(19) Monsters Unleashed!
A little while ago.
Two figures were exchanging blows in mid-air while overseeing the fight below and maintaining a barrier throughout the small island. Guy Crimson was parrying the attacks of Keanala's naginata with only his bare hands. A testament of his immense strength.
"I must say, your proficiency with a Naginata is unprecedented." Guy Crimson retreated and made some space between them and praised sincerely.
"Pretty big coming from someone parrying my attacks with just his bare hands... I'm not sure if I'll take that as a compliment or an insult." Keanala retorted emotionlessly.
"Oi Oi Oi! Come on. You're pretty good if I praised you already." Guy shrugged his shoulders and said casually.
"Why am I still surprised." Keanala sighed and said.
Guy Crimson was arrogance incarnate. So she should have expected something along those lines when conversing with him.
"Keanala... why do these group of riffraff warriors seems to only treat you like a superior?" Guy Crimson asked amusingly
Keanala scoffed coldly but was inwardly shocked and was thinking to herself while relentlessly attacking Guy. 'Aldrich is indeed correct, this guy has already suspected me but his insights are much more profound and he managed to delve deeper just by sensing my slight interactions with the Triskaideka... What a troublesome fellow.'
"The reasons that I could think of is that you have a friendly connections with them or..." Guy Crimson stopped talking as he parried a powerful slash from Keanala.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
A clash between Keanala's 'Severing Trinity' and an ordinary sword from Guy resounded within the small island and everyone including Mizeri and Chiasa stopped and looked in awe as the two Demon Lords clashed blades. The Triskaideka were in disbelief as they watched Guy Crimson fought with a Mythical-grade weapon with an ordinary sword, and it shattered their worldview. While Mizeri was watching in delight.
Gasp!
Gasp!
Gasp!
After a series of exchange, both Keanala and Guy distanced themselves and stared solemnly at each other. Keanala was communicating with the Triskaideka while Guy was strongly considering if he should fight a little more seriously.
"The most likely reason should be there exist a much more superior being than you... But that's unlikely, a being more powerful than you should have been sensed by me no matter how impenetrable their concealing ability is." Guy blurted out solemnly with a hint of playfulness
Keanala was panicking initially when he heard the conclusion of Guy but she calmed down after she heard the following conjecture of Guy.
Swoosh!
The winds blew and passed by but Keanala remained silent and motionless, and Guy was annoyed at the behavior of Keanala.
"Of course you're not going to answer me..." Guy grinned and his aura flared and rose up immediately and it caused the barrier with the island to show cracks!
Suffocating!
'Fuck!' Keanala cursed inwardly as she witnessed the destruction caused by Guy's aura alone! She was confident that Guy would not fight seriously this time around. This was also the reason why she boldly initiated a fight with Guy and his 2 lackeys. However, Guy, for whatever reason, suddenly wanted to fight seriously.
Little did Keanala knew, Guy was seriously considering her a threat comparable to a true dragon!
Guy was already using 50% of his true strength during the skirmish against Keanala, but he still failed to take down the Horseman. Right now, he was hellbent on eliminating Keanala, regardless of the cost, if she can't be controlled.
"Enough playing around." Guy said seriously, devoid of the arrogance he exuded earlier.
"I couldn't ask for more!" Keanala said in high spirits as she could finally unleash her true strength!
Both True Demon Lords were seriously holding back earlier but now, both monsters have opened both of their eyes and raised their heads!
A fight between unchained monsters is on the horizon!
---
"Ignit!" An anxious cry resounded at the other side of the small island as Chiasa went to the side of her Fire Elemental Companion.
Ignit's body has become illusory that it may dissipate anytime soon. Fighting a Demon Primordial and an Awakened Demon Lord at that has been too much for her to bear. She has yet to reach a millennium in age, which was considered a benchmark for Elementals. Reaching that age has been a dream for all Elementals as they could control another element once they grew that old. It was a qualitative change for Elementals, but Ignit is far from it.
"Don't be sad, My Lady. I can still fight, and just the promise I made 500 years ago... I will lay my life for you!" Ignit said with a burning gaze as she stood up and faced Mizeri.
Ignit stood up and faced Mizeri with unbelievable resolve as she thought, 'The Lady's injuries have yet to heal, this demon is far more powerful than all the demons combined we've fought before."
Her illusory body is flickering as Mizeri stood in place. She's not waiting for the ultimate attack of the Fire Elemental Lord but she was surprised that Rain casted her most powerful spell before perishing.
Freezing Hell, Cocytus.
A very dangerous magic that freezes everything around the caster, taking away their sense of self and replacing it with guilt and treachery and creating mindless warriors that seeks to redeem themselves. However, as far as Mizeri is concerned, Rain uses this magic in conjunction with her 'Nuclear Cannon', a physical attack that launches magical missiles infused with nuclear magic to completely annihilate her enemies and taking away their chance at reincarnation.
After Mizeri senses the abnormality of the spell of her long time friend, a satisfied smile appeared on her face.
"I take back what I said, Rain... You are not an idiot." Mizeri muttered as she dispelled her earthen Mornigstar and materialized a humongous battle hammer made of fire.
Witnessing the humongous fire battle hammer of Mizeri, both Chiasa and Ignit showed an expression of confusion. Ignit is an Fire Elemental Lord, she's not considering playing fire with fire... right?
Haa!
Chiasa exhaled heavily as she groggily stood up, the internal injuries inflicted by Mizeri is still ruining her insides. She overestimated herself earlier when she engaged Mizeri in combat, the demon's control over magic was insane. While clashing blades with Chiasa, Mizeri still managed to sneak in her magic in Chiasa's magic and Chiasa's complacency has caused her condition.
"Takako won, so I have to win as well... I don't want my position as the '1st Feared Commander' to be taken away." Chiasa dusted her clothes as she muttered while steadying her breathing.
"My Lady, I think you have to fight on your own from now on." An agitated voice came from the front as Ignit said in a shaking voice.
"Why, Ignit? Are you chickening out?" Chiasa was still unaware of the situation as she teased her long-time partner.
Crack!
"Huh?" Chiasa heard the crack and turned towards the source.
What she saw sent chills down her spine. The other half of the island was frozen solid, and all signs of life essentially disappeared. The crack that she heard was an ice sculpture that broke down. A monster can't withstand Rain's spell and succumbed before their consciousness was wiped out.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Hundreds of ice sculptures of monsters and beast broke down while Chiasa was processing what she saw. The cracks was followed by the death of the landscape, as the the breath of life in every living beings was frozen. Her fellow Commanders and the Commanders-in-chief of the Dragon Corps were the only ones left on that side of the island, and even considering them alive is far fetched.
Chiasa's mind was racing nonstop as she sought for solutions of her companions. A testament on why she, Takako and Meng could never become a Zodiac even if they reached the threshold. Their mortal aspirations, morals and ethics are binding them. All Zodiac have discarded such things and they will never hesitate to eliminate even their fellow Zodiac if it benefits them. A strong eat strong principle of the Black Haven.
Chiasa finally understood why Mizeri materialize a weapon made of fire and why Ignit said those things.
"Takako's Ultimate Skill can help them!" Chiasa said as if a light bulb suddenly popped out of nowhere on her brain.
Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, she immediately tried sensing Takako's mana signature, however, she was soon shocked as Rain's magic blocked even the leakage of mana. She can't sense any of the Triskaideka Commanders!
Swoosh!
As she was wallowing in despair, Mizeri moved at high speeds as she rushed towards the frozen part of the island while brandishing her huge fire battle hammer!
"No!!" Chiasa shouted as she chased the Demon Primordial.
She won't let anyone die! Not anymore! She pursued strength all her life not only to serve the Supreme Lord Aldrich but also to protect everyone close to her. Witnessing the death of her friends was traumatizing, even more so if she had the strength to protect them. Right now, the scenes of her childhood were flashing as she thought about the endless possibilities when that huge fire battle hammer hit even one of the ice sculptures.
Mizeri moved nonstop as she sped towards the other side of the island and stopped in front of a frozen cryptid, a frozen undead cryptid.
"Even as an undead, cryptids are nothing but dogs!" She said condescendingly as she raised her battle hammer high in the air and prepared to crush the ice sculpture!
Boom!
A mushroom cloud of dust rose up as Mizeri forcefully hammered down the ice sculpture.
"Huang!!" Chiasa cried loudly as she watched Mizeri bring down the hammer on the Undead Commander of the 12th legion.
Chiasa stopped on her tracks and looked down despondently.
"I-I-I..." She was loss for words as she failed to stopped another death of her companions.
"What an unsightly sight for the '1st Feared Commander'." A voice that seems like the cackling of lightning resounded from within the cloud of dust.
Hearing a familiar voice, Chiasa lit up as hope returned to her pale face.
"Meng! How did you break the ice?" Chiasa said as she continued her dash towards Huang.
"Hmph! I may be lacking compared to you and Takako, but it still hurts knowing that you thought a little ice like this could freeze me!" As the dust parted, a pure white tiger with lightning blue marks all over its body emerged and met the huge fire battle hammer with its head. After the defeat of Rain, Meng kept his guard up and he noticed the ice earlier than the rest, although he failed to warn the others, he managed to react and quickly circulated his lightning magic inside his body to heat it up and counter the ice of Rain. It did took some time but he still managed to save Huang, his fellow Commander.
Crack!
Contrary to their expectations, the impact of Mizeri's battle hammer still spread out even after Meng blocked it and the ice sculpture behind Meng still showed signs of cracking!
"You pests just keep getting on my way!" Mizeri said angrily as she raised her hammer again.
Clang!
Chiasa blocked her hammer using her Mythical-grade armor, 'Crucifix'!
"Meng, let's take her down together and help the rest." Chiasa proposed as she went to the side of Meng.
Meng nodded his feline head and said, "Be careful, she's much more stronger than the demon that Takako killed."
'Buy me some time, I'll transfer everyone inside the Empyrium!' Meng shouted telepathically.
'Fool! They will sense the Empyrium! Even if we survive here, Lord Aldrich will never let us go!' Chiasa rebuked loudly in Meng's mind
'Do you think I am not aware! We can't defeat that demon if we are protecting them or do you want me to remove them so I can fight freely?!' Meng argued aggresively
Chiasa fell silent for a moment as she pondered the suggestion of Meng. Indeed, holding back their strength was not an option at this point since Mizeri is leagues above them.
Boom!
An explosion broke her trance as the three of them looked towards the sky. A red-haired demon was wielding an ominous looking sword with rainbow-colored luster and was facing a gorgeous old woman dressed like a maiden while wielding a naginata with green and gray intricate markings.
"Master has even taken out 'World'... This is getting troublesome." Mizeri muttered as she was shocked to see the God-class weapon of her master.
"Demon Lord Keanala is far stronger than imagined, I need to clean up here and witness Master unleash his strength once again." She said gleefully as she was about to witness a great show. Based on Mizeri's tone, she has absolute confidence that her master, Guy Crimson, will defeat Demon Lord Keanala.
It didn't matter if Demon Lord Keanala forced out the God-class sword of her master. She believed that only someone at the level of Veldanava could defeat her master. Veldanava has long been considered dead, so she considered her master as the strongest.
On the other side, Meng and Chiasa were shocked that an egg could fit in their wide opened mouths. They couldn't believe their eyes that the stuff of the legends that they believed all their life is being pushed back!
"Oi Chiasa! I'm not dreaming am I?" Meng said while still staring intently at the sky, he didn't dare to blink as he continued to watch Guy push back Keanala.
"Lady Keanala...." Chiasa muttered as the hope inside her heart is being washed away little by little as she witness Keanala retreating continuously under the barrage of Guy.
Swoosh!
"Your eyes should be on your opponent." As both of them were in a trance and disbelief. An extremely cold voice devoid of any emotions resounded from behind them.
Bang!
An ice sculpture was smashed into smithereens by Mizeri!
Mizeri exploited the fact that both Chiasa and Meng had a moment of lapse and smashed Huang into nothingness. Both of them failed to react immediately and properly as they watched Mizeri decimate Huang!
"Argh!!" A cry of agony resounded as Chiasa dropped her flaming sword and tears of pain crashed down on her exquisite face.
"I failed again....", "I couldn't protect them..."
Chiasa was muttering noncoherent words as she was sobbing uncontrollably. The death of her fellow Commander was too much of a blow to her. Even Meng, the usually aloof and cold Commander was visibly shaken as he stared with wide open eyes of what's left of Huang.
Huang, a cryptid once chosen by Balanar but was killed by Aries and was brought back to life by Kalahi by experimenting on his flames. The soul fire was created by the deep desires for revenge. Huang, a cryptid turned undead became a master of seals and was rumored that he was capable of sealing even a Zodiac. However, the truth was already taken to his grave.
As Chiasa and Meng was lamenting the death of Huang. Mizeri moved again with unparalleled speed and this time she was headed towards Odette.
Chiasa was too despondent to chase after her and only watched her dashed unbridled. Meng, however, was different.
Crackle!
Crackle!
Lightning surged as dark clouds gathered above the island. The heavy atmosphere was seemingly responding to the pain of Chiasa but the lightning was already uncontrollable, just like Meng's anger.
The weather was responding heavily to the emotions of the 2 Triskaideka Commanders!
Zap!
Meng moved at speeds faster than Mizeri!
"Huh?"
Mizeri turned back immediately at the sound and she was met with a bite overfilled with lightning!
"Shit!!" Mizeri cursed as she felt the pain from the bite of the Lightning tiger.
"Stupid Beast! Let go!" Mizeri shouted as she aggressively tried shaking off the '3rd Feared Commander'
Meng was already overwhelmed by anger as his eyes changed colors and rationality was nowhere to be seen in him. Meng has finally turned towards his bestial nature.
Chiasa was still in a state of extreme shock and was despondent while Meng was already a wild beast. With Takako out of the picture, the Triskaideka has lost the majority of their strength. Their downfall was already in sights.
These warriors were suppose to be the cream of the crop specially handpicked by Balanar. However, the Zodiac built an insurmountable wall in their hearts and it caused them to stagnate as they failed to moved forward, essentially failing Balanar's expectations out of them. The Triskaideka's original role was to be the Vanguard of the invasion against the Cardinal World, spearheading everything as they start the conquest of Aldrich to reach the ends of the universe. However, Aldrich was beyond disappointed at the Triskaideka as he watched them fail time and time again to reach their full potential.
Aldrich was now forced to change his original plans and use some Zodiac in the invasion of the Tensura World, the Zodiac were specially created to fight against the hidden enemies outside the world. But his plans couldn't keep up with the changes. The Triskaideka was now deemed useless and he never expected anything out of the Dragon Corps either. The Zodiac are the only ones worthy to warrant his attention, however, there are only 12 of them. In his original plan, he wants to reach his goals without him personally taking to the frontlines with his subordinates doing all the dirty work. But that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
Sigh.
A tireless sigh escaped Keanala's mouth as she stared heavily at the Triskaideka Commanders and thought to herself while fending off Guy.
'No wonder Aldrich already abandoned all hopes on them... Balanar was the one to established the Triskaideka and it was the only reason Aldrich paid any attention to them. A tribute to his late comrade. What a disappointment.'
Woosh!
As she finished her thought, she quickly distanced herself from Guy and stared emotionlessly around her surroundings.
"I'm getting bored and it's about time for you to drop your freaking façade." Guy grinned from ear to ear as he watched Keanala from afar.
"You have the wrong idea, Demon." Keanala also stared at Guy with a pair of eyes devoid of anything.
Guy squinted his eyes heavily as he felt offended at the remarks of Keanala and he unleashed more of his aura. But to his surprise, Keanala was unaffected as if she was bathing in Guy's murderous aura!
"Demon. I have given you the chance to take me down right here and now but you failed despite raising the strength you're using... This will be your greatest mistake." Keanala said without any fluctuations in her emotional state
"Hooh... Interesting." Guy was unaffected and still said casually as arrogance leaked out of him.
Keanala stared at everything down below and she spotted Meng and Mizeri in a dog fight while Chiasa was still down in her knees.
"You're correct, Demon. It's time for me to end this façade." After hesitating for a moment, Keanala returned the stare at Guy and said.
Alarm bells rung inside Guy's head after hearing Keanala. He was fully aware of how powerful the True Demon Lord in front of him was. In fact, he was already using 50% of his strength yet he failed to force out the trump cards of Keanala. When he reached this island, he didn't put anything in his eyes and he only wanted to coerce Keanala after ditching his call for a Walpurgis. However, the strength of Keanala has already surpassed on what he could normally handle. After several blows and exchange, he immediately made up his mind to determine if Keanala was on their side or not against the upcoming Tenma Great War. With Keanala's personal and military strength, it was enough to compete against the army of angels alone.
Keanala was like an inanimate object, refusing to let anything out and will only react if an outside force touched her. She was extremely difficult to grasp and read even for Guy, an experienced being in this world.
"Scream of the Repulsive Wind."
As he was thinking, a soft whisper disturbed his train of thoughts and alarm bells rang loudly inside his head.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Terrifying wind blades quickly surrounded Guy Crimson and threatened to rip him into shreds!
Guy scoffed in disdain at Keanala's attack. He then proceeded to block the wind blades with active barriers along with his 'Multi-dimensional Barrier'.
"Keanala, this is such a disappointment!" Guy roared as he was effortlessly blocking the wind blades generated by Keanala's Ultimate Skill.
"Huh?" Guy muttered after he subtlety felt something was wrong!
The winds blades that were dispersed after he blocked them were condensed once again inside his defenses and they were much stronger, much potent than before.
After his defenses were penetrated, he was hearing screams of agony as if he was hallucinating! His soul was shaking heavily and his demon core was aching. He was at a loss since this was the very first time that this kind of thing has ever happened to him. Even his defeat at the hands of Veldanava was much more convincing and straightforward.
Fear!
He was fearing for his own life even though he could reincarnate.
Keanala's skill was extremely powerful that it harness all the major types of magic. Elemental Magic for conjuring wind blades, Spirit Magic for using the powers of Elementals in the Empyrium to empower the conjured wind blades, Holy Magic to cure all the wounds inflicted, and Summoning Magic to summon Wind Elementals and transform them into much powerful wind blades.
An attack that damages the soul, astral body, spiritual body and the material body! 'Scream of the Repulsive Wind' will last until the energy reserves of the caster depletes and it will not stop until the caster can no longer supply energy.
However, Keanala is 1 of the 4 Horsemen serving under Aldrich, a Heavenly Emperor that is in control of a Heavenly Gate that is the entrance to the Empyrium with unlimited supply of energy. On top of that, she could also tap into her own subspace to utilize the accumulated stardust energy within it. In a sense, Keanala has a nigh infinite supply of energy!
"That skill is the weakest within my arsenal, Demon. Withstand it and don't be a disappointment." Keanala said emotionlessly as she turned her back from Guy and teleported near Mizeri.
Woosh!
The irrational Meng and battered Mizeri was shocked to see the sudden arrival of Keanala, both of them failed to sense her and even when she's in front of them, no signs of her presence could be felt!
Meng's instincts kicked in and immediately fled using his 'Ultimate Skill' while Mizeri stared with wide open eyes at Guy that was trapped within a barrage of wind blades. She can't believe that her invincible master was being played around by a newbie Demon Lord. Her energy became chaotic as her mind was in disarray!
Without waiting for Mizeri to respond, Keanala attacked using 'Severing Trinity' without saying any word!
A 7-colored light erupted from 'Severing Trinity' as she devoured everything of Mizeri.
Argh!
An excruciating cry of pain reverberated in the small island as a single attack from Keanala erased an Awakened Demon Lord from the universe.
Lost Rainbow!
An attack that utilizes stardust energy and uses 7 elements aside from time. Keanala will condense a large amount of stardust energy into a rainbow with 7 different assigned attributes, with wind as the strongest attribute to completely kill someone. An attack she created with the intentions of killing a True Dragon! However, her bout with Guy made her realize that the skill was still lacking and has yet to reach a standard that's capable of completely eliminating beings at the level of Guy Crimson. Thus, she decided to use Mizeri as a lab rat for her skill.
The computing ability needed to use the energy of "everythingness" in order to use this skill was absurd! But for the 4 Horsemen, computing ability was one of their strongest abilities because they have the assistance of Aldrich.
Nothing was left of Mizeri not even her Demon Core, her chance at reincarnation was also erased along her existence. Rain was deemed to be alone for the rest of time with her long time friend's complete death.
Crack!
Crack!
"What have you done?!" Guy's roar broke the barrier that's holding the aftermath of their battle. His roar was powerful enough to shatter the barrier that's being maintained by him and Keanala together but he still failed to break free from the 'Scream of the Repulsive Wind.'
Mizeri and Rain have been serving him since time immemorial and their death roused his anger that he has hidden deep within. Rain's death was still bearable because he could sense that she was trying her best to reincarnate immediately. But Mizeri was different, Guy couldn't feel anything of sort that connects to Mizeri and that shouldn't be case because demons like them will always resurrect no matter what!
Regret is already filling his head. The intentions to coerce Keanala has backfired on him greatly.
'Should I fight with her with my full strength?' Guy thought as he felt apprehended at the skill used by Keanala to decimate Mizeri
Guy soon shook his head as the world will not be able to handle his power. As he was considering on what to do, he felt several auras rapidly approaching the small island that they are in.
"I need to get away since your friends are here to support you... Farewell, Rouge." Keanala said after sensing the powerful auras.
Keanala then snapped her fingers as the final move of the her previous attack on Guy was triggered.
Guy heard several screams that it busted his eardrums and his spiritual body showed signs of cracking!
He then felt his vision blur and was yanked out of the small island like a rag doll.
-----
---
-
A little while earlier.
The powerhouses of the world were going on with their daily preparations for the Tenma Great War when they suddenly sensed two powerful auras from the ocean.
One familiar aura was filled with rage and the other was gentle like the breeze.
Without any hesitation, almost all of them dropped whatever they were doing and rushed towards the ocean. Some tried teleporting directly but wasn't able to because the space in the entire ocean was locked down!
Those who tried teleporting was stunned since the ocean was larger than the largest continent and the whole space was locked down!
Their desire to know the truth about Guy and his enemy grew deeper.
Countless powerful individuals rushed towards the island with unprecedented solemnity.
As they met each other and rushed together, they suddenly saw the warping of space and a severed head with red hair appeared in front of them.
The space was supposed to be locked down and the use of spatial magic was useless, however, a space rift was torn open in front of them and a head with unbridled rage was transported through the portal.