"After all this time, I have found you. Gaianox the Primordial Earth Essenbeast." The demon's distorted voice thundered through the atmosphere, Gaianox's eyelids lowered in anger. It was truly the worst thing that could have possibly happened.
"W-what the hell are you?" Rai built up the courage to question the demon that emerged from the crack in the sky. The demon glared at Rai unresponsiveness.
"What?" It uttered with it's dreaded voice, it felt truly insulted that a lowly human had the guts to address him. It was simply unacceptable.
"Demon General Malphas.." Gainaox uttered softly with a less audible tune, given his size his voice reached out to the five humans below.
"Demon General?" Micheal said as he fixated his eyes on Malphas.
"Are you telling me he is a demon that surpasses the ranks of other demons?" With a wavering voice, Sylvia couldn't help but ask.
"That is precisely why he is called a general, he is one of the fallen who was able to survive the predatory environment of the Infernal realm placing him ranks far above that of the paradoxes. He is not someone to be taken lightly, I'll advice that you run humans, while you still can.." Gaianox spoke as he dropped a note of warning to the humans.
They all grinned their teeth; overshadowed by the feeling of being powerless. "N-no.." Abigail announced with a weak voice. She rose to her feet and wiped off the helpess look which she displayed.
"We are the reason such a thing appeared in the first place, it's our responsibility to send it back to where it came from." She added.
Li tightened his fists and crafted a smile on his face, visibly he was terrified by the presence of Malphas but he was also excited. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to push past his limits.
"Your right, it is our fault the seal was broken and it is also our fault that monster found Gaianox. So what do you say guys?" Rai with a smile on his face posed a question.
With a heavy sigh, Micheal smirked.
"You all are insane... let's take him." He finalized.
SWOOSH!
In a split instant, the five individuals surrounded the demon general. Their movements were so fast that they appeared momentarily as a blur to the untrained eyes, Rai unsheated his sword, wielding it in the opposite way he aimed it at the neck of Malphas. Li with his incredible use of hand to hand combat, descended from the sky towards Malphas; aiming a swift and precise kick at the base of his skull.
Abigail engulfing her right fist with her light essence, aimed it at chest of the demon general.
Micheal on the other hand utilized his beast essence ability [Primal Might] and transfigured his arms to assume the strength of a gorilla; he was now able to lift over 1,800 kilograms of weight with ease. With that, he aimed a punch at the side of Malphas.
Finally, Sylvia supported her allies with her ability [Aqua Jet] aiming a punch augmented with a powerful surge of water flowing through her fists.
"These humans.." Gaianox from his initial position watched as the five individuals developed the courage to take on a being whose strength far surpassed that of an Essenknight.
"They are willing to risk their lifes to protect me?" Their actions marveled the beast. Before the great war, not once had Gaianox ever heard or seen a human fighting to protect him. Naturally he viewed humans as selfish creatures who found interest in him only as a power boost.
Coming across such set of humans questioned his mindset as to how much mankind had changed over the years. The combination of the five mages techniques and attacks resulted in a miniature explosion sending shockwaves which rippled outwards. Despite its small size, the explosion carried a palpable force, rattling the ground beneath them. Within seconds, the fiery display subsided, leaving behind wisps of smoke and a lingering sense of wonder at the brief.
"Did they do it?" Gaianox whispered softly as the smoke dissipated. Disbelief was left on the faces of all the five individuals as their attacks proved ineffective. Rai's blade shattered immediately like glass after hitting the tougher and more durable body of Malphas. The light energy from Abigail's fist bounced off the demon's body like a spark of light created from the clashing of two blades.
"I-impossible.." Abigail spoke with a wavering voice.
"He took all our attacks head on and didn't flinch even a little?" Rai said in his thoughts, blown completely away by Malphas's durability.
"Are you done? You abominal creatures." As Malphas spoke, his red eyes glowed and a powerful wind pressure which escaped from his body overwhelmed the five mages whose eyes were widened in shock. They were all blown violently in different directions.
"Of course it wasn't going to be that easy." Gaianox sighed, Malphas focused his sights back at the Essenbeast which brought him to the human realm. "I've wasted more time than I initially planned, you're coming with me Gaianox." Malphas concluded as he approached the beast.
"Not so fast.." Rai said audibly as he rose to his right knee. "You're not taking anyone today." He said.
Abigail as well as Micheal and Li rose to their feet. "Don't think you can get rid of us that easily you horned bastard." Micheal chuckled as he fixated his eyes on the demon general.
"What?" Malphas halted his movements, he looked over his shoulders at the four mages who were still alive and conscious. "Did I go too easy on them?" He questioned; in a normal circumstance no human is supposed to live even from the little effort he put in eradicating them. That was how much they underestimated the beings that resided in the human realm.
"If this fight progresses even further, they will all die... and if I take Malphas on, there will be severe casualties. I guess there's only option left..." Gaianox said contemplating within his thoughts.
"You brats.." Gaianox called out to the four mages, Sylvia had lost consciousness from the wind pressure that had overwhelmed them earlier on.
Their eyes became fixated on the earth essence beast as he called out to them in a perculiar manner.
"Try not to die." Gaianox said as he opened it's mouth and built up a large spiraling ball of green energy within it; he fired it swiftly at the four individuals who were left confused as the large ball of energy engulfed them.
By the time Malphas realized what he was trying to do, it was too late. "It can't be!" Malphas exclaimed as he dashed forward towards the mages. "Trying to give those creatures some of your essence? I won't allow you!" Malphas added as he stretched out his long serrated claws and slashed it downwards at the direction of the mages. His strength was more than enough to completely create a shockwave that destroyed everything in it's path including the mages.
He stopped to admire the results of his handwork. Before he could celebrate completely, he raised his head up slightly as he felt his space being invaded by an unknown force. "What!?" He exclaimed as he turned his neck and found Rai above him.
"Raisen!" Rai proclaimed as he slammed a ball of green energy with sparks of green electricity surrounding it into the back of Malphas. Being momentarily overwhelmed by the technique, Malphas was smashed into the ground and what followed up was a minor explosion as the sparks of electricity collided together with the body of Malphas.
Rai landed on his feet a few meters away from the demon general, he stared into his palm at the level of power he attained at the moment. "With this level of essence, there's no telling what I could do." He said.