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A literal explosion outside the house instantly broke the jovial atmosphere of the party. Aquarina began to tremble a bit after that, looking out of the window sometime later.
"Something bad is coming…" she muttered.
Did she sense something? Perhaps she has some kind of ability that can let her sense something like that?
"Aquarina, what is it?" I asked her.
"Bad… evil…" she replied. Her lips were greatly trembling.
"Eh?"
"I'm scared…" she muttered, hugging me all of a sudden.
"Oh, dear…" I caressed her hair to calm her down in response.
Of course, my parents quickly noticed this as well.
"Something's trying to break through my barrier… wait a minute… demons?! A large army of them…" my mother could not help but say.
"What? Don't tell me the remnants of the Demon King just came here to ruin my daughter's birthday?! I'm going to burn them to a crisp!" my father bellowed in response.
"Let me accompany you," said Shade, standing up from his seat. Soon, an aura of darkness began surge from within his body, overflowing his surroundings with shadows.
"I'll help out as well," Nepheline said not long after. In an instant, her muscles began to shine with a metallic luster. In fact, ore and rocks grew on top of her body after that, forming some sort of natural armor.
"It seems we're fighting like the old times… let's end this quickly." Father told the two.
"I'll stay here to maintain the barrier while I assist you from afar. Summon Spirit Familiar," Mother said in response to father's words, conjuring a special spell I've never seen before. Soon, a flash of bright light emerged before her as she summoned a large and floating golden eye with six wings and a halo atop its head. It looked utterly strange, but it emanated a powerful magical essence.
"Aaaaaaah~"
Surprisingly, it sang with a peaceful and feminine voice… what a strange being…
"I'll leave you some backup here if things get too busy. Shadow Clone," Shade told mother.
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
In an instant, his entire body seemed to split into three more copies, all of them made out of his shadow aura!
Wow… what the hell is this?
The three Shades stood with mother as father, Nepheline, and Shade moved outside the house and jumped into the skies as if it was as natural as breathing to them.
As for mother's familiar, it followed them from behind.
"I'll let you pass through the barrier. Defeat them before anything else happens!" Mother shouted.
"Got it!"
My curiosity got the better of me as I took a peek at the scene out of the window, all the while holding Aquarina with my arms. Our window was big and clear, and the curtains were wrapped so I was able to clearly see what was going on from up above. Although everything looked like tiny ants from afar, my vision suddenly concentrated into the scene as mana flowed into my eyes. At that moment, my senses suddenly sharpened without realizing, and I was able to see things way clearer and closer than I naturally could.
Unexpectedly, Shade's Shadow Clones came to comfort Aquarina, embracing her father as he calmed her down like a baby. Well, she was almost 1 year old, so she was indeed a little baby girl.
"Calm down, dear. It's just a minor inconvenience," he told her.
My mother came by my side as she seemed to be concentrating.
"Can you see it from the window, Sylphy? Those are the demons we once fought…" she told me.
I looked through the window once more as a battle seemed to unfold.
"Kukuku… I've finally found your home, Heroes! After training for 6 years, I've grown exponentially stronger than before! I will avenge the death of the Demon King and devour all of you to become the new Demon King!"
A gigantic fly. Yes, a literal fly of enormous proportions greeted my father and Aquarina's parents. It was around 10 meters tall, not to mention ugly and grotesque. With many legs that had tons of black hair on them under its abdomen, it had two beady red eyes with many lenses, as well as a large jaw filled with sharp fangs. Atop its head was a small yellow-gold crown.
It wasn't alone, however. There were over a dozen similar demons in appearance behind him. All of them exuded a powerful aura colored dark and purple. Unsurprisingly, their very presence continuously tried to contaminate the yellow-gold barrier mother conjured with their power, as if they were trying to erode it.
"You're… Beelzebub!" My father could not help but yell once he realized who they were up against.
"I was wondering where this bastard had gone to in the final battle. It seems he escaped along with some others and planned to come at us later on?" Nepheline could not help but say.
"Scum of the world, I will finish you right now," Shade said, his aura intensifying with every second.
"Kukuku! That's right! I'm so happy that you remember me, Heroes! I am Beelzebub, the King of the Flies! Lord of Famine and Pestilence! Now prepare yourselves! Domain of Famine!"
TRUUUM!
Before my father and his allies could reach him, Beelzebub generated a strange purple and black domain around him, as if creating a space where his element dominated. From the looks of it, the domain seemed to be enhancing his capabilities.
Suddenly, the flies around him flew towards my parent and his allies at high speed. Despite being lesser versions of their leader, they exuded powerful auras that were not so different from the red dragon of before in terms of power and intimidation.
Despite being giant flies… they were actually as powerful as a dragon?!
"Blaze Domain."
FLAASH!
My father, however, fought back against Beelzebub's domain with his own as flames and poison fought against one another atop the skies. My father quickly summoned his giant blazing blade as well. It was as glorious as the first time I saw it.
"Shadow Domain."
Soon, Shade also released his domain as shadows encompassed his surroundings and danced with his every command. His eyes exuded darkness from within them as he suddenly took out two daggers from the very shadows he generated.
"Earth Domain."
Of course, Nepheline summoned her domain as well. Her surroundings became strange, warping as if the air had gotten heavier and the atmosphere becoming suffocating. The gravity of her surroundings was powerful and heavy like the might of the Earth element. Out of nowhere, a giant hammer made of various colorful ores materialized in her left hand.
And then… a battle broke out.
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