Ash rained from the skies as flames licked the blackened stone walls of the Great Demonic Castle. The sky above twisted with crimson clouds, and distant screams echoed from fallen towers. Amid the ruin, two figures faced one another — the last words between nemeses, spoken in the heart of war.
(Leon of the Orthodox Faction)
"Oscar, it's over now. There's no one left to save you anymore.
We've already captured your last stronghold — the Great Demonic Castle.
If you surrender right now, we will kill you painlessly… and spare your family."
(Oscar, Demonic Lord)
"Kill me painlessly?
Do you really think you can do that… with that strength of yours?
And saying you'll spare my family…"
(His voice twisted — not with fear, but with a laughter edged in grief.)
"Do you mean those old people who always abused me?
You can kill them off.
They are not family of mine.
My only family died already 10 years ago.
Today is the day when it's been ten years since my mother and brother were murdered.
Time sure flies fast."
His eyes did not water. They burned with hatred
(Leon of the Orthodox Faction)
"…Fine. So be it."
He raised his hand slowly.
"Comrades, execute his so-called 'family' immediately."
One of the soldiers moved without hesitation. Screams followed. Oscar didn't flinch.
"And I will fight Oscar — the Sword Demon."
(Leon stepped forward, a blood-red seal forming beneath his feet.)
"I will show you my newest created technique, made from:
the Archangel's blood
the Heart of an Archdemon
mixed with the souls of lesser demons…
and the wraith of the Goddess of Hope.
[Sacrament Technique: Heaven-Slaughter Rite]
May the roach finally burn.
The heavens cracked open. Leon's blade rose skyward like a conductor's baton. A ripple spread through the battlefield — time itself seemed to freeze.
(Leon of the Orthodox Faction)
"By the will of the Celestials…
I summon the Spirit of Radiant Judgment and the Shadow of Divine Ruin!"
Light and darkness split the sky. From the clouds, a massive winged figure emerged — draped in gold, faceless and blinding. And behind it, crawling from beneath the scorched earth, came a skeletal shadow with horns made of twisted obsidian.
The soldiers of the Orthodox Faction cheered, believing the battle already won.
The holy and unholy united — all to slay one being:
The Sword Demon. The Roach that refused to die.
(Oscar, Demonic Lord)
He stood alone among corpses. Blood smeared across his face — not his own. His eyes remained empty.
"You dare bring down both heaven and hell for me?"
He didn't move. Not yet.
"You must really fear what a roach can become."
He stepped forward, dragging his sword through the dirt, sparks trailing behind. Then—
"Fine. Let's see which god screams first."
The radiant spirit unleashed a lance of divine fire, while the shadow spirit twisted the ground with black chains of judgment. Oscar flashed between them, blade slicing light and shadow alike, but the clash was too great.
For every blow he landed, he was struck twice in return.
His body tore. Blood sprayed the ash.
He smiled through broken teeth.
Deep within the ruins of the castle, three old soldiers watched the fight from afar. Their armor was shattered. Their loyalty, unbroken.
(Elder Soldier)
"He's dying… but still standing. Just like her…"
(Younger Mage)
"There's no time! We must activate the Ancient Rite of Echoes!"
(Third, trembling)
"But that technique… we won't survive—"
(Elder Soldier)
"Exactly. That's the point."
They stood in a perfect triangle, blood dripping from their palms as they carved the forbidden sigil into the floor. Their chants began.
Oscar struck the radiant spirit's core, causing it to scream with a thousand voices. The shadow lashed him across the chest — ribs shattered.
He collapsed to one knee.
Leon raised his hand to finish him
.But then… the ground beneath Oscar cracked.
A blinding pulse of energy exploded from beneath him. Time slowed. A vortex formed.
(Oscar)"…What… did they do?"
(Leon, wide-eyed) "No—NO! He's slipping away!"
The Sacrifice
The three loyal soldiers gave their last breath to trigger the Ancient Rite of Echoes — a lost spell designed not to save, but to scatter a soul across dimensions unknown.
Oscar's body was swallowed by darkness. His soul burned through time, through light, through screams of angels and demons alike—
The sigil beneath Oscar cracked open like the mouth of a god swallowing its own son. The wind roared, the ground trembled, and time fractured.
The three who had cast the Ancient Rite of Echoes now stood at the brink of death — pale, trembling, yet smiling.
(Elder Soldier — Vael)
"Oscar… listen closely."
"You were never meant to die here. You still carry her blood… her will."
He coughed blood. His knees buckled.
"Let go of vengeance… Live. Become something greater than what they call a Demon Lord."
(Younger Mage — Elin)
"Don't come back for us."
"Don't die for ghosts."
"Please… suffer if you must… but live. Live until the stars forget your name… or remember it in reverence."
(Final Soldier — Gruth, the Silent)
He said nothing… only looked at Oscar one last time, eyes glimmering with brotherhood.
Then he raised his hand in salute, and was the first to fall.
Oscar, trapped within the swirling vortex, reached out, blood dripping from his hand.
"No… No, damn you… Don't die for me."
"I never asked for this! I NEVER—"
His voice dissolved into the wind as their bodies disintegrated into light, powering the sigil.
For the first time in years, Oscar wept.
Not from pain.
Not from hatred.
But from helplessness.
"You fools… you absolute fools…
You expect me to forget revenge now?"
"You gave your lives to save a monster… and now he will become something worse."
Leon stood amidst the wreckage, staring at the dying glow of the spell.
"...They sacrificed everything… just to save him?"
He clenched his fist. His voice trembled — not with fear, but bitter recognition.
"He's not gone. Not truly. I can feel it…
That vermin will crawl back."
"And when he does…"
Leon looked to the sky, to the gods he served.
"You better pray your judgment is enough."
The battlefield grew silent again.
The war was won.
But something far more terrible had just been born.
The sigil faded.
The sky closed.
The battlefield stood still — not from victory, but disbelief.
In the darkness between moments, as his body was torn from the world, memories bled into Oscar's mind.
A small cottage. Laughter.
His mother humming a lullaby while stirring soup with one hand, holding his baby brother with the other.
Oscar, only ten, pretending to be a knight with a stick in the yard.
"You always come home bruised, Oscar.
But you always come home."
His brother Ren was the gentle one.
Smaller, but quick-witted. Always clinging to Oscar's arm, always laughing.
Too kind for this world.
Then —
The sky turned red. The horns of war sounded.
The cottage shook from impact. Screams from the village echoed.
Then Oscars Mother Yelled Get to the cellar. NOW!"
She shoved them down. Oscar tried to argue — she slammed the trapdoor shut.
From below, they heard the front door burst open. Her scream.
The sound of blades.
Ren gripped Oscar's hand, whispering:
"Stay quiet. Don't come out. Just like she said."
But Oscar didn't listen. He reached for the trapdoor, trying to save her.
That's when the floor above shattered.
A blade pierced through, slashing Ren's shoulder.
Then light — and boots — crashed into the cellar.
A knight raised his weapon.
Oscar screaming "No—!"
Ren shielding oscar and yelling to Oscar "RUN!"
He shoved Oscar back — just as the sword plunged into his chest.
Oscar watched his brother's eyes go blank before he collapsed.
Blood pooled under his knees.
Oscar didn't remember running.
Only the sound of his own screaming… and the silence that followed.
(Oscars Mind)
"You died for me."
"And I… I lived."
His body drifted in the darkness.
Grief crawled into his bones. It stayed there. It never left.
"I will never forgive them."
"Not for your death. Not for hers. Not for what they made me become."
"Even if I rot in hell — I'll take their heaven with me."
Now the Void trembled. Something was watching him.
Something waiting.
And it would give him a second life.
But not to be saved.
To be used.
Or… to break everything.