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Chapter XX

"Well, it's rather unfortunate that she got away thanks to your heroic sacrifice. She didn't even turn back to save you, huh? Didn't she claim to love you?" he laughed at the irony, looking at the figure that had disappeared into a blue light.

"No matter. She's useless and cowardly anyways. I doubt she'll bring back reinforcements"

"Bastard! How could you do this—" the other man spat angrily. A mouthful of blood streamed out from his lips. His hands were trembling violently as he clutched onto the sword that stabbed him through the abdomen. The pain was unbearable but, it doesn't matter, what mattered to him were the actions of the man in front of him.

"TELL ME! HOW COULD YOU BETRAY US LIKE THIS, ELIJAH?" he roared. His handsome face contorted with pain, both physically and emotionally, and his sapphire eyes shook violently with anger.

Elijah turned around, a pair of red orbs gleamed like two red suns, as he looked down upon his childhood friend. His white hair that was supposed to glisten like freshly fallen snow had splatters of blood on them. But, it wasn't his own—littered everywhere on the ground were the corpses of the men who had followed them on this mission. 

Volunteering for this dangerous journey to accompany the three representatives, these men fought through several life and death situations together. As the days lengthened, Malakai even grew a sense of camaraderie with them.

And yet..... Elijah ruthlessly slaughtered them in an instant, like they were mere cattle in a pen. Did he not feel the same?

"Confused Kai?" Elijah called his nickname in a taunting voice. It was an unfamiliar tone to Malakai who only knew the sound of Elijah's gentle voice since they were children. What happened to him? Is this even the same sweet, kind Elijah who cried to him whenever he was bullied by the other kids? Where did that innocent boy go? 

"Who are you?"

Malakai's pupils searched Elijah's own. He refused to believe it was his childhood friend, his milk brother* and his best friend.

Elijah raised his eyebrows, the curves of his mouth hooked upwards in an evil smirk. He shook off his soiled gloves, which landed on the floor with a gentle thud.

"Oh? I bet you were wondering if I was actually a demon in disguised, huh?"

"Aren't you?"

He moved closer to Malakai, his face a mere inches from his old friend. Malakai's haggard body reflected upon his expressionless eyes, not an ounce of warmth could be found.

"I'm not"

For a short moment, Malakai thought he saw a flicker of sadness. But, it left as quickly as it came. Was it just a hallucination because he had lost so much blood? It almost felt like Elijah had a regretful expression. But, before Malakai could question it, he wiped it away and a cold look returned back on his face.

Elijah turned his attention away from Malakai and instead, faced the enormous stone tablet towering menacingly behind him. On the surface of the stone tablet, there were several ancient words inscribed onto it. It was said during their training that the ancient words were actually a representation of the layer of seals placed upon it. It was almost completely filled with ancient words. But, at the very bottom of the stone tablet was an empty space that represents where the final seal was supposed to go.

"Don't—don't do it, Eli. People will die. I'm begging you, please don't do this," Malakai pleaded, trudging slowly towards Elijah. He could feel his life slowly draining out with every movement he was making. His body was growing wearier and the pain was almost too excruciating to bear. He was going to die soon. 

But, if he died, who will stop Elijah and his plans? He had to do something however, he was too weak to even stand up without staggering. He couldn't even summon Huli with the state he was in. Thus, he resorted to pleading.

To his dismay, Elijah ignored his friend's begging. Instead, he walked closer towards the stone tablet until he was directly in front of it. He placed his palm upon the cool surface and began murmuring an incantation. Malakai had never heard of that spell before. It sounded similar to the ancient language used for the sealing ritual but, it wasn't the same one they were supposed to use. 

The inscriptions began to emit a bright glow as his mouth moved, the writings slowly starting to fade from bottom up.

"No! Stop!"

No matter how much Malakai screamed, the seals continued to disappear one after another. And then finally.... the top inscription was all that was left.

Elijah smiled. It took so long but, finally all those years of planning and hiding behind a mask were finally coming to an end. With a final chant, the last ancient words faded away.

"Elijah! If you do this, you'll cause thousands of monsters to be set free. People will die! Don't you understand that?"

"Whether or not they will die, it's too late to turn back now. I have to do this"

The handsome, white-haired man stared grimly at the bright glow emitting from the stone tablet in front of him. There's no reversing what he had done—the seal which took hundreds of years to complete had now been completely unravelled in a single night. 

Rrrrrrr!

Their entire surroundings began to shake, causing a bit of the ceiling rocks to fall around them. The air started to pick up in speed, whipping around viciously like an untamed beast. As the stone tablet glowed brighter, it began to split in the middle, and dark air began to pour out. As miasma filled the cavern they were in, Malakai quickly covered his nose with his hands—it smelled so bad, like the smell of rotting flesh mixed with sewage water.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAARRRR!" a loud roar came out from the opening. Malakai could feel his skin crawl with horror.

"May the Gods and Goddess have mercy on us all," he muttered despairingly.

The gates of Gahenna had opened.

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* - meaning they shared the same wet nurse