Moment of Peace

"As long as I'm alive, demons SHALL NOT PASS!"

Phyo, Lin and Nath approached Tenzou. Lin supported the injured Nath as they stood behind the majestic old man. The wind brushed his long silver hair as he looked at Yoru with fierce eyes. The three looked at him with awe as he displayed his power. Their jaws dropped when they noticed the wall extending all the way into the endless sea. They looked at each other and simultaneously thought, 'This guy's human?!'

Yoru stood on the other side of the wall with a menacing look on his face. He jumped back and attempted to break the translucent wall down with all his might. He blasted purple lightning at the wall, expecting it to break. The aftermath of Yoru's attacks reformed the nearby landscape. Trees got destroyed and giant craters formed from the attacks reflected from the seemingly indestructible wall. Even so, hitherto had he experienced no great success in his attempts.

Moments later, tens of thousands of demons appeared into sight. Yoru jumped back and ordered, "Burn this wall down!" All of them attacked the wall with the idea of breaking It down. The humans felt the shockwave of the attacks from the other side of the wall.

Phyo, Lin and Nath watched with concern as the demons endlessly launched countless powerful attacks towards the wall. Their attacks got reflected and killed hundreds of themselves. Even so, Yoru mercilessly commanded, "Don't stop, useless pieces of shits! Destroy this fucking wall!" The demons had no choice but to follow his orders. As they endlessly attacked the wall, their attacks reflected; killing themselves.

Lin turned to Tenzou and commented, "Gramps, if they break the wall down, we're dead."

Tenzou smiled and replied, "Don't worry, son. That won't happen. I directly linked the wall to my yin reserve. The wall will only break if my yin reserve goes empty. In other words, as long as I'm alive, the wall WILL NOT break."

Then, he approached the wall and placed his hand on it. He closed his eyes and poured more yin into the structure of the wall. The wall shined even brighter as the demons within the 50 meters' radius burned into ash.

The demons ran back with fear and screamed, "Lord Yoru, we can't get close! We'll die!"

Yoru gritted his teeth and glanced at Tenzou, who looked at the dying demons with pity and despair. He had a rather peaceful expression and that pissed Yoru off even more.

Shura, one of the six, turned to Yoru. His pupils shook as killing intent flooded the battlefield. Fear took over his body and with a shaky voice, "Boss, y- y- you good?

"Bo- boss, there're s- s- still thousands of humans hiding in Columbus. We ca- can hunt them down and use them as hostage. I'm sure Sasu's already captured most of them," said Miko as she trembled in fear.

With a deadly expression on his face, Yoru screamed at the top of his lungs, "I'll EXTERMINATE ALL OF YOU FUCKS! I'LL MAKE SURE OF IT! ONCE THIS WALL BREAKS, I WON'T SPARE A SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"

The trio felt Yoru's killing intent from hundreds of meters away. They felt intimidated, at the same time, they envied his strength.

Nath walked forward and sat beside Tenzou. He looked up and asked, "You could've killed Yoru. Why didn't you?"

Tenzou calmly answered, "If I killed Yoru, it would drain my yin reserves and I won't be able to create this massive wall. The thousands of demons that followed Yoru would overpower us. As strong as we may be, we can't beat that many demons."

"He's right. It was smart to create this wall," a voice appeared from atop of a tree. Tenzou looked up and saw a lone figure standing on top of a nearby tree. He covered his face with a white mask which resembled a fox. The mask had red outlines around the eyes and black stripes on the cheeks.

The figure gracefully jumped down and landed. He approached Nath and volunteered to treat his injury. Then, he sat down and grabbed a roll of bandage from the pouch attached to his hip. As he wrapped the lightning bruise on Nath's stomach with bandages, he asked, "Yoru did this?"

Nath flinched from the pain and answered, "Yea."

Lin and Phyo sat down beside the person and asked, "Where were you?"

The person concluded his treatment and pointed towards a hill. Seconds later, a group of humans appeared from behind. Tenzou also turned around and was surprised to see the quantity of humans steadily increasing.

The person placed his medical supplies back into his pouch and commented, "While I was rescuing hostages, I saw a shit ton of demons heading towards home. I hesitated whether or not I should return and help, but I chose to trust you guys and this old dude. I mean, he took down Kaguya without breaking a sweat, so I knew he was capable. I took advantage of the demons leaving Columbus, and rescued the remaining hostages."

Nath slowly stood up. While softly rubbing his injury, he commented, "How did you avoid the demons that were left in Columbus. I'm pretty sure there's still roughly half of them left."

The person turned his head and asked, "Avoid?"

Lin turned to Phyo and chuckled, which soon turned to laughter. Phyo approached him, and wrapped his arm around the person's neck, "Swe, Your one crazy bastard. Did you kill all of them?"

Swe reluctantly returned the hug and replied, "I didn't kill all of them, only a couple hundred or so."

Swe was around 19 years old, and stood at 6'2. He wore a hooded black cloak that covered his head and most of his body. He wore a white mask which resembled a fox. The mask had red outlines around the eyes and black stripes on the cheeks. He also had messy brown hair.

As Tenzou approached him, he sensed that Swe's yin reserve was on par with his. He thought, 'So this boy's the most powerful among the ascended.' Tenzou smiled and introduced himself, "I'm Tenzou. I'm 64 years old and I can manipulate sunlight."

Swe turned to Tenzou and replied, "I know."

"So, what do we do now?" Nath questioned with curiosity about the upcoming future.

1 year later

Slyvia, a society built from scratch, developed into paradise for humans. There were talented engineers, doctors, artists and scientists among the refugees. They came together to build Slyvia into a wonderful city, that was filled with beautiful lights and massive wooden buildings. Food and water was abundant as the resources found on their half of the island was more than enough to support 3,000 humans. Electricity was plentiful as air elementals used their abilities to efficiently power wind turbines.

4 months ago, a groups of biologists discovered that trees were still carrying out photosynthesis even without sunlight. They had no idea how, but it was a miracle that enabled life on Columbus to continue.

Tenzou became a symbol of peace, as he led humanity with grace and wisdom. Tenzou grew strong, stronger than every living being on the island. Even Tenzou himself didn't know the secret behind his significant growth of power. He simply concluded that his strength came as he grew older. As he grew older, his yin reserve expanded, making him more powerful.

The founding members of 'the ascended' became the strongest at manipulating their respectful elements. Phyo became the strongest wind elemental. He led a group of skilled air elementals and created a source of electricity for Slyvia. Lin became the leader of wood elementals, as well as the strongest one. He constructed most of the building in Slyvia.

As for Nath, He felt defeated after his previous encounter against Yoru. He realized how weak he was. Instead of sulking like a fucking loser, he chose to change. Swe occasionally went on reconnaissance missions in Hades, the demons' half of the island. Nath tagged along to study Swe's decision making and fighting style which he used as a foundation to grow stronger. There were circumstances where they had to fight hundreds of demons. They were greatly outnumbered, but Swe defeated the demons with only brute strength. Even without elemental powers, he was strong enough to rip limbs apart and break bones with ease.

One day, Nath was invited to Tenzou's house. Tenzou lived in a traditional Japanese house. It had characterized tatami mat flooring, sliding doors, and wooden engawa verandas. As Nath enters the house, he was greeted by a beautiful girl around the age of 20. She had beautiful pink hair that extended to her nape. There was a noticeable strand on the right side of her head, giving her an aesthetic look. She also had an attractive body with well-defined hips and breasts. (Author's note: She looks like Nakano Ichika.)

Nath smiled and greeted, "Hey, Hin. Has everyone else arrived?"

Hin returned a smile and replied, "Everyone, except Swe."

They approached further into the house and neared another sliding door that led to a room lit with dim lights. They opened the door, and was greeted by none other than, Phyo, Lin and Tenzou. There was an opening that displayed the beautiful night sky, which was filled with endless, bright stars.

"So, why did you call us here?" Nath asked as he joined his friends.

Hin gently closed the door behind her and sat in a polite position.

Tenzou took a sip out of his cup of tea.

He gently placed his cup on the table, and announced, "We're climbing the mountain of Columbus next week."