It would be nice if you would show the mistakes. Thanks

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“Mada! Mada!”

What? Someone is calling me? I couldn’t really know who’s calling me. It seems the explosions also affect my hearing. I try my best to open my eyes. Slowly the light is coming back to me.

“Mada! Are you alive?”

As I get a better look, I see a pair of figures wearing a mask. Both of them are looking at me. From their mask, I could tell they’re Xiel and Reis.

“I’m alive.” I answer them. I don’t know who’s asking me though. “Why are you here?”

Nobody answers me.

I try to move my body but it won’t. My whole body is done for. I wonder how bad my body got damaged. It seems I’m out of this war. But, at least I could feel the Philosopher in my right hand.

“How are Lucifer and Belphegor? Are they able to move?”

“No, they’re not conscious.”

As both of them are wearing a mask and I have trouble on my hearing, I can't figure out who’s answering.

“Good,” I let some steam loose. “Xiel, please cut Belphegor right hand and take the bangle. It won’t come off unless the holder’s hand is being cut, or the holder takes it off by himself.”

As I say it, Xiel is leaving us.

“Reis, listen to me, I couldn’t move a single muscle right now. So, it is best for you to leave. It is possible the fight will come this way. I can’t to protect any of you.”

“What are you saying? We won’t leave you here.”

“Mada, here’s the bangle.”

“Good, put it in my left hand.” I ignore Reis.

Xiel do as I say and put it into my left hand. When Breaker is not on anyone’s hand, its size will become bigger. However,, as it feels my hand, it’s shrinking and made itself fit into my hand. Good. Now the Philosopher and the Breaker are in my hand. What to do now? I couldn’t join the battle any more. I’ve got no stamina left in me to use any of the God Items. Change of plans.

“Reis, Xiel, you need to leave, and take three of us with you. They might come in handy.”

Both of them nod in unison.

~The Earth is my ally. Oh, the compassionate mother nature of the earth. This ally of yours is in need. Allow us to travel through you at ease. By your blessing, the traveler.~

I know this kind of magic. It’s Reis. I can feel the land is moving, taking us further from the fight. Hopefully.

***

This is not getting easy at all. Deadly Sins keep on fighting without showing any signs of stopping. After the big explosion and a lot of explosions came up in the distance, all of us are getting more and more savage. This place has been, I don’t know. Everything is devastated to the point of being unrecognizable. Even the sea has been turned into mountains of ice and shattered into bits.

Ariana capable of creating a flying projectile made of ice shards, burning stone, and even air. She makes a layer of mana around her body to fight a saber and deflect a bullet. On the other hand, Lilith is able to make some heat layer around her body that melts any flying projectile. Ariana is the only one that could reach her. Leviathan, on the other hand, is not a close combatant. She’s casting spells from a distance. Some of the broken ices and water are being used again by Leviathan but Ariana is not letting her do as she please. She’s countering every magic Leviathan used while fighting against Lilith.

Me, on the other hand, have it pretty easy. Asmodeus is just a kid with the talent for combat without any experience. Mammon is pretty weak. He depends on machineries too much and keeps on creating a new one. The most problematic opponent is Beelzebub. His bow and arrow are something else. His arrow could make a turn, going to some designated trail, and even following me. To add, each arrow is an explosive arrow. Even when I tried to engage him in close combat, he dodged every attack and released some arrow at that short time. Those arrows will turn to me and makes me go on defense.

But of all things, nobody dares to make a grand kill magic. Leviathan was the only one using a grand kill magic. But after seeing how Ariana react, she didn’t cast any grand kill magic any more. It seems she realized it could backfire and harm Lilith instead. But, at this point, this fight is just a matter of time. Waiting for one side to lose its stamina. It’s definitely Ariana and I.

“Hey, can we stop this meaningless fight?!” Beelzebub yells while in the sky.

“What are you saying? I’m having fun right now!” Asmodeus answers him.

“I SAID,” Beelzebub makes a different arrow and aim it to the sky. “STOP FIGHTING AND LISTEN TO ME!”

At that time, that one arrow is spreading into several small projectiles. They’re flying right into our place and explode. He caught us all off guards. Asmodeus and I stop the fight and go full defense. Other Deadly Sins also stop.

“Geez.” Beelzebub slowly descends from the sky and lands. “I give up. I’ll leave and you can take Mammon with you.”

“WHAT? WHAT THE!” Mammon yells.

“Hey, Beel, why are you stopping?” Asmodeus acts like a pampered child.

“Lucifer and Belphegor have been defeated.”

Every Deadly Sin is widening their eyes. Nobody expects that words.

“At first I thought we might end this quickly and grab them, but it seems you guys still got more person.” Beelzebub speaks. “And now that Mada the Raider got his hand on Philosopher and Breaker, he got six God Items with him. To add, he got Lucifer and Belphegor as hostages. If we don’t stop, we will lose three Deadly Sins. Losing one is much more than enough.”

It seems Beelzebub has a very different sight from the rest of us. He can see Mada’s fight even though it happened far away.

I can guess Reis or Xiel or both of them are coming to see us. In a normal circumstance, I will say that’s a good thing. But this time, it’s not a very good thing.

“What are you saying? Are you saying it’s okay for the people to lose faith in us?!” Lilith shouts to Beelzebub.

“The people won’t lose faith in us!” Beelzebub shouts back. “Well, at least not my people. But, I can’t say the same for people of Ef’reet or Leiak.”

Lucifer governs Ef’reet and Belphegor governs Leiak. So yeah, it is inconvenient for them as they had been beaten by Mada.

“Anyway, I’m leaving.”

Beelzebub flies and left. However,, before Beelzebub manages to leave us, a big metal ball engulfed in fire is flying towards him out of nowhere. He dodged it, but now it’s coming for us. Asmodeus puts his hand on the ground and a giant wall of rock emerges from the ground. The wall is ruined, and the fireball is still heading toward us.

“Damn! Old man, can you protect us using that lots hand beast of yours?”

“I’m not sure.”

A single giant spear emerges from the ground and stab the fireball. I look back and see Lilith draws a sigil on the ground continuously. Ariana lifts her hands, and a giant red magic circle appears in the sky. A giant meteor is coming out of the magic circle. It will fall in the fireball. No. The explosion might kill us all. But, before the meteor hits the fireball, the frozen sea is changed back into water and coming. As the meteor hits the fireball, the seawater drowns them. Before the water drowns us too, it freezes. Showing a meteor hitting a stabbed big metal ball.

As the fireball has been stopped, Mammon is nowhere to see.

“The ultimate weapon of Ef’reet has been shot. It seems Mammon is thinking of killing us. It means he left Seven Deadly Sins voluntarily.” Lilith speaks.

I don’t know when, but Lilith, Ariana, and Leviathan has already stood in our back.

“It means that we have no more reason to fight you.” Leviathan adds.

“Heh, glad to hear it.” Ariana answers their words.

Asmodeus and I just stare at them without saying a single word. Both of us had a hard time dealing with the giant fireball. Nonetheless, these three women easily stopped it and still made a normal conversation.

“Man, of all people, I will never want to deal with them.” Asmodeus says.

“Yeah, I’m with you on it.” Wait a minute. “Aren’t you having any trouble with the way things are?”

“No. I don’t care at all. I just want to fight and have fun. That’s all.”

***

That fireball must be coming out of Descender, the ultimate weapon of Ef’reet. But, Lucifer should be the only one allowed to shoot it. It means Ef’reet’s security has been compromised.

Blarr blarr blarr

Explosions came at us out of nowhere. Xiel and Reis managed to take three of us out of the explosions. From Reis’s shoulder, I try to look for the source. It got me surprised when I look at the source. It’s coming from Ef’reet wall.

Lucifer and Belphegor are here. Are they planning to get rid of both of them too?

Blarr blarr blarr

Another explosion come and we don’t make it right on time. All of us scattered on the ground. Ef’reet’s security really has been compromised. The only person I could think of is Mammon. His enslavement magic really is a pain in the ass.

“Mada, something is coming from the other direction.”

I look the other way and see a tank is approaching us fast. I can guess it’s Mammon. Even if Mammon is the weakest among the Seven Deadly Sins, he’s still one word hero. Xiel and Reis have no chance of fighting him. I can’t do anything in my current state. There is only one way.

***

I try to stand. Nobody but me is standing. Xiel can’t stand any more as her leg is injured. I’d like to do something, but standing is the only thing I could do right now. Shit. In the end, I’m useless after all.

Few smokes rise from the Ef’reet border. I close my eyes.

Blarr blarr blarr

Few explosions came. But, I feel no tremor or anything. I slowly open my eyes to see what happens. In front of us, a wall of undead army has emerged to protect us.

No. No way.

“MADA!”

I shout and look at Mada’s location. However, it’s too late.

Mada is standing firmly without showing any signs of exhaustion. He extends his right arm and a giant sigil appears on it. An artillery consisted of 10 barrels appears out of thin air. Mada takes a big mana crystal out of the Keeper and puts it in the artillery.

“FIRE!”

A word is yelled. A big shock wave comes from the artillery and hits me hard. At that moment, the gate and the weapon of Ef’reet have been destroyed in an instant. He turns back and walks toward the coming tank. I can see his ruined body is showing no signs of stopping. The blood stopped spilling as it’s froze.

“Stay here and don’t move.”

After Mada say it, he jumps so high toward the tanks. This is the first time that I see Mada jumps that high. Another big sigil appears in his right hand. A giant sword appears. Mada takes a stance and throw it like a javelin. In a short moment, before the giant sword stab the tank, a figure came out and get blown away by the explosion.

It’s Mammon. He’s the person inside the tank. Before he could stand, Mada comes to him and stab few swords into his hands and legs.

“AAHH!!!!!” Mammon screams so loud. I can feel his pain through the air.

The battle has been won.

~~~

I just sit near Xiel, Lucifer, and Belphegor that’s lying unconscious. What should I do? I don’t know what to do. I can’t face Erfia like this. If only Xiel and I didn’t come, maybe Mada still unconscious with Lucifer and Belphegor. Then, Ariana and Kurua will come after they won and Mada still human. No. This is my fault. If only. If only I didn’t come. Everything maybe better right now.

“Hey, Mada, what’s the situation?”

Ariana, Kurua, and four people are coming. When they saw the nailed Mammon, they say nothing. But what makes them more surprised is the fact that Mada is not injured at all. In fact, his body is perfect. They would think he made it out unscathed. But no. The truth is nothing as good as that. He used Shackle of Dead to recover his body. So, his body right now is the result of combination of few undead.

“Did you really win? And no injury at all?” Kurua asks Mada.

“Don’t be a fool. There’s no way I win unscathed.” Mada answer him in a flat tone.

Yes, the usual monotonous tone. Nevertheless, that flat tone feels empty. At least for me. Usually, I could sense some sarcastic in his monotonous tone.

“Mada, don’t tell me you…”

Ariana can’t finish her words. I can assume that she knew what happened.

“Yes, I’m an undead now.” Mada answers her.

You can see he’s still showing some expression on his body. I can’t really tell about his face as his face is still covered in mask. But you can feel all of it is just an empty gesture. Beneath that body is an expressionless and emotionless person that only thinks with logic.

“That’s not significant for now.” Mada walks to Mammon. “You do what you want to do with this guy. As I am an undead now, I got no sense of revenge any more.”

Ariana drops to her knees. She can’t take it. Kurua is just silent. Speechless.

“So, what are you intending to do with Lucifer and Belphego?.” A blonde woman asks Mada.

“As I’ve got my hand on demon’s God Items, I got no business with this nation any more. You can have them.” Mada answers her.

“And, what makes you think that we’ll let you go with our God Items?” Blue haired woman adds.

“Don’t tempt me!” Mada makes his point. “The only reason I become undead is because I let my feeling get in the way. If I wanted to, I could make Ef’reet disappear last night just like Sairkhan, then I take your God Items. All of you and people of Ef’reet would be gone by now.”

All of us surprised when we said it. I look into Mada closely. He really has turned into a heartless person.

“But now that I’m an undead, I got no such thing as emotion or felling.” Mada continues his words. “If you really want to deal with me, I’ll take all of you right here right now. Don’t blame me if Demon’s Realms fall into chaos after the Seven Deadly Sins gone.”

No, this is not the Mada I knew. Mada is not like that. Not only me, Mada’s word make everyone in this place fall into silence. They say nothing. Such words are a depressing word for everybody.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Kurua asks Mada.

“Originally, I’d like to torture Mammon and exact my revenge. But now, as my sense of revenge has gone, I’ll be back to my original aim. Reclaim my God Items. And turn my body back into a human while on it.”

Turn his body back? Is it possible?

Mada steps away and, with Philosopher, he creates an airship. Now that he has the Philosopher and the Keeper, I don’t think anything would be capable of stop him. Yeah, the only logical reason is he ditch us and goes to reclaim God Items by himself. It’s much more efficient that way. I can feel it coming.

“Ariana, do you need some help with Mammon?” Mada asks her.

“No,” Ariana answers quickly. “I think I’ll extract my revenge and let out some steam on him.”

As Ariana said it, she and Mammon suddenly disappear from our sight. I don't know if she makes herself invisible, or it’s a transportation magic. Anyway, there’s no footprint or anything seen.

Mada walks to my direction. Did he want to say it? Is he going to ditch us? I don’t think I can see him on the eyes any more.

“C’mon, Reis, Kurua. We’re going.”

Mada carry Xiel and walks toward the airship. I look at Kurua. Hoping he will show some gesture or some expression. But I nearly forget that all of us are wearing a mask, so I can’t really say Kurua expression right now. Kurua and I just silently follow his words.

Before we come in the airship, Mada makes another thing. A big black speaker. It’s directed toward Ef’reet.

“Close you ear tight.” Mada takes a breath. “All of you people. I release you from my command.”

We shut our ears as he said it. I could see the airship, the sand, and the rock is shaking when he said it. Even the glass in the airship is breaking. I might say he could break our eardrums if he didn’t warn us.

After that, the black speaker is being disintegrated back into nothing.

“I’ve released anybody under my Voice of Obedience. But I can’t take off Mammon’s enslavement magic. You need to find out for yourself how to free them.”

Mada enters the airship followed by Kurua and I. Mada put his hand and another sigil appears. Fixing the broken windows.

The inside of the airship is pretty much the same as the train car. After closing the door, Mada put Xiel on the couch on the right side of the airship and takes the wheel that’s similar to a ship’s wheel. Kurua and I take a seat on a long couch on the left side of the airship. It has a little table in front of it and one small couch next to the table.

I see outside, through the windows in my back, as the airship slowly ascends toward the sky. They show no signs of chasing us. After some time, I can’t see them any more.

The airship enters a certain altitude and becomes stable. As it’s becoming stable, Mada presses something on the wheel, and it’s locked.

“So, our next destination?” Kurua asks as he takes off his mask. Showing a white yet dirty fur.

“We need to get the Reviver. It’s the only way to turn me back into a human.”

Mada takes a seat in the small couch near us.

“So, you really will return into a human?” I need to ensure.

“Yeah, I will. Reviver, is a God Item I created for the undead. It can make the undead return to their original form whether it’s an angel, demon, or anything.” Mada answers me while taking his masks of. “But, the main problem is no one knows exactly where it is. It is the God Items of undead. You know that they made no nation like the other races.”

“Did Lucifer or the Deadly Sins know nothing about it as well?” Kurua asks.

“Lucy was keeping a tab on it. However, few months ago it suddenly disappeared. She stated that it was last seen on Un City, the Nea Continent.”

What? Un City? I never heard such a city in the Nea Continent.

“Un City? The recently built city? The one and the only city of undead?”

“Yes, that one.” Mada takes a roll of paper out of Keeper and opens it on the table. “This is Un city.”

I get a better look at the paper which is a map. Mada points at one city on the left bottom of the map. But, I can’t believe my eyes for seeing it.

“Mada, are you sure there’s a city in this place?” I ask him.

“Yes, I made this maps myself. So, I know where it is.”

I take another look into the map. I don’t want to believe this. A city in the middle of Land of No Man?

“But, before going to that place, I need both of you do me a favor.”

Kurua and I stop looking at the map and turn our face towards Mada.

“Keep Erfia away from me.”

“WHAT?!” I yell as hard as I can.

I act out of reflex. I think this is the only normal reaction.

But, why? Did he afraid Erfia will only come in his way?

“Tell us the reason.” Kurua acts calm. He tries to find an explanation.

“As an undead, I have no such thing as emotion, or feeling. The only thing within me right now is nothing more than a logic. I might tell something that might hurt her and I couldn’t care.”

“But, but you promised to teach her how to use the snake blade after dealing with Mammon, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I promised.” Mada takes a deep breath. “But, at this moment, it is not the best time for me to teach her. It will lead to her being hurt.”

I hate to admit it, but if he said it himself, then it is likely to be true.

“I understand. We’ll figure out a way to keep her away from you.” Kurua accepts his request.

“Good, thanks.” Mada stands up and lies on the couch that’s on the other side of the airship. “And Reis, this might be painful for you to listen. You have a duty to obey my order. Only the strong permitted to disobey an order. You do realize I turned into undead is partly your fault, don’t you?”

I said nothing. Silence is my answer. I knew it all this time and I could guess Mada was holding it in. But now that Mada has no feeling, it is normal for him to say what’s on his mind.

“Yeah, I know. I’ll get stronger.” I mumble at myself

~~~

After Mada put the airship in the Keeper, we walk to the O’oni port. We walk for few kilometers while Kurua carry Xiel with him. We reach the city in an hour. We go to the appointed hotel as before. A small hotel near the harbor. It has less than 10 rooms. As we come, it is a coincidence that Erfia and Eri are watching the news from an image projection inside a box.

“Ah, Daddy.”

Erfia runs to us as soon as she saw us. But, she stops before she reaches him. She takes a step back. I could see her feet is shaking a bit. Mada does nothing. He’s just standing before her.

I can’t take it any more. I rush to Erfia and hug her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Get me a room, and another two rooms for them.”

I can hear Mada walks and put a pouch at the receptionist. The receptionist takes the money and gives him a key. Mada leaves us without saying any word.

“Hey, Reis, that’s dad right?”

I nod slowly. I don’t know what to tell.

Her body is shaking. It seems she can feel it. She’s a half elf, of course she can tell the difference of a living being and a dead being.

“But, but, dad’s weird. Usually he will come and hug me.” Erfia’s voice is shaking. “But, but, now. I don’t feel anything from dad. It scares me. Reis. What happened? I’m scared.”

“I’m sorry, Erfia. Your dad has,” I paused for a moment. I don’t know if this is the right thing to tell. But Erfia already feel it. It would be useless to hide it from her. “He’s an undead now.”

And this chapter concludes the end of the Demon's Realm Arc.

See you in the next arc.