Zoe Reinhard's Point of View

(Minutes before Kadian Helkar arrived)

I was very scared to go see my parents, but even so… I gathered enough courage to tell Lady Irisha.

At first, she hesitated, but after explaining my feelings and doubts, I convinced her. She trusted me and gave me permission to make sure my parents would be okay.

"But no matter what happens, don't get close. Just look for a few seconds from the top of the mountain and come back quickly so you don't put yourself in danger." Those were her conditions, and I was about to break them as soon as I saw my mother being stabbed by a black-skinned, purple-haired demon.

"NOOOOO!!!" My father's scream resonated, reaching where I was, snapping me out of the shock that had enveloped me.

"No… It can't be true..." I said to the air, my voice trembling as my vision blurred due to the numerous tears beginning to fall from my eyes.

Impossible… My body trembled like never before, and I started to feel my heart compressing to such an extent that it made me fall to my knees.

There was a part of me that wanted to go help my mother, but my body wouldn't move. It simply didn't respond and stayed motionless as I watched my mother fall to the ground, and then the sand beneath her turned red. My mom is...

I stayed in a daze until a large explosion at the battle site brought me back to reality, making me refocus on the fight.

Drying my tears with my hands, I tried to follow the fight from where I was.

My father began to cast several spells of different elements at the demon, who only dodged them with some ease while approaching my father at an impressive speed.

Still trembling, I enhanced my vision with mana to see more clearly how the pitch-black demon pulled out three purple swords from his back and threw them at my father.

He managed to dodge two of them before deflecting the last one with his own sword.

Wait! His hand is… I thought as I saw one of my father's hands was cut and burned.

What should I do? Go or stay here… No! I can't think like this. It's best if I stay here. After all, if I go, I'll just be a distraction for my dad. I thought, clenching my fists. Besides, how could I help him? I'm not strong at all…

With a lot of anger and helplessness in my heart, I decided to stay where I was.

Continuing to watch the fight, I noticed how the swords my father had dodged and blocked were absorbed by a purple liquid that mysteriously floated on the battlefield.

When they finished being absorbed, they disappeared without a trace.

"What? But… what kind of power is that?" I asked myself, knowing nothing about that spell. In an instant, the demon was absorbed by the same purple liquid I had seen earlier.

"What? Where did he go?" I asked, noticing the demon had completely vanished.

My father, noticing his enemy had disappeared, jumped back with both eyes closed.

"What is he doing?" I commented. Standing completely still, it didn't take long for the same purple liquid that had absorbed the demon to appear behind my father, along with one of the demon's swords.

"Watch out!" I shouted in fear, trying to warn him before the hand holding the sword was completely immobilized. Quickly, my father turned around and easily cut it off. The purple liquid disappeared, and seconds later, the demon reappeared several meters away with the hand cut off.

I screamed without thinking, but luckily, they didn't notice my presence. I was grateful to the rain and wind for covering my mistake. But still, what happened? Why didn't he go through my father?

The demon, with a smile, said something that made my father furious because without thinking much, he jumped at the demon to stab him directly in the head. Yes! He will finish him!

For some strange reason, the demon didn't try to defend himself but instead made a move to attack my father, making it seem like he didn't care about his own defense.

My father managed to land the blow, or so it seemed when his sword went through the demon's head without causing any damage.

On the other hand, the demon was ready to attack him, but for some strange reason, he stood still again.

My father quickly adjusted his stance to cut off the demon's head, but before he could deliver the final blow, he fell to his knees, vomiting blood instantly.

"Dad…" I whispered before making a tough decision. "That's enough, I can't just stay here watching, I'm going over there." I said, getting up while still watching what was happening.

My father, still on his knees, slowly raised a hand while the demon yelled at him. Once his only hand pointed directly at the demon, several spikes emerged from the ground, mercilessly piercing various parts of his pitch-black body.

Yes! He did it! I thought, full of joy, seeing a pool of blue blood forming under the demon's body, held in place by the spikes.

My father fell to the ground after his last attack, writhing for a moment before I finally approached him.

"Dad!!" I screamed with all my might, catching his attention.

"Watch out!" He shouted with blood in his mouth just before the purple liquid appeared beside me.

Enhancing my body with mana, I barely managed to dodge the purple sword that shot out at an impressive speed from the liquid.

What is happening? I thought, confused, seeing the demon fall to the ground with uncontrollable laughter. What? Did he pass through the spikes holding him?

"Hahaha! You did well, pet!" He said, looking directly at my father. "Pushing me to these extremes… Who would have thought? Who would have imagined that someone like you would know gravitational magic? It was a great surprise! I admit it! But still…" He continued, standing up and pulling a sword from the purple liquid that appeared at his side. "This is your end. Die!" He shouted before piercing my father's chest.

"NOOO!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs before charging at the demon.

"Now it's your turn, brat." He said, turning around, but just before the demon could move a muscle against me, he was brutally stabbed in the back.

"Don't think… you'll do the same… to my daughter… bastard!" My father said, blood in his mouth making it hard for him to speak.

The demon, after that last attack, stood still for a second.

"How are you still alive? I broke your damn mana core!" he said before my father decapitated him with his sword.

"Why... why are you here, Zoe? You should be... protecting Lady Irisha," my father said before collapsing to the ground.

"Don't talk anymore, please. Hold on, I'll try to heal you," I said, quickly filling my hands with mana.

"It's useless. The demon damaged my mana heart and... and broke my core," he responded, dying.

"No! You can't leave me! Please... hold on..." I said as tears once again flooded my face.

"Forgive me, daughter. I promised you I would come back... that I would be like before, but... I've failed you," he said weakly as his breathing grew slower.

He's right, it's useless... I can't heal him, with his core broken I can't do anything... I thought, filled with helplessness and fear.

"From... from what I could feel last, it seems Lord Kadian did it," he said, looking at me weakly. "Daughter... I'll... tell you everything through him, so... hold on," he continued, gradually losing the light in his eyes.

What? What is he talking about? I thought as dozens of questions started flooding my mind.

Confused, I began to feel the presence of Lord Kadian to my left.