Darkness filled Dorian's vision as he awoke. It was clear to him that he had something in the form of a sack tied to his head. It made things hard to breathe and very uncomfortable.
He was just a regular farmer's son that had been out on the field all day. The last thing that he remembered was going back home after working. The sun was setting as they had to hurry up with this month's harvest. Then things became blurry, something happened between the time of him walking home and arriving here.
"Ughhh…"
When he tried to speak something compelled him to not. There was nothing inside of his mouth but when he tried to open it, he couldn't. It was as if his lips were glued together and the only thing he could do was to mumble. Soon he heard rustling from the sides and similar mumbling and groaning were heard by him. It looked like he wasn't alone in this place.
"The sacrifices are waking up high priest."
"It matters not, the ritual is ready to begin, the Lord of Terror will be pleased with us!"
In the silence there were voices, the young farmer had no idea what was happening but this had something to do with the demon worshipers. His parents had warned him about them when he was younger.
There were certain people that worshiped the devils that were banished from these lands. They would perform strange rituals to open the rifts in the barrier in hopes of getting power in return. This could come in many forms but mostly they would turn into demonic beings themselves then serve the demon that they worshiped till the end of their life.
"Remove the sacks, let the sacrifices bask in the Lord's glory!"
Footsteps followed the man's words and the bag on his head was removed. What he saw was many people like him. Hands bound and curled up on a strange red circle. He wanted to scream but couldn't after realizing that this magic writing was painted in human blood. There were multiple headless corpses to the side that were used for this purpose.
The other people looked to be mostly commoners from the villages just like him. They were of various genders and ages, even of mixed races as apparently no one was spared. The women were crying while the men were looking with anger in their eyes at the massacred people and the demon worshipers that were responsible for this.
"Be glad sinners, you will be graced by the Lord's love! He will devour your very souls and use it as nourishment to cleanse these lands from the rot that covers it!"
A man in dark robes and various strange accessories stood out on a dim-lit platform above them. There were others like him gathered in this place around them. It was clear that they wanted to sacrifice them to some kind of demonic being. Running was the only option for survival.
Dorian's struggles didn't bore fruit, his body felt sluggish and he just couldn't untie the ropes that bound him. The same thing happened to the others as even the more robust-looking men couldn't break free. Something was sapping their strength already and soon some kind of strange portal appeared. It was right in the middle of this dastardly demonic circle and looked like it was made from blood.
"Yes! YES! The Lord is coming through!"
"Behold the lord's glory infidels, bask in his light!"
The cultist started mumbling some strange incoherent chants while the people on the ground tried to flee. Soon the portal started expanding in size and with time something started to push through.
A large hooved leg appeared, it was covered in some tight red leathery skin. With a thump, this leg slammed to the ground below and caused it to tremble. Soon the demon's form was revealed. It was many times larger than a human, close to ten meters tall. Its lower half looked like it belonged to a goat while the top half was more human-looking.
This being had similar characteristics to the first Demon Lord of Pain. The torso was muscular and covered in red leather. Its head didn't possess eyes instead its brain was sticking out, below it a large toothy mouth with black teeth that were covered with blood. Various horns and spikes were coming out of its spine as well as from its fists.
"We greet the Lord of Terror! We present you these sacrifices, please feast on their immortal souls!'
The giant demon lord was able to get through the demonic gate of blood fully revealing itself. Even without any eyes, it seemed to be looking deep into everyone's soul that was here.
"Inadequate…"
The monster's shrill voice filled the area without it even talking. It pointed out towards the cultists with its large digit. The person that was getting pointed at evaporated into dark gas that was then absorbed into the creature's mouth.
"T-the sacrifices weren't enough, we have angered the lord!"
The person that looked like the boss of the bunch started backing away but it was too late. It looked that the monster was unhappy with the number of sacrifices. The moment it stepped through the portal it started to devour its own worshipers. Some of them tried to escape while some just kneeled down with opened arms as if happy that they could be of use to this demonic being.
It went after the cultist first, even devouring the main priest. Soon it turned to the people in the magic circle that were still alive. It didn't point with its finger but instead started moving towards them. For one reason or another, it grabbed Dorian with its massive hand and raised him up towards its toothy mouth.
The man screamed out, after the cultist had been devoured whatever was stopping him from speaking was now gone. The monster's grip was far too strong to break out from the only thing that he could do now was watch that ghastly orifice opening up to devour him whole.
His death was before him, everything that he couldn't do flashed before his eyes. Regrets of not asking that one girl to the festival a few months ago, not helping his parents more, not being able to become a man. He wasn't ready to die but there was nothing he could do, the demon was far too strong and he would consume him like the rest of the people here.
But the beast stopped before devouring Dorian whole. It was as if it noticed something, it moved its head up and Dorian looked up as well. There it was, glowing in bright light and coming straight for them. Before the monster could react something collided with the ground right next to it.
Dorian felt weightless for some reason and soon he realized why. The monster's hand that was grasping him just a moment ago was evaporating into nothingness. He was afraid that he was getting erased as well but instead, a gentle golden light covered his body and guided him away from the demonic creature.
He wasn't the only one that was being saved. Every person that was bound at that bloody circle was quickly floating away why shielded by bright energy. Soon they all were further away with their bindings gone.
"W-what is that…"
A woman pointed at the demonic being that previously swallowed up all those cultists with just a pointing of its finger. It was being held in place by some kind of golden figure. This figure looked to be of similar height but more majestic in outlook. It was some kind of being of energy that was bathed in bolts of lightning. At the moment the two beings were clashing in a contest of strength but the demon was losing.
"Is that an angel?"
"A holy spirit?"
The people looked on in shock and awe while the two huge beings continued to fight. They were duking it out in close quarters combat, throwing punches filled with either divine or demonic energy. The previously scary monster with the brain sticking out looked a lot less intimidating the moment it started getting smacked around by this golden giant.
"Please don't stand around and evacuate."
Suddenly a voice from above called out to them and the people could see a large flying ship descending their way. A group of people in shiny armor jumped out and started evacuating everyone to this flying vessel.
The people that were previously sacrificed had no problem going with these knights in shining armor. It looked like they had come to save them in their time of need. Everyone was slowly carried off while the two powerful beings were fighting in the distance.
When everyone arrived on the flying ship they saw another strange sight. There were two beautiful girls kneeling in the center of this ship's deck. They were surrounded by armored men from all sides and their bodies were glowing. The glow was akin to the one that the being of light had which made Dorian connect the dots together.
This was of course Beatrice and Isabella carrying out their soul resonance. The duo had been traveling the lands and searching for demon lords to defeat. This wasn't their first rodeo either as this Demon lord of Terror was their third target.
Soon a giant monstrous roar that could only belong to a massive beast was heard. Everyone gathered at the ship looked to it to discover a giant golden dragon discharging rays of energy into the ground below. Its aim was clearly the Archedemon that it was fighting, now not much remained from his body as he was melting away at this very moment.
"Could it be… the Twin Saint Priestesses?"
Dorian looked at the person that called out from the side. It was a woman from his village and she was pointing at the two cute girls that were holding hands together.
"The Saint Priestesses…"
He knew that name, it was something that took the land by storm not even a month ago. First, there were some rumors that one of the Demon Lords was slain by an unknown entity. Then with time, another one fell not long after, the rumors suggested two virgins bathed in light were always present when such a thing occurred.
They commanded some kind of giant dragon emperor that could spit out lightning and control the holy elements. This had to be true as the beast that was slowly burning away the demon was an actual dragon that fit the description. The golden figure had somehow transformed into this majestic beast during the battle.
Soon the energies from the surroundings faded and people were greeted to a giant crater that had been dug up by the dragon's breath. The monster vanished soon into many tiny particles while the whole scene was illuminated by a clear sky and moonlight.
The third Demon Lord was gone and the legend of the Twin Saint Priestesses continued. The two 'saints' in question were not that happy about their new title. Their divine dragon wasn't either as he was seen as nothing more than their contracted beast without a mind of its own.
"Three down… two to go!"
A strange man dressed in a white robe appeared out from nowhere. Dorian and the rest glanced at him in bewilderment as he had some kind of strange otherworldly aura to himself. Soon he vanished into particles of light while the blond girls returned to normal. The fight was over and everyone rejoiced.