42 Don't leave me

[Dona's Pov]

'Haaa... I'm finally home. I hope that Aarick isn't too upset that I was gone a bit longer than planned.'

It was unfortunate, but if I didn't manage to complete the meeting I was attending, things could get quite difficult in the future for the white-haired youth. So, I endured, making sure that the man I had met up with signed the contract I had prepared.

Now that I was finally done though, I tried to raise my motivation a bit, as there was still a training session that I needed to guide Aarick through. To be honest, I was extremely impressed by his mental strength to persevere far longer than his body would normally allow one to do.

It was to the point where he had made enough progression that the ascendance of his rank that I had thought would happen after at least two weeks more was already upon him. Unfortunately, this also meant that I knew that I would have no time to pick out a good present for him.

Even if there were many things that would always be different about his life from his peers, I was still desperately trying to make his academy life as normal as possible.

So, with that in mind, I knew that I was at least going to give him a ranking gift, but because his progress had been so rapid, I knew it would be better for him to pick something for himself even if it was a bit boring.

"Aarick?"

Weirdly enough, when I entered my apartment, there was no sight of him anywhere. No matter how I looked, there was no doubt that he had for some reason gone outside. And for some reason, I got an incredibly bad feeling about it.

Picking up my phone, I checked his location by using the app that I had registered his phone into.

"He is in old Rellea? What is he doing over there?"

Aarick also had a past, and I knew it was honestly none of my business what he chose to do with his time as long as he stuck with his training, which he did more than diligently. Yet, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was up.

So, putting on my white coat once again, I departed. If nothing else, I at least wanted to see what was going on... just to make sure.

****

[Aarick's Pov]

'Lucifer! Lucifer, answer me!'

Everything went black, with me having no way of knowing what was happening outside in the real world. And despite that, I didn't care. All I cared about right now was the fact that no matter how I tried, the fallen god inside of me wouldn't answer.

'Fuck! Lucifer, for fuck's sake!'

Yet, there was no answer to be found. Instead, I was only met by the sight of a deep red conglomeration of energy adorned with black stripes.

The bond between me and Lucifer. The core that she imprinted her own being into, establishing a connection between me and her that could never be broken.

Suddenly, red tendrils emerged from it, quickly taking hold of my non-existent body, trying to drag me towards my core. And I still didn't care. All my mind could think of was the fact that Lucifer was gone, that the one I had gotten to know to be my comfort and home was no longer at my side.

'Lucifer... Please... don't leave me....'

****

[Dona's Pov]

As soon as I got outside, I took to the skies, jumping from building to building to traverse the distance as quickly as possible, making sure I hid my mana signature to deter any unwanted eyes that might notice me.

A couple of minutes later, I entered old Rellea, seeing all the abandoned buildings below me, and it didn't take long until I had located the specific area where my phone was telling me Aarick was currently.

Jumping down from the roof of a nearby house, I arrived at the big entrance that had long since lost its gates, and...

'No...'

With two bodies sprawled across the floor, their body tattered and covered in blood, they were still not enough to make my eyes not focus on what was going on in the middle. Because right there, a white-haired youth was currently having the feast of his life, a meal that seemingly had been unconscious for quite a while.

Almost looking like he was hugging him, Aarick was holding up Hugo's body in his arms while his fangs were deeply embedded into the brown-haired student's neck, greedily consuming as much blood as possible.

"Aarick, stop!"

*BAM!*

Dashing forward while filling my body with mana to empower it, I intervened in his current feast and threw him away into one of the many concrete pillars that supported the building.

Knowing that in his current state, he wouldn't be down for long, I quickly assessed the situations of the students that he had seemingly utterly destroyed.

The two boys that I knew to be sophomores were bruised and covered in gashes, but looking closely, one could see that their chests were still heaving a bit. Then, turning my eyes to the boy I had taken into my arms after throwing away Aarick, a slight sense of relief washed over me.

'They are all alive...'

Fortunately, not even Hugo had lost his life yet, but with the massive loss of blood that he had suffered, I knew it was just a matter of time before his body would start giving up. Already his body had grown cold, and despite him being unconscious, his teeth were clattering in response to the reduced body heat.

"..."

Standing up, I finally got a good look at the white-haired boy that had completely lost control. With his eyes shining in bright red, looking like two bloody moons, he licked one of his dark claws, not wanting to lose the taste of blood in his mouth.

Even though his body hadn't changed all too much, there was no doubt that he had gone through one part of an ascendance chain and that this was his true demonic form. His body had grown a couple of inches taller, and the muscles hidden beneath the black hoodie were now stretching the fabric a lot more than before.

Regretfully, I now knew what race he was. A race that had been completely decimated in the past due to their complete disregard for human lives, and more than that, their unwillingness to hide from the humans they saw as lower lifeforms.

The race that carried the most of Lucifer's traits out of any races, the ones she created in her own image. And now, it made sense why Aarick's bloodlust seemed to be endless, and why his demonic traits were so much stronger than they should have been.

'Aarick...'

I knew that I shouldn't have been surprised, but at the same time, I had naively hoped that some higher power wouldn't have allowed this to happen. That there would be some kind of invisible force in this world that would know that that race couldn't be allowed to exist, not only for the sake of the humans but for the sake of the demons as well.

The rulers of the demons walking on earth, the ones that should have been allowed to rest after all they had done. The Nozferatu, a family of demons that symbolized the fall of Lucifer herself, the ones that carried all the resentment that had been ingrained in her after getting betrayed by the other gods.

Unable to recognize friend from foe, he dashed forward, readying his claws to tear me to pieces. But what my eyes landed on was not the claws that were trying to claim my life. No, my gaze could see nothing but the red liquid streaming down his eyes.

"Guh!"

Feeling my stomach getting pierced by his hands, I didn't mind the pain that it brought. Because I knew that this pain was nothing to the pain that Aarick was currently experiencing, not to mention just how scared he was.

Putting my arms around him, I held him tightly, adamant about not allowing him to forget that he didn't have to carry his burden by himself. So no matter how the crazed demon tried to break free, I held him down as carefully as I could.

"It's okay, Aarick. Everything is fine."

Another series of violent movements came from the youth who had lost his mind, desperately wanting to finish what he started.

"Just calm down. You didn't kill anyone."

"...fer."

"You will be alright. I'm here. Don't worry."

"L...ucifer..."

Finally, a real word appeared out of his mouth, and with that I could feel his body relaxing in my arms, his head falling down onto my chest with bloody tears still streaming down his cheeks.

"Lucifer... Sniff... Please don't... leave me..."

"What...?"

Suddenly, his arms wrapped around me, holding me just as tightly as I was holding him.

"Dona... sniff... Lucifer... she is gone..."