Someone knocked on his door. Not the sound Nicholas expected after sending his Obsidian Beast to massacre everyone. He stepped up to the door, trying to understand how anyone could be knocking right now.
His first guess was Yuki herself. Maybe the Obsidian Beast hadn't gotten her yet and had moved on to someone else.
Backing away from the door, he dragged a chair into the middle of his room and sat down, watching as the knock kept going and going with no end in sight. Then it finally stopped. Nicholas waited, eyes fixed on the door.
A sudden breeze brushed the back of his neck. He tried to look over his shoulder, but chains whipped around his throat and hauled him back, cutting off his breath.
He clawed at the chain with his fingers, desperate to keep it from choking him, but it was useless. Still, he kept scraping at it, fighting to catch even a bit of air as the pressure tightened.
He forced his head back as far as he could, trying to see the culprit. For a second, he caught a blurry image of Yuki standing behind him, choking him to death.
Glyphs on the back of his black gloves flared with a dark glow. He gritted his teeth, putting everything he had into it. In his desperation, knowing it was the only way to survive, he let go of the chains and clapped his hands together.
Blood splashed against the back of Nicholas head and ears, then trickled down his back. The chain loosened at last.
He turned his head back while holding his neck with his right hand, coughing and trying to regain his breath. Then he saw it. A dark portal, most likely made by Riko. His Obsidian Beast appeared right on time, and together they looked down at Yuki who was lying down flat on her stomach, her back slashed open by the Obsidian Beast's shadow sword.
"Hah…T-that was close. It seems fate is on my side."
The Obsidian Beast angled his shadow sword over Yuki's back and started to bring it down. The blade hovered just above her skin when both the Obsidian Beast and Nicholas heard a distorted command.
"Fall."
The shadow blade disappeared before it pierced her back. Nicholas was slammed to the ground, his entire body frozen in place. He could not move an inch as he watched his Obsidian Beast struggle to get up as well.
"The Sorcerer King has returned?! No. Wait. The bone-tooth necklace is no longer in the King's possession."
Slowly, two people stepped out of the dark portal, and Nicholas' eyes widened.
"You two…"
Yuki and Riko stood over Nicholas, looking down on him. His body still refused to move from the ground. He watched as they both held sly grins, as if mocking his efforts to get up.
Riko lowered her hand toward Nicholas, the bone-tooth necklace hanging against her neck, glowing with a bright white light.
"It's finally over. You will pay for all your crimes against the Hoshigiri Family."
Yuki crouched down and lifted her injured look-alike, taking the girl's arm around her shoulder. Her eyes were closed, her breath shallow. Yuki carried her to into the bed and laid her down, then removed her clothes to check her wounds.
"How can there be two Yuki's in the same room? Huh? Explain yourself!"
A laugh broke from Yuki's lips.
"I didn't realize how dumb you were, maybe I should have killed you the first chance I had."
Nicholas' eyes widened.
"What?!"
Yuki glanced his way and sighed.
"Weren't you the one who told me about demons shapeshifting? And yet you still fell for it? Pretty embarrassing.
Nicholas turned his head to see Yuki's look-alike slowly transform back into Sayuri, her blonde ponytail darkening into jet-black, silky hair. Her body grew in size, and she opened her left eye while keeping her right eye closed.
***
They tied Nicholas to the chair and tore off his relic gloves, leaving his wrinkled hands bare. Shame flickered across his face. Then, without warning, Riko seized his throat, his eyes bulging.
"You killed my mother. You think I'm going to let you live? Think again."
Yuki caught Riko's arm.
"No. I have a better idea. Let's use my 'Deathmark' instead. This way we'll know why these disappearances are happening in the first place. Plus, I'm sure you want to know why he killed your mother. Right?"
Riko, with a heavy heart, agreed and stepped aside.
At this moment, Yuki held the power to end this man who had caused so much grief to so many people, including her best friend Riko.
She remembered the last time she used her 'Deathmark', how her paranoia and hallucinations had swallowed her whole. They still did. But she had learned to live with them, to manage them. She realized certain emotions fed her trait, pushing her past the edge, and when that happened her eyes hollowed out and her thoughts twisted into something she barely recognized.
Even so, she pushed that aside. All because she would gain a new trait, maybe one worse than the one she carried. She accepted that fact.
Loud footsteps pounded toward the room before a knock hit the door.
"Hey! Open the door!"
Riko opened it and saw Koji, his eyes widening in joy. He crushed her in a hug.
"Y-you're alive… Are you alright?"
Riko smiled, a small chuckle escaping her lips.
"Yeah. This scumbag captured me and dumped me in the basement to rot. But I'm fine otherwise."
Koji took a few steps into the room and saw Yuki standing in front of Nicholas, who was tied to a chair. A chain lay on the floor beneath them. When he looked toward the bed, he found Sayuri lying there, with Yuki's clothes.
"It's clear now. You bent the crystal shard's vision in your favor. Well, Miss Fatebreaker… I suspected you'd use that demon's shapeshift ability in some capacity."
Yuki grinned as she aimed her finger at Nicholas.
"Well, actually… I don't think I've done anything worthy of being called a Fatebreaker."
Confusion crossed Koji's face as he grabbed her shoulder.
"Why is that? And what are you planning to do with him?"
A violet glow flared from Yuki's chest.
"Something I should have done a long time ago."
Nicholas chuckled.
"Oh, you want to use your Deathmark on me? Go ahead!"
Yuki closed her eyes, and in the next second opened them.
"Let death remember!"
Nicholas shouted back at her, a grin forming on his face.
"Let death remember!"
An explosion tore through the room, and a shock wave slammed into her, throwing her across the floor. She landed hard on her back, struggling to breathe as fire spread around her.
***
Everything blurred. Koji wavered on her right, while Riko lay unmoving on her left. Footsteps approached, and a low chuckle coiled through the smoke and fire.
"A respectable effort. I confess, you almost startled me. Almost."
Yuki pushed against the floor, trying to get up, but a sudden kick from Nicholas slammed into her side. Pain exploded through her ribs, driving a choked gasp out of her.
Nicholas put his gloves back on, a dark glow pulsing from them. He clapped his hands, and the Obsidian Beast appeared in front of him, its shadow sword already aimed straight at Yuki's stomach.
Yuki's vision finally adjusted, the blur lifting from her eyes.
"W-what happened… h-how are you not hurt?"
Nicholas laughed hysterically, covering his face. Then he pulled his amulet that was now turned to dust.
"Well, Beelzebub was right. The amulet did have a one-time use… a nice get-out-of-jail-free trick. While also causing the disappearances as well. How unfortunate. I suppose I'll just have to ask him for a new one."
He then turned to Yuki.
"As for you… your Deathmark. The very one bestowed upon you by that man. The man you somehow trust. I find it nauseating how effortlessly he keeps you in the palm of his hand."
Yuki coughed, struggling to breathe with the fire burning around them.
"W-what? …y-you mean Sasaki?"
Nicholas sighed.
"It no longer matters."
Snapping his fingers. The Obsidian Beast drove its shadow blade into Yuki's stomach, blood gushing onto Nicholas' clothes. She couldn't even scream.