"You did so well hiding your tails today, but you didn't have to," Lilith told Tanya while watching the road.
"Karin said it helps with controlling my essence. It's part of my training, and she's gonna teach me more tricks after." Tanya smiled while kicking her feet.
"You gonna share everything you bought?" Lilith asked.
"Yeah, I got lots of stuff and even some presents for Ms. Yuki," Tanya replied.
"You should still keep something for yourself. You deserve something special for working so hard after all." Lilith smiled while patting her head.
"It's what big bro does for us, and I wanna help him as much as I can," Tanya replied.
"I know how you feel," Lilith said while looking up at Zack flying above.
Zack could feel Lilith's gaze as he looked down. He smiled briefly but it was rapidly swept away as Zack picked up auras closing in fast. Looking back at the road he saw a group of demons flying their way being lead by Dorion.
Cynthia saw it and was getting ready to warn the others. Vicente already had his weapon drawn and was ready to jump out the back when Zack landed on the road grabbing their attention.
"Get them home I got this!" Zack yelled.
"What's going on?" Yu asked.
"Trouble...Zack always does this, taking on large enemies alone, and sending everyone to safety. The first time we met I thought he had a death wish, but every time we see him again. Never known a human to be this strong, or honorable." Vicente replied while sitting back down.
Yu wanted to jump out to help, but Pan clung to her terrified. All Yu could do was watch as they rode further away. She knew Zack was strong, but her mother shared the story about her father. Destiny saw the look on Yu's face as she comforted her.
"He will come back to us," Destiny told Yu while grabbing her hand.
Zack saw five demons accompanying Dorion, and detected a sinister aura among them. The demon Zack sensed is named Modestus, and he's been Dorion's protector and mentor since birth. He towered over the other demons around him and seemed uninterested in his duties. Modestus had scarlet skin with black horns, and eyes as dark as night.
The farmers in the area could sense the tension forming. Dorion was grinning at Zack as they slowly approached. No elites were around, and even Lilith was absent. In this situation, they could kill Zack without repercussions.
Dorion's faction was notorious among the lower class. Anytime someone would issue complaints about them they would suddenly disappear, and because of this no one around them would dare report him to the city. Seeing the impending crisis they backed up slowly to take shelter.
"Cut him up for a while, but leave him breathing. I wanna kill him myself." Dorion ordered with a smirk.
All the demons except Modestus attacked. Two came charging straight forward while the rest took the sky. Zack was dodging their barrage of attacks, but then the demons above spewed fire from their mouths. The two demons on the ground leaped back calling forth their weapons. One was wielding a trident, while the other was dual-wielding daggers.
Zack called forward his spear twirling it as mighty winds clashed against the flames. He quickly overflowed their attack with his mana forcing it back. The demons took minor damage and tried to recover from the updraft.
All they heard was a flutter, and Zack had disappeared. The demons attempted to turn around but were struck with a mighty shockwave in their backs. They were rapidly launched into the earth encased in the rubble surrounding them as they struggled to stand.
Zack's eyes were golden as he examined his hand, and checked for his wings. It was the first time he used his grace since the battle with Uriel. Now that he learned to calm himself in battle it was no longer detectable.
The demon with the trident called lightning hurling it as it disappeared in a flash. Zack narrowly blocked the spear as it appeared abruptly in front of his face. Lighting struck the trident from the sky causing his body to flinch momentarily as Zack extended his hand. The earth under all four of them wrapped around their legs halting them in place while slowly crushing them.
"These are the men you employ? Pathetic." Modestus scoffed.
"They just need some direction," Dorion replied as he took off.
Dorion raised his handed forming several javelins of wind that tore across the sky. The speed and numbers caused Zack to lose focus while Dorion's allies broke free. The demon continued to hurl its trident forcing him to evade as they prepared an attack. Two of the demons had a hand in the air as they combined a fire attack slowly.
Dorian pulled out two chakrams hurling them as they became enveloped with magic as powerful surges of wind swirled around. The chakrams were cutting through the sky at tremendous speeds ready to slice anything in its path.
Zack countered by twirling his spear, but it couldn't halt the weapons. He narrowly dodged them as the winds continue to rage on. Dorion was controlling the chakrams with ease forcing Zack into a corner with the help of his ally.
After dodging between the two chakrams the trident came flying towards Zack's chest. He shifted his body taking the hit to the shoulder, and when the lightning got ready to strike Zack raised his spear. As the lightning bolt came roaring down Zack redirected it towards Dorion.
One of Dorion's guards saw it coming and took the hit for his benefactor. The blast was enough to leave severe wounds all over the demon's body and rendered him unconscious. Zack was healing extremely slowly floating back.
'Demon weapons truly are formidable. The miasma it radiates is difficult to heal.' Zack glanced at his shoulder briefly.
Zack was about to retaliate when he felt mana swelling in the air around him. The chakrams drew a spell circle in the sky as wind surrounded Zack. The powerful winds coiled tightly around Zack forming a sphere. The winds almost crushed him completely but it was halted by his spear. Both demons gathered fire launching a blast that engulfed the sky in flames.
Zack calmed his mind circling his grace through his body. Even with the destruction around him, he brought himself to a deep focus. When the devastation subsided they could see golden eyes gazing at them through the dust.
"Turn around, and we can end this pointless conflict," Zack stated
"We can't touch Lilith, but go get one of those children. Let's see how cocky he acts then." Dorion ordered.
One of Dorion's lackeys flew off down the road but hurled his spear through the demon's back. When it made contact his eyes, and mouth emitted a golden light as his body was rendered to salt. This was the only thing to catch Modestus's attention.
Modestus knew of only one race that could kill a demon like that. He sensed Zack closely but couldn't find anything divine within him. Modestus was forbidden from fighting anymore especially within city limits, but under the current circumstances, it qualified as following his duties to protect Dorion. A sinister smirk swept his face as he stared down Zack.
"Don't mistake my kindness for weakness!" Zack shouted retrieving his spear.
Dorion looked up in fear when seeing the spear return, and pointed in his direction. Modestus charged forward at immense speeds grabbing Zack by the face. An impure force was pouring into Zack that sent pain coursing through his body.
Modestus dragged Zack through the forest leveling trees and shattering the earth as they flew forward. Once he was done playing Modestus hurled Zack into the side of a mountain as he chased forward.
Zack heaved his spear at Modestus but he caught it. He placed his hand out forcing his spear forward as Modestus struggled to maintain his grip. With a flick of his other hand, two fists from the earth erupted behind Modestus slamming him into the ground.
"Not bad," Modestus mumbled from inside the earth as it began to shake.
As the grounds rumbling increased magma erupted from the earth as Modestus flew out with it. Zack dodged it launching a powerful shockwave towards Modestus launching him away as he charged forward to give chase.
Modestus turned around as his horns began gathering magic at the tips. Wind swirled around one, and immense flames on the other. Once the two energies expanded and connected a series of explosions rumbled towards Zack.
Zack slammed his spear into the earth flexing his grace to protect himself. This diverted the explosions to the area around him damaging the forest in the process. Modestus came flying through the dust with a colossal hunk of metal in his hand resembling a sword. Zack blocked the attack as the earth around them crumbled under the weight of their powers.
"You keep hiding your true form, but how long can you keep it up if I do this?" Modesteus smirked.
Pitch-black energy was flowing from Modestus's blade as the area around them began to wither. The impure magic oozing from his blade, and corrupting its surroundings was the power of chaos. A dark cloud and aura swiftly saturated the forest.
Everyone for miles could see the darkness sweeping the land. The foul energy seemed to rob life all around them. It was covering ten meters from their clash as trees shriveled away, and animals fell from the sky.
Modestus flexed his aura as Zack's spear began to crack. Zack's body was in immense pain as the darkness swarmed around him attempting to engulf him. These attacks were useful on angels and instant death for most species. With so much chaos swirling around them Zack was pushed into a corner.