Even without one hand, Enver at least knew he would have a chance against Randy Bornman.
Anyway, Randy Bornman was the one who murdered his people, his brother Lahn, Ellie, and the entire Vulpecula Clan. He had the opportunity to get revenge, and he wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him by.
"…"
That's what Yanshan knew.
"The poison is already dissipating!" Ji Noo said, once the poison went in one direction, Yanshan undid the shield that was protecting them.
Anser noticed something about Yanshan. Even though Yanshan's face showed absolutely no human emotion. "You're worried."
It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
"Eh?" Ji Noo looked at Yanshan, confused.
"Enver will take his demonic form."
Anser and Ji Noo looked at each other, surprised. "Now? Isn't it too soon? Won't it be an unnecessary waste of impure energy?" Ji Noo asked.
"He is a hybrid, unlike you, who absorbed the power of a demon, being a hybrid, he can use any energy to recharge his powers." Yanshan clarified. "However, upon becoming a demon, he may lose his human consciousness."
Did that mean that in exchange for transforming into a demon...he would lose his humanity?
«Enver…is that sacrifice worth it?» That's what Ji Noo thought, even though they were enemies, Enver was still helping them right now.
"Do you think Enver can last two hours?" Anser said, in a more serious tone than usual. "My ability is about to activate."
Anser's ability...'Moon Prayer' since it was a passive ability, it only activated when the moon could be seen in the sky, and when it was... all of Anser's power increased depending on the phase of the moon.
Today would be a full moon, which meant that Anser's power would increase at least eightfold.
"I will need to go and seal his human consciousness in order to stop him after those two hours…" He said, walking towards the wall now melted with poison; observing the poison that was beginning to form amidst the destruction where Enver and Randy stood.
"The poison will continue to spread throughout the place, right?" Ji Noo asked. "If that's the case, we can protect ourselves from him. Go with Enver; we don't want him to become a demon."
Yanshan looked at them both; both Ji Noo and Anser were determined. Even though Enver asked him to protect Anser at all costs...
Enver was still his…friend.
"If the poison is very strong, leave the barrier." Yanshan said, before disappearing into thin air.
Anser and Ji Noo looked at each other, "Don't worry, everything will be alright." Ji Noo said, smiling at him.
Anser sighed, then sat down on the ground, with his sword on his thighs.
"What are you doing?" Ji Noo asked, still sitting down next to him to keep him company.
"I will force the moon to rise earlier."
"Eh?"
***
All the poison began to concentrate like a cloud of smoke around Enver; Randy couldn't get close or he would lose another limb, so he backed away.
"It will be a shame to have to kill you, you are the last pureblood hybrid in existence..." Randy murmured, watching the transformation from a distance.
According to Randy's past research...
Every being had two sides; the earthly side, and the side that resided in the third world; obviously the third world side was only its existence in impure energy, maintaining a balance.
Hybrids were formed when a part of them that resided in the third world managed to escape and merge with their earthly side, thus creating hybrids. They didn't necessarily have to have a demon father and a human mother.
However, there are cases like Randy or Mandeleine who don't have a trace of impure energy, and that meant their third-world side was 'asleep'. Since they are completely pure energy, their counterpart would be completely impure energy, and it would be best to keep it that way.
An example of what could happen...is a demon born from the impure energy of an angel.
Even Agares fears that demon.
Randy calls him...'the demon of blue flames.'
If from an angel, whose entire being contains pure energy...create a demon…they, with impure energy, should also have demons on their side.
"…!" Randy noticed something enter the smoke, and was about to go investigate what it was...
Suddenly, a giant tentacle emerged from the smoke.
Randy dodged into the air, covering his mouth with his hand.
Now, Enver's figure became that of a giant octopus that spewed venom like slime from their tentacles. Approaching meant immediate death.
Randy smiled, "Something worthy of a hybrid."
Randy flew towards Enver, removing his hand from his mouth, and used that hand to shoot a beam of light at Enver. Unfortunately for Randy, the pure energy that Randy used served as food for Enver, without harming him.
Oh, he had forgotten that a hybrid is unaffected by either pure or impure energy.
Enver took advantage of Randy's brief distraction and launched a tentacle, almost reaching Randy, who used pure and impure energy to cut the tentacle.
A bloodcurdling scream escaped Enver, and then he began to chase Randy, using his tentacles to intercept him in the sky.
Randy continued fleeing, while recharging his combined energy to attack again. It was then, while fleeing, that he caught sight of Anser and Ji Noo, hiding among a building.
And he smiled.
He wouldn't attack them head-on; he would use the poison that emanated from Enver to kill them.
He flew towards them, and let Enver approach.
Ji Noo looked ahead, seeing the poison approaching, and Anser, still focused on his spell, stood in front of him, ready to use Black Hole and absorb the poison.
But…
"…!" A tracking demon flew out behind Ji Noo, going to attack Randy, causing Randy to look confused at the animal, grabbing it by the ears. "Where the hell did it come from?"
The tracking demon distracted him, preventing him from dodging the tentacle that wrapped around his torso.
The poison began to burn his skin, forcing him to release the tracking demon and unleash an attack against Enver's tentacle.
Randy managed to break free from the grip, falling to the ground, missing half of his torso and his insides burning with poison.
"Mayu!" Ji Noo's scream made Randy turn in that direction. A giant tracking demon was absorbing the poison like a dryer in front of Ji Noo and Anser.
Randy had never seen such a large specimen, however, the important thing now was that...
He did not have the lower part of his torso.
"…"
And because of the grievous wound, black blood began to trickle from him. Enver noticed, so he immediately attacked him again.
Randy dodged the tentacles, although the poison grew heavier around him, beginning to permeate his skin and especially his hands, which he was using to dodge.
Black blood was a mark of lifelessness.
That wasn't Randy, that was Randy's counterpart.
The real Randy...died in his first lives, the real Randy would never have fallen into the hands of a demon.
Only Randy didn't know, or if he did know, he refused to do it.
That's how Enver saw it, not so far removed from the reality of Randy's existence.
Or at least that's what was believed.
Enver managed to catch Randy again, throwing him upwards, and once up there, he shot more thick poison at him.
Randy's body began to disintegrate; the poison was too strong and reacted too quickly for him to regenerate or escape. Slowly his limbs were lost, until only Randy's heart remained.
And then, it vanished.
Randy had been killed with mere poison.
"…Boss," Yanshan floated next to Enver. "Is it all over now?"
Enver glanced at Yanshan, not expressively, but what he meant was clear; 'Why aren't you protecting Anser?'
"They said they'd be fine, it was you I was most worried about, boss."
Enver would have huffed, but in that form, it was impossible for him; however, Yanshan already knew that he would have huffed.
In any case, Anser was his top priority; he was the one who reminded him of his revenge. However...why did killing Randy feel so easy?
"BOSS!" Yanshan's scream made him look ahead; in the sky, there, a light was beginning to appear.
That rose that Renato warned to destroy, shone from its petals, and from it, a glimmer of light came out that pierced the Yanshan barrier, and went towards where Randy had disappeared.
Yanshan quickly headed towards the light. "Sealing Magic: Seven Keys!"
Enver, for his part, launched slime poison, surrounding the sealing box Yanshan had made; a fortress that, if Randy managed to escape, would be melted by the poison.
Suddenly, a glimmer of light emerged from the box; it was an attack with both energies combined, piercing through both Yanshan's box and Enver's poison.
"Sealing Magic: Conta—" But Yanshan was interrupted by a hand, grabbing his neck, despite being a ghost.
Quickly, Enver moved a tentacle to save Yanshan, but it was cut.
The barrier around them all wobbled.
Yanshan was being exorcised.
Enver expelled more venom, causing Randy to quickly step aside, letting Yanshan go, but now Yanshan was unable to float like a ghost.
"I thought it had been an illusion..." Randy flew off, landing on the roof of a building. "But there was something else hidden!" Naked, yet he stood upright, with a smile on his face. "But, unfortunately for you...no pure or impure energy can defeat me, I must say...I'm a little worried about that poison..."
One of Enver's tentacles lunged at Randy, but it was destroyed as soon as it made contact with him. "Oh no, that's useless against me right now…" He smiled, entangled in the smoke of the poison, but not even doing any harm like before. "You're the ones at a complete disadvantage; a demon trying to kill a demon hunter like me...and that ghost...I'm also an exorcist, you know?"
Then, he went towards Enver, through the poison.
Enver sacrificed some tentacles to stop the frontal attack Randy was about to launch. Four tentacles were severed during that attack.
"I've killed five times the number of demons that exist in this world, facing a bigger one...is no big problem…" Then, he moved to another rooftop, away from the poison, and looking down at Enver, he gave a little laugh. "In fact, that's how I perfected this skill...want to see it?"
Enver looked at Randy; his eyes glowed orange.
"Leadership Skill:…" Enver became entangled in his tentacles, he knew what Randy would do was coming. "…God's Call."
Enver's powerful scream echoed throughout the place, his tentacles entangling around him, trying to keep his demon consciousness from interfering with his human one.
However, given Yanshan's weakened state, the seal protecting his human consciousness disappeared, taking Enver's human side with it.
Enver had become a complete demon.
"BOSS!" Yanshan ran towards the place, he could no longer float, so he could only run to try to seal Enver's demon consciousness.
"There you are."
But Randy realized their plans faster, and with a snap of his fingers, Enver went after Yanshan.
Yanshan looked worried, he knew that Enver couldn't really hurt him since he was a ghost, however, he knew that Randy did it to say, 'now he's under my control'.
Yanshan clicked his tongue, and with no other option, he knew that he had to be the one to face Randy.
He used Enver's tentacle to run over him, and once he had enough height he jumped towards where Randy was.
"The magic of a broken ghost like you won't do anything to me, do you want me to finish exorcising you?" But Randy was trapped in a box, which was starting to get smaller. "Oh?"
"Sealing Magic: Hamster Cage!"
The box kept getting smaller, and as it got smaller, it was thicker and harder for Randy to penetrate, especially when he was using one hand to try to stop the box from shrinking.
He let out a whistle.
Enver began to move, grabbed the box with a tentacle, and managed to break it. The broken spell made Yanshan a little weaker; now that he was weak, it was more difficult for him to use his magic.
"Sealing magic is good, its only flaw is knowing who to use it on and who not to..." Using the poison smoke as camouflage, Randy appeared behind Yanshan. "Ravenfield Kieran…"
The name seemed like a bucket of cold water to Yanshan; that was his name when he was alive, more than 40 years ago.
Randy's hand slid down, managing to touch Yanshan's shoulder.
"When I murdered you...I had no idea that you were Sherly's brother...if I had known, I would have liked to...meet you."
When he died, Yanshan only knew that it was Randy who murdered him, having wandered so long in Yomi...he forgot the reason why he had died that night.
Yanshan was a member of the Eternal Life Sect during his lifetime.
He was a candidate for vice-leader of the sect thanks to his sealing magic, which, when combined with Renato's miraculous regeneration...made it possible to even revive the dead who did not belong to the sect.
And, on that unfortunate night when he died, his younger brother wanted to eat mooncake. Aria didn't trade that, so Yanshan went to get what his little brother had asked for, but in the end, he never returned.
He had been intercepted by a man in a white hood with blond hair; that was all he knew, and when he became a ghost and was released from Yomi, that's when he recognized his killer; Randy Bornman.
"…Sherly?" So...the one Hyung, his ally, killed was… "My brother."
If he had known, he would have become his little brother's guardian.
And yet, it was he who could do nothing to kill him, nor to save him.
"You must feel sorry...don't you? I will give you eternal peace."
Randy's voice didn't reach Yanshan's ears; he was lost in thought about how he had made his own brother suffer.
Why did he never consider why both of his magic spells were useful for defense? That was obvious, wasn't it?
The sudden revelation was too much for Yanshan, and he was exorcised the very instant he discovered the truth by Randy.
Yanshan, that mysterious ghost who didn't even know who he was, other than who to take revenge on, was completely blind to what he could have actually done.
The fact that he was a ghost didn't mean he was a threat; he was a ghost who, deep inside, still remembered having a family waiting for him at home before he died.
How could he forget it?
What a bad brother he was.
"At least next life I won't have to kill you."
Once Yanshan's body returned to the sky, Randy peered through the poison; Ji Noo and Anser must still be hiding.
He smiled.
"Kill them."
The small order served its purpose immediately, Enver quickly going towards the hiding place where they were, above him, Randy.
Apparently, the fight was easier now than it had been in past lives.
Was the sacrifice worth it?
…
He wouldn't know that until he was able to succeed.
He jumped off Enver as soon as he saw he was about to arrive. He landed on a rooftop, and there, he observed everything through Enver's eyes.
"Agares," Randy murmured. "Get ready, I'm about to use that spell."
[Understood.] Agares answered, orange eyes appearing behind Randy, eyes that only he could sense.
Meanwhile, Enver ran towards the hiding place.
Once there, he found Ji Noo, who was sitting next to Anser.
"Enver!" Ji Noo's voice sounded, however, Enver did not recognize it, except as that of a threat.
Enver reached out with a tentacle, and quickly grabbed Ji Noo, throwing him back. It would be easy to kill Ji Noo, but it would be difficult to kill Anser.
At least Randy couldn't kill him easily; he never really managed to kill Anser, and every time they fought, Anser always won.
The reason stemmed from the fact of where Anser came from.
Anser comes from the Vulpecula Sect, one of whose members are all born by the work of the moon, and they do not use pure or impure energy in their attacks, they use moon energy, which is practically both combined. And since it is only acquired by those who were born by the moon, they have a chance against everything in this world.
Something Randy feared, since he was the 'everything' of this world.
Ji Noo fell into some rubble, meanwhile, Randy was driving Enver.
"Use your poison, kill him now that he's distracted…"
Enver raised a tentacle to attack Anser, but Mayu intervened, biting the tentacle and swallowing it.
Randy's brow twitched slightly.
Enver entangled the giant beast in his tentacles, then threw it aside.
"Anser!" Randy heard Ji Noo's scream, and even while controlling Enver, he went towards Ji Noo to stop him.
Randy stood in front of Ji Noo, then, with a gust of wind, launched the poison from the air at Ji Noo, to slow him down and above all, not allow him to regenerate after falling into the rubble.
«Kill him.»
Randy ordered telepathically, directly into Enver's mind.
Enver raised his tentacle, while the others became entangled in the building; Anser was still meditating, he wouldn't be able to defend himself in time.
Enver's giant eye peered through the hole to see how many he would kill; it was then that his gaze ended on Anser.
«…»
A demon certainly couldn't feel.
But a demon who was also human did.
Slowly, Anser opened his eyes as he felt the poison begin to fill the place; it was then that he saw Enver's eye in front of him.
Anser was the exact copy of his mother, except for his green eye.
Perhaps...Enver had fallen in love with Ellie?
He was willing to save Anser, even though he hated him.
"Are you protecting me?" Anser asked innocently, unaware of what was really happening out there.
«Protect.»
「My baby is about to be born, he'll meet you, and who knows…you might be my nanny?」
Nanny?
The connection was broken, Randy's control spell was broken.
«Instead, I will be his father.»
Randy suddenly clutched his temple; he felt the connection break, and cursed under his breath.
Suddenly, tentacles grabbed him. Randy immediately cut the tentacles, but soon, they were all holding him.
The poison began to penetrate the armor Randy created from pure and impure energy, starting to poison his skin. So, he quickly began to recharge his energy in a powerful attack to make Enver explode.
[Kill us.]
It was Enver's voice; both Randy and Ji Noo looked at Enver, impressed.
And on the other hand, Anser was on top of the building, Enver pulled him out of the poison just in time.
Anser looked at his sword for a moment; he didn't want to hurt his ally, but on this occasion, he had no choice. "…"
Astral raised itself to the sky, and it began to unleash a glow so white and pure that it contrasted sharply with the orange of the sky.
"Vulpecula: New Moon."
It was an attack that none of those present had heard, including the author himself, Ji Noo, who did not know what would happen next. So he went to get Mayu, and with him they fled the place to take cover.
From the sky, the moon began to appear, small at first, but after a few seconds, the wind became wild, while the moon grew larger, seeming as if it would crash at some point.
"Vulpecula: Lunar Touch!" And then, he slashed forward; the slash was so powerful that it let out a thunderous roar, destroying both the surface where Anser was standing and everything around him.
Enver was cut in half, just like Randy.
All the poison and debris cleared the area, Anser falling from the building where he was, releasing all the poison around him, while Mayu and Ji Noo were behind a destroyed wall, however, after a few seconds, both were thrown from the impact.
That was the true power of the moon.
No, that was the true power of the moon's only son.
Enver's demonic body began to disappear; inside it was Enver, his original body, what he must have been instead of a hybrid.
«If this story didn't exist...would we have been happy?»
That was the last thing Enver thought, as his soul fragmented and left this world.
Fairies burst from their hiding places after the disaster, resembling fireflies, all of them searching for the demon blood that had come from Enver.
Anser gasped, emerging from the rubble.
"…" His 'enemy' had finished his work by sacrificing himself. "Enver…"
Even so, for Anser, that sacrifice wasn't worth it.
Slowly, Anser walked towards where the black demon bloodstain was, it was then that he saw all the fairies fighting among themselves for blood.
Is it all over?
No, it was just getting started.
A hand emerged from the rubble, all the fairies shot out in a rush, and at the same time, Anser jumped back.
He was still alive.
Even when the mark of that powerful cut was on the ground, he was still alive. The mere thought made Anser clench his jaw.
"Randy Bornman…"
And out of the ground came Randy, a cut through his chest.
On the other hand, Randy stood up straight, and then looked at Anser, with a decidedly unfriendly expression. "You seriously killed your own ally...just to kill me?"
Although, really, Randy was impressed that even after using Agares' power to survive the deadly cut, it still managed to damage him.
The moon's energy was difficult to heal; every time Randy tried to join the skin of his body...the skin died.
Really...how much power had Anser obtained in this life?
"You should have died."
Randy smiled. "I'm sorry to tell you that's still too weak for me."
Anser took off his coat, throwing it aside. "The next one won't fail to kill you…" He placed his sword in front of him. "I have spent eleven years collecting lunar energy…If you get distracted...I'll kill you for good!"
Randy opened his eyes slightly.
Eleven years old?
Curiosity took hold of him.
"You didn't know before that I was your enemy, Ciro..." Then, he smiled. "So...what had you been gathering lunar energy for?"
The Vulpecula obtained lunar energy every night; it is said that everything they touched served as an energy collector. Anser had been making use of that energy ever since Sherly told him that legend.
Randy certainly regretted not stopping it, but he never saw a reason why Anser would use it.
However, if there was an enemy, someone other than Randy, who threatened the protagonist...it meant that Randy also had to get rid of that enemy.
He didn't want that enemy, for whom the protagonist himself had gone to the trouble of collecting lunar energy for eleven years, to appear.
Anser looked at him, and then opened his mouth.
Agares allowed Randy to see through those ink stains, through that censorship… "…To face Metatron."
Both Randy and Agares seemed surprised. Metatron? Randy had never heard a name like that before.
On the other hand...Agares was the one who had heard it before.
[It's impossible that he would want to confront a deity outside of his own story!] Agares' voice spoke from behind Randy. [Metatron is not someone who can be called that! Not by someone who doesn't belong to the real world!]
Agares's altered tone immediately made Randy think that Anser's soul was completely unhinged.
"Who are you, Anser Ciro?"
Now more than ever, Anser's identity was more important.
He didn't behave like Anser, he didn't behave like someone from this world, but at the same time he didn't belong to any other.
"…"
Anser looked at Randy.
But just as he was about to say something, "Anser!" Ji Noo appeared riding Mayu, and immediately, Anser ran towards them.
Right at the worst possible time.