Arsh trembled looking at the divine beings in front of him. Every way to survive had already been closed down by the beings in front of him. It was just impossible for Arsh and the group to survive. Until of course, the divine beings themselves let them go. Which Arsh doubted was going to happen.
Arsh clenched his hands in frustration, trying to shake the fear away. He wasn't going to die without a fight at least.
The lord of light looked at Arsh for a few seconds, before turning to the Sun saint at his side.
[Jake. Fetch me the Child of the unknown. Either alive or dead, I don't care. Just do it quickly.]
The sun god looked back and forth in the vicinity. His eyes finally stopped at the three demons standing a bit away from the adventurers, as he added in a lofty tone.
[And you cursed demons. Clear out the plebs on the sidelines for me. Just let the human with ancient lineage and the Griffin princesses live. Drag them down here. In a half-dead state, if you have to.]
The three demons looked back at him, before breaking into a fit of laughter. Baring his teeth at the lord of light himself, one of them added.
"Arrogant fiend. We don't belong to anyone except for the Monarch of desire. What makes you think we are going to listen to you? A traitorous God?"
The lord of light abruptly turned toward the red-eyed Monarch. Even though God didn't have any face to show emotions, his aura made it inexplicably clear. As to how angry he was.
[Amir… It seems you haven't thought any manners to your slaves. Let me help you with that.]
The red-eyed Monarch looked at the lord of light with scorn, before sighing. Waving a hand at him, the Monarch turned toward his three demons.
[Do as he says for now.]
The three demons gulped, before leaning their bodies down into a bow.
"As you wish, Mona-"
But before the demon in the front could finish his sentence he flew away in the opposite direction, taking a direct kick to the face. Alan appeared out of the shadows, his dark blade gleaming in the sun's brightness.
Pointing his sword at the divine beings he then added.
"Mark my words. By the time I croak, I will take half of you to hell with me."
The Monarch of desire's stoic expression broke down. A maniacal grin made its way onto his face.
[See? Regal! What did I tell you? They are interesting as heck.]
He turned to match Alan's peering stare, adding in a cheerful voice.
[Human. Just for your courage alone, I will give you a handicap. If you succeed in killing even one of my generals, I'll let all of you walk away from this place, with your life. So…]
The red-eyed Monarch conjured two chairs in existence, seemingly out of nowhere. Taking a seat with the lord of light, he grinned.
[Make it at least a bit interesting for me.]
Arsh quickly moved to the group again. Taking an offensive formation as the vanguard, he turned toward the other adventurers.
He already had discerned by himself. That they might be quaking in boots or standing in a stage of perpetual shock. Even then he wouldn't have complained. It was that kind of hopeless situation, to begin with.
But contrary to his thoughts. The moment their eyes met, Arsh found the fiery will to live still burning strong in their eyes. They were afraid, no doubt about it. But they didn't give up just yet.
None of them.
Looking at them, Arsh clutched his daggers hard. He needed to be alive together with them. After what they have been together through.
Looking at the three demons, Arsh could easily say they already were far beyond the fourth phase. So fighting them alone to win was absurd for him. But biding time until Alan could finish them one by one felt like a plausible plan.
Until the reality of the situation hit him. And hard.
Arsh was suddenly picked away from the group so fast, that his eyes weren't even able to comprehend what just happened.
He found himself on the ground, with the Sun saint in front of him. Arsh quickly took hold of his daggers looking at the robed emissary. He somehow had picked Arsh out of the group.
Arsh gulped a mouthful of saliva. It was a terrible matchup for him. However much he hated the man in front of him. He couldn't just kill a person who could hold Gelina and Alan down together, without even having a scratch on himself.
The man moved toward Arsh suddenly without any warning. His bright white sword slashed directly down on Arsh's head.
Arsh tried to block the attack with his daggers. But all of his hope shattered suddenly, as the sound of something akin to heavy metal falling on the ground resounded through the whole forest.
Arsh's daggers were cut down into half with a single strike of the shimmering blade. As it also went ahead delivering a ghastly wound on Arsh's chest. Sending him tumbling down to the ground.
Arsh groaned in pain, as a stream of crimson-red blood flowed out of every part of his body. The weight of impact was powerful enough to even open his poorly tended wounds from before.
Arsh crawled on the ground, as the weight of all of his wounds hit him. He looked at the approaching robed man in front of him with hateful eyes. He quickly tried to stand up, but his legs betrayed him again and again.
Finally, the sun saint stood in front of him, giving him a pitiful look. He said in a melancholic voice.
"...You are capable of just this? Aren't you the son of Samantha? How can someone be so pitiful and call yourself her child? You disgust me to my core, kid."
Arsh ground his teeth in frustration, crawling toward the robed saint, he added in an enraged voice.
"DON'T you dare call her name? You have no right to say anything about her. So shut your fucking mouth before I tore it off from the root."
The robed man looked at him for a few seconds without blinking, before breaking down in laughter.
"Why? What are you gonna do kid? Even your guardian angel is about to be dragged down. Just turn your head to the left for a second. Look! What happened to all of them, just because they allied with you."
Arsh shuddered to hear his last line. He slowly turned his eyes away from the Sun saint to the far left. Suddenly his whole body stopped moving. Just from looking at the horrors in front of him. As he mumbled in a feeble voice.
"J-Joey? Ethan? A-Adam?"
The head of all the adventurers was on the ground, dispatched away from their severely chopped bodies. Gelina and Nidia were struggling on the ground, their whole bodies painted with large amounts of red blood.
While Alan was on the sidelines fighting all three demons all on his own. Protecting the remaining others behind him barely. His whole body was battered with hundreds of wounds, blood running through all of them.
"..N-No! ALAAAAN!"
Hearing his shout, Alan quickly backed away from the demons. He looked towards Arsh meeting his eyes for a quick second before his terror-filled eyes went completely wide.
Alan disappeared from his place suddenly, as Arsh suddenly heard the sound of something being pierced. His mind was already in shambles, begging him terribly to not turn around.
But the moment Arsh turned around, he felt as though something inside of him broke into a thousand pieces. Something irreplaceable.
Arsh looked at the bloodied body of his mentor. Shielding him from the robed saint on the other side, his lips slowly parted as he slowly mumbled.
"..I-I told you to be care…."
Alan's body fell in his hold, as he suddenly heard a burst of laughter rolling down around him.
"Hahaha..... I know he will come to save you. Even if he has to sacrifice himself to do so. Selfless people like him and your mother are always the ones to die first."
"Though it is such a shame I can't kill him, I purposefully had to miss hitting any vital organs of his. Lord has ordered to capture him alive for some reason."
But before the man in the robe could even utter a single more word. A chilling voice resounded throughout the whole of the forest.
The Gods stood up from their chairs looking at Arsh, as he stood up silently in front of the robed men. He slowly laid down Alan on the ground, before going on to stand straight in front of all of them.
The gods rushed towards his body, but it was already too late. From his body, a thick veil of bloodlust emanated, covering the whole area.
The robed man's eyes shook warily as he quickly took several steps back from Arsh's face.
Arsh's whole skin gleamed with a tint of purple, as his crimson eyes lost all of their light. Replaced by true darkness, as though there was nothing except for the abyss inside of his eyes.
Suddenly Arsh went on to say a single word. A single word that sounded strangely divine but at the same time strangely profane. Still, entire enough to send a chill throughout everything present in the vicinity.