244. The Pope (IV)

No words could describe her anguish, anger, disbelief, and stupidity. She stood in place in horror at seeing Dairen injured.

Dairen stuttered and swayed. His hand on his chest where the spear was lodged deeply in it.

“Dairen!” Snow screeched. She ran toward him.

The demon Pope stumbled with his own chest bleeding open. He stumbled and fell onto the ground on his knee. “The deed is done.”

With a wild eye, the demon Pope coughed out blood. He looked over to see that Snow was pushing away the black flames that surrounded them. She was next to Dairen in an instant, who was fading away fast.

Snow was about to pull out the spear when it disappeared before her. The blood would not stop, spilling onto her armor. It was as if she was trying to scoop the blood up to put it back into his chest, but the blood seeped through nonstop.

“It’s okay.” Dairen coughed. Blood spurting out of his lips.

“What are you talking about!? You’re injured!”

Dairen shook his head. “I know.”

Snow cast her magical energy around her hand, coating it thickly with light magic. She poured and poured as much magic as she could to stop the bleeding that wouldn’t stop. The magic around Dairen’s chest wouldn’t close, and instead, an icky green goo was surrounding it even more stronger every time he blew magic on it.

It bothered her that the magic wasn’t listening to her.

Dairen raised his hand. “Don’t.”

“Why not?” Snow asked, confused.

“Because it's a curse.”

“Then I can purify it.”

Dairen shook his head. “It's not possible.”

“There is nothing impossible for me.” Snow snarled. She wasn’t going to allow a curse to beat her. Summoning up her most powerful spell, she yelled, “Purification!”

A dazzling soft light sprinkled around Dairen’s body.

The warm glow persisted in the air for a few seconds, but it eventually faded away. Snow could tell that there was something wrong. The curse wasn’t letting go but instead seemed to amplify with power. She was shocked to see that her magic wasn’t working. She had broken s level curses with the power that she had. To see and feel a more powerful curse than what she could handle made her chest twist.

“You won’t be able to break that!” The Demon Pope was on the ground, cackling with pleasure. “A generational curse that has been passed down for thousands of years. You who have only been able to get a fraction of your true potential won’t even be able to unwind that.”

“Shut up!” Snow yelled. She didn’t want to hear anymore.

“Don’t be like that, Saintess.” With a cough, the Demon Pope spat out blood. “You will see him again.”

Like a raging inferno of fire, the hole in Dairen’s chest burst into black flames.

An unholy screech of pain escaped out of Dairen’s lips as he was burnt alive. Snow snapped back, trying to control the raging flames. Sweat doused her body as she was horrified by what kind of pain she was causing.

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Snow threw out her holy magic to douse the raging flames, but instead, it amplified the black magic even more. Eventually, she stopped. She couldn’t bear the thought of her magic harming Dairen even more.

Unable to figure out what else to do, Snow started to condense the magic in her hand. It was potent to the point that it would make anyone ill if they got too close. Her mind was ragged, unable to find a solution. She was on a tethering edge of death and life, and the only thing that was stopping her was the powerful curse that blocked her way.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The demon Pope cackled, unable to get up. “You will kill him.”

“You don’t know that!”

“I do.”

His words were like a whisper that shook her very soul. The magic in her hand was vigorous and dangerous. Anyone who was instilled with such powerful magic would die. Her hand was shaking. She knew that Dairen was a dark attribute.

The clashing of energy would kill him.

Snow gulped.

His life was slipping away from her fingers.

Dairen couldn’t breathe. It was short and heavy. His eyes were fluttering. “Let me go.” He worded.

Snow's hand shook. She couldn’t force herself to put the last of her magic onto Dairen. Her hand grabbed hold of Dairen’s hand as if she was grasping for whatever was left. She watched as the life in him was leaving. Dairen struggled with the last breath, and when he let go, a pang of sadness and anger swirled in her heart and mind. Her eyes tightened, glaring toward the Pope.

An ugly twist of knots continued to grow even stronger than before. She wanted to kill him.

Suddenly, a swell of powerful magic spiked out of Dairen, pushing Snow back as she stumbled backward.

The black fire surrounded Dairen, dying his skin black and red. It was as if his skin was on fire. Intricate tattoo lines went up and down his arm, leg, chest, and even his face. His hair turned jet black, and his fingernail turned into claws.

A long tail that reminded Snow of lions appeared. Intricate horns that jutted out of his forehead like a majestic crown.

With a bloodied laugh, the Pope spoke. “The Prince of Darkness has risen. The third candidate to be the demon king that will bring destruction to this world.”

“Shut up, you demon swine!” Mike appeared before him, his sword above the Pope’s neck. “Perish!”

With a heavy thud, Mike smashed his sword into the back of the Demon Pope’s neck. With a snap, the head rolled off. Black blood spewed out from the heavy blood loss. It didn’t take long for the head to stop rolling. Its wicked smile was staring at Snow.

“The End has started.” The ghastly voice of the Demon Pope whispered, causing many to shiver in fear. “And you, Saintess, your existence is the cause of it.”

With a blast of magical power, black flames lapped up the body and even the head. A creepy laughter rang out with evilness. The ringing laughter never stopped. It became worse and worse to the point where the voices wouldn’t leave her mind. It unnerved her as she clenched her teeth. Her heart dropped to her stomach and rolled around a few times.

Snow scowled. She didn’t understand how she was the cause of the demon prince’s being born or even the demon king. It didn’t make sense. Her mind was in turmoil, unable to decide what she needed to do.

“Kill him!” Levian shouted. “Kill him before he awakens!”

Levian ran toward her, sword in hand. The viciousness of his words snapped her out of a trance.

“If you don’t kill him, the future will be set!” Levian's eyes were turning red and wild. His speed picked up even faster to get to her.

“No.” Snow silently replied. She didn’t want to kill Dairen. She couldn’t. Her heart was telling her that this wasn’t the right way to go.

Snow stood up, her swords Twin Moon blades in both her hands. It glowed dangerously blue, giving it a hum of its own life.

“Move out the way, Snow!” Levian stopped in front of her.

“No.”

“You’re out of your mind!”

“I am not. I assure you.” She said adamantly. “I know what you are doing is wrong.”

“You don’t know that! You haven’t seen the future!”

“Even if I don’t, I know Dairen. He won’t turn on us.”

“Stop spouting such crap!” Levian was heated at the words that were coming out of Snow’s lips. He was frustrated that she didn’t see eye to eye. “ALL Demon Princes will go against humanity!”

So far, Levian hasn’t been wrong, but this one time, her mind was telling her that he could be wrong. Doubt crept into her mind, her eyes glazed over, glaring at him.

“Take another step, and I’ll kill you.” Snow said with such a force that it almost sounded like a growl.

“Snow.” Levian tried to reason with her. “You’re making a mistake.”

“No, I am not.”

“Snow,” Levian said it was stronger than the last. “Dairen should have died today without being a candidate. For him to be a candidate for the Demon King seat is dangerous!”

“Just because you have foreseen the future does not mean that the future will happen. We choose the decision that we make in the present to affect the future.”

“Snow. You have not lived through this life once.” Levian thumped his chest with his fist. “You don’t know what it's like to see this world end, swallowed up by the disgusting world called Earth.”

“So, you’re saying you are a reincarnation?”

“Yes. And what I have seen happen is not what you would want to know what will happen. Already, the events are pushing in favor of the same pattern that will happen again. We must cut off all the growing sprouts that could harm us!”

Snow wasn’t sure she wanted to believe Levian any further. He sounded crazy, almost maniacal at his endeavor for a change. It was as if he was fighting alone against the tide of change that he only could foresee.

“Move out the way, Snow,” Levian commanded.

Snow took a moment to think.

Should she move? Would this really help the world? Her mind didn’t believe it so.

“No.” Snow strongly said.