(Vol 1 Finale) 39. The Fall of the Sixth Demon Lord
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Chapter 39: The Fall of the Sixth Demon Lord

 

A squad of Dwarfs and humans were running through a narrow hallway. Behind them were the sounds of fighting and screaming that they ignored as they sprint as fast as they could. They all crossed a large door before promptly shutting it tight and barricading it with anything they could find. A large statue, a large bench, a pole; anything that they can block the door with.

“Spread out! Don’t stick together! Erect your magic resistant wards!” One dwarf yelled his orders in the tight hallway once they sealed the door.

“The demon is coming! Get ready!” One of the other soldiers yelled as he got into position.

Despite the door closing, they could still hear the faint sounds of clashing metal and the yell of the other Alliance soldiers. The sound grew louder and louder, metal swooshing could be heard and small tremors were felt. It all ended when the door was banged really hard. It didn't quite break, but you could see the door bending, trying to give way to whatever was behind it.

Then all of a sudden, everything went quiet. No sound could be heard, only replaced with an eerie silence. The hearts of the men grew fearful as cold sweat dripped from their foreheads.

“Keep your eyes open, men,” The dwarven squad leader told everyone. They all nodded and brandished their weapons towards the door.

They waited for a few minutes but nothing came for them. The hallways were so silent that their ears hurt. The men grew wary by the moment.

“Maybe… she left?” One of the soldiers asked.

The others let out a breath of relief once they figured that the demon will not come for them.

“You wish,” a woman’s voice came out from behind the soldier. Right after that, a spear came right out from his heart, killing him on the spot. His body slowly fell to the ground as the other soldiers took a step back from the demon.

The soldiers wondered how the demon managed to get behind them without going through the door. Various thoughts ran through their minds as they tried to make sense of what was happening in front of them. The dwarven captain, however, was not fazed by her appearance and immediately swung his axe towards her. The other soldiers saw this and regained their confidence, each one of them yelled and swung their weapons towards the demon. A demon with a mighty banner.

The result was one-sided. The dwarf’s attack was repelled easily with a swing which also decapitated the man. The other soldiers that were there were also handled in a similar manner. Any attacks that were aimed towards Klauna was easily dodged and countered with her own attack. Most of the soldiers there die in one hit. There were some that took two or three and even fewer who managed to last a few of Klauna’s strikes. Their screams of fear and anger resounded across the hallway until there was none. Every single one of the soldiers died.

Confirming that everyone was handled, Klauna resumed her journey through the hallway, sprinting as fast as she could while avoiding as many enemies as possible. She didn’t have much time left. Prashyufa was currently being overrun by the humans and their allies and will soon fall. She needed to get to the throne room and take care of some personal business before she could leave.

The Warrior Spear Indominatus was stained with blood as Klauna swung her way through the soldiers that blocked her direct path to the throne room. After a few long struggles, she soon arrived at her destination. The entrance to the throne room was long destroyed.

Hiding her presence as best she could, she sneaked around and entered the throne room through a small gap. She quickly moved from one end of the room to the other, towards an emergency exit that she found out while investigating the castle. She then lay in wait and observed the room from the hidden exit.

In the throne room was Sylendri fighting against a group of humans, elves and dwarfs. The group seemed to be led by a young man wearing a crown on top of his head. It was the same person that Klauna faced during the Battle of Fate. The Prince of Serrora. Having figured out his identity, Klauna started to recognize some of the other people within the room. The Heroes of the Alliance. It seemed that they managed to live through Klauna’s grade eight attack from the other day.

Klauna then observed the room further, if it can be called that way. The once beautifully decorated room was now filled with broken walls and furniture. The floor has several large cracks, holes and large burn marks. The clash between Sylendri and the group of Heroes shook the ground and waves of pure energy were unleashed by their mighty blows. 

Although the battle looked pretty and flashy, it has already been determined. Sylendri’s movement was too predictable and she was still suffering from injuries to her chest. The heroes maintained a perfect defence and were slowly pressing their advantage towards her. With every clash, Sylendri just got out more and more injured. It was only a matter of time before she would be defeated.

As they fight, dialogues between the two could be heard. 

“Why won’t you die!?” Sylendri roared out in anger as she unleashed a devastating swing towards the heroes. It was easily blocked by a companion who used a large shield.

“The only person who will die here is you, Demon Lord!” An elf yelled out and shot an arrow towards Sylendri who was wide open after the attack. 

The arrow pierced through her shoulders and she yelled out in pain. “Why you little!” Sylendri launched another big attack which was easily blocked again. 

“Your reign of terror ends now!” The Prince yelled out as he slashed at Sylendri. A large gush of blood spurt out of the seams of the wounds. More of Sylendri's incoherent screams were heard.

She managed to push the Prince back but was unable to launch another attack due to her injuries. Unable to move much, she just backed away slowly towards the throne. Towards the hidden emergency exit. The Prince and his companions slowly moved towards her, unaware of said exit. They thought they have her cornered.

“...It’s over, Demon Lord,” an old dwarf spoke to her. “My dear friend will be avenged today.”

Sylendri growled back, not understanding what he meant.

“Before I end all this, just tell me one thing, Demon Lord. A demon that wields a mighty banner. I know she is one of your underlings. Where is she?” The Prince asked. 

“Hmmph, as if I’m going to tell your inferior existence anything,” Sylendri replied.

“You bastard! Even in defeat, even after waging war and killing millions, even after being defeated here, you still think of yourself as superior? You demons are so full of yourselves” The Elven Princess said to her. She then drew her bow and took aim at Sylendri.

“Waged war? Don’t mess around with me! It was you bastards that took my mother away from me! You send those assassins to kill her. I’ll never forgive you till the day I die! As long as I draw breath, I will continue to kill you humans!” Sylendri howled.

“What?! We never did such things, you are the ones who invaded us without warning!” The Prince yelled back.

“..It’s useless arguing with her lad. We should just end this.” The old dwarf said to the Prince. His axe held high.

The Prince didn’t reply and only nodded. He then charged his blade before making a lunge towards Sylendri. However, his attacks didn’t land. A big tremor occurred off the ground and the floor flipped to form a wall between Sylendri and the group of heroes. It was reinforced with magic which made it hard for the heroes to breakthrough. Then, a clicking sound was heard and a small tunnel appeared.

Sylendri went through the tunnel and the entrance then closed itself. She was now safe and out of harm’s way. This tunnel leads straight to the city of Prashyufa. Once she reached there, it would be easy enough for her to run away. Or she would have if Klauna didn’t appear in front of the injured Sylendri.

“You…” Sylendri scowled at Klauna.

“...” Klauna didn’t say anything and only stared back at Sylendri.

“...What do you—” 

Sylendri tried to question Klauna but suddenly stopped in the middle of her question. She moved her mouth, but nothing came out of it. Confused about why she couldn’t speak, she turned her head downwards and saw the reason. There, she saw the spear Indominatus stabbed right through her heart and by extension her lungs.

“You are trash Sylendri. The world is better off with you disposed of,” Klauna said before dragging the spear back, a long stream of blood shot out of her wound. Sylendri then dropped down to the floor lifelessly. The last thing she saw was Klauna’s figure who was walking away from her.

“Now I’ve truly avenged your death, Lionel,” The last thing Sylendri could hear was Klauna muttering. Her vision then faded to black. 

Forever.

 

* * * * *

 

Klauna swung her spear towards a group of elves which broke their formation. Using the opening she created, she leapt over them before landing on the top of a building. She then jumped from building to building, killing off anyone that she crossed paths with. Her destination was the group of elites that were still defending the west gate. It was the only safe exit path out of the city for the Ak’hims.

During the long week prior to the invasion of Prashyufa, Klauna realised just how much of an obstacle Sylendri really was, and how much of the incompetence in the military stemmed from her. Command was all occupied by her lapdogs and half of the military’s generals were made only because Sylendri had some sort of influence over them. Either it through money or promise of power or some other nefarious reason. 

Pretty much ninety per cent of the mess that the AK’hims were in right now was because of Sylendri. Klauna needed her out of the picture if she wanted the Seventh Army to survive at all. At first, Klauna wanted to capture her and imprison the Demon Lord out of respect for Leida who seemed to have a rather close relationship with Sylendri and the previous demon lord. That plan was thrown out the window as Klauna overheard Sylendri’s conversation with the Heroes.

She said it herself. That as long as she lived, she will stop at nothing to kill all the humans. As long as Sylendri lives, the demons will forever be at war with the humans. As long as Sylendri lives, the lives of her subordinates will be in danger, whether directly or indirectly.  It didn’t matter now anyways. Sylendri was dead now. She turned out to be not that strong after all. Though, it may be too little too late for the Ak’hims at this point.

*Boom!

Klauna could see a large explosion coming from the west gate. Praying that her subordinates were safe, she sprinted even faster towards her destination. As she did so, she witnessed a large dragon in the air, blowing hot fireballs at the city below. The dragon then let out a roar. A roar so loud that the houses below were blown away by its sheer force. The dragon didn’t last long in that form as it soon transformed into the shape of a humanoid. A girl with scales for skin, a pair of horns, a pair of wings and a large draconic tail. The figure then flew back to the ground all while throwing more fireballs down below.

As Klauna got nearer and nearer to the gate, she could hear more explosions and the sound of intense fighting. Feeling that she was near enough, she jumped high into the air and looked downwards to find a place to land. Near the west gate was the sight of the First Army and their elites holding the lines against a bunch of alliance soldiers. Harbin, Cera, Balestra, Poi and the other rogues were with them.

Although they looked to be outnumbered, they were actually winning the fight rather handily. At the foremost front, deep within the enemy formations was Leida who killed several people with a single swing of her sword. The ground around her filled with molten rocks. Above her was her younger sister Samiyadare throwing fireballs at the soldiers. For whatever reason, she was still able to fly despite the ominous shroud.

Klauna picked a spot to land and immediately shifted her weight. Her descent was further sped up as she pumped mana into her spear, the other end of the spear blasting out waves of magical energy. She launched herself to the ground like a meteor. Her landing caused a huge explosion and blew away tens of soldiers into the air.

“Lord Klauna!” Harbin’s happy yell was the first thing that rang out in the surroundings.

Klauna paid her no mind and started hacking away at the remaining humans in the area. Her speed and agility combined with Leida’s strength cleared the area in no time. Just clearing the area wasn’t enough, however, as more soldiers came from the city. Klauna immediately gave the order to retreat for everyone and they started moving out of the city while protecting themselves.

The humans were relentless, constantly throwing themselves at them to cut their escape. Though it was a pointless effort. With the two individuals named as Klauna and Leida there, the humans could only get so far. The small fries were easily handled by the two. 

Once the Ak’hims have gotten far enough, Leida and Samiyadare transformed and created a wall of fire that separated the two factions, halting the humans from following them. Confirming that they were now in safety, Klauna took a deep breath and walked towards her subordinates.

“What took you so long? For a while there I thought you ran away or something. What happened there?” Leida complained as she landed in her humanoid form near Klauna.

“Sylendri and Command are no more. The Heroes have ended their lives. The remaining survivors are now holed up in their homes or in the castle,” Klauna responded with a monotone voice, hiding the fact that she killed Sylendri herself.

“...I see… So the brat has fallen as well huh,” Leida looked away to the distance with a blank look.

“You can feel sad later. We need to get as far away from Prashyufa now, the enemies are gathering on us,” Klauna then moved towards Harbin and Cera. “... Is the evacuation done?”

“All clear, Lord Klauna. Everyone that we can evacuate has been evacuated.”

“Good. Then we leave the place now. Tell Blackmask to prepare for the package.”

“Roger!” Harbin saluted before bringing out her grimoire and spoke into it.

The First and the Seventh Army then moved out towards the highway. The humans, unable to follow them due to the large fire that the Dragonicias blew on them decided to go back into the Citadel. They quickly secured the walls and raised flags and banners all over Prashyufa. It wasn’t long before the sound of massive cheering could be heard from the Alliance soldiers at Prashyufa as if mocking the retreating demons.

“Harbin, execute plan B,” Klauna said to Harbin, not even bothering to look back at Prashyufa.

“Are you really sure about this, Lord Klauna? Enemies aside, there are still at least a few thousand Ak’’hims in Prashyufa. Most of them are innocent civilians...” Harbin asked.

"They are all going to die anyways. Might as well take as many humans as we can. We can also prevent them from using Prashyufa."

"Even so…. Are you sure?" Harbin asked one more time.

“...yeah, their deaths will be on my hand. Don’t blame yourself for it. You are all just following orders,” Klauna said without a single sign of remorse. No remorse neither in her voice nor her looks. Though, one could see that there was a little hint of guilt within.

Harbin had a big frown as she heard the words come out of Klauna’s mouth. “...senior. Plan B is a go,” Harbin said to the book before looking away. It wasn’t just her either, the other soldiers in the area could also be seen looking away. Either with a frustrated or a sorrowful look on their faces.

Away from the city. 

It was then that tremors could be felt by the soldiers. Roars of fire could be heard as pillars of fire erupted from the citadel behind them. The whole city, the citadel and the castle of Prashyufa exploded into flames, and the sound of men cheering was replaced with the screams of agony.

‘Someone has to make the hard choices,’ Klauna’s words rang out in Harbin’s mind as she walked away from the thousands of dying people in frustration.

 

This is the end of the first Volume of the series. I hope you guys enjoyed this so far!

The next chapter will be on the 22nd of March 2020. But wait, Koto-san, that's not in two days. Well, I'll be taking a break! I'll explain more of it in the announcement chapter later. Together with some goodies!

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