8 thousand demons at bay.

A day of sorrow, a day of tears...but it won't end...not this way...tears won't solve anything.
"Rena~!" Krion shouted as he swung his twin swords down wards clashing against each other. Out appeared a giant wave of purple energy in the shape of a cross, blasting away the demons in front of him. Then swinging his swords in different directions, he countered those other demons that surrounded him.

As more and more just kept coming, Krion felt like he could take no more...he was starting to get tired, he wouldn't last much longer...Sweat and tears kept flowing down his face, finally dripping down from his chin. "For her..." he kept whispering over and over again...as he thought of the times Rena and him were together for strength.

*Flashback*
The night moon shone ever so brightly. The sky was clear and all the stars could be seen shining away in the black sky. Rena sat on a bench near the edge of a cliff, staring out at the island filled with lights not so far away.

For a while, everything was peaceful. Though all of a sudden, clouds began blocking the moon."I know your there...so why aren't you coming over?" she asked softly.

Caught by surprised, Krion revealed himself from the shadows and took a seat besides Rena, before asking."How did you know I was there?" Krion asked in a curious manner and stared out to the island of lights as well.

However Rena didn't reply...instead she leaned onto Krion's shoulder and asked, "Have you...ever felt so alone...so numb, so cold? That your heart freezes and all of a sudden shatters. Like...nothing is ever going to turn out alright."

Krion was a bit surprised as he heard her question, in school...she was always smiling...
'Perhaps this was the only way she could hide her pain...'
Rena's life...was just like an emotional roller coaster. Returning back to her so called home, screaming and shouting from her drunk father would start. Her exam results weren't so good as well...and recently...her mother died. She had always kept many things to herself...but she always smiled. No matter how painful it gets...she would still carry that same smile to school, but now...she seem so hurt...

Krion hugged Rena before finally replying, "Always."
Upon hearing his answer, Rena gave a tight slap on Krion's face before leaving.

As she slowly walked away, Krion didn't gave chase...instead he faced away and began explaining to Rena."You feel...alone, as if no will ever understand you. At night...you feel so much like crying, but at times...nothing came out. Whenever you stare out towards the night sky, you feel like you've break away...from all your troubles. You smile, not because you’re happy...but so that no one will know...You feel as if no one in this world would be concern about you! That...no one would ever be there for you! But...you shouldn't feel this way...cause I've always tried my best to be there for you...and I'll always be! So...no one should feel this pain...but me." as Krion finished, he gripped the part of his chest where his heart was...it hurt so much now...as tears began to show...he felt like his heart was crying as well. Oh how he wished he didn't had to feel...to become heartless, so that no pain can ever reach him.

But all of a sudden, he felt someone hugging him from the back while saying in a sweet manner, "Thank you..."

As he heard those two words...Krion surprisingly felt...comfort in his heart, the pain faded and he felt as if he had found...his light in the shadows. He then hugged back Rena and whispered to her ear, "No matter what...I'll always be there for you...till the day that you no longer want me to."
Rena gave a slight smile to Krion before making the same promise as well, "Correction, we will both be there for each other...no matter what."

As Rena smiled, Krion realized that this smile was totally different from the one he used to see. He could actually feel comfort from this one...perhaps, the smile she had always been using...was nothing more but a fake smile.And with that the clouds finally dispersed and revealed the comforting moonlight again.
*Flashback over*

However at the very end...he had failed to protect her...his heart now as what he had felt before, screamed to be relieved of this pain. And with one last ounce of strength, he fired a tremendous force of energy from his two swords and made a path leading to the resting place. While running with all his might, he was stabbed countless times by the claws of the demons around him...but as his heart cried, nothing else seem to hurt anymore.

Just as he was closing the gate to the resting place, all of a sudden he tripped and fell on to the ground."Just a few more steps..." he told himself as he tried his hardest to get up, but to no avail. The demons around him then all made a big leap into the air as if they wanted to crush him by stabbing him from the sky.'It's all going to end soon...but I was so close...at least the pain will stop...once I die...'

However just as the demons were about to touch him, another demon from out of nowhere flew towards the bunch and in a split second...sliced them up in pieces. "Go..." the unknown demon said as he lifted Krion up and threw him towards the gate. Krion took one last look back at the demon that had just saved him, and realized...a sense of bond with him and the demon. Then it occurred to him..."Father?" he asked himself silently, before entering the gate.

Meanwhile, on the other side...Kenyin was just about to deliver the final blow when Reina couldn't stand it anymore and stepped in to blocked the attack.

"Why...why in all means do you want to destroy us? What have we done that deserves such a fate? After all...we are your friend's descendants no?" Reina cried out desperately, trying to reason with the God Slayer.

Kenyin withdrew his sword before replying sadly, "Do you know why we are God Slayers? All of us here...have been through a lot in this world, and even with so much suffering...the Gods don't do anything about it. We...we just can't forgive them for doing that! So...we are going to create a new world! And with that we bear the burden of many great sins, the slaying of gods. However...this world has been changed one too many times, therefore...we must exterminate the next generation of God Slayers...so that history will not repeat itself."

"Are you blind? By doing that...by trying to create a new world, history has already repeated itself! Like you said before, our world has been changed one too many times...so why can't you just accept it! Why can't you forgive the gods? Why are all of you so stubborn? If you can't even forgive the gods, then...how ever are you going to obtain your own innocence! How ever are you going to feel comfort again?" Reina asked sadly...knowing she was right, all this foolishness had to stop...

Upon hearing what Reina had just said...Kenyin was left speechless, he knew what he was doing was wrong...but he had already vowed to help Ledius to obtain that goal...and till the day he die, he was forever going to feel this guilt.

Back at the resting place, Krion had finally found the portal leading to Rena's resting place. However, he was afraid to enter...after all...they had never said the three words to each other before...so he couldn't be sure of how she felt about him. He was afraid...that all he had been fighting for would turn out to be a lost cause...but in the end he decided to went in. He couldn't live on false hope anymore...

As he entered he realized that the place looked exactly the same as the one he had remembered not too long ago. And true enough, there she was...sitting on the bench...staring at the night sky.

"Rena." he called out softly.

Surprised and shocked, Rena turned back to see a very worn out Krion standing there.
"Wh...what are you doing here?" she asked as she began to step away.
"I...I came to see you again..." Krion replied sadly, sensing that something was amiss.
"Well...you shouldn't have come Krion...both of us had suffered a lot. And with the opening of the gate of hell...do you know how much more suffering you have brought to the world! All that...just so to see me...is it really worth it? You...haven't learn to let go have you?" she asked sadly...knowing that all of this would probably break his heart.
Krion couldn't hold it back...he decided to face the ground to hide his tears before he replied, "I see that you have..."
Rena tried her best not to hug him, her arms now trembling to control herself...she knew that Krion had to forgive, to let go...all else he will always suffer...even if it breaks his heart, and her own as well."You have to learn to forgive, Krion...to let go. So please..."
Krion couldn't believe it...so he was fighting for a lost cause after all. Turning his back, he replied sadly "I guess your right...I should learn to let go." before quickly leaving the place through the same portal with tears flowing down his face. He felt like there was no longer a reason to go on...but more importantly, he couldn't stay here any longer...
As soon as he left, Rena feel on to her knees and began crying...she knew she had done the right thing...if she had confessed her love to him...he would have stay here and never leave her side. And though that was what she wanted...she knew she couldn't have. After all...she was dead, and all that's left was just her soul. Whereas Krion was still alive...they could never be together again.

To forgive...to let go...is it really so hard to do?~