30 Impression of true peace

'Defeat the Raging Shadow Demon.'

"Defeat the Raging Shadow Demon?" Bell would read aloud. Her eyes would glance up from the text box to look over to the male. "Demon?" Bell's lips curled into a devious grin. "Oh yes. I'll be sure to defeat the shadow demon. Then everyone will praise me for stopping a demon. I will have many suitors and I can finally live in peace, never to be mistreated again." Bell would point her finger at Riyku. "Get him, boys!" Bell would command. Two big burly men each holding a single great sword. However, the swords seemed to emit a bright warm holy glow. "You didn't think I didn't know? Of course, I knew. While you fooled everyone, I was working in the shadows. Waiting and preparing for this day. Of course, I never figured you would reveal those true colors of yours so easily." Bell would snicker, though Riyku did not seem to flinch at the sight of such a radiant light.

'Riyku! Riyku! Speak to me!' Seraphina was calling from Riyku's sub-conscious. 'Riyku you need to get ahold of yourself!' Seraphina called out yet again, yet the male did not answer her. 'Riyku!' Seraphina gave one last call as loud as she could, but nothing happened.

[Do it, seep further. Fall deeper. This is who you are. This is what you are.]

Harvester's voice pierced through into his mind. 'Don't listen to him!' Seraphina called out, yet it would seem her voice was inaudible to him.

[Show them the error of their ways. Reveal to them the terror of despair.]

Harvester continued to edge him on, which seemed to be working. The male's skin was slowly becoming pitch black. Though, that wasn't all, the coloration of his crimson eyes were slowly turning beat red. The darkness around him would swirl upward from below him, the mana in the atmosphere seemed to react to this immense amount of power build-up which caused crimson lightning to spark around him.

"That's!?" Skylar would exclaim having glued her eyes upon the screen. "No... Riyku. You must resist." Mina muttered clasping her hands together as if she were praying. "Please..." She stated softly. As for Vex who was the only one conscious right now, "No Riyku! Don't do it!" Vex called out to the screen knowing full well that Riyku could not hear her.

[Yes. More. Build up more! Unleash more! Reveal more! Remember it. Remember everything! Humanity took it all away. So much was lost, because of them. In every life, these disgusting humans took everything from you. Lovers, Family, Friends, and even your children. Remember, who caused your anguish. Remember who caused your suffering. Remember your purpose and why you refuse to die.]

Harvester continued to edge him on more and more, which lead to a flood of memories shifting into his mind. Deyo, Racheal, Mina, Kristen, Lira, Vex, Skylar... the memories of his past lives held resemblance of the people in his present life. Every person seemed to hold a special place in his soul. Every single one of them was stripped from him. Torn from his arms, violated and murdered before his eyes, slaughtered in front of him, torture by death, over and over the memories repeated in his head. Though in each memory, it was always a human. Never a demon, never an angel, never a werewolf or any other kind of species. No, human. Flaring his eyes open the male would unleash a painfilled roar that seemed to distort the mana in the atmosphere. Shifting the purity of the mana into pure diabolical energy.

"What? What is going on in Block One? Is that some kind of skill!?" Several people seemed to utter when they noticed something strange going on. The chatter seemed to cultivate throughout the stand which caused a vast majority of people to shift their attention to the screen with Block One. Even those in the higher class seating were taking look.

"Damn it! I should have canceled our deal. I knew this would happen." The headmistress would shout as she slammed her fist upon her desk. Gritting her teeth she would proceed to make a call on her wristband. "Yes, It's me. I need you to bring in someone of a High ranking from the Hunter Legion. Yes, it is that matter. It has happened. Yes... at the Capital. Yes... I'll be heading there myself. Thank you." The woman would hang up the call and release a heavy sigh. Moving from her seat she would grasp her coat and prepare to leave the room.

"Umm... does anyone get the feeling that something bad is about to happen?" Ion inquired. "It's that wind... I knew it! Diabolical Energy." Nora narrowed her eyes. "You mean... that stuff demons use?" Mel inquired as everyone looked to Nora who would nod softly. "Yes. Demons normally used Diabolical Energy rather than Mana, since Mana is a purity of the elements, while Diabolical Energy is pure negativity of the elements. Since their bodies can not handle purity, attempting to cultivate mana throughout their body is suicide." Nora would explain even though her focus was on the screen in front of her. "Then that would mean...." Mel muttered. "That Riyku is a Demon," Rick stated which caused everyone to gulp heavily, their eyes now glued to the screen.

"We can't get close to him!" One of the guys shouted. "Damn it! Just how much power is he going to be building up!?" The other one shouted. Kissing her teeth, Bell would reach into her skirt pocket to pull out a wand. "Two can play at that game," Bell growled as she started to wave her wand, her vocals coming off like that of an angelic descent as she began to sing a chant. Steadily auras would flare across all three of their bodies, in different colorations at that. "Buffs?" One of the guys inquired. "Thank you, Lady Bell." The other one stated when the woman finished, though the look in her eyes meant that she was forced to stop for whatever reason. As for Riyku, well... He seemed to be just about done as well. The burst of power that surged from him seemed to have taken around him in the form of an aura. A breath was released from the male's lips as he twirled the blade around to hold it in a reverse style gripe.

"Oh, so you are ready? Ha! Don't think you can win so easily, demonic scum! We have Lady Bell's goddess aura protecting us!" One of the men shouted. The other would snicker before dashing towards Riyku. "Let's see how strong you are, Demon!" The guy shouted as he brought his weapon overhead to strike down Riyku. Riyku would catch the blade with his bare hand. A sizzling sound along with steam came from his hand as he stopped the weapon mid-strike. "What!?" The man exclaimed as she tried to pivot backward; however, Riyku seemed to have the blade firm in his hand. "Is that all...?" The distorted voice came from Riyku who looked up from the ground to stare at the man with hate-filled beat red glowing eyes. "Is that all, human!?" Riyku would crush the blade in his bare hand which caused the man to stumble backward. Quickly he would reach for a hidden dagger from his backside; however, when the man looked from his pouch to where the man should have been he was dumbfounded. "Rosario Style... Petal Dismemberment." Riyku muttered which drew the man's attention behind him, "When did you--" The male would stop speaking the moment his right arm flew off of his body like it had been plucked. Then his left arm, followed by his left leg which caused him to fall to the ground; only for his right leg to do the same. "In the end... you were nothing more than a mere mortal..." Riyku stated as he glared back at the male from his shoulder. The male had not even been able to scream, even though one could see he wanted to shout in pain due to the tears that flooded his eyes. It only then did his head fly off and at the moment from a bird's eye view, one could see the picture of a rose that had been drawn in blood with the male's body in the center.

Riyku would turn his attention back to the second male and Bell. The man looked terrified, "H-How? How did you manage to break through the holy aura!?" He called out in fear. Riyku would shake his head at the man. "Holy Aura? That? You are nothing more than a mere mortal. Do you truly believe you can call upon a Holy Aura?" Riyku muttered, his voice filled with nothing but hate, but he was not shouting or exclaiming; he was merely talking. "And you are demonic filth! We will purge you from this world! I'll support you! So go kill him already!" Bell shouted which caused both Riyku and the man to look at her. A devious grin curved across Riyku's face. "Try it, Mortal." Riyku would rest his hand upon his hips as the tip of the Soluna blade rested against the ground. "If you believe that sorry excuse of a woman can manipulate Diabolical Energy," Riyku added the moment the man had charged towards him. The man would show a moment of hesitation, which Riyku took advantage of. "Rosario Style..." He muttered grasping the hilt of his blade tightly. Crouching low to the ground while grinding the blade along the ground as he slowly brought it around. "Crimson thorns..." The male would utter as he brought his blade upward; the Diabolical Energy had gathered around his blade and unleashed towards the male who was engulfed by an arc of energy. Though in his eyes it looked like sharp thorns. A cry of pain left the male and when the arc dispersed, the man was filled with minor puncture wounds. His body jolted before he fell to his knees and dropped his blade.

As Riyku began to walk up to the man who was unable to move, nor could he even speak it seemed. "The wounds you have engraved upon your body were not normal cuts. They were strikes at your nerves, making your body shut down completely. The reason you are unable to speak is that your lungs are slowly being filled with your blood even now. You will die a slow and painful death long before you die of blood loss. Fitting for scum like you." Riyku would walk past the man who just sat on his knees unable to move or even make a sound at that. All that was left was Bell who was growling at the man before her. "What the hell is this!? Demons are supposed to be harmed by holy light. Yet... why!? Why are you still standing!?" Bell shouted out at Riyku as he griped her wand tightly. Riyku was now towering over the woman, looking down at her with extreme hate in his eyes. "Someone once told me... The holy light is only granted to those of purity. Those who have a will and soul to do good in life. You truly believe you are holy?" Riyku narrowed his eyes at the woman who would attempt to strike him down with her wand since she too was engulfed in the Holy Aura. Sadly, it did nothing. Riyku would catch her wrist mid-strike and without hesitation, the sound of her bones being broken and an unruly scream of pain filled the air. The girl would drop her wand and Riyku would release her as she stumbled back in fear. Reaching down to the wand, Riyku would examine it when it was in his hands. The continuous sound of sizzling and steam would erupt from his hand. "This toy?" Riyku had scoffed.

Holy Wand +3

Type: Magical Wand

Rarity: SS

Condition: Holy item

A holy wand capable of calling upon the Holy Light of the goddess of Aura.

"What nonsense..." Riyku would steadily crush the item in his hand and before long it would snap. Two pieces falling on the ground of which Riyku would stomp on smashing it into dust before looking to Bell who was banging upon the door of the elevator shaft while pleading to be saved.

"Look at you, cowering in fear. What happened? Weren't you going to kill me? Make me watch as your men raped my precious friends? Weren't you going to do any of that!? Where did all of that confidence go, BELL?" Riyku growled at the girl who was in tears. "Please! Stop! I'm sorry! I was tired of being made fun of! People started to treat me differently after you beat up Jack. Everything changed since you appeared! Just stop already! Please!" The girl would beg, yet... it did nothing.

"You truly believe I can forgive you? After all, you have done? For something so pitiful..." Riyku would slam the Soluna Blade into the ground. "No... you will pay for your transgression." Lifting both of his hands, he began to weave them around as if he were conducting an orchestra. The shadows around playing to his melody, which grasped the ankles of Bell. Lifting her off the ground to hang her upside. "You will dance to my melody, long before I end your life," Riyku muttered as he continued to wave his hands around. The shadows coming up one at a time from different angles to whip her as a form of punishment. The strikes tearing through her Holy Aura with ease. The first strike caused her to cry in pain as it tore a piece of her armor. Then the second, and the third and the fourth, so on and so forth. "Please... I am sorry..." Bell muttered before a shadow tendril slapped her across the face. Riyku had no words for her. Instead, he would continue to play the melody before him, each time the woman would beg for forgiveness she would get slapped by a tendril. Eventually, the woman was left with nothing but tattered rags of her underclothing. Her body drizzling with her blood that dripped onto the ground as she dangled off of it. A glimmer of hope-filled her eyes when the shadows dropped her onto the ground. Though, that hope was shattered when they latched ontop her, grasping both of her ankles and wrist and spreading out completely. Approaching the woman, Riyku would circle her to stare into her eyes. Tears filled those fearful eyes of hers, yet that only seemed to amuse Riyku who would snap his fingers. The shadows would form into some kind of table that strapped her in firmly.

"W-what are you going to do?" Bell inquired with fear in her voice. The woman had completely changed her demeanor as to earlier. "Make you suffer. Though... I'll let you live if you can endure everything until the end." Riyku would smirk deviously, which only widened when he saw the flicker of hope-filled her eyes. "R-really?" She inquired hastily and the male would nod. "Of course. I am a man of my word." He added and the hope in her eyes would brim brighter. Though... she was not expecting anything like what was to come next. A thin shadow thorn would pierce through the tip of her index finger, then another thorn pierced through the same finger but a few centimeters down. The same thing happened again on the finger and again until it reached her knuckle. Another shadow thorn would pierce her ring finger next and cycle through the same sequence up until all of her fingers and thumb were completely pierced through. It was then a larger thorn pierced through her hand, then followed down her arms the same slow but steady pace as it did with her fingers. The entire time the woman would cry out in pain, tears rolling down her face as she struggled to endure.

When both of her arms were completely done, her toes and legs seemed to be next. The same thing applied, the thorns grew in size to accommodate the fleshy space. Though, the hope that she would be able to live burned brightly in the girl's eyes. Meanwhile, Riyku would stand there and watch, no expression on his face. The horror on everyone's face at the gruesome and brutal torture on display was vivid. This was no battle, nor could it even be called a massacre. It was an execution.

"Riyku..." Vex muttered as she grasped Lira's hand tightly and the other grasping Kristen's tightly. Lira and Kristen would squeeze Vex's hand tightly, soft tears escaped both of their closed eyes. "Even they can feel it. This is not you... Please, don't do this Riyku..." Vex whispered with a sorrowful expression.

"An execution?" A feminine voice called out. Her eyes staring at the screen on display in the empty waiting area. "Looks like it." A young man's voice called out. "Your highness... Do you believe think we can take him?" The second female of the group called out. The man shook his head, "Not sure. I need to be there to find out." The male stated. "Haha, the Ghostly Prince is scared of some lone man? Now that's new!" A hysterical voice called out from their side. The two girls glared at the man who happened to snicker. "You bitches can't do anything to us. So stay where your master is." One of the teammates of the man who was carrying the Sickle stated. A heavy sigh parted the lips of the young man. "Yet we were the ones who won last year's Death Games. It looks as if everyone who was in the top three is here as well." The male added when he made note of the short cloaked girl.

"IVS? Bah. They just got lucky again. Their team is filled with nothing, but bitches anyways." The man with the sickle stated, but that obvious taunt did nothing to the girl who was focused on the screen. "Father..." The girl muttered to herself. "Leader?" One of the team members of IVS called to the girl. "Well, it looks like we know who the fourth person will be." The young man stated as his eyes returned to the screen. "Well, he does look far more interesting than you lot. Plus that murderous aura he was giving off earlier too was delicious." The man stated with a sadistic smirk as his eyes turned to the screen.

"Is that really, Riyku?" Rick inquired with slight fear. "I... Believe so." Mel replied. "Well, he appears to be super powerful. Like some kind of super boss or something." Jessica added. "But his method of going about this is... far too brutal." Ion would state. "Even for when he beat up Jack. He wasn't trying to kill him there, but here... It is like he is going to execute Bell." Ion would continue. "On National Television at that." Mel would add. "That..." Nora would mutter to herself as if she were going to say something but stopped.

"Just a little more..." Bell whispered to herself as she slowly began to fill lightheaded. "Just a little more..." She would repeat, her vision slowly becoming blurry. "I can survive... I will live..." She continued, even though her eyes were feeling extremely heavy. When the last thorn that had pierced through both of her thighs had come up Riyku would steadily begin to clap his hands. "Congratulations, you survived." Riyku would snap his fingers and the shadows would release the binds on her, the thorns retracting and the table disappears which caused the woman to fall to the ground. "Hm? What's wrong? I thought you were going to live?" Riyku called out to the woman who had lost all hope in her eyes, which slowly became devoid of all life. "Oh? You thought I was going to save you? The deal was I left you live if you endured. You endured and I let you live. I never said I was going to save you." Riyku would walk towards his Soluna Blade and pick it out of the ground.

'Quest: Defeat the Raging Shadow Demon failed!'

A text box appeared before the corpse of Bell. "If you were anything but human, you may have survived the blood loss," Riyku stated without looking back at Bell, his feet carrying him towards the elevator that brought him up here. "And that's it, folks! This concludes our primary round of the Death Games. Our final contestants are; Team Rosario, Team Phantom, Team IVS, and Team Reaper. These four teams will proceed to the semi-finals tomorrow. So stay tuned and come again!" A voice announcer came on, and Riyku would enter the elevator shaft. When the doors closed his weapon would return to his inventory via Weapon Return. His hands resting at his side as he stared at the door.

[Hehehe... You remember now, don't you? The reason you continue to live.]

Harvester called out to him. Though Riyku would shake his head. "My reason to live..." He narrowed his eyes. "I..." It was then that Seraphina's voice finally got through to him. 'Riyku! Don't listen to him any longer! Please!' Seraphina called out which caused him to close his eyes. "Enough... I have done what I wished to achieve." Riyku stated. A prompt would appear before him.

'Rage and Dark Form duration has reached its limit. Deactivation will occur now.'

It was then that the blackness on his flesh would steadily release from him like a mist, the glowing beat red in his eyes simmering down to a dull crimson color. Afterward, the male would fall back against the elevator shaft. Breathing heavily as he gripped his chest tightly. His iris' looking upon his UI to see that his Fatigue bar was nearly empty, and his Shield Points had sustained major damage to them while his Mana Points were empty.

[So... you choose to remain as you are now? The power you experienced is still a mere portion of what you are truly capable of. When the time comes that you need me, call me. I will give you the full extent of your power.]

Harvester made a statement, before seeming to just vanish once more. 'Don't listen to him Riyku. While he is right about that being a portion of your power, you do not need your old power in this new world. Gain power through this new world... Okay?' Seraphina's voice came out to Riyku who was heaving heavily, but never gave her an answer. The sound of a ding signaled the opening of the elevator door. Though before Riyku could even step someone shouted, "Freeze! Don't Move!" A red dot was pointed right where his heart was. Eyes narrowing at him from someone who looked like they were a normal civilian or something. "What?" Riyku would growl. He was out of options, his fatigue bar was nearly empty, his Shield Points maybe ten percent remaining and he had no Mana Points. Even if he wanted to get out of this situation there was no way he could, so all he could do was just stand there. "My name is Azeal of the Hunter's Legion. You are going to be coming with me for questioning." The man stated which Riyku shook his head, he knew what this was about. "Let me guess, because of my power?" Riyku stated to which the man nodded. "That is it. I would rather do this the easy way, but if you resist... well." Azeal stated to which Riyku chuckled lightly. "Do you think I could do anything right now? Take a look for yourself." Riyku would remark before falling back against the shaft.

Azeal would lower his weapon and release a heavy sigh. "Just need to make sure. The power you put on display can cause quite a bit of fuss and can stir up the Nation. We just need to make sure that you are who you say you are is all." Azeal stated and Riyku would nod. "Fine by me. However, I need to see someone first." Azeal would see the worry in the male's eyes and would nod lightly. "As long as you don't try to run away. Let's go." Azeal would move to help Riyku and the two of them made their way to the Medical room. Well one of them anyway. Upon entering the door, Riyku could see Vex who had turned from the two girls towards him. "Riyku!?" She exclaimed with both surprise and slight fear. "I am fine. Don't worry..." He replied to her as he tried to make his way towards Kristen and Lira. "How are they?" Riyku asked. "Kristen is fatigued is all; however, Lira... well... They say she might recover, but it will be a while before she can take to any battles or anything like that. I am afraid that she may drop into the slave rankings..." Vex muttered which caused Riyku to grit his teeth.

"Nah. That won't happen." Azeal stated as he came up from behind Riyku and placed a hand onto his shoulder. "If her condition is that bad, her points and ranking will stay in a frozen state until she makes a full recovery. It's not in the rules or regulations, but it is more like an official hidden rule. Not many people know about it, but it does exist." Azeal stated. "Who is this?" Vex inquired after listening to Azeal. The relief in her eyes and the released tension of Riyku's muscles caused the man to step back. "Apologizes. My name is Azeal, I am with the Hunter Legion. I am here to take Riyku in for questioning. Nothing more, nothing less. I am sure you are aware of his power." Azeal stated and Vex nodded. "Yes. We all are. Though, please believe me when I say this. Riyku is not a bad person. He was only angry because..." Azeal would shake his head when Vex tried to explain to him what had happened. "You have it all wrong. As I said, I am merely going to ask him questions. After that, we will return to you." The relief in Vex's eyes and the breath of relief were signs that she understood what Azeal said.

"Well, it's time to go Riyku." Azeal would state and Riyku would nod. "Take care of them. I'll be back to check up on them myself later." Riyku would state with a sadden expression and Vex would nod. "I will," Vex stated firmly as she watched Riyku leave with Azeal. A worrisome expression partook of her face, "You be safe too." Vex whispered.