Realm Wars

When the commotion was getting nearer, and as the Spiders numbers were thinning, their bloody corpses littering the hallway, Marcus's breath hitched when he finally got a clear view of their new companion.

"That's. .. Clyde and Reyna!"

At least fifty meters from them stood a Demoness with two horns. Her skin was like purple silk while her eyes were obsidian black. Its black hair was swaying as she slew the Giant Spider with ease. Just a swipe of her claws and the Spiders' body shredded into multiple parts.

While a handsome man was just watching from behind her before they locked eyes.

"What are they doing here?" Marcus muttered under his breath.

Clyde's face brightened upon laying eyes at Seraphina. Finally, a water mage! He was safe!

Ryu blocked Seraphina from Clyde's sight, and he summoned his gauntlets. That demoness was terrible news. He didn't even know what they want but knowing the ugly glint in Clyde's eyes, it wasn't good.

"Well. Well. Well." Reyna flung her hand to the side, spewing blood on the wall as she licked her lips. "What do we have here? More mortals and halfbreeds?"

"Clyde, what are you doing here?" Marcus's heart was skipping like he had a heart attack from just Reyna's stare. Who wouldn't? The demoness single handily eliminated the Spiders by herself without even breaking a sweat.

Clyde shrugged. "Looking for the exit."

Marcus was having none of it. Clyde would never crawl out from his safe spot without finding the exit first. "What about your group?"

"What about them," Clyde answered in circles.

".. ."

".. ."

Marcus knew that something was wrong. Clyde was hiding something from him. "Anyway, if you want to go ahead. You're free to go."

Reyna tilted her hips and crossed her arms. She was too prideful to even spare the mortals and the halfbreeds the barest attention.

Clyde's grin widened as he said, "Oh, we'll be on our way, alright. As long as you hand over the water mage."

.. .

.. .

The air turned heavy and oppressive.

Marcus was singling for the other as he bought some time. "What do you need our water mage for? You have plenty of them."

Clyde tipped his head to the side. "What I do with her is none of your business. Right now, there are only two paths laid before you. Hand over the water mage and live or die protecting her."

".. ."

".. ."

Reyna stepped forward. "Enough of this useless chatter."

Reyna was about to attack when Marcus yelled.

"Now!"

Ryu flung the two Jars of Capturing Life towards Reyna while the glass split into two without her even lifting a finger.

Reyna laughed. "Tricks don't work on me!" but her calm face broke when buzzes of dessert insects and Chimimera attacked her.

"What the!" Clyde was caught by surprise, and he yelped when the insects went after him too.

"Get inside the Metal Door!" Marcus ordered, and the loud crackling of hinges resonated in the hallway when Halfjack pushed the Metal Door open.

"You won't get away!" Reyna spat while the insects' bodies were torn to pieces by her claws. The insects rotted and turned to dust by her spell before she grabbed Clyde and leaped towards Ryu and the others.

But before she could shorten their distance, Ryu and the others disappeared behind the metallic door.

Reyna skidded to a stop.

"What are you waiting for?" Clyde shifted his head at Reyna and the door. "We have to catch them! I need that water mage!"

"Shut up!"

Clyde flinched, and his mouth pressed tight. This was the first time that he saw Reyna's face contorted in an ugly way as sweat coated her beautiful face.

Clyde might not feel it, but the oppressive power laying behind the metallic door was enough to choke Reyna with fear.

Whatever was inside there was certainly not something she could defeat.

What to do?

While Reyna was occupied with her thoughts, a shadow sneaked past her senses, and before she could react, she found Clyde was already pierced in the heart with an ominous-looking dagger.

"NO!" Reyna's dilated eyes bulged at Azor appearing behind Clyde.

Clyde was shocked too. It all happened too fast, and before he knew it, he was gurgling at his own blood as the veins in his eyes popped. "Re. . .y. .. na. . ."

Clyde reached a hand at the demoness, but his consciousness was slipping from his grasp as his body fell lifelessly on the ground.

"YOU!" Reyna gritted her teeth and attacked Azor but found that her body was heavy.

"N-no!" Reyna felt that something was pulling her soul out, and she cried in agony. "NOOOO!"

"Careless as always, Reyna." Azor grinned. "You have grown complacent, and you even performed a seal of promised on this mortal, tying yourself with a weakness."

"You. .. how did you know?" It was Reyna and Clyde's secret. No one knew of it.

Azor shrugged. "Following you in the desert for days, it wasn't that hard to guess."

As the last bit of her consciousness faded and her soul left her body, Reyna deeply regretted making that promise with Clyde. She was right. She couldn't even use the lifesaving item he gave her before her soul shattered when he died.

She grew complacent and overconfident because she was amongst the strongest demons trapped in the Lost Island of Tethyt. And most of her enemies were low-level begins. This was the price she paid, just because of a single carelessness. The spell and multiple barriers she placed over Clyde were useless against Azor – against his god-tier weapon that ignored all defenses.

Azor laughed when Reyna's body fell on the hard stone ground, and before her flesh could turn into dust, multiple strings attached to her limbs, and she stood to her feet with dull eyes and corpse-like skin.

"Now then. .. shall we enter, my puppet?"

----

A/N

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