Chapter 31 - Aegis' Sacrifice

"Aegis, no!" Lancelot pleaded to his daughter as he tried his best to lift his head off the ground but to no avail.

The rains poured heavily but couldn't mask her tears, the sadness in Aegis' face was enough to touch anyone's soul.

Lancelot kept pleading until a heavy foot landed on his head.

"Shut up, you killjoy, my lovely baby girl has come to her senses," Urusla was standing over him with a menacing smile on her face.

All the demons made a path between her and Aegis as they bowed before their queen.

"Screw this!!"Misao, who stood quiet this whole time decided to try and take out Urusla, she jumped after her holding a ball of fire in her right hand and a sleeve of wind extending from the left shoulder all the way to the tip of her scythe's blade.

Ursula, however saw right through her attack and as soon as Misao was in striking distance, she retaliated by grabbing the hand which held the scythe and after causing a black jade spike to grow from her knee, punctured Misao's arm.

Misao didn't flinch from the pain but instead quickly dropped her scythe and pushed the fireball forward in an attempt to burn Urusla's face off. The attack connected and Misao put on a smile, but that smile was immediately turned upside down when the flames dissipated, leaving a streak of steam and Urusla's face completly unscathed.

"How dare you try to destroy my beautiful face!?" Urusla asked as she bore a deadly look, Misao didn't have the slightest chance to react when Urusla's fist came from below and sunk into her stomach with incredible force.

The brutal strike caused Misao to bend over forwards coughing when she received another attack, with a knee to her forehead, she was flung back to her original posture. Urusla didn't let up and finished her off with an elbow to the side of her head.

*splash*

Misao fell on her back into a puddle of mud, "damn…it…" her head suffered a wound from the previous strike and a small stream of blood oozed from her head.

"You're still conscious?!" Urusla's had a fake look of shock on her face as she tried to hide her giggling, "oh well… I must commend you…even if you won't be able to move for a while," She added as she stopped trying to hold back the giggle.

Takumi watched as every member on his team was either unconscious or paralyzed by fear and the rage he felt for the insignificant demon who hurt Ichika instantly shifted it's focus to Urusla. His sword returned to his hand and he was prepared to strike until Aegis' small hand reached his shoulder.

"Just…stop…it's already too painful…I just want the fighting to stop…" Her sad eyes met Takumi's and he instantly drew back his rage.

"Yayy! That's my girl! Now, come to mother!" Urusla was smiling playfully as she went low in a crouch with open arms as she beckoned Aegis to her side. Through all this, Takumi only had a single thought in his mind.

"I've failed…to protect…"

Aegis slowly released her grip on Takumi and made strides towards Urusla, her face still twisting in pain while Urusla was still laughing away. As she finally reached within range of Urusla, the path that was made quickly closed, showing no signs of either Aegis or Urusla.

The sound of marching began before a gust of wind blew droplets of water in a circle, "Thank you for returning my daughter! I'll be sure to repay you all!" Urusla sarcastically promised as her flying mount rose off the ground, before flying off with the demon army following behind.

"I hate that bitch even more now!" Misao fumed as she walked over to Takumi and the elves who were still conscious, swinging her arm in a circle as if she had never been injured.

Takumi was surprised for a brief moment when his facial expression switched back to the cold, emotionless mood. "Let's heal them…" he replied in a monotone voice as he turned his gaze onto Ichika once more.

Utilizing the rains, Takumi used the healing scale to recover Ichika's lost flesh and stamina, she woke up soon after taking a gasp of air. "What happened?" she asked as she placed her hand over her stomach to find that the ice had melted and the wound had healed

"I-I'm sorry…I failed," Takumi desperately tried to hold back the tears as he saw Ichika's face full of life again. She felt his pain and in an attempt to console him, held his face and gazed into his eyes.

"Come now…you did your best…they were just too strong and numerous, I'm sure if you were stronger you alone could beat them up!" she said, smiling brightly.

"She's right you know," Aiko added as she walked to their position after being healed by Misao using [Fire Dragon | Sixth Scale: Phoenix Flame]

Takumi's mouth gaped from the many uplifting comments he was receiving, even Misao comforted him saying: "Hey…they're still alive so just get stronger and kick their asses!"

The tears he was trying to hold back instantly vanished and he soon strengthened his preexisting resolve to get stronger. A burning flame of desire erupted from his soul as he stood on his feet and gathered all the falling raindrops around him and formed a massive ball.

Those who had regained consciousness looked at him with suspicion as a crooked smile went over his face, soon after the water began to glow, signaling the activation of the healing scale.

"HA!" he released the water in a pulse that covered a great distance, healing all who were caught in the wave, and as if that very moment was influenced by a supreme being, the rains stopped and a beautiful sunshine could be seen.

"I'm impressed kid," Kage said with a dragon's equivalent to a smile.

"I agree," Mizuko added, "The healing scales can only fix physical damage but you somehow managed to heal their mental state."

"You'll be a great hero," Daichi ended.

The village combatants all commended each other for surviving despite the loss and vowed that they would emerge victorious upon the next encounter.

Takumi noticed that Lancelot hadn't joined the celebration as he stood on his own staring at the horizon where the demon army departed into, with his daughter.

"Don't worry," Takumi stood next to him and rested his hand on Lancelot's shoulder, startling him a bit, "I promise you we'll get her back."

Lancelot took a while to come around after taking one last look at the vacant horizon, eventually he did, replying with a smile.

***

The demon army returned to the kingdom and disbanded.

"Welcome back home dear," Urusla led Aegis to a new cell similar to the one she was held in the past, where she left her before returning to the throne room.

Her advisor was waiting inside where he asked what the next move was after going on one knee.

Urusla responded after taking a seat on her throne and took a cherry from the bowl next to it which seemed to always be full, " We'll waste no more time, begin the process of installing my father's spirit in her as soon as possible."

***

The forest was empty as both armies returned to their bases, but one person remained: the demonized dragon host stood hidden behind a tree like a lifeless statue.

She stayed that way for minutes when a demon crow flew over and hovered in front of her head, soon after a series of pecks connected with her head and woke her from the seemingly eternal slumber. She instantly knew what to do:

Attack.