Shadowseal: The Price Of Sin

CHAPTER 12

The battle had fully descended to the ground.

The creature, seething with rage, ripped a massive tree from the earth. It gripped the thick trunk like a spear and hurled it toward Mike with terrifying force.

Mike reacted in an instant.

He leapt, soaring over the projectile as it sliced through the air beneath him. Mid-flight, he twisted his body, snatched the flying tree out of the air, spun it rapidly to build momentum, and hurled it back with deadly precision.

The tree cut through the wind like a missile.

But the creature only grinned.

With a twisted smirk, it spun its arms like sawblades and cleaved the tree cleanly in two. The pieces crashed into the pavement as it launched itself into the air charging at Mike with blinding speed.

Its claws reached Mike first.

They wrapped around his skull and began to squeeze, slamming him downward. Concrete cracked beneath them as the creature tried to crush him like a bug.

Mike's eyes widened in agony. His hands shot up, grabbing the creature's wrists. His palms ignited with searing blue flame.

The beast growled in pain, but it didn't stop.

One claw pierced Mike's chest, sliding inward, inching toward his heart.

Blood spilled from Mike's mouth.

His limbs trembled.

His vision blurred.

His wings dissolved.

And his body… began reverting to human form.

He was slipping.

But then

Flashes.

Flickers of memory.

His first task.

Hell.

Zack's voice.

Emily's face.

And then, from the deepest part of his being:

"I still have more to carry. I'm not giving up that easily."

His eyes snapped open.

A pulse of light exploded from within him as he let out a roar a sound that shook the street like thunder. A scream mixed with fury. A vow carved into air.

He grabbed the creature's hand buried in his chest.

Blue fire burst from his grip.

And he crushed it.

The beast howled in agony.

Mike snatched its other arm, flame rushing through his fingers, and shattered it the same way burning, cracking, breaking.

The monster tried to retreat.

But it was too late.

Mike soared upward in one final burst of power, spun midair, and brought his fist wreathed in blue flame down with devastating force.

Directly into the creature's skull.

Its head separated from its body.

And the rest… decayed.

Ash to ash.

Only the mask remained.

It fell silently to the pavement.

Mike descended slowly, breath heavy, gaze locked on that single, unmoving object. The source of it all.

He stepped toward it.

One quiet footfall at a time.

Mike's celestial form slowly began to fade.

His bright white wings shrank.

The glow in his eyes dimmed.

His hair shortened, his skin returned to a human tone.

His breathing was erratic, but steady.

With slow, grounded steps, he descended landing gently in the middle of a ruined, dust-covered street.

There, in the silence, he dropped to his knees.

Before him… lay only the mask.

Shadowseal.

Once, it had spoken to him.

Commanded him.

Threatened him.

Now, it was utterly silent.

Mike hesitated. Then reached out.

His fingers touched the surface of the mask

No voice.

No whisper.

No movement.

Because the Devil was still chained.

And the mask… no longer spoke.

But Mike knew.

This silence wouldn't last.

And the mask could never fall into someone else's hands.

His fingers trembled as he picked it up.

His gaze lingered on the cracked design, once so terrifying now only a symbol.

But the danger beneath… still lived.

He slipped it gently into the inside pocket of his jacket.

He would take it home.

Hide it.

Protect it.

But there was something else on his mind:

That high-pitched sound he heard earlier at school.

The shrill echo that triggered his transformation…

Where had it come from?

The Devil was chained

So what had made that noise?

He had to find out.

But not today.

Today… he needed to rest.

Even standing was a challenge.

Victory felt hollow when the threat wasn't truly gone.

The Devil still had plans.

The mask hadn't been destroyed.

Worse… Mike had no idea how to destroy it.

But this time, something had changed.

He looked up.

The sky was clean.

And for the first time… the silence was real.

No voices in his head.

No Devil.

No mask.

No echoes from the past.

And in that quiet, a realization hit him:

He didn't need the mask to have power.

He didn't need it to become his new form.

He was strong on his own. In his own body. In his own mind.

A warm pulse spread through his chest.

For the first time… he was truly free.

And with that freedom came a smile.

Faint.

Uncertain.

But real.

One thought followed it:

Emily.

Maybe… just maybe… the feelings he had for her were the only thing left untouched by the madness.

The war was over.

He was reborn body and mind.

And now, his first mission was clear.

He was going to ask her out.

Not as a monster.

Not as a mask.

But as Mike.

The real him.