Freedom

Tap… Tap… Tap…

A lone, young man could be seen walking amidst the ruins of a city.

His hair that was white like snow that dropped down above his shoulders swayed freely in the wind.

Meanwhile, his eyes that were the color of blood remained out of focus.

'What now…?'

The young man, Regis, thought as he walked in a daze.

He was now free, yet he felt empty.

For the longest time, he had longed for freedom.

But now that he achieved it, he felt lost.

'Atleast, when I was in the demonic human camp, I knew what to do throughout the day.'

'Now, I don't know what I should do.'

'How will I live from here on out?'

'Does freedom really come with this feeling of emptiness?'

Numerous thoughts swirled deep inside Regis's mind as he continued to walk without a destination.

He felt quite nostalgic as he had only dreamt of entering the city when he was living in the slums.

Ironically, now that he had finally achieved his dream, the city was in ruins.

'Strange…'

Regis had been walking for about almost an hour and noticed something.

It was the fact that there were no corpses.

'Well, it must be because Agaroth absorbed and turned everything to demonic power…'

'Speaking of demonic power…'

Regis sensed the abundant amount of demonic power that nestled deep inside his heart.

Earlier, he had stolen some of the demonic power that fueled the demonic circle.

It caused the demonic portal to become destabilized, which ultimately led to its sudden explosion.

However, it had also been an opportunity for Regis to accumulate demonic power.

Now, he couldn't even fathom the amount of demonic power in his heart, 'This will surely be enough for me to quickly reach the Peak Stage of Two Star Realm…'

'Anyhow, I can't just go on killing things randomly so this will last me for a while…'

However, Regis scrunched his face in the next second.

'Wait… I can't use demonic power, right?'

He had realized that in order to live normally, he must prohibit his use of demonic power.

Unless, he wanted to be chased by countless people who wanted to kill anyone with demonic power.

Although he felt that it was quite a pity, Regis decided that it would be for the better.

He sensed the little amount of mana in his heart, 'I finally have some use for you…'

The vivid image of a boy appeared in his mind.

"I will put your mana in good use, Cyrus."

Regis muttered as he clenched his fist and looked at the blue sky.

The demonic power that was also emitted by his body slowly vanished and went deep inside his heart.

'I'll be sealing my demonic power for now…'

Regis thought as he felt an unfamiliar weakness covering his body.

His body had been too used in being covered and enhanced by demonic power 24/7 which caused this reaction.

Tap— Tap— Tap—

Regis kept walking as he observed what remained of Toran City.

His uneventful stroll lasted for a few hours.

Until…

"What?"

Regis spoke out loud, a hint of surprise could be heard in his voice.

He squinted his eyes, unsure of what he was seeing, "Is that what I think it is…?"

A few meters away from him was a girl.

She had a small stature, and her limbs were also thin.

It was obvious that she was malnourished.

She also had shiny black hair that cascaded down to her waist.

However, the young girl only stood silently in front of a large pile of rubbles.

Regis couldn't quite see her features as she had her back turned towards him, but he guessed that she was just his age.

"Hey." He spoke at the softest possible voice he could muster.

"..."

However, the young girl didn't seem to hear anything.

Tap… Tap…

Regis walked slowly, "Heyyy."

"..."

Still, no response.

He was currently in the middle of the ruins, so it was impossible that the young girl had just arrived.

'I'm surprised that there is still someone who managed to survive…' 

Regis thought in surprise as he kept walking towards the girl.

As he closed the distance between them, he noticed that the girl was only about a foot shorter than him.

"Hey?" Regis called out once again, he was only about five meters away from the girl.

Four meters…

Three meters…

Two meters.

"Hey!" Regis called out loudly.

"..."

Still, the girl didn't respond.

He kept walking closer towards her until they were practically beside each other.

"Hey…" Regis nervously called out.

He had realized too late that he would be a goner if the girl turned out to be a demon.

After all, some demons had the ability to transform into other species like elves, dwarves, humans and the like.

So him approaching her could be said to be a huge gamble.

Still, it was too late to turn back.

Therefore, Regis carefully took a step and looked at the young girl's face.

However, what he saw made him widen his eyes as he almost took a step back from the sheer shock he was feeling.

Regis kept silent as he stared at the young girl's face.

No, it was not that he kept silent.

It was that he was at a loss for words.

The reason for this was the girl's eyes.

A beautiful pair of ruby-red eyes met Regis's blood-red ones.

She was a Devil's Spawn like him.

It was his first time seeing someone with red eyes like him.

Therefore, Regis was really shocked.

Still, the young girl didn't seem to notice him as she kept looking at the large pile of rubble in front of her.

It took Regis a few moments before he recovered.

This time, he became a little bolder and touched the young girl's shoulder.

"He—" 

However, the girl suddenly fell unconscious.

Fortunately, Regis was able to instinctively catch her in his arms.

"What…"

A confused expression appeared on his face.

Regis observed the young girl's sleeping face as he fell into a daze.

'What now…?'