Demons in the Mirror - Chapter 127

The silver head smiled with his teary eyes. He choked back some tears and wiped them off harshly.

The dim light within the empty building ricocheted in Axel’s dull red eye as he stared down at Leo. Unlike the young soldier before him, there was no single expression on his face.

“I-” Leo gripped Axel’s shoulders and fell on his knees. He lowered his head as he trembled slightly. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry for ditching you back then.” Leo still looked down, not daring to stare straight into Axel’s watching eyes.

“I don’t-” He took a deep breath and continued, “I don’t have the gut to help you. I’m afraid that I won’t be a soldier anymore if I did.”

“I can’t let my parents down.” He added, letting some silver locks fall down to his red eyes as he lowered his head even more.

“And I realize I was wrong when you-” Leo snapped his head up to Axel’s emotionless eye, facing him close with two guilty eyes.

“I saw the arrow piercing into your chest. I saw you when you went against your family.” He confessed, biting the lower of his soft lip to choke down the guilt.

“Yet, I can’t do anything to help you, just like how you helped me to stay being a soldier. You helped me when Aster-” Leo cut himself off after remembering the state of the blond. He really shouldn’t talk about someone that was in a coma.

“I wanted to help then, but my feet wouldn’t move.” He weakly sighed, eyes twitching as he stared at the state of Axel. “I knew it was too late when the arrow shot you.”

Leo glanced at Axel’s chest before diverting his gaze to the boy again. “So, in the end, I became like this.”

Leo chuckled pathetically to himself. There were visible scars around his hands, probably from trying to save anyone he could when it was not his side of the job. He was too young to save people. He still needed some training.

Leo was in the middle of the battleship the day Axel died. When the sky turned red and the undead raised from the ground, he had been fighting for himself. Leo was a coward. He got that a lot from the people around him.

Yet the boy still tried to make his parents proud by achieving so many things at such young age. So he was forced to join the war when the ministries deemed him to be competent enough.

When he grabbed the sword and threw balls of fire at his enemies, he was still a coward. When he saw Axel get thrown away, tattered in the battleship, he did not help.

Because he was a coward.

And when Axel faced his family and went against them, Leo could’ve helped. And still, he did not.

Because he was still a coward.

Then he saw the arrow flying freely, aiming into Axel’s heart. The boy had fallen down, dying.

Leo stood. In the middle of the havoc and madness, he stood with fire around him, staring at Axel in silence.

“I tried to save anyone I could.” Leo let go of Axel’s shoulders and scratched the back of his neck. Axel could see some burning scars on Leo’s neck too. It adorned half of his neck like some kind of a messed up drawing pattern.

“I thought it would avenge you.” He flashed his teeth at Axel, closing his red eyes and forming curved eyes.

“But I’m still a coward, anyway.”

Axel blinked once at the boy and quickly dived his hand into his pocket. Leo opened his eyes to see what the boy was doing curiously.

When the Vergessene boy found some papers, he took one of them and showed it to Leo’s face.

‘no (≖᷆︵︣≖)????’

The silver head dumbfoundedly blinked at the paper. “No?” He quizzically asked.

Axel put down the paper and pulled out another sign. He showed it again in front of the confused soldier.

‘thank you :)’

Leo marvelled at the paper for a while before cocking his head at Axel. “Can’t you- can’t you talk?”

Axel took the previous sign in his left hand and showed it to Leo.

‘no (≖᷆︵︣≖)????’

“What happened? Is it because of your death?” Leo asked more. Face filled with worry and pity.

Axel blinked twice at the silver head, leaving him hanging in silence with the question. Then the black-haired boy moved his eyes to the door of the building, where they both came crashing inside.

Leo followed the boy’s eyes and widened in terror at the sound of thumping footsteps coming at a fast speed. He quickly stood up and stepped forward, shielding Axel behind him.

“Oh no. He’s coming. S-stay behind me.” Leo trembled as he let out another fire in his hand, brightening the room.

The sky outside had turned grey before the two could realize it. The thunder started to rumble as the man from earlier stood in the doorway with gritting teeth. His broad shoulders heaved up and down while he clenched his spiking fist.

“Come on, boy. Let’s see how you fight that the butterfly murderer told me to face you first. You must be strong, aren’t you?!” He maniacally cackled as he charged down to unmoving Axel.

Leo, who had been shielding the Vergessene boy, quickly threw another ball of fire to the man. The said man easily dodged it with his spiking hand.

“Your fire won’t work anymore, kid. You caught me off-guard last time.” He smirked as he readied his stance to fight. “And I won’t give you a second chance to do that again.”

Leo was forming his fire in his hand to throw it to the man again. But he was too late when the said man already charged down to him, punching him right in the gut with his spiking fist.

The spikes pierced down his stomach and made the silver head coughed up a mouthful of blood. The man did not stop as he threw another punch and sent him flying to a wall, cracking his back.

The man spat to the ground and turned around to face the unmoving Axel. He smiled madly, clenching his fist up to the air and sharpening the spikes.

“Hey, you bastard.” Leo suddenly chimed in, making the man to raised his eyebrow and looked toward him.

“I’ve been knocked down way too much in my life. You think I can’t take this?” He clenched his bloodied teeth and fiercely stared at the man. His body started to light up with fire, surrounding him like a blanket all over his body.

“I’m not that weak anymore, so don’t you dare hurt Axel!” He screamed and threw himself at the man, tackling him down.

The man grunted when the fire spread to him. He tried to get Leo off him, but the silver head was stubborn enough to cling onto the man’s back like a leech. He burnt himself more and made the fire blazing within the room, smouldering the man.

Leo turned his head over to Axel with gritting teeth. “Axel, run! I’ll- I’ll hold him down. Just run!”

Axel deadly watched Leo struggle. Despite what Leo told him to do, the boy did not move an inch. He just stayed there, watching in silence with no speck of emotions within his eyes.

“You’re annoying.” The guy muttered before turning around and snatching Leo from his back. He clamped the young soldier down to the ground with so much force. Leo gasped desperately when the man punched his back with the same stamina as before.

“Ugh-” Leo coughed up another pool of blood and laid still on the ground. His nose was broken from how hard the man slammed him to the ground. Leo’s hands trembled as he tried to support himself to get up.

Before he even managed to try, the man stepped on him and clamped him down to the ground once again.

After making sure that the silver head could not stand up anymore, the man made his way over to Axel with a maniac smile. His red eyes were full of rage and excitement.

In a swift move, the man gripped Axel’s neck and pushed him to a wall. He choked the boy with his hand and formed a spiking fist with his other hand.

Axel did not struggle as he monotonously stared at the man’s crazed red eyes. “Let’s end this, shall we? I’m going to kill that butterfly murderer after finishing you off in one go.”

“I thought you were strong enough to fight me. It seems like the butterfly murderer just wants me to kill you because he doesn’t want to do this job himself.”

His teeth glinted under the dim light as he bid his goodbye. “Say hello to god for me.”

Before the man could throw his fist, someone suddenly broke the wall on his left and sent him to the ground. He tried to get up to see the person that dared to pick a fight with him and squinted his eyes.

There were three demons standing in front of him with wings behind their back. The girl on the left had a gorgeous face while staring him down with a cold look that sent chills down his spine.

Another demon on the right was looking down at him with mocking eyes. Though, there was a glint of irritation in those red manipulative eyes. He tucked his wings down with hands crossing over his chest.

Then he looked over to the leading demon on the front. The man quickly widened his eyes when he realized who the demon was.

“Excuse me, that was my kid in your hand.” Cain smiled kindly, eyes forming a crescent moon shape. Though, the man below the winged demon knew better that the smile was dangerous.

“Do you have a death wish?”