When Adelio heard the words of the king a slightly creepy smile appeared at the corner of his lips as the light in his eyes flickered.

"Traitor, you say. Hehe he... To be a traitor you would first have to be an ally, right?"

Adelio said in a slightly scornful tone.

Marcus's face grimace from the stinging pain of his missing arm. But he bit down on his lips to suppress the pain. Adelio's gaze deepen as he observed the miserable state of Marcus indifferently.

Marcus laid in a pool of blood that only kept increasing as the seconds passed. His complexion was sickly pale as though he lacks enough blood to circulate through his body.

"You have been a good help your majesty as a reward I will allow you to die without feeling too much pain."

Adelio said cheerfully. Marcus's pupils trembled as his eyes reflected the figure of Adelio who had two black horns like protrusion on his head.

His once jade like eyes now deep crimson, with a thick tail extended outwards from his rear.

(D-Demon!)

Marcus thought as his pupils contracted to the smallest possible size. The beings only heard of in legends was right before his eyes.

Upon seeing the reaction of the king Adelio's eyes flickered as a creepy distorted smile appeared at the corners of his lips as he asked.

"Thats right I am a demon, allow me to formerly introduce myself. I am Adelio the general of the great demon king, Lucifer."

"Are you surprised? Or should I say, are you scared?"

He inquired, curiously. As far as he was concerned all humans had an instinctual fear towards the demon race. It was like that three hundred years ago and more so now after all the stories they heard that got passed down through the many generations.

So, it would make sense for the king to fear them as well.

Marcus remained silent for some time before his lips moved.

"... How long have you been planning this?"

Marcus asked somewhat indifferently. Even though he was betrayed by a noble of his own kingdom far from feeling despair he felt stupid instead. Now everything up until this point made sense to him.

"The very beginning."

 Was Adelio's casual response. In the end the title of nobles meant nothing to him, as a member of the demon kings army his one and only true wish was to free his lord from the seal of the four heroes. Naturally in order to destroy the barrier he needed to find the source which was placed in this country.

"I see... So that was the case after all. If I remember correctly, you were one of the nobles who supported the war between our nation and Zestril. Also, it is clear someone leaked vital information about our schedule to them hence why they could set up such a splendid ambush."

Marcus's face grew paler as the seconds passed. His blood was gradually being sapped away as he spoke. Adelio stayed silent but the smile on his face grew increasingly wider and disproportionate.

"Hehe he... Not bad as expected from a ruler of a nation, your analytical speed is impressive."

Adelio nodded his head seemingly satisfied.

"Although I would love to finish my business here as quickly as possible, it would sadden me if you died as a clueless ghost unable to rest in peace since you are so clueless. So, I will enlighten you in your final moments."

Adelio said with his hand casually behind his back.

"Roughly thirty years ago I happened to visit the royal family of the kingdom of Zestril and made a deal with the old king."

Adelio turned his back to the king as he began his tale in a leisurely manner. 

Back then Adelio and Alister were searching through the northern region for the "Annihilation cannon" Despite the low succession rate they decided to use the cannon to destroy the barrier sealing the demon race.

However, on their search they just so happen to find the royal knights of the Zestril kingdom, of course the knights attacked them for being suspicious, but they were easily killed by Alister without much trouble. The only warrior that had manage to catch their eyes was the famous "Magic sword mage." Whose title was well renowned around the neighboring kingdoms.

Before Alister could land the finishing blow Adelio decided to give the kingdom of Zestril a visit as he saw them quite amusing. His interaction with the king was something he would never forget. Seeing the imposing sight of the man seated on a throne with a lofty aura about him. Another thing that caught his interest was his greed and ambitions. Ironically two of the most dangerous desires within a human.

Once Adelio learnt of his plans to conquer the other neighboring kingdoms he decided to lend him a hand as this would cause great chaos and he could harvest many lives of those caught in the crossfire.

"Hahaha... I didn't think things would go this smoothly. Perhaps this was destiny or maybe it's the will of our lord guiding us."

Adelio exclaimed in delight.

"Tsk, I see, that day when those assassins broke into my castle, it was you're doing?!"

Marcus asked as his eyes shone with murderous intent.

Hearing that Adelio chuckle pleasantly as he spoke,

"Thats right I was the one who led them to your room, honestly you were supposed to die that day. But I completely underestimate the strength of that man, his swordsmanship was really top-notch. In the end the entire operation ended in only an attempt."

Adelio sighed as he recalled those events. Although he personally disliked working with humans this was an exception as their goal aligned.

"... Do you think you are going to get away with this? Even if it's not me someone will definitely exterminate you!"

Marcus said indifferently, even though his life was about to come to an end his heart was calm. He had already thrown away this life.

The only thing he regretted was that he was too late to stop this disaster from happening.

(... I should've listened to Sir Henry back then.)

Regret filled Marcus's heart as his expression contorted into a painful grimace. His vision was starting to get hazy from blood lost. And seeing this Adelio pointed his index finger onto Marcus's forehead.

Soon, a streak of black light pierced the center of his head and penetrated into his brain in the process. Marcus's body fell to the ground as he died.

However, there was a frown on Adelio's face as he thought of the rest of the royal family who had already escaped.

(Sigh, finding them will be troublesome.)

He thought to himself. His crimson eyes swept across the room in search of something before his eyes landed on the thing he was searching for.

After accomplishing his goal, he left the royal palace by flying through the window.

As he hovered silently above the garden of the castle grounds his crimson eyes reflected the sight of Alister and Matthew who were about to launch their attacks. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips as he conjured up a powerful energy in the form of a ball before firing it towards the garden of the castle grounds.

...

This brings us to the present...

Flash!

At a point in the distant sky, a dazzling black light shone as though it was a second sun.

The light of destructive energy swept across the garden of the castle grounds at a terrifying speed.

Those who felt it all paled as a heavy feeling of dread overwhelmed them! Leaving them all momentarily stunned.

As Alister and Matthew were about to launch their respective attacks a few meters away, their attacks came to a halt as they were both perfectly in-line with the attack!

The light in Alister's eyes flickered as he spread his wings outwards and ascended into the sky, effectively evading the attack.

Meanwhile, Matthew's expression was stern as he felt a level of danger he hadn't felt in a long time. Even without experiencing this attack he subconsciously knew he wouldn't be able to come out alive if he took it head on.

Swoosh!

As the attack grew larger in his slightly contracted pupils closing off any possible way of maneuvering his body or possible retreat Matthew subconsciously raised his hand and instinctively got into a swinging stance with his sword using his many long years of combat experience.

As though to counter the light of destructive energy, Matthew unintentionally used a large amount of his magical energy inside his sword and as his hands slashes ferociously a tremendous white light was released from the blade of his sword.

A dazzling white arc was met with a light of blackish energy in the form of an arc! At this moment two lights opposite in nature clash and intersected together as they competed for supremacy!

A blinding light of two different colors erupted, shrouding the garden of the castle grounds, and obstructing the vision of those who were present!

BOOOOOOOOOM!

The ground rumbled fiercely for several seconds as the destructive energies of both sides collided with each other, however Matthew's expression changed abruptly as the light from his sword was swallowed up by the darkish energy and drew closer to him. His figure was completely swallowed whole by the destructive energy!

The attack was so fierce that it even gouges out the once beautiful grassy field of the garden and left behind a large ten meters wide trench in its path.

Watching the thick cloud of dust that rose high into the air was a man dressed in a black robe, Adelio.

"What do you think you are doing, Adelio?"

Alister who flew a few meters away asked with narrowed eyes.

"... What are you asking? I simply got rid of a troublesome enemy."

Adelio replied, indifferently.

His red glowing eyes showed nothing but darkness as he gazes at the ten meters wide trench left behind by his attack just now.

"Tch, you bastard! That was my prey! Didn't I tell you not to interfere with my battles?!"

Alister bellowed out in frustration.

Hearing Alister's angry roar Adelio slowly shifted his gaze towards him slightly before observing him closely in silence.

"... You are too naive. This knight isn't someone to underestimate. His sword in particular is extremely troublesome, the light attribute not only does great damage onto us but also hinder our healing and you... You took a hit head on."

Adelio voiced his exasperation aloud.

"Hmph, stop being such a wimp! Do you actually think I'd lose? Adelio!"

"... I didn't say that but, being too pregnable would only leave you defenseless and opened for the enemy to attack."

Adelio responded calmly.

"Besides... We already have what we came here for."

Adelio said as he gazes at the crystal carved with various magic formation imprinted onto the surface. His black robe fluttered wildly in the wind as a creepy smile appeared from the corner of his lips.

"Eh, you actually found that thing so soon. And here I thought we would be here for a while."

"I have been in this pesky kingdom for so long, naturally I wasn't twiddling my fingers here doing nothing."

Adelio responded, indifferently.

Unfortunately, he couldn't destroy the source of the formation at this moment but, he was certain it wouldn't be long before he could.

"Alister go and inform Monica that we have what we came here for."

"Hmph, fine but what about those knights from Zestril?"

Alister inquired. He was curious if they were going to continue their alliance.

"... They have already played their part. Now that I have what we need, I don't care what becomes of them, but leave them."

Adelio replied.

At Adelio's prompting Alister's wings flapped softly as he flew into the direction of the capital. Adelio shifted his gaze towards the ground that was covered with smoke that rose high into the sky along with the residual energies of both sides.

However, the sound of footsteps resounded as a man clad in knightly attire stepped out.

Blood slid down the side of his face as cracks ran across the surface of his armor.

Matthew gaze upwards at Adelio who hovered a few meters above ground as his face grimaced in pain.

"Adelio, you bastard! So, you were the one who betrayed us! Unforgivable!"

He roared, furiously! His anger apparent on his face.

Hearing this Adelio sneered coldly.

"... Why do you guys keep referring to me as a traitor? After all I was never on your side from the very beginning."

Adelio responded.