White smoke erupts from the demon's body, wrapping around him like a cocoon. After a few seconds, it dissolves into thin air, including Loki. However, less than a second after he vanished, the familiar lunatic laugh reverberates throughout the space.

"Even if it's just a mirror, I'd like to congratulate you on killing me. Good job! Now it's my turn," Loki exclaims, his hand is wrapped around Raia's throat, while his other hand is holding an oval-shaped mirror.

Raia's face turns pale as she struggles to free herself from his firm grip. Her sword is laying on the ground, the silver blade visible with an orange flame burning around it. Raphael has reverted to its standard form.

"Raia!" Raiden yells as he sprints toward them, clutching the hilt of his broadsword in both hands, poised to attack.

Loki smirks and throws Raia into the bar counter before charging at Raiden. He slams his mirror against his wounded stomach, and a powerful force hurls the boy against the wall. Raiden grunts as he lands hard on the ground.

Raia clenches her teeth in frustration, her breath quickening. The mana that is now circulating within her body is less than their chances of overcoming the strong demon. She can no longer release her Blessing; if she does, she may lose consciousness.

She pulls herself up from the shattered glasses, her body quivering. She rubs her nose after smelling the aroma of the spilled wines.

The Blood Demon smiles as he looks at them. He tilts his head from side to side as he looks in the mirror. "Don't you think I'm a looker?" He then clears his throat and lowers the mirror. "So, this fantastic mirror is my Curse. Looking at your Blessings, your weapons are nothing compared to mine."

He laughs and places his hands on his hips. "My Curse has the ability to duplicate and multiply. Just like the one Raiden killed. That's just a clone of myself. Do you want to experience more of my power?"

Raia is already aware that his mirror's ability to imitate things around him. But she had no idea it could also make a clone of a human body.

What a troublesome mirror. Though, this makes his Curse a weapon-type. Perhaps if it's destroyed . . . .

Loki raises his mirror over his head without waiting for them to respond. "Duplicate thyself and multiply."

Oval-shaped mirrors of varying sizes appear all around the tavern, encircling the entire surface. The floor, walls, and ceiling are all covered in gold mirrors. Raia attempts to destroy mirrors on the floor under her, and they turn to smoke.

"Hey! My game has not yet begun. Again!" Loki blurts out, and then more mirrors appear, filling all the empty spots.

"Well, well, well. Come and find me if you want to live." Loki's voice echoes around the tavern as if it were emanating from all of the mirrors. He's vanished from their sight.

Raia summons her Blessings and walks toward Raiden. The boy is still laying on the floor — on the floor of golden mirrors.

He has blood on his lips and is clutching his stomach. His uniform is ripped and torn. Raia notices a deep cut in his stomach when he moves his arm, and thick red liquid is leaking from it.

"Dammit, Kara. Lay still," Raia hisses, gently placing her palm on his bleeding wound.

Raiden sighs with pleasure as Raia's palm radiates warmth. However, as his body begins to heal, Raia lowers her head and grits her teeth. Her stomach clenches with sharp burning pain. As the pain intensifies, she clutches the hilt of her sword, as if sharp claws are digging into her flesh.

The ache in her stomach rushes up into her head, sending jolts of pain as if someone were hammering on her skull. But then the pain goes away, and she feels something warm on her hand. She raises her head and meets Raiden's gaze. His brow is furrowed in a deep frown.

"What the heck was that? Are you bearing my pain?" He's holding her hand to keep it away from his wound, preventing her from healing it.

He's . . . rejecting my healing?

Raia's confusion turn into frustration, and her eyes glow in anger. "Damn it, Kara! It's not the time for sympathy; I need to heal you so that we can fight the Blood Demon."

No one rejected this damn power before.

Raiden's face contorts in rage, and he lets go of her hand before rising to his feet. "And I don't want anyone to heal me if they have to bear my pain instead. I hate that. I don't want to be burdened with any more guilt. Besides, I can still fight, so save your energy for yourself."

Loki materializes in front of Raia before she can respond.

"Yow, duplicate and multiply," he says, and ten clones of Raia appear.

"Now, kill the original," Loki says with a smile before disappearing again, leaving the clones staring at Raia.

The Blood Demon appears in front of Raiden. "And I'm your opponent, boy."

Loki kicks him in the chest hard before he can react. His partially healed wound reopens, and he crouches in agony.

"Damn it!" Raia hisses as she turns her gaze away from them and toward her clones.

They are mirroring her movements and wielding the same weapons as she does, making it difficult for her to land an attack. They're even imitating her facial expressions. It's pointless to attack them if they're going to do the same to her. When Raia tries to walk away from them, they will shut in on her. Escaping from them is also pointless.

Raia tightens her jaw in frustration.

They're mimicking me, but if I try to escape, they'll attack me. What the hell are these clones?

She narrows her eyes as an idea surfaces in her mind.

I'm not sure if it will work, but it's the only thing I could think of right now.

Raia closes her eyes. She can hear her clones breathing in and out the same way she does. She grips her sword's hilt and places the blade in front of her. Mentally counting from one to three, she stretches her arms and points the blade to her abdomen. She deactivates the Divine Power of her Blessing, and the fire surrounding the blade fades out.

Her longsword becomes a normal weapon.

She takes a deep breath and thrusts the blade into her flesh.

Raia whimpers in pain and her clones do the same. When she opens her eyes, the ten clones that surround her disintegrate into puffs of smoke, just as Loki's clone did earlier.

"It worked," she breathes, surprised.

She can't hurt her clones without taking a lot of damage, so the only thing she can do is hurt herself. It's better to suffer in one blade than several. Because the clones are mirroring everything she does, she must sacrifice some blood.

She clenches her teeth and pulls out the longsword, grimacing as the blade grazes her already wounded skin.

Her eyes widen as she turns. Raiden is coughing up blood. The Blood Demon is bouncing around in front of him like a child. Raiden wipes the scarlet stain on his lips with the back of his hand.

"Dying already?" Loki says with a bored expression on his face.

Raia activates the divine power of her Blessing, and the bright orange fire returns to life.

"We're not . . ." Raiden starts. His shoulders move up and down as he breaths heavily.

Loki tilts his head and stares at him with feigned innocence, waiting for him to continue.

"We're not abandoned by the Light," Raiden says, his chest rising and falling with rapid breaths.

Raia pauses, her eyebrows furrowing as she wonders what her comrade is on about. However, it gives her time to calculate her attack.

"Because if we are, this world should have already fallen into darkness," Raiden continues, his face pale. "However, there's still hope in this world. Humanity still has hope. Because the Light is here to bring peace to our souls."

Loki's expression darkens. He raises his hand and smacks Raiden across the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Stop talking about your God as if he's a savior! He's nothing but cruel! He doesn't care about anyone. He has abandoned us. He lets people suffer on their own. The gods, they play with our souls, and we're nothing but pawns. That's why I'm here to change that. I'm here to change this world!" Loki's face flushes. His hands are balled into fists at his sides, and he's breathing raggedly as if he's been running fast.

Raiden's face softens as if he sympathizes with the Blood Demon. He rolls onto his back and looks up at the gleaming oval-shaped mirrors on the ceiling. Based on his current state, he no longer has the strength to fight the demon.

"You're wrong," Raiden says in a soft voice. "Just because you can't have your way doesn't mean the world is wrong and needs to be changed. Besides, you can't change the world . . . to your liking."

Loki raises his foot to kick the defenseless disciple.

Seeing the opening, Raia leaps forward.
Loki looks at her and uses his mirror to deflect her attack. A loud metallic clank resounds as their weapons collide.

"You can't harm me even a little bit. We're surrounded by my mirrors, which serve as my eyes. I can see everything you do," Loki says, his eyes drilling into hers.

Another Loki appears behind Raia, but she has already anticipated this. She jumps reflexively, her body drawing an arc above Loki's head, then tosses her flaming longsword behind her. As predicted, Loki's cat-like eyes follow the movement of the sword, turning his head to the side and looking behind him, as if expecting something to happen to the flaming weapon.

Then the sword emits a bright light before it disappears.

Create a diversion!

Raia spins around. She raises her leg high and swings it down, landing a powerful blow on Loki's head. Then she executes a roundhouse kick, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying across the ground, not giving him a second to catch his breath.

Reaching for the necklace that appears around her neck, she utters her summon. "Answer my call, Raphael!"

She lunges at him and delivers a downward strike as soon as her flaming longsword materializes in her hand.

Loki springs to his feet and deflects her attack with his mirror. As he looks at her, a grin spreads across his face, but it disappears soon when he notices Raia's calm expression.

"Release thyself," Raia whispers.

Loki blinks.

Raia's sword blade bursts into flame and passes through the demon's weapon. He jumps backward before the holy flame touches him. And, as if he finds everything amusing, he bursts out laughing.

"You're a sly one, for sure. But it's a shame because I'm faster," he says, grinning at Raia.

Raia ignores him and braces herself for another attack, but the wound in her stomach throbs painfully and her legs give way. She collapses on her knees, coughing up blood. Her eyelids struggle to stay open.

Loki's grin widens. "Well, I guess your time is up." He begins to make his way toward her. "So, any last words? Or perhaps one last prayer?"

Raia clenches her fists. Dammit! I can't die. Not yet. Give me more strength.

When Loki reaches her, his steps come to a halt. "Copy," he says, and his mirror morphs into a longsword, a replica of Raia's weapon but without the holy flame. "Now beg for your life, little lamb."

Vines wrap themselves around Raia and snatch her away. When she opens her eyes she finds herself looking at Raiden's bloodstained face.

"Dammit, you look pretty bad," Raiden says. "Can you heal yourself?"

Raia snorts, which is followed by a grimace. The vines that surround her body vanish, leaving her in Raiden's arms. "Guess what? I can't heal myself, my body heals itself. And it takes time."

Raiden's face crumbles. "Why?" he asks, not to anyone in particular.

Loki lands in front of them with a gentle thud, a sinister smile on his face. "I thought you'd already run out of strength. Well, I guess I'm mistaken." He shrugs nonchalantly.

Raia keeps her eyes open just enough to catch a glimpse of Loki. Raiden's arms tenses around her as he grits his teeth.

Loki roars with laughter, his body shaking with delight. "You two look like lost lambs. It's almost fun to just watch you bleed to death."

"I'm sorry, Raia," Raiden whispers, but Raia no longer has the strength to convey her confusion. She just stares at him, her eyes half-closed.

"Eh?" Loki says as thorny vines sprout from the ground and encircle his feet before climbing up his body. Nonetheless, a smirk remains on his devilish face. He's not even struggling to get out, instead allowing the vines to wrap around his body, confining him.

"Divine cage," Raiden utters. Vines emerge from the base of his broadsword's blade and surround him and Raia in a circular cage resembling a rattan ball.

"I'm sorry, but we have to retreat," Raiden whispers as the spherical cage bounces through the wooden walls and out of the tavern.

Raia's eyelids droop ever so slowly as the surrounding grows silent.

Then darkness swallows them both.

***

"What a pity," Loki mutters to himself. The vines that encircle him stifle his words. A flash of light bursts out his body, and the vines shatter to pieces, evaporating in an instant as they hit the ground.

The thorns have scratched his face, but he couldn't care less. He doesn't even mind tasting his own blood dripping from the tiny wound on his lips.

"I'm wondering if that withdrawal hurts their pride?" he says as he licks his lips.

He looks up at the broken wall and heaves a deep sigh of disappointment. He can go and chase them, and even finish them - but he's not doing any of that. He's more than satisfied to leave a deep wound on them. Maybe he has injured their dignity and even their faith. That thought alone brings joy to his heart.

He has no intention of killing them anyway.

"Maybe it's the right choice," he muses, tapping his chin. "Besides, I'm curious about that boy. I'm looking forward to seeing his expression soon."

He shoves his hands into his pants pockets and spins. His heavy footsteps echo around the place as he walks toward the door. He hums with a smile on his lips.

His thoughts drift to Raia, and he recalls how she denied her comrade.

"Interesting. It's the first time I've seen a human, particularly a disciple of Light, who lacks the empathy of the average person. She looks like a . . . weapon." Loki lets out a chuckle. "It's funny how she keeps referring to demons as weapons when she acts like one herself. What a strange one, but . . . "

Loki opens the wooden door and strides out into the night. He looks up at the dark sky, his capelet fluttering in the breeze. His silver cat-like eyes gleam as hope ignites within him.

Hope. He hasn't felt that in a long, long time . . . until now.

"One of them can grant my wish," he whispers to the night.

One of them can change the world.