Chapter 33

The chamberlain looked at the angel in bewilderment. The voice he had just heard was not that of Niris, but a voice he knew well. A voice he thought had disappeared centuries ago. A voice he hated more than anything. 

His face twisted into a hateful grimace. Every time, it stopped him when he was about to succeed. All his plans for greatness and destruction were always stopped by one and the same person, and she had come back from the dead to stop him once again. 

-Lou...it's not possible...you can't still be alive!" he shouted, refusing to believe what he was seeing. 

-I told you I'd stop you every time, didn't I? Dead or not, it doesn't change that fact," replied his sworn enemy. 

Niris, however, looked on the verge of consciousness and her lips didn't move. The voice seemed to be projected from something rather than coming from the angel's body itself. It was as if Lou had intervened externally after driving Niyari from his host's mind. 

Zorkiel glanced at the bracelet glowing on the angel's wrist. He wanted to throw himself forward to destroy the object, but golden chains sprang up from the walls of the room and wrapped themselves around him, preventing him from moving at all. He tried to struggle but the chains held him firmly, draining his natural energy in the process. There was no doubt, this was the last swordmaster's special ability, chains of heaven. 

-I know you're not alive, you can't stop me this time! I'll get what I want anyway, there's nothing you can do! You're not in this world any more, you've chosen to disappear yourself, so stop interfering!"

He spoke as if he wanted to throw his venom at the woman facing him, blocking him once again from his plans. All the hatred in the world was concentrated in his eyes, which shot lightning bolts at the angel facing him. 

-Seiran, get ready to deactivate the portal, I'm going to take it out of circulation. Everyone, on my signal, move away from the portal so that Seiran can deactivate it. Inja, open the portable portal at the same time and start evacuating as soon as Seiran has deactivated the fixed portal," Lou ordered those around him. 

Inja and Seiran nodded without much thought. The situation was completely out of their control, but it seemed that there was a way to escape the worst. They were not going to let this opportunity pass them by. Even if they weren't sure they understood what was going on, the person who had come forward to help them was on their side. 

-We don't have time to lose, I don't know how long I'll be able to stay active," she warned them. 

-All right," said Seiran, who moved into position to deactivate the portal fixed to the floor of the room.

Everyone stood ready to act. For a moment, time seemed to stand still, the seconds seemed like an eternity. Everyone waited for the signal. Lou made sure everyone was ready to act, then gave the signal. 

-Now!" 

As she spoke, she lifted the chamberlain off the ground with her chains, cutting off physical contact with the ground beneath his feet. At the same time, the two pegasi and Inja threw themselves against the wall of the room, making sure that not one of their hair or clothes touched the floor. A few seconds later, the demon placed his hand on the floor and pronounced the formula. The circle delimiting the portal began to glow faintly before slowly disappearing. 

The lines on the ground gradually faded, like snakes retracting in on themselves. Seeing this, Zorkiel struggled a little harder, hoping to escape the grip of the energy chains but in vain. Lou kept a firm grip on him, preventing him from breaking free with ease. 

-Quick, let's go!" called Inja, who had just opened the portable portal she had with her. Without further ado, Meica threw herself into the blue oval that had appeared next to the guard with the little angel still asleep on her back. 

She exchanged glances with Azure, who was watching Seiran run towards the gate. 

-Take Niris and go, we'll join you with Seiran" he said, trying to gauge the danger of the situation. 

Without thinking twice, Inja nodded and grabbed the angel before throwing herself into the portal. 

-No! If you take her now I'll... AH!" Lou protested, losing control of her chains. 

As she passed through the portal, the chamberlain was lying on the ground, unshackled. Azur threw herself forward. He and Seiran were only a step away from the portal. They were saved. He was about to throw himself into the blue whirlpool when he saw the demon stumble and fall to the ground. 

-SEIRAN!" he hissed as he saw Zorkiel raise his huge pincer arm above the prince. 

Instinctively, the Pegasus threw himself forward to parry the attack with his body. He felt the limb ripple against his scales and finally sink into his flesh, leaving a bloody trail down his left flank. He let out a groan, holding himself back from falling to the ground. 

Fighting the pain that burned his side, he grabbed the demon by the clothes and pulled him up. Without further ado, he lifted his burden and headed for the portal that was beginning to close. He accelerated to throw himself in when he felt the clothes in his mouth slip from his grasp.

Zorkiel had now pulled out a whip and wrapped it around the demon's ankle, bringing it to him with a powerful swing of his arm. Seiran screamed and reached out a desperate hand towards the pegasus. Torn, the pegasus glanced back. The portal was about to close. He wouldn't have time to retrieve the demon before it closed completely. 

With a contrite look, the Pegasus turned on his heel and threw himself into the blue whirlpool in front of a desperate Seiran. He closed his eyes, trying to forget the voice of the demon calling behind him. He had to get back to Niris, he was seriously injured and he couldn't afford to die now. Not now, when Zorkiel had just reappeared! He was deeply angry at leaving the demon behind, but he had no choice. 

"Seiran, forgive me! We'll come back for you, I promise! Hold on until then!" he said into his communication channel with the demon before the portal closed completely. 

A few seconds later, he collapsed on the floor of the large arrival hall for interdimensional portals in the Sophianopolis palace. All around him, nurses and doctors were busying themselves with the small group that had just landed on Egea. The sword master's projection had disappeared, and the stone Niris wore on his wrist had split. It fell to the ground as the nurses lifted him onto a stretcher, before he knew it. He was completely stunned. 

He felt his head spin and his consciousness slowly leave him. He had lost too much blood. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an unconscious Niris being laid on a stretcher by four angels dressed in blue, the recognisable garb of the nursing staff on the Homeworld. He was breathing normally. The little prince was unharmed. 

Unable to fight any longer, he felt his heavy eyelids droop and his consciousness slips away. 

END OF SEASON 1