There was an old tale in this world, ingrained in our folklore.

It didn’t matter whether it was the Runno Continent or the Graysa Islands. Although the tale changed slightly depending on where in the world you heard it, the core of it remained the same.

It was the tale of the nine demons.

A long, long time ago, before the Magi created their empire and dragons disappeared, before even Queen Isshai won the right to the throne against all her brothers and brought glory and prosperity to the ancient Kingdom of Sezh; demons were abound across the land, being the dominant species instead of humans.

Well, calling them demons would be a little too much. That’s the name that was given to them afterwards, their real name long forgotten. A lot of scholars and archaeologies theorized that these ‘demons’ were actually a different species of humans, though there’s no actual proof of this.

The demons roamed the earth thousands of years in the past, constructing civilizations and rising to power, dominating the planet unhindered by anyone else with their magic. It was told they used humans as slaves, the species that looked so similar but were completely powerless and weak compared to them.

But then, somehow and without anyone knowing how it happened, humans learned magic, leading to a bloody war that lasted for nine generations with the Magi at the front of the human forces.

At the end of the war, the demons were defeated and completely killed. The demons, a species that governed the planet for thousands of years, was no more, and the only trace left of them and their existence were a number of ruins scattered around the world and ancient texts written in old runes that could not be translated.

The tale of the nine demons took place a long time after this war. Nine Generals, each for every generation that fought against the humans, left behind a piece of their will after their deaths, just before the war ended. Humans hungry for power looked for them in the ruins of their destroyed civilization, and took them for themselves. But, what they didn’t count with was that the wills were far stronger than them. Taking possession of their bodies, they broke havoc upon the world once again, this time not with the idea of winning a war, but of completely annihilating the human race in retaliation for the genocide of their species. They killed half the human population at the time before the armies of all the countries in the Runno continent united forces and finally took them down. The bodies of the humans with the will of the generals were sealed away in nine different points of the continent, to prevent them from ever waking up again.

But what are seals for if not for breaking? A decade or so before the beginning of the manga, the seals on the nine demons were broken and their power retaken by another group of stupid humans that thought they were strong enough to overcome the generals and take over their magic for themselves. Bad luck though, they obviously couldn’t and, as a result, the demons were once again free to roam the earth, this time planning more carefully to completely destroy us all.

Thus, we have arrived at the central point of the manga and also revealed who the real villains are behind all the bad things that had been happening since before we were even born. They’re not those oily, unscrupulous humans who are conquering and submitting the countries as they advance in their conquest, they’re the demons taking possession of their bodies! The ancient menace you’ve only heard of in old tales! And what’s more, you know what the best part of it all is? War arc! Who doesn’t love the final war arcs of any shonen manga? The complete deviation of the original plot just so you can finish all with a bang and have the heroes save the world with a super long, super boring war arc!

But I’m rambling here. There’s a reason I told this story in the first place, it was not only an excuse to complain. Oh no, I don’t need any excuses for that. The thing here is, the viscount, the figure I’m seeing of him right here, paper white and inhuman… it was the exact same form the humans possessed by the demons would take when things in a battle took a turn for the worse… for them. Like a defensive mechanism. It was the original form the ‘demons’ would have while still alive, their power manifesting in black forms dancing all over their bodies.

The question here though, was… “Why? He… he wasn’t supposed to have one… it wasn’t supposed to…”

“Elaine?” I didn’t know if it was Lucas or Mathias who spoke. My attention was completely on the… man, in the middle of the courtyard, taking on the form of a being that was far above our level, of a being that wasn’t supposed to appear until years later, when everybody was much stronger and wiser after years of training and growing and suffering…

The viscount raised a hand, using it to massage one of his shoulders as he looked around. There was not a trace of Isabella and the others, and that was worrying me a lot. Were they caught by the fire?

…or maybe they ran away thinking the situation was too much of a pain to stay around? No, no of course not, what am I thinking? Sure, they weren’t charitable souls that helped everyone who was in need without asking for something in return, but they wouldn’t abandon a mission just like that, right?

Right?

“You two, take Adela and run away somewhere far from the castle. I’ll take care of him” Mathias’ voice interrupted my fumbling thoughts. Lucas and I blinked, looking at each other before turning to the older boy.

“Are you out of your mind?” I asked harshly. Mathias narrowed his eyes as he stared at me, looking offended.

“Yeah, Mathias, what the heck?” Lucas joined in. This time, Mathias looked at his little brother in disbelief.

“I’m trying to protect you three. Besides, this is between father and me. I can’t simply turn away and let him… let him…”

“Kill you on the spot?” I added helpfully. He glared at me.

“This is my fight” as he said that, he slowly stood up. “Even if it costs me my life, I…”

“Going to abandon Lucas, aren’t you?”

That shut him up instantly. His knees felt to the ground again. Lucas too, looked away uncomfortably.

“That’s not my intention… it’s just…” he closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he wasn’t looking at me, but at Lucas. There was a determined expression on his face. “I never told you… all the things that happened back then when we were little. Father paid a lot more attention to me than you, it’s true, but… but I wished he hadn’t, because being under his scrutiny all the time was taxing. He’s selfish, and insensitive, and… and egotistical to the point he wouldn’t hesitate to use force to obtain what he wants… I wish I could tell you more but there’s no time and…” he looked at me one second, before fixing his gaze on his little brother again. That gesture made me understand he didn’t want to say anything too intimate in front of me, and far from feeling offended, I understood. Sometimes, there were just some things that weren’t meant for everyone to hear. “And I promise I will. I will explain everything later but for now, I can’t go on without confronting him. Please understand that.”

“…I understand” Lucas said after a while. “The same way you have to understand… I’m not leaving you alone” with that, he stood up. My heart stopped beating as I saw the viscount’s eyes moving towards us, attracted by the younger boy’s sudden movements. I could hear Mathias’ breath get caught in his throat. “And no matter what… even if he’s our father… if he made you suffer, I definitely won’t forgive him!”

“Lucas please get dow-!”

Before Mathias could finish yelling, something exploded above us, destroying the wall and ceiling in the small hallway we were hiding. Instinctively I ducked down, my body hovering over Adela’s in a protective manner, before I tried to see around me despite the cloud of dust that had risen after the impact. As I saw dead white feet in front of me, I understood nothing had exploded. It was the viscount, who had jumped from the middle of the courtyard all the way here, and the impact of his body against the rock had caused the destructive force that decimated the hallway.

I didn’t even look up. Convincing myself he couldn’t see me with all this dust floating, I took a hold of Adela and quickly dragged her body away, but before I could take two steps, a cold hand grabbed my hair and pulled, making me drop the other girl as I struggled for freedom.

The struggle didn’t last long. Another blast from behind us sent me careening over to the edge of the hallway, and my body fell, landing roughly all the way down to the ground floor, against a bush of burned branches. Despite them cutting down my fall, it was still painful. I could feel not only my body throbbing from the impact, but the branches sinking on my skin and the abrasion of it pulling at me.

I opened my eyes when I heard the sound of drawn swords and other weaponry above me. There, where I was just a second ago, Gale and Isabella were fiercely going against the viscount.

Someone touched my shoulder. I jumped in fright.

“Calm down, it’s me” Domenic said with a soft voice. I looked at him without understanding. “We need to get you away from here. Come on” he adjusted something on his shoulder. It was Adela. A small part of my mind wondered when he got her down from the upper hallway. Without giving me more time to think, he pulled me by the arm and got me standing, before running off somewhere else.

I turned to look back, my head still pounding, and saw something that completely chilled me to the bone. It wasn’t only Gale and Isabella. Noah, August, even Lucas and Mathias and the other two men I didn’t know the names of, they were all fighting against the viscount…

…and they were losing.

Isabella and Gale stood back while August and another man aimed at the viscount with their weapons. When they were about to touch him, the viscount raised a hand and with a simple flick of his wrist sent them flying against a wall. It crumbled under the pressure, dust forming and flying. Then, before he could put down his hand, Gale attacked from one side while Isabella from the other, just to change directions a fraction of a second before their weapons landed when the viscount moved to block. In that moment, when the viscount momentarily lowered his guard, the other man approached from behind and pushed an axe against his head.

The weapon stopped in midair, as if it had been frozen, while the man holding it tried to move it without avail. The viscount turned around, slowly, and raised another hand.

Isabella threw a barrage of knifes as a distraction while jumping and tackling the other man, saving him from whatever the viscount was about to do to him. The movement shoved them off the hallway and to the courtyard below, and they landed with a dry plaff.

Gale sliced upwards, but just as his blade connected with the viscount, he let go of his weapon and jumped back, right before an expansive blow hit him square on. Despite Gale trying to dodge it, he was still knocked by it. His body flew backwards through the air and hit the ground, getting dragged a few more meters across the molten rock before finally stopping.

The viscount was against him again in an instant, his hand forming a strange sign, and then, the ground around Gale exploded.

Literally.

“Dad!” Isabella dashed forward, recovered from her rough landing, and accompanied by Noah the two surrounded the viscount. Noah glided forward while brandishing his glaive, while Isabella took out her elbow blades. They attacked simultaneously, but it was no good. The viscount simply moved his hands again and the two flew away. I gasped as I saw their bodies impacting against the far walls of the courtyard.

Domenic cursed, putting down Adela’s body behind a column and guiding me to sit by her. “You stay here and whatever you do, don’t come out” he commanded before he, too, ran out towards the courtyard.

The man that was saved by Isabella charged at the same time as Domenic. On the corner of my eye I saw Mathias a few steps away, saying something to Lucas desperately, before he also charged. My heart was beating so loud I could barely hear anything else. What did he plan to do? He had no weapons, and although he was good at magic… there was no mana in the air for him to draw from.

Then, something occurred to me.

What if I take off one of the onions? That way, they will have a better chance at defeating him.

But as soon as the thought came to me, I disposed of it. Demons used mana too. They were able to chant attacks much more powerful than what any human could. With the viscount in that form, even if everyone else could use magic again, it would be useless. Damn, the viscount himself was only fighting with his physical strength and minimal demons arts, and he was still winning.

Despite that… it was still a better chance than fighting against him with only weapons at hand.

Making up my mind, I traced back the spots where I knew the onions were. The closest one was just around the corner. I could take it out, and if the situation was unfavorable, I would just have to put it back on. The plan didn’t convince me, truly, but it was the only thing that I could think of that could make any difference.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed Adela until she was safe behind a pillar and stood up.

Before I could run though, another scream reverberated through the walls. Without looking, I knew by the inhuman nature of it that it belonged to the viscount. I turned to see what was happening.

Mathias was hanging from his father’s neck, supporting himself with his feet on his back. There was a dark light shining on his right hand, while the left was desperately holding the viscount while he trashed. I could see him chanting, even though there was supposed to be no mana!

“Damned brat!” the viscount roared, but he seemed unable to get him off. Mathias clenched his teeth, hanging on with all his might, and when it looked like he was finished, he kicked off and landed a few meters away. The viscount turned around quickly and ran at him, but something was wrong… his movements looked a lot slower than before.

Mathias threw himself away from his destructive path, as his father’s attack drew a hole on the ground. While stumbling, he stood up, and with another mighty roar, he yelled.

“NOW!”

Domenic and the other guy charged, and although the viscount still managed to dodge, he was wounded by their weapons, though not deeply. He grunted in anger and looked between the two of them. When he chose his target, he charged. Domenic parried his hit, but his lance broke under the force, and he cursed, stepping back. The viscount followed him, just to change directions at the last second and giving a powerful kick to the other man who tried to sneak behind his back. However, when he was lowering his leg, a blade worked its way from his back to his front, piercing him.

Mathias was the one holding the blade.