C02. Prelude (II)

Ellie had joined back with the group at some point in time. She didn't appear to be out of breath in any way and was somehow able to keep up with them in her tight outfit.

"What took you so long?" Rosie asked somewhat worried. "Don't worry about her; I am sure she was doing something perverse again."

"Hey, watch your mouth! Sister Ellie isn't like that," Rosie snapped back at Leo.

"It's alright, dear. He's just a little bitter because his hair won't grow."

"HEY!" The others couldn't help but chuckle, with only Rey remaining silent.

"Alright, guys, let's focus. We're almost there." They all nodded in unison as they approached the north wing. So far, they hadn't been ambushed by a general, which meant the enemy had made a smart move. The remaining generals had chosen to protect their master instead of arrogantly trying to take them out. Demons were prideful and mostly arrogant, so even though they had considered this possibility, it was rather low.

This was also good news for them. If the generals had chosen to protect their master instead of attacking them, it meant there were only about one or two generals left in the castle, and they couldn't afford to leave their master unprotected.

After fighting their way up the north wing, they finally arrived at the top floor. They were in a large hall with a giant double door at the end of the room. The room had 21 alcoves on both sides of the walls. The alcoves contained 20 large, pure white stone knights that could only be described as holy knights. They held different weapons ranging from a shield to a sword. Each knight only had one weapon, whether it was a shield or a spear, a bill, a flail, or even a harp.

The last alcove had the statue of a female angel with four pitch-black wings, one of which was broken. She had small goat-like horns growing on the sides of her head. The intricate details on her facial features made it look like she was alive. The group suddenly felt a sensation wash over them. It wasn't pressure or fear, but a sense of calm. Against all their unease, they gathered themselves and moved forward.

They had only taken a few steps when they heard it—the sounds of music, a beautiful melody that came from the highest quality musical instrument. They instinctively got on their guard, straight into a battle formation. Looking around, they saw the only holy knight holding a musical instrument, playing. The knight was the only one without a helmet. It was a knight made out of stone, yet its movement looked smooth and gentle. They could feel its soft touch on the strings of the harp. The group was a little confused by this. The other knights hadn't moved, and the only one moving was playing a harp. The music it played was like nothing they had heard before and gave them a sense of calm.

Since it wasn't attacking, they thought it would be best not to provoke it. They didn't need any more distractions on their mission. They decided to slowly head for the large door ahead. But the moment they took a step, the knight turned its head to look at them, and it smiled. This wasn't a gentle smile; it was the most twisted and creepiest smile they had ever seen. The smile was so wide it was practically a grin, sending chills down their spines and goosebumps all over their skins. "Dodge!" John yelled, and the group instinctively dropped to the ground.

*Boom!

An arrow made of stone slammed the ground a few meters away from them. They all scrambled around and got back in formation. A knight with a bow had fired an arrow. The power behind the attack was so great it even cracked the sturdy marble floor that had been heavily reinforced with magic. Having successfully evaded the attack, the group no longer had any choice but to fight. The stone knights all stepped down from their alcoves, all except the smiling knight, who proceeded to continue playing the harp.

"Leo, tank. I'll provide support. Everyone else, focus on dealing damage. Watch out for any surprise attacks from the remaining two statues." They proceeded to follow his lead. Leo used his skills to attract the attention of all 19 knights, while John supported him, making sure he didn't get overwhelmed. They moved around to avoid being surrounded, and Rosie intercepted any ranged attacks. Rey then launched spells suitable for stone monsters, such as "Chain Lightning" and "Sonic Boom." Ellie also used strange spells; she waved her fan, causing some knights to decay and fall apart, while others ended up unable to control their limbs, striking their fellow knights. With flawless timing and teamwork, the group made destroying 19 Tier 5 Holy knights look easy when it shouldn't have been.

There were only a handful of knights remaining when suddenly, the music played by the harp changed. It was no longer as calming as it once was and was now as chaotic as a storm. The flow of mana within their bodies became erratic. They were unable to control it anymore, and the spellcasters were now unable to cast their spells. "What's going on?" snapped Rey, who had stayed quiet all this time. Without his spells, he wouldn't be of much use to the team. John noticed the change as well.

"We need to destroy the knight with the harp; this is most likely a result of its music."

"John is right. The change occurred when it started playing a different tune."

"Alright, cover me. I am the fastest, so I'll take it down before it even knows what hit 'em."

Before Rosie could even move, the statue of the fallen angel flapped its remaining three wings and appeared in front of them. A spear of light and darkness materialized in each of her hands, respectively, as she swung them at Rosie. Unable to react in time, Rosie had no choice but to take the attack. Surely, she wouldn't escape without a scratch.

*Boom!

Rosie opened her eyes in surprise as she hadn't felt any pain. She looked up and saw John standing in front of her, blocking the attack. "Are you hurt?"

"Er- uh, no, I'm fine," she said, flustered and with her cheeks turning bright red. John had wanted to make sure she was fine as he saw she looked a little feverish, but the angel had already launched her second attack. "I'll handle this one; you take the harp bastard."

Rosie immediately snapped out of it. Leo was getting ganged up on, and the others couldn't help because they were unable to use magic. She activated a rage skill. This skill didn't require control over mana and enhanced her attacks and speed, so it was the only option. Taking a very low stance, she shot forward like a tiny bullet. As she crossed the distance in less than a second, the harp knight just kept playing his harp, even as its head was shattered by the little girl.

With that, the other knights fell to the ground like their strings were cut, and the others regained control over their mana again. This left only the fallen angel statue still active, but with all five of them facing it now, it was only a matter of time before they destroyed it. After fighting a bitter fight for more than 30 minutes, they finally won.

Standing in front of a large majestic double door after defeating 21 incredibly strong stone statues, they were breathing heavily. After taking a while to catch their breaths, they finally looked at the door. "This is it," John said, trying to control his breathing. He knew he should be calm, but he couldn't hide the excitement in his eyes. He turned around to look at his companions.

"This is what we've been preparing for. The challenges we've faced so far would be nothing compared to him. We may be here to save the world, but we're also here to avenge the people. He is very cunning and will use any number of underhanded tactics to save his miserable life. No matter what happens today, we must take him down."

The others looked at him and smiled. Even though they were the strongest swordsman, warrior, assassin, mage, and witch, they still felt nervous standing here because inside was the most powerful man in the world. Beyond this door lay in wait the Demon King of Destruction.

After their preparations were complete, John stepped forward and placed his hands on the doors. But before he could even apply pressure to push, the two large doors slowly opened, revealing the view within. The room was massive, but they were unable to observe further, as their attention was immediately grabbed by the figures in front of them.

There were seven figures in total. One of these figures sat on a large majestic throne at the far end of the room. Three figures stood to his right and three to his left. All five of them gulped at the sight of these people. Two males and a female stood on the left side of the throne, with the female standing next to the throne. Two females and a male stood by the right side of the throne; these were all demons. It was obvious at first glance that those were the six demon generals, the demon king's most trusted aides.

What they didn't expect was to find all the demon generals here and not on the battlefield. John and the others couldn't understand why. The allied forces were not only very large but formidable. They couldn't understand why the demon king had not sent them out to help his forces.

The reason for that was simply, there was simply no need for any of them to take actions. However, none of them wanted to believe such a reality. John gritted his teeth and spoke. "This changes nothing. You four keep the generals busy for as long as you can; I'll handle the cocky bastard sitting in the chair."

If these words had come out of anyone else, the others would question their sanity. But this was John, the strongest hero in the world, the man blessed by the gods. He wielded the holy sword 'Expira,' the only blade that was powerful enough to kill the demon king. They all nodded and readied their weapons as they entered the room.

The moment they stepped foot into the room, though—

It was as if gravity had been multiplied several times on them, or maybe it grew sentient and decided it hated them. They felt stifled and could barely breathe, much less stand. Some of them even dropped on their knees.

The man sitting on the throne was wearing an exquisite raven-black coat with red lining designing its edges. He wore equally expensive-looking black pants and jet black boots with two strange gems embedded at the sides of each pair, as they accentuate the faint red line that designed it. He wore a snow-white shirt inside the coat, giving the overall feel of the outfit a relaxed tone. If one had keen eyesight, they would see the dragon scale-like pattern on the simple shirt. His fingers wore eight gorgeous and vastly different rings that emitted a faint glowing effect.

Although his face could not be seen, he had short black hair that was cleanly cut in a fade. He sat leisurely with his leg crossed and his head resting on his right fist as he closed his eyes relaxed, and leaning back in his throne almost like he was disinterested in the Intruders that had just barged into his throne room.

This pissed John off even more as his determined spirit fought against the massive suppression he felt. "Holy blessings" The sword in his hands glowed as a faint holy aura wrapped around the five of them alleviating most of the pressure they felt. He didn't stop there. "Holy might" The sword emitted a white glow, and they all felt a massive boost to their strength. No longer did they feel pressured; they were now back in fighting form, even more confident than ever.

"Attack!" He shouted as all five of them sprang into action. Rey and Ellie prepared their most powerful attacks right off the bat. Rosie activated all her enhancement skills and her flame dance, and Leo prepared to take the enemies' attacks. It didn't matter if they had to destroy the entire continent in the process. They wanted to draw the generals' attention to them as John dashed for the arrogant bastard on the throne with his fastest attack, 'Lightning Flash.' His sword vibrated intensely, wrapped in streaks of silver lightning as he got closer to the demon in a flash.

"What... What is this? What just happened?" Just as they got closer to the demon king, he had suddenly opened his eyes, the hazel-colored pupils seemed to turn red as it glowed. The next thing he knew, all his friends had collapsed to the ground behind him.

"You bastard, what did you do!!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "You'll pay for this; I'll make you pay for this even if it's the last thing I do!" He roared, his armor glowed, and the aura around him kept getting intense, enough that cracks began to appear on the body of the armor. "Forbidden skill, Sacrifice."

This was a last resort skill that used the life force of the user in exchange for the power of the gods, a power beyond any mortal limitations, one even heroes could only dream of, a pierr capable of reducing the entire universe to nothingness. He was serious when he made his last declaration. Now that his friends were dead, there was no longer any hope of leaving this place alive when facing all seven of them. But with this, he would be able to take out the king. Even without killing the generals, they would win the war as long as the bastard was dead. None of the demon generals had even made a move, yet his friends had all died. It was as if they were just livestock that had gotten hit with the flu. He couldn't forgive that; they were looking down on them and had used a trick to kill his friends. But he wouldn't fall for that; with his skill, he was now basically a demigod with the power to destroy universes at his whims. It was his turn to look down on them. "Gasp!..."

Before he could even take a single step, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood as he fell to his knees. "Th... this is not right... How is this... how is this possible— I'm a Demigod; how can this happen... this... this isn't fair." With those last words escaping his mouth, he collapsed on the ground.

The strongest hero in the Human continent had died an unremarkable death, without even knowing how he had died.