple and Shizaki looked at her confused.

"Is something amiss Miyachi?" Shizaki asked.

"Shizaki...I...I want to apologize about something that happened a few months ago. I'm sure you remember...I killed your brother and I tried to kill you. If it wasn't for Yufumi...I wouldn't have known there is more to being a demon than enslaving and killing mortals." Miyachi looked away. "I took away someone you loved and I want to-"

"It's okay Miyachi." Shizaki smiled. "I do still miss him dearly...but he wouldn't want me to constantly cry over him. I was able to talk to him because of Kufka and he said that he still loves you a lot. You love him too and I know because you always wear the ring he bought you."

Miyachi blushed a bit and looked at the ring on her finger. She began tearing up and closed her eyes and Shizaki held her hand then Miyachi opened her eyes and looked at her. Shizaki looked at her then giggled a bit.

"You'll always be my big sis...I love you Miyachi...hatred never crossed my mind when thinking about you. I can't hate you because of your nature. I never want to lose you...I don't want to lose any of the Demon Princesses...my friends. Please don't cry...just know we are all here for you." Shizaki smiled.

"Shizaki.." Miyachi whispered and tears rolled down her cheeks. She hugged Shizaki and Shizaki hugged back.

Zofia watched from a tree then looked at the sky. Kufka walked towards Zofia and sat beside her.

"It's getting cold out big sis. Are you sure you don't want to come in? Dad is in there." Kufka said.

"...I'm fine. Nothing can be colder than my insides and my shell." Zofia said.

"Zofia...I heard about Dad's condition...how is Mom gonna react..? I don't wanna lose him.." Kufka said.

"...I don't wanna talk about it right now." Zofia closed her eyes and Kufka looked at her sadly.

They didn't have much of a connection because they weren't given the chance to bond at all. They know nothing about each other. All they know is they are sisters.

"I'll just got back inside.." Kufka stood up and started to walk back to the temple, but Zofia held Kufka's hand.

"Please...don't leave..." Zofia's body was shaking. "Don't go..."

Kufka looked at Zofia and looked at their hands and went to Zofia and noticed she was crying. She shook her head and wiped her eyes. Kufka looked at Zofia sadly and began tearing up.

"Don't go...I don't want to lose you either... please stay with me..." Zofia cried.

"Z-Zofia.." Kufka began sniffling and tears began rolling down her cheeks.

"Please...I beg of you...I don't want you to leave me too.." Zofia cried more and wiped her eyes more. "I don't want to be alone again...I'll miss you so much.."

"P-Please stop c-crying.." Kufka cried a bit as well.

Zain watched from the temple and saw his two daughters crying. He looked a bit upset and closed his eyes. Zofia took the news pretty hard and a huge wave of sadness hit her. Kufka was crying because that same wave of sadness hit her. The thought of losing Zain hurt them...especially Zofia. Zain opened his eyes and felt a pat on his shoulder.

"You're an amazing father you know that." Himiya smiled a bit. "They love you a lot...I can feel the bond you share with your children."

"I wish I could get more time with them...The thought of never seeing my kids again breaks me." Zain said. "The thought of never seeing my family again..."

Lina and Kanon suddenly came into his mind and he closed his eyes and got a major headache and went to sit down. Himiya looked back and looked at Kufka and Zofia. She went back in the temple and closed her eyes.

"Gods...I pray you never take away Zain from his fami-NNGH!!" Himiya held her head tightly as a sharp pain rushed in her head.

"You can't pray to the Heavens...you're a demon remember?" Murano looked at her.

"Yeah with this pain how could I forget now.." Himiya grunted.

"Come...let's get you in bed so you can rest." Murano smiled.

"Thanks.." Himiya nodded.