With burning eyes, he chanted softly as he disappeared. Dratos stood confused, swinging through the air as he hoped to hit Darren. In the void where eyes couldn't reach, Darren rolled between the demon king's feet. He slashed at both ankles, leaving deep gashes as his invisibility spell came to an end.
He whizzed out, dragging his feet across the ground before jumping into the air. As he came down, he coated his sword in ice and sliced Dratos' right arm off.
As Dratos fell to his knees, his right shoulder lay frozen, his ankles bleeding as they soaked the ground. Grunting, he struggled to stand but it was futile.
"You think yourself a hero? You think yourself a king? You are nothing but a glorified saviour. They will all turn against you after today. You will be the scourge of your tribe. An outcast. Your glory days would be over. If I meet my death today, you will meet yours every day after."
Stepping forward, Darren raised his sword as he prepared to silence Dratos.
"I can live with that burden as long as you are dead. I will carry it and face whatever comes. I was created to save them and I will do it till my dying breath."
Dratos watched with a glint in his eyes as he swung his poleaxe at Darren using his left hand. In that fleeting second, Darren managed to place his sword between his body and the poleaxe. Saving himself from a dozen broken bones, he flew through the air and crashed into a large boulder.
As he tried to pull himself out, Dratos barrelled forward. He was cornered and didn't care for grace anymore. All that mattered to the demon king was destroying the man that stood between him and victory.
"Liberar Sigillum!"
There was a flash of golden light that caused the moon to pale in comparison. Darren's appearance had changed. He was shrouded in golden light, his eyes shining with the power of the sun.
In the place of his cape were white wings that fluttered in the wind. Above his head shined a star that seemed to stare down at the world in disdain.
With a burst of power, Darren punched Dratos in the face as he leapt out of the boulder. Before Dratos could steady himself, Darren sliced his legs off. The demon king screamed in agony, but Darren wasn't done.
He grabbed Dratos' remaining arm, ripping it off with all of his strength. He pushed Dratos to the ground, holding his gaze with his golden eyes.
"This is your end."
"Ahhhhh!"
This blood-curdling scream travelled across the battlefield, breaking the silence that surrounded both camps. The scream came from the only hill on the battlefield that stood in everyone's gaze.
Darren stood tall but covered in blood; a mix of gold and red. In his hands was a golden longsword stuck in the chest of the demon king.
Slowly, Dratos coughed blood and stared at Darren with a resentful glare. Darren stood unfazed, with fire in his eyes to show that he still stood firm after their hard-fought battle.
"This battle is over, but our war is not fought and done."
"No. There will be no more demons. No more portals. No more invasions."
A grin filled Dratos' face as Darren cleaved his head off. He picked the head up and opened a portal to where Siestri was.
"Siestri, burn his corpse to ashes while I send the demons back to hell."
"Yes, but the seal… Your seal is undone. You need rest."
"I will have a thousand years to rest once the demons are gone."
Darren's body was a wreck. His body could no longer heal itself and he could feel his heart beating slower every second. This was the cost of undoing the seal. A forbidden power needed a limit to its use.
He flew over to the demons, holding Dratos' head in his hands.
"Your king is dead. You shall return to Hell, never to cross to this plane again. Be gone."
With the last ounce of his strength, he struggled to remain in the air. The demons ran in fear, clinging to their life as they poured through the portal. He landed before it, the last demon running in as he closed the portal with all of his magic.
Unfortunately, it was not enough. The demon king had sacrificed a million demons and ten thousand humans to create this portal. His magic alone would not be enough.
Looking at the demon king's head in his hands, he did the only thing he could think of.
Creating a crater in front of the portal, he gently placed the head at the bottom.
"Siestri."
In seconds, Siestri was by his side. Siestri looked around, seeing what happened, he knew what was necessary.
"Siestri, this must stay between us. The demon king's head still holds a strange power that even my holy essence cannot burn out. I want to use that power to seal this portal and I want you to use your magic to conceal this place. Make it disappear from the world."
Siestri nodded, stabbing his staff into the earth after Darren buried the demon king's head. They both began to chant softly, the air around them churning as reality was moulded against its will.