CHAPTER 294: THE DEMON CLEARING MISSION (PART 7)

He grinned. "Share your light with me... or I’ll take it all."

Cecelia’s mana wavered. "Don’t underestimate me."

She thrust both hands forward, releasing a beam of light.

Greed roared and caught it in his palm.

The light dimmed, absorbed into his veins.

Cecelia gasped. "He’s... taking my mana?"

Kael rushed in, slamming his sword into Greed’s leg to break the focus. "Don’t channel light magic—it only fuels him!"

"How do you know that?!" she shouted back.

Kael didn’t answer.

He didn’t want to. The shard on his chest pulsed brighter, as if reacting to every demon’s presence.

And then came the worst of them all.

Sloth, the misty giant, loomed above Kael. Its hollow voice drifted through the air like a dying breath.

"Why struggle... when rest feels so much easier..."

Kael staggered. His legs felt like lead, his mana slowing, as if the air itself conspired to hold him down.

He gritted his teeth. "Damn... you..."

Elysia saw him falter and dashed to his side, slashing the demon’s arm. "Stay awake, Kael!"

He smirked weakly. "If you’re... worried, you could’ve just said so."

"Shut up," she snapped, cutting another wave of mist aside.

Together, they regrouped with the others. All five demons circled them now, each radiating monstrous power.

The walls were collapsing; the ceiling cracked above them.

"We can’t keep this up," Jin said, panting.

"We have to!" Edwin yelled. "If we run, they’ll destroy the whole valley!"

Elysia turned to Kael. "You opened this. Any bright ideas on how to close it?"

Kael opened his mouth to retort—but then froze.

The red crystal shard burned hotter than ever.

It pulsed in rhythm with the demons’ energy.

He looked down at his chest. "They’re... reacting to me?"

"What?" Elysia asked sharply.

Kael’s veins glowed faintly red as dark energy coursed through him.

"They’re connected... to the shard."

Elysia took a cautious step back. "Kael... what are you hiding?"

He clenched his fists. "Now’s not the time!"

Before she could speak again, Wrath’s voice boomed. "You... carry the mark of the Abyss." His molten eyes blazed with recognition.

"You are one of us."

The others froze.

"What did he just say?" Edwin whispered.

Elysia turned to Kael, disbelief in her eyes.

"Tell me that’s not true."

Kael’s aura flared with dark colors.

Then, with visible effort, he forced the energy down, the glow fading.

"I’m not one of them," he said through gritted teeth.

Wrath laughed. "You can lie to them... but not to us, child of the Abyss."

The other demons echoed with low, mocking chuckles. The sound filled the ruins, crawling into every corner like poison.

Elysia raised her sword again. "Kael—what did you awaken?"

Kael’s jaw tightened. "Something... I shouldn’t have."

Then, as the demons advanced, Kael looked at the others and shouted, "Forget me! Just focus on surviving!"

But Elysia shook her head. "Not this time."

Jin grinned fiercely, spinning his twin blades. "Guess we’re all in this mess together."

Cecelia nodded, light flaring around her hands once more.

"Then let’s fight—before it’s too late."

And with that, the five students—heroes charged together headlong into the battle against the Sins of the Abyss.

The ruins exploded in light and darkness, in fire and shadow, as destiny began to twist once more.

Somewhere deep within the trembling earth, the Abyss stirred—watching.

And the shard on Kael’s chest pulsed... as if it had just begun to awaken.

The ruins that had once stood as an ancient temple were now a graveyard of broken stones and blood-stained dust.

The Abyssal Gate stood half-shattered, its runes dim but still pulsing faintly like a dying heart.

Kael stood in the center.

The red shard embedded near his collarbone flickered erratically, glowing brighter with every unstable breath he took.

Around him, the others were slumped against the debris—bloodied, exhausted, but alive.

Cecelia knelt beside Edwin, using the last of her healing mana to close a deep gash along his arm.

"Hold still," she whispered. "You’re lucky that thing didn’t tear your arm off."

Edwin managed a weak smirk. "Guess I’m tougher than I look."

Jin, still gripping his twin swords, stared at the faint cracks of the seal on the gate. "We barely survived that..." he said.

"If there are more of them—"

"There are," Kael interrupted quietly and his voice was strained.

He pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the unstable surge of energy within. "But not yet. The gate’s closing... I can feel it."

Elysia stood apart from the rest, her blade stabbed into the ground for balance.

Her expression was unreadable as she raised her free hand and began drawing glowing sigils into the air.

Holy light shimmered faintly, tracing along the cracked runes of the gate.

"Don’t just stand there," she said firmly, glancing back at Kael.

"If you can control that shard of yours, then use it. We need to seal it—now."

Kael hesitated. His hand trembled, but he nodded. "Alright."

He stepped beside her, channeling the unstable mana from his shard.

Red light surged outward, intertwining with Elysia’s holy sigil.

The mixture of demonic and divine energy sparked violently, threatening to explode, but somehow... It worked.

The gate groaned, the runes dimming one by one. A heavy silence followed as the last symbol flickered out.

Elysia exhaled slowly, lowering her hand. "It’s done."

"Barely," Jin said, collapsing against a rock.

"I can’t believe we actually lived through that."

Cecelia looked at Kael, eyes filled with confusion and worry. "That power you used... it wasn’t human mana, was it?"

Kael didn’t answer. His hand curled tightly into a fist.

"We should go," he muttered.

Elysia stepped closer. "What are you really, Kael?"

He turned his head slightly, his eyes shadowed by the dying glow of the gate. "Someone trying to survive."

Their eyes met—hers full of suspicion, his filled with quiet defiance. Neither said more.

The group turned and began walking toward the exit of the ruins, limping through the broken pillars and scattered rubble.

Their footsteps echoed faintly in the hollow silence.

As they disappeared into the forest beyond, the panned back to the shattered gate.

The faint cracks across its surface pulsed once—then a deep, distant whisper echoed from within.

"The first seal... is broken.", beneath the ruins, far away from the Elaris, the abyss warden said.