Kaiser did not give her time to get back up.

< Aura Technique : Attraction >

With a wave of his hand, he created a gravitational void that violently pulled Shaytan toward him. The demon, surprised by this brutal change of pace, could only widen her black eyes. Kaiser greeted her with a devastating knee strike straight to the plexus. The distinct sound of cracking ribs could be heard.

" Kuh ! " Shaytan spat out a puff of black smoke. " You filthy... vermin ! "

She used her demonic mana to create a sulfur shockwave, forcing Kaiser to break contact. She stood up painfully, her wheezing breath giving off a smell of burnt flesh.

" You are more resistant than the others... But you are only delaying the inevitable ! " she screamed.

She raised her hands, and the reddish sky of the mental domain seemed to tear apart. Giant mirror fragments fell from the clouds, floating around Kaiser like guillotine blades.

" < Demonic Moon Prism > ! " she exclaimed.

The mirrors captured the light from the distant volcano, breaking it down into laser beams of terrifying thermal intensity. The beams converged toward Kaiser, slicing the ground into molten fusion.

" Is that all you have, Princess ? " taunted Kaiser, whose silver coat was now stained with dust and blood. " I was expecting something more... majestic from a regent of hell. "

He activated < Aura Coating > to its maximum. A layer of bluish energy enveloped him, evaporating the sweat that beaded on his forehead. He began to run in circles around Shaytan, his speed increasing with each stride.

< Dash >. < Dash >. < Dash >.

He became a silver whirlwind, dodging the laser beams that pulverized the rocks behind him. Kaiser’s Predation Eyes now detected a flaw: every time Shaytan attacked massively, her Mirror defense dropped in intensity.

" Tell me, Shaytan... Is Sierra aware of what you are doing with her memories ? Does she feel you devouring her guilt ? " asked Kaiser, his voice seeming to come from everywhere because of his speed.

" She feels nothing ! She sleeps in the oblivion she herself chose ! " shouted the demon, growing more and more frustrated.

" Then I will wake her up with a kick in the ass, if that’s what it takes ! "

Kaiser stopped his run abruptly and planted both feet on the ground. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

< Art : Sundering Eclipse >

< First Movement : Double Crescent Moon >

He did not launch a single blade, but two, crossed in an X shape. The two crescents of pure white aura rushed toward Shaytan.

*Boom*

Klein knew that conventional physical attacks would no longer be enough to dislodge the parasite without destroying the host.

< Dhyani Mudra >

An ethereal glow, of a deep blue, began to emanate from his palms. Klein was not content with using the brute force of aura; he invoked the esoteric science learned from Diavolo, a direct manipulation of the tissues of the soul. In tandem, he circulated the energy of the Sundering Eclipse.

< Art : Sundering Eclipse>

< Fourth Movement : Full Moon >

Instead of projecting a destructive crescent, he concentrated the cutting property of the art at the tips of his fingers, creating a vibratory frequency capable of severing metaphysical bonds. With an explosive leap, he closed the distance. Shaytan, still trapped in the previous explosion, could only raise her arms, but Klein was not aiming for the body. He plunged his immaterial hand through the young elf’s chest.

< Spiritual Fission >

An inhuman scream, a dissonance that seemed to tear the red sky of the domain, ripped through the silence. Klein severed the viscous black link that fused the two essences together.

In a blinding flash of light, Sierra’s soul, pure and diaphanous, was violently ejected from the corrupted receptacle. Shaytan, now separated, took on a vaporous and monstrous form, her three horns visible.

She seemed diminished, her power not even reaching half of her true strength, but her aura had stopped increasing.

Klein did not waste a second. He caught Sierra’s weakened body before it touched the ground. She was of a frightening pallor, her albino white hair sweeping the dust. Without a glance at the demon who was beginning to reform in a whirlwind of sulfurous smoke, he hoisted her onto his shoulder and activated his Dash to flee.

...

Time, in this mental realm, stretched in an absurd way. For those who remained in the chamber at Yggdrasil, a few minutes might have passed, but for Klein and Sierra, the boundaries of reality crumbled.

They spent more than ten years in this inner exile.

Ten years wandering through the changing landscapes of Sierra’s memories, relentlessly pursued by the nightmarish manifestations of Shaytan. Klein became the young girl’s rampart.

Together, they faced legions of monsters rising from the earth and wyverns born from Sierra’s guilt. Over the course of the battles, the cold exorcist and the clumsy princess learned to know each other. Klein trained her, pushed her to use her reflection mana because since her mother’s death, she had almost been afraid to use her power.

One evening, as they had taken refuge under the arches of a ruined library, a vestige of the Luna clan’s archives, Klein sat against a pillar, cleaning his blade with a weariness he never showed in public. Sierra approached him.

" You will not be able to continue like this forever... " she murmured, sitting down beside him. " Shaytan is tenacious. She always comes back. "

Klein did not raise his eyes. " She will come back as long as you leave a door open for her, Sierra. " He sheathed his weapon.

" Only you can truly confront Shaytan. I am in your mental domain. Despite all my power, I cannot really do anything if you do not decide to free yourself. I am an intruder here, an external help... Who ultimately cannot do much. "

Sierra lowered her eyes, her fingers fiddling with a scrap of her dress. " I am afraid... "

Klein let out a sigh. He lit a cigarette, the gray smoke rising toward the vaults.

" Do you think you are the only one carrying chains ? " he began, his low voice resonating in the void. " I have spent my life manipulating, using people like pawns on a chessboard that I myself designed. I have seen people die because of me... my father, my brother... even those who loved me the most. " He paused, the image of Ruby crossing his mind. " I have made mistakes that I will never be able to correct. "

Sierra raised her head toward him, shining with unexpected compassion. " Yet... I am sure that you are a good person, Klein. "

He chuckled, a bitter sound. " A good person ? I accepted this contract because your father is rich, Sierra. If I save you he will be eternally indebted to me. "