The body of Shaphira was thrown far away, destroying the roof of that temple. When she reached the ground, she braced herself on her hands to cushion the fall.
She wondered what that being was that had taken over Slady's body, which now appeared before her like a shadow, smiling with pure malice.
"You know, I would really like to kill you, but I have to play with a creature as curious as you."
He flexed his arm, highlighting his muscles.
"And I will only need one hand to do that."
In an instant, she felt his hand covering her face and, over his shoulders, she saw his back split open, with rib bones piercing through the fabric of the skin, like a blood eagle. Then, with the thrust of his "wings," he flew to a stone and slammed Shaphira's head against a rock.
"I think watching your eyes leave your body might be a good start."
The hand tightened around her head, beginning to crush her skull. But she acted quickly, her nails piercing through the flesh of his arm.
But instead of pulling away, his smile grew wider and wider. He felt no pain. Then, opening her mouth, she used her teeth to tear into his hand.
He pulled back, and the part that had been lost returned to its original state.
That hoarse voice, full of malice, laughed softly.
"This man's body is impressive. I just need to dominate it, and then I will be able to do much, much more!"
In the blink of an eye, he prepared a hand strike shaped like a blade toward Shaphira's abdomen. She dodged, with a current of wind coming so strongly it nearly cut the skin of her belly. She grabbed his arm with her right hand and, with her elbow, broke it.
He fell to the ground, but his legs wrapped around her neck, slamming her head against the floor. With his feet near her face, his tongue coiled around her thigh and bit down to devour it.
Shaphira screamed and kicked so hard that his jaw was dislocated. Twisting her hips to break free, she grabbed him by the foot and threw him into the sea. She commanded the piranhas to tear him apart, and just as his body hit the water, it was covered by those creatures.
The skin that had opened forcibly returned to its original state, with his ribs expanding, hardening, and beginning to pierce through the piranhas. Shaphira ran to him and stomped on his chest, making him spit blood into her face.
The ribs tried to pierce her, but she grabbed them and began to turn them against his own body.
"Get out of my father's body, you bastard. Tear him apart!"
The piranhas continued to devour him and, with the tips joined in her hand, she tore through the reddened flesh, piercing his eye sockets.
A distorted scream rose from his vocal cords, not only like the despair of Satan himself, but from the soul that felt the true pain of every blow.
The skin on his chest began to open, as if trying to imprison Shaphira within itself, and his mouth opened in a humanly impossible way, trying to swallow her with rows of millions of sharp teeth.
Shaphira tried to pull away from that mouth while the skin pressed against her back.
But the force was so great that it almost made her give in.
"Shaphira!"
A clean cut was made in that skin which, when sliced by a sword covered in Renkai Energy, writhed as Krythos let out a deafening scream that pushed everyone away.
Elisa, who arrived at the right moment, covered her ears tightly. She saw Shaphira crying against the ground as the piercing sound struck her sensitive eardrums, making her large ears gush red liquid.
Risking her own hearing, Elisa ran to her sister and wrapped her in her arms, trying to shield her hearing with her shoulders, but the result was far from enough.
Meanwhile, the sound died down, with the distorted figure of Slady crawling on all fours like a spider. His lost pieces returned to his body, but the part where he had been cut did not.
"Slady, you demon. You planned all of this!"
The voice of Satan escaped from his mouth, dragging itself over the snow as that body grew weaker and weaker.
"You perfected that damned sword to kill me. But this will also lead you to death!"
His nails tried to tear at the cut that was making his body increasingly useless.
Then, a step was heard.
With his muscles losing movement, he turned his head, with empty eye sockets giving him no sight, but the voice was clearer than daylight.
"I never thought you would make my sword stronger just to kill him."
Her ears were still ringing in her mind, and a much colder look settled on her expression.
"Why didn't you tell me that Krythos was trying to take over you? You promised you would not make me kill you. You do not trust me, much less Shaphira."
She sat over his waist, observing what that muscular body had become, so fragile, so small. It even reminded her of how Slady was in the past.
"If you truly want me to kill you, I will. But…"
When she raised the blade, stained red, drops of water struck his abdomen.
"… But do not put the responsibility of having been a terrible man on me. Shaphira, nor Ferinish, deserve to suffer for someone like you."
She pressed the blade against his chest, not piercing yet, but making a small cut.
"… And neither do I deserve to cry for you."
But the tears were inevitable. Every memory of the past made her hesitate to do what, even indirectly, had been entrusted to her. Memories of a simpler life, when the only concern was whether he would feed her at the small table or on his lap.
When the only concern was whether, while her father was away, he would play with her until she peacefully fell asleep in his arms.
"I…"
The blade fell from her hands. Her hands trembled in the air. She failed again.
Why, why was she incapable of killing him?
"I hate you, Slady."
Those were her last words before she collapsed beside his body.