part0003

The eighty-seven remaining members of the Arzomos tribe were inside the Great Cavern, where the ice prison was located. After their sentries spotted the massive army headed their way, Agreas, the Elder of the tribe, issued an order for everyone to gather.

“I’m sure every one of you is aware of this already,” said Agreas. “A massive army is headed here as we speak.”

Every one of the Arzomos held grim faces as they listened to the Elder.

Agreas touched the ice prison, and using his fingertips, traced the cracks that had formed on it several days ago. Grey-black wisp seeped out of the cracks.

“Thankfully, Kel’ Vual and I have been preparing for this day for hundreds of years,” said Agreas. “All for the sake of the survival of the Arzomos tribe.”

Agreas looked at the current tribe leader of the Arzomos. A muscular demon with numerous tattoos on his body. “Isn’t that right, Kel?”

Kel’ Vual clenched his fists. “Is this really what you want, Agreas? I don’t mind dying here with you in this war.”

Agreas smiled and shook his head. “If you die, who will lead the survivors of our tribe? Unlike a crippled demon like me, you are still needed by the tribe. Kel, you know more than anyone else; you must survive.”

The tribe leader’s shoulders shook upon hearing those words.

“Luvart,” Agreas said to the young Arzomos next to the tribe leader. “You still remember the dungeon we built underneath the lake, right?”

“Jaraxus should have raised several nests by now,” said Agreas. “Seek her help. Lead our people there. That dungeon will be our tribe’s haven.”

“I will do my best to lead them to the dungeon, Elder!” Luvart said resolutely.

Although he wanted to stay behind and defend the Great Cavern until his body turned to dust, he decided to heed the Elder’s commands. The Elder had decided to be the one to stay behind to alter the portal. It was apparent that he planned on dying here, for the sake of their tribe’s survival.

Looking back, Luvart realized the extent of the Elder’s insight. Realizing that the ice prison had greatly weakened and the sealed demon would awaken imminently, the Elder quickly formulated a plan to ensure their tribe’s survival.

A few hundred years ago, the Elder entered the portal and journeyed through the Human Realm. In exchange for helping a human found his own kingdom, the Elder was given free rein and support over a piece of land. The Elder created a vast dungeon filled with monster-producing nests, which would serve as its guardians. A dungeon underneath a lake.

“Use this key to open the entrance to the dungeon.” Agreas handed Luvart a gemstone with inscribed runes. “Under normal circumstances, the entrance would only open during a full moon to limit the escape of the monsters created by the nests. But as long as you have that key with you, it should be possible to enter.”

Luvart carefully stored the key inside his pouch. He bowed to the Elder. “This key, I’ll use it well.”

Agreas gazed fondly at Luvart. The child had really grown splendidly. His resolve was more than enough for him to be called a warrior.

“Kel, I’ll leave the young ones in your hands.”

Kel’ Vual placed his hand on Agreas’ shoulders and gripped it tight. “If you’re going to die, at least take Naberius with you. It’s about time for that bastard to die.”

Agreas chuckled. “Of course. I plan on doing exactly that. The demon army will be here soon. Go.”

The members of the Arzomos tribe clenched their fists and struck their chests in salute.

“We will never forget what you’ve done for us, Elder!”

“We shall always be grateful for everything, Elder Agreas!”

After the warm farewells, the members of the Arzomos tribe started entering the portal deep within the cavern. After the last Arzomos had escaped, Agreas proceeded with his next plans.

Agreas activated the magic formations he and Kel’ Vual had been painstakingly creating for hundreds of years. Five thirty-meter magic circles came to life and started absorbing mana from the mana well below. Five pinnacle-grade spells wrapped around the two-hundred-meter portal and forcefully shrank it to a third of its size. After suppressing the portal, Agreas skillfully altered its coordinates. Even if by chance it became fully functional again, the demons that entered would find themselves right in the middle of the ocean, far away from human lands.

“I really wish I could see it,” Agreas laughed, “the look of despair on their faces when they try to enter the portal.”

Agreas still hadn’t fully recovered from the injuries he’d sustained in his battles against Barkuvara and Kalkarus. He knew that the moment he severed the pathway connecting the portal to the mana well underground, he would be left with little energy to fight against the massive army outside.

But this was something that must be done before he died.

Agreas touched the portal, and using his own mana, controlled the pinnacle-grade spells and started severing the pathway connecting the mana well to the portal.

The pathway resisted at first, but with Agreas’ skillful guidance, it was eventually destroyed.

The portal shrank even further the moment it lost its largest source of mana. Soon, it was only big enough to accommodate three carriages.

Agreas stared in satisfaction at his creation.

Without the mana well to fuel it, and with five pinnacle-grade spells suppressing it, only a limited number of demons would be able to cross over to the Human Realm. Smaller demons could probably enter, but it would be impossible for large demons to enter the Human Realm.

Before leaving the Great Cavern, Agreas cast one last look at the creature sealed within the ice prison. He knew that this would be the last time he would be seeing this demon.

Naberius and the other tribe leaders led the massive army marching toward the Great Cavern. If they included the flying demons in the sky, almost fifteen million demons were participating in this war. At the rear of the massive army were hundreds of thirty-meter tall fire giants.

Holding a wooden cane in his hand, Agreas stood right outside the Arzomos village as he watched the marching army close the distance.

When the demon army was only several hundred meters from the village, Naberius ordered everyone to halt. The lesser demons, flesh eaters, tormentors, parasitic demons, and wraiths stopped in their tracks. The sky demons hovered in the sky.

Sitting on the shoulder of a fire giant, Naberius looked at the old demon standing at the entrance of the village. He amplified his voice with magic. “It’s been a while, Agreas.”

Agreas also amplified his voice using a spell. He said in an unhurried, calm voice, “Indeed. How many years has it been?”

Naberius looked at the village. For some strange reason, it felt unnaturally empty.

“I don’t see Kel’ Vual and the other Arzomos,” said Naberius.

“Kel and the young ones left this village some time ago. You won’t find them here, Naberius.”

“They fled the village?” Naberius couldn’t believe it. Had he known that this demon, close to death, was the only one guarding the entrance to the Great Cavern, he wouldn’t have bothered bringing all of the tribe leaders here. He believed that the hundreds of fire giants and several millions of lesser demons from the capital would have been enough to suppress Agreas.

“Fled? No, I asked them to leave the Demon Realm,” corrected Agreas. “The warriors of our tribe are no cowards. Had I not insisted that they leave the Great Cavern in my hands, those brave warriors would have fought with me until their bodies turned to dust.”

Naberius was no fool. He realized that Agreas had done something to the portal. He wouldn’t have been as confident revealing that the other Arzomos had left this realm, otherwise.

“You! What did you do to the portal?” snarled Naberius.

“I wonder?” Agreas chuckled as he lightly tilted his head to the side. “Naberius, what would happen if the pathway connecting the portal to the mana well is cut?”

The answer was simple: the portal would continuously shrink in size, until it became small enough to prevent anyone from crossing over to the other realm.

Although closing the portal completely was impossible, cutting the supply of mana coming from the mana well was more than enough to limit entry into the portal.

But how did Agreas do it? Cutting the pathway connecting the mana well to the portal was no easy feat.

Naberius was enraged. “This old demon! Until the very end, you chose to side with those humans! This damn traitor!”

Naberius released the restriction spell binding his body. Slowly, he turned into a fifty-meter tall fire giant—almost twice the size of the regular fire giants at the rear of the army.

Naberius’ golem body was filled with flowing, molten lava, and fire continuously spewed out of the sockets of his eyes. Two large horns protruded from his forehead.

With a voice far deeper than before, he roared, “Kill him!”

The fire giants at the rear of the army also roared, and the sky demons above screeched. The flesh eaters jumped toward Agreas as the parasitic demons started burrowing themselves underground.

Naberius sent a telepathic message to the Lord of the Sky Demons. “Fly over the village and enter the Great Cavern. I’ll keep Agreas occupied.”

Malphas nodded her head and replied, “Understood.”

She flapped her wings then swooped down, but before she could even cross the village, a massive barrier suddenly appeared and barred her from entering the Great Cavern.

The pinnacle-grade barrier—Heaven’s Dominion—had been activated and was currently protecting the Great Cavern. Malphas fired several spells at it, but the barrier wouldn’t even budge.

Agreas grinned. “We’ve been preparing for this day for hundreds of years. Fools.” He roused the mana and miasma in his body and forcefully opened all of the pathways within his core. Like a raging river, mana gushed out of Agreas’ body and amplified his strength severalfold.

Agreas’ twig-like limbs grew bulkier, and the tattered wings on his back grew in size.

Without uttering another word, Agreas shot toward Naberius, reaching him in seconds. He grabbed his head, and despite the vast difference in size, slammed it toward the ground, creating a large crater upon impact.

The speed displayed by Agreas far exceeded anything they’d expected. Even the Lord of the Fire Giants couldn’t react to his attack.

All of the demons who saw it were stunned at the surreal sight. A two-meter large demon had just thrown the fifty-meter giant to the ground.

And Agreas didn’t stop.

Before Naberius could even stand up, a massive ball of energy had already formed in Agreas’ hand. The ball of energy shot toward Naberius and upon making contact with his body, exploded into numerous shards of ice.

The fire shrouding the body of Naberius was rendered useless, as the ice continued encasing the Lord of the Fire Giants’ body.

“H-Hey, you’re kidding right?” said Malphas.

She’d heard that Agreas had never fully recovered from the injuries he’d sustained during the Great War. But what’s this? He took out Naberius with just two attacks.

“What are you fools doing?” Naberius shouted to all the demons around him. “Help me!”

The sky demons swooped and attacked Agreas from all sides. Several parasitic demons shot out of the ground and tried ensnaring Agreas’ body, while the tormentors swung their axes at him.

And all of them missed their target.

To their surprise, Agreas suddenly vanished. Malphas shuddered, her instinct was screaming that she should fly far away from this battlefield. She looked back, and to her horror, saw Agreas right next to her. Malphas released a flurry of attacks using her claws, but they did nothing but scratch the body of the old Arzomos.

Agreas grabbed Malphas’ hand.

“W-Wait! Listen to me!” said Malphas.

Her hand quickly turned into ice, and the freezing cold flowed through her whole body. She was certain that at this rate, she would meet the same fate as the Lord of the Fire Giants.

“Protect me!” Malphas shrieked at the top of her lungs.

Several sky demons heeded her call. They flew toward Agreas at a frightening speed, but the old Arzomos simply summoned thousands of ice spears and shot them toward the sky demons.

The sky demons who were impaled by the spell turned to ice, dropped from the sky, and shattered upon striking the ground.

Malphas was horrified at this sight.

Unlike the Demon Lord Barkuvara, the Immortal Demon , she wouldn’t survive the moment her body turned to ice.

Malphas squirmed as she tried breaking free from Agreas’ spell, but her body—half-frozen by the spell—refused to listen. Eventually, her whole body turned to ice.

Agreas clenched his fist, drew his arms back, and struck her with all his might.

Malphas’ frozen body shattered into numerous shards of ice upon impact, before falling toward the ground.

She saw the Lord of the Red Tower grinning as he watched her falling from the sky. The Lord of the Parasitic Demons had already hidden himself underground—as expected of a coward. The Lord of the Corrupted Land started summoning a corrupted tower. Only the Lord of the Wraiths tried to help her and Naberius, whose body was now almost completely encased in ice.