The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 458: Not Quite A Reunion

Chapter 458: Not Quite A Reunion

Malzkael woke up wrapped in Ferro’s embrace, her wing extended over him like a blanket.

A clearing of the throat drew her attention up, and she found Anko with all her arms crossed, staring down at them. "Gross," the half-demon girl made a face. "Are you two going to wake up? We’re out of food again."

"What do you mean we’re out of food?"

"I mean I ate it all, trying to ignore you two’ses weird sounds downstairs."

Malz blushed and rubbed her collar, suiting herself up before she stood. "I thought we still had a week of food left." Just dried fruits, but still...

"You two were really loud."

Ferro groaned and yawned, sitting up. The moment he saw Anko, he hurriedly rubbed his collar to deploy his suit. "Wh-what’s going on?" he rubbed his chest over his left side, and Malz remembered she’d been a bit rough with the piercing there.

"Anko ate all the food," Malz reported.

"And we can’t go back to kill dolphin-face. Believe me, I tried."

As Ferro absorbed the news, Malz sighed. "I think our only choice is to move forward," she said.

Ferro gathered himself enough to stand, looking up, and Malz joined him in looking at the cloudy, spatial sky with its hidden stars.

It didn’t take long for them to gather their meager supplies. And within ten minutes, they stood at the base of the spiral stairs. "Together?" Malz asked.

Anko was in the middle, and Ferro and Malz each took one of her lower hands as she drew a pair of daggers out of her storage.

They took a step. Then another. And when they reached the sky...

A feeling like cold water brushed along Malz’s skin. But she found herself completely dry as she emerged with everyone else.

For just a moment, she thought she saw a woman with strange wings, but the next moment, the only thing they found was a dark floor made of stars. Even the stairwell became impossible to locate once the last of them stepped away from it.

"Wow..." Anko whispered her wonder.

"What is this place?" Ferro asked.

Looking around, it was just as barren as the room they’d left. But Malz’s eyes found something to focus on. A long, vertical cloud of shimmering light that gave an impression of nearness.

"What’s that?" Malz pointed.

Ferro squinted at it. "I don’t know..."

"Hey~!" Anko stepped forward, shouting at the unknown thing. "Are you a person?"

"What are you doing?! It could be a monster." Malz didn’t know how she knew it, but the thing turned towards them.

"Oops," Anko grimaced. The thing approached, and Anko took front position, drawing two more daggers from storage as Ferro readied himself to attack.

The figure remained silent, and as it neared, she began to make out indistinct features, a chiseled face, a lean, male, demonic figure, tail swishing behind its back. The entire figure was darkened behind the light like the core of a flame...

"Maledict!" A cry rose from Malz’s lips as she saw through the haze of light. He couldn’t be here. She didn’t want to be taken. She wouldn’t let him capture her again. Not her. And not her companions.

"Malz wait!" Anko shouted as Malz ran in front of her.

"I won’t let you hurt them!" Malz shouted as she drew on her mana, feeling pain in every part of her body as she focused it into a spell, pulling on the memories of when she was powerful.

A chain manifested from the floor, pure darkness made solid. It wrapped around the figure, who stared down at it slowly, tilting its head.

"We need to run!" Malz said, forcing the figure to hid kneed as she tugged down with her spell.

"Malz," Ferro said, his voice gentle. "It’s not him..."

Panting, Malz looked again. The face was the same chiseled one she saw, and within the flames, she recognized mana phasing back through a rainbow of colors as it flowed around his skin. But it wasn’t Maledict.

"Kiryu?!" Anko exclaimed.

The metatron said nothing, still regarding the chain around his body until he lifted an arm, and the spell broke. A sad look came over him, like a child having done something wrong.

"Are you Kiryu?" Ferro asked.

Malz felt anger surge within her. "You... You fucking abandoned us!" she yelled and the metatron cringed away, covering his ears and lowering his eyes. Her body hurt so much. She wanted to make him feel all the pain she did. "How dare you show yourself again!"

"Malz!" Anko shouted, finally drawing her attention. "I don’t think it’s him. I mean, it could be him... But..."

"His mind is gone..." Ferro finished.

Malz pitched backward as the pain in her body won. As her eyes began to close, she noticed something. Like a core of pure mana, barely visible through the metatron’s skin, nestled where a hear should be. Then unconsciousness took her.

*

When Malz’s eyes finally opened again, her lids so heavy she felt her face strain to lift them, Anko and Ferro were talking, while Kiryu looked over Ferro like a curious child.

Anko’s voice bloomed in her mind. "If his mind is really gone, I think Kiryu might have taken Kir with him..."

"This can’t be right, though. The Oracle said it would be Kir here, well, in Chainsfree-"

Anko grumbled. "Do you want to assume it’s Kir then? He’s nothing like Kiryu... and the Kir I met was, well, not that."

"We could just ask him. See what name he responds to," Ferro tried.

Malz coughed before they could start, and the pair rushed over to her. "Liedown. Lie down," Ferro said gently. "You’ve got a fever."

"Angels don’t..." Malz coughed, "Get fevers."

Seeing she was alright, Anko turned to address the metatron in the room. "Kiryu?" The childlike being loomed over Ferro, trying to peek at Malz like he was trying to understand something. "Kir?"

The metatron looked at Anko, uncertain eyes blinking and wandering.

"I guess that solves that," Anko declared, pointing up at the three-meter tall man. "You’re Kir."

’Kir’ pointed at himself. Then he pointed at Anko. "Y-you’re Kir..." he said uncertainly.

"Ha! He speaks words!" Anko said excitedly.

"Great..." Malz said, wincing. "Maybe when we teach him how to make sentences, he can tell us how to get out of here."

"Well, I might as well try!" Anko said, bottom hands on her hips as she showed her determination. "You’re Kir!" Anko pointed at Kir, resuming their conversation.

"You’re Kir," he repeated back, pointing at Anko.

"No. I’m Anko!" she pointed her thumb at herself. "Anko, Kir," she pointed from herself back to him.

"Anko..." Kir pointed at her.

"That’s right!"

"Anko," Kir pointed at Ferro. "Anko," he pointed at Malz.

"Uhh..." Anko stepped forward and touched his hand, only to pull back with a wince as if burned, swearing.

Kir looked at his hand and touched it with his other hand.

"It’s alright, big guy. It only hurt a little..." Anko showed him her arm, which was regenerating slowly from the mana burn. A drop of blood fell on the sky-floor and Kir’s eyes focused on it.

He reached down, and the moment he tried to touch the blood droplet, it began to glow and flow, changing color until it was as radiant as the flames that hugged his skin.

He raised his hand, the droplet following after his fingers, before he reached out, hovering it towards Anko like he was giving it back. When she didn’t move, he made small, encouraging sounds.

Hesitantly, Anko held out one of her hands, but what dropped into it wasn’t a drop of blood, but a tiny manastone like a spherical black opal, and a slight red glow.

"Wow..." Anko said. "Thank you."

He’s freecasting... He doesn’t know spells or how his suit works...

Malz watched his mana output in fascination. Even someone without manasight would see a glow around him. He lacked the oppressive sensation of unrestrained mana, but now she had no idea what could have happened to him to make him like this.

"Thank you..." Kir said hesitantly.

Anko shook her head. "When someone says ’Thank you,’ you say ’You’re Welcome.’"

"Thank you...?"

"You’re welcome!"

Kir beamed. "Thank you!"

"You’re welcome!" Anko responded.

For a few seconds, they carried on, almost making a game of it. Malz watched in silence as Ferro alternated between brushing her hair and checking her forehead. Anko only managed to teach him everyone’s names, including his own, before Malz heard Ferro’s stomach rumble behind her head.

She didn’t want to admit she was tired and hungry too.

"Anko... We need to find food," Malz interrupted the demoness’s attempt to teach Kir ’Yes’ and ’No.’

"Oh..." Anko pondered for a moment, and Malz appreciated that she could see the girl thinking through the problem. "Oh! I know!" she turned. "Kir!" Kir pointed at himself when she said his name. "Do you know where to find food? Food?" she mimed putting something in her mouth.

He tilted his head.

"So that’s a no... I think." She tried again and this time, something seemed to click.

"Ah... ah," he pointed at her lower hand, which still held the opalescent mana. Then he mimed eating.

"You want me to eat my blood?" Anko guessed.

"Ahhh-ah..." Kir stared at her intently.

Anko pursed her lips. "Hmm... not happening, big guy." She pushed the pearl into her dimensional storage.

"AH!" Kir reiterated, pulling the crystal from Anko’s storage with a wrenching motion of his hand. Before she could recover from the shock, he grabbed her hand, burning it, and shoved the pearl back into her palm.

Anko screamed, dropping the crystal, and Kir recoiled in horror at what he’d done. As she cried, he looked around in panic, only to find Ferro and Malz looking up at him in shock and horror.

He stared back in equal horror.

Then he ran. After only a few steps, the world shattered around him, leaving a large crack in the void, and revealing a view the trio hadn’t seen in months.

Chainsfree.

And Kir was now loose in the city.

"We have to go after him," Ferro said as he rushed to Anko and helped her stand.

Malz felt something against her hand and looked down, picking up Anko’s mana stone, before forcing herself to stand.

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