Dancer in the Dark

Chapter 6: TEMPLATE

"Here it is, master." Said Lio as he stood before Ren.

"Thank you, Lio." Replied Suisei as she made her way toward Ren.

"Of course, master. Your wish is my command." Said Lio, quickly bowing before he followed behind Suisei.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Thought Suisei as she asked the voice inside her head.

"Sing." Replied the voice.

"Sounds simple enough..." Thought Suisei before she closed her eyes and raised her hand.

"Gamen no mukou no sono mata mukou de~" Sung Suisei as Ren's body suddenly yet slowly rises off the ground.

"What's this?" Thought Lio as he watched Suisei.

"Hanatareta kotoba tachi, naguttemo itamanai toumei na kobushi~" Continued Suisei as suddenly a bright light started to radiate off of Ren.

"Oh, I see." Thought Lio.

Suisei continued singing the rest of the song as Lio observed from behind. The more she sang the song, the brighter the light radiating off of Ren became. As the song had begun to end, Ren's body started to slowly descend back onto the forest floor.

"Koufuku ga habikoru risoukyou ni mo, todokanakutatte kamawanai~" Sung Suisei, reaching the second to final lyrics of the song.

"Boku igai, nanimo iranai." Sung Suisei as the song concluded and the bright light vanquished.

"Looks like... the goddess..." Thought Ren as he opened his eyes for a split second and spots an angelic figure standing before him.

"Hasn't forsaken me... after all..." Continued Ren before closing his eyes as Suisei started to tremble.

"Careful there, master." Said Lio as he rushes to Suisei's side and catches her before she completely collapsed.

Before she could reply, her eyes closed as the exhaustion had taken its toll on her.

"It isn't every day that you see a human who can cast a spell such as Symphony of Salvation. Just who exactly are you, master?" Thought Lio as an excited smirk formed on his face.

~~~~~

"Sir Lucifer, I have good news and bad news." Said Nacht as he kneeled before his superior.

"Did you fail to eliminate Ren?" Asked Lucifer in an annoyed tone.

"No sir, on the contrary. I was able to successfully eliminate Ren." Replied Nacht.

"Then what's the bad news?" Asked Lucifer.

"A disaster-level demon appeared in the forest." Replied Nacht.

"I see... That is pretty bad news... Does Lord Towa really not believe in my abilities? Who did she send? Don't tell me she sent that Laplus brat to steal my glory." Said Lucifer.

"Sir, I don't think you understand what I meant." Replied Nacht.

"Huh? Explain yourself, Nacht." Said Lucifer.

"Well, the disaster-level demon isn't aligned with us or Lord Towa..." Replied Nacht.

"Why did you stop? Continue." Said Lucifer.

"He claims to pledge his complete loyalty to a mage by the name of Hoshimachi Suisei." Replied Nacht.

"So we had a double agent amongst our ranks..." Said Lucifer.

"Sir, that's not necessarily the case. The demon was summoned by the mage I mentioned." Replied Nacht.

"Oh, Nacht... you never fail to crack me up. You really expect me to believe that a human was able to summon a disaster-level demon?" Said Lucifer as he burst into laughter.

"Sir, I have no reason to lie to you." Replied Nacht.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. I'll believe it when I see it." Said Lucifer as he turned his head on Nacht.

"B-but= sir..." Replied Nacht.

"You are dismissed, Nacht." Said Lucifer in an angry tone.

"Y-yes, sir..." Replied Nacht in a defeated tone.

"By the way, you did well. Don't beat yourself up too much." Said Lucifer.

"Thank you, sir." Replied Nacht as he exited the room.

~~~~~

"Where am I?" Asked Ren as he lay on the forest floor while the bright rays from the sun covered his eyes.

"What happened to me?" Asked Ren as he gradually stands up.

"Looks like you finally woke up." Said Lio as he spots Ren standing up.

"Who's there?" Asked Ren, calmly as he got into a ready position.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you." Replied Lio, leaning against a tree located in the opposite direction from where Ren was facing.

"Who are you?" Asked Ren as he turned around to spot Lio.

"My name isn't important. What's important is the fact that you're alive." Replied Lio.

Suddenly, Ren felt the immense amount of dark magic radiating off of Lio and immediately recalled his encounter with Nacht.

"He's a demon... there's no way a human could release this much magic." Thought Nacht as he spots Lio's pitch-black eyes.

"They were right..." Said Ren, quietly as he spots Suisei, unconscious in the arms of the demon.

"Pardon?" Replied a confused Lio.

"I thought Flare saw something in you... turns out you were a spy after all..." Said Ren as he forms a sword with dark magic.

"What are you on about? If you're calling my master a spy then you're deeply mistaken." Asked a confused Lio as he stared directly into Ren's eyes.

"Explain..." Replied Ren in an equally confused manner.

"How do you think you're alive right now? If the master hadn't overexerted herself just to revive you then you wouldn't even be breathing right now." Said Lio in a cold and menacing tone.

"So you're really telling me she has a demon as a servant and saved my life when moments ago she was too shocked to even run." Replied Ren.

"If you don't believe me then feel free to leave and find your friends. There's no reason to fight so put down that sword. It's not like you can beat me in your condition anyway." Said Lio.

"..." Replied Ren, completely lost for words as he turned the sword in his hand back into dark magic.

"Don't just stand there like an idiot. Leave before your friends leave you." Said Lio in a serious tone.