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Fantasy [Private] El Stories

Phantom glared at the Angel with a blush dusting his cheeks at the crude joke, and then he couldn't help his eyes wandering over Eosfóros's body before his glare darkened and he pointedly looked at the Angel's hair. The priest fell silent as he folded his arms across his chest. "You know the saying about assuming," He finally said, "I'm going to get more hands-on during the mission instead of being on the sidelines."

He looked down to Komodo then to Aragorn. "There's a difference between keeping a secret and not wanting to share some stories unless you want to hear about how I had a patient spontaneously bleed profusely all over me? How can I not be different after something that traumatic?" The priest raised an eyebrow and he grab a handful of his robes. "These robes have been through a lot, frankly. Sorry, I probably reek to Komodo."

He noticed that some of the soldiers are mobilizing and he perked up. "That's my cue to leave and meet up with a friend," The priest said and he looked to Aragorn, "Fly safely." Phantom looked to Komodo. "You going to come with? I think you smell her on me too, and she's really nice. But you don't have to meet her if you don't want to."

Late Late
 
Eosforos
​
"Hm, whatever is the case, you will be figured out," Eosforos sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Don't expect me to believe your words, priest. Save your stories to that poor excuse of a goddess." Aragorn frowned slightly at the angel's words but the dragon didn't bother to back up Phantom once again. "Alright, Aragorn, time to get going," the angel said to the dragon and eventually Aragorn starts to move ahead.

Meanwhile, Komodo watched how the larger dragon was leaving now and look up at Phantom. It was obvious that he wants to come yet squinted his eyes when Phantom talked about a friend. He was willing to follow along though.

Phant0m Phant0m

Xavier
​
"...are you calm?"

Xavier let out a quiet sigh, slowly nodding his head.

"Hmp...I have never seen a grown man cry for this long."

Xavier frowned at Perkisas comment, scratching the back of his head. Despite being healed, his hands have a strange ache that won't go away. It was probably the fact he doesn't have his gauntlets on, he has gotten so used to feeling something heavy dragging around his arms. He was somewhat surprised to see them off of him in the first place, they probably had troubles picking them up. It felt strange to stare at his bare hands, stitches written all over it from the demon's experiment.

"...yeah...I think I am done now..." Xavier mumbled, slowly getting up from his corner and looked around the frozen room.

It was cold, the ice around the room was solid and strong. It took him awhile to figure out where the bathroom was yet he probably froze the pipes as well as he thought about taking a shower. He let out another sigh, starting to walk to a different door and start to break down his own ice that sealed the door shut. His tail even helped to break through the door cracks from the top as Xavier used his fists to get through what was in front of him. It doesn't hurt, his bones in his arms might as well be hard as graphene. ...maybe that was aching him, the demons were doing something to his hands most importantly. He knows very little about demon language but they always kept repeating the same word over and over again. Xavier can probably ask someone about it here.

He blinks when the door fell down after he broke through the last seal of ice. It looks like he worked the wrong way.

"So, after you wash yourself up, what are you going to do? You know you can't trust these angels here...and that goddess...your friend is still not here either so there must be something going on," Perkisas mumbled as Xavier stepped out of the freezer room. Xavier shrugged his shoulders as he looked around for another spare room, starting to walk down the hallway.

'...I was hoping taking a shower will help me think...and food too.' Xavier replied.

"Look at that, you are almost back to your usual self. Hot shower and food. Not my fire magic, though."

Xavier slowly nodded his head. 'You're right...I wonder if there is a way...'

"What? You don't like being ice cubes?"

'...I don't know. It feels like...I was forced to be like this.' Xavier eventually found an empty room and walked in, closing the door behind him. He took a moment to freeze the doorknob so no one would walk in on this one and head straight for the shower. '...this tail is...kinda cool though...'
 
Phantom rolled his eyes and sneered at Eosfóros's retreating form on Aragorn. "Whatever the case you'll be figured out," He mocked in a pompous, exaggerated impression of the angel's voice before scoffing. "You have no authority over me, you have no right to judge my actions." He turned on his heel. "And you'll be having a nice little chat with my 'pathetic' goddess pretty soon. Yours let him get kidnapped so suck it." The priest took a deep breath and he frowned down at the small plant sprouting beside his foot.

Aragorn was silent once more, but he shrugged away the thought. He did disappear for a bit and then suddenly dropped back on camp with a sketchy explanation. Phantom could argue that he shouldn't expect the dragon to defend him. The priest looked down at Komodo. "I can see why you're suspicious of me, but I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm not gonna say to trust me, though, but I'm on your side." He walked beside the dragon, searching the crowd until he finally bumped into Xiopetec, who was straggling a bit to make sure her priest found her.

"Child!" She cheered and she hugged her priest, running a hand through his hair. "You're upset."

"Had a pleasant talk with Eosfóros. Apparently I'm gonna be 'figured out.'"

Xiopetec gave a low hiss. "You're not under his jurisdiction, he can't pass judgement on you. Only I can." She looked down to see the dragon and she knelt down. "Oh forgive me! You must be a friend of my child's! I'm Xio." The goddess put her hand out to Komodo for the dragon to sniff.

The priest raised an eyebrow at the shortened name the goddess gave. Why not use her full name? But he shrugged and brushed it off. Saying Xiopetec was a mouthful anyways. "Komodo, meet my friend," Phantom introduced.

"Komodo? A very wonderful name you have, sir."

"Hey! Get a move on or be left behind!" A soldier shouted.

Phantom and Xiopetec nodded and picked up the pace, both walking beside Komodo. Xiopetec was taking the lead a bit, slightly in front of Phantom as they walked with the soldiers.

"Remember to keep your cool," Xiopetec warned.

"The same to you."

Late Late
 
Alec
Alec does not know when he had shut down. He felt that their was a possibility that the lack of a full body check up slowly decreased his overall performance to the point of immediate shut down. When his systems rebooted he noticed a few dark elves around him. He questioned why the dark elves were here but further in the distance Alec could see the red of the Velder knights. "Seems I've been found instead of doing the founding." Ash let out a dry robotic laugh. He stood up to his feet dusting off his coat, when he flexed his hands and arms to check the joints of his body everything seemed to be working perfectly fine.

When he thanked his founders for guarding his body Alec made his way up the outskirts towards the direction of the commander. He found her in what seemed like a huddle with other individuals, escorts probably he thought as one in particular seemed familiar with Elesis. When Alec neared he brushed his coat back, getting down on one knee before Elesis. "My apologizes commander, I've disobeyed orders and defeated the spriggan on my own. I tried to free the hostage as well but among them was a demon spy. He revealed our location killing all the civilians under my protection, I have failed you." His words came out smoothly, he did not ever think once of raising his head because of the disappointment he felt in his actions after the events in the ruins but the report had to continue. "I've also managed to find documents that I believe are all connected to a much larger plot here in velder. My analysis is based on the movements I had observed through day and night patrols. Unfortunately I can not translate these said documents." Alec went on to explain he had saved what he saw into his mind, all he needed to do was rewrite all the documents if given time.

MementoDei MementoDei Late Late ​
 
Elesis​

She received Alec's report with mixed feelings. On one hand, they wouldn't have to deal with a troublesome demon, but on the other, the civilians they had come to save in the first place were already dead. For the looks of things, this mission would be more a raid than anything else. It would make the combat even more vicious, but it would also make their victory even more important.

The camp was already full to the rim from refugees and soldiers alike, any new space to rest would make everyday life better for everyone. She took a deep breath before replying to the Nasod.

"Very well, Alec. I think there should be someone around that can help you find a way to decode it." She asked one of the elves under Yullr's command to take Alec back to the headquarters so he could find any help he needed.

Many of them frowned and whispered among themselves before one of them, with short mauve hair, took Alec away. Once they were out of sight, Elesis continued her march towards the enemy base.

Phant0m Phant0m Late Late
****
Yullr​

His discussion with Darhan had left him with more doubts than answers. On one side, he seemed to be willing to help him for once, but on the other, Yullr felt that his friend was also there for darker motives. The way he had reacted to a very cryptic description of what he had seen from Lara's memories was very troubling.

Nonetheless, he had promised Lento to guard the town and so he would do. He put some protection talismans around the fortified walls, when one of his men rushed by his side with a Nasod by his side.

"Sir. This Human Creation has some information on the enemy movements."

"Very well, that's something you should tell Vanessa. I'm sure she'll put that information to good use for all of us."

"...Sir Mirwynn. This toy of tin has information in a language he can't decode. It's most likely-"

"Demonic." the elven noble continued in a monotone voice. He sighed and ordered his subordinate to go away. The short-haired elf bowed and did as he was told without uttering a single word.

Yullr turned around and faced the Nasod without anything more than a slight frown on his face. "Well, Nasod. I've been informed that you need some help decoding some information you found. Let me take a look at it."

NinthSomnus9029 NinthSomnus9029
 
Alec

After meeting with Elesis one of the elves escorted him to someone who could translate the language of the demons. The names these two used to describe him varied, not that it bugged him but he could see that they detested nasods. When the man asked Alec to show him the documents he sat took out a few sheets of paper were he had written the information taken from his raw memory. "They should be everything I have found. Along with these maps." He showed the sir one of the maps of velder he found that had certain spots crossed off. Demonic lettering was written on top of each crossed off spot, he did not know what it could be but the demons must've had a reason for targeting these area.

MementoDei MementoDei ​
 
Xavier
​
He was happy to shower...it felt so long that he can simply think while hot water rains down on his body. It was relaxing but strangely burning, he was probably too long in the cold yet Xavier didn't bother to cool down the temperature. It helps him to think, and think about a lot of things. Athena's death still depresses him to the very core and he doubts that anything would help him to feel better. Xavier feels better off to die in a dark cave rather replay the events in his head. He just can't forgive himself for his actions, even if they were righteous.

Eventually, his thoughts trailed off to Eosforos, the angel who led him to be like this. So far, he has no answers on why he wasn't here with him. The angel who healed him didn't tell him anything about the blond angel. It was very suspicious so he wonders...what was there that he did not know about Eosforos? Should he find out? Xavier was curious...but he probably won't get his answers from the angels here. They seem to be avoiding the topic about the man as if Eosforos did something that forces everyone to shun him.

Xavier settled on finding information on his own, turning off the water after he was done washing up. Perkisas haven't interrupted his train of thoughts, strangely, yet he can feel the dragon's presence there. He stepped out of the bathroom with a towel over his head as he needs fresh clothes. He felt thankful for freezing the doorknob to this room, it would've been awkward for him if someone tried to walk in without knocking. Not to mention the fact that he surprised himself when undressing. For his memories being erased, he forgot how his body was before as a teen...

Once he found himself spare clothes to fit on him, he debated on where he should look for answers. That was when Perkisas finally spoke. "If you can, try checking out the angel's room. Surely there must be something in there."

"Ah...I guess I'll do that then."

Xavier left the room after breaking through the ice over the doorknob and start walking around to search for Eosforos' room. He passed by a few angels and they gave him wary looks. He kept his distance after that, feeling confused on what was the problem. He kept on walking until he reached to Eosforos' room, which was rather close by to Pryor's cage area. Xavier nearly went to see the dragon first, remembering how it's electricity would tickle his nerves but he focused on finding out answers from Eosforos' room.

He turns the doorknob of the door and it was open. Xavier figured there would be a lock so he was a bit surprised that the door swung open easily. There was nothing out of ordinary in the room at the first sight, making the man step further in and close the door behind him. He hesitates for a moment before locking the door, not wanting anyone to bother him if they happen to see him walking into someone's room. Thus, Xavier slowly walks around the room, noticing it was bigger than a few previous rooms he was in and noticed he has a shelf full of books. They were different colors, nothing that was belonging to Ishmael's kingdom.

"Try looking through there, maybe what he reads depends what kind of person he is."

Xavier slowly nods his head and walk towards to the books. None of them seem to have titles on the bridges, mostly numbers. He pulled out a few books to see what they have yet all books he pulled out were magic writings. One of them nearly made him jump, a book that started to shoot off sparks upon opening on the right page. Though so far, none of these were helping.

Xavier decided to leave the books alone and search the room. Under the bed, through the drawers, behind the closet...everywhere really. He even checked the bathroom. After good hours of careful searching around, Xavier gave up and flop on the bed, annoyed.

"There's nothing here," Xavier sighed in annoyance.

"Maybe we are missing something...what would you describe a man like Eosforos?"

"Well...he is tricky...sometimes hard to read," Xavier answered, his eyes gazing up the ceiling. "I know he likes to pull off surprises...yet sometimes he can play fair." That made him narrow his eyes. He should've suspected that Eosforos wouldn't make anything easy for anyone. He likes to mess with the minds, tricking people how he feels, giving them unexpecting surprises but in the end...the award is at least fulfilling and worth the time. If he were to ever promise something...for him to keep a promise will show up to the very end when you least expected it.

The longer he stared at the ceiling, the faster it took for him to notice something. There was very faint writing written up at the ceiling, it was gold color writing that nearly blends in with the colors of the ceiling. Xavier jumped up to his feet on top of the mattress and jumped up for a better look. His tail subconsciously stabbed through the ceiling to anchor himself, forcing Xavier to form ice on his toes and hands to support the rest of his weight as he got a closer look. To his surprise, it was really a book hiding in plain sight. It blended in so well with the colors, almost invisible to the eye but the writing of the cover was there. He went ahead to peel the book off the ceiling and lands back down on the mattress with sudden excitement and curiosity spilling out of him.

"Well, look at that. This darn book is rather thin too so it was so hard to even notice it."

"Oh...it's changing colors," Xavier said as he held the book firmly in his hands. The books shifted its colors to a blue color with a strange hue glowing off of it.

"This book...I think I know what book this is..." Perkisas' interest made Xavier even more curious and eager to read through it. "It's...very unique."

Xavier stared at the front cover, noticing how the strange writing was shifting to a familiar language of his. It was Eosforos's name on the cover. He took the time to stare at the cover before going to the first page. "'If you manage to find this book, then congrats to you, reader. Let me first say that this isn't just an ordinary book, you probably know that already once you first found it. This book holds a lot of things about me, as well my thoughts. It will continue to fill as long as I am still alive,'" Xavier read out.

"I remember having this kind of book in my collections. A book that will keep on filling about the user until the user's life has ended. An autobiography that fills on its own with ancient magic, not needing to waste any papers. It hides no secrets of any kind, it tells no lies. Nothing but truth and facts about the user. Truthfully, this book shows he made a deal with someone. I wonder for what though..."

"I guess we'll have to keep reading through to find out..." Xavier said as he watched how the words shift to something new.

"I hope to whoever reading this knows who I am. Otherwise, this is just rather pointless to know about my life and how I made it to this point of day and time. Sometimes it's hard to know how to start a story, but I guess I can start off with when I was a child. When I was first broken.

My family is very small, just my mother and I. I did not know who was my father at the time and I did not have any siblings. My mother never talks to me about her mother so it was only me staying by her side. We live in a cruel world, being poor and such. Food was hard to come by, as well finding jobs. Life was pretty hard and...the people were just the same. We were never shown kindness, always being yelled at to move along and ignoring my mother's pleas for food. Whenever we do manage to get food, my mother always fed me first before herself. She was a very kind woman, so I did not understand why we were treated wrong just for living in poor conditions...

I love many things about my mother, yet the one thing I loved the most was her voice. Even if she was weak, she had the most beautiful voice I ever heard in my life, it made me smile during the saddest days. And whenever I smile, she starts to smile too. Her voice gives me hope that our lives will get better one day, and it sickens me that people won't listen to her. I was happy that it was only two of us. Two of us against the world. I always said myself that life couldn't possibly get worse than what we were living through.

Unfortunately, that was not the case as I was a stupid and careless boy back then.

We ran into a group of men, and strangely they couldn't leave my mother alone. Being a child I was before, I started to yell at them, demanding them to go away. They only laughed at me which pushed my anger furthermore. I attacked one of them and they immediately got aggressive over my actions as I hurt their friend. My mother ends up pulling me out of the situations by using her words, trying to talk to them out of it to avoid me getting hurt. I saw how those men's minds started to work and I knew whatever they were thinking about was nothing good. Nothing good at all.

They dragged us away to a different area, away from the larger crowd. No matter how many times I cried for help, they all turn their heads away. Ignoring. Not caring at all. It was really a cruel world. They promised us how they will take care of us, feed us and provide us clothing. Just with a nasty price that made me angry to the very core.

I couldn't stop them from hurting my mother, even when doing it right in front of me. I was too weak.

Even if I tried, they'll threaten that they'll do the same to me.

And again, I was just a stupid and careless boy back then.

I don't remember how long it has been going for. They did feed us like they promised but still treated us like objects to play around with. Eventually, my mother died. She was a very fortunate woman, death was probably the only thing we looked forward to and she reached it first. Though the sad look on her face as she was unable to tell me how much she loved me crushed my heart to pieces. I vowed to myself to never do this sort of thing to anyone as long as I able to live. I kept true to my vow so far.

Years passed and eventually, help came...but probably from the most unusual kind of people. Not people...but demons."

Eosforos
​
Eosforos let out a sudden sneeze.

"...bless you," Aragorn said to the angel as they marched along with the troops.

"Ugh, thank you. I am not sure where that came from..." the angel replied and he gave Aragorn a gentle pat on his head.

Eosforos look ahead with a slightly nervous look on his face. It was weird of him to think about it but he feels like someone was peeping at him. Though everyone is focused on the operation, so it was hard to say that. Everyone was moving rather silently too, only quiet whispers were heard from somewhere in the troops. They have been moving for some time so it won't be long that'll meet enemy forces. Eosforos mostly have his focus in the sky. His allies should at least be in some sort of help for him as he asked them to not get too involved with the battle. He doesn't expect much...but warning signs. Especially with how quiet it has been so far.

Aragorn paused his march for a moment, catching Eosforos' attention. The dragon sniffed in the air, tilting his head to the side. "I smell...something," Aragorn said.

"What you smell? Smoke?" Eosforos asked him.

"Yeah and something else...something bad. Like a bad smell..." Aragorn seems to panic slightly, backing up.

"Woah, come on now. How bad is it?" Eosforos soothed the dragon, stroking the top of his head as certain scales seem to be standing.

"A dragon corpse," Aragorn mumbled, his voice shaken slightly.

'Alright, as I figured that big jaw would have with him,' Eosforos thought to himself. "Come on, we'll check about that dragon corpse. It can't be Cornelius' if that is what you're worried about," the angel said to him. "Remember how you saw your friend's body disappearing before? It could be her." Aragorn let out a heavy sigh, the dragon unsure if he really wants to move forward. Yet as Eosforos fed him encouraging words, eventually the dragon nodded his head. "Good then. I figure it's best we take off to the skies now, too."

Aragorn moved himself to be ahead of the troops, wanting to give himself more room to fly off as well to not knock anyone back with his tail, or the force of his wings pushing him into the air. Eosforos saw Elesis and made a small gesture that they'll go around in the skies, pointing a finger upwards. "Aragorn picked up on something, march carefully though. He picked up smoke just up ahead," he said to her, smiling lightly.

MementoDei MementoDei

The dragon unfolded his wings after being at a good distance and took off in the air. They were able to see where the smoke was coming from at a higher view and the army was not so far from it. Aragorn flew around carefully as Eosforos searched about the dragon corpse Aragorn talked about. Yet he couldn't find anything so far. Though after a good while, Aragorn perked up as he noticed something moving within the buildings.

"I-I think I see Cornelius!" Aragorn said with relief. Eosforos squinted his eyes and spotted the black dragon. He was far from the army, moving rather slow...and towards the wrong direction.

"Good eye, Aragorn. Let's try to help him away from the fire," Eosforos said. Aragorn started to fly towards the direction where he saw Cornelius yet halt on his flight.

"Wait, the smell..." Aragorn mumbled out, turning his head with confusion. Eosforos started to smell the strange odor as well, unsure where it was coming from. He took another good look around the skies and suddenly felt like it was getting drastically darker around him.

"....ah....hiding in the clouds I see," Eosforos mumbled, taking a quick glance above him. "Aragorn, trust me with your wings for a moment," Eosforos said as he pressed a hand against Aragorn's neck. The dragon flinched slightly and immediately dived down to avoid the claws that were reaching for Eosforos. Aragorn's wings shifted slightly so he was able to make a sharp turn around to avoid another attack which was from a tail. Eosforos nearly fell off due to the fact he did not have a dragon saddle but they were able to dodge a sharp one. He moves his hand away from Aragorn's neck and the dragon shook his head in slight discomfort. "Sorry, I feel like you would be slow to react on that one..." Eosforos said to him.

"I'm guessing that was a dragon rider's thing," Aragorn grumbled yet he his slight anger went away as he faced the enemy.

"Well, it was just a brief connection of minds. Though, I think we have other things to worry now..." Eosforos said.

The two stared at the attacker, a dragon who was rebirthed and under control of the demons. Its rotting corpse was very noticeable, the scales were tainted and there seems to be poisonous gas seeping out of the opens of scales and through the nostrils. It was a living nightmare with bones showing off their white colors and fangs being full bared. The four wings were fixed with a different material that was rather hard to tell what it was made out of. The beast let out a growl, sounding more like a broken screech of a dying animal. The empty of eyes made Aragorn shiver and fly back a few feet away. It was no dragon but a monster from hell.

"Athena...what they have done to you..." Aragorn whimpered as Eosforos had a still face, gripping on Aragorn's scales. With Aragorn showing fear, this one was going to be tough to get around.



​
 
Elesis
​
The Commander of the Red Knights had barely the time to wave at Eosforos before he dissappeared into the sky.

"Be careful, Eosf-"

Her words were cut off by a loud and unnatural screech that came from the direction the angel had gone. She clenched her fists and raised her voice to give an order to rally the troops.

"Everyone! We are now in enemy territory. Your commanders and I will do everything to protect you and our victory. Archers! Mages! Aim for the sky as soon as you see something! The rest of you should watch the horizon to kill the enemy in front of you. We will not be defeated! March on!"

Late Late
****
Lento
​
He extended his mana field for a huge radius until he felt the aura of an undead lying ahead.

"That's troublesome..." He said.

Vanessa, who was by his side, raised an eyebrow.

"If receiving orders is troublesome, why are you here?"

The blacksmith glanced at her, unsure of what she could've meant. Then, he remembered that she didn't know about his condition. "I can't hear anything, Vanessa. But I can read lips. What I meant by troublesome is what I feel is lying ahead. It seems like it's some undead. A very big one. As big as that red dragon that flew away just now."

"How can you be so sure? You're not a mage." Vanessa remarked.

"True. But if you know what happened to Feita, then you'd doubt that I only lost my hearing during the battle. I wasn't born with purple eyes."

Vanessa widened her eyes, shocked to know that the legends of Lost Souls were becoming part of her reality. She nodded and transmitted the information to the troops and ordered the Mages enchant the archers' arrows with purification spells. It was common knowledge that undead could unleash lethal miasma. If Lento was right, then whatever laid ahead would most likely breath out venom.

If that ever happened, they'd have to rely on the healers to protect them. Lento thought it was a good precaution, but if it was indeed an undead dragon, he'd have to use his defensive shield to protect all the troops. He looked down and saw his hands, griping his sword tighter than before.

He hadn't forgotten the feeling of facing hordes of demons, but he couldn't face them as recklessly as before. He had to use his new power to protect the rest, because hope could only be sustained by the hearts of the living.

****
Yullr​

"Let's see..." He mumbled as he took a closer look at the notes taken by the Nasod. The points where he had marked were aligned to old graves for forest spirits. If the demons were targeting them, it would certainly serve them to power a ritual of resurrection. There were dark elves working under the demon flag, but there had been no signs of them since he had entered Velder. The names above the locations looked oddly similar to parts of elven incantations, and if there were powerful elven mages hidden in the region, the demons' plan was clear.

"Nasod. Were the demons only scouting around these places, or did they leave something behind?"

NinthSomnus9029 NinthSomnus9029

****
Darhan
​
"A Nasod has information on the demon's plan." Ain stated, after materializing from his spiritual form. The angel was barely surprised by this and he continued to play some notes on his guitar.

"So? The soldiers here have others matters to attend to."

Although he would've liked to be reassured by his own words, the arrival of a forest elf, a human and a Nasod from Altera was worrying him a little. The rescue mission was enough to keep the humans distracted from the demon's preparation to summon the dark Nephilim thanks to his aid. The forest elf was looking for a dark elf, which was rather odd and if the information got to her, she and her group might ruin the summoning ritual before it was right time.

"Ainchase. You know I hate talking with that little sister of yours, right?" he said to vent his frustration.

Ain, who was disguised as a blue-haired human, shrugged in indifference. "I doubt she will help you stop the Nasod from spreading the information."

"Her husband will. But I hate him even more..." he let out a frustrated sigh. "I hope I can join Karis instead of that insufferable couple."

"Want me to take care of that? You seem very angry." Ain suggested.

Darhan shook his head and used his magic to open a channel to communicate with Cai Er, and, to no surprise, Karis was the one to answer. It seemed like Cai Er had tried to get away once more. He informed her about the movements of the male Nasod and the arrival of the mysterious group.

"Oh~ How sweet of you to give us that intel, darling." the succubus queen replied with a sweet voice that sickened him.

"Fortunately for us, we got you and very capable commanders on the ground to deal with any pesky adventurers. I'll contact them right away. Who knows, you might receive a personal 'thank you' letter from them." the demon giggled.

"That'd be touching, Miss. Karis, but a mere servant of the goddess should remain invisible, or else it might spoil our goddess' blessings."

"Haha, Angels are always so serious for jokes. It's a crying shame that you have no will of your own. You're missing out on the real winning team. We might see each other soon, my dear. Bye~"

The channel was cut and Darhan chuckled at the wrong assumption the succubus queen had. "That Karis sure knows how to joke around."

"You sometimes take menaces way too lightly, Noel." Ain scolded him.

Darhan glanced at his companion. "Perhaps, but she knows that if she compromises my anonymity, I have ways to get back directly at her without leaving a single trace behind. She stabs me in the back, I'll stab her heart."
 
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Xavier
​
Xavier stopped reading for a moment, thinking he heard someone outside of the room. Already, the story depressed him furthermore but he had to keep reading. What did happen when the demons found him? He looks back at the book and watches how the words shift into something new...

"When the demons found me, I was 15 years of age. These men forced me to do their dirty work so I was practically a slave to them. Ever since my mom died, I lost my will to talk or fight back. If the people back in the village didn't 'hear' me screaming for help, then what is the point? I was really looking forward to death...until these demons show up.

It was a typical day when it happened, the usually orders I follow around. These demons happen to show up out of nowhere, and it surprised me completely when I saw them. Mind you, I never seen or dare I say, heard of them. So when I saw these guys sneaking into the men's hideout, I stayed quiet with wide eyes as I was first to see them. At first, I thought they were scavenging for food or any valuable items. Though as I kept my eyes on them, it looks like they were searching for...someone. They ignore the food and the locked vaults, only staring at the faces whenever they can. I watched them do this for a good amount of time and eventually one of the men realized I wasn't doing anything.

They scolded me, yelling and already had me by my neck to hurt me. The demons noticed I caught them sneaking in as I still haven't left my eyes from them and to my surprise, they step out of hiding and started to kill everyone in the room. Except me. With the blood flying around and the humans scrambling to escape, I felt no sense of pity for the men. Hell, I got blood stains on my clothes but that didn't bother me at all.

The demons, two of them, were done with their killing and had their focus on me in which I was sitting there against a wall. The two approached me carefully with their weapons out and I wasn't sure what was going on at all. They were talking to me obviously, but I had some troubles trying to understand at first. Once they were close to me, one of them put down their weapon slowly and checked on me. I didn't dare to fight against him and just let him check me out. That's when he saw a birthmark on my arm. That meant something to them. Back then, the birthmark was nothing but a strange, star shape. But to them, it meant something more than that.

'We found the boy.' Those were the first words I understand from them, speaking to a language I was familiar with. That's when I got a good look at these demons, and compare to the ones today...these were fierce creatures compare to these...smoothed skin ones. Fear was no more in my soul and I felt curious about these two.

The two exchange words and I felt like I was being criticized all of the sudden. They pointed my arms and body, irritation in their voice as if they were disappointed. After the two exchanged words, they were in agreement on something. The demons helped me up to my feet and cut loose of the chains that were on me. They led me out and I felt a sudden sense of relief when fresh air entered my lungs. I was free...not entirely, but I felt free. I was still unable to talk but I felt thankful for these demons for showing up. Without these two, then surely I will end up killing myself just to end the nightmare.

From there, I traveled with them. They helped me recover my strength, stole proper clothing for me, and most importantly, trained me. They taught me on how to use a sword and were rather excellent at it. Their English was poor but I find myself starting to understand them no matter how broken it is. The demons as well tried to teach me about their language though it was a struggle for me as well for them. I find myself liking them and I wasn't sure how they felt about me. The two of them have this sort of strange respect for me in which I could not understand at the time. I didn't bother to ask about that at that time.

Throughout my traveling with them, I encountered a dragon for the first time. I was 18 around this time, already mastered the sword and having some confidence in my demon language. In fact, I felt more comfortable talking ever since they tried to have me to talk after days of silence with them. Though, that's a different and not so important story. My first encounter with a dragon was...beautiful.

We were traveling through a mountain, trying to get to the other side. Little did we know that we were walking through a dragon's nest. Once we figured out what we were walking through, the demons told me to not make any moves when we do encounter the beast and to stay quiet. I did what they told me though they didn't tell me to stray away from them. I got lost in the mountains and did my best to retrace my steps but I had troubles finding them. That was when I ran into the dragon.

It was a large one, and no words could describe what I felt from this magnificent beast. I want to believe that this dragon was a relative of Pryor, the beast was full of electricity that bounces off the rocks and into the air. I felt my nerves getting shocked just for staring at it and it stares right back at me. I did what the demons told me to do, standing still and to not make any hasty moves. The dragon apparently saw no threat from me besides the sword being at my side and got in closer for a better look. My hair was standing on its end from the static that was radiating of this dragon and after it got a good look, the dragon pulled away and I believe I saw it giving a slight smile before flying away. The demons found me right after it went up in the air and together we went through the mountain. At this time, we entered into a different territory and I can still remember seeing a glowing city in the distant. The demons pointed towards the city, telling me that's where we are going to.

So we kept traveling forward and unfortunately, my time with these two demons ended abruptly."

Eosforos
​
"That's not Athena, Aragorn, not anymore," Eosforos said to the red dragon as Aragorn struggled to not fly away from the living corpse. Aragorn glanced back to see that Cornelius slowed his movements and the angel can tell that he wants to run to the black dragon. Yet, what can Cornelius do to help without his wings?

"We need to get Cornelius," Aragorn started to say. Eosforos sighed and slightly kick the side of Aragorn's neck to focus.

"If we go to Cornelius, this dragon will go after the army or we end up putting Cornelius in danger. It's best that we distract it plus..." Eosforos explained to Aragorn as he starts to pull out his sword. The beast was a bit unfocused, often looking at the army at the ground level and then back to them with a strange killing intent in its eyes. "I think I'm am eye-candy for it." The angel guessed that the beast is really mindless but is under control of someone. It was best to lead the beast away to break that control and make it easier for them to take it out. "Aragorn, let's try to-"

Suddenly a dragon's call interrupts Eosforos and they look back to see that Cornelius noticed them in the sky. It looks like he needed help and the worse thing is that it caught the corpse's attention. Immediately, the corpse moved around Aragorn and head straight to Cornelius' location.

"Aragorn, it looks like our top priority is to...protect Cornelius," Eosforos said. Aragorn did not have any arguments and flew right after the corpse, trying to get there before it does first. The angel was hoping that the black dragon was dead already but seeing Cornelius' state made him feel...pity.

Cornelius
​
He was very tired. His battle against the puppet master was no joke to him, there were burn marks all over his body. Yet he still has the strength to push on. Cornelius was at least happy to take care of the puppet master's tricks, any longer with it then surely he'll die there. Though as he starts to move forward, his head perked up at a roar. It almost sounds like a dragon but not quite there. Hoping there was some sort of help nearby, Cornelius looks up in the sky and let out a roar of his own.

That was when he noticed Aragorn in the sky and someone riding him. His eyes widen slightly and widen even more when there was a corpse that started to fly towards him. He started to back up and quickly demon soldiers surrounded him as if they tried to stop him from getting away. Annoyed, Cornelius whacked them away with his tail and blinks when a few arrows bounced off of him. That's when he took his chance to slam a fist down, his scales glowing purple and absorbs the mana and health of the nearby demons, slowly healing himself. It wasn't enough, but enough to manage for a short while against whatever is coming to him.
 
Rena
​
The forest elf was fuming after being shoo'd away from a little kid that claimed that her brother was hers. The indignation, the anger and the way she didn't believe her. Although looking from the outside was truly odd for a forest elf to be the sister of a dark elf, she and him knew it. Raven knew it and Add knows about it. Speaking of the tracer, he wasn't around Altera anymore since that day, it made their work pile up against the Nasod king, but he had his reasons.

Almost the same reasons as her, for trying to find her brother.

"This infuriates me so much..! That damn brat!" She trembled with anger, containing the urge to kick the nearest wall.

"Rena, calm down. He might've passed here or maybe he didn't, but if that child DID saw him recently, then I didn't picked up any signs. Not to mention, she kept saying things in the past. Maybe he simply passed by and missed her or maybe he disregarded her. You know what he is, right? He couldn't simply appear and announce it." Raven explained, trying to calm her down.

"I know that! But she still knew him for some reason and kept saying that he was hers! I have the right to be angry after hearing that!" She focused on him now, making his decision to regret.

"Rena, I had Moby and Remy survey the camp, I have found no person with white hair and dark roots on top. Either the description wasn't sufficient or the person left and or changed appearance. Might I suggest to calm down for now and think of another way to track down this dark elf?" Eve intervened, much to Raven's relief.

"But-.. Fine... I'll let go this once. Ahh, I'll go look at that fellows wares." She pointed towards Praus which was playfully playing with his loose bracelet.

"If that calms her down, I'm okay with this. But I'm sure our money will take a small toll." Raven sighed depressingly as Eve nodded to him. The elf had the tendency to buy a little too much.

*****
Dust
​
"So you had that hidden away, Joaquin." He commented to himself as he looked up on the sky to see a corpse of a dragon flying up on the sky. He then looked down as he put his helmet on, which during his time training those two transformed into a mask with mimicked marks like those on his faces, he put his hood up from his midnight cloak and surveyed the enemy forces.

"That red haired one, she looks like the one leading the forces, must keep an eye on her. Then we have... Phantom and Xiopetec moving along, they are probably the healing force if I'm right. The angel is up on the sky with another dragon and there are only a couple of generals that catch my eye, but nothing like that girl. Lento is there too, Yullr is not. Probably at the camp." Despite the base starting to be attacked, he had warned the soldiers down there that if they couldn't do it, to retreat immediately if it was too much.

Of course, they have the will to fight, but having the will and the instinct to survive are two different things. With luck, 85% of the total forces down there will retreat, that's the best outcome. If we're talking about the worst... 15%. But the humans down there are weak, except for those that caught his eye.

"If Joaquin starts to get in trouble, I'm stepping in."
 
Xavier​

The story goes on about Eosforos' end of travel with the demons...

"When we reached deeper into the unknown territory, the demons were in a rush to get to a portal fast. I wasn't sure what portal they meant but the two didn't want to be caught by anyone who may be patrolling. Though whenever I ask where we going, they always cut me off and change the subject immediately. As if they don't want to share anything about our main location.

It wasn't long that someone caught us...well, they caught the demons. At the time we were spotted, they didn't see me but we started to run immediately. Their departure from the world halted when we heard wings flapping that was getting louder for every step we take. They shoved something in my hand after taking a brief pause and apologized to me in a silent voice. Before I could even ask what they were going to do, one of them used their weapon to knock me out cold.

The time I woke up...I was in a bedroom. I never saw those demons again and never knew what happened to them. They likely died... but for what? To make me appear innocent? It made sense for them to purposely knock me out as if they attacked an outsider. Yet I couldn't help but feel depressed to know my first two friends were gone from this world. All they have done was to help me grow stronger, taught me a new language and a sense of adventure. I really felt free with them and now they are gone...just for being different from others.

I did my best to hold my hatred in for the humans as they greeted me once I woke up from being knocked out. Apparently, I was out cold for a day and they were glad that they 'saved' me from the two demons. I didn't express my gratitude to them and asked them on where I was. They offer a strange smile at me as if they were confused on what I meant. It probably made sense...for me being in a middle of a territory, I probably should be knowing where I am. Though they gave me an answer. Just outside of Elrianode, the capital of Elrios. I happened to be staying in a place for dragon riders specifically. I didn't bother to ask about the demons but they gave me back what the demons gave me before knocking me out.

They leave me alone afterward and I took the chance to see what the demons gave me. It was a claymore, heavy and sharp which was wrapped around with clothing. I studied the weapon as I noticed a different language written on the blade. I later discovered that it was ancient Ellian language after one of the riders noticed the writing as well. Unfortunately, the rider doesn't understand too much about it. I figured it was something special and kept the sword with me. And I still have it to this day.

As I said before, I was in the dragon riders camp. From there, as I have nowhere else to go, I proved myself that I was strong enough to hold a sword in my hand and they took me in to train as a dragon rider..."

The story goes how Eosforos completed his training as a dragon rider and having Cornelius as his dragon. This caught Xavier off guard completely. He didn't know Cornelius knew Eosforos back then and it just felt so strange just to be in the middle of them. Was it was a coincidence that Cornelius raised him since a baby and Eosforos continued to raise him until adulthood? That felt too strange to believe. The strange thing was how Cornelius was unfamiliar with Eosforos today. Just how much did Eosforos change back then?

Xavier kept on reading, discovering more about the angel. Eosforos and Cornelius were an unstoppable force of leadership and courage, Eosforos expressing how he favors the dragons more than humankind yet Eosforos as well mentioned a few good moments he had, such as gaining a few friends and even fell in love with a "mischevious rider". The rider who had Fujin as her dragon. That even baffled Xavier even more but unfortunately, Eosforos' love one died in battle against Henir's cultists. She sacrificed her own life to have Fujin escape from danger, thus creating two heartbroken souls. It took a toll on Eosforos as the man fell into depression and...it caused him to unlock his potential.

"After losing another close soul, I found myself depressed for a long time. Cornelius often times would try to cheer me up but nothing could really heal this broken heart of mines. First my mother, then the demons, and lastly my love. For me to be this sad unlocked an ability that I didn't even know I would have. A charm. A charm in my voice that allows me to control anyone however I please as long as I got their trust. Not to mention, it gave me a strange power to grab people's attention and to have them listen. It came to me to a dream, a voice whispering to me about my capabilities and how I am able to manipulate others. How I can make them do what I told them, force them to forget things, being able to change their emotions. Just with my voice. I believed that tiny whisper, as I really feel like I'm at the bottom of the dark pit and I managed to take control of this charm.

From there, I was able to find out truths about this cruel world and how I wish to change everything about it."

The book explains Eosforos' sudden ideal of a perfect world, wanting to restart the whole system and having him in charge of it. It as well revealed truths that Xavier had a hard time believing. Truths about Henir in which he wants to question Ishmael about it... The book admits Eosforos' first mistake, which was trying to destroy the El. Xavier was in shock as the book confessed how he was the one who destroyed the El 200 years ago. It actually upsets him a lot but how could he blame a man who was beaten with hate and sorrow? He must have felt a lot of pain back then...maybe even now.

"I realize after the machine was activated to destroy the El, it was probably my largest mistake. I was so focused on fixing the system that it didn't occur to me that I am just a mere soul who is nothing but the greatest dragon rider there is. I have no higher power to control anything but other's minds and actions. Yet I knew that once the machine is on, there was no possible chance that I could possibly change for the better good. I was full of hate towards this world, I was blind and couldn't see the logic of my plans. I wished I listened to Cornelius when he tried to convince me out of it...he was my closest brother I had and I ruined our trust between us. It was my downfall.

Once that machine activates, I started to run away. Little did I know, I was about to run into all the answers I needed in my life. Starting off with the portal to the demon realm."

Eosforos
​
Both Aragorn and Eosforos managed to catch up to the corpse and Aragorn was very quick to knock it out of balance in the sky by tackling it. The corpse fell straight into the broken buildings, leaving room for the dragon and angel to quickly meet up with Cornelius.

"You're alright!" Aragorn said with heavy relief, Eosforos only nodding his head at the black dragon.

"...why do you have him on you, Aragorn..." Cornelius grumbled low, glaring at the angel.

"I offered, he accepted," Eosforos sighed with a shrug of his shoulders. He noticed how the black dragon was starting to glare at him harder, hearing a growl from him which made the angel's heart skip a beat.

"..." The stare that Cornelius was giving revealed that he remembers him. Eosforos' expression shifted to a still look. "I remember you now...Luc-" Before Cornelius could say his true name, the corpse was already on its feet and rammed its horns against Cornelius.

The black dragon yelled in pain from the pierce and Aragorn acted faster than Eosforos could think. Now that they were ground level, Eosforos felt comfortable enough to stand up and handing onto Aragorn's scales as the red dragon started to fight against the corpse. He can tell Aragorn was struggling to not hurt it bad but with Cornelius getting hurt like that, he didn't have much of a choice but to attack.

Cornelius tried to help out as well yet as he barely got the rest to fight along with Aragorn and the pain overpowering his healing, he couldn't help but fall back down after trying to get back up. The horns of the corpses were very strong as they gotten through his tough scales and he had a troubled time trying to stop the bleeding from his sides.

Eosforos was aware of his old friend's injury but with the corpse fighting back with fury, it was hard to focus. Aragorn did his very best to damage it but it seems to keep on going without a second to spare. The corpse was really a dead one and probably didn't have a soul on it. Someone is controlling and Eosforos can already guess who it is. If they can find Joaquin and kill him, the corpse will die along with him. The issue is that he doesn't know where the damn demon is but he should be close enough to not break the soul connection between the two.

"Aragorn, if we want to take out this corpse dragon, we must find the user," Eosforos yelled.

"Well I am pretty much too occupied! If I let it go, it'll go after Cornelius!" Aragorn growled as he dodged away from a swipe.

"...keep it occupied, will you? I'll find him," Eosforos grunted.

"I....okay! Make it quick!" Aragorn said and Eosforos let out his wings for a moment. "And be careful!"

The angel's wings were strangely in a darker shade of white and a very few feathers were falling off of them. He quickly used them to glide off of Aragorn and they went away within seconds. Eosforos hopes no one noticed that yet the dragons were so busy with each other. Except, Cornelius had an eye on him and he can feel hatred spilling out of the dragon's gaze. Eosforos only gave him a small sad look and quickly ran away to search for Joaquin, having his sword out by his side.
 
At Elesis's command, all of the soldiers roared with their swords and other various weapons in the air. Those who weren't dictated to do the ranged fighting charged into the fray without any hesitation. The healers didn't have a minute to process anything before they were needed. Nurses, priests, priestesses, any kind of healer was suddenly being screamed at to heal fallen soldiers or those who were badly wounded.

Phantom and Xiopetec were quick to answer the calls, the priest shooting light spears to those who were too far and almost at death's door. The goddess weaved around the soldiers as gracefully as a serpent on the hunt as her hands glowed fuschia. One woman screamed as she fell on to her side and Xiopetec caught her before she impacted the ground. The arrow was the cause of the woman's downfall, so Xiopetec skillfully removed the arrow and placed her hands on both sides of the wound as she muttered under her breath. The soldier got up, pat Xiopetec on the head as she raised her sword once more and charged towards her comrades.

Phantom focused on his task, occasionally looking for Xiopetec to see if she was faring well before it got to the point where he couldn't find her anymore. He frantically glanced about the crowd and as he did he noticed something..strange about how the demons were fighting.

They weren't on the offensive at all. They only deflected the strikes if they could and then struck back if the Knight gave a particularly damaging blow. He saw then shoving the humans back, regaining ground. Their faces brought to mind something that Phantom was very familiar with when he used to travel in merchant caravans. He used to see that same expression when he stood on the sidelines of battles between merchants and thieves, desperately trying to defend themselves when they were cleared out of their goods.

"Dexter! NO!" A male's voice screamed and Phantom whipped his head around to watch with wide eyes a group of Knights raising their swords to give a killing blow. He watched as the demon was holding a fallen comrade in his arms, shakily raising his sword and closing his eyes to brace for the hit.

Phantom was suddenly in front of the pair, swinging his scythe and hissing when he heard the clattering of a sword flying out of the human Knight's hand and then he flicked his wrist to raise a mana barrier and he could almost snicker. The Knight's slashing futilely at the barrier without any effect.

"Traitor!" The human yelled at the priest.

"Monster," Phantom retaliated with a sneer, "Murderers about to slaughter those already defeated." He took a small step back. "Have fun with the barrier." He turned his back to the furious human Knights who were shouting curses at him while slashing at the barrier like madmen.

The demon snarled at the approaching priest, holding his friend closer. "S-stay back!"

The priest softened his expression and got down on his knees beside the demon, ignoring the blade pointed at his throat. "I'm here to heal your friend..." He glanced over the unconscious demon to gauge the severity of the wound, "He doesn't look too well."

"You..." The demon dropped his sword and backed away to allow the priest to access his friend. "Please...save Dexter...save him"

Phantom nodded and he held his hands above the area on Dexter's chest where it was the darkest with blood. His hands started to glow as the element of light started to seep into the wound and he closed his eye briefly. "You're lucky...I arrived just in time. I can't make this magically go away...the wound is too severe and he already lost a lot of blood but I can stabilize him. Buy him some time for you two to flee with your lives and get him proper treatment."

"Flee?" The demon glared at the humans behind Phantom trying to get through the barrier.

"They won't be an issue. I'll keep it up for as long as it takes for you to run," Phantom assured., "But you must leave as soon as you can. Am I clear?"

"Yes...thank you...human priest."

"Phantom...my name is Phantom."

The demon smiled. "Thank you, Phantom."

The priest returned the smile and then he helped Dexter stand. "He's stable now. Go."

The demon nodded vigorously, quickly grabbing his friend's arm to wrap around his shoulders for support. Phantom gently pushed the pair ahead and he watched as they ran into the crowd. Once they were out of sight, Phantom dismissed Nox and dropped the barrier.

He was promptly manhandled. A Knight grabbed his arms and pushed them behind his back in a painful grip, and lifted him up. Another Knight caught his legs to prevent the priest from kicking out as the Knight in front of him thrust his sword blade flush to Phantom's throat. The priest grit his teeth at the sting of the blade cutting his throat.

"Well well well snake-eyed priest," the Knight said as he got into the priest's face. HIs blue eyes blazing with something malicious, "You're a naughty priest huh? Able to speak their filthy tongue, I would definitely say that you're a traitor through and through. I never liked you around anyway, and when I watch your trial I'll be thoroughly enjoying the Commander condemning you."

"And I'll be enjoying the look on your face when she finds out about how disgusting you are defiling everything the Knights stand for. I did nothing wrong. I just healed those who needed healing. That's my job," Phantom hissed, "I've been told that demons are monsters who deserve to die but I'm seeing a monster right up in my shit with his pointy little sword making-"

He was promptly gagged and kneed in the stomach. He growled as the Knights aggressively bound him with rope and tossed him to the ground.

"You're under arrest under the charge of treason. In the court, you will be judged and your fate forfeit to Ishmael...may she grant her mercy on a soul that's worthier than yours," The Knight said as he cleaned his blade of Phantom's bead of blood and stalked away with his group.
 
Xavier
​
"You know, this is a lot of information we are getting about this angel...I don't feel safe reading all this here..."

Xavier stopped himself from reading anymore as he listened to Perkisas. The greed dragon was right...it was dangerous to have this in his hands. The fact that it was well hidden made it feel like no one else knew about this special journal and if someone sees him with this book in his hands, it won't be any good at all.

Xavier closed the book his hands and he got off the bed. Not having a suitable place to hide the book as he wants to keep it with him, Xavier tucked half the book in his pants in front of his body and pulled back down his shirt to cover up the rest. First thing first, he needs to return back to Elrios. Yet how? Someone brought him here and returning back down there may be difficult. Suddenly the room gave a slight shake and Xavier remembered about Pryor who was right next door.

He immediately went out of the room and walked towards the larger room. Xavier pushed open the large doors and see the dragon was awake and active, smacking his tail around in what appears to be bored for laying around. It looked like it has been awhile since he last saw the dragon, Pryor was bigger. Almost the room wasn't enough to keep him contained.

Pryor glanced over at Xavier and perked up at the man's appearance, starting to stand on his feet.

"He is...big. Almost the same size as me," Perkisas mumbled in his head.

"He could be the alternate version of you, except he doesn't speak like the other dragons. Oh yeah...this is the first time you're seeing him," Xavier said out loud, knowing that there was no one around as he reached out a hand towards Pryor. The black dragon leaned over and pressed his snout against Xavier's hand in greetings, sending small sparks of electricity. "I been using his...help when you were blocked out."

"Tch!" Perkisas growled in annoyance, Xavier feeling a strange sense of heat which made him slightly lightheaded.

"No time to pick fights. We need to get out of here," Xavier sighed as he gave a friendly push against Pryor's snout. The dragon looked interested to know what his trainer was up to, his wings slightly opening up to stretch a little.

"This guy is almost like Komodo, but bigger."

"That's enough. Come on Pryor, we're leaving here," Xavier said to the electric dragon, gesturing Pryor to follow. The dragon gave Xavier a confused look, looking around for someone else yet slowly started to follow him.

They squeezed, well Pryor, squeezed through the doors and made a crack from above after pushing too hard and they walked down the hallway together. In Xavier's head, he planned for them to get outside and just fly on out of here. Simple enough, right? A few angels panicked when they noticed them walking down the hallway, especially at Pryor who gave a rumbling growl at them. Xavier realized having Pryor out without permission of others was a bad idea. The angels no doubt would report this to Ishmael or anyone who can handle them. He quickly beckoned at Pryor to follow as Xavier picked up his own pace.

"Xavier...you're forgetting something important."

"What you...oh...my weapons." Xavier's plan was now falling apart. He completely forgot about his gauntlets. He was so focused on not getting caught with a rare book and leaving immediately that he forgot that they took his gauntlets away. "Ah shit...that healer should know where they are but I haven't seen her..."

"Tch, idiot. I think your way of thinking has worsened."

Xavier sighed in annoyance at Perkisas cooperation and kept beckoning Pryor to follow but the dragon paused for a moment as he stared at someone down the hallway. The dragon tamer looked to see what's up and dropped his hands when he saw Ishmael with her guards, walking towards him.

"Xavier, you're in a rush to leave," the goddess said to him.

Xavier wanted to say something rude but he refrained from doing so unless he wanted punishment. "Ishmael, nice to see you," Xavier said cooly, offering a small smile at her.

"You have been heavily affected by the dark El, Xavier. I don't think it is so wise for you to leave so soon," Ishmael said with a sigh.

"...I just want to take Pryor out for some...fresh air," Xavier said, looking back at the dragon. "You kept him cooped up in that room. He is getting bigger too. Dragon needs room to breathe, you know."

"Hm..." Xavier wasn't sure what Ishmael was thinking but he can feel Perkisas slowly getting nervous. He can feel the greed dragon trying to not feel noticeable in front of the goddess and he can't blame him. Who knows if Ishmael noticed he is awake or not. "...well, Xavier, before you can go out for fresh air, how about some food? You must be hungry."

It just occurred to him how hungry he was. Xavier stared at the goddess, her guards, and Pryor behind him. He doesn't really have much choice here.

"...Very well, I'll eat. I can have Pryor go back in his room," Xavier said, ready to leave.

"Oh no, you can leave him here. The guards will keep him busy," Ishmael said, the guards giving each other slightly nervous looks. "I wish to have you join me for dinner."

Xavier blinks a couple of times in surprise, unsure what she was trying to do with him. He was as well curious what food they'll be eating...he didn't think gods could feel hungry.

"...Fine by me. Pryor, stay," Xavier said, pointing towards the dragon's feet. Pryor huffed loudly in annoyance and slumped down, smacking painted off the wall with his tail and caused the whole building to shake slightly from how fast he dropped to the ground.

"Excellent, follow me," Ishmael said with a smile on her face, beckoning the guards to look after Pryor and gestured Xavier to follow.

The man took in a nervous swallow and he followed after the goddess, unsure what will be ahead for him.

Eosforos
​
As Eosforos felt the dragons behind to brawl it out, he was doing his best to search around for the damn demon, Joaquin. The demons in this area tried to stop him as he was rather deep in the territory thanks to his flight on Aragorn but they weren't much a match against him. Not at all. Though Eosfors lowered his sword when he saw familiar faces from the shadows. The demons stepped out after Eosforos took care of his enemy and he looked at them.

"Sorry, I don't have much of a choice when they have their weapon against me..." Eosforos apologized in their language.

The two demons who stepped out exchanged glances with each other.

"...we tried to have them to understand, but they refuse to believe our stories about you, angel," one of them responded, slightly soured.

"...you two must have useful information for me," Eosforos said, changing the subject.

"Yes...though they may disappoint you," the other one spoke.

"...go on."

The demon let out a deep sigh. "...recently, your friend disappeared on us. Joaquin and his helpers were close to having him submit to the dark el but by the next day, the man was gone and no one knows where he went. We checked everywhere too but suddenly Joaquin started to mistrust majority of us and started to test our loyalty. Those who were exposed to be loyal to you were killed. We ended up leaving him and the army. I am sorry."

Eosforos' grip on his sword tightened suddenly and he felt his head starting to hurt at the news. "You got to be kidding me," Eosforos hissed in anger, unsure how this even happens.

"We still have a handful of men on your side, angel. We even know the location of Joaquin if that helps as the other demons aren't aware that we switched sides."

Eosforos stood there a bit longer, obviously upset but it looks like he was trying to stay focus. The angel took in a deep breath in and out, tapping the sword gently on the ground. "...alright...how many are there of you?"

"About 30."

"Not bad...I want you to tell me the location of that bastard and then I want your group to stay far away from the battle," Eosforos said to them.

"W-what if you need help? Joaquin is strong..."

"So am I. If he wants to know so much about me then fine. I'll gladly give it to him..."

The two demons exchanged the location of Joaquin, a tall clock tower building that wasn't too far from where they are. Eosforos thanked them for the information and quickly gave them a word of advice. Such as not traveling too close together when escaping from the war. The demons weren't unsure why the angel wanted them to do that but they only nodded and left him to do his business.

"If Joaquin started to test loyalty on his men, then it's likely someone told him about me having a group of demons supporting me. ...No doubt that shadow demons have a role here. I'm not surprised if they heard what I told them but I doubt they would even try to stop those demons from leaving, especially if they scattered like I told them too. Now...to cut the head of a snake..." Eosforos started to make his way towards the clock tower, noticing demon soldiers were appearing more often as he got closer to his destination.
 
Ren​

For the time she had been observing Darhan, she was certain of something: he was taking his work to be as "discreet as possible". She didn't know why or what he had been discussing with the other dark elf that went out, but the stranger was already looking very fishy to her. Something about his aura, or maybe it was his eyes, left her a bad taste in her mouth. She had been in enough battles to be ready to face pretty much anything by now, but she would certainly feel a bit anxious in front of that elf.

"I'm part of the elite forces...I should have gone instead of him. He might be a prodigy, but still..." she murmured before she had the idea of contacting her goddess herself to report to her. However, she received no response. Ishmael was probably busy, but Ren was certain that she got her message.

Late Late

****
Lento
​
The silhouettes of two dragons were visible in the distance as many demon soldiers made their appearance from the sides. Mages and archers focused their fire on them, as instructed, but the demons had enough numbers on their own to retaliate. Lento concentrated his mana field around all the troops he saw and formed a shield, lowering the mages' charge. Some of them nodded at him as they focused on attacking more.

The arrows that were parried by his shield dissolved into mana that made it more solid, but soon enough, melee warriors, armed with maces, lances or warhammers ran through the fields and clashed against his shield, hitting it with their weapons. Vanessa called to the frontlines the most armoured soldiers while the lancers like herself pointed their weapons over the giant shields. Swordsmen, archers and mages stayed behind that human wall and Lento understood that they would be forced to fight the demons head-on. Their main troops were catching up, maybe they would outnumber them if they let them pile up like that in front of the barriers. Without anymore hesitation, Lento lifted his shield on the front.

The demons charged immediately, swinging their maces at the spearmen's heads, cracking the ground to destabilize the soldiers who were stopping their tracks. The spearmen that weren't quick enough to duck the demon's maces were beheaded on hit. Just by taking a proper look at the weapon, it was clear why that weapon was lethal. Not only it was heavy, but it was covered by blades that cut through unprotected flesh as if it was butter.

"HELMETS!" Vanessa hollered as the armour of all spearmen materialized a steel shield from a green El Stone that decorated their cuirass. Lento glanced to the mages behind him, who now focused more on maintaining his shield and boost the strength of the frontline.

As the enhancements were absorbed by their bodies, The spearmen thrusted forward their weapons, scraping the demon's armour and injuring some. The shielders took advantage of this impulse to hit the ground to lift a cloud of dust before some of them lifted their capes, revealing a belt full of El Orbs. They grabbed firmly a wind orb and, as the cloud of smoke was spreading to the sides, getting thinner where they stood, they threw in perfect synchronization a round of wind orbs over the centre of the enemy troops.

Flashes of light and a strong wind appeared formed a tornado of dust that advanced towards them at an alarming speed. The frontline covered their eyes with their helmets as the mages reconstructed the front of the shield. A few seconds later, some injured demons fell heavily over the barrier, cracking it along pieces of armour and limbs of those who had been the closest to the explosion. There were still survivors who stood despite their wounds and seemed willing to die fighting. They were still enough to pose a threat and the reinforcements, riding on cockatrigles or charging on foot while they fired mana arrows from concealed crossbows.

"Assassins on sight. Lento, how many are there?" asked Vanessa as her helmet uncovered her mouth. Lento expanded his mana field while the mages took over his duty of protecting the army from attacks from above. Some priests rushed closer to them and healed the injuries of the frontline while the rest took out the corpses of those who had fallen as fast as they could. The demons who had survived looked back and chuckled in delight to their comrades who were getting closer and closer.

"They're around fifty. Counting the beasts they're riding on, I'd say around-"

He sensed that the mana above them had changed. In fact, it was growing thinner. He looked up to see gargoyles flying over their heads and spitting out fireballs, creating a hole big enough to let a part of the tenth volley of enemy fire. Lento contracted his mana field to protect the archers the demons were targeting, but it was too late. The arrows whistled through and pierced their flesh, hitting at least a dozen archers dead while the others were injured, saved from death by Lento's reaction.

The knight was furious and he leapt up, helped by a part of his shield, and slashed down the gargoyles one by one. One of them came by, rising itself far above him before letting itself free fall to hit him as hard as it could. Its claws were wide open to injure him and, just as it it opened its wings again to cut through his armour, the gargoyle opened its mouth to eat the arm he held his sword with. Lento put his only magical defence as a second armour to brace for the impact. As expected, the gargoyle couldn't find a solid grip and began to struggle to follow up the offence. Those seconds of hesitation allowed Lento to strengthen his arms and deliver a deadly blow to it, creating a current of wind that deviated the course of yet another volley of arrows that was coming his way.

Due to the strength of his own attack, Lento was pushed back towards the ground, but thankfully the priests that were along his unit used earth magic to form a soft pile of dried grass and soft earth to reduce the impact of his fall. It still left him with some bruises, but it was certainly the priests' least important worry. The priority were the archers left, who had apparently been ordered to shoot the cavalry. The swordsmen were given the order to take out their small shields, who were activated like the lancer's helmets over the right or left Vambrace of their armours.

The assassins had taken a lead over the cavalry and were looking to flank the group from the sides. It was the duty of the swordsmen to kill them off as fast as they could in small groups. Lento went ahead with four other armoured swordsmen, facing the first group of four assassins. It was basic knowledge that as long as they didn't have any blindspots, the assassins wouldn't find a chance of attacking them, so Lento used his shield to protect the full unit. They all were back to back, looking out for any signs of the assassins. One of them jumped out from the shadow of the ruins around them, with a shining blade extended towards the soldier to Lento's left. The man rose his shield to parry, but the small demon was way stronger and the hit cut through Lento's barrier, destabilizing the weak stance of the soldier.

"Ronald!" The soldier to Lento's right yelled as he swung his sword to injure the demon. The attack barely grazed it, but it allowed him to pull out his crossbow and fire, pointblank, a poisoned arrow Ronald couldn't parry. It hit his shoulder, barely uncovering the iron hauberk beneath his Pauldrons. The demon let out a frustrated sigh and Ronald took that pause to thrust his sword forward and pierce the uncovered heart of his enemy.

"Ain't no small demon taking me out, Frederik." Ronald said as he got up, shaking off the blood of the assassin. "I gotta get back to Margaret and the kids. Same goes for you, you hear? I ain't gonna let you make Lily cry."

Lento smiled at the small moment of camaraderie between his teammates before focusing again into the remaining assassins. This time, his shield parried all the arrows coming from all four cardinal points. They planted themselves into the shield, letting in plain sight that they were not made out of mana, but out of wood and they carried a small pouch where a burning chord was getting shorter. In the time of a blink, a thick cloud of mana poison surrounded them. Lento began to cough and spit some blood and this alarmed the rest, who put their full helmets on. Lento deactivated his shield and took his sword with both hands.

"You will probably not be affected by what they threw. They were targeting me, the mana user. With all this smoke around us, I can't use any spells to protect you." he said to the other four.

"Aye." said the soldier behind him. "Well, Cap, 'guess this will be our time to shine, don't y'all think so? He already got all the glory with those weird ass demon birds a while ago."

"Hey, youngster. Focus on saving yourself in combat instead of-" Frederik replied as he parried the hit of one of the remaining demons, knocking it with a swift movement of his shield before swinging his sword at it, grievously wounding it. "-Thinking about glory of all things!"

Lento saw the shadow of another demon dash towards him, doing a forward flip in mid-air as it took out his own blade out. Lento parried it with his own and, just as he was ready to counter the demon's strike, a couple of arrows flew towards the few spots his new armour left uncovered. He groaned a little before he took out the demon. The soldier who spoke of glory separated himself from the group along another and they found the two remaining assassins and took them out after a few minutes of fighting. Once they came back, victorious, the cloud of poison had dissipated, but Lento was breathing heavily and his legs were feeling increasingly number. Frederik lent him his shoulder to walk back to the rest of the troops. Lento thanked him for his help as he noticed that the two who had defeated the assassins who attacked him took a few of the demon's teeth.

"Is that..." Lento began.

"Aye." one of them answered as he revealed a young face with short auburn hair and malicious green eyes. " 'Gotta count every damn demon I kill. It's my first battle, ya know? Right, Phillip?" he asked to the soldier who walked behind him. He simply nodded and took out his helmet to reveal the face of a taciturn teenager with hair made of obsidian; one of his eyes reflected a clear afternoon sky while the other was the colour of his hair. The auburn teen looked curiously at the other three, asking them the same question and seeking their understanding of his cruel actions.

Ronald let out a scoff and turned away from the young soldiers, let out a deep sigh as the armour covering his face vanished; revealing the face of a forty year old blonde haired man. Once they were back to the main troops, Frederik uncovered his face and appeared as a red-haired man in his thirties. He left him in care of the priests as they returned to the group of knights sent to deal with the assassin troops to come. Usually, Lento wouldn't accept the help of anyone to heal himself, but when wounds directly affected his mana, he took a longer time to recover. Unless if he used the power he inherited, but something told him that even that wouldn't accelerate his healing by a lot. After a surprising 15 minutes, Lento was ready to go back to combat. Yet the scene that welcomed him once he was back was full of desolation. Phillip was carrying his green-eyed companion, who was walking back with a back full of arrows. He was at the edge of tears as he brought them to the healers while the spearmen were dealing with the remaining cavalry and some mages were burning to a crisp the gargoyles above.

Phillip let his friend fall in front of the priest that had healed Lento and kneeled in front of him, making desperate gestures to make the priest hurry, but the priest put his hands over his shoulders in a comforting manner and softly shook his head, signifying that it was already too late for his friend. Without opening his lips, Phillip sobbed and put back his helmet to hide his tears.

Lento would've liked to comfort the young recruit, but there were still gargoyles over them and the assassins would keep coming.

In the heat of battle, there was no time to mourn.
 
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Xavier
​
Xavier followed after Ishmael as the Goddess was leading him to a dining room for themselves to enjoy. He still made sure that he still had the book on him but he couldn't help to feel nervous around her. There was something strange this time around but he couldn't understand it. It was different compared to before when Eosforos was around.

Ishmael took a pause outside the dining room for a moment as if she was running through her thoughts about something and she gestured Xavier to walk in first. Already there was food on the table and Xavier's worries almost went away when his stomach rumbled to remind him of his hunger. The man and Goddess went ahead to take a seat and Xavier did his prayers before he could start eating. Ishmael didn't talk much as Xavier was filling his stomach, mostly watching him with a blank stare. Luckily, Xavier was too focus on his meal to notice much. Though once he got down to the last few bites of his meal, he can tell that Ishmael wanted to talk about something. Her tense stare was finally getting to him and Perkisas continued to stay quiet for his sake.

Once he was done with his food, he took his time to finish his glass of water and briefly using the napkin to wipe his lips. Yet he hissed in slight annoyance as he forgotten about his skin being broken down thanks to the frost. It was recovering at the very least, though not normally as his skin gave off a strange blue hue around the infected area and even small crystal bits were building up. There was a reason why he felt more comfortable putting on a mask...and avoid eating. That's why he was so hungry now.

But since he was done eating, he took a look at Ishmael and noticed the strange sad look on her face. It caught him off guard compared to the blank stare and he glanced away for a moment.

"It looks like you have something on your mind," Xavier said to her.

"...I guess you could say that," Ishmael sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I really have a lot in mind and things to tell you but I am not sure where I can exactly begin..." She sighed again, staring over at the plates. "...it looks like Ren wants to talk to me..." Ishmael took a long pause. "...would you believe me that I am starting to lack trust in my fellow angels?"

Xavier stared at her for a good while and slowly nodded his head.

"Oh, you do? I guess you must of know something that I don't. Though, if it's about Eosforos, I already know," Ishmael said, causing Xavier to let out a large sigh.

"So you do..." Xavier mumbled, playing around with his fingers. "...is that why he is not here?"

"No, not really. I do want him to return back just to talk. I believe he was manipulating me before and it may be the highest treason for him to do so. He will be put on trial and yet, I have many questions about what is his purpose for him to be here as an angel in the first place. ...hm, I figure I know a lot about him but I guess not completely. I still remember meeting him for the first time." Ishmael looks slightly disappointed at something, maybe herself. Xavier couldn't tell but he kept quiet. "...I guess we can talk to him ourselves when he is done with his business down in Elrios. I did give you two a mission but it's not much of a mission since you're here."

"Right...to retrieve back the Earth El. I wonder what he is up to now..." Xavier sighed, crossing his arms.

"We can go observe if you like, and I suppose I'll go and see what Ren wishes to report to me then," Ishmael said, starting to rise from her seat.

Xavier nodded his head and got up as well, following Ishmael out of the dining room to meet up with Ren. The Goddess' trust in her angels may be because of Eosforos but he feels like it could be someone else. One angel shouldn't be enough for her to not trust others...unless his manipulation caused her to do so many things that she regrets later on in time. Though, it won't be long that he'll get a few answers from her...

MementoDei MementoDei
 
Komodo
​
Once the army engaged against the demons, Komodo did his best to stay out of it. He doesn't know too much about fighting himself, he usually has Xavier to give him orders... Though the man was not with them at the moment and he worried for Aragorn as the fire dragon is currently keeping the other dragon occupied. He hopes that he'll be fine in the end.

At the very least, he tried to keep an eye on Phantom. Despite him disliking men greatly, Phantom took care of him well enough that Komodo sees him as a friend and a food source as well. He would hate it if his food source went down during the war. Though after seeing what Phantom did and watching the human soldiers jumping on him, Komodo immediately went offense at the humans and flew towards the group that was taking Phantom away. His appearances did spook the men, enough for them to unsheathe their swords but after noticing who it was, one of them let out an annoyed sigh.

"Can't you tell your pet to help out in this war, priest?" One of the soldiers growled at Phantom and took a step back as Komodo suddenly growled at them, advancing closer. "H-hey! What is it doing!?"

Komodo was big enough to get to their faces (as much as he can) and letting out a growl to leave Phantom alone. The knights were getting tensed how the dragon was acting towards them.

"Tell the beast to stop that," the knight said to Phantom, kicking the priest to get it going. "Otherside, I'm cutting it down!"

Phant0m Phant0m

Aisha and Jabberwock
​
Jabberwock along with, and to her surprise, a dwarf, are in charge of their division and their main focus was getting rid of the Kenaz in the area so the other mages won't have any issues using their fire magic as they advance onwards. The dwarf joined with the Velder army from about three months ago after hearing that they needed more aid and he is a very enthusiastic man from what Aisha heard of. And loud. As well as boastful. It was probably what the army needed for a boost of confidence in the war, in this attack specifically. Though no one knows much about his commander skills as this was his first time leading a division of men. Obviously, everyone was nervous yet the dwarf had such a confident look on his face that was almost enough for the men to feel confident in their fight. Jabberwock as well appears to look fine, his translator still by his side and having armor to project himself.

Though Aisha wonders how the communication would work here. Without a doubt, these two talked with each other before and had their plans figured out. The defensive lizardmen whose's scales were tough and wearing heavy armor were behind a line of human soldiers in which their gear is enhanced to handle against fire magic. Behind the bulky lizardmen were a mix of soldiers and lizardmen, a mix of lances and swords plus shields. Aisha noticed that it looks like they were in pairs, a few of them seem to try to get to know each other a bit better as a few lizardmen can speak their language and as for the others...well she can only hope they got each other's backs. Finally, there was a line of mages and shaman, all knowing their magic missile spells, thanks to Aisha, to snipe out hidden enemies and drawing out the Kenaz that may be hiding around the corners or within any possible burning flames. She was with them in order to strengthen their magic but she is able to spread herself more to help the fight ahead as well helping the injured to get away safely.

It wasn't long that demon forces start to appear as they advanced forward. "Here they come!" The dwarf's booming voice seems to interrupt the demon's charge as they took a second pause, perhaps surprised how loud he was. "Let's smash their little, puny, simple-minded heads down to the pavement men! Show no fear! Show em why you shouldn't mess with us!" The dwarf yelled, the soldiers getting confident and the first line of men immediately took their stance, their swords out. The lizardmen behind them started to crackle their necks and had their clubs ready in their hand.

"Switch!" The dwarf yelled out. Right down to the last minute as the demons draw closer to the human soldiers, the men shifted their position which gave room for the larger lizardmen move up front, taking a step forward with their clubs low and sent out a powerful uppercut swing. It completely caught the demons off guard as a few tried to dodge away yet end up bumping back to their comrades. The charging demons were flown away by the uppercuts that they didn't suspect. This caused the rest of the charging demons to dodge away those who were hit, few were unfortunate to dodge away and kept on charging with their spears up. The lizardmen noticed the incoming attacks and parried against the spear thrusts. A few didn't manage to block it away yet as they have tough skins compare to humans, they were given a second chance to knock out the spearmen with their scales being ripped off. For certain, those spears are fatal weapons to a human.

The soldiers who were first in line didn't let the lizardmen push back the demons on their own and were quick to join the fight as they push forward. As the army started to fight, it wasn't long that a strange wave of fire appear and made an attempt to surround them as they were fighting off the demons. The men panicked at first as the heat started to rise yet they can notice a balance of temperature against the heat and able to resist off a few fire attacks that come out random.

"The repel won't last very long so start taking them down, mages!" The translator yelled out Jabberwock's commands.

The mages and shamans quickly sent out their magic missile and Aisha was able to send out two of them. She even had the mana to boost up the mages' magic and eventually it wasn't long that the Kenaz's reacted to the magic different from their own and were forced out a hiding. They were quickly killed by the soldiers or when the magic missile managed to destroy them as well. Though the following up explosion took them by surprise and the men nearby were flown back, injured.

"God damn those flammable pixies! Avoid them after you killed them!" The dwarf shouted, obviously in anger. "We can't let a mere explosion stop us!"

The demons were quick to take this to their advantage to jump on the fallen soldiers who were trying to get back up but Aisha quickly jumped in to help the fallen soldiers and used blizzard shower. The demons in the range were frozen in place and the lizardmen were able to help the men up and move back to safety from any more demon attacks. Though as the ice defrost, the demons were already dead and fallen down as the ice poofed away. The enemies noticed the power of Aisha's magic and noticed how much of a threat she was compared to the other mages. Yet she quickly teleports away before they could even go after her.

"Shamans, do your best at healing those who were injured-"

"ARROWS!"

The dwarf cut off the translator as a wave of arrows were flying at them. The bulkier of lizardmen saw this and immediately helped the soldiers without soldiers by swinging their club over them. It packed enough wind that the arrows were either blown away or deflected by the speed of the clubs. The soldiers who were protected were thankful and parried away lance attacks towards the lizardmen as they tried to fend off the arrows. A few stray arrows got through the clubs yet were nothing but weakened attacks and the saurus was able to shrug it off. As for the others, the humans held up their shields for their lizardmen comrades as the arrow hits, though a few were a second late to avoid a solid hit. Aisha was able to set up a spell on time to put the arrows around her range still in the air to protect the mages and they would fall without the force of being launched. The dwarf had his shield up to protect the chief as the translator has his own.

After the arrows died out, the men continued to defend each other as the injured have retreated back for healing.

"We are doing fan-fucking-tastic men! We have less Kenaz to worry about now, the fire around here is dying out and the demons are being pushed back!"

It was true, the demons never know much about the lizardmen's fight style as it was the first time they fought against them. They were varied, from ones who are tough-skinned and packing a punch down to the lancers who did very well to work with their human partners. It almost looks like the demons were getting overwhelmed by the teamwork and unfamiliar battle styles they were seeing and went on the defensive. Before Aisha could believe they could actually win their part, there was suddenly a giant soldier on top of a black cockatrigle. The large demon shouted at his men, angry that they were backing up this far and glared at the army.

"Oh ho ho! You finally showed up, you green, slimy bastard!" The dwarf yelled at this particular demon, holding up his weapon which was a large hammer. The larger demon noticed the dwarf and let out a frustrated growl as if he recognized the dwarf. "Mcgard the Blitzkrieg! You aren't so high and mighty now that yer men are being smashed down!!" The dwarf taunted him, laughing boastfully. "Bunch of roaches, all you demons! Make room for me, men, I want his damn head!"

"I'm guessing they know each other...?" The translator mumbled, obviously annoyed by the loudness as his chief slowly nodded his head. "That demon might actually cause troubles for everyone here. I wonder if that's why Commander Tony wants to take him on."

As Tony made his way through the fight, aiding the men who needed the most help with his large hammer and nearly causing the earth to rumble whenever he uses it. The hammer was very unique from the looks of it, nothing that Aisha has seen before as she watched the commander going after Mcgard. Mcgard himself saw him approaching and he was ready with his spear tight in his hand and the cockatrigle giving a nasty glare at the coming dwarf. This fight just might determine whether their division will push through or not. For now, Aisha focus on helping the mages regain their mana, pulling out soldiers who are in danger, and teleporting away to safety and regain back energy.

Eosforos
​
Under an illusion of a demon soldier, Eosforos scurried up the stairs of the clock tower. He figured to not waste much time against simple soldiers and go right to Joaquin to give Aragorn an easier time against the corpse. When he reached the top of the tower, he already saw Joaquin with a few of his men by his side. It looks like a group of alchemists trying to support Joaquin as he had control of his corpse, obviously requiring a lot of energy. Eosforos' took a pause for a moment, clearing his throat.

"Sir! I have come to report that the rider of the red dragon has been running amok against our men and we lost sight of where he could be now!" Eosforos said.

"Damn angel! It won't be long that he'll find me here. I need to finish this fast but this damn red dragon won't even back away," Joaquin growled in annoyance.

Eosforos went ahead to take a closer step to them, being careful at first. One of the alchemists looked up at him and blinked a couple of times.

"...hey, wait a second...your eyes...!" The alchemist started to speak but it was too late for them.

Eosforos broke his illusion by bringing out his sword and sending out an El energy fueled range attack at the alchemists. They were caught in surprise and flown off the tower by the push of El energy. His demon soldier image faded away into a strange black fog before disappearing into the sky. Joaquin's eyes widen in surprise and scrambled for his cane.

"Nice to know that you're still got that cane with you," Eosforos said with a smirk.

"I swear, I'm going to enjoy watching you scream for mercy!" Joaquin shouted, unsettled on how he was snuck on so simple like that.

"I heard that you kill off a handful of men who aren't loyal to you," Eosforos stated. "I'm sorry I got them wrapped around my finger but hey, you're making a mistake here, Joaquin."

"I never made mistakes, angel," Joaquin growled.

"Yeah? Well, it was your mistake to take Xavier with you. Now, I am very willing to let you go free if you can tell me where Xavier is," Eosforos said. He knows that the demons told him that Xavier disappeared mysteriously but that was too fishy. Who has taken him away?

Joaquin stared at the angel with a strange look and let out a scoff. "The man disappeared on us! We don't have him anymore but it probably doesn't matter. He was close being consumed by the dark el and is likely dead without our help to stabilize him."

"Really now? Why I feel like you're lying to me," Eosforos sighed.

"I'm not lying" Joaquin huffed, ready for battle. "It doesn't matter now! I wanted you dead by yesterday!"

Eosforos noticed he had a handful of potions on him, all in different colors. If he can remember correctly, he was the master of hallucinations and Joaquin usually carries around unique potions around to help him. Eosforos held up his sword at Joaquin, starting to have a wicked smile on his face as his sword gave off a faint glow.

"You really shouldn't have taken Xavier away from me, Joaquin."
 
Elesis​

As always, she was part of the divisions who were put into the front. Vanessa and Leon had taken the left while Tony and Raphael had taken the right. If everything went according to plan, Their flanks would win and allow them to surround the enemy. The Blazing Heart felt a little more nervous than usual as she saw the different divisions spread out while the enemy also made its entrance through the desolate ruins of old farms and houses.

If there was something that she liked about that kind of terrain was that the chances for assassins to hide to flank them were thinner, although the left side had more hiding places. All she could do was unsheathe her weapon and hope that Vanessa's and Leon's unit would be fine. They had prepared magical defences along Tony's and Raphael's men, who had the lizardmen with them.

She lifted her gaze and saw small shadows lift something in the air. Those were likely demonic archers. A defensive spell was cast by the mages behind her as a volley of arrows. Instinctively, Elesis put her right forearm above her head as a metallic shield appeared from her vambrace. The heavily armoured soldiers that covered part of the horizon put their shields up as Jean de Couvertin, the fourth commander of the Centurion Guard, and Elesis ordered the soldiers to advance in the "turtle" formation. The spearmen put forth their spears on top of the ' shoulders while the swordsmen like herself put up their shields to cover their heads.

They had some archers with crossbows, but most of them weren't trained enough to try a dangerous maneuver to predict the demons' movement through the poor visibility their defensive stance had given them. They did not have outstanding mages like Aisha Landar, but all mages were experienced enough to pull forth good strategies to turn the tide of battle in their favour.

The enemy arrows broke as soon as they encountered the shields, meaning that they were made out of mana. As soon as she realized this, de Couvertin ordered the mages to empower their mana absorption through the mana the arrows left on their shields.

The enemies were approaching in a chaotic fashion, as Kenaz and glitters armed with Warhammers rushed towards them. It was as if they knew they had an advantage, or they were desperate. The former was more likely, supposing that the battle only began when the centre of the frontlines had clashed. Although, the combat between the dragons might've affected some of their troops.

A faint glow above her alerted Elesis that the mages were preparing a powerful attack while the few experienced archers took aim to push back the Kenaz, who were were more of a threat to their unit than the other demons. The fairies exploded as they died, burning some demons alive while others were stopped by the burst of heat that the fire fairies produced.

"They...explode?" Elesis thought out loud before giving out another order: "Mages, focus those fairies! They're approaching in more numbers than the demons, if we make them all explode, we can get to the demons' rear guard faster!"

Meanwhile, in Velder....

"Are you sure about that? Wouldn't that put them against you?" Ain asked, worried for Darhan.

The disguised elf simply put on a bitter smile as he finished a cup of wine, he was sitting on a wooden chair and stared at the guitar to his left. He sighed, looked at him and calmly gave a reply to Ainchase's worries.

"Tell me, Ain, what kind of angel deals with demons?"

This question left Ain puzzled. He knew from Ash's tales that angels were seen as the natural enemies of demons, but that wasn't the case in Elrios. Many angels working for different gods had made deals with demons. Ren had often told him her own tales of the old pagan gods and how some of them were even worshiped by the demon kind. If it was an order, then there was nothing wrong in it.

"I'm not sure. But if it's an order from that angel's god, then an angel that deals with demons is a righteous one." He answered.

Darhan closed his eyes with a dry laugh. He agreed to Ain's words with a silent voice. "You're right. But they are losing the battle." The elf continued as he got up from the chair he was sitting on to go near a wooden cage. He took a mummified Kenaz out of it, caressing her dried up hair. "A lost battle is unfortunate, but if that's what destiny has decided, it cannot be helped."

Ain frowned at Darhan's lies. "You rushed the demon's defeat by returning Xavier and letting the Kenaz be captured. If this continues, then-"

"Then Joaquin will die, hopefully by Eosforos' hands. If that happens, another soldier will make his entrance. A far more powerful one. He goes by the name of Dust, but who knows if that is truly his name. I haven't been able to get Karis to tell me more than that. The humans might win this battle, but their war is lost."

Darhan revived the fire fairy and put a stealth spell over her. The Kenaz uncovered her chest so Darhan could engrave another spell over her body. "Good girl," the elf said with half a smile "now go and bring me the proof I need."

The fairy slowly vanished from Ain's sight and Darhan let out a sigh. "I don't have any hatred towards the humans. I merely need to ensure to fulfil my mission. Although..." The elf walked back to his chair and served himself another glass of wine. "It might get complicated. But I'll leave fate into the hands of the Goddess."

Ain sighed at Darhan's answer as he watched the elf drink the first taste of his cup. He felt that there was something Darhan was not telling him. It was rather strange, but Ain didn't think of it as suspicious, it was more... it was a feeling he had never felt this strongly before. Through the time they had passed together, he had also felt that Darhan had taught him and shown him a side of the world he had never seen before. All the while the elf kept him out of any battles or talks with dangerous people.

"Da- sorry. Noel." Ain apologized, expecting a severe glare from the infiltrated angel.

Yet, in Darhan's gaze, there was nothing more than a tranquility. He finished his second glass of wine and reassured Ishmael's son.

"It's fine. The town is too scared to have ears. What is it Ain?"

"Well, I just got the feeling that you're being a bit too secretive, considering that mother sent me to keep an eye on you, but I feel that what's happening is the exact opposite. It’s unacceptable. I know how to defend myself and deal with people, mother and father have taught me that perfectly well."

Darhan raised an eyebrow but his mouth slightly curled into a smirk. "Ain, tell me, how old are you?"

"Well, I'm around 35 years old. That's the time I passed in my mother's world and my father's world combined."

"And how much time does that amount to in the human equivalent?"

Ain let out a "hmm" and began to count in his head, but was soon forced to use his fingers to end his calculations.

"That would make me...7 years old. But, but wait! That's not what I wanted to talk about! Darhan! This isn’t fair. You're drunk! You're more serious when you're sober. Sober up!"

Darhan let out a warm chuckle. "You know, it took me quite a while to get used to the real reason why your mother sent you with me. Or maybe it's just because of the alcohol. It's quite strong for a wine... But the point is, as you have admitted it, you're seven in human years. That's why you have a hard time preserving an adult form in this world. Like it or not, your powers are not fully developed to maintain a grown human form when the air isn't filled to the rim with El Energy. You need to further develop your mana control."

Ain suddenly felt awkward in front of the elf, he felt as if Darhan was right, but admitting it made him feel even worse. His cheeks turned a little red and the young prince replied loudly "That's not the reason why! The earth El is weak here, so I can't use my full power. If I could, then I'd make you swallow your own drunk words, Darhan!"

The elf got up and stretched as the sun was still way above the horizon. He knew that the troops wouldn't come back than a few days later, if all went according to his plan. If not, then the humans would really be doomed, which would bring even more trouble for him.

"Ah, forgive me, Ain. If you make me do that, Ain, I'd be really drunk all the time and wouldn't complete my mission. That said, if you want to keep your human form for more time, it might be better for you to keep a child shape. Until the El gets stronger again, of course."

Ain tilted his head and nodded at Darhan’s suggestion. "I'm only doing it for myself. Don't ever think that I'm a child. I can be even an old man if I really wanted to!"

Darhan scoffed. "You should talk with your mother, if that's the case. She wanted you to know the world she protects before forming you as her successor. In her eyes, you're very much a child that needs to learn much more than the biased view of your father."

Ain looked up to Darhan. His new human form was way smaller than his companion, but he didn't feel the unstable flow of El energy slowly erasing his physical form anymore. At least, that was something he liked about it.

"Darhan...my father-" Ain stopped talking, surprised by his much higher-pitched voice. The prince cleared his throat, assuming that his voice had adapted to his new appearance. "Ash, my father, knows that my mother is not the best goddess to be in charge of this world. Which is why he fought against her."

Darhan nodded and kneeled to look at Ain directly in the eye. "Your father came from another realm, he brought other gods with him and destabilized the balance between each of this universe's dimensions by creating his own. Henir was not very pleased with it and he found the way to chase him down. Luckily for Cai Er, your mother and other angels, myself included, found a way to keep her safe from Henir."

Ain felt anger crawl in his mind and he clenched his fists. "You made my sister prisoner. She's not happy with the demons!" He hissed.

Darhan closed his eyes and sighed. He answered with the calmest voice he could muster. "You're right. What we did to your sister has no excuse. But remember the time I was captured by Henir? If immortal angels like ourselves can be affected for months by entering that dimension, God knows what would happen to mortal souls like your sister. She's unhappy, she's even scared, but she's alive, Ain. What would you have done if she had been captured and we were only able to bring back her remains?"

Ain lowered his gaze, he would've been devastated if Cai Er had died. He didn't like the fact that she was a prisoner, but Darhan was right. If Henir himself had targeted Ash, the only safe place for Cai Er would've been the demon realm. He felt powerless, if he had been stronger, maybe he would've been able to save them all.

"Is... is it because I'm not strong enough?" He timidly asked. Darhan put his hands over his shoulders and comforted him.

"No, Ain. You're the Prince of the Kingdom of Ishmael, born from two gods! You're not weak at all. On the contrary, you're very strong, but you can't, for now, correct the mistakes of your father."

Ain continued to stare at his shoes and soon enough he felt Darhan's arms envelop him. "In due time, you'll see, you will erase the debt of your father." The elf whispered to his ear. Ain was surprised by this gesture and he timidly returned Darhan's hug. It was oddly comforting, his own father had never done nothing of the sort to him, he simply trained him as a warrior. It had been different with Cai Er. Very different. She was the only one that got any warmth or comfort from Ash. Although, considering the conditions of his birth, was that cold attitude inevitable? He was afraid to even ask. If he could correct his father's mistakes and save his sister, that would be more than enough.

"...How will I do that, Darhan?"

"By eliminating the one that threatens your family, of course...Your mother will be proud of you, and your sister will be thankful." Darhan murmured. Ain couldn't see the darkness that had swallowed Darhan's calm gaze, nor the vengeful smile that crooked the angel's face. "You'll avenge the death of your father and bring peace to the world, just like any prince would do."

****
Ren
​
She waited for Ishmael in what was known as the Projection Temple. She had gathered all the documents she could find from Ishmael's library, but she had not found anything more than the names and portraits of the leaders of an old alliance between the dark elves and humans around the modern Velder area; it dated back to the first Demon Invasion, the only war she regretted not being able to fight. As she scrolled through the pages, she found the portrait of a young elf, a child with silver hair and violet eyes. She displayed the images she had gathered of the suspicious elf over the giant El that floated around a round table in the centre of the room. It wasn't too much of a stretch to assume that the child portrayed had grown up to be that elf.

She read out loud the name beneath the child's portrait. "Yullr Mirwynn. Eighth successor of the Mirwynn dynasty." She flipped through the pages, but only human portraits remained until the last page. "And apparently, the last."

Ren looked around the names surrounding the last successor of the elven dynasty and was surprised to see a familiar name next to the title of Duke: Darhan Irisse. Still, it was not enough to have the evidence against the bad feeling she was getting from Yullr Mirwynn. The door opened and Ren lifted her gaze to see Ishmael enter along Xavier.

The Warrior bowed "My Goddess. I'm honoured by your presence."

Ishmael made a sign for her to lift her head and tell her what she had found. "I have found some information on the situation on Velder that might require your attention. It concerns this elf, Yullr Mirwynn." She pointed at the image of the grown up elf on the crystal and pushed the book she had found, portraying a much younger version of him. "He was part of a dynasty of rulers around the time of the first demon invasion. Darhan...well, he was also part of the nobility at the time. As you know, the demons captured many dark elves and forced them to work for them during that time." She zoomed in to see a small mark crawling around Yullr's neck. It was barely noticeable, but the change of colour on the El's surface detected a strong demonic aura emanating from it. "I'm not one to point fingers, but I wonder if it's necessary for Darhan's mission to get involved with this...dangerous individual. Of course, it's also possible that Darhan saw him as an old friend, considering their common past. It'd be a rookie's mistake, but an understandable one."

She glanced at Xavier and was relieved to see that his wounds were slowly healing. "That said, I'm certain that this will change a lot of our plans for this war. Your orders?"

Late Late
 
Phantom gave a low hiss, coughing from the kick after the gag was forcefully ripped out of his mouth to command Komodo. "He's not a pet," He snapped as he struggled in his bonds and he looked over to Komodo then to the knight. "I can't tell him what to do, but I suggest you back o-ooh shit."

The knight that threatened Komodo coughed around the arrow poking through his throat before collapsing to the ground.

The priest stared at the knight, his mouth stuck in the 'o' shape before one of the other knights rushed to his side.

"No!" He screamed and he looked to Phantom, disgust marring what little of his face that could be seen through his helmet, "Heal him!"

Phantom blinked and he looked down at the fallen knight-Asshole 1 he deemed in his head- then back to other knight-Asshole 2. "Excuse me?"

Another whistle of an arrow, and another asshole down, this time with a cry and gripping his chest. The priest watched that one fall, before looking to Asshole 2. These idiots aren't running, and he scoffed at the fact that only a couple of them had shields, one of them being dented and missing a chunk.

What do these knights think, that healers can reverse every damn condition possible?

A sinister idea came to mind, and Phantom slowly smiled. "Sure, I can heal your friends," he agreed in a flippant attitude, "Just cut me free."

"And let you go? No! You can heal just fine like that!"

Another arrow whistled, this time clanking in time with a shield. Shame.

"My healing technique requires my hands to be free." Phantom stared at the arms that were holding the shields up, and he beckoned the fire element to heat the metal that was in contact with their skin. His lips quirked a bit when the two knights hissed in pain, dropping their shields before he glared at Asshole 2, wiggling his arms to make a point.

More whistling arrows and those two fell to their doom with coughs.

"Fine!"

Asshole 2 used his sword, sidestepping Komodo to cut the ropes that bound his arms together behind his back and Phantom didn't hesitate to push him away, summoning a mana barrier once more to protect him and Komodo from the raining arrows making their relentless offense on the group.

And Asshole 2 had taken 3 of the 5 arrows in his back, through the chinks in the armor that Phantom didn't even know existed, collapsing to the ground in front of the priest and on top of his friend and Phantom gave a low chuckle, rubbing his wrists to soothe the skin there.

"Now let me heal your friends, huh?" He said as he touched one finger to the first fallen knight. "Dead." He pointed at the other fallen knights. "And all of them are dead too sweetheart I don't need to touch them to know that and frankly, I'm not gonna have an arrow impale me to try an prove that point to you." He leaned close to Asshole 2's face to get all up in the man's personal space.

"Your fate is forfeit to Ishmael," Phantom crooned to the dying knight, a crooked smirk dancing across the priest's lips as the knight continued to cough and wheeze, "May she grant her mercy on a soul that's worthier than yours."

"S...she'll give me peace."

He gave a moment to make a show of looking around. "She isn't around to save you...you've been forsakened."

He stood up straight and he gave a meaningful kick in the corpse's chest. "The only time I'll dishonor the dead," He muttered and he summoned Nox again, the staff appearing with the amber scythe blade ready and giving a menacing glow. He looked to Komodo. "Come on buddy, let's find Xio."

Late Late
 
Xavier​

Xavier listened along with Ishmael, curiously looking around in the room. It was his first time being in here, the man recalling how Eosfóros mentioned that they were watching him every once in awhile since he was a child. This was probably where Eosfóros was back then. He wonders if there was a limit to this sort of thing.

“Hmm...” Xavier snapped his attention back to Ishmael, noticing the Goddess was staring at the image of Yullr. “I did sent Ain down with Darhan to keep an eye on him, though now knowing that Darhan made contact with this dark elf, I wonder if Ain is suited for the job...he is still young...”

“...Ain?” Xavier interrupted. He realized he cut through Ishmael’s words as he saw how the Goddess was about to speak again and was quick to apologize, “Sorry for interrupting..!”

“At ease. You never met my son before,” Ishmael said with a calm voice.

“S-Son? I didn’t think...well...” Xavier bit his tongue to stop himself from running his mouth but Ishmael only gave a light sigh.

“It’s really a long story on how this happens. Though...at the time when it happened, it was necessary at a certain point.”

Xavier didn’t bother to ask anything else, unsure if he made Ishmael upset for bringing up the past though her voice wasn’t in anger the next time she spoke.

“Ren, for now, I want you to continue watching over Darhan and Ain, and keep a close eye on Yullr. If Yullr is showing any signs that proves he is not to be trusted and a dangerous man in the end, report to me immediately. If you can, try to research more about him and the dynasty rulers. There is something suspicious about him, as you are right about that,” Ishmael said to the female warrior. “Excellent job so far, as expected.”

Xavier suddenly feels small being in the room with these women.

“Oh that’s right...Xavier here wishes to see what Eosfóros is doing currently,” Ishmael said, looking at Xavier as if she noticed how he was starting to feel awkward.

“Um...yes...if it’s not too much to ask for,” Xavier said with a small nod of his head, fumbling around with his hands again. It was starting to become a habit now as he feels bare without his gauntlets and his recent scars wasn’t so bad to touch over.

MementoDei MementoDei

Komodo​

Komodo tilted his head in confusion on what just happened, yet he can’t complain. His food source was now free and he can stick with him this time around. Though it was rather strange how it played out, mostly sensing something very different about Phantom that simply made him slightly uncomfortable.

Yet Komodo didn’t hesitate to follow after the priest. His wings fluttered open slightly as he was tempted to fly but with the arrows flying by, he didn’t take his chances. All Komodo was focusing on was any signs of about to be fed and making sure Phantom won’t get in trouble again.

Phant0m Phant0m

Eosfóros​

Strangely, the fight against Joaquin was entertaining him. Not like he wasn’t having any troubles, Eosfóros found his opponent simply hard to strike thanks to his opponent’s tricks and illusion. But Eosfóros saw the creativity out of these magic spells and it tugged his lips to a smile as he recalled a memory.

“Well look at that, you did changed,” Eosfóros chuckled, dodging away from Joaquin’s explosive attacks.

“What are you talking about, angel?” Joaquin huffed, looking out of breath.

So far in their battle, Eosfóros was focused on getting close to Joaquin to deal heavy damage but Joaquin was forcing the angel away with his magic. Unfortunately for Joaquin, Eosfóros was quick to dodge away but it gave him room to breathe and ready himself for the next charge in from the angel. Eosfóros was out of breath as well, breathing hard. It took a lot of perfect timing and energy to dodge away from Joaquin magic. He knows it would be painful to get hit and it might be enough to force Eosfóros to his Awakening form. If that ever happens, it would mean he forfeited his title as an angel.

“Oh come on, I figured you would know me already, Joaquin,” Eosfóros sneered, charging up a ranged attack with his sword. “We kinda met like this!” He swung his sword forward, sending out the same energy of El that took out Joaquin’s allies.

Eosfóros’ words distracted him that Joaquin wasn’t able to endure the attack properly. He let out a few coughs, mostly in pain. “I...ugh...” Joaquin continues to look confused and his eyes widen when he realized how Eosfóros was charging in once again.

Joaquin slammed down his cane to conjure lightning bolts, forcing Eosfóros back with his wings out this time to improve his speed. Joaquin noticed how dull the wings were and spotted a black feather that stray away from Eosfóros. It triggered his memories, squinting his eyes at the angel with one of the glasses were cracked already.

“Well I’ll be damned...” Joaquin growled, angered. He finally knows who he was dealing with as Eosfóros gave the demon a pleased smirk. “Lucius Hellfire, son of the great fallen demon king,” he spatted out the words.

“There you go, I knew you can’t forget these feathers of mines,” Eosfóros purred, his wings fluttered before disappearing away.

“I assumed you were dead after that bastard got you back to Elrios,” Joaquin hissed.

“Stirbargen, you mean? He was simply doing me a favor, like how any friend should be doing with each other,” Eosfóros sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I hope he is doing fine? I did made a promise with him.”

“Tch! Ran had him sealed away and now he is missing. It doesn’t matter much now that the demon lord has no power to help him survive,” Joaquin grumbled.

“A betrayal.”

“Not the first either.”

“My, power-hungry demons, aren’t you?” Eosfóros laughed at the fresh news. “Goodness, everything is falling apart in the demon world...it’s pathetic,” he said, his mood changing. “I offered peace yet I got swords pointed at my neck in return.”

“Because how could we possibly trust you back then?” Joaquin hissed. “You may hold the mark of royalty to be next in line but you’re just an outsider. Stirbargen was a fool to listen to you and it cost him his freedom. Plus, now knowing about your angel blood, it’s no doubt on who your mother was.”

Eosfóros gave a sad sigh at that, nodding his head. “Now you’re just taking the fun away from this fight.”

“I don’t understand what you’re aiming for...aren’t you torn between the three? Humans, angels, and demons?” Joaquin questioned, ready for an attack.

“Oh trust me, I am. Very much, Joaquin. Im just strong enough to put up a smile,” Eosfóros said, his grip tightened around his sword. “If you could peek what goes on in my mind, its utter chaos,” he sighed, smiling sadly. “Though, Im glad to know you listened to my advice long ago. Very entertaining to see the new tricks you have to offer.”

Joaquin frowns as he pulled out a potion with purple liquid. He took a large gulp out of it and Eosfóros made an attempt to get closer but was surprised that he released ghosts all around him, getting hit by one. The angel coughed as the smog surrounds him and as he tries to look for the demon, he was minimized.

“Time to show me your own tricks, Lucius.”
 
Ren​

She nodded at the order, but she was feeling unsure on what might be displayed and how it might affect Xavier.

She used her own mana to form a connection to the Earth El and the image of a battlefield appeared. The demon forces were fighting against the humans, however, a closer look brought up a more diverse image of each army. The demons were keeping the distance from the Kenaz, who were being shot and exploded as they died.

This was something she did not expect Darhan to do, but it wasn't an act that went against Ishmael's orders. The image of the left flank was a bloody one, where many swordsmen were injured by arrows and defended by a white-haired Lost Soul. He wore a demonic armour and rushed to fight demon assassins again and again despite his wounds, just to allow his comrades to flee. Sonething about him reminded her of Lara, but that couldn't be. She had died by Darhan’s hands in Henir's world.

There was no sign of Eosforos yet so she focused her attention to the centre of the human formation, where a redhead broke through the defensive formation and covered herself in a magical armour powered by a small El Shard. She took down various nemies before letting out of her hand a wing of fire that flew through the demon troops and crashed over the hill where dozens of demon archers were standing. The enemies burned alive, screaming in pain. The sound of a roar caught her attention. A hundred miles north to the archers' position, a black dragon and a red dragon were fighting an undead one.

"Well, well, you don't see this every day. This kind of battle has not happened since the God Wars. Although, there's no sign of Eosforos yet." Ren stated glancing at Xavier.

The El alerted her that there was a stealth spell around this area. Ren put in more of her mana and the image revealed a Kenaz flying towards the north east. Ren followed it and the fire elemental stopped in front a scene that left everyone silent.
A black-winged Eosforos was fighting against a glitter alchemist. They were talking in demonic, one of the few languages she didn’t fully understand. Between their attacks, they seemed to talk about treason and the moment they mentioned two of the strongest demon nobles, Ran and Stirbargen, Ren was in shock.

Those two had been the most vicious and ruthless during the first invasion, they piled up more corpses than the old gods in battle. To her eyes, they were the biggest demon criminals in history.

"Goddess Ishmael, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is a battle between two demons." She said coldly.

Late Late

****
Yullr and Alec​

The Nasod researched his last memories and displayed a hologram over his right hand, revealing his memories to the elf.

In it, a few glitter necromancers stood and chanted a prayer in demonic while some grey-haired elven warriors, all female, channelled their mana into an amulet a pink-haired elf wore. She was most likely their leader.

Yullr frowned at the hologram, which had no sound, unfortunately.

"Why doesn't it have sound when you need it the most..." Yullr mumbled.

"I was on a standby mode when it happened. As days passed, the demons avoided doing the same ritual during the night."

The elf widened his eyes and raised his voice. "You mean they've been doing this before?! For how long and where? Show those memories of yours right now!"
 
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Having simply observing the field up so high, just above Joaquin, was enough for him to assess the situation down there enough. The morale for the demons side was declining and the enemies forces were being capable enough to fight them well enough. Except for the fact that his forces were making too many mistakes for his liking, not to mention that they are forgetting the armory that they possess.

"I'm going to need to remind them their training. But for now... I have someone under me that is pissed me off the most today." He thought to himself as he looked at Joaquin and the angel, now named Lucius Hellfire, the son of the previous demon king and a tyrant that made his people work themselves to near death.

He might not know much about Lucius, but from what he heard in that conversation, is that he likes to play around with all races in his hand. Just like his father did. Royalty or not, he's the same bastard just more cunning and different skin.

As a mass of ghosts escape from all sides, Dust thought that it was time to give Joaquin a helping hand, concerning this 'angel'. He stomped on a weak part of the roof and he fell down, in between them.

"Ah, commander Dust. You've been listening to us, haven't you?" Joaquin asked in his petite form, he was breathing hard.

He glanced towards him before looking back at the enemy in front of him.

"We're going to talk later, old man." He replied to him calmly with a distorted voice from his mask while pointing at Lucius. "You. I'll be your dark judge today. Don't think you'll leave without a scratch." He warned before rushing forward with the intent to kill him.

Lucius was already winded by fighting Joaquin, but still brought his guard up and let loose a charged up ranged attack. The dark elf brushed the attack off like nothing, by putting his chains around his right fist and redirecting it towards the side.

He ducked under another attack and while rising, he delivered a hard, heavy punch straight at Lucius abdomen. Making him rise a foot high in the air, before throwing him towards a wall to his left. Cracks formed as Lucius hit the wall, but without a second to give the angel, he concentrated his mana on his fists and feet, giving hard, heavy hits on the angels body. And then, he took a leap backwards, manipulated 20% of his mana on his right fist and legs, bursting forward to deliver a bone breaking attack, straight through the angels armor.

The propelled force, made both of them leave the tower, making a whole where they were just moments ago, before sending both of them flying towards the battlefield.

As the angel crashed on the bloody battlefield with Dust's fist still etched on his now broken armor, the rebel grabbed Lucius clothes, hoisting up before throwing him towards a squad of humans that were approaching them a few ways away.

"Commander Dust!" One of the demons quickly recognized him by his iconic chains. "What are you doing here!? Shouldn't you be heading back to Chloe?" He asked frantically at his higher up.

"You idiots!!" He yelled back at them in anger. "Have you forgotten all the training that you've done!? All of the weapons at your disposal from the very beginning!? You've been preparing for war 'till this god forsaken day!

They are humans, we are demons! We're stronger than they are and we're much more capable of growing stronger than they are! Even if we did invade their land, we need their resources much more than they do! We are desperate! Our families are dying from hunger! Our friends are being killed to protect your sorry asses and to make sure you survive another day! What will happen if you come home empty handed!

Do you think that Scar or Ran will just brush it off? No! They'll make an example out of you to the others and probably execute your families on the spot! Do you want that to happen? Do you want the people that you've protected to live if you come back with just that?" He asked them, which made their weapons shook from the hard gripping they had.

"Then don't just fool around! Joaquin will return back and make sure that new medicine will be made for all of us, so for now I'm leading you! And I'm ordering you lot, start fighting like you don't have another choice!

Archers use your attributes on your arrows! Infantry of the rear, use the cannons at your disposal against their mages and archers! Front row, don't swing your hammers like a damn buffon that wants to crush their opponents, hit them from the sides! Spear man and shield man, the both of you start working together like you practiced back at the demon realm! Mages, start using the dead to your advantage and destroy their charge! Kenaz, spread out and hide yourselves, surprise attack them when they least expect it! Use your mana and blood beads, you have them for this exact moment!

They think they can push us back, but they can't even understand that we have more than enough will to make them retreat with their tails between their legs! Prove to me right here, right now that we are stronger in both strength and in will!

And as your last order! DON'T DIE! A soldier means nothing, if they simply die on the battlefield! Only when he comes back alive are they worth something!" As he finished with his morale speech, the troops roared back to life with renowned strength.

The shift in battle had now started to tip in their favor.

"And you. Get up, we're just getting started." He turned around towards the angel that was stumbling back up.

Late Late
 
Xavier​

Xavier wasn’t sure on what to say, or what to feel. Lucius Hellfire...that has to be his real name. From the book he read through, his name was Lucius but it never offered a last name. Maybe he holds different kinds? Or was Eosfóros himself uncertain about his name..?

Though once Dust joined the battle along Joaquin, Xavier was very quick to pick up on who he was. His hands closed to a fist in reaction on how quick Dust took Eosfóros away from Joaquin, annoyed how it was that easy. Just how it was easy for him to put Cornelius into handicap.

“Hm...this is unfortunate,” Ishmael commented. Her face was so still that Xavier wasn’t sure what sort of emotions she was feeling. “With that man joining in the fight, the battle might as well be over.”

“Ishmael, if you may...” Xavier started to speak. “But I wish to return back to Elrios immediately.”

“Excuse me?” Ishmael questioned, her brows lowered to a frown. “You are still recovering after being absorbed by the dark el.”

“I...I don’t care. The humans don’t deserve to lose like this..! This is the battle that will determine the fate of those who fight against the demons. It also determines how long you’ll be here,” Xavier said with his voice slightly raising. “It was my mission to retrieve back the Earth El from the demons and I still see it as my mission as long as we still have a chance!”

“You see it as a chance, but I see it suicidal for you,” Ishmael replied.

“I won’t standby like this when I know my allies down there are soon to be slaughtered!”

“You still consider Eosfóros an ally?”

“Damn it, Ishmael, I bet you knew he was a demon from the very beginning! I don’t know how or why you brought him in to be an angel but I’m pretty sure there was a very good reason for it,” Xavier said, his voice softening up. “A very good reason in which you kept him around for many years.”

“...Xavier, I only want to keep you safe. You have the potential to grow into much greater than what you are now and I don’t want you to throw away your life like this. You, and another soldier, are the last of your bloodline. This is too risky.”

Xavier went ahead to grab Ishmael hands, up to this point he was just begging. “If you want me to grow, then let me go back down there and help them. For the sake of the future. Please, help them.”

Ishmael still looks uncertain as she still kept her hands in his. Xavier started to feel nervous as he looked at Ren for help. “Demon or not...he is trying his best to complete the mission he was given.”

MementoDei MementoDei
Eosfóros ​

‘Well that hurts.’

Eosfóros felt pain pulsing through his body and his god damn leg was injured, again! The man coughed up the unusual colored blood as he tried to get up, noticing the soldiers he landed on. He gave them an apology as they groan in response and got back up. He took a moment to listen what Dust said to his men in order to boost their morale. He let out a weak, amused chuckle as he used his sword to steady himself, his leg being useless up to this point. He let out heavy breaths and noticed that the dark elf was talking to him.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t speak demon tongue, sprite,” Eosfóros sneered, coughing a couple of times afterwards. “Rather unfair of you to jump on me like that, I was tired after going up against Joaquin.” He noticed how his sword was being very sturdy against his weight, giving off a more powerful glow than before. “I was wondering where you were hiding. Last I recall, we had you captured. But then you disappeared, along with a few others. So strange to see all of them to show up today.” Eosfóros let out a laugh. “What a ‘vacation’. Your absence put a dent on your side in this fight, a handful of demon blood were spilled.”

Eosfóros continues to smile despite his body hurting. He wiped his blood that drips from his lips with his arm, looking down for a moment to see his mark was brimming with dark energy. It was just begging him to go into his awakening mode. But he won’t do it, not now.

“You’re injured,” one of the soldiers noticed his leg.

“Now hold on men, he still has his eyes set on me,” Eosfóros warned them. He winced as he subconsciously put his injured leg down and gripped on his sword tighter. “Like I said, I am an eye candy~”

“Y-your still able to smile when you are beaten up like that?” The soldier questioned, confused.

“I experienced worse pain than this. This doesn’t beat it in the slight less,” Eosfóros answered. “The demons are rallying up now that the sprite decided to show up. ...A little sad that a mere soldier can boost all of their confidence. They are lacking a lot of things if they have to rely on one man,” he sighed. Eosfóros positioned his sword in front of him, the glow getting brighter. “This weapon is packing a lot from what I endure, I suggest you men to back up if you don’t want to get hurt.”

The soldiers gave a nervous look of what the angel might do but did what they were told. The angel took in a deep breath as he surged the rest of his energy on his sword. It was something he has been working on for awhile and this looks like a good time to execute the attack. Eosfóros thrusted his sword deep in the ground, twisting the handle so it was facing towards Dust and the demons running towards them.

“Just a little bit now...” Eosfóros said in a strained voice, his demon mark giving off a slight red hue as he transfers the build up energy down to the glowing sword, changing the glow to red. His eyes was even shifting colors but it wasn’t enough as he finally released the built up energy.

The pent up energy finally shot through the ground, slicing it forward at the direction it was faced at. The red light cut through the earth which forced the dark elf to dodge away from the light to avoid getting hit. The range was far enough to reach the demons and the light exploded, forcing the ground to crack from the force of the energy that the sword carries. The demon force who were close to the light were instantly killed as the others were flown away from the explosion, either killed by the debris flying or injured.

After the attack was done, Eosfóros let out a cough of blood. “Damn it, that strained me bad,” he wheezed, completely drained out and unable to fight on his own. Yet he has one final trick. Now that a dust cloud was building up to cover around the affected area, Eosfóros got rid a piece of armor to pick out a vital which labeled, ‘just for fun’. “This should keep him busy,” Eosfóros said, dropping the vital and stepping on the glass.

He started to shuffle away from the mess, the broken vital started to take form of Eosfóros himself, completely fresh and new. The clone however holds a different sword. Eosfóros made it so it would distract his enemies in order to get away from danger. Though it as well was made for fun, in a way. The clone shouldn’t match his power, not at all, but it was significantly faster. Speed was always a threat so it should keep Dust busy until he either hit the clone or noticed the different weapon.

The time the dust died out, his clone didn’t waste his time to find his enemy and dived in to battle, his sword lowered to attack from below. The meantime, Eosfóros shuffled back to the soldiers who avoided the attack and asked for support as he believes he cannot take another step further. At the very least, he loosened up the load for them against the demons, though he wonders how the other divisions were doing.

Fume Fume
 
Elesis
​
A soldier from de Couvertin's squadron yelled the presence of a wounded man that had been sent flying from the tower and told them to back off. Elesis looked up to see a chained man at the top, while the demon troops around them were rallying in better positions, the whistle of cannon balls were heard at a distance. Luckily, there weren't any Kenaz around, which allowed her to use her fire magic to melt the iron projectiles over the heads of various glitter soldiers with her firewall.

Suddenly, from her side, a Kenaz appeared and threw a fire spell at her. This was useless, because her magic made her resistant to all fire elements. The commander slashed down the Kenaz and formed a crimson rose from the explosion of the fairy's body. For a second, she could've sworn to hear a man's voice echo in her head as the Flame Rose bloomed.

"Daughter of Fire, be weary of the Chained man. The angel has been injured by him."

Elesis clenched her sword and her teeth in anger. She would not lose her composure over such a petty trick, and certainly not such an obvious one. She turned towards de Couvertin, who was fighting off the remaining Kenaz along some weakened glitter lancers. A wave of dashing Arc glitter protectors were coming towards them, while the remaining archers and artilleryman threw another volley. This time, the different coloration of the arrows alerted her that those were enchanted arrows. It was too late to dodge, so she simply casted another firewall to protect herself and the other troops.

"de Couvertin! Send Medics to the location where the injured soldier is! I can take on these demons along some support from the mages." She hollered.

The commander nodded and followed Elesis plan. He knew she was a strong soldier and as long as his swordsmen kept the Kenaz at bay, she could very well handle herself in combat. Alfonso Alrida, one of his lieutenants, had informed him of how she maintained a strong sieging advantage over the demons in Hamel. He even talked with some soldier on his way back, and they mostly showed extreme admiration from Elesis' power, which could turn the tide in battle. Of course, inexperience was a fatal mistake for a rookie, but the mages working under him would watch her back better than anyone.

"The Dragoon squad will watch over Elesis. Keep the Kenaz away from her. Heal her if you see it necessary. Healers! Get going to retrieve the injured, the Earth Guard's cavalry and shielders will back you up. The rest of you, get ready your fire orbs and magic light lances. Let's make these demons know that their leader's words are meaningless! "

His men yelled and readied themselves to adopt a more aggressive stance. The Kenaz were eliminated as soon as they were seen sneaking around. The shielders that were not busy protecting the healers took out a round of ice orbs while the swordsmen and lancers took out magical lances that followed their enemies before hitting them and exploding. It was quite the show of light. The floor underneath the demons' foot froze, along some of their toes, causing them to feel the acute pain of sudden frostbite. They went down the slippery slope right into the closest spears, which diced some down while it injured some others. The other troops remained above the the downhill that the ice covered. They were in perfect range for the rest of the mages to hit them, but as soon as they left their defensive spells to attack, a wave of Kenaz flew in the middle of their formation and exploded.

de Couvertin was pushed to the ground and heard the muffled noises of his own men yelling and the sound of cannonballs falling near him, covering him in dirt. A sudden glow to his right caught his attention and he saw yet another fire wing sweep the approaching demons to the ground. He finally could get up, feeling dizzy, and it was then that he noticed that he had lost half of his troops.

"Regroup! Shielders!" He felt a slight sting in his throat, as if he had yelled, but he could barely hear himself. De Couvertin extended the reach of his sword with a magical enhancement and slashed demons that were about to finish off his wounded men before they could do so. It had been a while since he had to fight so fiercely, but the adrenaline rush in his veins was certainly a sensation he missed.

Meanwhile, Elesis was dancing through the air with her flames, incinerating any enemies she encountered, protecting the group of healers, cavaliers and shielders as they reached the wounded man.

Once she saw who it was, her mind repeated the warning she had received from the dying Kenaz. The Chained man...the angel...No. She wouldn't let Eosforos get injured anymore than this. She leapt behind enemy lines and as the demons were pointing their weapons at her, she made the ground quake as powerful flames surrounded her, spreading quickly around her, even the remaining Kenaz were fleeing from her. When the demons noticed this and began to run, it was too late.

"Ancient....Fire!" She roared as the flames consumed her body and spread in a gigantic spiral. A pillar of fire was visible even from Velder. The demon forces around her were burnt to a crisp, even the metal of the cannons boiled before turning into gas in a matter of seconds.

It was as if Prometheus himself had struck down the earth with an undying fire fuelled by anger. Its heat pushed back many surrounding demons, some of them were burnt severely because of the iron armour they wore. Everything around fifteen meters from the edge of the gigantic bonfire was still melting or even turning to ashes instantly. The demons were forced to retreat until, a few minutes later, the fire died out. Elesis took her weapon up into the sky, looking at the tower defiantly.

She glared at the shadow of the man above the turret, who was pursuing a fast shadow, before dashing away to reach Eosforos and the healers.

"Eosforos...thank the El you're alive." she said, wiping some small tears from her eyes. She then turned to the healers who were closing his wounds as best as they could. "How bad is it?"

"His bones have been crushed badly. It'd take months to heal him by conventional means. His best shot at surviving this battle is to go towards the priests in Leon's division. This is above the level of expertise of the Dragoons." The healer looked back at the land covered in craters and corpses, where less than half of de Couvertin's men could stand. "Or whatever is left of them."

Elesis looked back, closing her eyes as she nodded. "Understood. Give me a horse, it's the fastest way to reach Leon's division. The demons around here are all dead or can't continue to fight. Retreat. If Couvertin is still there, tell him where I went."

The Blazing Heart glanced at the cavaliers and the mages that had helped her. She thanked them as one of the riders got down from his ride to allow Elesis to to mount the horse. Once she was on it, the healers helped Eosforos to get behind her as delicately as they could. After a last goodbye, the Red Knight rode the fifteen kilometres that separated her from the Western squadrons.

"Don't worry, Eosforos, soon we'll reach the priests that will heal completely your wounds." She said, mostly to reassure herself. "Oh, right. Potions."
She quickly reached to one of her side pockets and found a small health potion. It wouldn't do much, but the green coloration would ease the angel's pain. "Here." the Knight said as he put the flask in Eosforos' hands. "It won't heal you much, but it will certainly help to ease the pain."

They were finally approaching the rear guard of the Western division and Elesis' hopes were getting thinner. A white-haired man with demonic armour stood solemnly, covered by arrow wounds and deep cuts that were healing by themselves. A breeze waved his relatively long hair along with it; it was the only sign that assured Elesis it wasn't a ghost. Right in front of him, two injured priests that were trying their best to heal a blue-armoured spearman. As she got closer, Elesis saw that the man was Lento - although his hair and red eye made him look almost like another person. The spearman was Vanessa, who was bleeding profusely from her leg. She was becoming paler by the second.

"We can't get the poison out...! Shit!" A young priestess cursed as the light in Vanessa's eyes was growing dimmer. The blue-haired woman slowly turned her head towards Elesis. "Com...ma..nder...Elesis..."

Vanessa's gaze got darker and she let out a silent sigh. She was gone.

The mute man finally turned towards them, changing his hair colour back to its raven black and his eyes to their mauve shade. "...Commander."

His voice was cold and he simply nodded at her before carrying Vanessa's corpse out of the Healer's spell and delicately putting it in between two small trees.

The young commander simply looked down and asked the healers if they still could heal another soldier. They asked for mana potions, which she gladly gave them, before going towards Lento. She had to know what had happened.

Late Late
****
Lento
​
He felt Elesis aura get closer to him, but he couldn't stop staring at Vanessa's dead body. She knew what he was, she had seen him heal mortal wounds, yet, she still chose to save him from something he could no longer experience.

Elesis stood now to his right and he glanced at her to see what she was about to say.

"Lento...I'm not really good with being comforting. To be honest with you, I'm as devastated as you, perhaps even more. I knew Vanessa for a long time." The knight took a deep breath in before continuing to talk. "In order to honour her sacrifice, we all must live another day and strengthen our strategies so this never occurs again. Please, Lento, can you tell me what happened?"

The Phantom Knight closed his eyes. "That's a hard question, commander. Battles are always so chaotic..."

One hour ago...

The glitter assassins circled around the troops, running too fast for the archers to keep their flawless accuracy. Some of them were hit, but most continued to move in that odd fashion. Vanessa ordered their shielders to throw another round of wind orbs, but some glitter necromancers soon got in range to throw a volatile potion at them. As the flask broke, a yellow smoke spread among them. Lento did not expect the projectile to get through a tough mana barrier, but by the time he told the priests to purify the area, many shielders were losing their stance, as if they were overtaken by dizziness. The demonic cavalry charged along a volley of magically enhanced arrows. which were made to poison his and the mages' mana circuits. Without any defences from above, and a unsteady frontline, the demons broke their formation easily, beheading or walking over the shielders. Their mounts could breathe a powerful laser that consumed any armoured and burned those who were too close to them until their legs were nothing more than bones.

Those beasts used their armoured heads to knock out any soldiers around them so their riders could pierce them with their lances. Lento's own anger brought him into the frontline along Frederik, Ronald, Phillip and Vanessa. The mages and priests who had been in enough battles knew instinctively that if they didn't stay close to those five soldiers, they would not survive. Some of the shielders who had not been badly affected by the smoke rushed towards them and, after some minutes, a small squadron of twenty continued to fight under the order of Vanessa.

Lento let the first wave of his true power flow into his body and jumped far above the small group before landing over one cockatrigle, breaking its back and ejecting the rider out of it. The demon fell head first into the ground and died from a broken neck. He focused his mana field around himself before making it suddenly expand, causing a part of the demon cavalry to fall from their beasts. With this distraction, a wounded archer fired a last round of four arrows, which killed off three confused cavaliers before dying to an arrow through the head himself. Lento used his new degree of power to focus on his attack speed and he dashed through various enemies, cutting specially the assassins down. Vanessa and the rest didn't seem to move, until he sensed that they were moving with light spears in hand to deal with the cavalry.

It was then where the vibration of a heavy object made him withdraw from his offence. A heavy cannonball fell along with a volley of arrows, which he could not evade. The sting in his back was barely bearable, but the archers still seemed to ignore that he was able to regenerate part of his wounds thanks to the mana the arrows gave him.

He saw many assassins jump above his companions, readying their crossbows to fire poisoned arrows. He had no choice but to leap in front of them and use what Lara had taught him against those demons.

"Sa Bir!" He yelled as his mana field gathered around him, absorbing all the arrows before returning them to the demons, killing them in minutes.

"Lento! You're injured, get back in the formation so we can attack without taking any more risks! You're being reckless!" Vanessa reprimanded him.

He thought that he could still keep going, but Vanessa had a point. If he continued to jump around as if he was fighting alone, Vanessa couldn't order the mages to attack the incoming assassins without injuring him, perhaps fatally. He went back to the unit and saw Phillip take out a light orb. He dropped it on the ground and the mix of El, magic and mana closed everyone's wounds as fast as Lara's regeneration.

Ronald nodded at the odd-eyed rookie to thank him and Frederik murmured something over his weapon before it was covered by an ice enchantment. The priests refilled their mana, although they could do nothing for their armour, which was getting shattered or had already small holes on it. A group of Kenaz turned around them and formed a circle of flames. The mages enhanced their barrier with Air magic, to ensure that the smoke wouldn't asphyxiate them. A good ten minutes of complete peace passed before the flames died out and the Kenaz exploded, raising a thicker cloud of smoke around them. A purple glow made him worry of an incoming attack, and Lento tightened his defensive shield from where the light was coming from.

However, the real attack came from the back and Phillip died, his heart pierced by a sphere of demonic magic. Lento was in shock, he didn't know that mere mages could have altered his perception, nor when it had happened. He spread his shield to cover them completely and Vanessa ordered the mages to spread the smoke away with their wind spells. They moved out as soon as they saw a clear path ahead. As he crossed the circle of smoke, Lento noticed a faint glow come from the ground, but was suddenly pushed to the side by someone. He rolled a bit over the ground and saw a glitter cut through Vanessa's armour and injure her leg before throwing a chain of explosives at everyone.

"NO!" Lento screamed as he moved his defences towards the group. It was a spell he had been practicing, but it soon became clear to him that it as imperfect. Frederik's helmet flew towards him and a splash of blood blinded him. After he wiped the blood from his eyes, he saw that he had only saved three people out of the twenty survivors. This made him enrage enough to liberate his full power in a matter of seconds.

A wave of spiritual energy disturbed greatly the demons around him as they began to understand the true power of a Lost Soul. None of them had dealt with something like it before, and the legends they had heard about the Dark Water priestess seemed to be way above the level of power Lento had.

They were prepared for a crushing amount of magical power, but what Lento delivered to them was an inhuman amount of speed and precision. Assassins and alchemists did not wear any kind of armour, and the mages' attacks on the archers had killed them all. One of the priests was mesmerized by Lento's attacks, or what he could see from them. A black and red shadow passed near an enemy and it killed it. They only had the time to grunt before being cut down to dices. The female priest focused on healing Vanessa, giving her an antidote to treat the poison, then pain killers to get her to stop moving sharply. Whatever poison was that demon's blade covered with, it was one of the strongest she had seen.

Lento finally approached them, covered in wounds and spilling what seemed to be the last drops of blood his body still had. He fell to his knees and the male priest began to treat him too. After five minutes, Lento got up and a loud roar made everyone turn towards the sound.

A giant pillar of flames seemed to erupt from the ground and divide the cloudy sky where the sun had hidden itself since the morning. Vanessa began to chuckle and she called with a weak voice for Lento to come.

"You see that, Lento? Elesis is all grown up now...The Blazing heart has brought victory to our resistance. We won! We w-" she began to cough and and a blob of thick blood flooded her lips. The priestess quickly turned her head to the right so the commander wouldn't choke on her own blood.
Lento could tell that Vanessa didn't have all her mind left, probably due to the effects of the poison. After a minute of silence, the blue-haired commander asked again if Lento could see the pillar of fire.

"Yes, commander Vanessa. Her victory has spread across the battlefield. Our men's deaths won't be in vain." he said, feeling a bitter sadness overwhelm him.

Vanessa's smile only made it worse. He felt horrible to lie like that, but if it made Vanessa calm down and focus on healing, then he would tell every lie he could. The commander spoke again as she watched the pillar die out to reveal a circle where a clear sky made a rain of sunshine rain over the battlefield. "...Look, look at that...Lento. Ishmael herself is celebrating our victory. She watches...over all of us. Lento, can you...go and tell Ronald that he has to go deliver the good news of our victory to the commander? Tell all the mages to use their teleport spells to move the wounded back. We need to get closer...and take back that demon fortress, remember? Enough of us survived to push forwards. I...don't think I'll make it."

Lento stared at Vanessa, feeling already the weight of his lies. "No." he promptly said. "No. Your wounds are closing, commander Vanessa, you'll make it for sure. A commander needs to lead her own men until the end. We'll retreat and we'll strike back, ok?"

Vanessa smiled and tried to chuckle, but that laugh lost itself in another fit of coughing and blood. "You...already talk like a commander in your own right...Please take care of my troops for me."

Lento remained silent and the priestess told him to go a bit further away so she and her colleague could focus on healing the commander.

Almost unconsciously, Lento got up and went behind the two priests and stood there, his gaze lost in the horizon. He stared at the hundreds of souls that were sent free, their torn bodies was all that was left of them now. The winds were rising and, with them came the miracle Vanessa needed to stop clinging onto life.

****
Ren​

The Warrior looked at Xavier's expression and knew that he would go whether Ishmael approved of it or not. She told her goddess this hypothesis and saw Xavier get a bit more nervous. As expected, she was right.

"If Xavier wants to go no matter what, I'll follow him. But if we take into account the kind of enemies we're going to face, I'd say it's safer if we make Darhan join us. Just to be sure."

The goddess seemed a bit reluctant, but she knew that Xavier was looking to flee from her world anyway. "All right. It is as you said, Ren. These people are dangerous, we'll need every soldier we can gather. I...really don't want Ain to face a battle so soon, but there's no choice. He has to learn how to apply everything me and his father taught him" She took from her neck an amulet made of the purest El. "Please take this to my son. It will help him greatly."

Ren extended her hand and took the magical necklace with great care before making appear a shower of cherry blossom petals that formed a crossbow that hung over her back.

Ishmael then turned to Xavier and allowed him for the first time to take Pryor to battle. "It's the only way you'll stand a chance." She added.

****
Darhan and Ain​

The screams of people forced them to get back into their disguises. Ain, this time around, looked similar to Noel, his eyes were brown. When they got out of the tent, Darhan saw a giant pillar of fire that connected a faraway hill to the sky.

"That's a lotta damage..."

"What's going on?" Ain asked. "I can't see anything."

Darhan remembered that Ain had now the height of a child and took him to carry him piggyback. Once the prince saw the giant fire, he couldn't help but be amazed by the spectacle.

Among the crowd, a guard shouted "That's commander Elesis! We're winning!"

This brought a long chain of applause and cheers from everyone, too much to notice the faint glitch in Darhan's diguise as he received a new order from Ishmael. It brought a frown on his face and he told Ain it was the time he took him back to the ground.

"Darhan...let me be childish for once. I know mother wants us to go to battle. When we get close to that place, then you can put me back."

The elf let out a sigh. "Alright. Why not? You're surprisingly light, anyway."

With those words, the angel in disguise began to run with a child no one had seen before on his back. Because Ain looked so happy and similar to Noel, no one bothered to question them, not even the guards that were supposed to keep a tight security around the camp. They were all still amazed by Elesis' prowess.

Once out of the town, Darhan spread out his wings and flew to the point where Ren, Xavier and Pryor were together. He had completely forgotten to drop Ain before, so he took care to do it immediately.

"Looks like you two are having fun." Said Ren with a smirk on her face as she gave the amulet to Ain, who began to glow slightly, filled with pure El energy. In matter of minutes, he took back his adult form and felt even more powerful than before, the Eid magic around him seemed stronger than ever before.

"You could say that." Darhan replied. "Wow, it's the first time I see Pryor out. In that case, I assume we're going straight into the gates of hell itself today." He added, pointing towards the vanishing pillar of fire that left a hole in the cloudy sky.
 
"You bastard... You bastard!" He screamed as he saw part of his soldiers being devoured by that attack. As soon as the dust cloud vanished, he looked at his enemy in front of him, rushing towards him with his wings open at high speed. He dodged it, or so he though as the sword grazed his cheek.

"His speed is higher? Hmm..." He thought to himself as he continued dodging the attacks, getting himself used to the speed and angles of attacks, despite suffering only a few cuts. As soon as his body started to anticipate the next row of attacks, the angel started mixing in ranged attacks.

He kept dodging, but a few times he was able to nullify the ranged attack with a parry or a simple misdirection of the sword with a tap to the side. He began realizing that the angel wasn't getting slower or tired from the amount of attacks that he was dishing out. Not to mention that he was able to see that the sword was different and the wound on his leg wasn't there anymore.

"A scapegoat? You..." He grabbed the arm of the clone and slammed it down on the ground hard, cracking a few bones on the process. "Son of a bitch!!" He rose his feet and crushed the head in an instant, splattering blood on the ground and a few drops on himself.

"At this point he should've escaped to recover from that." He mumbled to himself before a pillar of fire erupted towards the sky, he heard screams of multiple demons go off in the distance before silence rained on his hears. He saw that a most of the demon forces had retreated a fair distance, a smart move if they wanted to live, but the others that weren't as lucky.

"Whoever did that, I'm going to... No. Don't let your emotions take control just yet. The demons needs their commander, it would be foolish to simply head ahead on a vendetta against whoever did that. Assess the situation, give commands and continue the push if we can. That's the best course of action." He planned things out in his mind, jogging towards his troops before whistling as a cockatigle from a dead soldier ran towards him.

He got on top of it before ordering it to race towards front line of his soldiers that were being pushed. As he got close, he petted his mount two times, a signal that it trained well to know when to release a beam of energy from it's mouth. This halted the humans in their sudden advancement only momentarily.

"Status report." He ordered while the humans roared to life towards him, but in just a moments notice all of the squad that were in front of him were restrained with his chains. "I won't repeat a second time, soldier."

"Sir! We've suffered casualties on the front line, about 28% of our forces have perished! The rear is fine as it is, but we can't keep going forward if we keep losing on our side with those devastating attacks!" He reported back, feeling winded from the constant fighting.

"Hmm... That's more than I would've liked." He mumbled to himself before mentally preparing himself. "Alright, listen up! I know you're all tired and want to go home, but you can't simply up and leave! I want half of you to protect this line and a quarter of you to attack! The rest I want you to focus on support, healing, weapon up keep or simply encouragement it doesn't matter what! Make sure to pay attention to when I sound the signal for our retreat! Push yourselves a bit longer, we are almost done here! Don't die out here just yet!" He gave his orders to them before disembarking his mount and giving it to a soldier that had lost his.

He moved towards the restraint humans and passed through them like they weren't even worth his attention, running forward towards a group that looked promising for him to test the new blade that he took. The restrained ones were finished by the demons in cold blood, those that killed their kin would be killed off like the pigs that they were.

As Dust ran towards where he thinks that the angel might have gone, enemy soldiers came flooding in to defeat him. Their train of thought were, if they could kill the commander, then the forces would have no morale. In many cases that would be true.

"Die, demon commander!" A soldier shouted as he tried to slash him, only for his blade to be stopped with just 2 fingers. "W-wha!?"

"Did you actually believed that I would be so easy to kill?" He asked coldly towards the soldier before breaking the blade and grabbing both of the soldiers shoulders. In an instant, his body was ripped to the sides, gushing blood out it's organs were spilled to the side.

"Oh... god..." The squad of humans gasped on how easily their friend had been dispatched, a few even threw up from the sight. Despite on he disposed of him, Dust was relatively clean for the most part. He then looked at the rest of the squad and they yelped for a second, before with an ungodly speed of him, mainly due to mana being on his legs, Dust rushed forward and stopped just behind their backs.

"Weaklings, all of you. Not even worth my time." He said as their bodies hit the floor, pieces of them were annihilated on the spot, leaving only large empty holes on them, as their insides and bones were exposed to the air.

As he started to move again, he ducked under an attack as he saw an enchanted blade extended. The soldier clicked his tongue before returning into formation to his squad, or whatever there was left of them.

Although they didn't look much, Dust was interested more on the blade than the enchantment used. He started thinking that maybe he should increase his armory, despite being a brawler most of the time, he did know on how to use a blade, two of them actually.

In this train of thought, the soldiers charged at him, in hopes to slow him down or to at least deal damage to him. He didn't want to be delayed any longer, not while he wanted to find that angel as soon as possible.

"Out of my way!!" He yelled at them, coating his whole body with energy and spearing through their formation, catching them with his chains and pluming them on the earth hard. They gasped at the sudden rush of pain, being hard to take in air. One of them looked like they had their lungs collapsed, suffocating them slowly.

"M-monster..!" A soldier said trying to stand up with their blade, but falling down on the process. The dark elf walked forward and towered over the human, before noting that a few soldiers that got hit, were dead on the spot.

"This is war, human. It's where our own demons come forth, our faces come forth. I am a monster, but at least I'm sane enough to admit that, with all the murders I've committed on your kind, but you're no different, because your a murderer of the demon kind." He replied back before kicking him unconscious. "Sleep, you foolish human. And thank you for the blade." He took his weapon and rested it on his back for now, before continuing his track at full speed.

MementoDei MementoDei Late Late
 
Phantom walked with Komodo, swinging his scythe to cut down any demons he happened to encounter in his path. Being engaged with some of the human soldiers, the priest had played dirty by slashing them from behind.

"A priest!" One knight gasped as she ran towards Phantom before halting when the priest looked at her. It was probably his expression, and standing over corpses that made the knight stop in her tracks.

"What," Phantom said as he raised an eyebrow, "Let me guess. Wounded friend?"

"No... she's...dying. And in a lot of pain...and the help she's getting isn't enough."

The priest's expression became softer, his scythe blade vanishing. "I can't perform any last rites until all of this is over...but I can let her pass without any pain. Lead me to her and hurry. It won't be calm here for long."

She nodded and led Phantom behind a building where another woman was laying on the ground. Her armor removed to expose a nasty wound on her stomach and a messy mound of bloodstained cloth that looked like it was hastily put there to stop the bleeding. She wheezed and coughed, her breathing labored as a familiar figure was stroking her hair out of her face.

"Xio!" Phantom called and he pushed past the knight to get to his goddess' side. He opened his mouth to ask a million questions but Xiopetec gently shook her head.

"She's dying and I don't have the mana to ease her pain enough," She quietly said with tears in the corners of her eyes. Her expression a grimace as if she was in pain as well, "Please child."

Phantom nodded and he gave a small smile down to the wounded woman. "I'm going to take the pain away, ok?" Then he looked to the soldier. "I suggest you say your goodbyes to her now."

He placed his hands above the mound of soiled cloth and pressed on to it, getting as close to the wound he could as small tendrils of light danced from his palm, entered the wound and slithered throughout the woman's body. He was muttering under his breath the words his goddess taught him, despite there is no ritual being cast.

"She's relaxing," Xiopetec announced, gently wiping the face clean as the woman's breathing evened out despite the coughing.

The knight held her hand, and hiding her face next to her friend's head as she tearfully whispered into her ear.

"Let go little one," Xiopetec soothed, "You have fought well. You deserve your peace." She kissed her forehead. "It's alright now, you'll be taken care of.'

Then the woman's last breath left, her eyes staring dully at the sky and the knight started wailing.

Phantom pulled his hands away, finishing the ritual/chant/prayer and he got up, pulling the knight away and gripping her shoulders so she could face him. "It's not the time to cry. Not right now," He practically snapped, "We're in the middle of a battle so grab her and move her to where the dead are. If you stay here and mourn you'll throw your life away, got it? Make your friend proud."

She nodded. "I-I can't move her... I'm not that strong b-b-but I'll go. Keep those bastards away from her body."

"You do that. I have to meet up with whoever is left." He glanced at Xiopetec, who was standing beside Komodo.

He grabbed Xiopetec's hand and moved once more.

"You're not hurt are you?" He asked his goddess, looking over his shoulder and craning his neck to meet her eyes.

"I'm fine. Just...out of service at the moment," She matched his pace looking down at her priest, "You did not have the best manners there and that's unusual of you, child."

"Well getting arrested by a bunch of assholes wouldn't put you in a good mood either."

"We'll have a discussion about this la-"

The pair saw black and red energy on the battlefield and Phantom gripped his staff tighter.

"Oh shit that doesn't look good," He said and Xiopetec moved her hand to grip his shoulder.

"We need to move."

Flames erupted and Phantom didn't take a second longer to admire the wild flames before heading towards where he saw the energy. "We'll take care of those first!"

"I don't have any mana child! I can't do much!"

"There's probably a mana potion to spare," He said as he pushed through the other knights. Phantom caught a glimpse of Lento before Xiopetec pulled him back, a horse rushing past him and her grip on his shoulder tightened.

"Eosfóros" She hissed in his ear and Phantom grabbed her hand and released her grip on his shoulder.

He gave her a pointed look. "Not the time."

"Oh but it will be soon."

"Play nice for now....please?"

Xiopetec sighed but nodded following Phantom as they walked towards Elesis on the horse, and the two priests tending to Eosfóros. He caught sight of the body by the trees, seeing the armor of a commander and he bit his cheek before steeling himself. Phantom walked over to Lento, ignoring Eosfóros for the time being. "You look hurt...do you want me to take care of that for you?" He asked.

Xiopetec moved to the two priests. "Oh dear, you've taken quite a hit," She said In a sickening sweet voice and she grabbed some straight, shattered pieces of whatever was around and tore some cloth off of her nurse's garb. "Of course just using mana will take forever. Let's get his bones in the right general areas of his leg at least and after those kick in it'll be easier for you two to heal it." She looked to Eosfóros with a guarded expression. "I wouldn't count on your leg being the way it was. You'll probably be stuck with a very noticeable limp if it all goes well....but setting your leg will most definitely hurt. Try not to scream dear." She gripped the leg, setting it so it didn't bend wierdly, tying the pieces of junk to his leg to keep it straight.

Her fingers itched for something else to do but she only took a deep breath and continued her task. Phantom did teach her the saying: you can lure flies better with honey than vinegar.

Late Late MementoDei MementoDei
 
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