Descending Into A Novel

She stood still, blood pouring out of a massive gaping hole in her chest. Before finally falling face first onto the ground.

Ellen watched her intently, seeing that she wasn’t moving. She relaxed her body slightly.

Her armour had already been pierced by several arrows, giving her the appearance similar to a porcupine. Albeit with a few less quils then a normal one had.

Compared to Ellen, who had not a single injury except for a small scratch on her face. The difference was stark.

The fight was long, it burned her eyes just to keep them open—the over usage of her innate power and her False Future Projection Art causing intense strain on them. As well as her entire body feeling sore all over. Without her willpower-attunement, her body and most Arts was significantly weaker. Making her exert herself harder just to have the same outcome as in the past timeline.

The black bricks slowly crumbled around them. The battleground coming undone, since only one could leave the battleground. It meant that she had truly died. Without even a single chance of returning at all.

Ellen let out a long breath, closing her eyes as she stowed her bow on her back. Putting her two daggers back into their respective sheathes on her thighs as well. Now that the battleground was finished, it had returned her to her original location.

Looking around, she saw that she was the second one to finish their duel. The others still trapped in their own respective battlegrounds with their own foes.

The Black Legion disliked fighting weaker foes after all, as they considered it dishonourable. So every enemy sent here today was the same rank as them.

As special class students, they absolutely dominated everything in the same rank as them. Finding a worthy opponent in the same rank was a difficult task, which was why the academy usually had them fight against weaker opponents of a rank higher.

But that wasn’t what she was worried about.

Seeing the corpse in front of her, Ellen didn’t feel any of the physiological distress she had felt the first time.

It sucked, but death was death. As heroes, they had to get used to it sooner or later. The only difference was what they were killing.

Looking up at the sky and squinting, she could see Rudeus still clashing with his opponent from the Black Legion. A fight like theirs would have been impossible to contain in the Black Battleground, so they just kept it outside.

Even Ellen, who had amazing reaction speed couldn’t keep up with their fight. In her eyes, all she saw was the same fast moving blurs the others saw.

Just then, Raymond appeared. Having finished his duel, he immediately turned to look for her.

Raymond went up to her, carefully examining her for injuries and naturally—spotted the scratch on her face.

"Hold still."

Putting his palm on her cheek, he casted a spell to rewind time by ten minutes. Reversing the wound so it never happened.

She reached a hand out and flicked him on the forehead again. Scolding him lightly,

"Heal yourself first."

She could see blood still leaking out of a wound on his arm, and she wasn’t sure but his right foot was also completely covered in blood as well.

It took him longer then her to defeat his foe, and the first thing he did when he got out was to look for her to heal her.

He really...

She could only sigh.

He looked at the wound on his arm. As if he was noticing it himself.

"Oh."

Next to them, Thomas sat on the ground. Merely staring at his sword, and the blood that was on it.

Holy energy and demonic energy countered one another the same way water and fire countered each other. Water could douse fire or it could evaporate water. It just depended on the quantity or quality. Whichever was better would win.

Which was why angels actually more often then not lost to demons. Demons thrived by killing each other and absorbing their demonic energy to grow stronger, while angels mostly relied on their passive growth to become stronger. Which made angels as a whole weaker then demons.

Still, in this case. Thomas had managed to be the first one to defeat his foe, as well as the first to kill his foe.

Sitting there cross-legged. He stared at his sword for just a bit longer, before finally asking them.

"...did I do the right thing?"

"..."

There was never an easy answer for something like this.

Raymond put a hand on his shoulder, sitting down on the ground next to him.

"If you didn’t kill them, they would have gone on to kill more."

"Maybe. But who am I to decide that?"

"They were evil."

"Were they? Most demon contractors may be evil. But these ones definitely weren’t."

He had a point there, most demon contractors were evil. Using their power to do whatever they wanted. Those contracts only attracted the worst type of people in the first place after all, and the nature of demonic energy didn’t make it any easier.

Compared to the demon in Mirovia City, these were real humans. Humans who had lived a life and weren’t necessarily evil.

Killing a monster was easy, killing a demon was easy as well when they weren’t the same race as you. But for Thomas , who had lived along humans so long now. It was hard.

Because the Black Legion was different. They were just a group that just loved fighting. They wanted to improve themselves, grow stronger, and fight.

They had a code of honor, they didn’t commit crimes like the others, they even punished their own members for breaking said code of honor.

Compared to other organizations like the Apex Union or the Sin Clans, they were practically saints. If anything, they were better then some of the Families.

They didn’t even have any malicious intent when targeting them.

As future heroes in the making, the opportunity to be able to fight with them was something they couldn’t give up. Something they were willing to risk their life for.

Thomas took a deep breath. Admitting to him, and Ellen who was still standing.

"I...hate demons. I despite them. Loathe them. I hate demons more then the average person. But even I need to recognize, there’s always a few outliers."

The usual innocent and lighthearted Thomas had disappeared, replaced by a version so jarring it felt strange to even consider. Let alone see in front of his eyes.

He took out a cloth from his pocket, carefully wiping off the blood off his sword.

"I’m going to create a grave for them. There are no corpses, so I’ll use their blood instead."

Making up his mind, Thomas stuck his sword directly into the ground. Digging a small hole with his hands and burying the cloth with the blood on it inside.

For a second, his halo and wings reappeared. Before swiftly disappearing again.

He clasped his hands together, uttering a few small words of prayer. A simple eulogy in a language only he understood. His words were incomprehensible, sounding divine and hopeful. Like a light beaming down from the sky on a rainy cold day.

Raymond could have used a translation spell, but he didn’t.

Because right now, Thomas was using the holy language of the angels—Enochian.

Finished with his words he turned to them.

"Perhaps it is wrong, but these humans and demons do not deserve death. So, I shall atone for their untimely deaths myself."

Angels were a mysterious bunch. Despite playing a massive role in the third Human-Demon war, still not much was known about them or the heavenly realm they lived in.

But the one in front of them didn’t seem so mysterious at all. Rather he simply seemed lost.

Ellen quietly snuck a glance at Raymond, seeing the familiar look in his eyes as he reminisced on his own past.

He too was someone who had killed a lot, Ellen couldn’t help but wonder what his first murder was like, and how many he had killed until now.

It even brought memories of her own first experience with death.

Back in the previous timeline. When the Apex Union had attacked the academy and she was forced to defend herself. She found herself surrounded by students, all of whom were smiling and cheering only a few moments ago. Now laying there without a single spark in their eyes.

When she herself had been attacked, she had been so out of it that she nearly got killed if not for Zachary.

Slapping her out of her daze, she had vomited onto the floor at the sight. The copious amounts of blood was sickening, the way it looked, smelt, and felt. Everything felt so wrong.

Then the worst part came, something she still remembered vividly to this day.

She had picked up a spare bow, her hands never shook when holding a bow. But that day they did.

She had only just aimed,firing an arrow without much mana put into it.

But seeing her own arrow pierce a human’s skull was horrible, seeing their blood and brain matter splattered on the arrow she herself had shot. Even if they deserved it, it felt so unbelievably revolting.

Ellen clenched her fists tightly, digging her nails into her palm so tightly it hurt.

’Never again.’

Now that she had returned, she had already vowed to prevent all of it. Never again would so many die. Never again would so many young teenagers be forced to go through what she went through.

Never again would someone like Thomas, ever have to experience this nauseating feeling.

If she didn’t do this, then why even call herself a hero?