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An ominous, stale wind blew through the darkness. Justin stood in the shadowed smoke. His emerald glow subsided momentarily, and then encased both him and his sword in its brilliant shine. He was the beacon of light in the stark black air. His proud stance echoed his proud demeanor.

Blood streamed down the chin of the ruby demon, seeming to form a stream of ruby, sacrificial water. Breathing alone was a laborious task as his body grew heavy and cold. His eyes that endlessly seared with his priestess’ ruby light began to shift into darkness. He stared up at Justin contemptuously as he gripped his cape. “Too ruthless… Not worthy…”

Justin stared down at the body of the fallen demon below him as he pulled his sword from within its chest. His lips curved into a smirk, revealing his fangs from within his mouth. “Not worthy am I? Which of us is still living?”

The ruby demon stared up at him with pity as he released his hold on Justin’s cape. “Cardinal demons exist for their precious Pandora…” He choked as his eyes closed. “That was for you alone…” Rock formed around his body slowly, as though boiling liquid was being poured into a mold until it hardened. Fragment by fragment, his limbs became stiff and motionless.

Renee put her shaking hands to her face and gaped at the two demons in horror. This creature was becoming one of the statues we’d seen in the other rooms. But unlike those statues, his form was not the menacing gargoyle-like guardian statues, but more like a wounded soldier. It seemed as though he were almost peaceful, despite the pain his face showed at the wound within his chest. She buried her head back in Lance’s chest

Justin wiped the blood from his sword and thrust it back into his scabbard. His emerald glow immediately subsided. His lips continued to smirk as he let out a low chuckle, staring down at the stone figure below him. “That hardly matters.” His face grimaced in a harsh, but proud manner as he examined the pool of blood the statue lay in. It splashed against his steel boots as though it were the waves of the ocean. He turned his head slowly, to face her. “Lady Renee…”

“Why?” Her voice shook quietly as she stared at the statue surrounded in the puddle of blood. Her hands trembled as she gripped Lance’s tunic.

Justin began walking toward her, leaving footprints of blood on the ground.

“Why?”

He rested his hand on her shoulder. “Lady Renee, shall we continue toward the box?”

She slapped his hand away quickly. “WHY?!”

He stepped back as a scowl formed across his lips. “Why?” He snorted quietly, “Did your pathetic heart lose its desire for victory?”

Renee pushed Lance away and then turned toward Justin as her eyes began to fill with tears. Her face began to form into a grimace as she stared up at his hard expression and clenched her fists. “My desire for victory is my own business. I want the box for me.” Her eyes seethed, despite the tears that began to drip from them. “And I want to kill Minako only for me, that is separate from the box.” Her grimace faded as she turned back to the statue. “But… But…”

“But?”

“Why must you kill him?!”

“Why?” Justin scoffed. “All those in the way of the box must die.”

“But…” Renee fists shook. “But that is only pointless killing!”

“Hardly. Only one of us could live.”

“Is the box magnetic for death?!”

“Only the unworthy die.”

“But…” Renee choked on her words. “Don’t you care if you die?! The ones that lose are turned to statues!!”

Justin sneered cockily. “I know I won’t lose.”

“The disgusting creature could wound you!!” Her voice cracked as it reached a fevered pitch.

“What?” Justin’s face became harsh and his eyes seared as he snarled. His hand grasped the hilt of his sword. Whether it was anger or instinct, his grasp loosened the sword from the sheath’s hold and began to lightly slide from its encasing.

“That disgusting creature always wins when you battle!!” Renee shrieked again. Her bottom lip quivered as she stared up at him with her menacing eyes.

My heart is shattering no matter how tightly I hold it. I can’t do anything to bite back my anger or tears. The box attracts death. The other priestesses, their demons, and the oracles died. These creatures are offered no rest in eternal death and instead are resurrected to steal the lives of the living, only to be turned to stone. Even gruesome death is a means of escaping the cruelty of the Devil and the shun of God. But even the dead are not offered the peaceful rest of eternity because they pursue the box. Nor are the living offered their own peace. It seems that long ago, the cardinal demons and all the people of this world had given up their happiness for life. And all that while, the priestesses had held on to their illusions, deceiving only their own hearts. In my heart, I still see Minako’s haunting eyes as she cries and whispers.

“I’ll be waiting…”

But my heart is only filled with rage when I see Minako’s haunting image. These creatures have finally awakened my inner warrior as they awaken it in themselves. Yet, in the unending sky, their dreams are fading into tragic tears. Does associating with the box at all mean that desire has to be set aside for a higher calling? What calling is higher than yourself? What fuels someone to throw away their happiness for life? Happiness is, after all, the true purpose of life. People live to fulfill their own desires. Does being a warrior mean that those desires have to be thrown away? Can they be resumed later or is death imminent? Can I grab and hold onto those fleeting desires? At the beginning, they appointed me for this role. Had that appointment sealed my fate? Nothing in any world is predetermined, so can I renounce these duties any time I want? Or now that we’re here, is it too late? The box is of little importance. What I want, more than anything is for my happiness to stay within my grasp. She blinked back her tears and stared at Justin again.

His face carried a disgusting grimace as his eyes had narrowed and his fangs protruded from the corners of his mouth, wrapping around his lower lip. “Defeats me?” he snarled. He tightened his hold on the grip of his sword and drew it from his scabbard. In a swift swing, he lashed it toward her neck. “Do you doubt my powers?”

“You battle with a sword, but he attacks with his bare hands! Yet you can’t defeat him! What if you’re weaker than him?!”

“I can’t defeat him because I am weaker?” Justin growled. “Did you not see his gaping abdomen?!”

“The same wound put you out of commission! Yet he walks across countries!”

Justin growled again and swept the blade across her neck lightly, leaving a small gash.

Lance thrust his arms around Renee and pulled her back, snarling at Justin. The other three demons remained motionless as they gaped at the argument.

Justin pointed his sword toward Lance. “Release her. We are speaking.”

Lance growled. Renee trembled in his embrace.

Justin pulled his sword back and resheathed it. “Fine.” He stepped toward her again. “Do you doubt the ones you worship, Lady Renee?” His eyes grew increasingly hard and cold.

“But all you care about is killing!”

“Do you not understand the state of the world?!” Justin snarled. “Kill or be killed! There is no other way!”

“The devil demons have the same philosophy!”

Justin stepped forward again and grabbed her shoulder tightly, shaking her as the tips of his claws sank into her flesh. “The world is in shambles, everyone must kill to survive! What sort of world do you think this is?!”

Renee turned her head quickly and winced at the pain, her eyes filled with tears as she bit back the urge to scream.

“The world is covered in blood! The innocent must die! Every man carries a sword! Do you not understand?!” His claws sank deeper into her flesh. “A man that willingly lives by the sword is also destined to fight and die by the sword!”

She began to shiver in pain as she choked back her tears. “How can you find life so meaningless?”

“In a world surrounded by death, how is life precious?”

“Because you lived for another day!”

He clenched his free hand. “And you could want to awaken the next morning and be refused the right!”

Renee’s bottom lip shook as she wrapped her fingers around his hand and pushed it away, forcing his claws to rake across her skin and leave deep gashes behind. She threw his hand back toward him, her fingers trembling. “But you still got to live an extra day!” She snarled at him as well. “Babies are constantly born without the chance to live! Children die every day! How can you act as though life is a meaningless toy?! Something you can throw away when so many people want to live!”

“Those that refuse obedience refuse life.” Justin crossed his arms and turned away from her and scanned the room, though his eyes wandered back toward her trembling hands and tear stained face. “Isn’t that the explanation you gave for the death of the Sapphire Priestess? Surely, as a priestess, you could care less that she is our enemy. As you said, you were killing her for only yourself.”

“Betrayal is different!”

“Disobedience… Betrayal… There is no difference when it comes to death. All are viewed as sinners in the eyes of God!”

“Then what are you?! Murder is a cardinal sin!”

“What am I?” Justin began to laugh. It began as merely a low chuckle, but it grew into a sinister cackle. “I am a cardinal demon. I exude sin.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be saviors?!” Renee shrank back and raised her hands to her heart, protecting what small portion had yet to be poisoned.

“What other creature is suited to perform an action of fundamental importance? Only a creature that is fundamentally important.”

“God would not create saviors from sinners!”

“Saviors?” Justin laughed maniacally and turned to face her again as he clenched his fist. “What stupid creature has ever called us saviors?”

“Demons were born from the sky… God placed the demons on earth to bring peace to the shattered land of the warring states. Creatures that bring peace to a war raged world are saviors. They were supposed to bring mercy, justice, change, light, and life… But they only brought death, destruction, judgement, blood, and darkness.”

Justin’s laughter grew, “Saviors who bring mercy and light? We are nothing more than those monsters who bring death and darkness! We are gruesome and domineering agents of the Devil! We were created to perform all the cardinal sins and to house the seven deadly sins within our hearts!”

“Then you deserve to die! Only the priestess should get the box!” Renee gripped Lance’s arm, then quickly released it in the same instant. Are you all like that?

“Only the priestess…” Justin sneered. “Even when the priestess is so weak that her heart cannot accept the true state of the world? Even when she could not possibly understand the meaning of battle?!”

“The box seals your vicious powers!” Her breath began quickening as her knees buckled.

Lance tightened his grip, as though he attempted to hold her up.

Why would Chirstina tell me that the children of God would lead me to victory? They were never like that all… Peaceful creatures who bring things like mercy and light... Demons, devils, what’s the difference? It’s just like I always thought, they’re really the progeny of Hell. Why would everyone always reassure me that they were born from the sky? Maybe they weren’t always those hell creatures… God had abandoned them and then their hearts had grown wicked and cold. Had the idea of killing or being killed driven them mad? What sort of hidden underground have they hid from me? I’ve seen the horrors of the brutality of men and the abandonment of the one person that was supposed to love me, but death and torment are elusive. The capital of Emeradotouhou seemed to be a relatively harmless land of shopping and palaces. I only saw the cardinal demons within it fight and try to kill each other. The world seemed peaceful…

But they described a world of perpetual war and endless rivers of blood. A land where corpses provided sustenance to the earth. A place where the earth sprouted dried and tanned bones, instead of flowers and trees, nestled amongst its dried blades of grass. A world shrouded by shadows even while bathed in sunlight, where rivers of blood flowed across the land. Where crows and other demonic entities became pickpockets amongst the land of putrid and rotting decayed flesh. A horrid land of death filled nightmares with stale air where the weak were slaughtered one moment by the hand of someone that would be slaughtered in the next minute. Where the strong were the executioners and judge at the golden scale of the heavens. Where women existed only to create an unending stream of soldiers and metal was scraped for swords instead of fine jewelry and coins. A world in which its own inhabitants never ventured from their homes for fear of encountering the war plagued world. A world of fear and death.

Was it unending? How could creatures born for peace allow such a world to endure? Was it true, were they merely in existence to provide a target for the hate of mortals? They had claimed torture and death at the hands of those that called them monsters. Had they picked up a sword and learned to use its intricate blade for protection? Or were they merely accepting their role as monsters and killing at the will of the Devil? Kill or be killed? Was that a sound philosophy? Was it that existence that drove their sole desire to exist at all? Was their history as pawns for the hatred of the world the reason they accepted their role as sinners? In the end, was that the reason they chose life over happiness? Because happiness was unattainable? And more than anything, everyone wanted to live.

Justin thrust his hand out and wrapped his claws around her neck tightly. “What could you possibly know about that?” He sneered, “My vicious powers have never left my heart.”

Renee struggled to breathe as a small stream of blood dripped down her chin. “Then your happiness…”

Justin’s sneer became a grimace as he loosened his hand and turned away again. “The item sealed in the box is a precious commodity, not to be confused with power or happiness or any other intangible mortal notion or emotion. The item sealed in the box is the one item that is most important to demons, priestesses, and mortals.”

“What is most important to demons, priestesses, and mortals? Nothing can be important to everyone!” She gasped for air as she clenched Lance’s arms tightly, trying to steady herself.

“There is something that can be so important, however the priestesses wrapped in illusions fail to see it.”

“My world is not illusions!”

Justin turned and stormed back toward her. He grasped her chin lightly. “This is the world. The world is a land of nightmares, death, and darkness. Never call your false notions the world, it defies your right to be a priestess.”

Renee choked back her tears.

Justin towered over her shaking form. Even in his biting anger, he exuded the pride that always followed him, his secondary shadow. In the unending darkness of the room, his eyes glowed in stark contrast, yet his ominous form echoed the shadow that surrounded them. At that moment, he seemed to be the ruler of the world, a God in his own right.

Renee shrank back toward Lance, clutching his arms tightly as the tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Do you cry at that?” Justin sneered. “How unlike you. You know that you have no cares of being our priestess. But that hardly matters. The priestess is the entity that receives the box. As always, she cares only for her own wishes and heart. Life or death for her demons is inconsequential. What does she care?”

“My world is not illusions…” Renee’s broken voice shook.

“Stand on your own!”

Renee bit back her tears as her voice shook again. “My world is not illusions…”

“Weak. Why are you weak?!” Justin growled as he forcefully pulled her away from Lance, grasping her arm tightly within his claws. “Did you forget how she betrayed you?! Did you forget how she failed to contact you?! How she ran off with that damned demon?! Did you forget that?! And you want to go back to the illusionary world with her?!”

“Don’t mention her…” Renee’s voice shook. “Don’t mention her!”

“How can you kill her when you refuse to stand on your own?!” Justin raked his claws across her cheek, leaving deep red gashes within it. “Did you forget what I did for you?!”

“Of course I didn’t! But you can’t kill without mercy or cause!”

“Nothing within this castle is without cause. In a world of death, you must spill blood to keep from getting your blood spilt. Isn’t that what the Sapphire Priestess taught you?!”

Renee narrowed her eyes as she lowered her head. In order to avoid getting hurt, you must hurt others… Yes… Minako had taught me that…

“Lady Renee...”

“We can continue, but do not forget, this is only for me.”

Justin released her arm and she crumpled on the floor.

In the end, what was important was that Minako died. Everything else could be left for another moment.

“Only when you realize the world is a death filled nightmare of darkness.”

Renee gripped the ground as she tried to stand. “No… My world is not an illusion.”