Chapter 20:
Verruckt's composure went from the enjoyment of torturing Dark, to the seriousness of this new threat…and Krad was indeed a serious threat. He could sense that Krad now possessed even more magical energy…though he wasn't sure just how much, for Krad's aura of malice and ice caused his senses to waver. Verruckt stood tall and adamant, he had never felt fear or such anticipation before, and it both excited and worried him. He would leave Dark alone for now, until he had stolen the life of his lover that had now become too dangerous to keep around for enjoyment…pity.
Dark had fallen to down on one knee and stood trying to catch his breath and starring at Krad with an expression of both weariness and confusion. This wasn't the Krad who had just been standing there a moment ago…however; he would not deny that he knew this Krad either. This was the Krad from centuries ago, the Krad he'd met that night when he snuck into the Hikari Palace to steal a precious artifact, a painting, which was said to be the newest and most powerful creation of the noble family. Little did he know that night, that the magic from within that painting had manifested itself into a demon…the very demon that stood before him now.
Krad never looked away from Verruckt's eyes, he could tell the Verruckt was new to this feeling of fear…and he was trying to hide it. It had been fifty years since this part of Krad had been fully awakened. It was both exhilarating and enjoying, like a caged bird that'd finally opened the door and spread it's wings for the first time in ages! And it felt good, really good. His lust for the dying screams of a doomed soul was magnified in those golden eyes, his desire to feel warm blood running over his hand sent a shiver of pleasure up his spine at the thought…but who's blood to take first? The question was quickly answered to the demon's satisfaction and he simply smiled and raised a hand to Verruckt, "Smile…" He said and then blasted a large energy ball of ice magic into Verruckt.
Verruckt grinned, no magic could harm him, and maybe he had given Krad to much credit. He raised his blade in front of him and the spell merely exploded on impact causing a large cloud of icy mist to surround the area and he laughed, "Fool! Were you trying to use magic to kill me?"
"No…that was only to blind you…" A dark voice said coming from behind Verruckt, and then a sharp wave of pain surged through Verruckt's body as he felt a jolt of ice pierce through his side! But how? His armor protected him from everything but that damn sword!
Verruckt quickly spun around to slice Krad in two…but nothing was there. He stumbled out of the icy mist and quickly looked around for the fallen angel…and when he saw nothing he felt another sharp pain surge through him. He looked down at his aching side and saw…blood? Red blood! A dagger of ice was sticking out of his side…then a thought struck him…when Dark had earlier struck his armor with Xilef's blade…had it created a gap in the armor? It must have…he agonizingly pulled the ice free from his flesh and saw that without the visibility to dodge the attack, it had sunk in deep. A cold burning sensation had surrounded the hole in his skin and the wound continued to bleed. 'Damn…' Verruckt mind raced for an explanation as to why he couldn't sense the demon behind him.
Suddenly through the graying mist, the golden hair, white clothed angel had appeared with Verruckt's blood dripping slowly from his hand and a large grin on his face, "That's one…" He said and brought the bloody hand to his lips and tasted a bit of Verruckt's blood, just as mockingly as when Verruckt had tasted his own, "Hmph, your blood is tainted with demon magic…pity, I was hoping it would taste more satisfying."
Dark starred in shock, the savagery in Krad's eyes…the enjoyment of this torment…it was the same type of twisted pleasure he saw in Verruckt's eyes while he toyed with his mind about his plans for the same angelic seraph that now had held the demon king's life at his whim. No… it had taken to many centuries to tame his beautiful hunter, he would rather have died then to lose that spark of humanity within the golden demon. When he had first met Krad, he was clad in white robes of a noble, stained with blood, painted to live that way in the image of his creator, as a guiltless killer, …but his creator was no more…slain on the floor in a pool of blood after having his own creature run a blade through his gut. Within the first few moments of his existence, Krad had already learned the sick pleasure of taking another's life.
At first glance, Dark wasn't sure what to think of the angel! He was just too beautiful for words, even though he was covered in blood, Dark couldn't take his eyes off of him. Long golden hair; perfectly smooth pale skin, beautiful yet deadly yellow eyes, and flawlessly soft white wings folded on his back… a marvelous creature, Dark had thought. He had hid in the shadows that night just watching him for long moments, barely able to breathe at the sight of him. Krad had stood still starring curiously at the blood on his hands, starring at the red life that gave warmth to his cold skin. He was made entirely of deadly ice and malice frost, a perfect killer, created to be a pawn to be controlled by the very people who gave him life. Dark was like that too…breed to be the perfect thief, trained to steal without question or argument, the only thing he really meant to his family was the heir to a legacy of phantom thieves who plagued the artistic world, and mainly the Hikari's. Dark wanted desperately to reveal himself to the creature and touch his breath-taking skin…but something about the cold and forbidding aura around the demon made him stay silent.
Something had been burned into Krad's soul that night of his birth into this World of Light… vengeance, death, and the name Niwa…these three things were circulating through his head.
"Vengeance?"
'Vengeance against those who oppose and resist you…' A voice mentally said in his head.
"Death?"
'Death is the only thing that those who stand against you shall receive…'
"Niwa?"
'Your enemies… the ones who shall receive death and then vengeance shall be yours!' the voice spoke cold and venomously.
At the sound of his name Dark made a soft, "Huh?" like noise.
The demon quickly looked up, keen ears and eyes scanned the surrounding basement like chamber. The darkness was thick; the only light to be seen was the light from a torch on the wall beside the now blank canvas behind him. Suddenly the demon came to realize…he was no longer alone.
Dark pressed his back against the wall with his hands clamped over his mouth and mentally cursing at himself for being so stupid as to allow he presences to be sensed. Rule number one of a Phantom Thief…don't let your self be entranced by gorgeous demon and then make a stupid sound to give yourself away! Dark swallowed down the large lump in his throat and dared to turn around to take another gaze at the demon…only to turn to pure darkness…
Dark felt as though someone was shaking him and suddenly he pulled himself out of his reminiscing of the past; he found himself collapsed face down on the floor, realizing that he must have passed out due to his own exhaustion. How long had he been out? He shook his head and slowly was able to get to his knees and rubbed his head, he felt slightly better and was breathing normally again, and good signs he thought. Suddenly, he felt something warm on the side of his face…touching it lightly with his hand and then looking at it…Blood? Red blood? Looking around he could see it covered the ground. What the hell happened?
Then memories of the situation before he passed out came flooding back to him. He looked up and saw Krad…his white clothes stained and covered in blood…and but with the malice grin on his face, Dark beat most of it wasn't his.
Verruckt on the other hand wasn't laughing or smiling at all. His forehead had a huge gash on it that was rendering his right eye useless due to all of the blood obstructing his vision, his sword had been discarded, obviously Verruckt's strategy went from force with the sword, to offensive and defensive with magic…and by the looks of it, his defensive spells weren't going very well. Though it did look like Krad had indeed taken some damage, Verruckt seemed to have taken almost as much as he could handle.
Dark slowly rose to his feet and a wave of dizziness came over him; he must have hit his head when he had fallen unconscious. His injured wing gave only a minimal ounce of pain, obviously the wing was numbing itself naturally or he'd grown use to the excruciating injury. Dark held his head a moment to focus his vision and slowly began to feel a sense of hope…and dread.
Krad would win, he was sure of it, Krad was truly at his strongest now and he'd done a number on the dark lord. But even if Krad won and saved the world of light from Verruckt…what was going to save the world from him? Krad was guiltless monster, a terrorifying demon, and a cold-blooded hunter…what was to stop Krad from unleashing that power upon the world? One thing, Dark Mousy. Krad's soul objective once again was his destruction, the elimination of the Phantom Thief, Krad didn't care about throwing the world into chaos like Verruckt…he only cared about draining every last drop of blood out of Dark. Was his angelic and…human Krad gone forever? Would Dark never be able to take pleasure or enjoyment in meeting the beautiful fallen seraph again? Would ever night of his life be as it was so many centuries ago, nights full of blood spilt by both angels over the cities and streets of the ancient world? No…once Verruckt were finished…Krad would take no time in letting Dark escape to lick his wounds…if Verruckt fell then so did Dark, not only because they were still bonded by the pact of light and dark…but once Verruckt was out of the way…all of Krad's attention and malice would be directed towards him.
Dark chuckled a bit and fell back down onto the ground on his knees, laughing at the cruel irony of fate. Even if the greatest threat to the world of light were vanquished…The Great Dark Mousy would also fall at the hands of the breath-taking Seraph…it was quite funny actually. Another thing was…he always imagined that the way he would die was at the Seraph's hands…and now his wish was coming true. There was no sense in defending himself against Krad's final blow; he barely had the strength to stand. 'Oh well,' he thought to himself, 'at least I can say I was killed by an angel before I went to hell…'
Krad's magically abilities were unrivaled; truly he was a master of the art. No one could match him when it came down to a contest of magic. Not even Verruckt could compare, though Krad was surprised that he had lasted this long…but then again…he was a part of his greatest rival and most worthy opponent. And now it was time to end this little skirmish, Krad was growing tired of seeing this shadow's face.
"Verruckt, I grow weary of this bout," Krad said mockingly, "I have more important things to attend to then messing up your pretty face."
"Bastard…YOU DARE MOCK ME!" Verruckt roared in rage. How dare this false angel! He was the king of darkness, and this fool dared to act as though he were but a scratching post on which to sharpen his claws, like a cat trying to pass the time of his boredom.
"I'll tell you what," Krad began amused, "I'll end your miserable existence in but three hits…and as I recall…" Krad said and held up one finger, "You've already struck out once…but being the generous person I am, I'll consider it a ball, sort to speak, which means, you'll get three more chances to strike, before I strike you…" Krad replied with a malice grin setting Verruckt's blood on fire.
"Grrr, DAMN YOU CURR!" Verruckt raged and cast a spell of teleportation, appearing just in front of Krad. He had materialized his blade once again in his hand and brought it down in a vertical slash aimed at splitting Krad's head in two. Krad however looked extremely calm for someone about to die.
Suddenly, just before the came down on him, Krad caught the blade between two fingers, and the blade stopped short! "One…" Krad replied still grinning. Then without warning or notice, Verruckt was sent flying backwards with a hard punch to the gut. Even with the armor on, the sudden attack had knocked the wind out of the dark king and he crashed onto the ground sliding on his back a few feet before stopping to cough up some blood.
Verruckt was in shock, how was this possible? He can never lose, his next attack had to finish off this monster once and for all. How could he go from offensive to defensive so quickly, but this fool was cocky enough to let him have the first attack before he would countered. Verruckt was sure to make this his undoing.
As quickly as he had attacked the first time, Verruckt dash forward again and suddenly with such speed and precision, Verruckt lashed out with his sword and seemingly cut Krad in two…seemingly. But Verruckt wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice, with a smirk and a fast spin, Verruckt whirled around and landed an upper cross slash to the real Krad instead of his reflection.
As quickly as he could, Krad jumped backwards being pushed back by the slash. He quickly placed his feet on the ground skidding back a few feet and then grabbing the ground with one hand to come to a complete stop.
Verruckt stood up tall with a wide grin on his face; this was the most damage he'd done to Krad the whole battle. A gash about and inch and a half thick into his chest, blood streaming down his white trench coat that now exposed pale and bloody skin through the tear.
"You underestimated me," Verruckt sneered, "Did you think I'd fall for the same trick twice? Your friend Dark already wasted that move earlier…when you were weak and helpless…when you were powerless and had to rely on your worst enemy to protect your pathetic life…or did you forget?"
Verruckt should have kept his mouth closed, hurting Krad's pride was far worse then any physical damage anyone could have done to the demon. The thought of having to rely on anyone…much less Dark of all people to protect him…if the fires of rage burned in him before…the fires of hell must be burning in him now.
Krad stood tall with his head down and fists clenched, blood still bleed freely from his chest, though the pain seemed not to affect him one bit. Finally after a few moments of silence, Krad's eyes shot up to meet Verruckt's. Death, anger, rage all glowed like flames within his eyes…and suddenly Verruckt's smile vanished.
"I rely on no one…especially not…" Krad began in a calm voice, then without warning, Verruckt was sent reeling to the floor after a hard right cross to his face. He didn't even have time to recover when he felt Krad's boot come down hard on his chest. "Dark Mousy…"
Verruckt's mind was racing, trying to figure out what had happened. Here the demonic angel stood over him, with his foot on his chest holding him down, his expression was calm but his eyes were full of rage and madness. Then a flash of silver light caught his attention, Xilef's sword! Krad held in his hand the fallen king of light's blessed sword! But before he could even cast a spell to throw Krad off of him…he felt cold sharp steel enter his body. The blade had been driven through the center of his chest, and the blade was thrust in so deep that Verruckt could feel it penetrating bone, muscle, and armor. Pain like he had never felt before. Rage from within him flared, he'd been struck down with a fatal blow…and by none other then his lover's sword.
"GAH!" Verruckt gasped as blood filled his lungs. His air supply was leaving him quickly as his blood flowed out onto the ground.
Krad had said nothing. He only stood there, his foot still on Verruckt's chest just beside the sword that was still deep within the dying king, and stared down at him with his hard cold eyes that held no mockery, pity, or delight…only harsh, cold…frost.
Verruckt starred back at his angel of death, with what vision he had left. His voice had left him, there wasn't enough air left in his lungs to speak with. The sword that had felt so cold going in…now felt so warm within his dying body. The blade was giving off soft…and some how…comforting pulsing vibration, like a heart beat. As his body became colder the blade became more comforting and warmer. Was this what it was like to die? Was this what Xilef felt as he died? Verruckt had feared death…feared it so much that he killed those who threatened to make that fear a reality for him…his father…his people…his lover…all of them. Suddenly he came to realize…that death had been the most peaceful moment in his life. He couldn't hear anything anymore…the sharp waves of pain emitting from his chest began to dull…his whole body felt numb…in fact the only feeling he had… was the sweet and soft warmth of the sword that now claimed his life. It was so soothing, almost loving…and in Verruckt's eyes, it wasn't Krad who stood there anymore, with his hard cold eyes…but it was Xilef. His eyes were so gentle and warm…just as they had always been in life. He would have begged for Xilef's forgiveness had he a voice to plead with…but he could see it…he saw forgiveness in his eyes. Suddenly Verruckt felt no more need to try and breath, his heart that had been beating slower…and slower…finally stopped. His vision darkened to blackness, and then he was gone.
Silence. And endless silence held in the room. The body of the dead king lay in a sea of blood, his head rolled over to one side, his eyes were closed forever, and his face seemed peaceful…almost as if he were an innocent child in sleep. To look at that peace, you would have never guessed that this was the king of darkness in the world of shadows…you would have never guessed that this being had murdered everyone close to him, you would have never guessed that he was a cruel and evil tyrant…no…all you would see was that peaceful face. It was as if the blood on his hands had been washed away and his soul set free. Peace. Absolute peace. Finally, the madness was over…the battle forever finished…Verruckt was dead…and his madness and evil, taken to the grave with him. And still the silence hung loud in the air, as if not to wake the sleeping form that lay in an ocean of red velvet. Stillness. Absolute stillness.
Dark starred at Verruckt's face for some time, with a gaze of pity and relief. When the final blow was struck, a sharp surge of pain gripped his chest making it hard to breath. This must have been what Krad felt when Xilef died…the sign that their shadow was dead…but pain didn't matter to him now, for he was sure his own end would release him of any pain, and his end would come in the form of white wings.
Krad stood there for a moment, still looking down at the dead body below him. He released his grip on the warm sword and left it within the fallen shadow of his nemesis. He calmly stepped into the mass of blood on the ground and turned his attention to Dark, his prime target since the night of his creation. He knew Dark was dying, Verruckt was dead and the bond between him and the king he had just slain was still not severed. It wouldn't be long now before Dark's already weakened body gave into the extreme pressure that was now sucking the life from his heart.
Dark did not even look up to see the golden angel walk towards him. He knew he was there, and what he planned to do, he almost welcomed it; it would be an act of mercy if it would release him from this pain. He remained there kneeling on one knee, still, as Krad's footsteps stopped before him.
"…Haven't seen this side of you in a while…" Dark said quietly after several moments.
"…No…I have had no need to remove it from within its dormancy." The golden seraph replied. Dark could tell he still had a calm expression on his face without even looking up.
Dark winced a moment in pain and shut his eyes tight, and caught his breath as the moment of pain passed, "Well then…no need to delay the inevitable…" Dark said slowly, "Surely you haven't just come over her to chat with me…so just finish what you came over here to do…"
Dark waited to felt the bitter cold of Krad's ice magic to thrust into him and end his miserable pain…but he felt nothing. There was silence between the two for sometime, neither moving to even disturb the air.
Finally, Dark felt and impulse swell up within him, "Stop dragging this on!" He yelled, still starring at the ground, "You know I'm in pain, so just finish it!"
Suddenly, Dark felt a warm hand on his shoulder and felt a soft amount of pressure under his chin raising his gaze up to meet golden eyes. Krad's eyes no longer held that malice and cold look to them, they were as they once were…with a tiny glimmer of humanity, they were softer now and his smile no longer malevolent. This was not the same Krad that had delivered the final blow to the demon king. Krad was kneeling down on one knee with one hand under Dark's chin, his thumb softly stroking it, and his other hand casually placed over his knee.
"It's no fun just to finish you off when you can't fight back…" Krad said softly with no sarcasm held behind it, and Krad pulled his face closer to Dark's, "Besides…one life is enough to take for today…"
Dark felt a light brush of Krad's lips against his. For once Krad was showing affection to him that held no lust…but love. For the first time Krad had been the one to kiss him and even without Dark asking him to. Here he was prepared to die at the angel's hands…and here he was…kissing him. Suddenly Dark could ignore the pain within his body, the pain that was slowly crushing his heart, and only felt that kiss and the warm embrace that followed.
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Adel smiled as he sat alone in a world of darkness that was once the tower of Galseran, holding a dead young man in his arms. Zanus had given his own life during the spell before Adel had the chance to offer his own. The spell had taken a long time to cast, and the two were exhausted…the final ingredient to the spell was a life…and Zanus refused to allow that life to be his sorcerer's. The portal to the world of light was now ready to be opened…and this would be there final good-bye.
'Daisuke?'
Daisuke had been left unconscious away from the battle by Krad to protect him before his final fight with Verruckt. Slowly red eyes opened and the unseen voice continued to speak to him.
'Daisuke…it is done now…' Adel continued in his normal tone of comforting pain, 'the door to your world will open now…and before you were gone…I wanted to say goodbye…and thank you.'
'Thank you?' Daisuke asked still laying on the ground exhausted, 'Thank you for what?'
'For giving me the chance to meet you…and for helping Zanus and I for fill our purposes of protecting the evil magic within this world. For doing that…Zanus and I can rest in peace…and I thank you…'
'Does this mean…I won't see you again?' Daisuke asked sadly.
'Perhaps…' Adel replied as a tear fell from his cheek, 'One can never truly die…if there are those still alive to remember them… Good bye Daisuke…'
Suddenly the darkness around him began to dissolve away, a sudden jolt entered his body. The bond between him and Dark had been restored, and he felt as though his body were being lifted upwards in a great suction of empty whiteness. The air around his was flowing fast over him in all directions, the pressure in his brain began to ache and then suddenly it was over and he crashed onto the cold hard marble floor of the museum, the last place he had been before he was drawn into the painting. He heard a loud thud next to him and then all was quiet and dark. Finally, home…he was home! Back to the world he belonged in, home! …And now that he was home…and safe…his exhaustion took over him and his eyes fell shut leaving him surrounded by silent, comforting silence.
Notes from the Author:
Wow…sniffles I almost felt really bad for Verruckt in his last moments…sniffles I think I may have had a soft spot for him there. Okay folks…well only one more chapter to go! Thanks for reading and commenting, hope you've enjoyed the story so far and I'll get the last chapter up as soon as I can. Bows Thank you for bearing with me through these long gaps between uploads; hope this chapter keeps you busy for a while. BUT FEAR NOT! ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT! So I'll see you again next upload! Bows Thanks again!