"I can still see that they're planning something different than this. So you know what you're supposed to do now, right, Aizis?" Raizel spoke up. He was speaking casually as he glared toward me while speaking.
I nodded in agreement, I understood what he was trying to say. I lifted up my right hand toward the sky and instantly broke the false reality layer that existed above the world.
"I had to kill him because I felt like he would be the reason for my demise in the future, definitely I won't allow it," Raizel said afterward.
None of us replied anything. Raizel knew that the true spirits will witness everything that was going to happen in this world and what had happened. For that, I created a false layer of reality where Raizel accepted Damien's offer from the true spirits and agreed to visit there. To hide the reason for murdering Damien, he claimed that he did this to ensure his backside from the betrayal of Damien, which would lead the true spirits to believe that Raizel simply agreed to visit their world but ultimately murdered Damien for his own reasons, which would never concern the true spirits to have any kind of doubts over the things they have witnessed.
It wasn't only me who understood all this but Maria, Marco, and Elesia as well. To deceive the true spirits, Raizel simply planned all this here and found out everything that the true spirits wanted to do. But the question is, how is Raizel going to overcome some entities that are the supreme beings of the 6th layer and even some of the strongest entities in the 5th layer? Is he really strong enough for that? No, he isn't. So how is he going to overcome the true spirits now that he's aware of their plan and his own limitation? Let's see what he does to overcome the true spirits.
As we killed Damien, we set a new demon king for that world. Many demon royals were sentenced to jail for their crimes. The law and righteousness returned to that demon world. The law of slavery was destroyed from the world and the slaves returned to their own independence. The demon world that used to be hidden under the darkness of destruction, sadness of the poor, and abuse of power finally received a new bright form that can enlighten the entire world. A bright form that removed the darkness of destruction, brought a smile to everyone's face, and built the demon world like a perfect world without any flaw.
It's been a while since I smiled. Following the flow of time, the concept of smile and happiness began to disappear from my mind, from my soul, and from myself. However, the smile on the face of regular demons brought a smile to my face too.
A 14-year-old girl with red hair ran toward Raizel and hugged him tightly. Her appearance reminded Raizel of the face of Araya, I wasn't an exception from Raizel. Raizel tried to express something in his face but failed, he just kept staring toward the girl.
Her happiness and gratitude toward us and especially Raizel were endless. The brightness in her face was unforgettable. After the girl let Raizel go from the hug, Raizel leaned down toward the girl and patted her on the forehead. She kept the smile on her face as long as we were there. As if, it was more of a casual expression for her than some rare expression known as smile, she couldn't remove it from her face, could never.
In my eyes, she wasn't a demon, she was a flower that spread love and happiness everywhere, keeping the concept of love intact. It could be that countless living flowers around the world keep existing. Some of them meet their demise in an unwanted death, some of them survive with a smile and then, some of them hold the desire to smile yet are forced to cry, forced to keep a face with the concept of sadness lurking around. It could be that Araya was fated to be one of them, she was a living flower that was supposed to smile but couldn't, even since that very moment.
In front of Aizis's eyes, an unknown screen appeared. It was a story that was filled with smiles and happiness but was slowly driven to a conclusion where the story could no longer smile.
At the moment when we were about to leave, every single demon in the realm was standing a bit away from us as they came here to say goodbye to us. When we were leaving the world one by one using the magic portal, that 14-year-old girl was trying her best to see us off for the last time. She wasn't really tall enough to do that but she did her best to get in the front and at last, she got in the front of everyone there and loudly said, "Goodbye, I love you guys." The smile on her face was still bright.
As we left the demon world, we teleported away from there to the secretive world. Alphabed welcomed us with his casual warm smile that he was wearing ever since Raizel returned to the realm. Ever since the moment Arisha left him, Alphabed was no longer able to keep a smile on his face. However, for some reason, Alphabed returned his smile to his face after Raizel's return, I don't know the reason but the smile on his face made me want to smile too.
It was Maria who spoke up at first as soon as we get in the secretive world.
"I can never call it demon world, they're not demons like they say, they're nice and pure from their heart itself," Maria spoke up as we landed in the secretive world through the magic portal. Her voice was calm but filled with endless joy. She was smiling while speaking.
"They were….really nice," Raizel replied, smiled a bit afterward.
I lifted up my gaze and looked toward the sky. Dark clouds appeared in the sky of the secretive world. They seemed to be gathering in one place from a scattered state. Within seconds, rain began to fall on the ground. I lifted up my right hand toward the sky and tried to touch the incoming pieces of rain. They fell in my hand, in my face, and eventually fell on the ground. The others covered themselves with their magic umbrella. But for some seconds, I let myself be dragged in the flow of rain.
As rain was falling from the sky, a huge shadow appeared in front of us, revealing the appearance of a person. The face of that person was completely covered under the shadow as well as his entire appearance.
"Who are you?" Marco asked loudly.
"Me? I'm just a shadow, from an unknown realm," the person behind the shadow replied, slowly as his voice was suspicious and extremely deep.
"What?"
Maria drew a magic circle targeting him and instantly sent a large spell of lightning magic toward him. However, the entire spell was instantly absorbed inside the shadow that covered his body and disappeared without leaving any traces.
"What? How is this possible?" Maria said with a surprised expression as her eyes were glowing.
"He absorbed the spell? No, it's something else," Marco thought to himself as he kept his focus toward that person.
A huge shadow came out of his body and began to scatter around him. We stepped backward a bit as his shadow scattered around the secretive world and covered us completely as well. It was a shadow magic spell coming from that person. His magic presence was completely hidden as I couldn't sense his magic power level. All five of us began to float to avoid the shadow spell that covered us.
Suddenly, a long shadow sword came out of that person's body and flew toward Raizel who was floating in front of that person. Before Raizel could react, the shadow sword stabbed in Raizel's chest and reached Raizel's soul itself. Raizel coughed in blood as fresh blood came out of his mouth and chest.
"It's so fast! I couldn't react…" Raizel thought to himself. Unable to keep himself intact while floating, Raizel fell to the ground.
"Mister Raizel!?" Elesia shouted while looking toward the fallen Raizel as she was the closest person floating beside Raizel.
The four of us tried to run toward him but before we could move, twice couple huge shadow magic circles covered us and instantly sealed us inside them. Even though it was a circle seal, it was similar to visible and clean glass with a bit of purple color layout.
I tried to destroy the seal by releasing my magic power but it was a failure for me. As for Marco, Maria, and Elesia, they weren't any different from me.
He walked away toward Raizel and instantly shattered Raizel's soul with no time. Raizel's eyes closed in within few seconds. His magic presence slowly begun to disappear and in a matter of seconds, his magic appearance lost in an unknown realm. I could only see his fallen body, there was no trace of magic power appeared to exist around him.
"Raizel!" Maria shouted loudly. She appeared to be desperate as her eyes were glowing out of her eager and sadness for what she just witnessed.
Marco and Elesia were just keeping looking toward Raizel's body out of shock. They didn't speak even a single word. And for me, I don't know how I felt at that moment. Could be I was worried, or could be not.
Maria screamed loudly from the seal and punched the seal box with her entire body, beginning to brim with magic power. The entire shadow seal that sealed Maria instantly shattered into nothing. The broke pieces of the seal scattered around Maria. Without waiting for a second, Maria flew toward Raizel's body. However, the person of shadow lifted up Raizel's body with his hands.
"It seems like I have some use of this body, it will be a great help for me to use the body of a transcendent," the shadow person said as he smiled a sarcastic smile afterward.
Before Maria could reach him, he began to disappear in his shadow.
"Goodbye, you guys. I'm sure we're going to meet very soon," he said while disappearing.
Maria reached there, but before she could, the shadow had already disappeared into an unknown destiny.
As he disappeared from there, his shadow seals also disappeared along with him. The three of us ran toward Maria and stood behind her. She fell to the ground and sat down there.
"I couldn't….I couldn't protect him," Maria whispered.
"Raizel is no longer…it can't be…he can't be dead!" Maria kept whispering, shouted a bit in the later part.
"I can't sense his presence ever since the stab…how is this possible?" Marco said. His voice was pretty calm as it nearly sounded like a whisper.
"I can't too. His presence around the entire layer is gone, I can't even sense his presence in the 5th layer as well. I assume he's…." I said with a worried tone, unable to complete my sentence.
"I saw his soul get shattered but how is this possible? How can a being from the 6th layer destroy his soul? It doesn't make any sense," Elesia said, shaking her head multiple times while speaking.
Along with Maria, Marco and Elesia also sat on the ground of the secretive world. The rain stopped as the sun reappeared in the sky. However, the surroundings were heavy, sad, and empty. I didn't understand the weight of his death. Could be that I'm used to the screen of his death. He dies, he returns and then he meets his demise again and again. I always knew that he will return.
However, this time, it's no longer anything that i can be sure about, i can no longer be sure about his return, because he no longer have the power to reborn, he didn't activate the magic spell that allow him to return again and again, the spell that allow him to reincarnate in lower stories. Because he believed, he wouldn't die again, he will be successful this time with the comrades he found. It was his confidence but could be that, his fate didn't really want him to be the winner and so, he lost again.
I don't know whether he is dead or not, but I still let the others hold the hope for his return. His sudden death shocked every one of us except me, I wasn't good enough to feel his absence and the sadness of his death. Maria cried, let her tears leave her eyes, let her tears fall in the ground. About Marco and Elesia, they couldn't speak, their feelings and emotions shattered inside their hearts, they couldn't express outside, they met their demise inside their soul, inside their heart where Raizel lives in not as a comrade, but as a friend.
We returned to Zeldia after that.
I don't understand the emotional weight parents carry. I don't understand their emotions and feelings but I can certainly tell, they will sacrifice everything for their children. After telling them about Raizel's death, Aunt Rinia lost her consciousness after screaming loudly. While Mister Rionel didn't speak, just kept listening. Even though he was trying to hide his tears, he couldn't hide them, tears came out from his eyes and fell on the ground, releasing the barrier that was hiding his emotion.
I didn't really cry at that moment, I don't know why but it turned out to be a casual event for me. I did understand the sadness but my heart didn't ask me to cry, my heart adapted to the weight of sadness and emotion, my heart became an unbreakable rock that can witness any weight of sadness and emotion. Could be that such sort of sadness was always a part of my life, and will always be.