Tandem

SAMMAEL unfurls his fisted hand, and a long smooth obsidian blade with its handle wrapped in an exotic black dragon leather manifests from it. He tightly grips the handle of his sword and slashes it violently in the air, and an insidious black fire encases his weapon as he readied himself for combat. Sammael's black blade is sharp on both its edges that it can sever his enemies` body with a single strike no matter how tough it is. And he is itching to endow these monsters thousands of holes in their bodies before burning their cadaver with his sword's hellish fire.

With that thought, Sammael couldn't stop the vicious grin that mars his flawless face, and his eyes burn with unbridled violence that Commander Alastor couldn't help but shiver in excitement. The Emperor of the Empire of Ethion is the only human in this continent that can get him excited by seeing him all riled up before the battle. It was right for him to choose him as his master. And Alastor almost felt pity towards those demons that will be slain by his master's sword. This situation is also a perfect chance for Alastor to let loose. He had been saddled with the tasks in finding his master's woman that he couldn't get some action for quite some time. But now, it seems like that he can get what he wants.

"Your Imperial Majesty, can I do whatever I want?" Alastor asks with a trembling voice filled with excitement.

Sammael stares at his Commander's wide craze-filled eyes and intense dark aura leaking out of his body. If he doesn't know better, he almost looks like one of the shadow-like monsters standing still from the background because of how ominous he seems.

Sammael's skin prickled with undeniable tension and excitement. Now, he is acting like his craze demon Commander. He lets out a shaky breath before answering him.

"Alright. This will be your reward. Just don't get messy and clean up fast," Sammael replied after a few moments of hesitation. "I will take care of the giant. You take care of the rest."

"As you wish, you're Imperial Majesty!"

As soon as he gave his reply, Alastor runs off towards the directions of the demons and starts attacking them with his bare hands. What he saw next is a blur of his figure as he swiftly executes his attacks that it was difficult for an average eye to follow. The only remaining memory of the monsters' existence is their splattered dark blood arcing up in the sky and their dismembered body scattered around the town. Sammael didn't bother stopping him, since they have to take care of these demons fast or else his plans with Selene will be disrupted again. He is even planning to call her this night!

When the pillars of sapphire and grey light appear from every corner point of the town, it creates a soaring wall of defence that temporarily protects the others from the demons, while isolating them at the same time. And Sammael specifically ordered the Knights not to step inside, aside from him and Alastor. Gadiel quietly followed the Emperor`s requests while carrying Lord Rosenthal`s beaten and broken body to one of the healers.

There's no need for further casualties. Although the Black Knights are a powerful elite force that Sammael gathered after he was crowned as the Emperor, it is a different story when it comes to handling demons. It's been fifty years since the last demon invasion; that's why they are not familiar in fighting the demon-kin that instantly puts them at an obvious disadvantage. From out of all of them, only Sammael and Alastor will have a high probability of surviving. And since he didn't bother to contact the Church despite Gaddiel's insistence, he needs to handle this problem alone, or else they would make a mockery out of him.

And only after getting rid of all these demons that they will be able to cleanse the area and seal the hole. However, the magicians' and priestesses he called over from the capital haven't arrived yet. Even though he expressly ordered that they can use the teleportation gate that is intended for the royal family.

Sammael focuses his attention on this giant who crushed the Vice-Commander's body. If he came a little late, he wouldn't have been able to survive. For a moment, Sammael thought that it was another giant from the wasteland of Nodhor. However, it looks exactly like what a Kevaldi warrior would. He has the same black tattoo markings that decorate the bodies of the warmongers, and he barely wears any clothing aside from the piece of fabric protecting his crotch that probably tore off when they somehow grew in size.

What made this warmonger different are his colossal size and his eyes that burn like red hot coals the same from those of the monsters of the netherworld. He is also emanating a dark aura that made his skin crawl in revulsion and thrill. Contradictory attributes that he can only come up with an outrageous conclusion. This Kevaldi warrior must have been exposed to the thick miasma, and instead of dying as one would expect, he transformed into something even more sinister and powerful. Or is someone controlling him? Should he let him live so the Magic Tower can do some experiments? Sammael shakes his head after a few seconds. He will just kill him. It will be troublesome to transfer his body to the capital.

The giant beast turned towards his direction and roared out an earth-shattering scream that swiftly blows the ground apart, and shatters some of the houses nearby.

"You have an incredible voice," Sammael couldn't help but utter with a grin. "I suddenly want to hear Selene's voice. Haaaa! What am I thinking?" Sammael misses her already that he can't stop thinking about her.

All of a sudden, the giant raises his massive arms above his head and slams it down towards him, but Sammael swiftly lifted his sword to deflect his attack without moving from his spot. The black flame from his sword crawls towards the giant and engulfs his body. And he howls in excruciating pain, but to his surprise, the fire slowly extinguishes when his body suddenly grew twice its size as if reinforcing his body with magic.

The warrior stomps his right foot on the ground, and large chunks of rock detach from it and fly towards his direction at an unbelievable speed. He is surprisingly more intelligent than he initially thought. However, Sammael managed to easily dodge the boulders until it violently smashes to the erected barrier behind him and turning the stones into glittering powder.

BOOM!!!

That is when a loud explosion from a distance sent a mix of ashes, gravel, sand and splintered woods to rain down on him. And a thick black smoke in the dark sky can be seen from Alastor's direction. He is really letting loose and just blindly following his instincts because even from where he is standing, Sammael can see a gaping hole in a distance.

"That damn idiot! He is not holding back at all! Did he not know how long and difficult it will take to finish the reconstruction of this town?"

Now, Sammael is getting worried. It looks like he will have piles of work to do after this. But he still can't lose to Alastor. When his opponent got distracted for a moment, Sammael took that chance and use flight magic to fly behind his head. Further augmenting his black flames to his sword, Sammael cleanly severs his opponent's head with a single slice of his sword. The dark blood fizzles from his torn body, and some of it splatters on his face. Sammael lands back safely on the ground as the body of the giant plunges after him.

Sammael stares at the massacre before him, and to the four giants that suddenly appeared out of nowhere from the pools of shadow on the ground. They look like twice the size of what he had killed earlier.

"I really should start getting serious," Sammael murmurs in surprise before finally attacking his newly arrived visitors. As if taken over by an evil spirit, he mercilessly sliced and hacked his opponents without hesitation.

In just a matter of hours, the ground is littered with pools of black blood coming from the dead bodies of the monsters. The Bleakfied town has been a stage of a long and bloody battle that it was total carnage. The fresh scent of flowers and the melodious hum of birds are now replaced by the stench of death, burnt flesh and the agonizing howls of their opponents as they meet their end.

However, even though the heaps of dead bodies has laid abundant and scattered around the now destroyed town, it feels like the hordes of demon wouldn't stop coming. Somehow along the way, Sammael didn't know how long he had been fighting, but he can feel his body slowly getting tired. He even took a blow on his stomach that it's getting more painful the more he moves his body.

It looks like a change in tactic should be in order. Sammael was about call over Alastor when he hears a high-pitched shriek from the sky. He's been fighting so hard since earlier he didn't immediately sense the arrival of an intruder. With his heightened senses that surpasses even the beast-kin Sammael should have been able to notice it instantly.

Now, it looks like a new problem just appeared. A dragon is soaring in the dark sky, and its gleaming black scales are further illuminated by the radiance of the moon. And from its back, he can see a cloaked figure riding it and looking down directly towards him.

"How long do I have to do this? I really want to see her, right now!"