Chapter 25

In the demon world:

The heilimaws were getting prepared for their raid on the human world. Armies marching towards a convergence of brown source energy. The convergence began to expand slowly and formed a tiny hole in space. The more the energy converged, the darker the colour of the hole.

In a small war camp, three heilimaws sat discussing their plans 

"It's about time." Andrago called out to Edward and the mysterious partner of THE LADY.

"The process and eventual training were rough but you made it possible. This power I feel, it is beyond what a green source should wield. How did you do it?" Edward clenched his fist as he smirked at the mysterious partner. A calm emerald energy enveloped his hand.

"Well, it wouldn't have been possible if you didn't absorb a second core. Regardless, I have done all I can for you. What's left is to see if you can live up to your worth, Azaskiel." The partner mentioned before being enveloped by red energy. He disappeared shortly. 

"Weird fellow," Andrago commented.

"At least he's an ally for now. Someone like him would be a difficult opponent to face. It makes me wonder what exactly THE LADY uses to keep him by her side." Edward remarked while he dissipated the emerald energy on his hand.

"Do you have your men prepped up for the mission?"

"Yeah, I left Joukron in charge."

"Joukron? Oh, the kid that was with you when I awoke." 

"Yeah. He really took a liking to you. When I said it was an important mission set by you, he trained harder than anyone."

"Do you believe in his strength?"

"I trust his determination."

"That's a fancy way of calling him weak."

"Nah, you are just an asshole."

"Hmmph, Get ready. We wouldn't want to be late for our audience with the King." Edward stepped out of the war camp and saw the armies marching forward. 

"I hope earth doesn't miss me much. I'll soon be back to claim it, just not today." Edward thought to himself with a smile. Andrago walked out of the war camp soon after and the two headed in the opposite direction to the marching armies.

AT THE KING'S palace, Edward and Andrago walked on the main court before going down on their knees, joining their fists together and lifting them above their heads maintaining their gaze downwards. The King, shrouded in dark, opened his eyes which glowed white signifying that he had acknowledged their presence.

"Speak." He commanded.

"My King, we are grateful for the honour of granting us an audience despite the critical time in which it was requested for." Andrago began.

"So you brought a mouthpiece to speak on the courtesy aspect, Azaskiel."

"In our culture, words of strength are not to be mixed with words of weakness, such as courtesy, hence the division of speech," Andrago responded, while Edward smirked.

"What are the words of strength you speak of?"

"A challenge." Edward finally voiced out. The King's energy rose slightly.

"From whom?"

"From me. I, Azaskiel, challenge the ranks of THE SEVEN GENERALS." Edward spoke firmly as he stood to his feet. This proved he had accepted the consequences of his words and was ready to lay down his life. After his declaration, seven pairs of eyes glowed. Four to his right and three to the left.

The hierarchy of the heilimaws is decided by strength and or importance. THE KING sat at the top holding the title of the strongest of the heilimaws and serving as their ruler. Below THE KING was THE LADY who served as the direct advisor of THE KING and conveyor of his will. In the old era, her position didn't exist as it was a house that would be the ruler. The King was the champion of the house. All other positions below the king were filled with selected members decided by the ruling house. THE LADY came into the new era and showed fearsome abilities without ever exposing her source type. She was acknowledged to be second to the King as only he had ever defeated her in battle, which was expected given that he was the only black source alive.

Below the position of THE LADY was THE EXECUTIONER. Currently, the most powerful white source. It is said that you only get to see 'IT' once in your lifetime and there was no such thing as accidentally sighting it. Its job was as clear as its name and it only took orders from those more powerful than it, hence only the king.

Below THE EXECUTIONER was the ranks of THE SEVEN GENERALS. Their numbers showed how strong they were with RANK 1, being the strongest of them all. They consisted of the upper four and the lower three. The upper four were all white sources while the lower three were red sources. They led the largest armies and controlled most of the strategies employed by the heilimaws. They used to be twelve but three including their armies were defeated in the bloodiest encounter with humans. The BLOOD MOON that led to the closure of the American portal. Years later, when a portal strong enough to be classified as one of the big three sprung up in Nigeria, two generals with their armies were wiped out by deities in Nigeria before the permanent closure of said portal. Hence the current SEVEN. Below the seven generals were GROUP COMMANDERS, leaders from a particular specie that report directly to the SEVEN GENERALS.

THERE WAS A brief pause after Edward had spoken. This was soon followed by laughter from the generals. 

"Of all the things I thought I'd hear today, a green source vying for the position of the seven generals didn't even make the list, interesting" RANK 3 spoke out.

"It's disrespectful that you even bother to think about it. Such a statement should not be allowed to leave this gathering. You and your mouthpiece shall die here." RANK 5 hissed.

"Who do you think you are? You mere green source." RANK 7 spat.

"Now, now. We ought to oblige him. He already knows the consequences of a 'challenge' and his words can no longer be retracted. No one has challenged our position since its inception. This will be quite entertaining to watch." RANK 1 spoke calmly. The others seized all forms of motion and or interaction.

"So, what rank would you like to challenge?" RANK 1 added.

"Rank 5." Edward glared at his target. 

The entire court was shocked. They weren't sure what to say next. Andrago's eyes widened. He looked at Edward with despair.

"The plan was to fight the weakest of the lower three. Rank 7. What the hell are you doing?" Andrago whispered with a hint of frustration in his eyes. Edward looked at him and smiled.

"You are an interesting fellow. Rather than the weakest of us, you chose the position of the strongest in the lower three. That's quite the ambitious move." Rank 1 said.

"It's half ambition and half curiosity. He dared to insult my resolve by calling it disrespectful and challenged my existence by declaring my death. I just wonder... is he truly strong or just all bark and no bite."

"You damned..." Rank 5 tried to speak but the King let out a devilish smile and his energy spiked silencing everyone in the process.

"You don't cease to amaze me. Even in the face of power, you'd still run your sharp tongue."

"A loyal servant who's afraid to speak the truth even in the face of death is no servant at all."

"Your logic eludes me, but I do want to see how strong you have become. Your aura itself is different from the first time you came here."

Edward nodded. Rank 5 bit his lower lips, He jumped from his seat and landed in front of Edward. His face was that of a lion with a black mane. He had a massive build and he stood taller than Edward with a sinister growl. The shockwave from his landing was enough to push Andrago a short distance back but Edward didn't flinch. He just stood glaring at the Rank 5.

"A fight to the death. I'll make you beg for your life before I deliver the final blow."

Edward smirked then slowly lifted his hand to cover his nose.

"YOU!!!!" The Rank 5 lifted his fist as he growled, his energy burst out of him and as he was about to punch Edward, "TAKE YOUR PLACES!" order came from Rank 1. 

"So fearsome..." Edward mocked as he took a few steps away from Rank 5 before going down on his right knee.

"Tchh.." Rank 5 also did the same and they both looked at the floor.

"I am shivering. His power is no joke, but if I can't defeat the strongest red source in my world then there's no point going back to complete my revenge against James." Edward thought to himself. Flashes of his battle with James ran through his mind, especially how James easily destroyed his drill and sliced him in half before he could realize what had happened. 

"I swear I'll make him pay. Defeating this fool will be my stepping stone to achieving that." Edward clenched his fists.

"Ready!"  

Both Edward and the Rank 5 brought out their battle armors. They slowly rose to their feet and then summoned their weapons. Edward in his emerald armor which had dark blue linings held his drill staff while the Rank 5 in his burning red armor held his mace.

"Let the battle BEGIN."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the human world:

Elizabeth got into her office. She put on an earbud and tapped it before taking her seat.

"Connect me to the control center."

"Yes Sir" She was immediately connected to those at the control.

"Sir!" They acknowledged.

"What's the situation like?"

"Nothing yet sir. We still await the pure source outburst. our soldiers are on standby. We've linked you to all the sites of invasion."

She tapped underneath her desk and a large screen pulled up. The screen split into seven smaller divisions with the seventh one, being the largest, in the middle of the other six. 

"Six smaller portals huh? That's a bit more than the last time." She noted. Affected areas include Alexandria, the Suez Canal, Kharga Oasis, Dahab, Port Said, and on the Sudanese side of the border, Wadi Halfa". Elizabeth noted.

"Our soldiers are at every sight of the portal. Plus we have collaboration with the Sudanese army." Control added.

"Perfect. It's their move now. Come at us demons, we'll kick your asses back to the world you came from." Elizabeth sat with a smile as she crossed her legs.

AT GIZA, the sight of the main portal,

A thick brownish energy wave, accompanied by a violent wind storm, engulfed the entire area and kept spreading throughout the country. It was about to begin. Soldiers took aim as they awaited the onslaught of demons to arrive. There was a loud roar and out came the armies of demons.

"FIRE!" Roared the commander on the field and the soldiers rained down bullets on the demons. Some demons raised their shields to intercept the bullets, while others who were fast enough dodged the bullets as they pushed forward. A relative number were gunned down, and soon the demons began retaliating with energy blasts that blew up areas where soldiers were gathered.

"Calling on air support!" 

Bomber jets, attack helicopters, drones, etc descended on the demons. The archers amongst the ranks of the demons soon began launching exploding arrows at the human's air supports. The demons with wings took off to challenge the Jets directly swiftly bringing them down, but they started getting picked off by snipers on the ground. An injured dragonewt gathered blue source energy in its mouth and then swallowed it. Its entire body expanded to three times its original size before it shot out a massive ground-splitting beam through its mouth thereby taking out a sniper unit. It was about to repeat the same action when its head got chopped off by a green source soldier wielding an axe. The soldier was bleeding from bruises on his face and his right hand. He had cracks on his armor and soon pulled out a broken piece of a sword from his side.

Four yellow source wolf-demons attacked him. He tore through the head of the first, then swiftly kicked the second away. He grabbed the third by the neck and ripped out its throat before blasting the fourth away. He picked up his axe and cut through the armor of the fourth, splitting it in half. Soon he felt a punch on his face which sent him into a boulder spine first. He coughed out blood as he rolled to his side. He lifted his eyes to see who it was and then noticed It was the second wolf. It summoned a spear and walked towards the source soldier, who was crawling on the ground trying to get himself away. The wolf stepped on him, pressing against his wound while he screamed out. It lifted its spear over its head and then got sniped through the head. Its body fell to the side, and the source soldier could catch his breath.

"You alright?" A voice came through his communicator.

"I'll live." As soon as he said that, he heard roars coming from the distance. A herd of demons was marching in his direction.

"Shit." He bit his lower lips as his face was wrung with despair.

"Not to worry, help has arrived." 

The herd soon started getting mowed down by two soldiers with miniguns. Three soldiers with Jetpacks zoomed toward them. Two began spraying the demons from both sides with corrosive liquids that lit up a few seconds after they had been sprayed, while the third held a glowing blade and diced through the rest. After landing, the third pulled out a pistol and shot the few that were trying to crawl away.

"Not too shabby, Alicia." The first commented.

"Don't praise her Jacob; she's always being so reckless" The second yelled out.

"I'm only this reckless because I got you guys watching my six" The third, Alicia, replied with a smile.

"Aww, that's so cute. Head's up!" The sniper shot down a bat demon heading for Alicia.

"Thanks, Rachel."

"Don't mention. Leave the source soldier to Ali and Krish. Let's move to another area."

"Yes ma'am!" 

AT THE COMMAND base, Elizabeth kept monitoring the battles in each zone.

"Lure the demons to the center of the Suez Canal, encircle and destroy. That will be all since the portal has closed."

"Yes Sir!"

"Soldiers at Port Said are ordered to retreat. Deploy the Legion Squad to clear up the area."

"But Sir, the numbers of demons are increasing rapidly."

"That's just another Thursday for them."

"Yes Sir!"

"We are gaining the advantage and have minimal casualties. It's only a matter of time before we achieve total dominance." Elizabeth thought to herself. Soon, her eyes caught something on a screen beside her.

"Hmmph, I guess you wouldn't be lazying around for too long Louis." Elizabeth smiled.

"We have suspicious movements of an independent group of demons who were carefully avoiding areas of battle."

"Show me." 

A screen popped up at Elizabeth's left and showed a strange pattern of movements by those demons.

"Send a team to intercept. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Yes sir!"

AT THE VIP section of the stage, Louis received a message from the control center. 

"I have already sensed them though. An army of a hundred blue sources led by a strong red source." Louis thought to himself.

"I'll play with them later. For now..."

Explosions and bursts of yellow and red energy scattered across the stage.

"Let's see how this battle concludes."

"ARRRRRRRGGGHHHHHH" Both Kris and Su roared as they smashed their fists rapidly and continuously against each other with the stage sinking. They grabbed each other's hands and then smashed their heads against each other while glaring at themselves. A dome of their mixed energies surrounded them as they jumped away from each other. They were gasping for air. Kris stomped his right leg and let out more red energy.

"How is he still standing?" Su couldn't believe what she saw. Kris moved with incredible speed and stretched out a left punch towards her face. She immediately lifted her hands to receive it but he stopped the punch an inch from her guard and then drove in his right fist to her guts. Her eyes widened as she coughed out. She gritted her teeth, clenched her fist, and before Kris could make another move, she slugged his face, sending him to the ground. He burst out almost immediately, landing an uppercut to her chin, which sent her spinning into the air. She created an energy thruster with her hand that stopped her spinning, then turned it into a blast that propelled her at Kris before stomping on his face with both legs and sinking him into a large crater. She held his leg and then spun him around before launching him into the walls of the crater. He soon burst out of the wall, grabbed her face, and smashed her into the opposite wall of the crater, then forced her through the wall and for a few meters underground before bursting to the surface, spinning her in the air and launching her through two boulders (A large one, then a smaller one). As he landed, his legs wobbled and he fell to his face.

Kris wheezed for air because his chest felt tight. The double cloak toll was intense, and all over his body felt like it was being torn apart. As he lifted his head, all he saw was a mini sun coming at him.

Su held it in her palms and yelled, "Thousand-hand attack form, REFLECTION!" A massive beam that covered a radius of fifteen meters pushed into the ground and shook the entire hall. A few seconds in and Su felt a heavy pressure behind her. Her eyes sank as hopelessness filled her face. Kris came down on her with a drop kick, which pushed her into her blast before a towering beam shot upwards. Kris barely avoided the blast and landed on his feet. He felt as though every bone in his body was being hammered at the same time, but he closed his eyes and called up the strength to keep himself standing. The yellow energy beam slowly dissipated.

"KRIS!!!!!!" Su roared as she burst out of the ground. Her astral armor cracked at the chest region while blood flowed from her forehead. Energy spiralled around her right fist and she dashed at him. Kris tried to move, but his legs failed him, and in that instant, Su had covered the gap between them. She smashed her fist into his face, sending an outburst of yellow energy that covered the arena behind Kris.

Soon she noticed the red energy around Kris' legs that anchored him to the ground. Her eyes widened and she looked at him. Kris had gathered the entire double cloak in one spot in order to receive her punch. The cloak shattered and its pieces turned into energy that gathered in his right hand. Before Su could pull away, Kris drove his fist into her face, releasing an equal amount of energy that launched Su towards the wall. Soon the wave broke apart and formed crystals around Su, thereby suspending her in the air.

"Lay wasted, like the fallen leaves of autumn." Kris asserted. The crystals released a silent blinding light that rose a few meters into the air and then dissipated into tiny flakes. Kris let a sigh of relief as everything seemed to calm down. His moment was short-lived as an intimidating pressure filled the hall. Kris saw Su standing with a dark yellow astral armor. 

Kris's eyes fell in frustration. "That was everything I had. Yet she's still standing. I don't even have the energy to make a cloak. Why Su? Why wouldn't you just concede and get knocked out... Is this really how it will end?" He lifted his wobbling hands to his face and gritted his teeth. He didn't know what else to do, and a sense of defeat was flooding in.

Su coughed out blood. She felt like collapsing but she held herself. "It was a real last-minute gamble to see if I could over-clock in this Astral armor form. I am glad it worked out perfectly." She huffed. She looked at Kris and saw his defeated outlook. He had no cloak on him and his body was visibly shaking " One more blow and it will all be over. Thousand-hand attack form. Dragon fist." 

Her energy rose above her. Kris lifted his eyes to see her preparing for an attack. 

"Damn it! I can't go down like this. I am so freaking close. There must be a way. There must be something. Anything. Come on Kris Think." He pondered hard, even racing through all he knew about source energy as quickly as possible. Every experience, every moment but still ending up with nothing except the vague statement, "Everything strong about us comes from within."  

Su's energy shaped into the form of a large Chinese dragon. Its roar briefly distracted Kris as it shone brightly. He gritted his teeth as he watched her crouch a bit while she pulled her fist backwards. She dashed towards him. His eyes widened while his brain drifted momentarily to the time Oumar and he punched the spheres. Su got closer and the dragon roared. As if being moved by instinct, Kris clenched his right fist and lifted it to shoulder level.

"It's finally clear to me. The difference between when I used this technique and when Oumar used it is..." 

Su stretched out her fist to deliver the punch.

A gentle outline of red energy glowed dimly from Kris's right hand. His veins popped and his muscles bulged as he drove his to meet that of Su's. Both fists collided and with a thunderous sound, Su's astral armor shattered and her wrist snapped. She yelled in pain as she was repulsed backwards. 

"HE AUGMENTED EVERYTHING WITHIN BEFORE USING IT!" Kris yelled out. "Bones, tissues, ligaments, muscles. Everything can also be strengthened by source energy. These are the things that give you strength physically, and they are all within. Oumar, you bastard! But you did say it will be vexing when I figure it out" Kris thought to himself with a joyful grin. He augmented his left hand and moved closer to hit Su.

Su began to create an energy blast with her left hand, but it was too late. Kris' fist was close to making contact with her face. All she saw was "END" as everything was about to fade to black.

At that moment, just as Kris was about to claim victory, red source energy burst out with blood and pieces of burnt flesh from every point on his left hand. The pain was so great that he couldn't even scream. His eyes rolled back and he fell forward towards Su. Kris was unconscious.

"Shit!" Su panicked as the energy blast in her hand was about to explode. She tried to control it but it was too late. A wide yellow explosion engulfed Kris while pushing Su back as she fell on her bum. She tried to get up to help Kris, but then everyone in the hall felt a frightening pressure around them. A lot of the audience got knocked out by this pressure, and even the ref brought out his weapon due to fear.

"Ho... Interesting." Louis smirked from the VIP section.

Su on the stage felt like her heart was being gripped by something while she trembled at the pressure. It was as though she couldn't breathe without receiving permission from whatever was in the dust cover. Grey eyes appeared as the dust cover was clearing up briefly and it seemed like it nodded at her before disappearing. Soon after the pressure vanished and she heard the fall of a body to the ground. As the dust cover cleared, it revealed Kris on scorched earth. The ref moved cautiously to check Kris's vitals. Once he was done, he lifted his hand into the air.

"WINNER, SU MING!"