Chapter 30: The burning capital

The first thing they heard was a deafening explosion at the bottom of the airship, where Jayden was held as a prisoner. Following the blast, a concentrated miasma quickly spread throughout the ship. By the time the soldier responded, it was far too late. All they could see were pieces of the iron bars, remnants of what used to be Jayden's cell. On the side of the room was a large hole ruptured through the reinforced hull, all without any sight of the Prime Minister.

「 What happened? 」 Lance was one of the first arrived at the scene, along with a few of his trusted guards.

「 Your Majesty! It's the Prime Minister! He has escaped. 」

「 No way, he has no reason to… 」

「 Your Majesty! Please come to the deck! 」 Another voice shouted from above.

「 What now… 」 Lance could feel the dread in his heart growing.

Lance hurriedly leapt through the stairs but soon found himself stood petrified, along with other heroes, once he reached the deck. Far in the distance, columns of dark smokes were rising from the Capital. Maybe it was merely his imagination, but he swore he could hear faint screaming and crying sounds of women and children mixed in the whirling sounds of the wind stream. The source of the attack could be traced back to a small figure floating on top of Lorian. From where the airship was at, the figure appeared as a tiny speck in the sky, yet, even from afar, everyone from the ship could feel the shockwaves from each of his attacks. It was clear the figure was conjuring up dark beams of energy, striking down the crowded streets of the capital as if it was crushing mere ants.

「 Is that? 」

「 Jayden! 」 Kibadios concluded. 「 Looks like has sprouted within the Prime Minister, transforming him into such hideous creature. 」 Adela, I bet this is your doing , Kibadios clenched his fist. I should have seen this coming .

「 ? But how? 」 Kyles shouted.

「 It matters not how! 」 Thomas called out to the young hero, his eyes were filled with horrors as he gazed at the creature. 「 The more important matter is that we need to stop him. I can tell, right now, the Prime Minister, or whatever he has become, is as powerful as a Celestial Threat! If we don't stop him in time, I fear the entire population of Lorian will fall to his massacre. 」

「 Thomas dono is right! 」 Kyles nodded, then turned to the king. 「 Your Majesty, please accelerate the airship toward Lorian, we don't have much time. 」

「 Right! The ship is severely damaged from the explosion, but I will see what we can do! 」 Lance nodded.

「 …. I will go ahead. 」 said the hybrid. 「 If I fly there on my own, I should be able to reach Lorian faster. I'll see what I can do. 」

「 Thanks, Kibadios dono! 」 The king acknowledged the hybrid's

「Master! It's too dangerous to go alone!」Rowan, along with Maia, held back their master's arms.

「That's right!」Ryan agreed. 「If you want to go, at least bring us with you.」

「Well, I can, but bringing you guys would slow me down. I know what to do so I'll be fine.」

「 Remember to be careful, Kibadios. 」 Seeing no chance of convincing the hybrid otherwise , Kyles reached out before he moved out. 「 That thing over there is close to a Celestial theat. Don't try to engage with him before we arrive. 」

「 Of course! Don't worry, I'll be fine. 」 Nodded Kibadios then raised his wings and flew straight toward the capital, leaving his slaves anxiously looking from behind.

「Please be careful, Kibadios sama!」 Maia shouted.

As the hybrid got closer to the capital, he could feel a tremendous pressure exerted onto his body, even making someone as strong as him unable to take in deep breath. Celestial threat, the highest level of disturbance that could destroy the order of the world and plunge it into chaos, was swirling around the sky above the capital, wrecking havocs down below.

「Judging from the amount of Haki flooding from the creature body, Adela must have planted within the Prime Minister more than ten 」said Kibadios to the faint figure gliding through the air to his right hand.

「I'm actually amazed that he could take them and still stay alive.」The figure, who turned out to be Ryuu with his activated, responded to his master. 「When a single grew within my body, the intense and constant pain almost killed me many times over. I'd hate to think of what the Prime Minister is feeling now.」

「Adela is truly despicable.」The hybrid frowned. 「We were going to have the Prime Minister helps us with our plan, but I doubt he could survive this transformation now.」

「... What do you want to do?」Ryuu and Kibadios, travelling at sub-sonic speed, finally arrived at the capital and landed next to a large stack of rubbles of what used to be the adventurer guild building.

「Not even you can fight against that thing now, can you? The only way we can stop this is to rely on HaoS...」said the hybrid. 「But then, that is out of question. I'm sure Adela is hiding nearby, enjoying her masterpiece. If she sees me summoning HaoS, she will know who I am.」

「... I seriously wonder even if Adela herself can fight against that thing on her own.」said Ryuu. 「It seems as though she has created a monster that even she cannot control.」

「That bitch, she always goes overboard. Our only option is to sit back and do nothing. Although I wanted to observe the transformed Prime Minister's power up close, it is never my intention to interfere.」

「That probably would be our best option right now.」Ryuu nodded. 「... Wait a minute, isnt that?」The dragonoid pointed at a small dust cloud that kept growing just a few blocks away.

「Ha! Yes, packs of monsters.」Kibadios noticed the monsters of various levels were now rampaging throughout the capital unimpeded since most of the guards were focusing their attention at the personification of death that was flying above the city.「It was probably another of Adela's doings. With Jayden causing havocs from above while monsters sweeping through the streets below, this city is doom.」

「Please help us!!!」Before Kibadios and the dragonoid could hide away, a group of Lorian citizens dressed in disheveled clothes, called out to the hybrid while running to where the two stood.「You are adventurers right? There are level A monsters chasing behind us! Please, save us!」

Damn it, I should have put away the adventurer pendants I am wearing! Kibadios sighed. Oh well, it's too late now. I can finish those monsters to gain some experience. As long as I don't have to deal with Jayden up in the sky, I should be good.

「Fine! Fine!」Kibadios conjured his scythe in his hand, then jumped at the several Death Knight monsters past the group of humans. Just as expected of level A monsters, the Death Knight quickly blocked the hybrid's slash with its large sabre while three others quickly surrounded him and were ready to strike at any moment. 「Although I'm not at my full strength, don't underestimate me too much, you pathetic little monster!」The hybrid grinned before pressing the blade of his scythe downward at the Death Knight. Despite its best effort, the Death Knight soon found its sabre began to inch toward its skeleton body as it was unable to stop the hybrid's scythe. Panicked, it shrieked loudly, signaling its friends to jump at Kibadios.

「I call upon thee, Damocles!」The hybrid whispered with a smile, uncaring of the three blades that were striking down at his body. Soon enough after his summoning, the menacing blades suddenly lost all of their momentum and stopped at midair, for the heads of the three Death Knights were cleanly cut off from their skeletal bodies. Their bones began to shatter into pieces while their bloodstained armours shrunk down into mere balls of rust. Behind where the three used to stand, now stood three lean cut armors. Asides from pure darkness, there was nothing inside their helmets but two glowing red orbs. One of their hands was holding onto slender swords while the other elegantly placed behind their backs. They were another of Kibadios' familiar, , a set of three ghostly armors with a deadly sword skill, which had reminded him of Guilt, the Sword Legion from a game he used to play back on Earth. In fact, everything the hybrid knew about sword fighting, he had learned from these very familiars. Just like , these familiars were mysteriously reincarnated together with him, much to his surprise. 「Now, go play with your friends in the afterlife!」Kibadios' scythe easily broke the Death Knight's weapon, then slashed through the monster's armor and divided it into two halves.

「Kibadios sama! That was awesome!」Ryuu came closer to one of the and admired the hybrid's summon. His eyes were filled with heart shapes like a kpop fangirl meeting BTS members. 「So this is the legendary Damocles? I have only heard stories about them.」

「... Stop being such a Bartolomeo, Ryuu kun! Now is not the time.」

「Is that you?… Kibadios dono!」The hybrid heard his name being called from afar. Once he turned his head, he recognized the familiar knight hurriedly approached.

「Arch san?」The hybrid reluctantly greeted the knight.

「Shouldn't you be ...at Falas? Where... are Ryan dono and others?」The knight was still trying to catch a deep breath.

「They're on the royal airship just a few miles from here. They should be able to reach the capital in 15 minutes or so.」Answered Kibadios. 「In case you dont know what's going on...」The hybrid pointed at the dark creature flying above the city. 「That right there is the Prime Minister Jayden… or rather, was. Somehow, he got infected with when we transported him back here on the airship. Then he broke out of his cell and flew over here, started his whole carnage.」

「So His Majesty was able to stop the Prime Minister?」Arch, who belonged to the Royal faction that rescued Lance, sighed in relief before finally processing everything the hybrid had just told him 「Wait a minute? That's the Prime Minister?」

「Was!」Again, Kibadios stressed. 「As of now, he's nothing but a mindless creature whose sole purpose is to destroy everything in his path. The heroes and the new king will soon arrive and assist us in restraining it.」

「That's great!」Arch nodded. Although he still had so many questions, he had elected not to question the hybrid any further and focused more on the situation at hand. 「Kibadios dono, can we ask you a favor?」

「What is it?」

「Can you help evacuate the citizens away from the capital?」Asked Arch before elaborated further. 「As of now, the royal guards are trying to keep the casualty at the minimum by fending off these waves of strange monsters. The royal mages are tasked with distracting that creature up there...」Arch looked up, only to see several mages get blown into pieces midair under the creature's attack. 「We have opened all six of the city gates, allowing the citizens to escape from there. We dont know how long we can hold against the monster… and especially the creature from above. We would really appreciate it if you can help us guide the people to safety! 」

「Of course!」answered the hybrid,though deep inside, he was cursing his own luck for running into Arch. After all, he rather be observing the infected Prime Minister more than helping these humans, who he cared not whether they would live or die. 「Remember, don't try to confront that Celestial Threat before the heroes arrive」

「We will try our best!」Arch nodded, then turned back to the city center, ready to evacuate more people.「Sorry for everything that happened, Kibadios dono! Our kingdom really owes you and the other heroes a huge favor!」

「Dont worry about it!」Answered the hybrid. Actually, I fully intend to have your kingdom pay back its debt, Arch san. Kibadios thought to himself「Now, go! I'll take care of these people.」

Arch nodded, then ran back to the thick waves of monsters. Watching the young, eager knight's back, the hybrid wondered if he would ever see the knight alive the next time they meet. After all, in his experience, people like him would mostly die young while a weasel like the hybrid himself would tend to be able to live for much longer. Since he had nothing against the young knight, Kibadios truly wished him all the best. Ha, thought and prayers, my friend! Kibadios smirked, then turned his attention to the dozen people that he had agreed to help.

「Now, we're going to head to the Southern gate. You guys better keep up to my pace. And remember, dont stray too far!」The shell shocked citizens merely nodded before they obediently followed the hybrid.

「Kibadios sama?」

「Yes?」The hybrid turned to his dragonoid servant.

「I think just now, I was able to detect a hint of Adela. Would you allow me to track her down?」

「... Can you deal with her on your own?」

「I dont know for sure, though she should be fairly weak considering she's using a homunculus vessel.」

「... Dont confront her if you can't guarantee the chance of victory. Also, dont let her know who you are!」

「With my current appearance, I can be considered a hybrid between lizardmen and human. I think she would not be able to tell.」

「Then go! Remember, the goal is not to kill her vessel, but to force her reign in that hideous creature she just created.」

「Sure master!」answered the dragonoid before he quickly vanished into thin air, right before dozens of astonishing gazes from the group of Lorian citizens.