The Eighth Sin - 67 The one who stands above the res

The demon with spectacles spoke up with curiosity on his face. “Hardly. He is probably referring to the massacre.” The Elder would reply with his eyes focused upon Riyku. “Massacre?” The bulk demonic male seemed intrigued, as if he knew nothing of the massacre. Which wasn’t wrong. The details had not been foretold yet. “Yes. The sole survivors of Crimson Ash are Riyku DarkFang and Astraia BurningAsh.” The Elder would answer, though judging from how he spoke, it appeared as if he did not honestly care. “Awwwee, such a tragedy.” The demonic woman mused almost mockingly. “I know, right! I wish I was there. A fight to the death is so thrilling!” The bulky demonic male exclaimed even though he seemed to regret not being able to partake in such a massacre.

“Back off!” Riyku shouted. A flare of his shadow surged around him, protecting Instructor Rina and Astraia as well as himself with a spike of thorns like a hedgehog did when it felt threatened. The Elder retracted his hand and jumped back to avoid the thorns. Everyone’s eyes focused upon Riyku once again. Hawk’s gaze remained unchanged. It appeared as if he were bored. “You say that you are not like us; however, why is it that you have that boy strung up? He is no longer a threat to you. If anything, you have rendered him incapacitated since he will be unable to move. So, why do you not let him go?” Hawk called out once again. The shadowy thorns that surged around Riyku retracted back into his shadow. “Who is to say that he won’t attempt to harm Astraia or Instructor Rina after he recovers? Who is to say that he won’t hire others to do his bidding for him. How can I be sure that he won’t come after me later? Where are the reassurances in that?” Riyku would retort once more. A silence would befall the room for a moment;. However, it seemed the two who had remained silent throughout the entire ordeal finally spoke up.

“Riy… Release him. Even if he does come after us, we will defeat him and anything he throws at us.” Astraia had spoken up with warmth in her voice.

“Riyku, I will do my best to protect you and Astraia. I know my word may not mean much after what I said before, but I mean it this time. No one will touch you two as long as I am around.” Instructor Rina would add with her own reassurance. Riyku’s eyes softened as he glanced over both of them. No one said a word, no one made a move. Riyku was left with his own thoughts, processing what Instructor Rina and Astraia had just said.

“Are you sure releasing him is okay? You know what demons are like. Who is to say that everyone in this room won’t turn against you? You should just kill him now. At least then, that will be one less problem to worry about. I know that you realize this. You are no fool, Riyku.” Skeith’s voice attempted to allure Riyku in. Riyku even took in Skeith’s words. He was right. There would be problems later, and who knew if any of the people in this room would actually behave. However… The look on Astraia’s face was what convinced Riyku. It said, “This is not who you are. You are better than this.”

The shadow tendrils started to retract, and the demon he had strung up fell limp. He would groan as his body hit the floor, unable to move due to the where he was pierced and the loss of feeling in his limbs. The glint of murderous intent slowly subsided, and the emotion of hate started to drift away. “Thank you…” Riyku whispered almost inaudibly, but both Instructor Rina and Astraia caught it and nodded softly to him. Instructor Rina would release Riyku, and Riyku would release them. Astraia seemed to take hold of Riyku’s hand with her own. The look in Hawk’s eyes was… intrigue. He figured Riyku would have killed the boy. Meanwhile, everyone else just seemed bored. The Elder would huff heavily, but before he could even speak, it seemed like he was about to until Instructor Rina spoke up.

“Now, look here. I do not know what is going on. However, I demand answers. I lost almost all of my class, and now we end up here with you people. This was not in the documents. What is going on!?” Instructor Rina was firm with her demand for answers. The Elder would reply, “You do not need to know. In fact, you are not the one we called here. Those two are.” With a finger, he pointed at Riyku and Astraia. Instructor Rina had a blank expression when she heard that she did not need to know. Her body began to visibly shake before she stomped upon the ground. “Bullshit! My class is dead without my knowing, and you are telling me that I do not need to know!? Now you tell me that the two you called are the last of my students… Like Hell. I won’t be going anywhere!” Instructor Rina shouted once more, her eyes holding the will to protect.

Hawk would sigh heavily, “The Overlord Selection.” He would comment, which drew in Instructor Rina’s attention. “Overlord Selection…?” She seemed genuinely confused, just as much as Astraia did. Riyku and the others did not, though. The Elder was more so baffled by the fact that Hawk gave her an answer. “Sir…?” He called out to Hawk, who would give him a dismissive wave. “The Legends of the Underworld is merely a front. The top ten students who perform the best during the event will be selected to participate in a deadly battle against each other. The remaining one will be allowed to take the Overlord Selection test. If they pass, they will be granted Overlord Status.” Hawk would explain. Instructor Rina was visibly shocked, so much so that her legs gave out, and she fell onto his knees, which caused her to sit on her legs in the process.

“As for a reason, your students died. The protective barrier was disabled as a means to create profit for Crimson Ash. However, I did not expect the Netherworlds Frost and Aqua to have formed a pact beforehand.” Hawk would pause for a moment as if in thought, a tone of boredom coming from him. “No matter. We won in the end.” Hawk would finish. Instructor Rina was so taken back by the information that all she could do was shed tears in silence. Astraia had grasped her chest tightly when she heard the information given. Tears were forming in her eyes, and anger swelled within her when it seemed that her friends were used for profit. A few giggles and laughs came from the others. The Elder had no words, neither did the intelligent looking demon. Although the tension in the air shifted almost instantly.

All eyes had widened, and bodies became to tremble. The brawler type demon’s eyes widened with thrill. The intelligent looking demon’s eyes widened with fear. The female demon’s eyes widened with desire. The Elder’s eyes widened with disbelief. Astraia and Instructor Rina had stopped crying to focus on the source of the swirl of emotion: Riyku. Hawk seemed more amused than ever before. That was because Riyku had called out a particular name.

“Skeith.”

Unlike before, when the pillar of diabolical energy shot outward, it seemed to steam from his body instead. The hilt of The Sword of Annhilination appearing from his chest once more, which he grasped with his left hand, which was free. Pulling out the sword, he would angle it at Hawk. Eyes filled with anger, unlike any other. “You claimed that ‘we’ won. Which means you are the Overlord of Crimson Ash. In other words, the reason they are all dead is because of you. You willingly let your people die… people who did not deserve what they went through. They all died for profit… while you sit there without batting an eyelash.” Riyku’s eyes started to flare a solid crimson. “Did you think I would let that all go just because you are the Overlord… just because ‘we’ won?” As Riyku spoke, Raw Diabolical Energy started to condense around his body.

Hawk would sit there, relaxed on the throne with a glint of red in his eyes. He silently activated his Overlord Skill. They both stared at each other for a moment. Mainly because Riyku was waiting for an answer, Hawk was waiting for him to choke on the burning ash that Riyku should have breathed in. “Riy…” Astraia would speak up, reaching out to him. She could see his rage. She could feel it so vividly in the atmosphere. She wanted to stop him, ask him why he called Skeith’s name, and so much more; however, part of her wanted him to unleash it. To take out the Overlord. She shared in his rage. Instructor Rina could only utter “T-Tyrant Overlord… Skeith?”

A sinister chuckle came from The Sword of Annihilation. “More or less, Succubus.” Skeith would reply, which caused even more shivering from everyone. “Anyways… Overlord of Crimson Ash. You probably should not have done what you did. I am sure you’ve seen it. What this kid can do. I do not blame you, though. War is not amusing without death. Although, this is the first time that anyone died during The Legends of the Underworld. Even I would not go that far to plunge youth into their death. Willing or not.” Skeith’s voice spoke from the blade once more.

“N-No way!? You are the Contracted Entity!? How is that possible!?” The Elder exclaimed before anyone could say anything. “No.” Skeith’s voice retorted quite quickly. “Do you think I can control the shadow? There is only a record of one person in the entire Underworld who could control the shadow.”

“The Shadow King.” Everyone said in sync with the expectation of Hawk and Riyku.

“Precisely. So tell me, Overlord of Crimson Ash. What do you think? A demon who has Contracted Entity known as The Shadow King. Do you think you could stand against the one who devoured Hades and Lucifer? The one who stands above the rest?” Skeith continued; it was as if he were trying to intimidate Hawk. Everyone was shaking in fear now. The name Shadow King seemed to weigh heavily on everyone. Even if Skeith could have been bluffing, they did not even listen in when Skeith mentioned he devoured Hades and Lucifer. Just the name Shadow King had sent them into a state of fear. The only ones not in that state were Astraia, Riyku, and Hawk. It was unknown why Astraia was not fearful, but maybe, deep down inside, she knew all along that Riyku had some kind of connection. After all, Riyku was able to control the shadow. Perhaps that was why she was not so afraid.

Hawk would finally speak, but only after a heavy sigh. “That would explain why my Overlord Skill is not working. So, three souls dwell within that body. The soul of Riyku. The soul of Skeith and The soul of the Shadow King. I did get the feeling that there was something different about you. The Sword of Annihilation is one of the five Apocyplatic weapons. Records showed that it disappeared after Skeith did, but now I see where it went. However…” In that brief moment of silence, Hawk had disappeared and reappeared in front of Riyku with his hand coming to grasp his face. “That does not mean you can control it.” Hawk would slam Riyku into the ground. His tone of voice the entire time was pretty much mono.

A crater formed from the force used and Hawk would look down upon Riyku, who was planted into the ground. Astraia had been blown away by the force and smashed her head against the back of the wall, which knocked her out. Instructor Rina had slammed against the wall adjacent to Astraia and slide down it with a groan before passing out as well. No one said a word; they were too shaken up to even speak. The Elder had backed away into the shadows; meanwhile, everyone kept frozen in fear. It looked as if they were holding their breaths as well as if trying to fade away like they were never there.

For a moment, it looked like Riyku was out cold. After all, the back of his head was smashed into an obsidian flooring. However, Hawk brought his hand up to block the swing that came from Riyku. While the blade did not pierce through the flesh, the force did send him sliding along the ground. “Ohh? Using a stage ten runic barrier to keep your arm? As expected of an Overlord.” Skeith’s sinister voice came from the sword. Riyku would remove himself from the ground. His eyes looked around the room where Astraia and Instructor Rina might be; after all, they were next time during the impact. He saw they were both out cold, but Astraia seemed to be bleeding from her head. Riyku would seep into the shadow, which caused Hawk to finally show some form of surprised expression. Looking around hastily for Riyku, he would lock his sights on Astraia when he noticed Riyku rose from her shadow. Riyku would bring his right arm around to hover over Astraia, commanding the shadow to cage Astraia in a protective manner. What others did not know is that the shadow would slowly heal Astraia’s wounds. Riyku had laced his power with the Raw Diabolical Energy he built up to heal Astraia while keeping her protected from anything else.

“Hmm…” Hawk would muse, taking note of everything Riyku was doing. Skeith would sigh heavily, “For a neat trick to be wasted… You should have used it to strike down the Overlord. Idiot.” Skeith filed his complaint with Riyku, who would ignore him for the moment to turn and look back at Hawk or more so look past him. He saw Instructor Rina was only knocked out, so he figured there were no wounds upon her being. However, just to be safe, he rose his right arm up and curled his fingers into a ball, which caused the shadow around her form around her just as it did with Astraia. Only this time, he did no lace it with Raw Diabolical Energy, but that was because he was at a distance. He needed to be right there beside them to do it. Hawk had instinctively moved out of the way because he thought this action was directed towards him.

“Skeith….” Riyku would speak his name to get his attention. “Full Power.” Riyku would add went he finished the protective barrier for Instructor Rina. If Skeith could grin, he would be so quite vividly. After all, this was his aim. This would be his chance to take over Riyku’s body. The Sword of Annihilation ignited with a vivid black flare, which slowly slithered up Riyku’s arm. His arm slowly morphing into something like his right arm. Turnin pitch black and sprouting spikes from it. Skeith did not expect this but thought it just an overflow; however, he was wrong. The Contracted Entity kept Skeith from taking over the body because if Skeith took over, it would be booted out. Therefore, Riyku’s arm was changing because the Contracted Entity was turning Skeith’s power into Riyku’s power. Of course, Riyku was not aware of this, and, oddly enough, neither was Skeith.

“I will devour you!” Riyku exclaimed with a bit of a distorted tone, his voice filled with utter rage just before dashing at Hawk with an unbelievable speed that any average or normal demon would never be able to possess or even process.