Ronin was aghast, but he heard in his head:

(There's no other choice, prune. If you can hear this, I'm doing this to take all the doubts of your little banana friend away from you.)

(I don't have a scythe. I can't generate one and even then, they'll find out eventually. So might as well kill this whole family! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)

Ronin wanted to tell him 'You're a madman.'

But he also understood the logic of the situation. This was the best damage control he could do.

"For so many days, you and this Commoner friend of yours didn't know a single thing. Hahahaha! You're both naive morons for not seeing it when it was clear as day!"

He was taking the fall for him and making it appear like Ronin never knew about this. That way, he could still continue to fool Cermin and achieve his goals.

Cermin felt like he would puke again. He was horrified, and felt the same as he did when he saw that dead bird.

"Y-You're still alive....." Cermin stammered.

"Who is still alive!? Where's our son!?" Lord Mondstein finally showed emotion, standing up from his chair.

Lady Mondstein did the same, and shrieked. "He must be a Daemon! There's a Daemon in our estate!"

"Yes." Zeuxis grinned wide at them. "Well, not anymore since that estate no longer exist."

As he said this, a bolt quickly appeared...

And burned the Mondstein household in ashes!

Everyone inside screamed and howled, and before the couple could even react, he had already did the same to them. Electrocuting them and setting them to flames!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

There was chaos and carnage everywhere, appearing in the blink of an eye. Zeuxis propelled himself in the sky, and kept on shooting lightning on the already suffering Mondsteins.

Cermin was not able to react at all because of his shock, and even if he was able to, it would still be too late. With just one flick of a finger, Zeuxis can defeat entire armies by himself.

He was deadly fast. The only one in this party that can match that speed was Ronin, and even that was at the expense of his Flame.

Ronin went to activate it again, and said. "Your Highness, we need to get out of here—"

"NO!!!!" Cermin yelled, placing himself in front of him. "This demon lied to us for so many days! I can't believe it.... He even disguised himself as Zeriav!"

His sword appeared again from this burst of emotion, shining even brighter than it did when he learned the plans of the gods.

"What did you do to my friend!?" He yelled, all his skills being activated within a second.

This included Shadow Seeker, which caused the flying and speeding Zeuxis to be pulled by him. He managed to hang on a tree, and still cackled despite feeling like his body was being pulled into a black hole.

"What do you think, you foolish prince? Of course I cut off his head and danced with his corpse!" He said with much arrogance.

The multiple eyes glowing around Cermin shine even brighter to the point of blinding, and he shouted. "YOU BASTARD!"

Zeuxis only kept on taunting him. "I defiled it in every way I can, then hid it somewhere in that inn where your prune friend could never see!"

Ronin wished he could communicate that he could put Blinding Darkness on Cermin and put him away from here, but he too was trying hard not to be pulled by his Shadow Seeker skill.

Ronin hang on the trunk of a tree, shouting back. "Your Highness, he had already survived twice! He would again! We should escape while we can!"

But it seemed that the tables had turned, as Cermin was now the bold one and not the coward who used to hide under tables. He went to slash at Zeuxis, who used Zooming Dash to avoid the slash.

Still, he was not able to travel far and had to hang on another tree like a money because of the strong magnetic pull.

"You Commoner should stay out of it! I haven't killed you yet because you are the vessel to our great and magnificent Lord of Darkness, but I will slice your tongue if you don't shut it!"

(Just get out of here as much as you can. He'll keep pulling you with his skill and straight to the sword you go, whether he intended to or not.)

Ronin wanted to answer back. 'But that's what will happen to you too, you idiot! You will just get yourself killed and I'll have to revive you again without him knowing!"

The moment he said this....

Cermin said in a grave tone, as his eyes burned. "Something like you does not deserve to exist at all! Something without a heart, without any moral or humanity in you..."

"Slashing Ray."

This did not work back then, and only injured Zeuxis, but....

Cermin's wrath had made his sword glow just like before. The purification was much more potent, and went straight for Zeuxis' direction—

The Lightning Daemon could not even escape on time, as it immediately hit his shoulder!

He let go of the tree, and fell on to the ground with a sickening crunch.

His Obsidian shoulder was completely burned off. But he kept on burning, it was still spreading.

No... He wasn't burning. He was being erased from existence, just like Cermin did to those gods.

But unlike those gods, Zeuxis was not powerful enough to cancel it out and regenerate it.

His body has limitations since it was still a human body after all, just significantly improved and his Mage Focus amplified.

Even electricity can't cause regeneration that fast to bring back completely disintegrated body parts.

Ronin knew this, but he also raised his whip instinctively to heal him....

But he heard his brother's voice in his head again.

(So this is how it ends.... I admit, your dear golden apple friend did put up an even more enjoyable fight that Lovushka, albeit much much shorter.)

(There's no point in saving me. This is already something beyond that, and I know you know it too. This is my End. )

Zeuxis kept on disappearing from existence itself. He will have no soul in the Other Side, and he will never ever return again.historical

(It's been fun so far. It would have been even more fun if I was able to see Maellan again.)

He still has his playful tone, yet there was a noticeable lament in it.

( I haven't told him how I battled 20 powerful mages and won, a former god for two weeks non-stop...)

(Or how I finally did a good job as a brother and family member in protecting you, as I promised him.)

He was now only half a body left, and Cermin was huffing wildly in front of him.

It felt like he wasn't even aware of what he just did to Zeuxis, and was still in a daze because of all the power he had used. All the rage he had inside him.

Ronin was also in a daze, forced to listen to his most hated brother's last words.

(You better take over the world, you prune. Build it the way Maellan wanted. Keep him safe just as I did to you. Promise me.)

(If you can make that promise, then I suppose I don't hate you so much anymore..... My brother. Hahahaha!)

He laughed at first in his head, then eventually it came out of his mouth. He was laughing while his body was vanishing, and he was slowly losing his life.

"Hahahahaha!" He laughed and laughed...

Until he couldn't anymore.

He was gone. There were not even ashes or remnants left.

Just that laughter that continued to echo on the back of Ronin's head.

That laughter would often be malicious or mocking.

And in a way, it still was until the end. He was mocking fate because he had enjoyed dying this way, and managed to give his piece before he did.

But what makes it different this time....

Was that there were some hints of affection in it as well. The way he said 'My brother' was more genuine than he had before.

He really does consider Ronin as his brother, not just because it was a fact.

Ronin went over to the patch of grass where he once was. Cermin had collapsed to his knees in front of him.

"Is he really gone... Or..."

"He is. Completely." Ronin said.

"Completely?"

He didn't say anything and kneeled beside him. It seemed that Cermin was awake now and had snapped out of it.

The things he did had sinked in as he kneeled in this grass with the backdrop of a burning house that was almost like how one would imagine hell.

"Did you regret it?" Ronin asked, looking down directly at him emotionlessly.

"I.... I don't know..." Cermin answered, looking at his hands.

But he did not cry, or broke down. He was merely stunned.

But then he saw drops of water fall into his hands. He thought it must be raining, and looked up at Ronin...

And realized it wasn't raining.

Emotionless was his face, yet they continued to fall down.