NOVEL NEXT Chapter 426: An Unexpected Meeting!
The moment they left Alan's office, the entire city became alive. People who Asmodeus saw working as butchers or bakers in the morning now wielded spears, and donned leather armour, while standing proudly on the walls with a fierce expression.
'Amazing!'
Alan's eyes shifted to Asmodeus, before curling his lips into a grin. "Jealous?"
"Shut it, let's head to the walls."
The two leapt from the citadel, and landed on the northern walls, coming face to face with the demon army. It numbered over 60 000 soldiers. The human forces that were mustered in a few hours amounted to 4 500 strong.
However, Asmodeus knew that their difference in numbers meant nothing.
'The enemy just sent a rabble of goblins and low-level orcs… why?'
While Asmodeus contemplated on the enemy's strategy, a giant orc who was fully armoured stepped out from the back ranks of the army. The orc raised his right arm up and shouted: "Human scum! Surrender your land and live under us demons, or be annihilated!"
The soldiers on the wall remained silent for a second before bursting into laughter.
"They can speak human?"
"Ah, you've never met demons from the north? All monsters here speak human and elvish. Though, their intelligence is usually quite low. I suppose sometimes even a smart orc can be born."
"Alan, what happens next?"
Asmodeus didn't want to get too involved.
First, he wanted to observe and learn how Alan fought for his future battles when he became the ruler of the northern lands, then later, use this battle as a training exercise for his future soldiers. Asmodeus felt it was best if he stood back and watched things unfold from close up.
"Watch."
Alan lifted his arm before he shouted with a ferocious, bellowing voice. "ARCHERS, PREPARE!"
The archers on the walls moved in one coordinated movement as they drew their bows while kneeling. Each arrow glowed red because of a buff given by several fire mages that were stationed within them.
"Humans. So you have chosen, Death!"
The orc commander seemed unbothered as he turned to a goblin near him and said something. Immediately after, the entire front rows of the enemy forces shifted to reveal siege weapons such as ballista and trebuchets.
"Crush their arrogant ego!" The orc bellowed, not losing to Alan.
Alan raised his hands before pointing to the front row. "Loose!"
Bows twanged as thousands of arrows flew towards the demon army.
However, right before they reached them, the goblins raised giant wooden slabs as cover for all of them. Hundreds of arrows failed to connect, the swarm of arrows tore apart hundreds of goblins and caused the Orc commander to grunt.
Da-Da-Da-Da-Da!
VWOOSH!
The sounds of countless ballistas firing shook Asmodeus' eardrums. His eyes widened at the sudden escalation of violence, as rock and flesh sprayed across the air with every stone or corpse flung from the wall.
It was clearly visible how some archers had been killed immediately when some large debris penetrated their heads or crushed their entire body into meat paste. But that did not hinder the morale of the soldiers in the slightest because of Alan's heroic aura.
"Ahhh!"
A human flung from the wall, only for Asmodeus to catch him, and toss him back to safety, with a minor wound.
"Heal!"
The other humans who fell were also tended to by healers almost instantly. But this didn't work forever, as every so often an unfortunate soldier would be hit with the corpse of a dead human, flinging both to their deaths.
Alan stood at the front of the walls, his eyes watching the battle in silence. He called out commands at certain intervals. But he seemed unmoved by everything around him. His eyes were focused on the enemies beyond him.
Suddenly, he grinned. "All troops bring down their trebuchet!"
Alan leapt over the walls and landed at the bottom, the few knights surrounding him following suit.
A golden flicker of light grew from his back, creating a pair of ethereal wings that wrapped the knights behind him and slowed their falling speed. He leapt high in the air and slashed through the air, annihilating dozens of goblins and orcs alike.
Alan's figure became a golden blur, moving faster than any arrow, as his blade continued to glow as it sliced through enemies.
Each time he passed someone, the unlucky bastard would be cut in half. The knights who followed fanned out, to stop Alan from being surrounded and overwhelmed with numbers.
'Interesting… I can't just sit here, right?'
Asmodeus stepped to the edge of the wall, observing how the archers now show on the two flanks, and ignored the central column that Alan rushed at.
The moment they ran out of arrows, spearmen, and mages replaced them, causing even more mayhem as rocks and fireballs rained from the sky, destroying the enemy ranks.
"Let's go, Sariel, Asmodea help Alan!"
However, the moment he called out, a strange sound, familiar, and nostalgic echoed in his mind, like claws scratching across a chalkboard.
『There you Are!』
The distorted voice reverberated as dozens of knights took their own lives.
Blood dripped onto Asmodeus' shoulders, as the face of Sariel morphed into an expression of anguish as blood sprayed her face, as two people she spoke to earlier slit their throats.
He wanted to turn and comfort her, but the space in front of him warped, twisted as something that resembled a humanoid, stretched and contorted itself like melted wax, forming a small humanoid.
Even as knights started to kill themselves all around him, he couldn't break eye contact with the figure.
『What are you?』
The smaller existence reminded him of the abomination. But this time, the face wasn't ugly, deformed, and the dripping corruption remained still, creating her long black hair… eerily beautiful in a way.
Her eyes were completely black, without a hint of sclera or cornea. They resembled bottomless pits, sucking his very existence in, or maybe they were connected to the void where nothing ever existed.
Yet, she was no longer disgusting, or ugly, but carried a monstrous beauty.
'Strange…'
『Strange?』
Her voice, smoother and less distorted, yet her aura flickered, and caused the world to contort, knights losing their minds in horror just setting their eyes on her.
'You can hear my thoughts?'
The monster nodded, two long, pale arms reaching out towards him.
『You are strange… familiar, warm.』
A cold touch brushed against his cheeks, her eyes lifting as he realised her eyes gazed at him and nothing else.
'What do you want?'
Asmodeus started gathering his mana, prepared to attack her at any moment, while he noticed Sariel and Asmodea vanished.
Only the surrounding knights who took their lives remained fighting. Even the orcs and Alan no longer existed in this strange space, with only her, him and the dead knights still fighting an invisible enemy.
She blinked, then pulled back, staring down at the floor.
『You』
"Asmodeus."
A voice called out, muffled and distorted, like static on a dead television show.
Asmodeus turned his head to gaze around. 'Who is that?' he wondered, the voice familiar, but the distortion made it difficult, as the girl's hands snapped his face back to face her.
A cold, but desperate look spread through her pitch-black eyes. Tears, bloody, red, hot, slid down her cheeks slowly, making the moment almost serene.
『Focus on me!』
"Not…your… fault." The voice in his mind faded, slowly vanishing with each word uttered… until the static noise ended. Her body shivered for a second before her head dropped.
『Must kill the intruders…』
Instantly, the sound of something shattered glass echoed, as the yells, and sounds of battle returned, men roaring while the orcs growled in defiance, trampling their dead kin as they moved towards Alan.
"What happened?" Continue your saga on My Virtual Library Empire
Asmodeus shook his head, the strange trance fading as he noticed Sariel holding his hand. With a worried gaze, her eyes filled with tears. A wetness touching his cheeks brought him to wipe himself with a hand and pull back at the sight of red on his fingertips.
"I—I don't know what happened," he answered honestly.
"Then he noticed a figure hovering in the air, where Alan's wings were golden, like the sun… hers more like pure darkness, as she hovered gazing down at Asmodeus."
『Intruders… enemies. All of you… shall die. 』
Her once human-like face bubbled, transforming into an aberrant shape, tentacles sprouting from her mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.
"Haa, I miss the beautiful visage." Asmodeus muttered as bloody lances formed rapidly behind him, crackling with energy.
"Filthy Demon Queen! You finally show your damn face."
Alan shouted from below, as the orcs were annihilated, leaving just the goblins, which weren't strong enough to cause much harm, quickly ending the siege, and battle with the knights slaughtering the terrified goblins.
However, Asmodeus noticed Alan making a strange call.
"RETREAT! All knights back to the citadel!"
He stood facing the floating abomination—however—he gazed back towards Asmodeus with a worried and confused expression, before gritting his teeth and bellowing another order.
"All mages use our full spell arsenal. Don't hold back. Destroy the demon queen's shadow with your full might."
Asmodeus shrugged, pointing his hand towards the shadow, which mimicked his action, causing his eyes to dilate. The area behind the woman distorting as black spears, mirror images of his blood lances, appeared rapidly.
'What is this bullshit?'
『Die!』
A chuckle escaped him as he flung his arm forward, sending the spears at her, only for them to collide halfway.
The dark lances of the demonic queen meeting his own lances in a clash, breaking each other apart until finally. They were reduced to nothing but black goo that dripped down onto the land, causing vegetation, and anyone caught in it, to shrivel and rot in seconds.
"Sorry, but I have even more!"
Vwoom!
Glowing light gathered at the tips of his finger before several hundred lances shot forth, tearing apart the air with sonic booms and killing the wind itself with violent force.
For a mere moment, he could've sworn that she showed fear, but… within less than a second, she lifted her right hand, pointing at Asmodeus. The blood lances pierced her body, tearing her apart as the distorted wails echoed through the air.
Then she simply said: 『Traitor』
Before she vanished.