Chapter 44 – The Ember Requiem
Chapter 44 – The Ember Requiem
The last thing Tyler remembered was the crimson blur of Shindeon’s claymore crashing down.
But the strike never landed.
A barrier of icy blue shimmered in front of him— [Absolute Defence]. Milo had leapt in at the last second, teeth clenched, eyes wide with sheer determination. The sword slammed into the shield with a thunderous boom, sending shards of frozen air in every direction. The ground cracked and quaked beneath their feet, but the barrier held. Just barely.
“Move!” Milo shouted, his body trembling as the barrier flickered. Tyler rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the next tail swing that split the earth where he’d been.
“Damn it!” Tyler groaned, breath heaving. His body screamed in protest. His PE was gone, his limbs sluggish, vision blurring.
But Milo didn’t back down. He stood guard, shielding Tyler with arms outstretched.
The kangaroo devil twisted his body with the elasticity only a beast like him could muster and launched into another hop. The force blasted wind outward, uprooting trees in a ring around them. His massive shadow eclipsed them as he descended.
Tyler grabbed Milo and dove to the side. Shindeon’s claymore embedded itself in the ground where they’d been, splitting the rock and igniting a plume of flame that scorched the already burned forest.
They tumbled together behind a shattered boulder. Tyler clutched his chest, panting, “We can’t keep dodging forever. We need a plan.”
Milo’s eyes were sharp despite his exhaustion. “There’s a delay… between his sword strikes. It’s short, but it’s there.”
Tyler nodded. “If we can get in during that window…”
“We go in, strike from both sides, then get out. Quick, surgical. No fancy stuff.”
Shindeon roared, hopping again. His landing cracked the earth like a meteor strike. The claymore carved another flaming gash into the ground. But Milo had been right. After each massive swing, Shindeon took a moment—a brief pause before the next attack.
Tyler activated [Sprint], dashing around to flank from the left while Milo took the right. As Shindeon swung, they leapt forward.
Tyler’s twin blades bit into the back of Shindeon’s knee. Sparks flew. Milo launched a concentrated [Freeze Core] blast at his ribs. The infernal armour hissed and cracked.
Shindeon growled and tried to turn, but they were already gone. Tyler dashed behind a charred stump. Milo dove into a trench.
They repeated the manoeuvre. Again. And again.
Bit by bit, Shindeon’s movements slowed. His hops lost their explosiveness. His tail flicked with slightly less force. The claymore swings grew erratic.
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But he was still dangerous.
“You… pests!” Shindeon bellowed. “These petty tricks… they work only because I am sealed! If I had even half my strength—!”
Tyler laughed between pants. “Guess it sucks to be incomplete, huh?”
Shindeon howled in rage. His eyes blazed.
And then it happened.
He twisted mid-hop, his massive tail lashing out with vicious precision. It struck Milo square in the chest.
CRACK.
Milo was flung like a ragdoll, slamming into a stone wall with a sickening thud. The sound echoed over the ruined landscape.
“MILO!” Tyler screamed.
He dashed toward him, heart pounding. Shindeon hopped again, his tail crashing down. Tyler barely dodged, rolling through scorched dirt.
“You run to your dying friend?” Shindeon mocked. “Watch him perish. Let that be your punishment.”
Tyler reached Milo’s broken form. Blood seeped from his mouth. His eyes barely opened.
“I… tried to use [Absolute Defence],” Milo wheezed. “But… no PE left. It just… didn’t activate.”
“Don’t talk,” Tyler whispered, voice cracking. “You’ll be okay.”
“There’s no potion, is there?”
Tyler rummaged through the inventory, trying to find just one potions, and food or consumables, but he found nothing. They had already used up everything beforehand.
“…No.”
“Then listen,” Milo coughed. “You have to live. You’re the player. I’m just… a companion. I can be replaced. You can’t. Go.”
“No,” Tyler muttered. “Nobody dies a meaningless death. Not under my watch. Not here. Not now.”
He stood up, rage burning in his veins. He activated [Sprint], weaving around Shindeon’s faltering attacks. His eyes gleamed with focus.
[Storm Wizard Hat Equipped. PE: 70/70]
He dashed to a high boulder, right above Shindeon’s face.
[Activated Skill: Poison Mist]
The toxic cloud burst forth, engulfing Shindeon’s snarling maw. He staggered back, coughing, furious.
“You… this venom! Myrrak! How DARE you use this against me!”
Tyler didn’t stop. He ran, climbed a ledge, and launched another mist.
[Activated Skill: Poison Mist]
Shindeon howled. He swung blindly, carving down trees in a frenzy.
Tyler ducked, dodged, circled again.
[Activated Skill: Poison Mist]
The cloud wrapped around Shindeon’s horns. His armour hissed, his breathing became ragged. He dropped his claymore with a crash.
“CURSE YOU!” he screamed. “You win nothing! This body is a shell. I will RETURN. I will BURN your world to the roots! When I rise fully—there will be no hope!”
He collapsed to his knees. His body cracked with glowing fissures.
Tyler, nearly out of breath, used the last of his strength.
[Activated Skill: Poison Mist]
[Activated Skill: Poison Mist]
[Activated Skill: Pois…
The mist swirled, turning the world green. Shindeon’s body convulsed, light pouring from the cracks.
A final, furious roar tore through the sky.
And then—
BOOM.
A shockwave of crimson exploded outward. The air burned. The earth glowed white-hot.
And Shindeon vanished.
[+90 XP]
[Level Up! Tyler Level 100 → 102]
[Acquired Runestone — Berserk]
[Skill: Rage → Berserk]
[Attack increased to 400% with no defence penalty for 10 seconds. PE Cost: 10]
Tyler staggered. His vision blurred. The battlefield was silent.
He tried to walk toward Milo. His legs collapsed beneath him. He hit the ground face first. Everything turned black.
---
From afar, beneath the shade of a twisted, petrified tree, a figure watched.
Sharp claws, a sweet scent, a grin like a razor’s edge.
“So that’s how you fight when your back’s to the wall,” he mused. “Interesting.”
He walked into the clearing, legs crunching over the ash.
He looked at Milo, still breathing faintly.
“Tough kid. Barely made it.”
He walked to Tyler.
“You took on something far beyond your capability… and won. That’s worth something.”
A pillar of white light descended from the sky, illuminating all three in its glow.
The mysterious figure smirked. “Well, it won’t be against the rules if I help them out, just this once. Right?”
With a flick of his clawed fingers, they vanished into the beam.
“Since when did I even care about the rules anyways.”
And when the light disappeared—
Nothing remained but scorched earth and the silence of the dead.