Chapter 10. Start of the Final Battle.

Before he could say more, a voice behind them interrupted, "Are you talking about me without permission?"

They turned around and saw the Chimerid Commander standing before them.

They were all terrorized because the Chimerid Commander had already slain hundreds of elites of their army. However, they still formed a fighting formation to counter the Chimerid Commander's attack and didn't let down their guard.

"You tiny creatures think you can kill me? Don't joke with me, you devils," said the Chimerid Commander. Right after that, he swung his sword towards Indraksha, but before it could hit him, it was stopped by a crimson flame sword, Pyrrhos' Fang, and its wielder was none other than the Commander of Hellflame Phalanx, the Fire Warden, Ashkaris.

Ashkaris said to the Shadow Reapers, "You guys focus on your mission given to you by Sir Asmodeus. I will deal with this creature."

Few hours ago:

"Shadow Reapers, there's something important only you guys can do, that's why I have called you here. Now listen. We don't know how many Commander Chimerids they have, so I want you to go and find out how many Chimerid Commanders there are. The moment you complete your mission, I want you all to retreat. As soon as you return, I will call back all the remaining soldiers too," said Asmodeus. Then after a second, he continued, "It's a war, and we can't continue it without sufficient information or only the Chimerids will have the last laugh. This is a very important mission I've entrusted you all with. Don't disappoint me. You guys are dismissed."

Present time:

Ignis said, "Sir Ashkaris, we have finished our mission, so let's fall back for now."

To which Ashkaris told Ignis that the Chimerid Commanders were not someone to be underestimated, as they wouldn't let them retreat easily. If the Shadow Reapers wanted to retreat, they would have to let Ashkaris deal with him. Ashkaris also promised that he would come back as soon as the Shadow Reapers successfully retreated.

Now, Ashkaris and the Chimerid Commander were standing face to face. Ashkaris said, "I am the Commander of Hellflame Phalanx, one of the most respected divisions of our army, and I am here to slay you, Chimerid."

To which the Chimerid Commander replied, "Filthy devil, I am Zephyrokron, the strongest Commander of the Chimerid army, and I will be the cause of your death, Ashkaris!"

Right after Zephyrokron finished his words, the battle between them began.

Zephyrokron used his grimoire to summon multiple ice spears and charged them towards Ashkaris. Ashkaris melted them using the heat of his sword, Pyrrhos' Fang. Then, right after that, Ashkaris swung his sword in the air, creating a fire wave charged towards Zephyrokron, but Zephyrokron stopped it by creating a wall with his stone element.

Zephyrokron had mastery over four elements: Electric, Stone, Ice, and Air. He was the strongest powerhouse in the Chimerid army.

Right after Zephyrokron dismissed his stone wall, he saw Ashkaris in front of him, and Ashkaris cut off one of Zephyrokron's hands, the one holding a staff.

Zephyrokron was surprised because he didn't expect this power from a devil. But before Ashkaris could do anything, he saw something he never expected. Zephyrokron regrew his arm as if it was an instant regeneration spell.

Zephyrokron said, "What do you think, why am I the strongest in my army? Is it because of raw strength? Or is it because of mastery over four elements? No, all of that is wrong. Do you know the title I have been bestowed by His Majesty? It is 'the Balance.' I have balance in every power—strength, mana, buffs, and regeneration. I can cast all of these on myself and my soldiers. And yes, one more thing—I can even summon the dead Chimerids."

Right after he finished his sentence, he summoned numerous dead Chimerid soldiers, who looked like a combination of cockroaches, centipedes, and dragonflies. They all charged at Ashkaris, and Ashkaris knew that if he didn't do anything, his death would be unavoidable.

While training Ignis, Ashkaris had learned a technique called Inferno. Inferno is a technique that creates a burning tornado around its user, only damaging the user's foe.

Ashkaris combined that technique with his own technique, Burning Smoke. Burning Smoke is a technique meant for passive use. It blinds the foe for a couple of minutes as their eyes start burning right after the technique is used. The more the foe's eyes burn, the faster the user gets.

Ashkaris used Burning Smoke, followed by Inferno. With the numerous dead Chimerid soldiers and the Commander, the increase in speed was enough.

From a young age, Ashkaris had always wanted to join the Hellflame Phalanx. When he was young, he trained with his devil beast, but the beast had been experimented on for some purpose. However, the experiment had a side effect on the beast: it couldn't differentiate between friend and foe anymore. Ashkaris didn't know this, and consumed by anger, the beast attacked Ashkaris, leaving a permanent scar that started from his left eye and ended on his right chest, piercing his lips in the way. Ashkaris' family had perfect mastery over the fire element, so they also had a fire medic who saved Ashkaris' left eye but couldn't get rid of the scar.

When Ashkaris became the Commander of Hellflame Phalanx, he always wore armor embraced by crimson flames, which greatly raised his defense. He trained relentlessly to increase his speed, mana, mana power, and strength. He solely relied on the crimson armor for his defense.

Because of the combination of Inferno and Burning Smoke, Ashkaris was able to escape from there.

Later that night:

"Shadow Reapers, I am amazed by your progress. As a reward, Ignis, I've promoted you from an Elite to a Demon," said Asmodeus.

Demon is a role in the Infernal Legion that defines the authority of the wielder. Ignis now had the authority to command all the normal soldier teams and uni-elite teams. Uni-elite teams are those which only have one elite soldier as a member.

Asmodeus continued, "And for the rest of your teammates, I've promoted you all to Elite roles."

He further said, "If you all continue your work like this, then that day isn't far when you'll all be at Commander level. Now, you're all dismissed."

They were all happy for themselves and for Ignis.

Ashkaris came to them, and they were happy to see him fine. Ashkaris told them that Asmodeus had decided that tomorrow would be the last day of the war. He had decided that tomorrow, all the devil army would exterminate all the Chimerids of Meldara and capture it for themselves. He advised them to rest for the night, as tomorrow would be a very tiring day for them.

But in their excitement, the Shadow Reapers only slept for about four hours.

The day arrived—it was the final battle of the war. The entire devil army was already inside Vyrdara, where the Chimerid commanders and the king resided. The army was in the command of The Pentarchs, the team that composed all five commanders of the army.

The Commander of Hellflame Phalanx, Ashkaris.

The Commander of Velvet Temptresses, Cynthia.

The Commander of Eclipse Sentinels, Vyrasha.

The Commander of Ethereal Conflux, Azazel.

The Commander of Necroguard Battalion, Ravion.

The entire devil army attacked the Vyrdara Palace, where the king and commanders of the Chimerids resided with numerous elite and normal soldiers.

The Shadow Reapers focused mainly on the elite soldiers of the Chimerids, and there was one group of Chimerid elite soldiers who were the strongest after the king and commanders. The showdown was now between that group and the Shadow Reapers.

Indraksha, without wasting a second, attacked that group. In counter, the Chimerids used DNA manipulation to create a centipede tail, which they used to catch Indraksha, but it failed, as Lilithra cut the tail using her Lust Scythe.

Indraksha captured a Chimerid in his hand and crushed it on the ground. Before the other Chimerids could do anything, Ignis burned them. But the Shadow Reapers didn't expect this from them—they all regenerated.

If they wanted to defeat that group of Chimerids, they needed a solid plan, which was already created in the mind of Kharos. Kharos told Indraksha to continue his attack, and when the Chimerids mainly focused on him, Nyxara had to use her Dead Mages to target them with the Blue Flare magic. The moment the magic struck them, Lilithra would reduce their power using her succubus magic, and Indraksha would freeze them using his Ice element. That would be the moment when Ignis would summon his Hellfire, and using the heat of Hellfire, he would melt those frozen Chimerids.

Indraksha followed the plan, Nyxara's Dead Mages used their magic, Lilithra used her succubus power, Indraksha froze them, and Ignis melted them.

The Pentarchs were already near the throne room, but a sudden explosion occurred, and they were all separated. The only ones who reached the throne room were Cynthia, Azazel, Vyrasha, and Ravion. They encountered the king sitting on the throne with the four commanders.

Ashkaris lost his way and encountered Zephyrokron again.