The group of demons ran at their top speed through the complicated tunnels previously prepared to flee. As they traversed these paths, some of them shifted, and gasses were also used to clean their tracks.
Dyrathos frowned. "Is somebody following us?"
Kyril spoke coldly. "Most probably. That dragon has powerful trackers. If we don't speed up and enter the short-range teleportation formation we set up, we will be in trouble."
Another demon asked. "Will that work?"
Kyril stayed silent for a few seconds. "We can only hope so."
In truth, Kyril has been feeling a premonition all this time. She was a Demon with high mastery over the Death attribute, so her senses towards danger and deadly situations were very sharp. Coming to this world was a mistake in the first place. 'The energy fluctuation was too strong. It was clear that whatever caused it was something above our limits. We got overconfident because it was a remote place with a Mortal Ranked Heaven.'
She was as confident as the Demons back in her world. Moreover, she never really put the Divines in her eyes. However, since she met Yasenia, her entire perspective shifted.
Kyril actually planned the first attempts at Yasenia's life from the Demon's side. She knew that if she didn't eliminate her, things would go south quickly.
Sadly, Kyril couldn't act with complete freedom because the Divines were in the World, and the Spirits somehow allied with Yasenia.
As things advanced, Kyril's perspective shifted, and she wanted to take a more peaceful and political approach. To her surprise, Dyrathos already hated Yasenia to his guts because she killed one of them the first time they met.
After that, things just went from bad to worse, reaching their current situation.
Dyrathos looked at the silent and somewhat calm Kyril and spoke. "I should've listened to you more."
Kyril didn't answer. Dyrathos sighed. "Tell me the truth. How likely are we to survive?"
Kyril spoke. "If we reach the teleportation formation, 10%."
Hearing that the probability of surviving after reaching the formation, which was their best bet, made Dyrathos realize that they were at the end of their rope. "And if we don't reach the formation?"
Kyril looked forward and didn't answer. However, her silence was telling that there was no future to talk about.
Dyrathos gritted his teeth, and his twelve wings flapped. "Speed up!"
Not far from them, the maids continued to cover the terrain and close the distance. Doriel's eyes glowed ominously as she looked around, feeling the soul of the Demons getting closer.
Escaping from Doriel's tracking was almost impossible without soul skills. Without being able to change the aura of their souls, the result was already decided.
After five more minutes, Doriel appeared in a clearing and said through their communication channel. 'Found them.'
A few kilometers ahead, Doriel could see the faint auras the Demon's souls left behind.
Dyrathos suddenly felt a Spiritual Sense sweep their area, and his heart chilled. "We need to go faster," he said. One of the demons who had not reached the Arch level stuttered. "S-Senior Brother, we can't go faster."
Dyrathos didn't look back, and the next instant, Kyril, Dyrathos, and the third Arch-duke level Demon shot forward with much more speed, traversing the forest like shooting stars.
Doriel, who was quickly closing the distance, was surprised at the acceleration of those three. However, she didn't panic. "Level 7 maids and one half-step capture the stragglers; the rest follow me."
After crossing a river and circling a mountain, the three of them landed on a hill that was instantly blown apart by their strength.
The short-range teleportation formation appeared in the middle of the mountain, and the three demons quickly landed there. Dyrathos ordered, "Activate it!"
A pillar of light descended, and their bodies disappeared from there. An instant later, the maids arrived and looked at the formation. Doriel snorted and took out a talisman. "[Spatial Path Talisman]."
A beam of pure black light shot forward and smashed in the middle of the formation.
CRASH!
Space shattered like glass, revealing a tunnel that connected this formation's edge with the other side. All maids didn't hesitate an instant and dove into the spatial fissure.
On the other side, Dyrathos looked back with his spiritual sense just as the spatial fracture opened, making his face darken. "What did they use?"
Kyril continued silently, fleeing at her top speed. Yet, that was not enough.
A thunderbolt passed them with a rumbling sound, stopping in front of them and revealing the voluptuous yellow- and azure-scaled dragon woman.
Alaia pointed her spear at them and stated. "Stop fleeing. You can't escape."
The three demons exploded in a terrifying hurricane of auras and released one attack each against Alaia. The dragon women pointed skyward, and a massive dragon made of pure lighting descended, clashing against the three attacks.
BOOM!
All the clouds disappeared as the shockwave pushed them away, while the powerful winds flattened the ground several kilometers across.
Alaia was pushed back several kilometers. However, she didn't take any significant damage.
The three Demons used their movement techniques and flew in three different directions. However, before they could run far, two half-step Dantian Spiritualization Realm maids stopped each of them.
Dyrathos' face twisted with rage as his body erupted like a volcano. "OUT OF MY WAY!"
The sky became red as a towering wave of flames rushed forward.
The two maids in his way looked on coldly and brandished their weapons at once.
Dyrathos' attack was sliced diagonally and then blasted backward. Before the Fire Demon reacted, the maids rushed at him and began a melee.
A sword descended from his right, forcing Dyrathos to defend. The instant he blocked that attack, the kick of the other maid landed on his back, blasting him flying through a distant mountain.
Using their spiritual sense, both maids never lost track of Dyrathos, seeing through his attempt to use this attack to flee. Both maids stated as they shot behind him.
"Young Miss wishes your death. You are not getting away, Dyrathos."
"Young Miss wishes your death. You are not getting away, Dyrathos."
Dyrathos snapped. "That dragon can go die in a ditch!"
"No need to provoke us. We are already killing you." The chilling voice of the Curse Assassin reached him from behind, making his entire body feel a terrifying chill. 'I need to dodge!'
Using a life-saving skill, his body burst into flames and reappeared 10 kilometers away. This skill damaged him, but it also helped him dodge almost any attack.
Dyrathos was confused when he saw Doriel stopping where he had previously been, as if she was stabbing something. 'Did she not expect that I dodged, so something went wrong on her side?'
He didn't give it much thought and started turning around when an electrifying pain filled his body, and he spat a mouthful of blood. "W-What? COUGH! W-What happened!?"
Doriel looked at him and said, impressed, "You are quite strong. Any other Arch-Demon would be writhing in pain on the ground after having their soul sliced."
Dyrathos was stunned. 'S-Soul?' He looked inside of him and saw his own soul world being divided and filled with a black miasma that was previously not there. "W-What did you do?"
Doriel disappeared as the two maids that were fighting Dyrathos resumed their attack, joined by a dozen more shortly after.
On Kyril's side, the Death-attributed demon was releasing a constant barrage of spells and attacks around her. She continued fighting without saying a single word, looking at her attackers analytically and trying to fight back.
Sadly for her, they were too many and too strong.
The 18 maids fighting her released constant and coordinated attacks that nullified everything she did and prevented her from escaping. As seconds went by, her body became increasingly injured.
Kyril brandished her scythe, blocking and redirecting all the attacks she could.
'I guess this is the end.'
Kyril felt a massive burst of pain in her back, and looking behind her, the spear of a maid was smashing into her and ripping the muscles of her back with wind energies. 'Hm. My wings are done.'
Her body, carried by the force behind the attack, flew and smashed against a mountain, crumbling it. 'That hurt. Hm? Wow.'
Looking at the sky, she saw the phantom image of a massive sword. It blotted out the sky, leaving only the white-colored sword shining as the rest of the sky darkened under its brilliance.
'I am probably dying to that.'
Kyril's body burst with Death energies, summoning two illusory black demonic hands that dwarfed mountains and pushed against the giant sword.
BOOOM!
After contact, the hands were obliterated, while the sword that was descending cracked. Still, it was not enough, and Kyril redirected all her energy to create a protective barrier.
The land trembled when the sword descended, creating a catastrophic scene.
The third demon was as strong as Kyril and Dyrathos. However, he was not as skillful. Battling 14 maids, he had long been defeated and slain by Alaia's spear.
Those that were fighting that demon separated into two groups, and went to fight Kyril and Dyrathos.
Alaia arrived at Kyril's battlefield and asked. "How is it going?"
One of the maids nodded. "We should be almost done. She resisted for a while, but we managed to land a clean hit."
Alaia looked over and said. "Have you confirmed the kill?"
The maid answered. "They are doing so right now. I am part of the east defense."
Alaia patted her shoulder and flapped her wings, rushing toward the middle of the crater. "Did we find her corpse?"
"Here!"
Alaia used her speed and arrived at the site the other maids had excavated. The blue-skinned Demon lay there, her clothes almost wholly decimated and her breathing barely noticeable.
Blood covered almost the entirety of her body, while many parts of the limbs looked unnaturally twisted, probably from broken bones and other inner bodily harm. There were quite a few of her initial twelve wings that were either missing or broken.
Alaia asked. "Kyril, did you expect this outcome?"
The dragon woman used her spear to pierce Kyril's heart while looking at her and asking her questions. She wouldn't delay the death of her enemy because of some petty questions. Alaia was genuinely asking.
Kyril opened her mouth and said. "I regret… failing to kill Yasenia… When she was weak…"
Alaia nodded. "Hm. Although we probably wouldn't have allowed it at all, that's a proper way to think."
Kyril smiled as life seeped out of her body. "Really… I wonder why… heavens created… such a creature…"
Alaia shook her head. "Young Miss is an accident. I guess you've seen her tribulations. She is not very loved by the Heavens."
Kyril muttered. "Perhaps…" Then, the Demon asked. "What will happen… to my home world?"
Alaia answered honestly after making sure that nothing Kyril had was interfering or transferring information. "Well… That world of demons will be in trouble if Lady Tatyana finds it. It is still in the lower heavens, right?"
Kyril's eyes began losing light. "What about… the others?"
Alaia answered. "Dead. We managed to hunt all of you."
In her last moment, Kyril laughed weakly. "Good… Those fools… Deserved it…"
And then, the last Demon in Distancia took her last breath.
The maids around looked at the demoness for a few seconds, and after taking her spatial ring and making sure she was completely dead and soulless, they burned her body and left.
Too many mysterious arts existed to give her a proper burial. Eliminating her existence was the safest action they could take.