The Requiem Of An Empress

Malphas proceeded to metamorphose on the spot. It was downright sickening for the Knights to watch human flesh melt. The view was similar to the process of immersing a body in a mixture of lye for several hours; the difference is that the deliquescing was sped-up and occurred right afore their eyes.

More than repulsion, Mikhail was distraught of the image of his brother turning lifeless by the second. Still, he reigned on his emotions, vigilantly observing the next actions of the Demon n.o.ble.

Out of the dematerializing carca.s.s emerged a raven black crow blanketed with all sorts of bodily liquids. It subsequently grew larger than that of an adult Elephant"s size and its height towered a fully grown Giraffe. It was Malphas" real physical form.

"⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛"

Mikhail and Sarakiel did not comprehend a word that the demon articulated. They purely heard a downright high-pitched ringing in their ears. The sound was headache-inducing to the extent that they had to shut their eyes to seek relief. With that, they didn"t notice the demon flying off towards the inner part of the island.

Admittedly, in terms of superiority in capabilities, humans are nearly at the bottom of the hierarchy among species. Inferior beings that reside in a lower realm and are unqualified, so to speak, cannot hope to converse with eminent, supreme existences. The voices of such individuals could solely be perceived by beings of equal or higher standing. There are exceptions to the rule, as all things should be. One must have a history of setting foot and sticking around for multiple aethras in a realm, enabling them to absorb the parlance. The other is to have the blessings of the corresponding deities.

Mikhail finally snapped out of his musings in a beat after the demon left. He hoisted Sarakiel since he fell on top of him. He a.s.sisted the Duke in his efforts to sit upright and let him lean his back on a tree trunk.

"Stay still. I will heal you."

"No, ha", Sarakiel raised his hand, stopping Mikhail from doing anything.

If what"s used to impale him was a normal weapon, then Duke Helian won"t be having difficulty in bearing the pain from the injury he recently received. Unfortunately, it was a sword that has the ability to devour mana and life essence. In addition to that, the only person who can wield a holy sword is its contractor, unless, of course, the challenger was someone with a greater magical capacity.

"Remo- hooo... removing the sword is enough. I can... I can heal myself.", Sarakiel said, breathing heavily as if his strength is nearly sapped.

The Knight captain willingly acquiesced to his subordinate"s request. It was pointless to argue because he knows that his companion is aware of the status of his mana reserve. Exercising utter caution, Mikhail slowly pulled out the sword.

Sarakiel covered the hole with his left hand p.r.o.nto and began reciting a minor healing spell. A dull white light enveloped the tunnel, made by the blade, in his abdomen as the incision was gradually being mended from the rear.

A few seconds into recuperation, his complexion regained a lively colour and his breathing stabilized.

"My Lord, please recount the events that brought you to this situation. I require an overview of what exactly happened.", to make their idle time productive, Sarakiel went ahead and inquired the details touching his comrades" escapade.

"Alright. Then I"ll start from the instance we discovered the presence of another Demon n.o.ble."

"That will do."

Mikhail sat on a boulder, directly opposite of Sarakiel, before beginning to narrate his account.

"Basically, we had a mishap in our surveillance. We were so focused on Ronove that we didn"t notice that someone was on our tail. I saw Malphas" in avian form. Somehow, it completely masked its aura when it transformed, so I didn"t recognize that demon the moment it bellied up to us."

"I see. Did Malphas attack you then?""

"Yes. We ran towards the sh.o.r.e seeing that the forest was quite a disadvantageous location for me and Khamael. That demon could spot us no matter where we hide anyway. I thought that we could escape when I discerned that Malphas wasn"t chasing us. I a.s.sumed too soon."

Mikhail"s visage was reflective of how gruelling was the tribulation they underwent. He looked awfully exhausted, almost on the verge of pa.s.sing out. However, his tone of speaking signified his cert.i.tude to put an end to the adversaries they were facing.

"We were supposed to pa.s.s by a clearing but that very area held us back. The reason why Malphas did not follow us is that there were roughly forty gates, set to transport demons and monsters, in that field. You can imagine what ensued, right?"

Sarakiel gave a nod to agree. His wound was fully closed so he adjusted his posture.

"The enemies came pouring out at once, didn"t they?"

"We diminished their numbers as quickly as we could. Withal, all of a sudden, we heard an earsplitting screech. I dismissed it as my senses going haywire but Khamael judged otherwise."

"If I may ask, My Lord. What was it?"

"I have yet to question Khamael regarding it. He just told me to dock when he went in front of me as if to block something. Nothing developed out of it. He was perfectly fine, not harmed or of the sort. I advised him to reinforce his defence magic in case."

"What of the demon n.o.ble?"

"It bolted towards me. I took that demon as my opponent, leaving Khamael with the minorities. My brother was pushed by the horde to the nearby sh.o.r.e. Regrettably, it was a losing battle on my side. I cannot keep up even with the help of my spells. It was like..."

Mikhail trailed off his words, debating whether his a.s.sessment was right or not.

"Like I was in combat with the Emperor. That d.a.m.n sly fox is everywhere."

"That strong?!"- Sarakiel reacted a.s.sertively, curious of the validity of the statement. Their Emperor isn"t one to be taken lightly. Thus, if the adversaries were similar in prowess, then that would pose nothing but trouble.

"Frighteningly, yes. Malphas rendered me unconscious within a minute. We do not really know the full strength of the demon n.o.bles considering that those who encountered them never woke up after their bouts. His Majesty will be a good sparring partner."

"Well, it"s not a stretch to say that the Emperor can defeat the entirety of the Rounds even if his magic was sealed. Going back, what did you do next?"

"Once I awakened, there was a message from the Emperor to open a gate. Thereupon, I ran away from the field and searched for a safe place."

"What of Lord Khamael?"

"I... don"t know."

Sarakiel stared gaping at Mikhail, dumbfounded of the latter"s response. He did not covet to scoop up this issue in the back of his mind except, it was needed to be discussed. Hence, an unwelcomed presumption was verbalized.

"Earlier, Malphas talked concerning a dead lad in the forest. Could it be Lord Kh-"

"Stop, Sarakiel. I hope you have the same faith in Khamael that I have. He won"t go down without a fight."

The Duke pursed his lips, a way to avoid offending his captain further. Instead, the Knight drew some items from the inside pocket of his coat.

"We already brought two with us. What are these additional scrolls for?"

"The Emperor instructed me to give this scroll to you. I peered at the contents but it was blank. I believe you"ll be able to grasp its purpose."

"I do."

"That"s a relief."

Sarakiel then handed his partner a rolled black parchment, tied with a white string. Mikhail accepted the scroll, examining it promptly.

"This page was torn off from the Emperor"s personal grimoire. Why did he provide me with this? I"ll clarify with his Majesty when we successfully complete this mission."

Mikhail set aside his wonderment and moved on to address Sarakiel"s nonchalance.

"Aren"t you interested in this scroll"s origin?"

"I don"t want to rush you. Reveal it to me immediately when you"re ready."

"I envy your mental fort.i.tude."

Duke Helian simply studied Percival"s countenance to see if he was kidding. Confirming that his captain was serious, he delivered a questionable grat.i.tude.

"Thank you, I guess? Let"s advance. There are two more scrolls."

"How will they be utilized? Do we get to choose?"

"No, they"re already a.s.signed to me and Lord Khamael. These scrolls each contain one verse of an advanced ancient spell. They"re spells for erasing the seals of Malphas and Ronove."

"Come again?"

"What are you pertaining to, My Lord?"

Sarakiel has yet to realize that he uttered a nicety of the plan that he shouldn"t have a prior knowledge of.

"You said Malphas and Ronove. The Emperor knew of Malphas" drifting? I forgot about it but you deciphered Malphas"s name even before me." Mikhail"s voice was accusative and his face was grim. At this point, Sarakiel cognized that he didn"t expound on things in the proper order.

"ah, kind of? I"m not sentient of the specifics so please spare me. I was flabbergasted when I was listening to his Majesty"s briefing too."- Whilst he appeared calm, Sarakiel was fl.u.s.tered.

Meanwhile, Mikhail inhaled and exhaled deeply, repeating the cycle a myriad of times.

"Remember, Khamael is alone. We need to catch up to him. I can confront the ene- I mean, the Emperor later."

Once he found a pretext to settle his anger down, Mikhail spoke.

"Continue with your explanation."

Sarakiel duly complied and did as he was told.

"The scrolls should be activated within a kilometre"s distance from the Demon n.o.bles. The green scroll will be for Lord Khamael to handle in the presence of Malphas. This blue one will be operated by yours truly against Ronove."

"My duty is to divert their attention, correct?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"Then we ought to go where Khamael is. Stand up, Sarakiel."

"Affirmative"

"This area is in the east part of the island, not far off from our previous battlefield in the sh.o.r.e. We"ll reach it in no time."

"I understand. Let"s make haste."

Mikhail and Sarakiel dashed through the forest in order to come to the aid of Khamael as soon as physically possible. They got around exploiting their incantations for the reason that it was vital to preserve mana, because its supply in the island was scarce, courtesy of the demons and monsters.

The cold air felt p.r.i.c.kly on their skin as they sprinted towards their objective.

"My Lord, if we surface as the victors of this ordeal, some seat holders will be called for a meeting with the Emperor, the three of us included.", Sarakiel managed to initiate a chat in the midst of their sprint, though he concentrated his gaze on the road they were traversing.

"Some? Why not include the rest? It will be irritating to deal with people who will complain of us isolating critical information."

"The Emperor"s orders, nothing more, nothing less."

Silence took over their conversation for a little while prior to Sarakiel breaking it himself.

"His Majesty is becoming harder to handle these past few diers."

"Are you referring to his att.i.tude from the start?"

Sarakiel chuckled at finally witnessing a huge frown plastered on Mikhail"s facade. However, the peace didn"t last long. The scene that Sarakiel caught sight of was the opposite of what he expected it to be. The sh.o.r.e was quiet and there were no signs that a battle had occurred. Mikhail stopped on his tracks and contemplated.

"What if the demons took Khamael away?! Did they put him in captivity? Alive? Wounded? Or else... dead?"- Mikhail shook his head vigorously, trying to get rid of his a.s.sumption. He has the tendency to take into account of the worst outcomes when it"s apropos to his brother.

Undisclosed to them, a body that was so scorched that it had nearly crumbled to ashes was hidden in the woods, awaiting their late arrival.