Chapter 305: Let Me Handle My Own Mess

Yuuta looked back.

Raven was still standing between Zeri and them.

Most of the Shadow Corps were no longer capable of fighting. Some lay motionless across the destroyed street, while others were barely conscious, trying to drag themselves away from the battlefield. Raven alone remained in Zeri’s path, both swords in her hands despite the injuries covering her body.

Yuuta stared at the scene.

Something changed inside him.

He stopped walking.

"Sir?" one of the Group C members asked.

Yuuta turned toward the female Shadow Corps soldier supporting him.

"Lend me that potion."

She looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"The potion you carry. Give it to me."

"Sir, we don’t have time for this. Captain Raven ordered us to evacuate you and your daughter. We need to keep moving."

Yuuta looked back once more.

"Give me the potion."

There was something different in his voice this time. The soldier hesitated, but after seeing his expression, she finally reached into one of the compartments attached to her uniform and pulled out a small blue glass bottle.

"Sir, this is only a recovery stimulant. It won’t heal your injuries."

"That’s enough."

Yuuta took it from her, removed the cap and drank the entire bottle without hesitation.

The effect came quickly.

It wasn’t some miraculous medicine that erased his exhaustion, nor did it remove the hunger and weakness accumulated throughout the night. His injuries were still there. His body still desperately needed rest.

But a sudden rush of energy spread through him, almost like an extremely powerful dose of caffeine hitting his exhausted body all at once. His heartbeat quickened, his foggy thoughts sharpened, and strength returned to muscles that had been threatening to give out moments earlier.

Yuuta pulled his arms away from the soldiers supporting him.

"Sir?"

He stood on his own.

His legs still hurt, but they held his weight.

Yuuta looked toward Elena, then turned his crimson eyes back toward the battlefield.

Zeri stood in the middle of the ruined street.

Around him, the Shadow Corps had been reduced to almost nothing. Those who remained alive were either unconscious or too badly wounded to continue fighting.

Only Raven stood before him.

Zeri stared down at her.

"What was that feeling?"

As the words left his mouth, something began to change.

Raven noticed it immediately.

Zeri’s eyes shifted first.

The darkness within them gradually changed, revealing a strange golden shade beneath. Then his hair began changing as well. The earlier color slowly disappeared until it became a deep sea-blue.

Raven’s breathing stopped.

For several seconds, she simply stared.

Then recognition struck her.

"No..."

She had seen those features before.

Not in person.

In an Agency report.

Her fingers tightened around the handles of her swords.

Zeri.

Now she understood why she hadn’t recognized him immediately.

This wasn’t some unknown demon who had suddenly appeared during the invasion.

This was Zeri.

And he wasn’t an Upper Blood Demon.

He stood above them.

A High Demon.

Raven felt her stomach sink as pieces of information from the Agency reports returned to her. High Demons belonged to an entirely different level from the Upper Blood Demons their forces had already considered catastrophic threats.

Which meant...

Raven looked at the bodies of her Shadow Corps scattered across the street.

They had entered a battle they had almost no chance of winning from the beginning.

"So that’s it..." Raven whispered.

Zeri tilted his head.

Raven slowly straightened herself.

"There really is no point holding anything back anymore."

She reached for the Aesthor Stone.

Zeri’s eyes immediately moved toward it.

Raven brought the black stone toward one of her swords.

The moment the Aesthor Stone touched the weapon, dark energy began crawling along its blade. Raven tightened both hands around the hilt before suddenly driving the sword into the ground.

CLANG!

She closed her eyes.

For the first time, Raven stopped resisting the mysterious black aura contained within the stone.

She allowed it to flow.

The reaction was immediate.

Black aura poured from the Aesthor Stone and traveled directly into Raven’s weapon. The sword trembled violently beneath her hands as the energy wrapped around its blade, becoming so dense that the metal itself almost disappeared beneath the darkness.

Raven’s eyes opened.

Her pupils trembled.

The amount of power she could feel inside the sword was unbelievable.

It was heavy.

Suffocating.

For just a moment, Raven felt as though the weapon in her hands had become something completely different.

Zeri’s eyes widened.

His earlier frustration vanished instantly.

He pointed toward Raven’s sword.

"That!"

Excitement returned to his voice.

"That’s it! That’s what I was asking about! What is..."

Raven disappeared.

Zeri stopped.

"Huh?"

His eyes moved toward the empty space where she had been standing.

"Where...."

CLANG!

A black-covered blade suddenly appeared beside his neck.

Raven moved.

Zeri barely managed to raise one of his tentacles before her sword reached his neck.

CLANG!

The black-covered blade struck the tentacle and forced it aside. Zeri’s eyes widened as Raven immediately twisted her body and brought her second sword toward his chest.

He jumped backward.

The blade still caught him.

SLASH!

A thin line appeared across Zeri’s chest.

The sword cut into his flesh.

Zeri’s eyes widened as he immediately pulled the tentacle away, but Raven was already inside his defense. She twisted her body and drove her second sword toward his chest. Zeri leaned backward at the last moment, avoiding most of the strike, yet the black blade still passed across his skin.

A thin red line appeared over his chest.

Raven landed several meters behind him and immediately turned, both swords raised.

Zeri didn’t attack.

He looked down.

Blood slowly traveled along his chest before a single drop fell onto the road.

For several seconds, he simply stared at it.

Then he touched the wound with two fingers.

"Blood...?"

His voice carried genuine disbelief.

Nothing had managed to cut him until now. The Shadow Corps had fired specialized weapons directly into his body. Their swords had struck him from multiple directions. Even Raven’s own attacks had failed to leave a mark earlier.

Yet now she had drawn blood.

Zeri slowly looked toward her, but Raven was already disappearing.

Her body sank into the shadow beneath her feet.

Zeri’s expression changed.

"What?"

He immediately turned toward the surrounding street.

There was nothing.

Then the shadow beneath a destroyed vehicle shifted.

Raven emerged from it.

She crossed the distance before Zeri could completely turn, bringing one sword toward his shoulder while the second followed toward his stomach. Two tentacles moved independently to intercept her, blocking both blades with enough force to shake the surrounding air.

Zeri immediately counterattacked.

A third tentacle came from Raven’s blind side.

She saw it at the last moment and leaned backward. The tentacle passed inches above her face and smashed into the building beside them.

BOOM!

The wall exploded inward.

Raven didn’t even look toward the destruction. She dropped into the shadow created beneath Zeri himself and disappeared before another tentacle could strike her.

Zeri quickly looked down.

"Again?"

Raven emerged behind him.

Her sword cut across his shoulder.

Zeri spun around with a tentacle already moving, but Raven sank into his own shadow before the attack could connect.

The tentacle tore through empty air.

Zeri’s eyes rapidly moved across the street.

For the first time since the battle had begun, he couldn’t simply stand there and laugh.

Raven could come from anywhere.

The ruined city was covered in shadows. Destroyed vehicles, collapsed walls, streetlights, piles of debris and burning buildings created countless patches of darkness around them. Raven moved between them so naturally that Zeri couldn’t tell which shadow she would emerge from next.

A movement appeared to his left.

Zeri immediately attacked.

His tentacle smashed through a parked vehicle and sent it rolling across the street.

Nothing.

Zeri turned right.

Raven emerged from the shadow of a fallen streetlight.

SLASH!

Another wound opened across his back.

Zeri’s expression twisted.

"You’re annoying."

He swung all four tentacles at once.

Raven disappeared.

The attacks missed her completely and instead crashed into the surrounding buildings. Concrete shattered, windows exploded and an entire section of wall collapsed into the street beneath the force.

Dust filled the battlefield.

Zeri stared through it.

No Raven.

Then something touched his cheek.

His pupils shifted.

A black blade passed across his face.

Zeri jerked his head backward, but it was too late. Raven disappeared into another shadow as a thin cut opened along his cheek.

Zeri touched it.

More blood.

His playful expression faded further.

"Stop hiding."

There was no answer.

Zeri’s eyes narrowed.

"If you like shadows that much..."

Two of his tentacles suddenly plunged into the road.

"Then I’ll get rid of them."

The pavement exploded.

Raven’s eyes widened from inside the darkness as the entire section of street above her shattered. She immediately slipped into another shadow before the destruction could force her out.

Zeri didn’t stop.

His tentacles swept through everything around him.

A streetlight was ripped from the ground. Another tentacle tore through an abandoned vehicle and sent it crashing into a nearby storefront. Two more smashed into opposite buildings, destroying walls and causing sections of the upper floors to collapse onto the road.

Zeri wasn’t randomly destroying things anymore.

He had understood how Raven was fighting.

He was destroying her hiding places.

A tentacle tore through another vehicle just as Raven emerged from its shadow. She barely managed to roll beneath the attack before pushing herself forward.

Zeri saw her.

"There!"

Two tentacles came from opposite directions.

Raven crossed her swords.

CLANG!

The first tentacle struck.

The force traveled through both of Raven’s arms and nearly knocked her weapons away. Before she could recover, the second came from behind.

Raven dropped.

It passed over her head.

She immediately drove one sword into the ground and allowed the black aura to flow through it. Her body sank into the narrow shadow beneath the weapon just as a third tentacle smashed down.

BOOM!

Zeri destroyed the ground where Raven had been standing.

He stared at the crater.

Nothing.

His head snapped toward another shadow.

Raven appeared.

This time Zeri was ready.

A tentacle shot toward her chest.

Raven twisted aside, but the tip still scraped across her uniform and tore through the fabric near her shoulder. She ignored it and continued forward.

One sword struck Zeri’s tentacle.

The other came toward his neck.

Zeri caught Raven’s wrist.

Raven’s eyes widened.

For the first time, he had caught her.

Zeri smiled slightly.

"Found you."

Another tentacle immediately came toward her stomach.

Raven didn’t struggle against his grip.

Instead, her body disappeared into the shadow beneath his hand.

Zeri grabbed nothing.

"Huh?"

Raven emerged directly behind him.

Her sword slashed across his back.

Zeri stumbled forward before immediately turning and sending every tentacle toward her.

Raven disappeared again.

"STOP DOING THAT!"

The tentacles crashed into the surrounding street in frustration.

Raven appeared from another shadow and attacked.

Zeri blocked.

She disappeared.

He destroyed the shadow.

Raven emerged somewhere else.

Zeri attacked again.

The battle became increasingly difficult to follow even for the surviving Shadow Corps members. Black flashes moved between the ruins while Zeri’s tentacles chased them relentlessly, destroying everything they touched. Every time Raven appeared, she managed one or two attacks before being forced back into the shadows. Every time Zeri thought he had cornered her, she escaped through another patch of darkness.

But Raven was slowing down.

Black Fusion had given her the ability to hurt him, not endless stamina.

Her breathing grew heavier each time she emerged. Her arms were beginning to shake from repeatedly blocking Zeri’s attacks, and every time she entered another shadow, she remained inside slightly longer before attacking again.

Zeri noticed.

The next time Raven appeared, he didn’t immediately attack her.

He waited.

Raven came from behind him and swung toward his neck.

Zeri ducked.

Her eyes widened.

He had predicted it.

One tentacle swept toward her legs while another came toward her chest. Raven jumped over the first and blocked the second with both swords, but Zeri had already sent a third tentacle toward the shadow beneath her.

BOOM!

The ground shattered before Raven could enter it.

"Damn..."

The fourth tentacle struck her side.

Raven’s body folded around the impact.

She was launched across the street with terrifying force, smashing through the wall of a nearby building before crashing among broken concrete and furniture.

Her swords flew from her hands.

One struck the pavement outside and slid several meters across the road. The second spun through the air before embedding itself into the ground near the destroyed building.

For several seconds, Raven couldn’t breathe.

Pain burned through her ribs as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Ghh..."

She tried to push herself upright.

Her arm nearly gave out.

Raven looked through the enormous hole her body had created in the wall and immediately searched for her weapons.

Both were outside.

"Damn it..."

She forced herself onto one knee.

"My swords..."

Then she heard something moving through the debris.

Raven lifted her head.

Zeri was coming straight toward her.

The wounds Raven had inflicted were still visible across his chest, shoulder, cheek and back. Thin streams of blood stained his clothes, but none of them had slowed him enough.

Raven reached toward the nearest shadow.

Zeri suddenly accelerated.

Her eyes widened.

Too late.

He crossed the distance before she could slip away.

His jaw opened.

Then kept opening.

Raven froze.

Zeri’s mouth stretched unnaturally wide, revealing rows of sharp, shark-like teeth as he lunged through the destroyed wall directly toward Raven.

Raven instinctively tried to reach the shadow beneath her, but her body refused to cooperate. The impact from Zeri’s tentacle had left her entire side burning with pain, and even lifting one arm felt almost impossible. Her fingers scraped uselessly against the broken floor as she watched him rapidly close the distance.

No...

Her breathing stopped.

I can’t die here.

Raven tried once more to force her body to move, but nothing happened. Her swords were lying outside the building, the Aesthor Stone was beyond her reach, and there wasn’t enough time to disappear into another shadow.

For the first time since the battle began, there was simply nowhere left for her to escape.

Is this... my end?

Everything seemed to slow.

The sounds of the ruined street became distant. The screams of the wounded Shadow Corps faded from Raven’s ears, and even the collapsing debris around her seemed almost motionless. All she could see was Zeri coming toward her, his monstrous jaw opened wide enough to crush her head between those rows of teeth.

Raven stared at him.

She couldn’t move.

Zeri reached her.

His teeth were only inches away...

BOOM!

A fist smashed into the side of Zeri’s face.

The impact was so violent that his entire head snapped sideways before his body followed. He was ripped away from Raven and sent flying through the destroyed wall, crashing back onto the street before bouncing across the pavement several times.

Raven’s eyes widened.

"What...?"

Zeri continued sliding for several meters before finally stopping among the rubble.

Dust drifted through the opening in the wall.

Raven stared in complete confusion.

What just happened?

She slowly turned her head.

Someone was standing beside her.

A man.

His fist was still clenched from the punch, his breathing heavy as he watched Zeri across the street.

Raven recognized him immediately.

"How...?"

The man didn’t look at her.

"You did well, Miss Raven."

Raven froze.

Yuuta lowered his fist.

"But let me handle my own mess."

Raven stared at him as if she had misheard.

"You..."

She pushed herself slightly higher despite the pain in her ribs.

"The Supreme Commander’s husband...?"

Yuuta said nothing.

He simply stepped through the destroyed wall and onto the street.

Raven could only watch his back.

This was the same man Group C had been ordered to evacuate. The same exhausted civilian who could barely remain standing minutes earlier. Yet now he had returned to the battlefield and somehow, with a single punch, he had sent a High Demon flying.

Across the street, something moved.

Zeri slowly pushed himself onto one knee.

Blood dripped from his mouth.

His jaw hung at an unnatural angle, visibly dislocated from the force of Yuuta’s punch. Zeri reached up, grabbed the side of his face and stared at Yuuta through his deep sea-blue hair.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Zeri grabbed his jaw.

CRACK.

He forced it back into place.

Blood continued running down his chin as his lips slowly curled upward.

"So..."

Zeri wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked at the blood left behind.

His eyes returned to Yuuta.

"You finally decided to step in, Uncle."

Yuuta didn’t answer.

His crimson eyes remained fixed on Zeri.

There was no heroic declaration and no attempt to threaten him. Yuuta simply stood between Zeri and Raven, his body still exhausted despite the recovery potion coursing through him.

Behind him were the people who had nearly died protecting his family.

Ahead of him stood the demon responsible.

Yuuta’s fingers slowly curled into fists.

Zeri smiled.

Yuuta continued staring at him.

Neither moved.

To Be Continued...