After years of tireless searching and combing through ancient records, lost scrolls, and whispers in the taverns of cursed lands, Aqua finally stood before the place where it all ended: the Demon King's castle.
Aqua hovered silently in the sky, her long blue hair flowing like silk under the clouds, the light of the setting sun painting her armor in gold.
Her once impulsive demeanor had mellowed with time.
The ten-year journey had reshaped her.
She had become more graceful, thoughtful, and quietly resolute.
"So... this is it," she whispered, eyes narrowed.
"Ten years... Kazuma... I'm coming."
Her divine senses reached out instinctively.
But something was wrong.
There were no signs of undead, no fiendish presence, not even the subtle aura of demonic life.
"A barrier? No... not quite. It feels empty. But that's impossible."
Then a sharp crack rang through the air. A bullet whizzed past her head.
She bolted upward, weaving through the onslaught of gunfire.
"Guns? Since when do demons use guns?!"
A voice echoed from the walls below.
"Because mana is too precious to waste on a second-rate threat."
She turned sharply.
"Who's there?! Show yourself, coward!"
A figure leapt down from the castle ramparts.
Masked,
Dressed in black and gray, moving with inhuman agility.
"Long time no see... Useless Aqua."
That voice.
Her eyes widened.
"No... that voice... it can't be..."
The man pulled off his mask. The wind caught it, and it turned to ash midair.
"Yes, it's me. Kazuma. Or at least... the Kazuma you used to know."
He smiled.
Familiar, and yet wrong.
His eyes held the same mischief she remembered, but something darker pulsed behind them. A mimicry too perfect.
"Almost ten years, huh?
A week away from the big reunion.
Where's Darkness? Don't tell me they abandoned you."
Aqua's voice trembled, but her resolve held.
"Stop it...
What are you wearing?
Why do you still have a body?
Why didn't you ever reach out to us?!"
She remembered him being taken.
His essence torn away,
his soul separated from his body and devoured.
Those were the reasons she couldn't revive him.
"Whoa there. Too many questions at once.
Shouldn't we start with a handshake?
Tea, maybe?
Catch up like old times?" He smiled.
A little too wide.
Her eyes narrowed. She slashed the air with a blade of ice, forcing distance between them.
"Don't play coy. I know you're plotting something.
You feel wrong."
"Heh... You always were the sharpest when it came to me.
Classic Aqua."
He chuckled, shaking his head as if it were just another Monday morning.
"Enough stalling. Tell me what happened."
Her expression hardened, and her grip on the staff tightened.
Kazuma sighed.
"Do you remember that dungeon?
The one we explored ten years ago?"
Aqua's eyes narrowed, as if expecting a jab from him.
"The one no one returned from...
We went in, and then...
things got fuzzy. I remember you being captured.
The rest of us split up to train and get stronger. We swore we'd save you."
"The reason no one ever came back," he said nonchalantly,
"was because the dungeon was a trap.
It was never a ruin. It was a ritual chamber...
a vessel to feed sacrifices to the Demon King."
He shrugged, as if he were talking about his morning coffee.
Aqua's breath caught.
"Then... why are we still alive?"
"You were supposed to die. All three of you. But I made a deal."
He grinned, as if amused by someone's naive mistake.
"I sold my soul to save you.
All of you.
In exchange, he let you flee.
Gave you time to grow strong before the end."
Her eyes widened. "No... that's not—"
"He even erased your memories of it."
He chuckled. "Clever, right?"
"You didn't even realize you were living on borrowed time."
Aqua clenched her fists.
"Then why are you still here? You should've died!"
Kazuma stepped forward, the shadows behind him stretching unnaturally."Because when the box was opened......Pandora's Box......something ancient escaped.Something... hungry.Megumin broke the seal. And it leapt into me."
"You're possessed."Aqua wasn't sure if it was a question or a realization.
"Correct!I'm not just Kazuma anymore.But I've copied him perfectly," he cooed."Every word, every smirk. I remember you, Aqua."
"Everything about you."
He smirked again.
"Maybe check your status card.
Kazuma didn't know, but...
he might've done something else by accident...
while he was being, let's say, consumed."
A sly smile curved his lips.
She summoned her status card and blinked.
"Race: Human..."
"Yeah," Kazuma said softly.
"When I made the pact, you lost your divinity.
You've aged.
Just like any human. And that makes you... mortal.
If you die here, there's no reincarnation. No reset. It's over."
Aqua lowered the card slowly, her voice calm but trembling.
"Even if you think I'm weaker now...
I won't abandon you."
"Then face me.
I am the final gatekeeper now."
He vanished...
...and reappeared behind her.
Aqua blocked the attack with a shield of water and countered with a flurry of ice shards.
Kazuma laughed.
"Ice magic? Nicely done.
Didn't think you'd get that creative."
"Ice to strike, water to guard.
You taught me the value of trickery."
Their clash ignited.
A storm of blades, magic, and elemental fury.
Aqua fought valiantly, every move calculated.
But she was getting close to her limits. Her mana was draining fast.
Kazuma didn't falter.
"I had high hopes for you.
You were always the wildcard.
The unpredictable one."
"Then don't underestimate me!"
She snarled.
But he raised his hand, and the earth pulsed.
Dark mana surged from the soil.
A cold wind howled.
Blood streamed from his eyes and mouth—gathering, not falling.
"Come forth, sword of my fate...
Break the wheel of destiny."
"Blooken."
A blade of obsidian formed in his grasp.
The aura it exuded made the air itself scream.
He was faster now. Stronger.
Each strike from him sent Aqua reeling.
Her shield cracked. Her blade trembled.
Blood stained her robe.
"Is this what you trained for?
Ten years...
and you still can't beat me?"
He mocked with a smile.
Unnatural, uncanny.
Aqua gritted her teeth.
"I searched everywhere...
Towns, villages... anywhere with a link to the Demon King.
All I wanted was to know if you were alive!
I'm almost at my level cap... and yet...
I can't... Maybe I really am what you used to call me..."
"A Useless Goddess."
Kazuma halted. His expression softened for just a moment.
He lowered his sword.
"Aqua... I'm sorry."
But then his grin returned. He raised his sword again for a final strike.
"That's enough."
Two figures swooped in.
Vanir and Wiz.
"Wiz, tend to her," Vanir said sharply.
"Right." She said without hesitation.
Kazuma's expression turned cold.
"Come to steal her away?"
"Yes," Vanir said with a grin.
"And to perhaps drag you back too.
Though that would displease your new mistress, wouldn't it?"
Kazuma sneered.
"Cowards."
Wiz and Vanir retreated with Aqua in tow, vanishing into the clouds. Kazuma stood alone, watching them vanish.
"One week left. Prepare well, Aqua. I don't want Megumin or Darkness hurt. Don't be useless next time. And... don't forget who I used to be."
He walked away.
Not toward the demon castle.
Far from it, in the cold sanctum of a ruined cathedral,
a girl with crimson eyes knelt before an empty throne.
"Kazuma-sama... I brought back the relic you requested."
He walked calmly, smiling faintly as he took his place on the throne.
"Thank you, Megumin. You've done well."
She bowed, blushing faintly.
"I just want to make you proud."
Behind that smile, behind those eyes, the ancient being stirred.
Manipulating her was child's play. Love, after all, was the most potent magic of all.
To be continued...