66 Meaningless Deaths to a meaningless War

"Why...?" Riyku would question with despair in his voice.

On his knees, he had dropped his rapier at his side. "I am... too late..." Tears started to form in his eyes as he saw his friends either dismembered, burned, or impaled to death. Of course, his group wasn't the only one to take losses, but they were not prepared or aware of what was going on. Not only that, but they were all dead. Some even frozen solid. They all had the same unexpected look of shock on their faces.

"Riyku. Unleash me. Unleash my power. Call out my name and take hold of my blade. You may have lost them, but you can still save Astraia. Do it. You need my power if you want to defeat this many." Skeith would whisper eagerly into his mind; however, Riyku ignored him. He was too focused on what was before him. Not even yesterday they were all laughing and having fun. Even several moments ago they were cheering and smiling, but now that was gone and it would never return. The joy-filled smiles and happy moments that could have come from interacting with his friends were taken away. All for what? Some amusement to some asshats? Riyku's emotions started to turn towards hatred. "I'll kill them..." Riyku would mutter as slowly stood up. "I'll devour them..." He added, his right arm starting to give off an ominous flare. It was then that those who remained inside of the hut that had been collecting the flag and Essences of the dead took notice of him.

"Yo, we missed one." Someone called out. "Kill him. He is from the CrimsonAsh Netherworld." Someone stated. "Sure. But it's a shame we had to kill all the girls. They were fine as fuck." The third called out. "At least there is one more. Let's leave the other one alive and have fun with her." A final person stated. Riyku could easily overhear their remarks, but his mind was too focused on one thing.

"Kill them all, boy." A sweet succulent and clearly feminine voice unlike Skeith's echoed into his mind.

"Use your power. Your's alone is all that is needed. That demon's power is not needed, it is never needed. Just use yours." The voice continued.

However, something interesting happened. Riyku did not heed the voice's words. "Skeith," Riyku grumbled which caused a blade to surge from his chest along with a flare of ominous diabolical energy like the first time Riyku called to Skeith. The energy shot skyward like before; and again it caught the attention of everyone. Including the Overlords who were watching. Astraia's eyes went wide, "Riyku!" She called his name out while pushing back someone who had dropped their guard. "Something must have happened... were we too late? Why? Why did this have to happen? Why now!?" Astraia cursed within her mind before shouting aloud Riyku's name one more time.

The thrust of a broad sword seemed... slow. Sloppy. Unsteady. So, Riyku would grasp it with his right arm to halt the strike. His claw steadily making cracks along the blade as he tightened his grasp. His attacker was unsure why Riyku would even catch the blade with his bare hand. Even more so when Riyku snapped the blade in two; the look on his attacker's face was 'How?' It would remain that way even after Riyku pierced his attacker with his own weapon, lifting the attacker off the ground with the blade. He would then switch it up, thrusting his right-hand claw into his attack's chest while ripping out the blade. The attacker jerked twice to each motion with blood spewing from his lips. Riyku looked over his attack, watching tears from in his attacker's eyes. There was no remorse in Riyku's eyes. No regret. Only the urge to kill.

Riyku would cling to the attacker's heart, and the attacker would winch in pain with heavy sobs. Squirming around to try and break free. It had to be because he did not want to die right? Well, that was part of it. The other reason was that his attacker felt his Essencess steadily being drained. The skin was starting to rot and wrinkle, slowly being dried out like some kind of grape and when Riyku was finished with him he crushed the heart. In reaction to the immense amount of power, his attacker's body exploded into pieces, with steaming guts and giblets everywhere. Riyku would lower his right arm back to his side and raise his blade at the rest in the hut. Those who were chanting had stopped. They could not speak another word, not after what they just witnessed. Some of them ended up vomiting their lunch. Others were frozen completely in fear.

"How did it go..." Riyku finally spoke. From his voice, it was clearly him, but his attitude was not the usual happy kind. Why would it be? "I think it went like this..." Riyku was recalling something as he steadily rose the blade above his head. His right arm coming up along with it while he gathered Diabolical Energy into it. Setting the butt against his right hand he would run the entire blade through his hand drawing upon the energy he had gathered and unleashed it in the form of an arc into the hut. He had mimicked Skeith's attack when Skeith had taken over his body.

Screams could be heard coming from inside the hut along with an explosion. Riyku determined there was no one left alive. He did not check, he felt he did not need to. Turning on his heel he looked down the hilltop. He saw that the battle had stopped. Everyone was staring at him as he looked down upon them. His attention shifted to the blade in his hand. A voice, sinister and distorted.

"Interesting... not just any demon can use Raw Diabolical Energy. Not only that, but you even morphed it into a sharp shape and gave it an explosive property... Even if you did mimic my movements, to pull it off on your first try... Perhaps there is more to you."

It was Skeith who was speaking. After all, the pact was that Skeith would be allowed to be free by dwelling in the blade and Riyku would be able to use his power. Riyku had nothing to retort with for Skeith. His eyes drifted towards the war filled clearing once again. "Live or Die, your choice." Riyku would call out to the still combatants. No one said a word, but they did make a move. Perhaps they thought they could overwhelm him with their sheer numbers? Or maybe it was acting out of fear? Regardless of why; they started dismissing Astraia and solely charged up the hill towards Riyku. Those at the backline began incantation to provide support.

"So you have chosen death..." Riyku would mutter as he brought his right arm upward before throwing it to his side. "Expand..." Riyku would mutter and on command his shadow would expand outward covering a good portion of the clearing. Perhaps everyone was too focused on Riyku to notice that the ground had become pitch-black before their feet. That was, everyone but Astraia. She had taken to the air the moment all the attention shifted onto Riyku. What she saw from her bird's eye view was a pitch-black circle that could fill an entire village. She was confused, but she felt that what was going to come was... crazy. The feeling sent shivers throughout her body.

Those running up the hill were too late. They did not make it in time to stop Riyku. He had already knelt down to slam his right hand into the black. "Bleakly..." Riyku muttered as several large blackthorns skyrocketed around destroying everything in their wake even the hut itself which was made out of obsidian was no match for the power the blackthorns had. Screams and cries of pain filled the air along with blood and body parts. Not everyone died on impact. Some lost legs, some arms. It merely depended on where they were at when the thorns rose. Of course, some were impaled and others would end up dying from blood loss. The sight was something else to Astraia. Forestry of blackthorns filled with blood and gore. She had to hold back her lunch so as not to spill it from the sight and stench.

"Oh? What is this? Never have I ever seen anything like this... However, to use the shadows... Are you the reincarnation of The Shadow King?" Skeith's voice peered from the blade, but he was ignored. Riyku would rise up, removing his claw from the black as he did which caused the thorns to retract, and shortly after his own shadow retook its normal state. "Hey, are you really just going to ignore me?" Skeith's voice peered forth again, yet Riyku did not respond. His eyes drifted through the blood-soaked gore-filled clearing. They shifted to his side when felt a presence land beside him. It was Astraia. She even called his name, her voice filled with concern. "Astra... I..." Riyku would close his eyes while turning away from Astraia. "I was too late..." He would grit his teeth. His words filled with pain. Immediately, Astraia moved to hug him from behind. She was weeping softly with her face bared against his back while her grasp tightened around him. Riyku had no words of comfort. Nothing came to mind. The only thing that ran through his mind was...

"It is all my fault."

A blaring horn came out of nowhere which signaled the end of their war. Though they paid no mind to it even as they were ported out of the field and back into the classroom. However, it was only them. Only Astraia and Riyku. No one else made it back. Alone... the two of them were in the classroom. No cheers, no laughter, no smiles... just emptiness. Riyku would look at The Sword of Annihilation. He did not know how to put it away, but the moment he thought about putting it away the blade seemed to dismiss itself through a flash with a flash of crimson light. A quivering sigh left Riyku's lips while he placed his hand against Astraia's arm. Tears were silently falling down his face.

No one knew how much time had passed before Instructor Rina came rushing in and damn near tackled both of them with a hug. "I am so glad you two are alive! I am so glad you two are okay!" Her voice had been shaky, if one got a good look they could see her cheeks were stained with tears. It seemed that Instructor Rina had been crying for quite some time now. Riyku had his thoughts that the Instructor knew this would happen, but maybe she didn't. When he had seen the look on her face and heard the sorrow in her voice. "Was she not behind this?" Riyku thought to himself.

Meanwhile back where the Overlords were watching. The two Overlords who made a deal with Hawk, Overlord of Crimson Ash; were quaking in their clothing. They did not expect Crimson Ash to take the win. In fact, they felt they made sufficient planning and training that it seemed impossible for the students of Crimson Ash, and they were right. Crimson Ash should have lost, but Crimson Ash won. "Y-You cheated! There is no way a demon like that exists as a student!" The Overlord in the mask exclaimed. "Right!? To be able to unleash such power! He has to be some kind of Overlord! I mean that skill was something else! It had to be an Overlord's Skill!" The Overlord in the hood called out next. Hawk closed his eyes without a word. The man would lean comfortably in the leather chair. Relaxing without saying a word. Those around said nothing. "Nothing? So our Deal is null and---" The Overlord in the mask was interrupted mid-sentence when they started coughing. Non-stop coughing as if they were sick or something was stuck in their throat. The coughing continued even after the Overlord in the mask started to cough up blood along with some kind of ashy substance. Hawk would open his eyes, a crimson flare dwelling within them. A shriek came from the Overlord in the hood. "Right! Right! Our Deal. Here!" The Overlord in the hood would call forth to their Essencess Sphere to exchange what was due. Hawk would do the same as to collect the EC that was due. The Overlord in the Mask was struggling to bring out their Sphere since the coughing was only getting worse. When they did, they exchanged the EC that was due with Hawk, and the moment Hawk confirmed such the flare in his eyes seized. The coughing also seized and the Overlord in the Mask took deep breaths in an attempt to gather oxygen into their lungs while rubbing their throat. There were audible murmurs, snickers, and giggles. An innocent cute voice even spoke up, "That's what you get for trying to trick Hawk. You should have known better, Hawk has quite a dangerous Overlord Skill after all. To make anyone in his sights choke on ash. It would have been even worse if the ash was burning. You got off easy." Grumbling came from the Overlord in the Mask before that person and the Overlord in the hood took their leave. Meanwhile, Hawk also stood up to take his leave.

"Leave so soon?" The same innocent cute voice called out to Hawk. Small stature with an androgynous figure in a long black shirt and baggy black pants with short black hair and heterochromia eyes; one white and one black had been looking up at the backside of Hawk. The man stopped but did not turn to the small person. "I have someone to test. To see if they are worthy." Hawk would comment before continuing onward. "Hmph... always so serious. It is a wonder as to how Astrid even came to love you." The person would retort in a pouting manner which had no effect on Hawk who continued towards the door to take his leave from the room.

As for Instructor Rina, Riyku, and Astraia. It appeared Instructor Rina did not want to release both of them out of fear of losing them as well. Riyku had confirmed that Instructor Rina had no part in what was done, in fact, she probably had no hand in what was done. "Instructor..." Riyku would murmur lightly, but she refused to release both of them. Instead, her grasp around both Riyku and Astraia only tightened. "We are--" "--Not going anywhere..." Between the bring of Riyku's remark they were ported into a waiting room of some kind. "Huh?" Riyku was the first to notice before Astraia and Instructor Rina took a look around. It was a black room lit up only by flares of flickering blue flames. Circling around the room had been thrones for those to wait and in the middle of the room was where Instructor Rina, Riyku, and Astraia were. Eyes had looked over them. "Where are we?" Astraia inquired. "This place..." Instructor Rina would murmur. "Interesting... three from Crimson Ash." A broad and loud voice coming from a red-haired masculine demon seemed to cause Riyku to shift his eyes towards him. "Idiot, only two of them can be candidates. One of them is an Instructor." A feist feminine voice coming from a pink-haired demon rose next. She was easy on the eyes, unlike her scow.

"Still... why is an Instructor here. Did something happen?" An intelligent voice coming from a male demon who was somewhat scrawny looking had come next with the adjusting of his spectacles. "Does it matter? More women mean more fun!" A roaring lustful and sinister voice came from a rough-looking demonic male. They were all sitting on their thrones, but the others looked at him with disgust. Riyku would wrap his arm around both of them while glaring at the male with his lustful intentions. "If you even dare to touch them I will devour you whole." Riyku was still offset by what had just happened, by the loss of friends. He was not going to lose anymore. The murderous glint in his eyes showed it well. Tension started to rise heavily. Everyone seemed to shift their gaze upon Riyku. "That so?" The man retorted with a wicked grin. Riyku's glare would intensify. Instructor Rina had shivers sent down her spine. For a moment she was scared of Riyku, but when she realized that he was protecting her, her fear lessened. She thought, "I am the one who is supposed to protect you..." But Instructor Rina never voiced it. Astraia on the other hand... was saddened. She had never seen such anguish within his eyes. Sure there was the murderous glint, but behind it there was anguish. He was suffering. She could see just how much he was suffering. She would move onto her tip-toes and lean over his shoulder while reaching for his face so she could apply an affectionate kiss. The tension seemed to stiffen as if coming to a halt. When Astraia broke the kiss she set back down, it was clear she had Riyku's full-blown attention now and she no longer saw the murderous glint. It was something at least. "You will not lose me. I will not go anywhere. I will protect you and you will protect me. So do not worry. I am here and always will be. My Riy." Astraia spoke with a tone of reassurances. She could tell he was blaming himself for the deaths of his friends. Even though it was not his fault, he seemed to put the blame on himself. So wanted to make sure he knew that she was not going anywhere. Before Astraia could get another word out or even Riyku was allowed to react a peal of sinister laughter came from the same rough-looking male. "Cute, but enough of that shit. She in particular is going to become my cumdumpster!" The man would leap from his throne, and Riyku narrowed his eyes at the male. "Rise and Pierce." Riyku would command as if giving orders to something.

"Enough!" An authoritative voice rang throughout the hall along with a two-stage runic circle which stopped several shadow tendrils from piercing through the man. The man had a hand pressed against the circle along with his foot to keep himself from slamming into it. His eyes moved from Riyku towards the voice to see an elderly looking demon."Don't get in my way old man!" Though the moment the man was about to push off the runic circles to charge towards the elder, they shattered like glass, and the shadow tendrils pierced through the man's right shoulder, left thigh, and right forearm. However, that was not all, the fourth and final shadow tendril was rushing to pierce through the man's throat. Everyone's eyes would widen in surprise and a muffled cry of pain came forth.