The Great Demon System

Regrit had indeed snapped out of his rage, yet the surrealness of it all still remained in his churning mind.

He looked up to the girl offering her hand with puzzlement, shaking his head and blinking several times. Even if it was for a mere instant, he felt as if it were his loving mother's voice and delicate touch that drew him out of the depths of depravity. Yet, out of all people… It was that girl…

He knew not her purpose, and in his current state, he cared not neither. All he knew was that she indeed saved him and risked much for his sake, that much he was certain of. And with that, he decided to grasp onto her offer of peace with little to no hesitation. "Th— Thanks…" He grabbed her hand loosely, looking away to hide his reddened face as she helped him back up on his feet. "I am Regrit Oswald, It's nice to meet you too, once again, thank you for saving me… words cannot express my gratitude." Regrit greeted, jittering ever so slightly as he tried his best to hide his shame and embarrassment yet still somehow seeming very sincere. "There is no need to thank me… I did it out of instinct… Seeing you in such a state had reawoken locked memories inside me… Of a past, I once tried my best to forget. It felt almost as though I was stopping myself from committing something I would deeply regret…" As Abby spoke, there was a slight twinkle in her sights. A subtle heat of red that shined dimly in her previous eyes of gray.

The air stood silent for several seconds. Only now did Regrit finally regain his full senses as he looked towards Abby with genuine surprise. She was indeed an odd girl. To most, it was all subtle, yet to Regrit it was clear as day. The one he had envisioned to be strong and courageous did not seem real anymore. Her eyes wavered repeatedly, her smile continued to jitter, making him unsure whether or not it was genuine, and her hands continuously twitched twiddling with themselves.

"Ah… forgive me," Abby suddenly bowed deeply. "I must have bored you with my speech, I'll refra—"

"No no no no!" Regrit panicked and waved his hands frantically. "Your story was interesting! I'm really curious about your past if it's so similar to mine! It just took me so long to process everything, that's all! Please raise your head!"

"Is that so?" She calmly stood. "I suppose that is understandable." She shook herself off.

As she raised her head, Regrit could not help but breathe relief out from the depths of his soul, and his thumping heart began to soothe until abruptly, it exploded twice as hard from a sudden realization.

"Y—your left arm… Where is it? Why is it missing…" He asked, inwardly gulping.

"Oh? That? It's over there…" She pointed towards the ground near her legs, and there sat her missing arm, cleanly severed. Upon seeing it, Regrit's face twisted pale, his mouth fell open out of instinct and his eyes went round, as before he even asked his question, he was almost certain of the answer.

"Did I do that?"

"Yes," She calmly nodded. "You cut it off when I was mending your struggle. I would not pay it much heed."

"I know this is VR but still! The pain is real! We should get you to a healing station now! We shouldn't be too far!" Regrit began to panic, yet Abby simply stood still as a pole.

"That won't be necessary," She shook her head. With slow, deliberate actions, she bent down and grabbed her severed arm, gradually bringing it back up to her gaping injury and merely reconnecting it in place as though it were a children's toy snapping into place. However, the arm was still not fully functional nor fully reconnected. Regrit bit his lower lip and took the first step, yet before he could raise his voice, he found himself motionless, unable to speak.

Out of the small cracked gap between her two limbs, fire took wing shining out of her flesh with uncanny feather-like sparks of warm, crimson, soothing light. "You see, there was no need to worry," She nonchalantly lifted her hands up and began to move her newly attached fingers.

"Wha— How… How did you do that!? You have self-healing!?"

"I suppose so," She slowly nodded. "My inner spirit is a phoenix after all…"

"Phoenix!" Regrit blurted. "Now I remember! Yes! You did say you were also a fire ability user! Ried! I remember that last name! One of the most renowned families in country Z was executed for treason, and only the daughter was saved due to special exemption! That must be you!"

"Yes…" She nodded. Regrit's fruition filled him with a mountain of questions, yet he did not want to ask them lest he seem insensitive. "Are you not in a hurry to go back on spying on your father?" She suddenly asked, taking the initiative and catching him off guard in his time of thinking. "No, that's quite alright," He shook his head. "It will only get me more tilted, I don't wanna see myself losing control again… Besides, My brother can give me all the inf—" In the midst of his sentence, realization struck, and his lips sealed tight. He became far too comfortable around the girl. No one must know that he and Kai's relationship was good, yet he so foolishly let his tongue slip.

"It's okay, I already know. Your brother must truly care for you…" She shook her head. "What? What do you mean by that?"

"There is no need to hide it, he had already told me everything."

"Kai did!?"

"Yes," She nodded. "Did he tell you to come and find me here!?"

"No…" She shook her head. "Then what is it!? What's the reason you came here!?"

"..."

"..."

"I… I came here because I'm weak…"

"Weak?" He interjected. "Yes… I've prepared myself for over a year to meet one single man, yet when the time has come, I am simply too weak to face him. I ran away from my sister to mentally prepare myself more. She is much stronger than I could ever be… And then, in my time of seclusion, I noticed you sneaking in the distance… So… I followed…"

"But I made sure to stay out of sight! How did you spot me in the pitch-black darkness!?"

"Hm?" She twisted her head on an angle. "Isn't it obvious? It's because I'm a demon, just like you. See," From thin air, she pulled out a great scythe taller than her entire body, adorned in red runic text upon its black metal blade. And, with a slight slam towards the ground, purple energy began to swirl and conjure until it took form of a ghastly, formless monstrosity with eyes like an abyss and arms like straws.

"I'm a Necromancer, as you can see…"

"W—w… w… Wait! Why did you trust me with such a secret!? Ha— how did you… Ah… How did you know that I was—"

"You had joined that guild, there is no other reason." She naturally stated. "The guild… Wait, so you're not just some stray demon? You're in on it too!? D— Does that mean the man you are too weak to face is…"

"Yes… Moby Kane…"