9. The King is Coming 1

Six months have passed since the Red Capes started training with the Legion of the Ten Demons, even going into the field to fight as a team. Initially skeptical, Rex was convinced by Richard to join the training, under the pretext that he had nothing to lose. Nick continued his training with Cain and Miyamoto. Lycia shared her close combat fighting skills with Rozalia, lending her a long dagger like a small sword (the close combat training with demonic energy eventually enhanced Rozalia's firepower). Crowley taught Hope how to enhance her magical powers and accelerate their activation. Max and Guardiol did their best to emulate the unparalleled fighting style of Achilles, with the great Miron as their training partner. Atalanta managed to transform Sofia into a true archer. Meanwhile, the Red Capes conveyed everything that happened to Dr. Romanov. During their discussions, one of the new aides of the Red Sector happened to be near the doctor, overhearing everything. The Red Capes' conversation with Dr. Romanov about the events involving the Ten Demons reached the ears of the wise ones, who sent an order in unison to the general: "It is time to commence the purification."

"Everyone at the table!" Hope shouts to gather the Red Capes.

"I'll be a little late, sis, getting something to drink." Nick replies.

"Come on, Nick! Don't be late; you know we only gather for lunch." Hope

"Yeah, yeah." Nick

"What are we eating?" Guardiol enters the dining room with Max, the two of them inseparable since the joint training began.

"Potatoes, salad, and chicken." Sofia responds, placing the plates on the table.

"Potatoes again? I had rice last night. I would have preferred rice." Guardiol

"If you don't like it, don't eat it." Rozalia, also setting the plates on the table.

"Are we all here?" Rex asks, entering the room.

"N-Now we are!" Nick carrying drinks.

"Yuhu, I love this wine." Guardiol

"True, it's much better for a meal than the doctor's bourbon. I told you Cain knows his stuff." Nick

"It's not just Cain; I've seen that everyone is good with alcohol." Guardiol

"That's true. Have you ever tried Miyamoto's drink? It's called sake, and it goes down quickly." Nick

"I had to; otherwise, he wouldn't talk to me." Guardiol

"That's how Miyamoto and I became brothers, clinking glasses." Nick

"Then we should also clink glasses, Nick!" Guardiol with an unmatched seriousness.

"Sure, I'll ask Miyamoto for some tonight." Nick

"No one asked me if I wanted him as a brother..." Hope with a gloomy face.

"Don't be mean, sis; you were sad when I disappeared." Nick

"That's right; you were crying." Sofia

"And you were crying too!" Hope yelling at Sofia.

"And her?" Nick.

Embarrassed, Sofia says nothing. Seeing this, Nick changes the subject:

"How's the training going so far?"

"I and the kid are getting stronger and stronger. I think I can take down Miron, and the kid has some good fights with Achilles." Guardiol

"I'm much stronger. I won't be useless in the next fight." Rozalia

"Rozi, you weren't useless before; you probably would have beaten Atalanta if Richard hadn't intervened. For me, the training is going quite well, but I don't know where I'll stop. Crowley comes up with increasingly new and difficult things. He gives me the impression that he's the strongest, knows too much." Hope

"He knows more than the doctor, that you can be sure of, but he's not stronger than Cain. Number 1 is the strongest. Little one, how are you doing?" Nick

"Yes, I like training with Atalanta; she explains everything clearly. Besides, I feel better with the bow than with the gun." Sofia

"How about you, Rexi?" Nick

"I don't even know if I'm training; we just keep fighting continuously." Rex

"That's what we do too. Miyamoto often tells me, 'Experience is the best teacher.'" Nick

"Then it should be fine." Rex

A wave of negative energy hits everyone, freezing them in place. Only Max, Rex, and Nick turn their heads in the direction of the wave, using their energies to dissipate the suffocating wave for the others.

Coughing, Rozalia says, "W-What was that?"

"Fear. Let's go to Cain!" Nick

The Red Capes quickly enter the demons' meeting room:

"What was that, Cain?" Nick asks.

"Something powerful is approaching, a king." Cain

"A king? One of the Kings of Hell?" Rex asks.

"Exactly, the most powerful among those banished from Heaven." Cain

"Do you know which one is?" Lycia asks.

"I have a suspicion; this wave of fear can only be produced by three entities in the universe based on my knowledge, but it's definitely one of the kings. We can't say for sure if we're in his direction; he's still tens of kilometers away." Cain

"Such a powerful wave when he's so far away?" Rozalia

"Is it Bael?" Nick asks.

"Bael?!" The demons panic.

"You're sharp, Nick. Yes, it should be him." Cain responds.

"That explains why we felt him from this distance." Richard

"The King of Fear, Bael. Even if you can't see his armies, you can feel the fear from him." Crowley says.

"Is Bael powerful?" Max asks.

"Probably, none of us here would be able to get close to him. We have to wait to see if we're in his direction or not, and if necessary, we'll give it everything we've got." Cain says.

RING RING

"Red alert from the old man, I have to take it, be right back." Rex says, leaving the room.

"To arms!" a voice is heard from outside the building.

Everyone goes out to check what's happening.

"Spartacus?! What happened?" Cain asks.

(Spartacus, a solid, fierce man with short hair, a tattoo with the number 2 on the left side of his chest, gladiator armor, and a sword. The armor covers only the right side of the chest, making the tattoo very visible.)

"The armies, an impressive number, are entering our territory." Spartacus

"They shouldn't have been this close; the presence was farther away. Where is Vlad?" Cain asks.

"The king's presence is distant, but the first attack was led by one of the Presidents of Hell. Vlad insisted on staying to face him." Spartacus

"Understood... It seems something he would do. That being said... Let's go to war!!" Cain with a determined look and a strong, deep voice.

"We'll help you too." Nick

"I need you in this fight, Nick." Cain

"Emergency in Red Sector!" Rex appears, shouting.

"What happened?" Hope asks.

"The old man just informed me that Sector 7 was attacked by the army, and the Red Platoon was exterminated. Dr. Romanov was in contact with Xavier when it all happened, and now the armies of sectors 10, 11, and 12 are entering Sector 13. We need to go help them. Red Capes, get ready!"

"I'm not going; I'll go with Cain to face the demons." Nick

"I'll go with Nick." Guardiol

"Are you serious? Sector 13 is our home!" Hope scolds them.

"Hope, I'm not coming either; I'll go face the demons." Rozalia

"Rozi, you too?! Why?" Hope asks.

"I have my reasons." Rozalia

"Ha?!" Hope

"I want to go with them too." Sofia

"What?!" Hope very surprised

"You can't, Sofia; the doctor asked me to personally protect you and Max." Rex

"Uh... Fine. Boss, we'll go with them; you can take Nick, Guardiol, and Rozalia with you. After all, we need to protect the west area." Lycia

"I don't understand what you mean, Lycia." Hope

"The ten of us are divided into teams of two, and each team is responsible for one of the zones. Miron and I are responsible for the West zone, the leader and Crowley have the Central zone as expected, and the North zone is managed by Richard and Atalanta, which is why you encountered them there. In the South zone, Achilles and Miyamoto make themselves comfortable, a very peaceful area, those lazy two do nothing. And in the Est zone, the most connected to demonic wars, a continuous conflict zone, Spartacus and Vlad are situated, numbers 2 and 10." Lycia

"If the West zone is the most problematic, why don't you send a better number than number 10?" Max

"Hahaha, did you think the power lies in the number? The number represents only the hierarchy. First of all, Vlad is the new number 10; there was another one who betrayed us and was killed by Vlad. As long as no one else dies or leaves the group for various reasons, the numbers should remain unchanged, regardless of power. For example, Atalanta can't even activate stage 2 of power, those black lightning with red eyes that we activate." Lycia

"You didn't have to say that." Atalanta

"Okay, Lycia. You and Miron will accompany them, and I will take Nick." Cain

"Let's balance the exchange more, 3 for 3, I'll go with them too." Crowley

"Are you sure about this, Crowley?" Cain asks.

"Yes, besides, you know I avoid fights as much as possible, let the barbarians fight." Crowley

"We will go with the car we came in." Rex

"It's okay; we will use our horses." Cain

"And us?" Guardiol asks.

"You can use my horse." Miron

"Can I use your horse too, Lycia?" Rozalia

"I don't have a horse; I'm going on Miron's." Lycia

"You have to share mine, but don't worry, Grotle can handle it; he's a very strong horse." Miron

"What?! I suppose I don't have a choice after all..." Rozalia

Rex gets behind the wheel of the car with Hope on his right, in the back are Max, Sofia, Lycia, Miron, and Crowley. On the other side, Cain, Nick, Spartacus, Richard, Achilles, Miyamoto, Atalanta, Guardiol, and Rozalia head west, toward the battlefield where Spartacus left Vlad alone.

On their way to the Red Sector, while still on the demons' East territory, Dr. Romanov appears in front of the Red Caps' car, causing Rex to brake.

"Doctor, what happened? How did you get here?" Rex asks.

"We had to flee from Sector 13. The army wants to kill us all; we can't go back there." Dr. Romanov

"Do you have any idea why this happened?" Rex asks.

"They probably found out that you're training with the demons and drew the conclusion that you want to ally with them to defeat humans. I don't think they wanted to take any risks." Dr. Romanov

"I suspected that would be a reason." Rex

"Doctor, I'm glad you're safe. Rex, let's go; we need to help the others in the fight!" Hope

"What fight is she talking about?" Dr. Romanov asks.

"A King of Hell is very close to the Demon Legion's settlement. The others are already on their way to the battlefield." Rex replies.

In those moments, Dr. Romanov thinks, "A king?! Good thing he didn't come earlier; everything is going according to plan."

"Unfortunately, we can't leave immediately, kids. The people from Sector 13 were also attacked by the army and fled north, but the army is on their trail. We need to go and save them." Dr. Romanov

"Ah, I see, let's go." Rex

As Dr. Romanov sits next to Sofia and Max, he locks eyes with Crowley. On the other side, the demon legion, along with Nick, Guardiol, and Rozalia, arrives on horseback in the conflict zone.

The diabolical sight they are forced to witness can turn even the strongest stomachs and humble true characters. Around a mountain of demon corpses, tall spikes were erected, and on each spike, a high-ranking demon was impaled. Among them, sitting on the pile of corpses, was a man with a black cloak and a red hat, long black hair, and a mustache, with a tattoo on his neck showing the number 10. He held a spear in his right hand, and impaled on this spear was one of the Presidents of Hell, brutally killed. He says: "Finally, you've arrived."

"Yes. What happened here, Vlad?" Cain asks.

"Unfortunately, I said I would only deal with the first attack. I was starting to lose patience waiting for you." Vlad

"How bad is it?" Cain asks.

"A king and a prince in the center of the armies, and in front of them, in a pyramidal system, 3 dukes, 4 marquises, 5 earls, and 10 presidents. There were 11, but they sent that one for reconnaissance." Vlad

"Your eyes never disappoint, Vlad the Impaler! Let's go on the attack; we won't let them get ahead of us." Cain

"Atalanta, Rozalia, I want you to kill all the demons around us. We'll go directly for the fallen angels." Nick says.

"Understood!" Rozalia

"Alright, Nickolas!" Atalanta

"So, you also listen to Nick?" Rozalia asks.

"I respect him quite a lot." Atalanta

"So, you've become quite respected among them, Nick. Maybe you really didn't belong among us." Rozalia thinks to herself.

"I see 10 Presidents of Hell in front." Vlad

"Dismount, everyone; let's attack!" Cain

"Yes!" they all shout in unison.

Vlad hurls his spear directly at the head of one of the Presidents, killing him instantly. Cain doesn't even draw his weapon; he thrusts his hands into the chests of two Presidents, killing them. Nick leaps between two Presidents, leaning slightly to unsheath his sword, and with a circular motion, manages to kill them both. Miyamoto passes by one of the Presidents, cutting him in half, the only visible movement being the moment Miyamoto withdraws his sword. Achilles, in a lateral jump, pierces one of the Presidents in the side of the neck, killing him immediately. Spartacus doesn't bother to dodge; he lets the President's sword pierce him, and then, with a malevolent smile, decapitates the angel. Richard uses his long-range X strike, even though he is alert and ready to defend himself; the President and his sword are mercilessly shredded by the movement of number 3.

"Unreal, 10 Presidents of Hell killed in a few seconds." Rozalia says.

"Don't stare; go and kill demons." Atalanta

"Sure!" Rozalia

"Noble Comet!" Guardiol, launching a massive attack that destroyed demons over a vast distance, colliding until it reached the area where the 5 Earls were.

In the west, on their way north, they are hit by an earthquake that splits the earth in front of them.

"What was that?" Hope asks.

"That's what happens when a king appears; the earthquakes are much stronger than for the other rulers of hell. It's already night; there's not much time left. Let's descend here. Rex, stop the car!" Dr. Romanov shouts.

"What happened, doctor?!" Rex asks.

At that moment, Crowley begins to murmur something, and the hole in the ground created by the earthquake opens wider and wider. Small-winged demons start emerging, rising to the sky and heading towards the human settlement.

"What are you doing, Crowley?!" Lycia asks.

"Rex, I managed to calibrate your weapon, you should know." Dr. Romanov takes out Rex's old weapon and points it at Miron. The doctor starts shooting, filling the demon with bullets. Miron dies instantly with no chance of appeal.

"Stop!" Hope says.

"Doctor..." Max says.

During all this time, Rex remains silent.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Lycia tries to attack, but she is stopped.

"Sit down, bitch!" Crowley, surrounding her with an electric chain that not only immobilizes her but also inflicts wounds at the same time.

"You've betrayed us, Crowley?!" Lycia asks.

"Upon second thought, I don't need you anymore." Crowley says, lifting Lycia into the air.

"Leave Lycia alone!" Sofia says, but she is grabbed by Dr. Romanov at that moment.

Crowley throws Lycia into the open abyss, into hell, the place where a traitor is condemned to eternal death.