Sons of a devil-Chapter 60: Ashes and aftermath

A sudden boom echoed across the cliffside, shaking the ground. Everyone jumped.

"Oh, for the love of—" Leo growled, raising his blades again.

But it wasn't an enemy.

It was Cain.

He stood in the center of a growing circle of fire, eyes closed, body glowing. Flames shot up around him—not chaotic, but rhythmic. It pulsed with the heartbeat of the earth itself. From his palms, streams of light curled upward like celestial smoke, as if the very core of his magic was changing.

"Cain?" Selene called, standing.

He opened his eyes slowly. They were gold now, pure gold, not touched by shadow or rage—only clarity.

"I feel different," he said, voice calm and sure. "Like the chains broke from inside me too."

Leo stepped forward. "Show off."

Eren grinned. "Come on, you love it."

Cain smirked. "Maybe a little."

Leo lifted his hands next. Electricity sparked at his fingertips, crackling blue bolts dancing across his skin. With a flick, he summoned a current that shattered a rock nearby, then reassembled it mid-air.

"Been practicing," he said casually.

Selene laughed. "You guys are such nerds."

"Powerful nerds," Eren added, letting his own energy build. Fire and shadow coiled around his fists. But unlike Cain's divine flame, Eren's magic was rougher—wild, loud, untamed. Still, it bowed to him.

He launched a shadow-dagger skyward, then exploded it with a fireball. "Okay, that was cool."

Their laughter filled the air—light, human, alive.

But beneath it all, they knew.

This wasn't the end.

Back at camp that night, the brothers sat around a fire—one Cain lit with a single touch.

Their mother lay sleeping in the tent nearby, finally stable. Her powers, though dormant, pulsed faintly now, like a lighthouse buried under centuries of sand. Eira's sacrifice haunted them in every breath, her absence woven into the silence.

Cain sat close to Selene, their fingers interlocked. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he kissed her temple.

"I'm sorry you got hurt," he whispered.

"I'm not," she replied. "You're worth bleeding for."

Leo made a gagging noise from the other side of the fire. "Gross."

"Jealous?" Eren teased.

Leo flipped a pebble at him using a gust of wind he barely controlled. It hit Eren square in the forehead.

"Really?" Eren growled, rubbing the spot. "You want a war?"

Selene laughed so hard she nearly fell off Cain's shoulder.

The fire cracked and popped. It wasn't just warmth—it was theirs. Proof that they had made it through something hellish and still had love, laughter, and each other.

Cain looked at his brothers, then the stars.

"No matter what's next," he said quietly, "we face it together."

Leo raised a flask. "To the devil's kids."

Eren tapped his against Leo's. "Who refused to be devils."

Selene raised her blade like a toast. "And to the girl who loved one anyway."

They laughed again—broken, healing, human.

The wind howled, but this time it carried no threat.

Just the sound of freedom.