As Lyra's plane neared the civilization, humans stood atop the wall, watching. Overlooking the field, they saw the trailing evolved and special variants closing in. A loud bell rang, signaling incoming danger.
Arrows rained down, piercing the ground, forcing some variants to take cover. Many more charged forward relentlessly, coordinated by the special variant, determined to catch their prey.
As they almost reached the gate, Adam lost consciousness. The makeshift seats and projectile system vanished, reverting and re-entering Adam's body. Johan instantly teleported, carrying Azrael and Adam with his invisible hands, running alongside the plane, teleporting forward again and again as the onslaught of variants rapidly gained on them.
Vlad's Intervention
Just as the gate opened, Blood Wolves surged forth, rushing past both the plane and Johan. Vlad had arrived. The field began to rain Blood Wolves, which immediately started feasting on the variants.
Vlad then teleported into the middle of the evolved and special variants. Eyes appeared everywhere around them, freezing them in place. Blood engulfed the area, slicing through each variant and destroying their mana cores. From a distance, the remaining special and evolved variants turned, seeing Vlad, and fled into the forest, away from the civilization.
The plane entered the gate and parked while Johan teleported in with Adam and Azrael. Johan swiftly removed the spear from Adam's shoulder with his invisible hands and wrapped his clothes around the wound. As mana continued to flow, Adam's body slowly regenerated, closing the wounds.
Vlad then arrived and instantly teleported everyone to the castle, where the current new king, appointed by the people, resided.
Many others were already well-settled within the walls. Adam and Azrael were placed in a bedroom, where Lyra attended to them. Johan, finally reunited with Vlad, began sharing everything they knew about the dire situation. The king was now split into five seats, with five individuals governing different sections. An emergency meeting was called for the people. Vlad, true to his word, didn't involve himself in how the humans ran their civilization; he merely observed their decision-making, focused solely on protecting them from extinction.
Johan quickly filled Vlad in on the rapidly escalating threat of Serbas. After absorbing the information, Vlad returned to Adam's room, ready to strategize their counterattack. Meanwhile, the kings of the civilization convened, reaching a conclusion they decided to announce once Adam was awake.
Hours passed, and Adam slowly awakened, his body fully regenerated. He found Azrael sitting beside Lyra, with Johan and Vlad standing nearby. "Glad you're awake, Adam," Vlad spoke.
"How long have I been unconscious?" Adam asked, rubbing his throbbing head.
"About four hours. You still have my heart in your dimension, right?" Vlad asked.
"Yeah, we managed to get it. However, I lost most of my ability fighting Serbas," Adam replied. Lyra handed Adam the mana suit orb, which he promptly put on. As he took in the mana, the throbbing in his head subsided.
"Relax, now that I know it's safe, you've just made it easier for us to defeat Serbas," Vlad explained.
"How? How do we defeat him?" Adam pressed. Vlad gestured for everyone to come closer, preparing to explain.
Vlad's Tale: The Origin of Serbas
Vlad looked around the group. "If everyone here doesn't know, I came from another world, just like Serbas. In our world, it isn't as advanced as yours; humans primarily use swords to fight. Demons and humans have been in a constant war against each other. Serbas, however, was a demon who wanted peace between both humans and demons."
"I was once a human myself, a king in my own land. As enemies from my own human kingdom came to conquer my lands, I sought help from an ancient demon that granted me my powers. They were known as the Blood Demons during their time. After I fought off the human kingdoms that attacked my lands, our kingdom was declared taken over by demons. Thus, the territory was drawn, marking my lands as demon territory. It was a moment of peace, as no other humans tried to reclaim my lands." Vlad took a vial and drank some blood.
"Serbas was one of the demons who came to my land. He approached me, asking if a demon could live among humans in my territory. As a demon myself, I allowed his stay, as he promised not to harm another soul. Serbas was kind and helped protect humans from all kinds of danger. He became a hero in my land. Soon enough, he met a woman and fell in love. As time went by, the woman gave birth to two children—a male and female half-breed. Both had the powers of demons, yet they were still human. Both children had distinct traits, visible by their tails and their wings.
"Serbas wanted to create peace between humans and demons, so he told me he wanted to bring his family to the other human kingdoms to share his ideology about peace and harmony between both races." Vlad paused, lost in tragic memory.
"You didn't stop him?" Adam asked.
"I did. I told him that I, myself, hated humans—their greed and their destruction against their own kind. I told him about what happened to me, and how my kingdom was turned into demon territory. I warned him they wouldn't accept his kind, and it would threaten his life and his family's lives. But he was trusting in his decision, and his wife believed in him as well. He told me that if he never tried, he wouldn't know if both species could ever find peace."
"It was his life's mission, just like how he managed to find a human wife and live happily even being a different species. Of course, I sent my spy to look after them. His mission to bring peace to both human and demon was actually taking place. People started to listen to him, and many kingdoms welcomed him to share his thoughts on peace. He even prevented a war between demons and humans where they signed a peace agreement. He was declared a hero." Vlad shared his memories of serbas.