The cold wind howled through the crumbling ruins where Hayato had once trained. What was once a sacred place of growth and purpose had now become a graveyard of memory. He stood alone in the shadow of the ancient stone archway, its surface cracked and weeping moss, the sky above painted in dying shades of dusk. The sword on his back felt heavier than ever—as if it, too, anticipated the coming end.
He returned not with pride, nor with triumph, but with questions. Questions that had gnawed at him since the old wanderer spoke truths that tasted like ash.
Malenia had lied.
And he was going to find out why.
He found her standing alone in the temple's sanctuary, the twilight catching the silver of her hair. Her back was turned, as if she had sensed his arrival but had no courage left to face him.
"You knew," Hayato said, voice like flint.
She didn't flinch.
"You knew who he was. What he did. You worked for Belial."
Malenia closed her eyes. "I did."
Silence cut between them like the swing of a blade.
"Why didn't you tell me? Why train me? Why all the riddles and silence? Was I just another piece in his game?"
"No," she said, turning at last. Her eyes weren't the eyes of a liar. They were the eyes of a mother who had lost everything and had nothing left to lose.
"Then tell me the truth. All of it."
Malenia breathed in deeply, her body trembling with the weight of confession.
"My son… he was dying," she began, voice barely audible. "Belial promised me a cure. All I had to do was help him with his experiments. Map the limits of human and demon potential. Create stronger hosts. Stronger vessels."
Hayato's stomach churned.
"Your son was one of them, wasn't he? One of the twisted things."
Tears slipped down her cheeks. "He wasn't twisted until the end. He was still my boy. Until the darkness devoured his soul. I… I had to kill him with my own hands. That's the weight I bear."
Hayato's eyes flickered, rage wrestling with grief.
"So why me? Why train me? Why give me that sword?"
She looked at the blade across his back. "Because you remind me of the boy I lost… and because you're the only one who can end what Belial began. That sword… it's meant to consume. Feed on souls. Demons have none, but humans do. If wielded in hatred, it devours the wielder's sanity. But… if used in love… it awakens its true form."
Hayato stared at the blade, as if seeing it for the first time.
"And you thought if I killed you… with love… it would stop me from falling into madness."
She nodded.
"You're out of your mind."
Malenia smiled faintly. "Maybe. But I knew you'd come back. And I knew you'd hate me enough to demand the truth. But I also knew… you wouldn't kill me in hatred."
Hayato's fists shook. "You used me."
"I prepared you."
They stared at one another. Student and master. Wound and blade.
Then the shadows twisted.
The ground rumbled as a presence darker than night spilled into the sanctuary.
From the far end of the temple, where broken statues of angels lay desecrated, Belial stepped forth.
In his human form, he looked almost beautiful—tall, regal, eyes that shimmered like molten gold. But his smile chilled the blood in Hayato's veins.
"Touching," he said, his voice like velvet wrapped around a dagger. "Reunion and betrayal in one breath. How poetic."
Hayato reached for his sword.
"Don't waste your strength," Malenia whispered. "He's not here to fight. He's here to watch. To gloat."
Belial's grin widened. "I came only to witness the end of my dear Malenia. She raised you well. Such fire. Such hatred. You'll be magnificent when you finally break."
"I'm not breaking," Hayato said through clenched teeth.
Belial tilted his head. "No… not yet. But soon. Because you'll chase her, won't you? Kurai."
Hayato's breath caught.
Belial stepped back into the shadows, his presence lingering like poison in the air. "She still carries her soul, you know. Despite the darkness. And soon, even that will be mine."
Then he was gone.
Hayato turned back to Malenia, fury boiling just beneath the surface.
She was slumped against the stone altar, blood soaking her robes. In the chaos, he hadn't even seen it—when Belial entered, she had already been mortally wounded.
"He knew you would come back," she rasped. "He struck before you arrived. I was only holding on… to see you one last time."
Hayato dropped to his knees beside her. "No. Don't do this."
She smiled. "Find her. Before he does. She's hiding in the Hollow Thicket. Near the Seventh Realm. Ancient ruins… she's… still fighting. Still trying to hold onto who she was."
Hayato's chest ached as he held her, the warmth draining from her body.
"I forgive you," he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers.
And with a final breath, she was gone.
Hayato sat in silence, tears streaming down his cheeks. The sword hummed on his back, not with hunger, but with sorrow. He stood, lifting Malenia's body and laying her gently beneath the old oak tree beside the temple.
He lit a fire with his hands—controlled, careful—and watched the smoke rise into the dusk.
When it was done, he turned east. Toward the Hollow Thicket.
Toward Kurai.
Toward Belial.
And with each step, the fire inside him grew.
He would not let her soul be taken.
Even if he had to burn every star from the sky.
But as he walked, memories returned to him. Of a night long ago—when he first met Kurai in that broken village, her hands bloodied, her eyes terrified, and yet, she had saved him. That moment was the first warmth he had felt in a world that only gave him cold.
She had been his everything.
Now she was slipping away, inch by inch, into the same darkness that had taken his mother, his friends, and now, Malenia.
He wouldn't let it take her too.
Not while he still had breath.