An unshakeable weight pressed over me. It was beyond my power to find my way out. All my effort began with squirming and ended with my cry.

My knees buckled, and I retched, yet no matter how much I struggled, it was all futile against the demon. The levitation boots thrust with all of their force, but could not free me from the corpse fly pinning me down. Its body thrashed against my legs, perhaps even damaging the boots. I felt it in my bones.

Then my nerves began to settle, my agitation and squirming coming to rest. The world fell silent, save for a roaring sound I could not quite place.

A deep sense of powerlessness settled on me, swallowing my thoughts. As I teetered on the edge of passing out, my grip on my Artifact—the very one that kept the ward closed—loosened.

Chilly wind crept through the small crack that unfolded into a rupture.

[A new way is accessible: Spatial Awareness I (1/100)]

A voice, perhaps familiar, rang in my mind, though I failed to grasp what it was about.

[A new way is available: Will Forging I (7/100)] [A new way is available: Sword Sense I (1/100)]

I blinked. Or I thought I did. Recollection came to me, though I still had trouble parsing through—

[A new way is available: Aura Enforcement I (2/100)]

I awoke with a cry, feeling the great burden over me. Not only that, a searing agony ruptured through my torso from where the demon was draining my strength.

My aura gushed out in all the defiance I could muster, as absent lucidity struck like a concrete wall. My floundering will surged, beckoned by the aura, which shifted into the shade of blood blossom. It impacted the massive demon, driving into its twisted palp.

A bone-chilling shriek escaped it, but even still, it had the strength to pin me down.

Fortunately, I was not alone.

Someone else was working their best to free the monster from my chest. They managed to lift it off from one side, and that was all I needed.

The levitation boots buzzed to life, hurtling me away from the grip of the monster. I did not stop until my body crashed against the hallowed ward.

The demon was not prepared to let its prey escape. It hurtled at me, flapping its bloodied wings. A whip of essence threads yanked it backwards, much to my relief.

A decrepit figure crouched behind, pulling the threads to keep the monster at bay. "Move!" Guildmaster Rowin rasped, his wrung-out threads torn like rubber bands.

I stood up, barely having the strength to. Moving was another thing altogether. The levitation boots launched me up, but the berserk monster came breaking all its shackles.

A white flash blurred from its left and plunged into the corpse fly, tearing apart its wiry wings, its palp bitten off, until jagged fangs crunched through its skull, ending its misery.

The komainu roared, throwing the headless corpse away, standing in its full awe-inspiring form.

"Good boy," I mumbled, chest still heaving uneasily. It was only then I noticed the utter laceration on my torso, blood gushing incessantly, smearing my ripped tunic wet. It was going to leave a deep scar, I feared, but that was a problem for tomorrow, whilst we had not yet survived today's ordeal.

My gaze turned to the hole in the ward, from where a giant head of a corpse fly was wriggling through. Fastidiously, I reasserted my Will over the artefact, to reknit the few essence threads once again. The tug at my Will on this occasion was surprisingly mild, but I did not pay it much attention, imposing my Will to seal the barrier. The corpse fly attempted to make it harder, but against the ocean of essence I had access to, it was merely a lesser demon.

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The silver bracelet burned with golden essence, gushing out radiantly as the first ray of the sun. To the corpse fly wedged in the filling gap, it might very well have been sunbreak, as the barrier seared through its neck, until its hideous head fell to the ground.

"Phew!" I heaved a breath of relief, only to find a bunch of corpse flies hurtling at me. I think it's about time I drank a healing elixir.

As I flew to buy myself some time, the majestic lion dog turned to come to my rescue. Gleaming in white and red, it—no, he tore through the horde of corpse flies before they could evade, claws tearing through sinewy bat wings.

"Come," I said, summoning a few of my essence threads to reach for the sword I had dropped, while a few others brought out the potion.

The guardian beast came before the sword, roaring all the way. Gulping down the bitter elixir, I swooped down to fly next to it and gazed upon the remainder of the demons.

With the battle of Will won, I could finally split some of it and my influence from the barrier. Not a lot, but just enough to shape fire and make the sword ablaze in smouldering flame.

Once again, thin lines of strand drew out from the monsters, as well as from my flaming blade. And like before, the lines of attack were too many for me to keep up with. But thankfully, I was not alone.

With the Guardian by my side, I dashed down on the preying demons, my blazing sword felling their wings in a full swing, sending smouldering sparks flying, whilst the komainu tore off their heads.

My next target evaded the blade. Unfortunately for it, my range was finally freed slightly. The blazing sword flew from my palm, still connected with my threads, and plunged into its shrieking maw, muting its cries. Crimson flame blossomed from the blade's edge, digging through its insides to burst its demon core as well as its skull.

Dark ichor rained about. My aura flared to dismiss it as my gaze turned downwards. There were still people who needed help.

The sword returned to my grip once the job was finished. My gaze darted to the guardian beast, throwing a corpse fly like a rag doll.

"Come on, boy, there are still many of them left."

***

Ashlyn did not scream. She did not shut her eyes. Even her lips, which were tightly clamped together, opened into a defiant snarl. "You have captured the wrong person."

The daemon's claw stopped in its tracks, as the smouldering crimson eyes met hers. "Wrong, you say," it uttered, each word resonating through her soul like a spiritual hammer.

"You are hopeless, aren't you?" Its claws touched her cheek, leaving a trail of hot blood. "Let me clear your misconception and any hope you have left before I break you..."

Its arms spread wide to point at the looming darkness.

"You see this? I am the very darkness that looms above you, the darkness that drowns you. A lamp can only resist so much until its oil runs out, until only the darkness remains. Ever-present. Eternal. Undying."

The darkness clutched her tighter, twisting her limbs until hot tears dripped from her eyes.

"I think you..." Her voice trailed off, as the darkness poured in. Ashlyn coughed, bitter and rough.

"Still blabbering with that little mouth of yours."

"I was telling," Ashlyn croaked, "that you..."

A blazing radiance invaded the world of darkness in the sharp, jagged shape of a sword. It was the brilliant ray of Sunbreak that burned the undying darkness to pierce its jagged edge into the back of the daemon.

The lusterous radiance vacated, but a long shining blade remained pierced in the back of the daemon. Aghast, the Ash Lord turned to look at the man in the dark soul robe. The very man who held the blade and pierced its heart.

"How?" it cried. "What is this? How can my soul, this sword—how can it—"

Jinn pushed the blade with all his might, as light exploded out from the chest of the demon. It shrieked and wrenched, clawing at him, the plumes of darkness whipping and lashing out. Many of them fell on Jinn, leaving gaps and gaping wounds in his soul ward, and many were swallowed into the blade he held. He remained standing, stalwart and indomitable in the face of all the dread and pain the world could bring.

"This cannot be," it cried. "In my soul domain, I'm god. I'm eternal."

Ashlyn spat, freed from the confining darkness. The cascading darkness opened to filter some moonlight. But moonlight was hardly ever enough.

A golden pillar of light surged from her being, reaching for the high heavens. Like a beacon, it drove away the darkness. A pair of phoenix wings, rich in gold, unfurled behind her. Many runic lines came flying about, cascading in the surrounding in blazing glory.

"I was saying," the Daughter of Silverheart said, "you should have captured Jinn."

"YOU! I WILL TORMENT YOUR SOUL FOR ETERNITY. BOTH OF YOU. YOU CANNOT KILL ME! I AM SULA EL ZARATUZ, THE DESTROYER OF AVALON. I AM—"

"Eternal," Jinn completed. "We had guessed, although you have been hollering about it for some time now."

The daemon almost lunged at him for cutting it off, even with Ouroboros pinning its soul.

Ashlyn raised her left hand, and the axe came flying. As both her palms gripped it, glaring runes lit up the axe, and smouldering phoenix fire blazed it completely. Her aura rose and joined in resonance with the phoenix flame.

Then the axe fell, and the world was ablaze in the glory of a thousand suns.

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