Stepping outside the gate, the first thing that caught his eye were the bodies. The ground was littered with the dismembered bodies of the people who had been unfortunate to be outside when the attacks had begun. Soldiers and civilians alike were all slaughtered, the culprits being the giant snakes which were now busy feasting on what was remaining. He shook his head in pity. Aside from the snakes, the only living things outside were the two people levitating a meter above the ground.
He identified Elora Darkfang, with her black hair and silver-slitted eyes. She was one of the oldest and most powerful people who served the emperor. Feared by the empire's enemies for her assassination skills, she was mostly known as the poison mistress, an acute moniker. The other person was probably Igor Shadowblight. Damien hadn't met the man before, but since he had made efforts to identify every Spirit lord serving under the empire.
The snakes stopped their feeding and focused on Damien the moment he arrived, barring their fangs. The ones without a smidgen of intelligence rushed at him, while the older ones with traces of intelligence slithered back to their mother. With a look and a little glow from his eyes, they all exploded, including the ones running away, none were spared. Dying and splattering the desert sands with body parts... Parts that began emitting black smoke which rotted the ground.
Looking up at the two people floating, he said to Elora. "You should train your children never to bite off more than they can chew."
She was now looking furious, he didn't know why, probably the killing of children she had spent years of time and resources to make stronger. He didn't care. "You're going to pay for that," She replied, her silver slits beginning to glow.
"I did warn you what would happen if you didn't stay out of my business," Damien said, a sly grin appearing on his face. He nodded at where he could sense the spy howling in pain as he was continuously tortured by a snake coiled around his body. "Or did your spy forget to deliver my message?"
Igor shadowblight summoned a massive hammer into his right hand, and a huge tower shield appeared on his left. "The empire does not respond well to threats by their lessers." Shadows rose to shroud him in matte black armor.
"Did you inform your emperor who you were about to fight? He should know better than to test me again."
Elora smiled. "We know how weakened you are after your trip to the metaphysical." Her smile widened. "You might be able to fight one of us in your weakened state, but two? We are going to present your head to the emperor." Anticipation was practically dripping from her tongue.
Damien shook his head, she wasn't wrong. He was weakened after the massive amount of energy he expended to hold their makeshift domain together. Officially, he was drained, but what they didn't know was that as weakened as he was, he could still easily take on both of them without really trying. Probably kill them if he put in more effort.
Their emperor was the only one who could put on a challenge.
Damien slowly levitated, preparing himself. "Come on then. You both need a teaching moment on where you stand on the hierarchy of power," He said, power flooding him.
Igor attacked first, his passing cracking the ground and causing a shockwave. His massive hammer came down on Damien with the force of a dozen massive boulders, promising a crushing death.
Damien caught it in his palm, the energy from the collision cracking the ground around them for dozens of feet. Igor's eyes widened as his attack was casually caught, so he was able to see but couldn't react quickly to the punch Damien landed on his face, blasting him back in a whirling of winds.
Elena came in next, daggers made out of darkness with their blades glistening with venom on her hands. One swiped for his neck, the other trying to eviscerate him from hips to shoulder. She was rewarded with both of her hands being cut off at the wrists. It would regenerate in seconds, but it still bought him time to respond to Igor who stepped aside from the retreating Elena, coming in with more wariness now. His hammer was now shrouded in shadow, enforcing it. So instead of Damien taking it with his bare hands, he blocked it with a conjured shield. The shield cracked instantly. Damien responded by trying to punch him again, which was blocked by his huge tower shield. The force still pushed him sliding backward, but he was uninjured.
All their exchange of blows had taken only a few seconds, but the damage from the forces expelled had destroyed the environment, causing shockwaves and quakes that caved in one side of the city wall and pulverized any flesh remaining on the ground.
Elena conjured dozens of floating daggers, their blades glistening with snake venom. She sent them flying and stabbing at Damien from different angles while she came in behind them. Instead of dodging, he blasted energy from his body in a wave, destroying the conjured constructs.
Catching her on her now regenerated wrists."You're all so weak," he said to her, stoking her frustration. His words came back to bite him a moment later when he failed to react quickly to Igor, who suddenly appeared at his side, hammer smashing into him. Damien grunted painfully as he was blasted, crashing into the city walls and through it. He destroyed multiple buildings with his passing before he finally smashed into one that held him, although it immediately collapsed soon after.
He groaned. That hurt, a little. He thought. Standing up, he didn't have much time to take stock of himself before a dagger stabbed for his heart. He turned sideways, avoiding it, but he couldn't avoid the second one that came a moment later, stabbing into his shoulder. He grunted, looking through the human-shaped holes in the dozens of houses he had blasted through. He spotted Elena speeding towards him with daggers poised, Igor close behind with his hammer and shield.
Deciding to get a little serious, Damien pulled the dagger from his shoulder, infusing energy into the injured part to destroy the venom. Even though Elena was far weaker than him, she was still a poison mistress at the rank of Spirit lord. It wouldn't pay to underestimate her inventions.
Facing his attackers, he summoned his warspear. Seven feet of magically grown wood with two feet of black blade met Elora's attack, punching through her defenses and into her shoulder. Holding her uninjured arm sideways, he stepped closer, drawing her in and using her as a shield for the approaching hammer. Igor stopped his hammer moments before it could smash into Elora. Damien took the opportunity, stepping back from Elora to get some space, he kicked her into a surprised Igor, throwing them both into another building.
He could sense that the people were still not done evacuating, so he decided to take the fight back outside.
Attacking, he punched Igor on his shadow-crafted breastplate, denting it and blasting him closer to the walls. Dozens of houses fully collapsed from the shockwaves of his passing.
Grabbing Elora by the neck, he slammed her back down into the ground, briefly disorienting her creating a large crater. Picking her back up again, he punched her out of the crater and into the city walls, dozens of cracks spreading through.
Damien levitated out, catching up to Igor who was beginning to stand. With his spear, he pierced through the cracks that were opening in the man's armor. Igor tried to bash him with his shield, but Damien stopped it flat with his palm.
Drawing back his spear, he swept Igor's feet out of him, kicking him before he could fall completely to the ground. The man crashed into Elena who was beginning to get up, blasting them both out of the city.
Floating through the hole in the wall, he said. "I remember you saying something about how I couldn't take on the both of you." He smiled, taunting them."You must have overestimated your strengths to think I wouldn't be able to handle a couple of weaklings."
Looking at Elora, she was about to explode, her shoulder and mouth leaking blood; while Igor was starting to look frustrated; his armor was pierced and cracked, blood pouring through.
Despite the visual signs of injuries, he knew they were barely injured.
He knew what they were about to do next from the way they firmed their expressions.
Energy blasted out of them as their images were summoned, changing the surrounding areas for miles and covering the city in darkness and shadows.