The Damned Demon

The chamber crackled with tension, an oppressive silence briefly hanging in the air before it shattered with a deafening explosion of power and Ravina’s cry, “Aira, don’t!”

Aira lunged forward, her white staff blazing with searing brilliance. The sheer intensity of her mana shook the ground, rippling waves of radiant energy crashing against the steel walls, leaving dents and cracks in their wake.

Aira had made sure that her father would build and reinforce this chamber with enough strength so that not even someone of her strength could easily break in. But she never expected someone, especially a demon to just arrive directly within the chamber.

Ravina swiftly manifested and raised her twin swords, igniting them with dark green flames. The jagged, charred blades shimmered ominously, distorting the space around them, warping the very fabric of reality. Aira’s radiant blast collided violently against Ravina’s damned flames, the resulting explosion fracturing the steel beneath their feet.

“Stop this madness, Aira!” Ravina shouted through gritted teeth, pushing back against the relentless wave of light. “I told you—I’m not your enemy!”

“You can’t fool me,” Aira hissed venomously, her eyes shining blinding white, her body radiating so much power it distorted the air around her. “Your very existence is a mockery. You reek of that entity’s cursed aura!”

With a furious cry, Aira surged forward, moving so swiftly she was merely a blur. Ravina reacted instantly, phasing through space, narrowly avoiding Aira’s strike that gouged out a massive chunk of the chamber wall, exposing mangled steel beams beneath.

As Ravina emerged back into reality, she appeared behind Aira, swinging her blades in a graceful arc. Space around her swords rippled, forming miniature gravitational wells that pulled violently at Aira, briefly immobilizing her.

But Aira smirked coldly, her eyes flashing. The time around her slowed dramatically, the air growing dense and sluggish. Ravina felt her limbs becoming heavy, almost frozen mid-strike. Panic surged in her chest as she realized her attack was faltering.

“Damn it!” Ravina cursed, forcing mana through her veins as her form blazed into her Hellbringer state. Dark green flames roared to life, forming a terrifying, vampiric visage around her, shadowy fangs extending from her bony maw.

The chamber vibrated under the clash of their monstrous energies. Aira grunted in surprise, momentarily pushed back as Ravina’s gravitational flames spiraled wildly, tearing apart the chamber floor into jagged fissures. The steel walls groaned, bending under immense gravitational stress.

Asher watched helplessly, astonished by his daughter’s raw power. He couldn’t tear his gaze away, trapped in this horrifying spectacle, yet both awed and proud by her abilities.

It didn’t take him long to see that her powers were a fusion of his and Rowena, manipulating the flames of damnation to tear open space and manipulate the gravity around her while his powers mostly revolved around damning souls and unleashing unmatched destruction.

Ravina advanced, flames blazing around her, “I’m begging you, just listen! I’m here to save you both!”

“Silence, demon!” Aira snarled, sweeping her staff around as radiant mana surged forth, incinerating everything in its path. Ravina instinctively summoned her flames, forming small, dark rifts around her. The radiant mana was greedily swallowed by the tiny black holes, distorting and bending the room into a grotesque dance of damned flames.

Their powers clashed again, sending devastating shockwaves through the chamber. Steel panels buckled and tore apart, debris flying like deadly missiles. Aira reversed time on the broken shards, hurling them again and again at Ravina, each cycle faster and more deadly than before.

Ravina desperately phased between space, reappearing in frantic intervals. She attempted another powerful gravitational strike, lifting a huge section of wall to crush Aira beneath it.

But Aira merely reversed time, the wall returning harmlessly to its original place without Ravina even realizing it.

But before Ravina could reposition, Aira appeared before her, delivering a merciless strike.

Ravina gasped, not in pain but surprise, feeling ribs fracture beneath the vicious blow as her skeletal figure hurtled across the room, slamming brutally against the chamber’s wall, leaving an imprint in solid steel.

The sheer impact knocked her out of her Hellbringer form and blood splattered from hermouth as she fell to her knees, panting heavily. Her dark green flames flickered weakly as exhaustion drained her mana at a terrifying pace. The fight was costing her dearly.

“Give up,” Aira whispered darkly, slowly stepping forward. “You can’t defy fate. Not mine—not his.”

Ravina forced herself upright, gripping her swords tighter. Her fangs glistened as she drew on her vampiric form, absorbing latent vitality from the spilled blood on the ground. Her flames reignited fiercely, space rippling around her in an intimidating display of defiance.

“Never,” Ravina growled, her voice shaking with resolve. “I’ll never surrender. Not to fate, and not to you!”

Roaring, Ravina surged forward, slashing wildly through distorted space. Aira responded coldly, smoothly evading the blades as if predicting each move perfectly. The intense, repeated reversals of time had allowed Aira to anticipate every possible outcome, turning Ravina’s movements futile and leaving her frustrated as none of her attacks were reaching Aira.

Desperation began to claw at Ravina’s heart as each strike missed, her blades striking only empty air, tearing harmlessly through distorted space. Her breaths came in ragged gasps, panic blooming in her chest as she felt her mana plummeting again.

Seeing Ravina’s despair, Aira smiled coldly, “You see it now, don’t you? You can’t fight fate. No matter how many tricks you use, no matter how strong you become, you can’t defeat someone who controls time itself.”

With a swift flick of her wrist, Aira manipulated time around Ravina, freezing her mid-step. Ravina struggled violently, panic surging through her veins as she desperately phased, but each time she escaped, Aira instantly reversed her back into the frozen state.

“You came here believing you could stop me,” Aira whispered bitterly, her face twisted in anguish masked by fury. “But you’ve only sealed your own doom.”

With savage elegance, Aira dashed forward, her staff delivering a brutal blow to Ravina’s chest, shattering armor and bone.

Ravina screamed, her body tumbling helplessly across the fractured chamber floor, her swords scattering out of reach.

Weakly, Ravina tried to rise, coughing blood as she grasped at the fractured ground beneath her.

“Ravina…” Asher felt tears sting his eyes. He couldn’t move, couldn’t help. He was forced to watch the horrific spectacle unfold—his daughter crushed beneath the relentless brutality of a woman he had once loved above all.

He remembered her mentioning her “brother” sent her here. And that was another fact that left him feeling worried, wondering if he had a son he didn’t know about.

Ravina lay battered against the shattered ground, pain searing through every nerve in her exhausted body. Blood trickled from her lips, her vision blurred by fatigue. Her dark green flames sputtered weakly, the once fierce inferno now barely flickering embers around her.

Aira stepped forward slowly, her white staff blazing with ruthless brilliance, casting a cold glow over her twisted form. The chamber groaned under the lingering tremors of their brutal battle, walls bent, steel warped, floors splintered into jagged fissures.

“Pathetic,” Aira muttered icily, her voice devoid of sympathy or mercy. “You’ve wasted your strength. All that bravado for nothing.”

Ravina forced herself up onto one trembling knee, gripping her twin blades tightly despite her mana rapidly slipping away. Her breath came in short, painful gasps. She could feel her body approaching its limits, but defiance still burned fiercely in her eyes.

“No,” Ravina hissed weakly, dark golden eyes flashing with determination. “I won’t… let you keep this up.”

Aira paused momentarily, narrowing her radiant eyes. “You’re stubborn—I’ll give you that. But stubbornness can’t change destiny.”

She raised her staff high, a surge of devastating radiant mana building up, ready to obliterate Ravina completely.

Ravina grit her teeth, her thoughts racing desperately. If she couldn’t break through Aira’s control of time directly, perhaps she could still use the space itself against her.

With her remaining strength, Ravina ignited into her Hellbringer form, the eerie dark-green fire roaring violently. Small black rifts tore open around Aira, pulling fiercely at the radiant energies she was amassing. For a moment, Aira faltered, her footing slipping as space warped erratically around her.

“What trickery is this?” Aira snarled, her eyes widening in anger as her mana became unstable. She immediately reversed time, attempting to restore her balance.

“YAARGH!” But Ravina didn’t relent, screaming as she forced her flames further, merging her gravitational dominance into the void distortions.

The chamber twisted sickeningly, sections of steel and concrete buckling and imploding under the relentless gravitational pull. The previously indomitable Aira staggered, her form flickering briefly through time, a ghostly echo struggling to maintain coherence amidst the spatial chaos.

“You think playing with gravity can save you?” Aira growled fiercely, time pulsing violently around her, attempting to rewind the chaotic scene.

But Ravina’s flames had formed an unstable field—a tiny pocket of warped reality, violently resisting Aira’s control over time. Ravina saw her opening and lunged, blades cutting savagely through the distorted space, slashing toward Aira in a desperate attempt.

“Ungh!” Aira grunted in pain as one blade grazed her side, leaving a searing wound. Shock and rage flashed across her face. It had been countless lifetimes since anyone had landed such a blow.

“You…” Aira breathed venomously, her fury erupting into a raw, violent scream, “I’ll tear you apart!”

The radiant brilliance around her exploded in a blinding nova of power, shattering the space distortions Ravina had desperately maintained. Ravina felt herself thrown violently back, slamming brutally against the wall. Her Hellbringer form dissipated instantly, leaving her vulnerable and drained.

She slumped to the ground, her blades clattering uselessly from her grip. Her vision darkened, strength leaving her entirely. Her mana circuits burned out, empty and smoldering. She was finished, utterly helpless.

Aira stepped forward again, her rage barely contained. Blood trickled slowly from the gash in her side, but she paid it no mind and didn’t even bother to heal it, her face twisted with vindictive satisfaction. “Enough games. It’s over.”

She raised her staff, ready to deliver the final blow.

Ravina’s heartbeat thundered desperately in her ears. Gathering the remnants of her strength, she lifted her head, eyes locking defiantly onto Aira’s. A final burst of determination surged through her as she cried out with everything she had left:

“It’s now or never!”

Aira paused for a brief instant, her brows furrowing suspiciously.

*BOOM!*

Suddenly, the air itself rippled violently. An intense, dark red aura burst forth from thin air behind Aira, erupting in a devastating wave of energy that blasted her forward, throwing her violently across the chamber.

“UGH!” Aira groaned, tumbling across the ruined floor before crashing against a twisted heap of steel debris.

Ravina stared in relief as a feminine figure, cloaked entirely in silky dark red, materialized out of the chaotic space. Her presence radiated power and dignity, her movements calm and purposeful.

The woman slowly reached up, pulling back her hood, revealing an elegant face with captivating ruby-red eyes framed by flowing ruby hair. Her gaze was sharp yet composed, exuding a noble authority.

Asher felt his mind reeling in stunned disbelief and confusion. He knew this woman—recognized the powerful grace, the calm confidence.

It was Naida!

Naida glanced down at Ravina, her expression briefly softening into a comforting, reassuring smile. She extended a delicate yet powerful hand toward the young woman, her ruby eyes steady and determined.

“Get up, Ravina,” Naida urged gently, her voice smooth and unwavering. “We are not done with her yet.”