Chapter 404: This woman...
I turned toward the rest of the demonic army.
The hundreds of thousands of monsters, deprived of their leaders, hesitated. Some still advanced out of reflex. But most retreated.
My generals arrived at a gallop.
The hooves of their horses pounded the ground with a dull sound, then they stopped short in front of the carnage. They looked at the remains of the Archdemons. They looked at the pools of black blood, the scattered limbs, the broken horn armors. Then they looked at me.
In their eyes, I saw something new. It was no longer only respect, nor even admiration... It was fear.
They finally understood that the man who led them was no longer quite human.
General Pendragon dismounted.
"General..." he stammered while looking at the remains of an Archdemon at his feet. "You... all of them..."
"Clean up the rest," I ordered while sheathing my swords.
"If a single one escapes toward the human continent, I will hold each of you responsible."
***
I spurred the flanks of my black destrier, an animal whose nostrils exhaled a vapor mixed with soot and hot steam.
Despite the death of the ten Archdemons, the tide of monsters did not seem to recede. Thousands of them stirred in front of me, a swarming mass of claws and fangs constantly emerging from the purple mist that covered the horizon. I did not slow down nonetheless.
With each stride of my horse, I described perfect arcs, mowing down the heads of goblins and slicing the limbs of magma ogres before they could even raise their clubs above their deformed skulls.
< Art : Sundering Eclipse >
The gray aura emanating from me did not merely strengthen my muscles beyond human limits. It tore apart the magical bonds that held the demonic bodies together.
Each blow left a trail of void behind it, an absence of light where the steel had passed and where the flesh had been separated from the bone.
I continued to slay them one after another, feeling the heartbeat of my mount accelerate under my thighs as fatigue began to set in.
As I plunged deeper into the enemy ranks, the air suddenly became heavy with a different pressure. It was no longer the usual stench of sulfur and corrupted blood, but an odor of ozone and absolute cold, like before a storm.
It was then that winged creatures charged from the clouds.
They bore no resemblance to the membranous gargoyles of the demons. Their wings were immaculate white, each feather shining with an unbearable gleam that forced the eyes to squint.
Angels fell from the sky like arrows of light, their arcane mana lances piercing the monstersโ cuirasses with disconcerting ease. The demonic metal, though reputed unbreakable, shattered under their blows like fragile glass.
In mere seconds, the black chaos of the battlefield was streaked with silver lightning. The demons, surprised by this celestial intervention they had not anticipated, were massacred en masse. Their bodies evaporated into dark smoke as soon as they were touched by the holy mana, leaving behind only traces of ash on the rocky ground.
I pulled hard on the reins, forcing my horse to rear before stopping on a mound of piled corpses. I stayed back from the fighting. My generals joined me at a gallop a few moments later. They were short of breath after the ride, their eyes widened by the spectacle unfolding before us.
For them, it was a miracle sent by the heavens to save humanity when all seemed lost. For me, it was only a new player entering a chess game that had already lasted far too long.
A silhouette then detached from the celestial group.
She did not fly like the other angels. She seemed to walk on the air, descending the updrafts with a royal grace that belonged more to a sovereign than to a simple soldier. When she touched the ground, a few meters from where I stood, the dust instantly calmed around her as if the wind itself barely dared disturb her presence.
This woman... she had long hair of a light blue that was almost translucent. It undulated around her face like a cascade, and her steel gray eyes had a metallic depth that seemed to pierce through appearances to read directly into the soul. She looked exactly like Vice-Director Amaera Castillon, but with a far more crushing aura of divine power.
She took a step toward me. Her white-gloved hand rested on the guard of a sword whose pommel represented a rising sun surrounded by celestial runes. Her wings folded behind her back with a silky sound, and she planted her gaze into mine without the slightest hesitation.
"You can sleep soundly, General Sulyvhan," she declared.
"The angels have sworn to lend a hand in this matter."
I remained silent for a long moment. My gaze did not leave hers.
"Sorry, but I do not trust the demons as much as the angels," I finally replied.
She stopped two steps from my horse. My guards instinctively stepped back, their hands on their swords, but she completely ignored their wary looks. A faint smile, almost imperceptible, stretched the corner of her lips.
"And me, do you trust me?" she asked softly.
Loriel was the archangel who had followed me into the darkness when everyone feared me for my power. The one who had defied the formal orders of the Seraphs to stay by my side while I built this empire on mass graves and bones. Even if it was secret we had been lovers for nearly half a century.
"Archangel Loriel, you put me in a difficult position," I murmured while dismounting.
I signaled my generals to move away. They exchanged hesitant glances, but none dared disobey.
"Anyway, the real problem is mostly this Lucifer... The traitor to humanity."
Loriel approached another step. Her gray eyes softened, losing their metallic gleam to take on an almost human warmth.
"Each thing in its time, Alexander," she said in a calm voice. "For today, the front is stabilized. The demons have lost many of their underlings to launch a new offensive for several weeks. We have time to breathe."
"Letโs return to headquarters," I decided while turning my gaze toward the horizon.
My hand rested on the croup of my horse, and I turned back toward her.
"We have a lot to discuss, and I do not want these discussions to take place in the middle of corpses."
The return journey was silent. The soldiers parted before us like the sea opens before a ship, bowing deeply before the man who had killed ten Archdemons alone and before the winged woman who seemed to be his salvation descended straight from paradise. But as soon as we crossed the threshold of my tent...
