Adelio sneered coldly at Matthew as he said that. His wings flapped softly behind his back as he landed on the ground. 

The knights who were a few meters away all widened their eyes in shock.

"H-Hey, isn't that sir Adelio?"

A young knight asked, his mouth hanging agape.

"Th-Those black wings, d-demon, he's a demon!"

"Tch, we were actually working with a demon all along!"

"Bastard!"

The knights all became frantic as they observed the bat like wings that protruded from Adelio's back. Adelio shifted his gaze towards them in contempt before one of his claws suddenly extended.

Swoosh!

Spurt!

His black claw pierced the body of a knight that was still recovering from his earlier injuries.

"Guh."

The knight coughed out a mouthful of blood before collapsing as Adelio's claws retracted, leaving his body.

"Adelio! You bastard!"

Matthew exclaimed; fury evident on his face. 

The hand of which he held his sword tightened as he gritted his teeth, almost drawing blood.

Without any sign of hesitation, Matthew closed the distance between them and swung his sword in a vertical slash. However, Adelio blocked his attack using his claws.

Matthew gritted his teeth as he exuded more strength into his sword. But the physical strength of a demon far surpassed that of a human, in the end Matthew was the one who was pushed back as he staggered on his feet.

Using that opening Adelio thrusts his claws outwards with the intentions of piercing Matthew's torso, but Matthew twisted his body to the side, evading the claws by a few inches before he swung his sword that was covered in white light in a horizontal slash.

Clang!

A screeching sound echoed through as the blade of Matthew's sword made contact with Adelio's claws.

Adelio grunted as his hands burned from the white light that shrouded the blade of Matthew's sword.

(As expected, the light attribute is truly a hindrance.)

He thought. And with a knee to the stomach, he sends Matthew's body flying backwards.

And as Adelio was about to do a follow-up attack with his claws!

"Mother of earth confined my enemies, leave them trapped inside your prison and allow them to repent for their misdeeds, earth dome!"

As Adelio's claws were only mere inches away from piercing Matthew's neck, his vision was suddenly shrouded by darkness as he was trapped within a wall of dirt which shrink and decrease, in size.

As the dome of earth continues to retract Adelio could feel his entire body squeezing by the walls which closed in. A look of disdained appeared on his face as he spread his wings outwards.

And as though his wings were made of steal the dirt walls cracked and broke apart.

"Tsk, that wasn't enough to take him down."

The knight that had activated the spell frowned deeply. That spell had used up a large amount of mana and yet...

Swoosh!

Matthew once again closed the distance between them and swung his sword in a wide horizontal swing, fully intending to behead Adelio with his blade, but Adelio once again blocked his attack with his claws indifferently.

"Such foolish resistance."

He uttered coldly.

"Don't underestimate the power of humans, we were able to best you foul creatures before... And we can do it again."

Matthew replied, not hiding his contempt towards the demon before him. However, Adelio smirked when he heard those words.

"The power of humans, you say... Hahaha! Well then let's see how far that so-called power of yours can go before you learn the cruel reality."

Adelio thrusts his claws outwards at such speeds that it was impossible to decern it with the eyes. Furthermore, some of his attacks were mixed with feints to hinder the deception of the human eye and was performed perfectly as he aimed each of his attacks at the most vital parts of the human body However, Matthew kept his calm disposition as he parried all of his strikes. But Matthew was gradually being overwhelmed by the raw physical strength of the demon before him and cuts and minor wounds were gradually being accumulating onto his body as he would some time fail to block some attack approaching him at such speeds.

"Shining Javulent!"

A three-layer magic formation suddenly appeared in the vacant sky, and as though the heavens were enacting divine punishment against the foul creature of sin, hundreds of dazzling light rained down consistently from the sky.

Sensing the danger those light imposed Adelio promptly ignored Matthew and evaded the raining lights targeting him. He skillfully maneuvered his body, swiftly moving through the gaps as he dodged the raining lights that fell continuously from the sky.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Each time the lights struck the ground a tremendous sound echoed through the vicinity as a cloud of dust was raised obstructing their vision.

Soon, a part of the dust cloud was blown away as Adelio flew into the air with his wings spread outwards.

Adelio gazed at the knight that had cast the spell, and a blazing fury began to burn within his eyes. Despite his effort he had not managed to evade all of the raining lights just now as some parts of his body had burnt wounds there and the effects of the light magic which is very lethal to demons had hindered his innate healing ability.

Swoosh!

Judging that the knight was a nuisance he lunged towards him with the intentions of eliminating him before he could cast anymore spells. However, just as he was about to close the distance Matthew intercept him with a slash of light, with no other choice Adelio promptly change the course of his movement.

"Tch, you are all so annoying." 

He mumbled beneath his breath.

But Matthew ignored his words and soon, his blade clash against Adelio's claws once more. No matter how much strength he put into his blade Adelio's claws didn't even budge from its place.

"How pointless... How many times do we have to clash for you to realize how weak you are?"

Adelio asked, as he shifted his gaze towards Matthew's hand. That hand that had been full of strength and confidence until now no longer had that firm grip anymore. With all his vigorous movements signs of fatigue was gradually accumulating.

In fact, even Matthew had already notice that. His face grimaced.

"Hahaha... Seeing that look on your face reminds me of that foolish king.". Adelio mocked.

"His majesty, what happened to his majesty?"

He asked, as his eyes became icy.

"Heh, you don't need to worry about him, after all you'll have all the time to apologize to him for your failure of protecting this nation once you meet again... In the next life that is."

Adelio responded.

"You! You killed his majesty? The king you have been serving for so many years?"

Matthew's eyes widened in disbelief. He felt nothing but contempt for him now that he knows is real identity as a demon but, he thought he would at least feel something for the king he had been serving for so long.

"... The king I have been serving. Matthew are you really so gullible. If so, I must say I'm disappointed. The only king I serve is the demon lord, lord Lucifer. It was because of your heroes that I was separated from my master."

In the end his only goal was locating the core of the seal placed on the demon race. As for holding any kind of sentimental feelings for the kingdom of Alberta, naturally he felt nothing for this kingdom.

As far as Adelio was concerned it was only a means to an end, nothing more, nothing less.

However, those words only ended up angering Matthew even more. He stared at Adelio with bloodshot eyes and, and like an enraged bull that could see nothing more than its target, he lunged himself towards him!

"Die!"

Matthew bellowed; he raised his voice into a war cry as he launched himself towards Adelio.

This time Matthew didn't hold anything back as he put more magical energy within his sword. At that moment the magic sword said to be capable of eradicating all evil glowed with a dazzling light, and with a wide horizontal swing release a slash of light capable of eradicating everything within its range.

However, Adelio's eyes flickered as he extended his hand outwards toward the incoming slash of light.

Black lightning began to crackle noisily on his hand as he launched a bolt of black light towards the slash of light!

BOOOOM!...

The eardrum of those present stung and began to bleed as the thunderous sound of the explosion erupted through the vicinity. However, the black lightning tore through the slash of light and continued on its path as it headed straight towards Matthew who was momentarily stunned by the loud explosion.

Spurt!

Blood spurted from his mouth as his face paled from pain. From his chest there was a large size hole opened up there.

"Cough, guh."

Matthew cough and grunted as his face contorted into a winced at the same time the residual energy left behind from the black lightning wreak havoc inside his body, damaging his internal organs in the process.

As his body was heavily injured by Adelio's attack Matthew was unable to muster up much strength from his body anymore. Like a Specter of the night, Adelio instantly appeared before Matthew's eyes and grabbed his neck.

"Ngh..."

Matthew struggled to free himself from Adelio's grip, his face became red from lack of oxygen flow from his lungs, however, without even glancing at him Adelio slammed Matthew's face mercilessly onto the ground.

Bang!

A small crater was formed from the point of impact.

After he had slammed his face onto the ground, Adelio picked him back up before subsequently slamming his face onto the ground once more.

This continued for some time before Adelio eventually lost interest in Matthew.

However...

Swoosh!

From behind, two knights swooped down on Adelio's side in a clear precise pincer attack, their swords braced tightly in their hands. Adelio naturally notice their presence, his lips upturned into an eerie smile.

Swoosh!

His long tail swung outwards, piercing the heart of one of the knights while his claws tore through the torso on the one closing in on his right.

Their blood splattered staining the earth.

Matthew gritted his teeth as his eyes which were swollen opened slightly. No matter how much he racks his brain he couldn't think of a way to overcome the current situation.

If he falls here, it would truly be the end of the Alberta kingdom.

(Wh-What should I do?)

He began to panic. For the first time he now knew what it was like to feel despair in the face of a powerful enemy.

The corners of his mouth were stained with blood, his face was covered with dirt and sweat, his hair was messy, some strands stuck to his face. Furthermore, the surface of his armor had several cracks along the surface, and from the crevice his blood trickled out in copious amount.

The grip on his neck strengthens as the cracking sound of his bones sounded. Matthew coughed out blood as he winced in pain.

"Matthew, you were once the greatest knight of the Alberta kingdom. Allowing someone as strong as you to die like this would be a real shame. So, I have decided to give you a blessing."

"Wh-What... Are you talking about?"

As he asked, his face grimaced. Just the mere act of talking was quite the effort for him now. At his question Adelio's lips spread into a wide disproportionate smile.

It was extremely creepy to look at!

Soon, he opened his mouth revealing his sharp teeth before he bit Matthew's neck!

"Argh!"

The grip around his neck loosened as he fell to the ground convulsing.

"If your will is strong enough then you should survive."

Adelio mumbled as he observed Matthew's state closely.

Matthew's painful scream resounded continuously through the vicinity.

...

Meanwhile, in the capital of Alberta...

The capital of Alberta had finally quieted down, many of the citizens who were rebellious were all executed without mercy while the ones who didn't resist were spared.

Currently, the citizens were all gathered as they sat on the ground under the supervision of the knights of the Zestril kingdom.

A woman with long waist length white hair sat on top of her beast as she observed the state of the ground with disinterest. 

However, as though she had sensed something she turned her gaze towards the clear distant sky and soon the silhouette of someone became visible to the eye.

"Oh, your back already, how did everything go?"

She asked, curiously.

Alister flew a few meters away from her as he observed the ground. His long white hair swayed gently behind his back as his blood red eyes flash brightly as he notices everything had gone according to plan.

"Hahahaha! It won't be long before we conquer this world! Our demon race will once again prove why we are a superior race!"

He said gleefully. He was in high spirits. Meanwhile, Monica's brow twitches as she notices she was blatantly being ignored.

"Hey, do you want me to feed you to my beast?"

"Ahaha! Do you think you are capable of that?"

The air grew heavy as they stared at the other. However, Monica sighed as she asked once again.

"Can you just tell me what happened over there?"

"... You don't have to worry, that guy took care of everything... He was able to successfully obtain that thing as well."

"I see... After so much time and effort we are only one step away from achieving our most desired wish."

Her lips were tugged upwards into a faint smile. Seeing that Alister's face contorted into a mocking smirk.

"I don't see why you are so happy, I bet Lucifer has already had his way with countless beautiful demoness while you two were apart. Ahahahaha!"

"Tch, bastard!"

She growled indignantly. At this moment she was actually tempted to rip him apart with her claws.

However, as though to change the topic Alister casually shifted his gazed at the two people who were also on top of the flying beast.

Behind Monica was a young handsome youth with slightly long silver hair and a beautiful young girl dressed in a maid attire.

"Is that the prince, and who is that woman next to him?"

"Oh, they are just some interesting specimens I found... I decided I will have fun with them instead of killing them."

"Hmm... I don't like your idea of fun."

Alister retorted as he felt some pity towards the two.

(A/N: Merry Christmas to all my readers, I hope you all have a wonderful new years~.)