The footsteps of thousands of humans, and occasionally others marched out from the fort. The snow snapped and cut against them furiously, as they exited the fort and the battle was drawing near.
'Despite watching every single human that passed through those gates, I haven't seen a single demon... What are the chances there are humans working with demons then?'
[I doubt it, not anyone can murder people inside this heavily guarded fortress... If it's a human you're dealing with a legend on par with the Sword Gods.'
'That's true, I don't think someone could have killed them and gone undetected, it has to be a powerful Prince-ranked demon... Far more powerful than those other two, and there marching with us right now.'
[We could make a list of suspects.]
'Yeah but who would even be a suspect.' I sighed adjusting my seat on a snowy mountain, I was currently sitting on to observe the large battalion.
The army moved into three separate groups, and right after leaving the fort, they split. None of the heroes were in those three groups they moved alone, they were currently walking around the mountain I was sitting atop.
'I wish the best for Rivena...'
I steeled myself watching the girl carrying a massive sword walk within the human force.
[Perhaps you could have joined them.]
'Y'know I don't reeeeaalllyy wanna commit suicide, right?'
[Obviously, that's why you're here right now because you would never do something akin to suicide... Right?]
I slowly trailed after the army, using my winds I was high in the sky. The surrounding area was quiet which usually is a sign that something is not right. I continued to be vigilant and followed keeping my eyes on the surroundings.
'Do you think the demons will bring an army?'
[I doubt it, they'll probably bring multiple Prince-ranked demons after all, demons are quality over quantity.]
'I s-!'
I choked on air.
Catching a glimpse of a cloud of darkness in the distance I instantly dismissed my thoughts and fear spread throughout my body.
'W-what the hell... Is that?'
Althieus stood silent and I could feel her internal panic which could have also been my panic as well.
The cloud of darkness was a group of thousands of demons parading toward the humans, and perhaps none of them would know until they were upon them.
A loud boom resounded from my left, which was where the armies were traveling. I looked over and saw nothing, a group of the army was entirely gone... And there was simply a large crater in the ground.
'W-what just happened!'
[I d-don't know.]
I instantly dismissed my wings and dived to the spot the army used to be, feeling nothing I walked around and looked at the massive crater. The crater had a circular shape to it and went deep into the earth as if something crawled through it.
Feeling rumbling beneath my feet I looked down.
[Run, Rei!] I heard a shout in my head far too late.
Instantly a gigantic worm was below me, I was carried into the air by it defenselessly or so it thought. Wings spread out from my back and I sped up into the air, and the worm crashed back into the ground burrowing.
"What the hell is that!" I screamed feeling a sense of dread.
'It's a monster known as a devourer... Demons have tamed them in the past but they were thought to have been extinct.'
Her words confirmed my suspicions that a powerful demon was hiding within the fort.
'Rivena!' I thought while blasting through the air towards the group Rivena was in.
I was not planning to let my traveling companion die in such a disturbing way. But those thoughts were ones I needed to discard, I stopped mid-air and took a deep breath.
'Dawn's charm will probably glow... But it doesn't matter anymore, everyone's going to die.'
I released my Draconic Force onto the area for miles, trying to search for the slightest bit of sinister energy. Feeling the dark cloud approach, and the worm under the ground I needed to hurry and take care of the tamer. After the tamer was taken care of the worm would probably go berserk, it would probably leave or attack the strange cloud which clearly had many demons making it up.
Seconds passed, then a minute... And I couldn't trace the user.
'Plan two, kill this dam worm!'
I read its position through the ground using my Draconic Force to search for it, releasing Zenith from my sub-space the mighty sword slid into my hand and I charged at the ground at light speed, evaporating the ground between me in the worm I collided with the worm instantly destroying it.
[You use too much of your energy with that one Rei... That wasn't a wise move.]
'Did you want me to let everyone die?' I slowly descended from the hole.
[Why don't you take a look around.]
The sky was completely dark and demons flew through the sky, turning the day into a lightless night, as well as the snow a completely black color.
"This isn't going to be an easy fight... We're outnumbered and the manpower of the demons is absurd. Good thing they can be culled quickly." I summoned Althieus into my hands and traced my finger along the blade. "I'm going to find the demon who summoned that worm."
[He probably has an ability related to stealth, I'm assuming.]
'Time to reveal my identity... It's been fun being unbothered for years.'
I took a few steps forward and my vision seemed blurry and I swayed.
'Huh? W-whats going on?'
Every bit of energy I had was being sapped from my body at an extremely fast rate. I tripped over my foot and fell onto the ground and began breathing hard.
I heard Althieus panicking inside my head but I couldn't make out a single word she said, despite trying my hardest. The complete euphoria cut off my thought process.
"Hello, there!"
Looking up I saw a black figure slowly form through thin air. 'Invisibility...He mu-' I took a deep breath in between my thoughts, it seemed to take an extreme amount of energy just thinking about those words.
"Why don't you look down young, err dragon?"
I tilted my head and saw a massive blade sticking through my chest, I put my hands on it and tried to force it out, feeling that it was definitely the source absorbing all my energy.
"W-w...t I..Is t...this?" I managed to say with a low whisper.
"Mmmm you performed quite a show for us demons a few days ago, our king took notice and decided to handle you the easiest way, this weapon should probably keep you sealed for a few hundred years... Of course, if nothing goes wrong."
'b-bastard!' I cursed in my mind not being able to say anything.
"Luckily I have a perfect resting place for you! Don't fret my friend... In the future, you will be grateful for this!" The demon looked down at me noticing I wasn't pleased with him at all. "Listen I didn't want to do this, nor did I want to kill a bunch of humans. Actually, I'm a bit of a pacifist."
The demon rubbed the back of his head and had a sincere face.
"But... The world has forsaken us for too long. Whenever demons conquer this planet we won't treat you wrong, we will turn it into a paradise. I hope you can forgive me for this, after all, I don't want to be hunted for a dragon in the future. You see, my king's word is law, and I obey our king without any regrets. You have been spared and given a chance, so I hope you don't waste it... We will meet again in the future."
I channeled every bit of Draconic Force in my body to keep me awake, the amount was meager and wasn't even enough for me to move a finger.
The demon walked over and picked me up and looked down into the massive hole the worm created when burrowing.
"Well! Enjoy your nap friend."
He tossed me in and I felt the coldness of the earth embrace me, I couldn't move a finger and simply rolled down a massive cave until eventually I came to a stop. I didn't have any energy left to properly breathe, and my consciousness was fading out.
'Althieus... I trust in you.'
[-------------]
Althieus said something in response but I couldn't make it out at all, the sword popped out of my hand, and burst into shards attacking the sword that impaled me. With my weakened state, the shards of Althieus were pathetically weak, but at least they were making progress. Even when I was in deep sleep Althieus could chip at it, perhaps I could wake up in a few days, maybe weeks, maybe a month... Maybe years.
Seeing a small chip appear in the sword embedded in me the corners of my mouth twitched, and I passed out.