November 21, 2019.
“I’m sorry, everyone. This is something I have to do without you.”
The voice came from Shane. It was the middle of the night, and he was currently heading toward the airport.
As Shane looked at the moon, he thought back to two weeks ago when he was training with his friends.
Two weeks ago, he was inside the cave training with his friends. Two weeks had passed since Alicia, Alexa, and Nathan all activated their powers.
By the two-week mark, Everett, Alexa, Franco, Ivan, Nathan, and Alicia had all improved their swordsmanship thanks to Shane, Arthur, and Elena teaching them.
Surprisingly, the one they were most scared of when sparing wasn’t an angel; instead, they feared Elena. The reason behind it was that, unlike Shane and Arthur, she didn’t go easy on them. Every time they finished sparring with Elena, they always came out with bruises.
Even Shane had gained better control over his angel power; he was now mostly able to control his output when sparring with Arthur.
The only two who could spar with real swords were Arthur and Shane. This was because they both healed their wounds almost instantly. Shane learned to focus his power into a single area of his body to heal his wound in just two weeks.
This surprised Arthur when he learned that Shane could do it, because for most angels it took at least a year, and they could only heal minor wounds. Currently, Shane can heal deep wounds, and Arthur believed that in another month, he would be able to heal any wound.
As Shane's friends watched him and Arthur spar, they were mesmerised by the amount of power that Shane had.
“Looks like Shane gotten even stronger just within two weeks,” Elena said as she looked at Shane's swordsmanship.
“Well, it is kind of hard to see them spar since every time their blades collide, the lights turn off, and the only thing we see is lightning coming from Shane's blade. It's really annoying, and they tell us to learn from them, when we can’t even see them attack,” Alexa said as she watched the fight in front of her.
As they watched, they noticed that Shane had put some distance between himself and Arthur.
“Why is Shane backing up. I never saw him back up before. What is he doing?” Franco asked, looking confused.
“He's going for the attack. The only thing we seen so far is him preparing for an attack. You can tell by the way he just changed his stance and the look in his eyes,” Elena said as she looked in admiration at his technique.
“How can you tell just by looking at this? I haven’t even noticed anything different,” Alicia said as she watched what was about to happen.
“Well, it's obvious for me to tell. I’ve been watching all his movements closely, and I can tell his next one will be a big one,” Elena said as she looked in suspense at what was about to happen.
As Shane took his new stance, the cave went into complete darkness. As his friends looked around the cave, they noticed a crescent moon had appeared, with Shane at its center.
It was the same attack that Shane had done the first time he had sparred with Arthur. But now it seemed like the Founder's presence was reacting to Shane's attack. The cave wall began to glow like stars in the night sky.
“It’s stunning. He created his own night sky with an attack. It reminds me of that night,” Elena said as she looked at the night sky that Shane had created.
The moment Elena had mentioned happened two weeks prior, when Shane and Elena were outside of the restaurant they went to after Shane had told them the truth.
“It really is shocking that Shane can do all this with his power. He really is stronger than all of us,” Alicia said as she looked at Shane.
“Crescent moon peaceful night slash.”
As Shane finished naming his attack, he slashed at Arthur's right arm. The crescent moon that Shane had created went along with Shane, and it seemed like it was the moon that had slashed Arthur's arms.
As soon as the moon Shane had created disappeared, the lights in the cave came back on.
When Shane looked up, he noticed that Arthur had been flung towards the wall of the cave and created a crater similar to one he made last time. As Shane got a closer look, he noticed that Athur had a deep wound in his right arm where he had struck.
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“Hey, Arthur, are you alright? I didn’t mean to use that much power. It seems like my power has grown a lot since the last time I did that attack,” Shane said as he looked at Arthur.
“I’m alright, it's just a flesh wound. And did you just imply that wasn’t your full power? Because it sure was a lot stronger than last time?”
“Yeah, I limited my power to try not make it as strong as last time. I guess I didn’t take into account how much my power had grown since last time.”
“It really is amazing seeing how much your power has grown in such a short amount of time. You are already at the level of a low-ranking general. I wasn’t able to block your attack this time because of your attack power and your speed both increased,” Arthur said, looking proudly at Shane.
Before the others could come to them, Arthur instantly healed the wound on his right arm.
“Hey Shane, that was amazing. I didn’t know you could create an entire night sky with your power,“ France said as he ran up to Shane and Arthur.
“Yeah, it was a beautiful attack. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. How were you able to create an entire night sky?” Elena asked, looking into Shane's eyes.
“Thanks. However, I didn’t expect the parts of the cave to glow like stars. That came as a surprise,” Shane said as he looked into Elena's eyes.
“What do you mean you didn’t create those stars. If you didn’t, then what did?” Alicia asked as she looked at the inside of the cave.
“Well, I don’t know how they were created. The only thing I’ve been able to create is the crescent moon.”
“Well, I think I can answer why parts of the cave lit up like stars,” Arthur said as he looked at Shane.
“How were they created?”
“Well, it seems like the Founders' presence reacted to your powers. The fact that it reacted to your power is terrifying.”
“Are you saying that Shane's powers are strong enough to make the Founder's presence react?” Everett asked, looking at Shane.
“Yeah. I don’t know why, but it just shows how strong Shane can be once he fully hits his prime.”
“Wow. Shane, just how strong will you get? And, Dad, I’ve been wondering this for a while now, why can Shane control lightning when you said that Angels control water and ice, while demons control lava and fire?” Alicia asked, looking at her father, confused.
“Yeah, I’ve been wondering that too. Why is it that I control lightning?”
“Well, I guess you were born lucky. Lightning is the rarest element that demons and angels can control. Along with lightning, you’ll also be able to control water and ice.”
As everyone heard what Arthur had said, they all looked at Shane, wondering how strong he would get and what would happen if he turned into a fallen angel.
“Well, it looks like we’re in safe hands when we’re with you, Shane,” Franco said as he patted Shane on the back.
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you all so that none of you get hurt,” Shane said as he looked at his friends in front of him.
“By the way, I’ve been wondering for a while now, you said that Shane is the last hope to stop the current demon king, but what is his name?” Elena asked, staring at Arthur.
“I was wondering when you were going to ask. His name is Ciro.”
“Well, that wasn’t a name I was expecting him to have. I thought it would be more evil,” Alexa said, looking at the roof.
As everyone was talking about the demon king's name, Shane thought, That name, I’ve heard it once before from my father.
As Shane looked up at the roof, he was brought back to the day that he first heard that name.
When Shane first heard his father say that name, he was 9. It was the middle of the night, and Shane had suddenly woken and gone to use the bathroom.
As he left the bathroom, he noticed the lights in his father's office were on, and the door was slightly open. He could also hear his father talking, so, wondering what he was saying, Shane went to his father's office to listen.
The moment Shane went against the wall of his father's office, he heard his father say, “I’m sorry, Ciro. You were my biggest regret. I don’t know what your future holds, but I hope you live a good life.”
As Shane looked into his father's office, he saw his father crying. Not wanting to cause his father any problem, Shane went back to his room and never spoke of the incident to anyone.
He had almost forgotten about that moment. The only reason he had remembered it was because of the name Ciro.
Are both these Ciros the same person? If they are, then how did my father know the current demon king? And why was he his biggest regret? I can’t let anyone else know about this until I find the truth. Shane thought to himself as he looked at the roof.
“Hm. Ciro, that name means Sun, right? Why would a demon have a name that means Sun?” Elena asked, looking towards Arthur.
“Yeah, we don’t know why the last demon queen named her son after the Sun. We could only think it was meant to make him seem less intimidating, so we let our guard down,” Arthur said as he looked at everyone in front of him.
“Well, we will be ready to face him in two years. That's the future Shane saw, and we’ll change it so that no one gets hurt,” Alicia said.
“Yeah. In two years, I will get strong enough to avoid the future I saw,” Shane said as he looked at all his friends.
“Don’t worry, Shane, we will get stronger too. We will make sure that you don’t carry all the burden,” Everett said as he tried to comfort Shane.
As Shane looked at all his friends, he put on a fake smile to hide what he was planning.
He had learned a week ago that the gates to the demon world were near volcanoes, and the older they were, the less guarded they were.
He had decided to go to the demon world alone and confront the demon king himself.
Unbeknownst to Shane, two people had noticed that he was hiding something.
Back to the present day, Shane thought, Sorry, everyone, this is something I have to do alone. I have learn the truth of what my father said that day.
