Twin Soul

Darla quickly noticed what Noe was planning and she stopped his idiotic thought by slapping him in the face and said, “I will kill myself if anything would happen to you. Either we leave together or I won't leave at all.”

“Mother…” Noe cried louder as he heard Darla threatened to end her life if he wouldn’t leave with her. Noe knew his mother wasn't just making an empty threat but would actually do so. Noe nodded his head agreeing with Darla and threw away the plan of sacrificing himself to save his mother.

Noe and Darla continued riding the horse together. Being guided by Darla, the horse continued heading toward the location of the underground tunnel. Approximately twenty seconds later, Darla pointed toward the area that had the secret entrance of the underground tunnel and said, “Over there.”

“Are there any villagers left in there?” Noe asked his mother.

“No. It was emptied when I used it to go back to the market to look for you.”

“Great. We won't have to put other people's lives at risk.”

Before Noe and Darla got off the horse, the Black Mage landed in front of them harshly and created a minor wind force that pushed both the horse that was carrying them back several steps. Noe opened his eyes widely as he whispered to himself, “[Demon Anatomy IV]?” The Black Mage had already transformed into a demon holding a scythe and had the ability to fly by having a pair of demon wings on his back.

Noe continued to ask himself, "What about the Phantom Knight?" The fact that the horse was still alive meant the Horse Riding Phantom Knight was also alive. Noe scanned around and noticed no demon was chasing after him and his mother anymore which meant the Black Mage must have sent them to keep the Phantom Knight busy while he transformed into a flyable demon to catch up with Noe. There was no way the horse could have outrun a flyable demon. The chance of escape was over.

Noe knew it was too late for his mother to run away by herself. There was nothing else Noe could do to survive against this Black Mage because his mana pool was completely depleted. Noe shakingly said, “Mother, my mana pool is depleted.”

“Then we will die together.” Darla quickly said while smiling toward Noe, letting him know not to worry.

Noe smiled back as he acknowledged both he and his mother were about to be killed by the Black Mage. Darla hugged Noe tightly as the Black Mage swung his scythe and attempted to cut both of their heads off. Suddenly, a golden javelin penetrated behind the Black Mage while another golden javelin knocked his scythe away. The Black Mage screamed out loud in pain and used his demon wings to attempt to fly away but two more golden javelins penetrated and impaled his wings onto the ground.

“What is happening?” Noe has been mentally prepared that the Black Mage was going to cast a [Puppeteer] spell toward him ever since they started fighting. That was why Noe saw what happened but couldn’t believe if it was real or not. “Was it [Puppeteer] spell? Am I being mind-controlled? Why would he be using a [Puppeteer] spell against a mana-depleted magic caster such as myself? Or is there really someone who saved my mother and me in this emergency time of need?” Noe continued asking himself while slowly tapping Darla on the back, letting her know that they are still alive.

Darla heard the Black Mage scream out loud but thought he was just shouting to gather strength to kill them. After being tapped by Noe on the back, Darla stopped hugging Noe and turned around just in time to see two golden javelins penetrated and impaled the Black Mage's demon wings onto the ground.

[Puppeteer] spell would be strong enough to control all of Noe’s creatures except for Gazhorn and the Hell Fiend. The Black Mage wouldn’t want to disgrace himself by casting [Puppeteer] to control a bunch of weak Phantom Knights or Skeleton Warriors that were conjured by a twelve years old boy. That was why he intended to kill Noe using his powerful spells instead of brainwashing Noe’s creatures to kill him.

“Who!?” The Black Mage angrily asked as he was forced to disabled [Demon Anatomy IV] spell due to being unable to move because of the injuries that were done to his wings.

“Aw… he is still alive. Saint Michael, I believed you have missed his heart.” A male voice said from the sky.

“That wasn’t a miss. I wanted him to die slowly.” Another male voice replied.

Noe and Darla looked up high into the sky and saw two bright auras released from two individuals that had Angel Wings on their backs.

“Saint Michael? Leader of all Archangels?” It doesn’t matter if that was the real Saint Michael or not, that angel saved him and his mother. Noe immediately got off the horse and knelt on the ground then bowed his head as Darla also did the same to show their respect toward the two angels that just saved them.

The Black Mage refused to die without a fight with whoever attacked him from behind. The Black Mage already spotted two angels that were talking to each approximately two thousand feet above the ground. Even though he heard something about Saint Michael, the Black Mage couldn’t just lay on the ground and slowly die just because he was facing someone who was stronger than him. The Black Mage activated the [Demon Anatomy III] spell to transform himself into a giant demon. The golden javelin that penetrated the Black Mage’s back earlier seemed like a tiny toothpick and slowly fell on the ground as he finished his transformation.

“A male angel with a very large pair of Angel Wings, that must be Archangel Saint Michael. My attack would never cause any harm toward him. I can at least take the life of the other angel with me!” The Black Mage threw a powerful right-hand punch using the remaining of his energy toward a male angel that was having a smaller pair of Angel Wings intent on killing him in one attack. Both angels saw the giant demon throw a right-hand punch toward them but neither of them moved to allow the giant demon to succeed. Just one punch and the giant demon could feel his right hand was broken as it released the loud cracking and popping sounds upon hitting the regular-looking angel. Before the giant demon could either attack again or retreat, the regular-looking angel created a giant golden javelin on his hand and threw it toward the demon, penetrating directly into the demon's heart. The giant demon instantly died and transformed back into his real form as a human Black Mage.

Both Noe and Darla were happy to know that the Black Mage was killed which meant their lives were no longer being threatened. They stood up and wanted to thank their savior. That was when a golden javelin suddenly penetrated Darla’s heart and impaled her into the ground. The throwing speed was so fast that Noe couldn’t see anything and only realized it after his mother was already dead as blood started pouring out from the heart area of Darla’s chest and the ground his mother was standing on earlier started to crack.

Noe once again couldn't believe in his eyes. "Mother...?" Noe asked as he started touching Darla's corpse. Darla's smile was still there, meaning she was dead before feeling any pain.

"Saint Michael, you are being too kind." The angel with a big pair of wings on his back stated.

"I know. I granted her instant death. I'm a good guy huh?" Saint Michael jokingly asked.

"Yes, you are."

“Why…?” Noe confusedly asked using a soft voice as he refused to believe his mother was killed in front of him by the angel who just saved them both.

Both angels landed on the ground from the sky. The male angel that had a regular pair of Angel Wings smiled and said, “I saved your life. Little boy, you are welcome.”

“This... This is my mother. She wasn’t my enemy.”

“I know. That was why I was being kind to her.”

“Kind? But why? Why did you kill her?”

“Because it’s fun. The human race was created for my own amusement.” Saint Michael smiled as he said that.

The other male angel that had a very large pair of wings said, “Life isn’t perfect. Saint Michael just wanted you to learn that important lesson. He saved your life today because you and your mother were about to be killed. But in return… he took away your mother. He saved your life, but also took away your happiness.”

“I don’t need to be saved. Please revive my mother and you can take my life instead.” Noe said using a begging tone.

“That isn’t how this works.”

“Boy, you are a magic caster. Your mother was just an average human being, her life is worthless. You only have to sacrifice your mother today for me to save your precious life, aren’t you going to thank me?” Saint Michael asked using an unhappy tone as he stopped smiling.