DKFTI 109

Like the last spark fading after everything had burned away, the grand golden light that surrounded Aizen lost its strength and vanished. The massive barrier he had been desperately maintaining shattered like breaking glass.

“Ugh…!”

A thin stream of blood flowed from Aizen’s lips as he barely supported himself with his sword. The cost of taking the merciless attack head-on was enormous. The holy power that had been flowing through his body like a spring had now run dry.

“Aizen!”

Sibel’s desperate voice calling his name rang through the gray dust.

Kael, who watched the scene, swallowed dryly. The overwhelming power he had longed for so badly was disappearing. The divine energy that surrounded Aizen’s body scattered into the air.

Calypse stood motionless and watched the dying light in silence. As if he had been waiting for this moment, he gave an order in an icy voice.

“Exterminate all the demons and the heretic.”

As soon as his words fell, the elite knights standing behind him moved in unison.

“Ah.”

At the moment Aizen coughed up blood, the holy knights began preparing for a second bombardment. Aizen tried desperately to gather the holy power that was leaking out of him. Kael ran toward him.

“Damn, cough, cough. The demons are the ones caught in the middle of the Holy Kingdom’s fight!”

Ruru coughed and jumped up.

“Die, Aizen!”

“Ah! Hero! Get a grip!”

When Ruru swung his tail, a gust of wind blew into Kael’s eyes. While Kael faltered from the sudden attack, Sibel and Ruru reached Aizen’s side.

Aizen tried to stand, but his body refused to move because of the impact he had taken. His knees hit the ground with a dull sound.

“Fuck, that hurts.”

He spat bloody saliva and checked his body. His holy power was fading.

“You’re working with demons! Aren’t you ashamed?”

Kael brushed away the dirt that had invaded his eyes, gritted his teeth, and jumped toward Aizen again.

Sibel and Ruru tensed, ready to support Aizen, but Aizen used the last of his strength to push them away. His body felt heavy like wet cotton soaked in water.

He hadn’t realized it while his divine energy still flowed through him, but now that it was disappearing, he felt the collapse of power clearly. He had thought that divine power didn’t matter, that he could live with or without it, but now that he had lost it, it hurt.

Ruru blocked Kael’s attack with his tail.

“The more you attack us, the faster you’ll collapse. That’s how it works!”

Kael shouted that it was useless resistance.

“That bastard is attacking me, so why are you yelling at the Hero!”

Ruru shouted angrily at being ignored and Sibel shrugged in response.

“The chains are ready again!”

The holy knights moved very quickly. They finished preparing to reactivate the holy artifact. Sibel frowned.

‘The chain on my arm hasn’t even broken yet.’

The chain wrapped around his arm was still a nuisance. He had no idea where they had gotten this filthy holy artifact that blocked his magic.

At that moment, Kael saw the confusion on their faces and came up with a plan. He decided that attacking Aizen could wait. It would shake Aizen more if he attacked the ones Aizen tried to protect. Kael changed the trajectory of his sword. His blade turned toward Sibel in an instant.

At that moment, with a sound like the heavens collapsing, a rain of arrows filled with divine energy poured down above Sibel’s head.

“Demon King!”

Ruru shouted in alarm. Aizen forced himself up. Far away, Shanti noticed what was happening to Sibel and smashed through the wall to reach him. That moment stretched like slow motion.

Sibel clenched his teeth. The chain that bound his arm annoyed him, but he gathered the last of his magic without hesitation and spread a barrier above his head.

But Kael’s sword did not miss the brief opening and charged straight for Sibel’s heart.

Bang!

The arrows exploded against the barrier. But in return, Sibel was left completely open to Kael’s sword. filled Kael was already feeling victorious. If he plunged the holy sword into the Demon King’s heart, he would die.

“What can you do now that your holy power is gone?”

A hot feeling rose under his skin. It was joy. He felt joy at seeing Aizen’s despair, at seeing him completely broken.

Thud

“Argh.”

But before Kael’s sword reached Sibel’s body, it stopped. Kael stared at Sibel, then slowly lowered his gaze.

Thunk.

A dull, wet sound swallowed every other noise. He looked down and saw the dark red blade that had pierced through his stomach.

“That’s why you’ll never make it.”

The owner of the sword was Aizen. Without divine power, only with grip and raw strength, he had pierced Kael’s armor and made a hole in his abdomen. Aizen’s breathing was rough like metal scraping against stone.

“Ah… guh…”

Kael couldn’t believe what was happening. How? How could Aizen’s sword be faster than his when his divine power was gone? He couldn’t accept it. Until now, he believed there had only been one reason he couldn’t surpass Aizen. The power they possessed was different in scale. That was all. He had thought that meant it couldn’t be helped.

But why, even after losing his divine power? Kael couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His vision filled with Aizen’s figure. It wasn’t the radiant figure from his memories. It was a man who had lost everything and was crumbling apart. The sight he had wanted to see so badly was now right before him.

“Cough.”

Kael slowly lowered his head.

“See? You should’ve killed me.”

Kael dropped to his knees and collapsed. Blood poured from his mouth and his abdomen. His breathing faded.

“…Haa, huff…”

But Aizen’s condition wasn’t good either. He couldn’t even pull out the sword he had driven in, and he fell to the ground together with Kael.

As the apostle’s breath stopped, Aizen’s hand started to turn black. He had expected this. He had killed a messenger of God with his own hands and was drenched in his blood, so he knew he couldn’t escape divine punishment. It was the mark of blasphemy.

From the fingertips stained with the apostle’s blood, a pitch-black corruption spread. Like living poison, it crawled over his skin and moved from his wrist to his forearm. The curse of God devoured the space where his divine power had drained away.

“……”

Calypse silently watched the scene. One apostle of the Holy Kingdom had died, and another had fallen. The apostate’s end, divine punishment executed. Everything was unfolding as the order dictated. Yet this was a tragedy that should never have happened.

Even so, he stepped forward without hesitation. One step, and then another, toward the fallen Aizen. The sword in his hand glimmered coldly.

Sibel’s eyes widened when he saw Aizen. He felt worried.

“Aizen?”

His heart was racing. Aizen had killed someone. He had done it while defending the Demon King’s castle. Sibel had feared this kind of moment for a long time. As an enemy or as an ally, Aizen was never meant to stay by his side.

He didn’t know what kind of relationship Aizen had with the other apostles, but he should’ve never killed one of his own kind.

Sibel’s gaze turned to Aizen’s hand.

“That’s divine punishment!”

Ruru recognized what was happening to Aizen. It wasn’t just an injury. It was a mark of a curse, a sign that he had been abandoned by God and denied as a being.

“You crossed the line, Aizen.”

Calypse’s voice was heavy. The noisy surroundings grew quiet for a moment after Kael’s death.

Aizen stared at his own hand. The pain was far worse than he had imagined. He knew the curse spreading through his body would soon burn through his organs and end his life.

Not yet.

That was the only thought that came to him. Not yet. Not now.

“…This will be mercy for you.”

Calypse stepped past Kael’s corpse and stood before Aizen. He raised his sword. The blade looked ready to take Aizen’s head at any moment.

“Aah!”

At that instant, Sibel rushed in and pulled Aizen’s body toward him. The force sent Aizen rolling across the ground.

“Ah, Demon King! The Hero is injured!”

Ruru quickly held Aizen’s body in his arms. The light in Aizen’s eyes began to fade. Like a flame giving off its last light before turning to ash, the life drained rapidly from his gaze. His eyes lost focus, and the gray color that filled them looked too empty to belong to the living.

“Oh no!”

Aizen’s condition was now worse than that of a powerless human.

“He’s going to die like this!”

Sibel, standing face to face with Calypse, continued looking at Aizen. If things continued like this, it would be dangerous. But the chains still bound his arm and the Holy Kingdom’s soldiers were closing in.

“Please, stay awake! Hero!”

“……”

As Ruru’s voice grew more desperate, Sibel’s thoughts turned chaotic.

Should I kill them all? Would that finally end this pain? But do I even have that kind of power?

Sibel clenched his fist. At that moment, black energy started to surge from his body.

“…Why… you people…”

Unbearable rage surged inside him. His mind burned white-hot. His reason melted away, and his heart raced violently as if it would escape through his ribs.

The chains that bound his arm cracked under the pressure of the black aura spreading from his body.

When Sibel’s once clear blue eyes turned completely black, the chains shattered.