Chapter 381 Equal Exchange
When the rain of spears stopped, the blue light pillars receded. However, the vortex in the sky remained, warning everyone that the disaster hadn't ended. The silver lining was that the rumbling had stopped. Ice shards covered the street but they were minor details compared to the skewered and mutilated bodies littering it. Houses were wrecked by ice, freezing the unfortunate souls living in them.
The usually humid air turned dry. The usually lukewarm wind turned chilly. You could see the water in your breath freeze when you breathed out. In under two minutes, nearly a tenth of Consio was turned into a freezing tundra. The civilians weren't foreign to winter, but the snow and ice covering their city brought terror to their souls.
Layland overlooked the havoc he had wreaked calmly. He was slightly refreshed that he had vented some of his frustration. It was his first time killing Cursed Creations. He had been killing humans, Elves, and Centaurs up to this point. He felt ecstatic, but it wasn't because he loved slaughter. It was a payback to Rusceus for the stunt he pulled. Even if Rusceus didn't treasure his people, the loss of manpower and property destruction would still hurt his kingdom.
It was unfortunate that the civilians were caught in the crossfire, but it was their fault for being weak in this harsh world. Did Layland feel remorse even if it wasn't much? No. The same thing might happen to his people in the future. It was the sobering fate of the weak. Power was the absolute rule of this world. Anything was permissible as long as you could squash those who opposed you.
Buzz!
A static noise in the air, made Layland turn his body to the left. Nine Demons in their True Form were staring at him warily. Layland's gaze was focused on one of the nine Demons. The said Demon had a familiar scent sticking to her. The Demon flinched under Layland's pinning gaze. Looking at his red eyes made her feel like staring into purgatory. Everything about Layland was unnerving: his scaly armoured body, his mask and his burning horns. The Demon wanted to be anywhere but before him. Her fellows shared the sentiment.
"Where is your king?" Layland asked, waking the nine Demons from their stupor.
"He has left for the Demon Kings Summit," the Demon with the biggest stature—still smaller than Layland—answered. "Whatever you want to do with him, you have to pass us first."
"Where is Winerva?"
The question sent a chill to Helia's spine. Layland wasn't even trying to be intimidating. His killing intent was as suffocating as ever, but he didn't pin anyone with it. He had merely asked a question but still managed to make all of the nine Demons stiffen.
"She is in the safe hand," Helia answered cockily, putting up an unconcerned front.
"Are all of you Rusceus' Generals?"
"Seven of us are," the biggest Demon answered. "However, we can assure you that all of us are the strongest Demons the kingdom has at the moment," he added, indicating that Rusceus had more than seven Generals.
"Is that so?" As Layland said this, he was already before Helia, grabbing her throat. "Quite disappointing I should say." The other Demon King's Generals widened their eyes before making a move. The biggest Demon swung his fist, sending a gigantic fist created with Mana at Layland. Layland casually swatted it, dispersing it as if it was nothing. "Why don't we take it easy? All of you don't stand in my way and I take Winerva back home."
"Anything that has gotten into the hands of our Liege belongs to him. There is no way that we will give it to you!" the biggest Demon exclaimed.
"Say, are you perhaps the white-haired dark-skinned asshole Maurice?" Layland asked with a tinge of curiosity.
"Young Lord Maurice is accompanying our Liege to the Demon Kings Summit. My name is Toraquin Magna, our Liege's Third General. Now, I ask you to let go of Helia," the Demon stated solemnly.
"What about a trade? This thing for my companion."
"Trade not accepted!"
Toraquin roared and lunged at Layland. All of the Demons flared their Demonic Essence. The air was boiled due to the concentration of the Demonic Essence in the air. Toraquin created another gigantic fist but kept it on his side instead of throwing it at Layland. Hitting Layland with it, he gritted his teeth when Layland stopped it effortlessly. Layland blasted his Mana, throwing him away.
The other Demons didn't stay idle. They released their Spells on Layland, surrounding him from all directions. As if not caring about the incoming attack, Layland hurled Helia upwards, almost breaking her neck in the process. The air exploded as Helia's body cut through it. She was launched even further when the spells the other Demons sent hit Layland.
The explosion caused by the Spells created a vacuum in the air, pushing everything nearby away. Even those on the ground were affected. Despite the terrifying explosion that should be more than enough to kill any Demon King's Generals, they knew Layland survived it. After all, the vortex in the sky remained unperturbed. On the contrary, it was emitting the same dread it had emitted before the ice spears rained down upon their cities.
When the layer of Mana covering Layland's figure dispersed, the vortex swirled. They alternatingly looked at the unharmed Layland and the swirling vortex in apprehension. When Layland pointed at the sky, the Demons decided to make a move. They froze midway when they heard [Eptaziles ti Lois] come out of Layland's mouth.
A small Magic Circle appeared above Layland's forefinger. Seven ice needles materialized and spun before they were launched into the sky above. The needles hit Helia who had barely recovered in seven different places. As if losing her energy, she limply fell from the sky. The Demons watched in horror as her True Form rapidly crumbled.
As their hearts beat faster, they quickly made a move. To defeat Layland, they concluded that they had no other way than to cooperate. They weren't fond of cooperating, but Rusceus had hammered pragmatism into them. One of them clasped their hand, opening Hell's Gate. A huge amount of Demon Essence was poured into the gate before an 80-foot-tall, three-headed hound came out of it.
The aura of death descended upon the world, making even the remaining eight Demons nervous. Their fellow General had just summoned a Cerberus, a dangerous Hell Beast that was hard to control. Although it was a mere soul manifestation created by Demonic Essence, it was still powerful. Even Rusceus was reluctant to summon the real one despite having enough power to do that. Cerberus was a rebellious Hell Beast.
"Someone, aid me! My control is slipping!"
Two Generals retreated upon the call. The Cerberus summoner could have cancelled the summoning thus returning the Cerberus' soul to Hell, but it would be a waste of Demonic Essence. They couldn't afford to lose the momentum given how fearsome their opponent was. Before the two of them could reach the summoner, Rexorem fell on him, cutting him in two before their widened eyes.
Rawr!
The Cerberus roared and thrashed as its body quickly dispersed. One of its heads opened its maw and shot a ball of baleful energy at Layland. A loud boom shook the earth a second later, but it was not made by the energy ball which dispersed before it could touch Layland. The sound was made by Rexorem which had just reached the ground.
Toraquin and the four Demons who had cleared the way for the Cerberus' ball of destruction cursed spitefully. After all, their effort had ended up in vain given the fiasco. Toraquin muttered the name of his Origin: [Demotion] as he charged at Layland. He hit Layland with two ethereal gigantic fists, winding Layland slightly. He could sense Layland's surprise, so he couldn't hold back a manic grin.
"Destroy him!"
The other six Demons rushed at Layland as Toraquin retreated far enough to not stand in the way but close enough for his Origin to affect Layland. The six Demons drove their weapons into Layland's body, piercing through his armour. They failed to pierce through Layland's body but still dealt significant damage to it.
"You have brought me down to your level, big guy," Layland stated nonchalantly, referring to what Toraquin had done. "I can use a huge amount of my power because it is sealed by your Origin. I have to applaud you for that. Unfortunately, it is not as absolute as you think."
Toraquin widened his eyes, only then realising that the other Demons' Origins didn't affect Layland. He frantically told his fellows to retreat just as Layland's Demonic Essence soared through the roof. Four managed to escape before a yellow sphere entrapped them inside. Layland blinked out of the sphere and appeared beside it. Extending his hand to the sphere, he shot a red beam into it. The sphere turned vermillion and shone radiantly.
Before their very eyes, the sphere shone brighter with each passing second. It was quickly shrinking, but the intensity of its light almost rivalled the sun. The sphere disappeared along with the two unfortunate Demons trapped inside. They had vanished without a trace. They weren't as strong as the Generals, but not anyone could completely obliterate their bodies.
Fear gripped their hearts. Out of the nine Demons confronting Layland, three had died and one had been immobilized in under ten minutes. Toraquin, as the de facto leader of the remaining available Generals, decided that they needed cannon fodders. Thus, he summoned the soldiers.
"Everyone, to the sky!"
A frown soon marred his face when he couldn't hear the manic roar of their soldiers. Looking down in anticipation, his heart skipped a beat. In addition to the pointy ice chunks, the ground was also decorated with tall blood spikes. Streams of blood flowed into the greatsword that had killed his fellow General from all directions, colouring the ground red. His subordinates were nowhere to be found.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m