The dead groll on the staircase was a sign that he was on the right track. Now there was no doubt about it. Judging by the state of the dead groll, the angel passed through here at least half an hour ago, maybe more. He hurried his pace even more, reaching the bottom of the staircase in a few minutes. The grolls at the guard post were sleeping so deeply that they didn't hear the extremely loud sounds that the black knight's boots made as he was descending the staircase. They would soon deeply regret their deep sleep.
When he entered the room that served as a guard post, the black knight stopped, shocked by what his eyes were seeing. He genuinely expected to find everybody dead, but instead, the three grolls slept so peacefully that he at first refused to accept the fact that they didn't have their throats slit in their sleep. But the snoring was giving them away. They were snoring like they didn't have a single care in the world. Haven't these fools heard the alarm? Was it possible that nobody in this whole place didn't have that much brain to realise that when the alarm is raised, everybody should be warned that the prisoner is on the loose?! But, no matter. He was going to give them the kind of warning that they wouldn't forget for a long time.
The black knight approached the table at which the three grolls slept and kicked it upwards with his iron boot. The table, along with the grolls, flew up in the air. The surprised grolls didn't have the time to utter a sound from their mouths (or fall down to the ground, for that matter) when the black knight grabbed one of the grolls by the head while he was still falling and slammed him into the wall like that, breaking his skull on the wall like he cracked a walnut. The table and the remaining two grolls fell to the ground. The nearest one that tried to straighten up into a sitting position was hit right in the face with the black knight's heavy iron glove, sending him flying to the other side of the room to lay motionless with a mess in the same place where was a face a mere moment ago.
The black knight's speed was incredible, but even it couldn't compare to the sheer will to stay alive, for as he was dealing with the second groll, the third and last one managed to get on his knees and start begging for mercy. The black knight approached him and picked him up like a feather by grabbing his neck so gently that he almost broke it.
"Raise the alarm. Everyone to the dark crystal. Now."
He threw him away in the corner, badly hurting him, and then he continued to the dark crystal himself, demonstratively ripping the door to the dormitory out of its hinges and throwing it behind his back like it was a jumbled piece of paper. He was on a hot strike. This was the third door that faced his wrath today.
As he disappeared, the groll, badly hurt, dragged himself to the place where the bell was in an effort to raise the alarm. To his horror, he found out that the place where the bell usually stood was vacant, with only the cut rope remaining. Only then did his brain start to realise what had happened and what was the reason for the black knight's unexplained brutality. Luckily for him, there was no need for the bell to be rung for his brothers to awaken. They were awoken by the noise, and they started opening the doors of their bedrooms to find out what all the noise was about. A few unlucky ones never found out because the furious black knight who was running through the hall used their faces as punching bags to vent out his anger, and they met the same fate as the second groll did.
"After me. Now."
That was everything the grolls needed to know, and they quickly started putting on their armour and grabbing their weapons. But before even half of them managed to get in a state of being ready for a fight, the cries of pain quickly started filling the hall, and each groll that dared to venture out of his room to discover the source of this unexplained noise ended up in the same way. Dead.
***
The demons didn't raise the same alarm twice. The fortress really was under attack. Master Albert and commander Nicholas have arrived, leading hundreds of warriors riding winged horses. The moment of their arrival was perfect, for the black knight had just split his forces and left just half of them to stay at the battlements. The remaining demons were completely caught off-guard when they saw the angelic force rapidly approaching them after centuries of not doing so. Since they were mainly guarding the stables rather than the battlements, the angels didn't have a hard time landing with their winged horses, and they were soon causing heavy casualties to the surprised demons.
Master Albert and commander Nicholas joined the battle themselves, leading a charge against the demons in the stables, where most of them were actually located, and trying to get on their giant animals to start the fight in the air. This meant that the battle was focused more on the stables, which were crawling with demons, than on the battlements, which fell to the angels almost instantly. However, the demons managed to sneak to the drum on the battlements and raise the attack alarm.
The remaining half of the demons quickly began rushing to the battlements, and this forced the angels to mostly return to the air with their winged horses because the demons, although falling to their lightswords quickly, were far more numerous than them. The demons, wasting no time, began to come out of the stables on their rides through many big holes in the walls of the stables, and the battle was now being fought both on the ground and in the air. The advantage of the surprise was now waning, and the real battle now began, full of chaos, explosions, blood, and death.
Master Albert specifically showed the demons that an old Hell Purger is still a Hell Purger indeed, and whoever dared to come near him faced a quick and certain death. Dozens upon dozens of foolish grolls and satyrs fell to his lightsword, while commander Albert guarded his back the best he could, allowing no demon to slyly sneak upon his old friend. The battle was clearly going well for the angels, but the demons were numerous, and they endlessly poured out of the big fortress like ants rushing to defend their anthill. It was questionable for how long the angels could keep their advantage over the demons, but all of them knew the answer. They had to endure as long as it was necessary for Lucius, wherever he may be, to escape. To return to Elysium without him or without securing his escape would be a massive failure they couldn't allow themselves to experience. But the demons were restless, and there were many of them.
"I hope your colleague isn't wasting a second. We can't keep this up forever!" yelled Nicholas to his old friend in the middle of the battle.
"Don't worry, my old friend! He was never one of those who lingered. He will make it. We will make it!" yelled Albert back.
"From your mouth to God's ears, Albert!" said Nicholas.
And they both focused on securing more of those precious seconds for Lucius.
***
After he waited for a good ten minutes, Lucius dared to go down the staircase and check upon the progress the fire made or didn't manage to make. What he saw immediately hastened the beating of his heart. The fire has burned all of the spider's web in one half of the big, circular room, and in the middle of the said room, a big, dark crystal, as big as a boulder, levitated in the air. The excitement he felt was too great. He made it! Wasting no time, he quickly ran up to the dark crystal, ignoring the heat from the fire and the awful smell of the burning web, and struck the dark crystal with the black knight's sword with all the might he managed to muster.
The dark crystal cracked upon contact with the black knight's sword. The cracks started to quickly spread, but Lucius was in a hurry, and he once again struck the dark crystal with all his might, and it collapsed into hundreds of tiny pieces in front of him. The freeing sensation this brought to Lucius made him feel great, for he felt that his powers were back. But before he even managed to do anything, Lucius's face, showered with success and happiness, changed to a face full of horror.
A giant, black spider stood behind the dark crystal, and now that the dark crystal was no more, there was nothing blocking its way. It looked at Lucius with its dark, shiny eyes, and Lucius knew he had not won yet. In fact, his fight was just about to begin…