Chapter 8
Gazel looked around at the carnage surrounding them, his gaze furrowing.
For every demon the duo killed, two or three more took its place. It was as if all the demons in the city were converging on their location, hell bent on wiping out his family.
That was bad.
No. Worse than bad.
"Wait," Jarren leaned closer, voice low. "Is it just me, or are they getting stronger?"
Gazel had not noticed at first.
But when he looked again, really looked, his heart began to pound far faster than it should have.
Jarren was right.
The demons were tougher. Faster. More dangerous.
The speed at which they were being cut down had slowed.
It was not obvious in their father's fight.
But it was painfully clear in Karren's.
She was struggling now.
Are they getting stronger the more they kill them?
The thought sent a chill through Gazel's spine.
If that was true, then sooner or later…
They would be overwhelmed.
Their assumption was right.
And wrong.
The demons were not growing stronger because of the battle.
Stronger ranks were entering the fray.
Earlier, they had only been dealing with low and mid rank monsters.
Now higher ranked monsters had arrived.
And worse.
Low rank Fallen.
Even mid rank Fallen had joined the fight.
Monsters were already nightmarish.
The Fallen were far worse.
Karren could barely handle two low rank Fallen at once. That was only possible because of her fluid fighting style and the artifact in her grip.
Even she knew facing many Fallen head on would be nothing but suicide.
So she focused on what she could manage.
Mid and high rank monsters.
Meanwhile, Sorial faced the Fallen.
Mid rank or higher, it did not matter.
They were torn apart by his raging currents.
Wherever he passed, carnage followed. Limbs severed. Heads split. Throats sliced open. Bodies destroyed before they could even fall, disintegrating moments later.
Sorial's brow furrowed.
They looked like they were winning.
They were not.
They were burning through essence.
Once it ran dry, they would not be able to use their azura anymore. And when that happened, the demons would not hesitate to exploit it.
This had to end.
Now.
They needed to get out of the city.
Sorial raised both hands.
An overwhelming wind current gathered, compressing between his palms. The pressure alone distorted the air.
Then he released it.
The wind surged outward with terrifying force.
Fallen and monsters alike were consumed, erased in moments.
But Sorial was not the only one drawing attention.
Another figure moved through the battlefield with uncanny grace and fluid steps.
Karren fought like a seasoned warrior princess.
Her bladed whip lashed left, then right, then left again, moving in patterns too fluid to predict, too fast to dodge. Every strike tore another life away.
Her dominance did not go unnoticed.
High above, atop a towering structure, one of the two figures watching rose to his feet.
The man with the amused smile stared down at Karren.
A wicked grin spread across his handsome face.
She is something wonderful. I wonder if I would get any stronger after consuming her.
The words slipped from his mouth like a lover's sigh.
"Do not make any irrational moves, Bakaros," the one called Scar said coldly.
Bakaros shot him a sideways glance and shrugged.
"I'm a Corruptor too, you know," he replied. "Might be new, but a Corruptor nonetheless. I'm not obliged to follow your orders."
His gaze drifted back to the battlefield.
"To think such a delicacy would appear right before me."
He inhaled deeply, as if savoring the scent of fine food.
"Sorry, friend," he said softly. "But I can't let her go."
With that, he leapt off the towering structure and rushed into the fray.
Scar watched him leave, his expression neutral.
Then his eyes shifted back to Sorial.
He is the real threat.
With how powerful his azura is, even I am not confident in taking him down.
Scar frowned slightly.
It would take a higher ranked Corruptor to face him head on.
Bakaros landed atop a nearby building, now dangerously close to the battlefield. Several structures around it had already been damaged or reduced to rubble by the ongoing ruin. This one still stood.
Barely.
His gaze locked onto the white haired girl.
She moved with fluid grace, her fighting style making it seem as though she was dancing in the middle of a raging storm.
"I really need to eat her," Bakaros muttered.
His fingernails elongated, growing longer and longer, turning a deep crimson.
He flicked one.
The nail tore through the air at insane speed.
Karren.
She was cutting down another monster when she sensed danger. She turned, steady and sharp.
Too late.
The crimson nail struck and exploded.
The blast roared like thunder, shaking the sky. Several monsters around her were torn apart instantly.
Bakaros frowned.
He was not amused.
Through the dust, he saw it.
Karren lay on the ground, gasping for breath.
A thin white barrier surrounded her body. Faint, almost invisible, but undeniably there.
His eyes shifted.
At the center of the carnage stood three figures. No demon had managed to get close to them.
Because of the woman sitting calmly on the ground.
Playing a plain looking guqin.
"Oh," Bakaros murmured. "Another azura wielder."
And a strong one.
Before he could dwell on it, danger screamed at his instincts.
He jumped.
A massive wind current slammed into the building he had stood on moments earlier.
It did not crack.
It did not crumble.
It was erased.
The structure collapsed into rubble, utterly destroyed.
Bakaros landed several meters away.
He did not need to search for his attacker.
Sorial stood there, countless demons dead around him.
His gaze was cold.
Ice cold.
His eyes flicked to his daughter.
She was not wounded.
She would have been.
If not for his wife.
This was what he feared.
What he never wanted.
His family dragged into his mess.
Sorial turned his gaze back to Bakaros.
His voice was steel.
"Touching her is the biggest mistake you have made today."
"In your entire life."
He closed his eyes.
When he opened them, the city itself seemed to warp.
The wind around him surged, twisting, swallowing his figure before flowing back around him like a living storm. The power radiating from him was overwhelming, crushing, undeniable.
Sorial's blue eyes locked onto Bakaros.
"Now I'm mad," he said quietly.
"Really mad."
"And none of you will escape this place."
"Not alive."
TO BE CONTINUED….....