Anna was crying as she crawled out of the cave, her body trembling, drenched in mud and tears. Her voice cracked as she screamed at Azel.
"Why did you come back!? Why!?"
Tears flooded her eyes, blurring her vision as she stumbled forward, breath ragged. She had pushed every limit, her body nearly at its end. But she had one final trump card left.
Disintegration.
She began gathering the energy, the air warping and rippling around her as her body shook under the strain. She knew Azel would survive—she had seen it with her own eyes, that time when his heart was slashed. He hadn't died.
Through gritted teeth and a heart breaking with every pulse, she spoke in a whisper that only the wind could carry.
"You mean everything to me, Azel… You saved me. You gave me a reason to smile again. And I... I will always, always love you. No matter what happens. Thank you... for these eight months. Thank you for staying by my side."
With that, she unleashed it.
Disintegration.
A light unlike any other surged forward, roaring with the power of her last hope.
Hakugo watched her, unmoving. His gaze cold, calculating.
"She's a fool. An idiotic woman throwing herself away."
But he wasn't afraid. No—he was confident. Whatever she cast, he believed he would survive it.
Just then—
Azel appeared.
Carrying Anna.
She gasped, startled, her concentration shattering. It had happened too fast—far too fast for her to comprehend. One second she was ready to obliterate everything, and the next she was in his arms.
He gently laid her down beneath a tree, where the earth was soft and shielded from the falling rain. Then, without a word, he leaned in and kissed her.
He rose, turning toward Hakugo.
His face was hidden behind strands of soaked, messy hair—matted with rain and blood. He stood still for a moment, as the storm howled around them.
Then he began to laugh.
"Hee he... haha... hahaha…"
The laugh grew louder, wilder—echoing into the dark sky.
Deep within him, Forbanna screamed in desperation.
"Come to your senses!"
But Azel did not stop.
Once a small spiral had marked him with a quiet curse, it now glowed—vibrant, malevolent, alive. The spiral had expanded, tendrils of curse energy crawling across his chest, wrapping around his torso, spreading to his stomach.
Hakugo's eyes widened, disbelief breaking through his calm.
Azel grinned wider. The smile of a man whose mind teetered on the edge.
No... not the same wimpy Cursewright anymore.
The final battle had begun.
Hakugo unsheathed his holy sword, its gleam dim under the oppressive sky. This time, he was more cautious—his stance firmer, his grip tighter. The curse energy radiating from Azel was overwhelming, flooding the battlefield like a suffocating tide.
Azel's body was cloaked in black flames, flickering and writhing with a life of their own. He walked forward—slow, deliberate, like a shadow of death drawing near.
Hakugo's heart pounded uncontrollably, each beat screaming danger. Every fiber of his being urged him to run. His instincts screamed to run away.
Then he saw it.
Azel's face.
Twisted and insane.
A demon's grin stretched across his lips, eyes wide with something beyond rage. Something terrifying.
Hakugo staggered back, his breath catching—but he did not run.
He held his ground.
With a roar, he swung his sword in a sharp arc, aiming to end it in a single, blessed strike.
But—
Azel was faster.
He caught Hakugo's neck with one hand, grip like iron.
Lifted him off the ground.
Hakugo's limbs thrashed as his feet left the earth. His throat was sealed shut—no air could pass. His airpipe crushed under the force. Eyes bulging, he clawed at the arm holding him, but nothing worked.
Azel wasn't going to kill him.
Not yet.
With a cruel grunt, Azel kicked him—one devastating blow that launched Hakugo through the forest like a cannonball.
His body tore through tree after tree, splinters flying like shrapnel until he finally crashed into the dirt. Dozens of trees collapsed behind him.
He coughed violently, chest heaving, gasping for breath. His ribs burned—his entire chest radiated with a searing heat where the kick had landed.
But he wouldn't give in.
He went all out.
Summoning his holy magic, he attempted to bind Azel—golden light swirling beneath him to render the cursewright immobile.
Azel looked down.
And walked through it like it was nothing.
Hakugo's eyes widened as he leapt high into the air, gripping his sword with both hands.
He brought it down with a mighty roar.
The moment the blade struck, the ground exploded.
A thunderous tremor shook the earth. Trees swayed violently. Even villagers on the outskirts of the forest stopped in fear, gazing toward the woods.
"What the hell is happening?"
"Is it earthquake?"
"AZEL! AZEL!!"
Forbanna's voice rang out from within his soul, desperate, panicked. But Azel didn't respond.
He couldn't hear her anymore.
His body was drenched in rain and blood, steam rising from his cursed skin. His spiral mark now rotated violently—alive, pulsing like a cursed heart carved into his flesh. His eyes were blood red curving a feral grin on his cheeks.
Azel caught the blade with his bare hand.
"What—?"
The sword didn't pierce. The cursed flames around Azel's arm burned even brighter, black and blue, eating away at the holy enchantments.
Snap.
He shattered the blade in two.
Then—
CRACK!
Azel's fist, engulfed in cursed fire, drove straight into Hakugo's face. The ground split beneath them. Wind exploded outward. The sheer pressure flattened the nearby trees.
Before Hakugo could recover, Azel gripped his neck and slammed him down.
BOOM!
A crater exploded outward from the impact, deep and wide, the earth folding under their weight.
Then—
He dragged him. Scraping Hakugo's body along the crater like a blade on stone.
SCRAAAAAAAAPE.
"AAAAAARGHHH—!"
Hakugo screamed.
His hair was torn off in a line, scalp ripping open as the ground shredded his flesh. Skin, muscle, even part of his skull was ripped away.
Chunks of his scalp peeled off, exposing raw flesh and parts of his cranium. Blood poured from his face. One eye was crushed.
Azel didn't stop.
His grin stretched unnaturally, his eyes wild. He looked more demon than man.
"Azel!"
Forbanna whispered weakly.
But her voice barely reached him.
Hakugo coughed blood, panic overwhelming him.
This wasn't a cursed child anymore. This was a force.
"I—I have to get away—!"
He summoned a wind spell, Tempest dust, a blinding gale that tore through the area like a miniature cyclone. Trees shook. The ground trembled.
He turned to escape, limping, bleeding, barely able to breathe.
But—
A hand gripped his leg.
"No—"
Azel stood there, completely unaffected by the storm, flames swirling around his body like devouring shadows.
"You're not going anywhere."
And with one clean motion—
THWACK!
Azel swung him like a ragdoll, hurling Hakugo across the entire forest clearing.
BOOM!
The cardinal's body smashed into a mountainside, breaking trees, crushing rock, his spine crumpling on impact.
The mountain shook.
Hakugo gasped, blood pouring from his mouth. His body slumped down, mangled, bones poking from his back.
He looked up…
And Azel was walking toward him.
Still grinning.
Still laughing.
"Hee… hee hee… Hahahaha…"
The grin stretched wider. Rain poured over his scarred body, muscles twitching with barely-contained violence. Flames crawled like serpents along his shoulders and arms.
Hakugo, the Third Cardinal of Saint Heron, looked at Azel not as a threat anymore—but as something unholy.
"W-What are you…?"
Azel tilted his head slightly, eyes glowing through the dark.
"HA.. AHAHAHAHA HE HEHE HAHA"