Drona gazed at the lifeless Nagaraj with pitiful eyes while an influx of questions overwhelmed his mind.
"He was definitely being ordered by someone...but who? Who can order such force?"
In the midst of his thoughts, his eyes reacted to a sudden movement. A dark circle suddenly began forming right beneath Nagaraj's corpse.
"Wh-"
[SPLURT!]
Before Drona could even begin to comprehend the situation, a black claw pierced through Nagaraj's heart and ripped his heart out of his body.
Purple blood began showering from the torn veins of the heart while Drona took a defensive stance.
[WOOSH!]
A dark mass of energy began rising from the circle that engulfed Nagaraj's entire body.
"Cattle should never be given such responsibilities..." someone spoke with a deep voice that sent chills down Drona's spine as he felt the being's strength just by the sound of him speaking.
[HUM!]
Drona formed a dozen arrows made of yellow energy and shot them at the strange phenomenon.
His eyes widened with disbelief as he saw the arrows being caught by what appeared to be an arm made of dark energy.
Within seconds, not a speck of Nagaraj's body remained, with the dark energy now forming a human shape.
[BHUM!]
A sudden beam of dark energy was shot at Drona, sending him flying meters away at an incredible speed.
[CRASH!]
Drona barely managed to break his fall by forcing his exhausted hands to summon a yellow energy platform. Drops of sweat began streaming down his forehead, not only from exhaustion but also due to the fact that he could not sense the energy in front of his very eyes.
[SLASH!]
A man appeared out of the dark energy and his arm suddenly moved, which sent four slashes of energy storming at Drona.
[BOOM!]
A red slash of energy suddenly collided with the dark energy attack.
"Sir Drona, I request you leave this one to me," a familiar voice spoke, with Drona's walking stick held in his hand.
Drona smirked and stretched out his hand.
"Time had no effect on you..." he said with a relieved tone while taking the walking stick out of Aizen's hands.
[CRACK!]
Drona's yellow energy feet shattered like glass, and the particles disappeared into thin air, making Aizen's sudden appearance a blessing for Drona.
[SWOOSH!]
A dark-red stream of light was shot from Drona's location.
"Heh…A sneak attack…befitting of a pathetic mortal," the man said while slowly turning back.
Aizen stood behind him with a serious gaze.
"Why…is a Demon here?" Aizen asked in a cold tone while his eyes scanned every inch of the Demon's being.
"Your worth doesn't suffice for you standing in my front, let alone ask-" Before the Demon could complete his words, his eyes widened as a dark-red energy slash was heading directly at his face.
[WOOSH!]
He vanished from the trajectory of the attack and appeared behind Aizen. With a smirk, he slashed his claws at his back. But the very next moment, his eyes shivered while reflecting the image of Aizen's sword raging with a dark-red energy directly heading at his neck.
[WOOSH!]
The Demon turned into a dark mass of energy, with Aizen's sword stretching the dark energy.
[WOOSH!]
The Demon disappeared and reappeared meters above Aizen, his hands beginning to form a dark energy sphere. But before he could launch his attack, he found Aizen's sword already cutting the energy sphere, with his palm heading towards the Demon's face.
[BHUM!]
A dark-red stream of light was shot down from the sky. The strength of the impact formed a huge crater and made every tree in meters of range tremble with immense force.
[WOOSH!]
The Demon disappeared from under Aizen's palm and appeared a distance away from him.
"YOU PATHETIC HUMAN!"
[WOOSH!]
An immense dark aura suddenly appeared out of the Demon and began surrounding his entire body. Aizen stood up and turned in his direction with yet another calm gaze.
The very next moment, the Demon's completely changed form was revealed. A dark shell that allowed almost no reflection covered his entire body, with two black horns piercing out of his forehead.
[WOOSH!]
Aizen rapidly moved at the Demon with his sword surrounded by dark-red energy.
[TING!!] [BOOM!]
The Demon slightly stretched his right hand and caught the sword's sharp edge, causing the dark-red energy from the sword to burst away from them in the form of a shockwave.
[BHUM!]
The Demon's hands formed an energy sphere that blasted Aizen away.
[CRASH!]
He landed a distance away from the Demon and quickly stood up.
"You…forced me to enter this form.." The Demon said while staring at his arm that had blocked Aizen's sword.
"Ho?...A human freely using Demonic energy?…how intriguing.." He spoke with astonishment as he noticed small bolts of Aizen's energy still remaining on his arm;
"If you had this power…why didn't you use it against the Nagas?" He asked while lowering his hand;
Aizen moved his hand and covered his left eye.
[BHMMM!]
Tremors slowly began shaking the ground with a red glow engulfing Aizen's eyes.
"He…wasn't cooperating…but, killing Demons is something we find equal ground on.."
"What?...Who?"
"HRAAARGH!!!" Aizen's body bent from his back, as the overwhelming strength of the blood Demon rapidly began raging throughout his body.
"You…will die.." Aizen's voice echoed as if two beings were speaking at the same time, while his eyes turned completely black with red veins crawling out of them.
[BHUM!]
A sudden burst of dark-red energy propelled Aizen towards the Demon at a blinding speed.
"Huh?"
The Demon's eyes began to shiver even before pain could reach his head.
[SPLURT!]
His forehead began to gush out black liquid at an immense rate.
Aizen moved his left hand and caught the two horns that were just beginning to fall down after being cut off the Demon's head.
[STAB!]
Before the Demon could even comprehend the situation, he found his own horns stabbed into his abdomen.
"AHHH!!"
The Demon's agonizing scream echoed throughout the area, but Aizen wasn't willing to spare him even the slightest moment to breathe.
[SLASH!..SLASH!]
With swift movement of his sword raging with dark-red aura, all the limbs of the Demon were severed.
[SMACK!]
A strong punch in the chest sent the Demon flying towards the sky.
[WOOSH!]
Aizen appeared right in front of him,
[STAB!]
"URK!!!....[COUGH!]....[SPLURT!]" The Demon's eyes lost their focus. His brain already had lost most of its function due to getting numb with pain, as Aizen's sword had pierced his chest directly in the middle.
[DRIP…DRIP!]
Blood kept falling down from the Demon's torso, as the sword embedded in his chest slowly kept slicing up due to the Demon's own weight.
Aizen moved his hand and brought the shivering Demon closer to himself. He stared directly at the Demon's wide-open eyes with his own pair of unending darkness.
"Am I worthy now?"
"Ugh…huma-..[COUGH!]" The Demon's outer shell began cracking. His words could barely escape his lips, while the pain and the danger to his life kept rising.
"Why did the Naga attack this place?" Aizen asked in a cold voice, with a volume not far from whispering.
"Hehehe…URK!..Do you really think I will speak?" Dark blood kept flowing out of his mouth, but the Demon somehow smiled, which even caught Aizen off guard.
"Fine…be my guest."
[SLASH!]
The sword stabbed in the Demon's chest swiftly moved up, cutting the Demon's torso in half. He began falling down with remnants of Aizen's energy still lingering on both halves of the Demon.
[WOOSH!]
Suddenly, what previously were just remnants, burst into intense dark-red energy and began burning the falling Demon's body.
Only ashes remained of the terrifying Demon and softly fell on the ground, while Aizen remained floating in the sky with the red veins crawling back in his eyes.
"Dear…god…" Drona couldn't help but sound his surprise at the display, while he stared at Aizen with wide eyes.
[WOOSH!]
Aizen's raging dark-red aura dispersed with a powerful shockwave in the sky. He covered his eyes with his left hand while slowly descending to the ground.
"That was…quite the spectacle," Drona said while he walked towards Aizen, who slowly moved his hand off his face and answered his gaze.
"Chandra kingdom is heavily grateful for your aid, Sir Drona, and we will never forget this debt." Aizen suddenly lowered his head and spoke in a respectful tone. The soldiers nearby were startled by the sudden voice and began staring in their direction.
"Ahem!...Shadow Master, I was just following His Majesty's orders." Drona said after forcing a cough. He could practically feel the gazes of the soldiers on his skin.
"His Majesty ordered this?" Aizen said while lifting his head in a somewhat surprised and doubtful tone.
"Not the old man, but he."
"Oh…Young Ma-...His Majesty certainly holds a great deal of surprise to him."
"You might be even more surprised…after truly knowing him." Drona's expression turned serious as he spoke;
"Is it perhaps…him not being a normal human…or a human entirely?" Aizen's eyes stretched as he smiled under his mask;
Drona's eyes widened as soon as he heard him, for a few seconds he stood speechless and kept staring at Aizen.
"You…truly are the shadow master.."
"Haah…I'm not sure if I'm still worthy of the title…the enemies managed to drag the kingdom to this vulnerable state.." Aizen's serious tone echoed on Drona's face, as they both turned towards the dark dimension sphere slightly visible in the distance.
"His suspicion was correct.."
Drona turned towards Aizen with curious eyes;
"The Demon was definitely targeting the Centaurs…and now the Demi-humans."
"What makes you so certain about it?" Drona asked while he placed his fingers on his chin;
"SIr Drona,..look around you…I don't see any Naga's corpse…but not a single human's is missing.." Aizen gazed at the bloody battlefield around them, and saw hundreds of mutilated corpses lying in all four directions, and certainly those all were human soldiers, both from Padma kingdom's army and the Chandra warriors.
"Nagaraj and his army were targeting Arav…who killed Usha,…another Naga who was the pillar supporting the….exploitation of elves." Drona added to Aizen's argument with a gloomy expression, with some hints of hesitation present, while his own head began spinning with various thoughts flooding inside.
"Whatever they desire…is certainly inside that place" Aizen said while his eyes turned red as he gazed at the huge dark energy sphere engulfing the elves' residence.
[Chapter 33:END]