Azazel was beyond furious. His gaze settled on the man surrounded by undead. He pushed through the group as the generals kept a close eye on him, but Melora's eyes were on Adeline as she too looked down at her. They shared a gaze that spoke volumes, but more pressing matters were at hand. Azazel slowly rose into the sky as multiple magic circles appeared. A surge of magical energy emanated through the entire area – this was true power, the power of a noble demon.

  “Who dares hurt my wife!”

  His voice echoed across the battlefield as the man simply watched, visibly shaking under the pressure. He raised his head and tried to face Azazel.

  “I am the master of death! I fear no one.”

  Azazel raised his hand, and blue beams rained down on the battlefield. The hordes of undead were instantly eviscerated, though the chimeras lumbered back to their feet. More undead appeared as the man let out a ugh.

  “Try as you might, but I will never fall.”

  Adeline slowly descended to the battlefield and released her red mist. The generals had heard about her ability and quickly covered their mouths, but Melora did not care as she removed her visor. Oddly enough, nothing bad happened to them as they stared at each other. Adeline smiled at Melora, then turned to Azazel.

  “If you kill him, the horde should disappear.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, someone needs to be summoning them.”

  “I see.”

  The man quickly disappeared as a blue beam struck his previous position.

  “You think you can escape my eyes, pitiful human?”

  A huge magic circle appeared from above, blocking the sun as he summoned a storm of lightning. It struck multiple positions with great precision. The man evaded as more undead rose. Growing tired of this, Azazel nded and concentrated his magic into one circle, releasing it. The powerful beam destroyed most of the forest and left a huge circur hole which traced all the way to a far away mountain. The shadowy man could be seen holding his shield, which slowly cracked.

  “Is this all you can do?”

  Azazel unched one more magical attack as the shield shattered into pieces. The man then concentrated his dark magic and summoned spears which surrounded Azazel. With a flick of his wrist, he deflected the attacks, which destroyed the area around him. The man was momentarily stunned as he prepared another magical attack.

  “Bend to the gate of death.”

  The immediate area was covered in darkness as the ground cracked. Hands shot out and grabbed onto Azazel and tried pulling him in. The man muttered another spell as a dark sword the size of a building appeared and swung down on him. The man panted as he waited for the dust to settle, but Azazel looked unharmed as he brushed off the dirt.

  “How did you survive?”

  “Such pathetic magic, it doesn’t even warrant a barrier. You must have thought of yourself as a god while you pyed around with your little puppets, attacking my wife. One of the purest beings in this godforsaken world.”

  “Everything that lives eventually dies. I am death.”

  “You humans are so stupid; you don’t even know what death is. True death does not announce itself; it descends upon you. That brat is closer to death than you will ever be.”

  “I will show you the error of your ways.”

  He reached for a crystal from his pocket, then crashed it. A surge of mana entered his body as his veins turned white. He fell to his knees as he tried to manage the power, letting out a scream.

  “Come to me my apprentice, let us perform the ultimate sacrifice.”

  Men in cloaks appeared and stood in a circle. They started to mutter a spell as a huge magical circle appeared above them. The men fell to their knees as their rumblings continued. Azazel wanted to know what would happen next, so he simply watched. Blood started to pour towards the circle as the rumblings were exchanged by screams. Dark chains descended onto them, piercing their hearts and dragging them towards the circle. They all vanished as the circle disappeared. The man started to ugh hysterically as a rge stone door appeared in front of him. The doors slowly opened as a brutish creature with six arms appeared, holding a different weapon in each hand. Its head was hollow and pitch bck. It moved with tremendous speed as it started to attack Azazel. All six weapons came crashing down but hit a barrier. Like a wild animal, it continued to attack to no avail. He muttered a spell as lightning hit it, followed by several blue beams. The undead stumbled, but it slowly started to heal.

  “You can’t kill an undead from the river of the lost souls!”

  It was then a small meteor nded on the undead, blowing everything away. A small crater remained with Azazel standing; the undead was nowhere to be seen. The man realized he was no match for him. Was this the person the dragon was talking about? At first, he thought it was the Grand Duchess, but the noble demon was in a league of his own. He raised his hands as the chimeras came running towards him, hoping to use them as a distraction so he could escape. It was then Alfred swept in and opened his mouth. A small light appeared, slowly building into a very rge ball. He then released the concentrated mana mixed with poison on the group of chimeras; after he was done, nothing was left behind. His attention turned to the next group.

  “I know you’re upset, Alfred, but please don’t overdo it.”

  “They left scars on her body! Nothing will be left.” In a rare case, Alfred ignored her order.

  “Don’t eat them; they are bad for your health.”

  Alfred slithered off and instantly coiled around the remaining ones. He constricted as chimeras roared in pain, watching them struggle as blood sprayed everywhere. The chimeras started to heal, but there was no longer space for the mass to accumute. Adeline approached Alfred and patted his huge body.

  “Leave at least one alive; we need to learn how they work.”

  “…..”

  “Alfred. You know I hate it when I ask twice.”

  Alfred finally released them, uncoiling, but what remained were visible crystals, broken in pieces. Adeline recognized them as the same crystals they were mining deep in the forest. The man cursed as his st-ditch effort to survive was foiled. He stared at the two demons in front of him. Azazel instantly appeared in front of him and grabbed him and flew into the air as the man squirmed. Melora followed closely, interested in what would happen.

  “I have spent time studying your kind. I know you can’t kill me out of malice. That’s why most of you died. Isn’t that right, demon?” The man started to ugh.

  “What does he mean?” Melora appeared in front of him.

  “The goddess created the creatures of the forest to protect and nurture it, not to act in malice. We cannot act outside those parameters.”

  “That expins a lot.” Adeline nodded as everything fell into pce.

  “The goddess of life and nature did not foresee humans would act in such a way. The first demon did not have this limitation, but those who followed him still have it because we are still creatures of the forest,” Azazel expined as he looked at the man with disdain, but he simply smiled.

  “You were meant to be ruled by humans,” the man spoke with a huge smile.

  “You misunderstand; I won’t be the one to kill you.”

  “I will.” Adeline took the man by his legs, dangling him. He started to yell out when he realized how high up he was.

  “You can’t kill me,” the man asserted. Adeline slightly weakened her grip as the yelling resumed.

  “Azazel, can humans fly?”

  “I am not sure.”

  “Let’s find out.” Adeline let go of the man as he fell, screaming. The generals watched from above as the man went spt on the hard ground.

  Arthur walked towards the fallen castle, made his way through the rubble, then sat down on a rge piece of marble.

  “The Grand Duchess made the right decision,” Of spoke as he sat next to him.

  “I was very cking; I feel embarrassed.”

  Of let out a ugh as Arthur gave him a disapproving look.

  “We are relics of the past, dogs who learned one trick and survived with it.”

  “There is still time to be better; I just need time.”

  “Arthur, you need to let her grow and find her own path.”

  “I already lost her; I won’t lose her too.”

  Of pced his hand on Arthur’s shoulder.

  “It wasn’t your fault, son.”

  Melora could be seen carrying and petting Scales together with Adeline as they made small talk. Behind them, Azazel descended, carrying the unconscious Arel, who was wrapped in a bnket.

  “They are far stronger than we will ever understand.”

  The two stared at him with confused gazes as several rge birds descended on the torn battlefield. They roared as one of them approached Azazel and lightly poked Arel with its massive beak.

  “She is fine.”

  The bird let out a loud roar once more as it turned and started fpping its wings.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I don’t know yet; only time will tell, but…”

  Azazel turned and stared at them for a moment.

  “They have no limits.”

  Azazel fastened Arel’s huge body against the bird, uttered some spells as a blue dome covered her body, then climbed onto the bird and flew away into the distance. Adeline could be heard cursing.

  “We can’t talk, bird! You fucking old man, come back!”

  Melora started to ugh out loud as the rest of the group started to surround the huge birds. Valerie, in particur, was very intrigued by them as she started to pet their huge heads. They both watched in silence.

  “Did you find out anything about the people who killed her?”

  “She was poisoned by a rare flower only found on the western continent.”

  “Did you find the culprit?”

  “I followed the lead, but it suddenly disappeared. I take it whoever was responsible cleaned up after himself. Lucius was conspiring, but it wasn’t with the empire.”

  Arthur stared down at the ground, his eyes filled with regret. If only he had seen the betrayal earlier, maybe he could have saved her. It was one of Arthur’s greatest regrets. He raised his head and stared at the approaching Melora.

  “Instead of trying to shelter her, how about you spend more time with her? See her as Melora rather than her memory.”

  Arthur reminisced as he stood up and walked towards Melora, who excitedly started to introduce her. Of simply watched by as the rest of the group joined in. Night consumed day as the sun set, but on a day filled with misery, hope still prevailed.