The companions — Henry, Oliver, Vice Commander Julian…
How long have I been searching for them?
What is this place? The trap that was set for us was far from ordinary.
What could its purpose be?
How many caves are left unchecked? This is the last one. I hope it's the right one.
Andre entered the cave and found a ghoul sitting, sharpening his weapon.
"Are you the one who brought us here?" Andre asked.
The ghoul didn't look at him, continuing to sharpen his sword.
"So, you're the one I was supposed to kill. You're a little late, but since you're here, shall we begin?"
"Where are my friends?"
"You worry about your friends while standing before me? Really?"
"Tell me! Why are you shouting like that? If you want to know, then face me and defeat me.
Though by the look on your face, I doubt you can."
Andre gripped his sword and rushed forward — the ghoul blocked easily.
"Oh? You're eager. I like that," the ghoul said, shoving him backward.
Andre attacked again — blocked once more.
"Is that all you've got?" the ghoul mocked.
Andre stopped, began strolling… then started to move faster — faster — until he vanished from sight.
He reappeared in front of the ghoul, striking, but it was blocked again.
"Better… but for you, human, this is still nothing."
The ghoul disappeared and suddenly appeared before Andre, punching him in the gut so hard that Andre staggered back, clutching his stomach in agony.
"Now, human, either fight me properly or die and end this shame."
"You hit me a few times and think you've won? Don't joke with me!"
Andre raised his sword again, preparing his stance.
He slashed — the blade cut the ghoul's face.
The ghoul glared, swung back, but Andre dodged and punched him, sending him a few steps back.
"Now we're even," Andre said.
The ghoul stared, surprised. "That power… It's not yours. Is there someone else inside you? Even if you absorbed energy, the speed of it… the terror I felt — it came from something else inside you."
"What are you saying?" Andre growled.
"There's a demon inside you, isn't there?"
"A demon? Yeah… and I use his power."
"So you made a pact with one of the demons — your supposed enemies?"
"No pact. He lives within me."
"Ah, that explains it. But listen, boy — don't rely on that power. Your demon is far more wicked than you think. Nothing is given for free."
"Are you giving me advice now? I don't have time for that. I need to defeat you and find my friends!"
The ghoul dashed forward, grabbed Andre by the leg before he could finish, and smashed him into the walls — left, right — again and again, spinning him like a mill.
"Ahh! My leg — it's going to tear off!" Andre screamed.
The ghoul was monstrously fast.
Andre gathered energy in his blade and struck in the opposite direction of the ghoul's spin, breaking free.
He then punched the ghoul's head repeatedly until it let go.
They clashed again, sword against sword, steel echoing through the cave. Both landed cuts.
The ghoul grabbed a giant rock and hurled it. Andre sliced it in half — but the ghoul appeared right in front of him and slashed his chest.
A shallow wound — but he didn't stop. The ghoul seized Andre's arm and tore off two fingers, then did the same to the other hand.
The claws dug into Andre's chest wound, widening it.
Andre screamed in agony. As he felt death closing in — his demon appeared.
"What a sight, hero. Need some help?"
"How pathetic. Even Volak taught you how to draw energy, yet you can't control it properly. Disappointing."
"I'm not done yet!" Andre shouted through blood.
"Who said you were?"
While his chest ripped open, Andre suddenly jabbed his finger into the ghoul's ear, bursting it and making it bleed. The ghoul dropped him in pain.
"You little pest! I'll not just kill you — I'll eat you and hang your bones in this cave!"
Blood poured from Andre's body, his chest torn open, his fingers mangled — he could barely hold his sword.
"Well done, host," the demon mocked. "You've lasted longer than I thought. But what now? Shouldn't you just surrender and die? You can't even stand."
"Fool… don't you know that when we're cornered and feel death coming, we unleash everything we've got?" Andre whispered. "Watch me… demon."
Andre gripped his sword — his injured fingers made him want to scream. His legs trembled, barely keeping him upright.
"So this is what they call clinging to life?" the ghoul smirked. "I won't kill you quickly. I'll cut every piece of your body, one by one."
He charged — Andre blocked the first strike, but the second knocked away his sword.
The third slash severed a tendon; the fourth — both his arms.
The ghoul pinned Andre by both shoulders, driving his sword through one arm and Andre's own sword through the other.
"Now, human… I'll beat you until you die."
He started pounding Andre — not on the wounds, but on every bone that was still intact.
Andre screamed until nearly every bone in his body broke — except his jaw.
"Now, boy, beg for mercy," the ghoul said.
Andre spat blood onto the ghoul's leg.
"You know how to make me angry," the ghoul growled, raising his fist — but when he struck, his own hand shattered.
Suddenly, he felt something terrifying — power erupting from within Andre.
Andre's body began to regenerate — flesh, bone, blood — everything.
Everyone near the portal felt it — a suffocating fear, the sensation of death itself.
The ghoul tried to flee, but his left eye was pierced.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The ghoul screamed as his face twisted in terror, watching Andre's body fully restored.
"How… how did you heal like that?"
The Demon Lord pulled out both swords from his arms — they had no blood on them — and attacked, slicing off the ghoul's arms.
As the ghoul tried to crawl away, the Demon Lord cut off his legs as well, then stabbed the swords through non-lethal spots.
"Let's see how long you can endure," he said coldly, pummeling the ghoul until its face turned into nothing but a pool of blood.
When it was over, Louis stepped out from hiding.
"It's you… without a doubt. The Demon Lord — the strongest of all demons."
"Who are you, eye?" the Demon Lord asked. "Are you next?"
"No… I'm the one who saved your host at the last moment, restoring his body with the time-reversal spell."
"So it was you."
"Yes, my lord. And you're the reason he's trapped here."
"Don't lie. I don't care about that boy. He's nothing but a vessel to me."
"Then that makes things easier," Louis said. "I wanted to discuss something with you."
After a few minutes of conversation, the Demon Lord smirked.
"It's a good plan," he said. "But there's one flaw."
"What is it, Great Lord of Darkness?"
"When you tell me your plan and ask me to cooperate… that means I must follow your orders.
And I… follow no one's orders. I am no pawn."
The Demon Lord's sword glowed with immense power — energy burst out, shattering the portal into fragments.
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