Aldous secretly cried in his heart. His heart bled with pain. All of his comrades had left him, alone, in this labyrinth of their dead father.
" I shall protect this labyrinth. Even if the land may fall upon the abyss one day, I will be guarding this place. I Aldous promise to lay my life down, to protect this holy place. " He remembered the vows he made with his brothers 5 years ago. And now? He was all alone. How he wished he had a heart made of stone, so he wouldn't have to suffer all this pain.
Just as Aldous' heart continued to bleed, the labyrinth shook. Behind him stood a tall door made out of metal only the gods could break. The labyrinth wasn't very complicated, whichever path someone chose wouldn't matter, it would lead them to him, Aldous the Protector.
The labyrinth stopped shaking and in front of him appeared 2 creatures. The creature on the left was a man with 3 horns sprouting out his head, the other one, a demon with red glowing eyes.
" So, you are the infamous Aldous? We have heard a lot about you. You certainly look powerful but you can't defeat us. We are two of the best from the lower level of the land. You may keep your life if you let us through. " The demon said. His voice had arrogance behind it.
Aldous knew the two of them could never break the door behind him. The majority of the people from the land knew it as the " Steel door guarded by the protectors. " Since it had the name steel in it, people would certainly assume it was made out of steel.
But he wouldn't let them through. It was his duty as the protector of the door to guard it, even if it was made out of the body parts of gods.
Taking a deep breath, Aldous clenched his hands into a fist and started breathing very slowly.
" We can't bargain with the protectors. Let's go Aksha. We shall take whatever is inside that door. " The three-horned man said furiously and charged towards Aldous.
The demon's hand started glowing and he fired a beam of energy towards Aldous,
Aldous body left afterimages as he dodged that one single attack.
The demon felt something warm spread across his face. He scooped a little and looked at it. It was green and thick. Blood. Blood of the Oni kind. The demon slowly turned his head towards where his friend was supposed to be, but, instead of his friend, all he saw was body parts sprayed around the room lit up by fire around the corners of the room.
Aldous stood in the same position he was in before he dodged the attack of the demon and looked intently at the demon.
" I see. We were the best in the lower level of the land. I never should have doubted the stories about how you killed the twelve hand Pango in battle with ease. Please send me away. " The demon closed his eyes. He knew the end was near. He wouldn't struggle, he didn't need to die brave, it wouldn't matter if he went to hell.
The demons consciousness faded away as blood splattered around the room.
Aldous turned around as if nothing had happened and approached the gate, he stood in front of the gate and looked at himself. Muscular, handsome, charming. Three words used to describe Aldous 5 years ago. But, now? A man made out of pure power.
His red flaming eyes caught a glimpse of a green bug running out of the gate and approaching him. What his eyes didn't catch was the red bug approaching him from the other side. Aldous extended his hands and the land of dawn shook.