Alisax acted immediately.
Before I could fully turn to face the terrible being behind me, her shadowy hand seized my collar, and she hurled me away with a force that left no room for argument.
I twisted midair, landing on my feet, but the moment I looked up, my blood turned to ice.
Alisax stood before a daemon, towering so towering that it made her seem like a child in its shadow.
Its lean body was an abomination of shadows, twisted into jagged black-and-gold armor, that flared like flames.
Long, grotesque arms dangled almost to the ground, ending in barbed claws that flexed with deliberate menace.
Its head looked like a ball of black fire, with darkness dancing around like flames and two points of light glowing purple from underneath the swirling darkness.
This is the first time I am seeing eyes on a daemon.
Yet, its gaze wasn't on me.
"It's been some time Alisax. I must say it is good to see you again," the daemon's guttural and distorted voice grated in my ears. It was as if this creature was gargling with gravel all its life.
Alisax's distorted voice was tight with suppressed rage. "Can't say the same, Genisix."
A lump of ice dropped in my stomach when I heard the name Alisax uttered.
Genisix.
One of the Commanders who served the Lux Incarnus and one of the first to join Lilith.
Alisax had spoken of him during our journey across the vast white landscape of the Abyss.
Judging by the sheer contempt in her voice when she talked about him, I assume she is not his biggest fan.
The grip on my daggers tightened as I observed Genisix's unnatural and horrifying arms. Those are going to be a problem.
Alisax flung me away to keep me safe. I know she could handle this. She is an S rank and I haven't seen her full power yet.
But that is the same for Genisix as well.
The daemon chuckled, a sound like grinding metal. "You've always been an interesting one, Alisax, even as a Luminus."
Venom dripped out of Alisax's voice as she replied. "And you've always been a slithery bastard."
The shadows around him shifted, almost laughing with him. "Perhaps. I was never one for direct combat like you, Zygaxis, or the High Commander."
His claws rose slightly, the motion unnervingly graceful. "I prefer... other methods."
My instincts kicked in, and I immediately jumped away, just as the ground beneath me erupted and chains of twisted black metal shot upward.
Each was tipped with jagged spikes, their ends aimed at me like the fangs of a beast.
Oh, that's not good.
I darted across the cracked white ground, barely avoiding the chains, Transcendence working at full throttle so that I could keep up with their insane speed.
"GENISIX!", Alisax's furious voice echoed across the battlefield as she charged, her black longsword cutting through the air.
But her black longsword passed through the air as Genisix vanished before her.
Only for his guttural voice to speak in my head. "We have quite a feisty human here."
Pain flared in my leg before I could even register the attack. A black spike had driven through my thigh, pinning me in place.
The world tilted as more chains surged forward, coiling around my body with horrifying precision.
I struggled, thrashing as my blood arm dissipated on contact with the frigid metal.
The chains tightened further, their icy grip sinking into my flesh and drawing crimson streaks across my skin.
My daggers slipped from my grasp, clattering to the ground.
My daggers thudded to the ground as the smoky face of the daemon appeared in my vision, its burning purple eyes seemingly sizing me up.
A terrifying aura shook the air as Alisax yelled in fury. "LET HIM GO. YOU BASTARD!"
Genisix didn't so much as flinch. "What is it with you and humans?" he mused, his guttural voice calm, almost amused. "The last time I saw you, you clung to that shiny human in the white armor."
The daemon's blazing head loomed closer, cold radiating from his twisted form. The darkness around him licked at my skin like hungry flames.
"And now you hang around this… pretty human?" He tilted his head, as if genuinely puzzled. "Are you male or female?"
My eye twitched at his words.
Okay. Narcissism aside. I still draw the line at being mistaken for a woman.
"I'm a guy," I replied, meeting the daemon's gaze with a smirk. "And one who's way prettier than you. Heck, even the ugliest person I know could outshine that void you call a face."
I leaned forward, the chains biting into my skin.
But I didn't care.
I grinned and let out a taunt. "That's because we have faces."
The chains constricted, and I let out a sharp gasp, pain lancing through my chest.
"You're a cheeky one," Genisix remarked, the shadows around him shifting like a restless tide.
The air cracked like thunder and a sudden wave of bloodlust surged, freezing me in place. Metal rang against metal, the sound sharp and jarring.
At the same time, the chains crushed me tighter, and I heard the cracking of bones.
The daemon's head still filled my vision but I'm pretty sure Alisax had just attacked him.
"Careful there, Alisax," he purred, his voice dripping with mockery. "I wouldn't want to crush your pretty companion by mistake."
"LET HIM GO YOU HEATHEN!", Alisax roared, her voice raw with rage and desperation.
"Oh, I will," he drawled. "After all, Her Majesty's orders are clear. She's quite interested in this boy." His burning eyes locked onto mine, probing. "Ever since Zygaxis left him on the shore. And now, you've come back, Alisax. The wayward daughter of our queen. She misses you, you know."
"I'm not her daughter and I will never return to that traitorous bitch," Alisax's distorted voice was low and frigid.
"It is blasphemous to speak of Her Majesty like that."
When Genisix spoke those words, the chains immediately tightened like a vice around me.
Pain shot through me, sharp and unrelenting, as my bones broke. My breath hitched, but I didn't scream.
I am used to pain. This is nothing.
Do not scream, it will affect Alisax.
I gritted my teeth.
Fuck! I can't believe I'm in such a helpless state!
"Oops! I might've accidentally tightened the chains! But I must say that we have quite the resilient human here!" Genisix's mocking voice grated in my ears.
"STOP IT!" Alisax's scream was filled with panic.
"Humans are interesting," the daemon commander mused. "We can learn a lot from them."
"We all learned their language from that shiny human, that Paladin you were quite interested in, Alisax."
Raising me high in the air, Genisix casually approached Alisax, whose murderous Bloodlust was freezing my blood.
"It broke my heart to fight Alexander that day, who had become a close friend. Like this pretty human, he had quite the mouth, even at death's door. His banter, which I enjoyed a lot had become a bit too much during our battle."
His claws flexed, and his voice dropped to a chilling whisper. "So I ripped his tongue out."
"GENISIX!"
Alisax's scream of rage shattered the air. Her aura erupted, tendrils of darkness splitting into hundreds of blades that hung suspended, ready to strike.
With a roar, she charged, her sword slicing the air with deadly precision.
And that's when I found myself between the two daemons with Alisax's sword inches from my face and the hundreds of black blades raining down on me.
Oh, Genisix. You sneaky little…
In an instant, her sword hovered a mere centimeter before my eyes and the tips of the flying blades touched my hair, their intense chill somehow reaching my scalp.
"You… You dirty fucking coward," Alisax's voice quivered with fury.
Suddenly a black spike erupted through her chest from behind, cutting off her words and causing her blades to dissipate into darkness.
Before she could even make a sound, chains impaled her from all sides, wrapping her in an unrelenting vise.
Black ooze spilled from her wounds, and her screams pierced the air as the chains lifted her into the air.
"I prefer the term 'fighting smart', old friend. I didn't want this to be how we reunited after millennia but I am just following orders," Genisix spoke softly in his guttural voice before wrapping the flailing Alisax in more black chains, completely sealing her.
He turned to me and stretched out his claws at me. I didn't flinch or cringe away from his repulsive touch as he wiped the blood flowing out of my mouth.
"Things will become interesting now that you are here, human," he said as more chains wrapped around me.
I spit out a mouthful of blood at Genisix, which weirdly passed through him as if he were a ghost.
"After Asphodel. I'll make sure to rip you apart," I declared with a smirk as the chains enveloped me in a frigid darkness.
I heard a chuckle as the last chains clinked in place.
"Oh, you will, young prince. I'll look forward to that day."