Clemence had finally awoken, Selena had hidden her away in a nearby building. Recovering from her use of magic, she relaxed her body now that Arata was safe. Yet Clemence saw in his eyes that Arata was still on edge.

  With Arata's and Morgan's backs turned, Selena was impaled by Beelzebub’s proboscis. Mana was drained from her body; Selena's skin lost its color rapidly, and her legs gave out.

  “Selena! No! You can't die! Not now, there must be something I can do!” Clemence pleads to Selena even though there was no answer to be found with Selena.

  The brunt husk… Its skin was shed, just like with the hand. Fire really would have never worked. I should've never! Arata stops that thought. What more could they’ve done there?

  Ravenna merely acts as a witness, standing there in silence. It was impossible to tell how she felt. This world had scripted this fight against Arata.

  Way up in the air stands Beelzebub, cackling like a madman, “a commendable effort? Yes. Does it matter? It never will. Arata, the fact you stood here to endure the humiliation of defeat rather than escape to live another day is quite shocking! I'm almost impressed, yet you have no power against me, I'm too free to do as I please.”

  Beelzebub revels in the humiliating sight of Selena, tears streaming down her face as she slowly comes to realize her fate. I'm sorry… should I let Beelzebub kill me? Go back, what am I kidding? There's nothing that I could do.

  Selena, however, lets her face go blank, her tears stop as she reaches out for Arata’s hands. She hands Arata a second sword, she would no longer need one.

  “Clemence, kill me, I know what will happen, but I want to die a human. I can feel it, my soul is fading… may I pass on with it still in my body?” Selena says with a slight smile.

  Clemence grits her teeth, her face darkens, her hands shake at the thought of what she had to do. That was too much to ask for in Clemence’s eyes, the horror of having to kill for such a reason.

  Wha… I get her logic but can Clemence really accept that? Arata ponders just to see a flash of red, Selena's brain is pierced.

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  The death was swift, painless and as humane as the situation could allow for. The brainstem was severed by steel, instantly allowing Selena to die with a serene look on her face. She died with content written across her face. Clemence had followed her request.

  For Arata, he felt shame; he could do nothing, not even going back, he felt like a fool to believe he could change this future. Morgan’s face was shrouded in metal, yet their body language suggested rage at Beelzebub. Clemence smiled, picking up Selena's corpse, resting it in a place where she knew she could recover it later.

  Beelzebub was enraged, “I wanted a bit more despair out of you guys… lame, at this rate, she'll never show, that damn keyholder’s always been a whiny bitch.”

  Arata gazes onwards as the lord of flying fiends extends its wings further into the sky.

  A web of red blood stretches across the sky, curling up into a ball the size of the street. The sun is yet again blocked, the Lord of flying Fiends shapes in mana a blood moon. A solar eclipse casts its shadow onto the city.

  The attack was more than enough to kill not just Arata, Clemence and Morgan but to eviscerate everyone in the city.

  The magic slowly reshapes itself, Beelzebub taking its sweet time before killing everyone. The gradual nature of the death which those below Beelzebub faced was all just another form of the demon’s entertainment.

  The sight was sickening on a level correlating to a base human instinct. The fear that you will one day die, while this no longer applied to Arata, it applied to those around him.

  People grew aware that the town was under attack as Arata observes the men storming out of their homes. Mothers carry their children, all trying to get away from the impending collision. A cacophony of lament sounds throughout Basin City. Bells tolling throughout the streets to signal an evacuation. Yet many more would be consumed by Beelzebub’s minions.

  Though running past them served a better chance, Beelzebub's lines were surprisingly thin compared to last time. It was unclear if more had arrived beyond the initial wave.

  It’s so loud, the sounds of anguish and fear, I can’t think with all the panic. Arata then turns, peering over to see Selena’s corpse lying on the floor. He can’t move to stop people from trampling the poor girl’s body.

  People are about to stomp over Selena's corpse until Morgan shouts with the authority of a knight captain, “ATTENTION! Do not go this way, please make your way into the main street! People will be evacuated from the gates until the threat to the city has been neutralized!”

  The crowd all move following Captain Morgan, yet neutralizing the threat was only ever a hollow promise.

  They're probably dead either way… Beelzebub got what it wanted: to see hopelessness. The sadistic fly had got what it wanted; It was free to stand above others and to mock those below him.