Mikhail didn't let his guard down, not even a millisecond, as he tightened the grip he had on his Holy Swords. His orbs were practically bloodshot, considering that there were red veins popping up in the corners of his eyes.
Lamentably, contrary to Mikhail's intention to immobilize the Demon Noble for a few seconds, his heart still hadn't completed one beat prior to a crack's appearance on the surface of the frozen pillar. In an instant, that crevice soon grew branches, travelling throughout the circumference of the column.
Not to mention, the knight commander belatedly realized that several spheres of magic had materialized on the tips of the Noble's talon-like-hands. No doubt, it was an offensive form of incantation.
The pillar was promptly putrefied by the countless fissures that appeared throughout its length. As it crumbled down, bits of its pieces weren't able to reach the ground as they evaporated mid-air from the heat dominating the battlefield. Latterly, the Demon Noble's magic spheres inflated, increasing Mikhail's worries.
'Curse this! If I evade, it's Khamael who will bear the attack! Withal, I am not prepared to ward off a spell that I have no knowledge of! We're talking about a Demon Noble's power, so it will be calamitous at the least!' Mikhail tempestuously mulled over the menace he was confronting.
He ceaselessly ransacked his mind of a way to evade any bad outcomes, but suddenly, he heard his saving grace. Mikail immediately took flight in the direction of the knights who were on standby.
"homo sum humani a mi nihil alienum puto"
Khamael slowly opened his eyes, yet he didn't seem surprised when he saw an otherworldly existence standing right afore him. Be that as it may, his head was relentlessly bombarded with a migraine that exhausted his mind further than what he could tolerate. The pain was consummately vehement that he capably ignored the nearby presence of the creature that he dreadfully abhorred.
"nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege"
An obfuscous hexahedron, the size of an average human hand, was gradually being forged by the minuscule particles of mana that were gathering in the space between the Demon Noble and the knight.
Queerly enough, the demon merely watched the formation of the object in front of it, curious regarding its purpose.
"honor virtutis premium; advocatus Diaboli; fiat iustitia et pereat mundus"
Predominantly reverberating within the open battlefield was the unfathomable jeering of the enemy army. Although thankfully enough, Khamael could only hear his voice as he concentrated on his incantations.
"ubi non accusator, ibi non index; res judicata"
At long last, the article of interest had finally taken shape. A cube appearing as if it had miniature portals on all six of its facades, exuding the malice of the holiest of deities who were lusting to pass down judgment on evil, unfolded itself.
Praetorium, the cubic void called forth by Khamael, was dyed with a psychedelic incandescence, seraphic and pure. It was an intangible artefact that could solely be summoned through the combination of a second-tier spell from Deo Ashantra and a sword belonging to the vetoed series of weapons.
In essence, Praetorium was created by the Emperor and Khamael.
"non facias malum ut inde fiat bonum"
Upon the articulation of the incantation's concluding line, the cube commenced its evolution to become the largest version of itself. Along with the echoing of a colossal bronze gong being hit in one-second intervals, Praetorium's volume exponentially surged every beat. The glittering mist that was covering it expanded as well.
Posthaste, Praetorium boxed an area, spanning twenty kilometres on each side, in a completely dark territory, contrasting its magnificent outer visual. The cube functions as a proxy dimension where mana was obsolete, sufficiently competent to imprison the most powerful of individuals. In conjunction with that, it extinguished all forms of magic that weren't contained within a vessel, including the Demon Noble's initial orbs on the tip of its hands.
Nevertheless, the abilities of Praetorium were beyond just imprisonment. All the creatures surrounded by it would have to fight against the chains that would duly sprout from underneath the cube.
These connected metal links had the purpose of puncturing the corresponding main source of life from every living thing inside the dimension; it was the heart for the humans and the core for the demons and monsters. Moreover, the number of chain links that would target an individual would reciprocate their aptitude.
Khamael was required to maintain his consciousness to prevent the dimension from collapsing, yet it was getting a tad more challenging for him to be awake by the minute. He then fell on his rear as he observed the marvellous space.
He neglected the pandemonium that was transpiring in the ranks of the demons and monsters since it wasn't to his taste.
Consequent to the chain-links penetrating their life cores, the minions expeditiously turned to dust, scattering in the air before they could even land. Those creatures who saw such occurrence ran for their lives, but the chains caught up to them eventually.
In this manner, the blaring howling and crying of the enemies simply irritated Khamael that it added to the banging ache in his head.
Meanwhile, the Rounds were spared from this ordeal due to the influence of their Holy Swords. Praetorium remarked the mana signature of the weapons in the knights' souls, recognizing them as allies.
'I'm digressing to the idea that this spell was worth the agony that I'll be suffering for diers. I'm just going to hope that the two stooges and Lord Claudas will notice this beacon. We have to buy time as much as we could.' The younger Percival deliberated on his predicament as he stared at the entirety of the Demon Noble afore him.
"Hey you ugly sh*t, who the f*ck are you?" Khamael asked the demon while throwing a castigating glower towards it. Even if the lad didn't have the most inventive profanities, the way he phrased his words amply conveyed his annoyance.
"---- ---- -- - -------" Of course, the two beings wouldn't be able to communicate properly.
The sonorous ringing that docked in his ear served to amplify Khamael's already copious exasperation.
"Shut that disgusting piece you call a mouth."
Sabnock was the name of the first Demon Noble that they met in their present expedition; a Noble who had fifty army legions. It had a body akin to a human omitting the fact that its limbs were three-jointed, hands and feet were that of an eagle's talons. The demon's head was a mere ball of uncovered muscles, crowned with a mane comparable to that of a lion. There was a horizontal slit, smacked dab in the middle of its spherical apex, serving as its mouth.
Next in order was the entity that Sabnock was mounted on, a horse-like creature with limbs double the height of Khamael. What made it different from a regular horse was that its white body was almost transparent and it had five sets of jaws, littering its mouth with layers of sharp teeth.
Sabnock formed its mouth into a carve that of a horseshoe, revealing its enjoyment. Also, it did not attempt to decamp the confinement, nor did it resist the chains suffocating it, all the while gazing around the field like a tourist during a trip in a safari.
"Where the heck is your eyes even?" Khamael wretchedly spouted his query, inquisitive on how the Demon Noble could perceive by sight when there was no optical organ evident on its head.
"--- --------- -"
"Didn't I tell you to keep that cavity closed?"
The knights who made their way towards Khamael shook their heads at the scene that they arrived at. Khamael was persistent on interrogating Sabnock, yet he didn't want it to answer at the same time.
Anyway, he wouldn't understand its speech even if it did respond.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Enough!"
Zelel could not contain himself anymore as he reprehended Israfel and Jibrail who did not cease from bickering.
"We should be trying to fi-!"
However, the duo replied to his anger with dirty looks ahead of saying, "We get it, so shut up!'
The Prime Minister stepped back as the two roared at him contemporaneously, baffled at why the fault was passed over to his innocent fretting.
'I am supposed to be the mad one here!' He thought, clenching his fist out of frustration.
They were nighing the capital of the Suma fief, but they have yet to encounter any other living beings, save for the swift perching on Israfel's left shoulder.
Ensuing the trivial argument was a stroll done in silence. It was noteworthy that the fief had a population of bordering ten million. Hence, every moment that betided wherein they don't see a single being, the trepidation in their hearts thickened.
Unanticipatedly, a few minutes into their walk, an enormous black box entered their gazes from the far-left side. Fortunately and without delay, the three remarked the identity of the unusually gigantic cube through the ambience it was emitting.
'Isn't that spell Lord Khamael's?' Zelel bounced in delight upon discovering something familiar. He hurriedly turned his head to share the news to his companions, but for the nth time in a row, he was left all alone.