Kaori

The first demon to break in caught a ball of flames to the face.

Kaori tried her hardest to keep her nerves calm, but the loud tearing of wood and the guttural roaring coming from the front made that difficult. The blonde Savior gritted her teeth, quickly splitting her swordstaff. All in all, there were five demons along with the Nightmare. Two of them were running in faster than the rest.

With Ash somewhat hidden, Kaori could focus entirely on the coming fight. Still, that didn’t mean she would win. She had managed to match Ash in skill after the week of training, but she still felt like an amateur.

Particularly, the fact that she couldn’t see their stats was a problem too. She had no idea which was the weakest.

As they got to her position, she got ready. The demon closest to her hunched over like it was going to try tackling her. Kaori kicked its face, pushing it back. The demon next to it raised a clawed hand. Kaori blocked its attack with a sword, then, with her other blade, she stabbed it in the gut.

The demon continued to press forwards like it didn’t care too much about what had just happened.

Kaori glanced behind it, seeing the other demons rapidly entering the library. The Nightmare, however, didn’t seem to be focused on Kaori. Instead, it was looking around the library, like it was searching for something. What? She shook her head.

I need more space, she thought. So, she pushed the demon she’d stabbed to the right and ran left, where the bookshelves had been. Now that it was empty, Kaori felt like she had room to work with. She turned back just in time to duck out of the way of a swipe from a different demon that may have clawed her eyes out.

She rose back up with a slash at the throat that reduced the demon’s screeches to gargles.

An EXP message popped up above her, but Kaori was too focused to look at it.

Target their heads. Kaori reasoned. I need to take out at least a few of them as fast as I can, otherwise, they’ll swarm me.

Kaori dropped one of her blades, looking at the group of demons rushing towards her.

“Infernal currents, come out!” From her left palm, a stream of fire poured out. She tried to hit as many of them as she could with it, blinding the two nearest to her as she aimed for their eyes. She canceled the spell out, quickly crouching to pick up her other sword, then she charged in.

One demon was trying to put the fires on its head out. Kaori stabbed it in the neck.

Then, as another one approached, Kaori spun in place, slicing off the upper half of its head. Violet blood squirted out from the wound, landing on her armor.

Watching it die, she was distracted for a moment. Just long enough for one demon to slam a palm into her head. She was thrust back, her vision blurring for a second. Kaori was nearly knocked out. She saw drops of red blood fall on the ground in front of her. Her eyes widened in terror as the demons moved to collapse on her.

“Flame of the soul, strike!” She aimed a sphere of fire at one to the left, and as it fell back, she rolled in that direction, trying to make space to get up. As she got to her knees, one demon reached her and tried to bite through her left arm, but its teeth didn’t penetrate her armor.

Seeing that, Kaori raised a blade and skewered it.

She pushed away the next one to approach, taking a deep breath. At that point, she took a second to see how many were left. The Nightmare was still searching the library, and Kaori paled. It couldn’t be… Is it searching for Ash? Kaori shook her head. No, that doesn’t make sense. Why would it target her?

Aside from that creature, there were still two demons alive and ready to fight her. Kaori was taking quick short breaths as one growled, pouncing forward. It’s so fast! Kaori barely had time to react as the demon kicked her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her lungs.

It tried to bite her neck, but from below Kaori managed to hold it back. That was until the other demon joined it.

Not good. She checked her own stats.

Level 13

MP: 10/50

Last one. She noted.

“Flame of the soul, strike!” She shot a fireball into the demon’s face, the one that was on top of her, at point-blank range. It pulled back and Kaori pushed it off her body, instantly having to contend with the other demon as tried to claw and scratch her face. With one of her blades, she stabbed its head. The demon’s body went limp. The other demon was standing up as the flames on its face disappeared. Kaori did the same.

Finally, pushing forward, she used one sword to stab through its chest. The demon squealed as Kaori lifted it into the air with her sword and slammed the creature down.

The demon was dead.

Kaori stared at it.

Then, she heard a low groan and she realized that it wasn’t over.

The Nightmare!

She looked around. It was standing over Ash’s body, its sword raised, about to bring it down on her.

Kaori sprinted. She ran forwards, leaping into the air to shove the Nightmare away. She only succeeded in pushing it back a step or two, but it was enough to draw its attention.

“You won’t touch her!” Kaori yelled out as the Nightmare registered her presence, seemingly for the first time.

It blinked, lowering its blade.

Then, it lifted a hand and aimed it at her. Kaori, who remembered what had happened in Ash’s fight against the Nightmare at Jade, quickly realized what was coming. She ducked, just as a dark sphere shot out from its palm and flew in her direction.

The Nightmare gave a surprised hum. Kaori charged forwards. With her blades, she went for its gut. Before she could reach it, with a speed that surprised Kaori, the demon responded with a great slash that hit her armor, sending Kaori back and crashing into the wall at the other end of the room.

She coughed up some blood as she slid to the floor.

If her armor had been any different kind, Kaori was sure her body would have been sliced in half by that attack. She looked up and found the Nightmare staring down at Ash once more.

“H-Hey!” She materialized a bow and shot an arrow aimed at the demon’s head. Instead, though, she hit its shoulder. The demon let out a growl, turning slowly to face her.

As Kaori stood up with a great amount of pain in her left hip and her ribs, she narrowed her eyes at it. The Nightmare finally started moving towards her. Good. All I can do is buy Ash enough time to come back… If that’s even possible. What the hell happened to her? Kaori shook her head. No, focus.

The Nightmare took thudding steps towards her. Kaori waited. When it reached her position, it raised its blade up. Kaori waited. When it started a slash, she dodged to the left. The Nightmare’s sword cut straight through the stone wall behind Kaori, creating a new entrance into the library. Kaori lifted a blade and stabbed the Nightmare’s right leg.

It spun as it had before, but Kaori knew how fast it was now. So, she had anticipated some form of a counter. She jumped backward, narrowly avoiding the hit, wincing as her injured body cried out.

Taking ragged breaths, she watched the Nightmare turn apathetically towards her.

I’m guessing the chances that I beat this thing aren’t too high. She nodded to herself. Whatever. Just keep buying Ash time.

Just as she had that thought though, she heard some strange noises behind her. What? She looked back. She gasped.

Ash was waking up. Not only that, but she had transformed into her Demon Form.

—

Ash

“W-What the…?” She muttered, looking down at her hands. Large claws had replaced her fingers. Magia transformed me? She can do that?

Then, she looked around. There were demon corpses all around her. Wait, then, frantically, she searched for the other Savior. Kaori!

She found her to the left side, but she wasn’t alone. In front of her was the Nightmare. Kaori had her back turned to it, looking at Ash.

“Ash!” She called out.

The Nightmare ran toward the blonde, with a surprising speed.

“WATCH OUT!” Ash tried to warn her but the Nightmare was too fast. It shoulder-tackled her, launching Kaori all the way across the room and through the stone wall to the right. Ash paled. She ran after her companion, kneeling by her side when she found her on the ground outside.

“Kaori, are you okay?”

Her response was to cough out blood.

“… Aargh!” Ash felt rage spreading within her. Furious, she turned towards the Nightmare, which was slowly walking towards them.

With her claws ready, Ash vowed to rip this creature apart.

—

Satsuhiro

Earlier

He was going over the witness reports of the Nightmare. Keiko was next to him, worried as he had indicated why this was so strange.

“Something seems off.” Satsuhiro told the Zayama.

“It is understandable. But… What could be the reason for the different accounts?”

“Hm. Let me go over them again.”

He re-read two of them. One account was of an old man who liked to take walks in the forest. He had come across the ruins and had considered checking to see if there was anything in there that he could sell. Apparently, he saw the Nightmare with its other demons at that moment, dressed in strange armor and holding a large blade, performing some ritual in the center of the ruins. Satsuhiro understood this likely meant the Nightmare was turning humans into demons at that very moment. He left as soon as he saw that and shortly informed the Council.

The other account was of a female ranger. She had been scouting the wilderness, looking for demons specifically when she found tracks leading to the ruins. She went as deep into it as she felt was safe, and told in her report that she had seen a naked demon, three times her size, alone. Of course, it was due to its size that it was clear it was a Nightmare, that was their main tell, but the simple distinction in having armor versus not having armor was strange.

Unless…

As a thought came to Satsuhiro, he stood up.

“Keiko.” He said quickly. “Grab your sword. Come.”

“What?” The Zayama asked.

“I’m so fucking stupid.” He mumbled. Metsumi, concerned, walked up to him.

“What happened?”

“How the fuck did I not realize that?” Satsuhiro asked. “Fuck, fuck!”

“What do you mean?” His wife asked again.

“There are two Nightmares.”

As Zayama returned to the living room with her sword, he grabbed her by the hand.

“We’ll take a horse. Shouldn’t take long at all to get there.”

And so, the pair made a beeline for the ruins.

—

Ash

She was staring down at the Nightmare in front of her.

Level 15

MP: 50/50

Every part of her being wanted to attack immediately, but Ash willed herself not to. She wanted to wait to see what the Nightmare would do first.

It only stared at her for a moment. Then, it raised a hand. Ash ducked, expecting a projectile. It wasn’t an attack though. It was something else.

She felt a burning inside of her. It was gone as soon as it came, but it had happened.

Then, a message appeared above her.

[?]

?

Then, the question marks changed.

[STATUS EFFECT]

Marked

For the duration of this effect, demons can sense your location

Ash froze.

What? She thought. Her hands trembled. What the hell?

The Nightmare wasn’t about to let her ponder the matter though. It raised its blade, likely with the intent to bring it down on her. Ash rolled forwards.

She felt powerful. Very powerful. Thanks to her training, the +5 to her physical attributes propelled Ash far beyond where her Demon Form had taken her when she used it in Jade. This version of herself could run laps around that one.

She went to use her claws on its abdomen, finding that they couldn’t break through its armor though. Then, almost instantly, the Nightmare spun and nearly slammed its blade into her body. She was just barely quick enough though to react to it, dodging the attack.

The Nightmare didn’t stop there. It raised a foot and tried to kick Ash away. Ash stepped to the side, leaped up, and scratched the demon’s face with her right claws. As it was not wearing armor there, her attack was effective. The Nightmare groaned, using its sword with one hand, lifting it with the intent to cut her in half.

“Corruption spread, corruption launch!” She cast her Dark spell, aimed at the Nightmare’s body. Considering the fact that Jade’s Nightmare had done a similar attack on her when she was in her Demon Form and she had been hurt by it, she wondered if this Nightmare would be hurt by her own Dark attack.

It groaned, taking a step back and reaching for its chest. Ash nodded to herself. So, it does work. She was about to prepare for another attack, but she heard a sound behind her.

A sound coming from far away, but that was just noticeable enough for Ash to hear it.

“What the hell?” She mumbled. It was a rhythmic thumping of sorts. Like… Footsteps?

She shook her head.

“No, I need to focus on this bastard.” She stated as the Nightmare regained its composure. Gritting her teeth, anger surged in her heart. I can probably go for the kill right now. And so, she ran forwards, leaping up into the air with her hands outstretched, ready to claw into its neck and face.

And at that moment, the Nightmare swung its sword.

Ash watched the blade rise from the Nightmare’s left hip. It was on a collision course with her abdomen.

No, no!

But she couldn’t do anything to dodge the attack. She was in the air, after all.

The Nightmare swung and its blade cut into Ash’s waist. She tried to scream, but her throat choked up, only letting out a gasp.

With the swing’s momentum, Ash was sent to the left, blood pouring out from her as she slid across the ground. By the time she finished her roll, the pain was so sharp, her eyes were bulging out of their sockets.

She looked down at herself. The demon’s blade had made an exceptionally large gash in her waist. It was accurate to say that the blade managed to cut through one-third of her body. Any more and it would have split her completely.

Ash stared at the wound, in disbelief.

What do I… What can I…?

The Nightmare began to approach her, looking to finish the job.

Ash spat out violet blood and looked down at herself.

One idea came to her, but it was so laughable, she shook her head.

Yeah, as if my shitty healing spells are gonna do anything.

Still, maybe out of sheer desire to live, she tried it.

“Guard my soul against the dark’s reach.” She muttered, and her hands glowed.

However, it wasn’t the same.

Her hands glowed grey. A mix of white and black swirling around her palms. What? What’s going on? She shook her head. Focus. As the Nightmare approached, she put her hands on her body.

Then, she gasped.

The wound started to heal, but at a much faster rate than before. Of course, the damage was so intense that it would still require more time than she had at that moment to restore the wound completely, but the healing had been accelerated.

“How…!?”

And at that moment, a message appeared in front of her.

Trait Discovered!

Moonlight Demon

While in Demon Form, all Dark spells and Light spells are greatly enhanced.

Ash’s eyes gleamed as she read that.

The Nightmare stood above her. Ash glanced at it. Her wound hadn’t fully healed, but she could move.

“Corruption spread, corruption launch!” From her left palm, an explosion of Dark magic occurred. A sphere of Dark much larger than any Ash had seen launched out, striking the creature in front of her. It gave a massive, pained moan and was pushed back. Ash’s eyes widened.

What!? She nearly started laughing, looking down at her left hand. Then, she saw Kaori behind the Nightmare and remembered that she was gravely hurt.

I’ll end this now!

Ash, holding her injured side, sent another Dark spell of equal power and the Nightmare got down on one knee. Rage surged inside of her.

Ash raised her left hand.

And with two fingers, she sunk two claws into the demon’s eyes. Digging deeper, she got them as far as she could, which caused the Nightmare to stop moving. She watched as it let go of its sword. Ash ripped her hand out and the Nightmare fell forwards in front of her.

It was dying. Wait. She realized that if the demon fully died, her Demon Form would dissipate soon after that. She took a few deep breaths before jogging to Kaori.

“Still here? Stay with me, you fucking idiot! Sorry, that was the Dark magic talking.” And Kaori’s eyes opened, looking at her.

“Y-” she tried to say something, but only blood came out.

“Nope. Stop.” Ash quickly cast her Light spell and put her hands down on Kaori’s body. “Just hold on.”

With her empowered ability, she started healing Kaori’s wounds. The blonde spilled out the blood that was in her mouth and took a deep breath. Ash continued healing her, each of her wounds starting to disappear. Then, a message appeared above her.

EXP Gained: 100

EXP: 115/115

Ash looked back and found the Nightmare dead. The instant her mind made that connection, her Demon Form faded away.

“Ash?” Kaori looked up at her with confused eyes.

“Yeah. Are you okay?” Ash, still partially injured, smiled at Kaori as the Dark magic inside of her messing with her emotions also faded.

Kaori sat up.

“I’m… I’m… I am?” She asked. Ash laughed.

“Yeah,” Ash told her.

“How did you do this?” Kaori asked.

“Being a demon worked out for once.” Ash chuckled. “We did it.” She told the blonde.

She saw tears appear at the corners of Kaori’s eyes. Then, the blonde hugged her. A hug that Ash returned firmly.

They’d succeeded. Just the two of them, they’d gone on a mission fought the Nightmare, and lived to tell the tale. Kaori buried her face in Ash’s neck and Ash couldn’t help but laugh.

Until more thuds came in the distance.

Ash’s head snapped up.

“What was that?” She asked. Kaori, who heard it as well, turned. Oh no. Ash thought. If there are any more demons here, we for sure can’t fight them. We’re still hurt. “Come on, let’s get up.”

Kaori wiped her tears away and stood.

However, as Ash focused on the sounds in the air, she realized there were more. Growls and snarls were coming from every direction.

Ash pulled Kaori to the center of the street, trying to find the sources.

And then, she saw one of them. It was coming from Magia’s temple.

A second Nightmare.

Ash’s hands went limp by her sides.

“You’re joking.”

“How?” Kaori asked as she watched it walk towards them.

This Nightmare resembled the one from Jade. It had a bloated body and sharp teeth, with a long tongue that was hanging over its chin. Its lifeless eyes were aimed straight at Ash.

Ash took a deep breath.

Level 15

MP: 50/50

“Kaori, we should run,” Ash told her. “We don’t really stand a chance.” She explained.

“Y-You’re right,” Kaori said, turning around. But, when she did, she gasped.

Ash turned as well and froze. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. She remembered the Marked status she received, which was still active.

Multiple demons were coming in from the forest.

“T-This way…” Ash turned to her right, but still. There were more of them in that direction as well.

Fuck. Ash closed her eyes. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

The creatures growled. Each one baring their teeth and crouching like they were ready to pounce. The Nightmare behind them slowly stomped towards them, its body rippling with each step.

Ash looked at Kaori.

“Well… we can try.” She said. Kaori looked back at Ash. Ash raised a brow. She looked like she wanted to say something. “Yeah?”

Kaori shook her head. She reached up and placed a hand on Ash’s shoulder. The hybrid looked down at her. What is she doing?

“I just…” As the demons approached, she sighed. “I just wanted to let you know I appreciate you. So much more than you could know.”

And that, made Ash realize just how fucked they were.

She almost teared up. As the loner she’d been all her life, that was the last thing she ever expected to hear from anyone.

She took a deep breath and went to turn away from Kaori, but the blonde pulled her back, slamming their lips together. Ash’s eyes widened as Kaori pulled back.

“So, yeah.” Kaori chuckled. “Well, come on. Let’s try.”

“… Yeah.” Ash held her sword out. Kaori readied her swordstaff.

With any luck, my Demon Form will trigger again. Even so, I think… Yeah, this is probably it. Even in my Demon Form, there just too many.

She looked around, trying to find a target to focus on first.

Then, a thin line of flames traveled from the tree line behind the demons. Ash gasped. The line of fire, almost like an arrow with a flaming string attached to it, burst right through a demon a few steps in front of her.

“What?” Ash asked.

“Satsuhiro!” Kaori yelled from beside her. Ash looked past the demon.

And shortly, he emerged from the forest, with Keiko behind him. What are they doing here?

Satsuhiro, who had been holding Keiko’s hand, let go of it. Then, he aimed both hands at the demons in front of him.

“Desert winds, materialize, form the flames of the gods’ wrath!” From his palm, a wave of fire emerged.

It poured over the demons, reducing them to nothing before Ash’s very eyes.

“I hear… Are those the demons?” Keiko asked as the two of them got closer.

“Yes,” Satsuhiro replied, his eyes taking in each enemy. “Anything animalistic you hear is an enemy. Get to work, trainer.”

“Right.” Keiko nodded, pulling her sword out.

Ash still couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“What the hell are…?” However, before she could finish her question, the Nightmare let out a roar behind her. Shit.

“Can you two still fight?” Satsuhiro asked.

“Uh, kinda,” Ash replied.

“Absolutely!” Kaori yelled out.

“Then get to it!” Satsuhiro ordered.

And so, the four of them moved onto the demons surrounding the area. It was hard for Ash to move as her wound still hadn’t healed all the way, but she tried her hardest. As a level 9 demon approached her, she sidestepped an attack and planted her sword into its eye, stabbing through its head.

She couldn’t care less about EXP right now, so she ignored the message that popped up.

To her right, Kaori managed to dodge a series of blows and with her swordstaff, sliced open a demon’s stomach. Behind them, Satsuhiro unleashed a fire spell that consumed multiple demons at once. Ash turned and found Keiko waiting for demons to come to her. The blindfolded Zayama had one demon behind her, and one in front.

The one in front growled. It stomped forwards, and the instant its foot met the ground, Keiko rushed in and stabbed its chest. Then, as the second demon attacked, she tore her sword out and aimed a slash up that sliced open the demon’s body.

The demons that had arrived slowly began to fall, one by one, as Ash’s group tore through them. But, there was still one much bigger problem ahead.

The Nightmare approaching from the temple was about to reach Kaori.

“Hey!” Ash called out. The blonde turned to the side, looked up, and froze. Ash ran towards her. The demon, weaponless, was about to grab her when Ash pulled her back, falling to the floor.

Satsuhiro spoke to them then.

“Stand back, leave this thing to me.”

“Gotcha.” Ash nodded.

“Thanks,” Kaori said, the two of them still on the floor. There was a new warmth in her eyes that Ash hadn’t noticed before.

“Don’t mention it.”

Satsuhiro stood a few paces away from the Nightmare. His eyes stoic, they roamed over the Nightmare’s figure, and disgust formed on his face.

Then, he pulled one of his legs back and put his hands together.

“Dragons of the golden era,” he started as the Nightmare smiled, walking towards him, “roar for the memories of those who’ve challenged you. Soar for the spirits of those who’ve worshipped you. And breathe for the sake of those who still defy you. Surge!”

He extended his hands towards the Nightmare. Ash gasped.

His arms turned into flames and from them, a dragon of fire emerged, charging straight into the Nightmare. It bellowed, but the flame did not stop. It seared its flesh, striking at the Nightmare with so much force, Ash saw rocks melting near it. Then, the dragon of fire erupted from the Nightmare’s back, and Satsuhiro let the spell end, returning his arms to normal.

When it was done, there was a giant hole in the middle of the Nightmare’s body, and it flopped forwards, dead.

Ash looked around.

Kaori and Keiko had eliminated the other demons nearby.

They had won, and the creatures were defeated.