Zane stood unmoving, an embodiment of living fire.
Flames coiled around his body like a crown of wrath, the heat so intense that the stone beneath his boots softened and cracked, glowing faintly as if the earth itself feared him. Across from him, the remaining legion of demons gathered, their presence suffocating the air.
The three sub-commanders stepped forward first.
One dragged a massive axe that groaned against the ground with every step.
Another rested a colossal hammer on his shoulder, its head etched with runes that pulsed ominously. The last twirled two pitch-black sickles, their edges swallowing light, leaving behind a cold absence that made even fire recoil.
Behind them, the two commanders advanced. They stopped a few paces from Zane. One of them lifted its sword and pointed it directly at his chest, an evil grin stretching across its monstrous face.
"Are you the strongest?"
Zane's eyes narrowed. In all his years, in wars, calamities, and the last demon invasion, he had never faced a demon that spoke. Never one that thought, that mocked or had felt excitement.
These weren't only demons but conquerors. But there was no time to dwell on that truth. His village was burning.
"Yes," Zane answered.
The fire around him exploded outward, blazing brighter than the sun itself. Heat waves rippled through the battlefield, melting stone, warping metal, forcing demons to shield their eyes.
"I am the one you're looking for," he continued, voice calm and deadly.
"And I'll be the last thing you ever see."
The two commanders glanced at one another. Then one raised its hand.
"Get him."
Every lesser demon surged forward at once, claws tearing into the ground, roars shaking the sky as a black tide rushed toward a single man. Even the soldiers watching from afar felt their hearts seize.
That's too many…Even for him…
They wanted to help but they couldn't. All they could do was watch.
Behind Zane, the healers raised their staffs.
"Now!" someone cried.
Mana poured into him, raw and desperate, everything they had. His strength spiked. His energy overflowed. His fire roared higher, denser, more violent.
All the lower demons charged. They screamed, some in rage, some in hunger, but none reached him.
The fire surrounding Zane was no ordinary flame. It roared like a living god, pressing outward in waves, peeling flesh from bone before claws could even stretch forward. Demons burst into ash mid-stride, their silhouettes frozen for a heartbeat before collapsing into drifting embers.
Zane didn't move. He simply snapped his fingers, the sound was soft, almost casual.
Flames erupted across the battlefield in scattered flashes, appearing inside the demon ranks. Bodies ignited without warning. Limbs dropped before screams could form. In seconds, dozens of demons burned from the inside out, their howls swallowed by the crackling inferno.
The survivors skidded to a halt, two steps back. Then three. The fear was raw, unfamiliar fear flickered across their twisted faces.
The demon commanders narrowed their eyes in calculation. They weren't afraid, they were studying him.
"What's with the delay?" Zane said calmly, his voice carrying through the heat. A faint smile tugged at his lips with confident, unshaken. "Please hurry. I have a wife and children waiting for me."
A ripple passed through the human ranks, as hope surged.
"Now that Zane's here, the demons are finished," someone whispered, almost laughing in relief.
"Hold."
The word cracked like thunder.
One of the demon commanders stepped forward, raising a clawed hand. Instantly, every demon obeyed. The battlefield fell into an unnatural silence.
Then...
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Weapons struck the ground in perfect rhythm. Axes. Blades. Hammers. The demons pounded the earth as though in worship… or celebration.
A chill ran through Wills' spine.
"Don't tell me…" he muttered, eyes wide. "They're enjoying this."
From the ranks, a massive figure stepped forward.
The demon sub-commander. He dragged his heavy axe through the dirt, sparks screaming as the blade carved a line toward Zane. The fire recoiled slightly, not extinguished, but acknowledging him.
The demon lifted his head.
"It is a pleasure," he said, voice deep and steady. "My name is Daram."
Silence filled the air as they heard his name.
"They… have names?" Wills shouted, disbelief tearing from his throat.
Even Zane's eyes flickered, just for a moment.
Daram moved. The ground exploded beneath his feet as he vanished, reappearing in front of Zane in a blink. His axe came down like judgment itself.
CLANG!
Steel met steel as fire screamed.
The impact sent a shockwave ripping through the battlefield, throwing soldiers and demons alike off their feet.
Zane slid back a step, boots carving trenches into molten earth.
Daram laughed.
Again, they clashed.
Blades struck, once, twice, a dozen times, too fast to follow. Sparks and flames tore through the air as axe and sword collided relentlessly. Daram's strength was monstrous, each blow heavy enough to shatter walls.
But Zane…he was different.
His movements were fluid, precise, almost elegant. He twisted, redirected, and flowed around each strike, his sword dancing in patterns no human swordsman could comprehend. Every motion wasted nothing. Every step had purpose.
Daram snarled, muscles swelling as he forced more power into his blows—but it wasn't enough.
Not against skill or against mastery.
Zane feinted low.
Daram overcommitted.
In that instant, Zane's blade flashed, a single clean arc of fire and steel shattering the axe.
The flame passed through Daram's flesh.
Immediately, Daram froze, a thin line appeared down his face. Then... His head split apart.
The demon sub-commander collapsed in two burning halves, hitting the ground with a sound like a dying drum.
Silence....
The demons didn't cheer, they didn't even flee.
The demon commanders smiled in excitement. They didn't rush, didn't plan. They didn't even react to the death of their sub-commander. Instead, one of them slowly raised a hand and made a simple gesture. Forward, but not at Zane.
Every demon turned and charged straight for the village.
"What... ?" Zane's eyes widened.
He unleashed his fire in a violent surge, flames tearing across the field in a desperate attempt to stop them, but there were too many. The demons split apart, some burning, most pushing through, flooding into Almsworth like a living tide.
That was when they struck. The remaining two sub-commanders moved together. One slammed a massive hammer into Zane's blade, the impact numbing his arm to the bone. Before he could recover.... The sickle flashed.
Pain exploded across his chest. The curved blade carved deep, tearing flesh, blood spraying as Zane staggered back. The healers screamed, pouring mana into him, but the wound refused to close. Dark energy lingered in the cut, rejecting healing.
Zane gasped.
The battlefield collapsed into chaos.
Demons surrounded them from all sides. Wills barely had time to lift his sword before claws tore into his armor. Yami fought with brutal efficiency despite the odds, but the numbers were endless. The demons didn't fight like beasts anymore, they hunted, they invaded and slaughtered.
Zane was driven back, locked in combat with both sub-commanders. His mind raced.
The demons are already inside…
Freya is in labor. Ethan… Ethan is home.
The anger inside him snapped.
"AAAHHHH!"
His fire erupted inwardly, condensing, roaring, devouring his pain. His strength surged violently. His movements blurred.
Steel screamed. He overwhelmed them.
One strike shattered the hammer. Another severed the sickle. Flames swallowed flesh as Zane cut them down one after the other, their bodies collapsing into burning ruin.
Blood streamed from his chest as he turned and ran, but the battlefield refused to release him.
"You…" A voice cut through the screams.
One of the commanders walked forward slowly, each step crushed the ground beneath him.
"…you're still standing."
His aura sliced the air itself. A pressure like a blade brushed Zane's cheek, blood appeared without contact.
Screams reached Zane's ears, human screams, much louder than he could bare.
Heline, the mage commander, was overwhelmed, torn apart, her body split in two beneath a swarm of demons.
"HELIIINE!" Wills cried.
Yami roared, charging forward, then screamed as his left arm was severed cleanly from his body. Blood sprayed across the ground. He fell to his knees.
Wills collapsed soon after, sword slipped from his trembling fingers.
The battlefield drowned in blood. Zane's face went pale. His comrades were dying, the villagers were dieing.
Fleeing soldiers scattered in terror, abandoning the fight. The demons laughed, deep, guttural, delighted laughter.
Almsworth bled in burnt and blood, the village screamed.
"This land bleeds beautifully," one commander said. "My name is Devon."
The other stepped forward, drawing his sword slowly, reverently. "And I am Herod."
Herod raised his blade. "Your village ends today."
Immediately he swung his blade at Zane's.
CLANG!
The impact shattered the ground beneath them, stone exploding into debris. Mana surged from Herod's body, dark, twisted, deliberate.
Zane felt it the it's mana.
This mana…it feels like Ethan's…but it's... Dangerous.
And filled with pure, murderous intent.
Herod flung Zane away with a single strike.
Zane flew through the air, body screaming in protest. He twisted mid-flight, boots scraping against stone as he skidded across the ground, barely stopping himself from crashing into a burning wall.
Before Zane could even steady his breath, the air split.
A blade flashed, too fast to see.
Herod struck again.
Zane barely raised his sword in time. The impact ripped through his arms, shattered his footing, and sent him crashing backward. His knees dug into the ground as he struggled to stand, chest screaming, vision blurring.
Zane, the strongest man Almsworth had ever produced, the one who had survived wars and massacres, the one whose flames once turned battlefields into legends, stood before Herod like an insect before a god.
Worthless, breakable and easily kickable.
Almsworth…
That was all his mind could replay.
Herod immediately moved. The blade tore across Zane's face, his left eye burst in red agony, darkness swallowing half his vision. Before the scream could leave his throat, steel pierced through his body.
Zane collapsed as blood pooled beneath him, warm… endless.
Herod grabbed his hair and lifted his head effortlessly, forcing his gaze toward the village.
The burning houses, crushed bodies and screaming mothers.
"Watch," Herod whispered, smiling. "Watch your village fall into ruin."
Devon raised his hand.....
Clouds spiraled violently as something massive tore through them. A colossal meteor descended, its shadow swallowing all of Almsworth, day turning into night in a heartbeat.
"No.... no.... !" Zane screamed, voice cracking, tears mixing with blood.
"You can't… please stop…!"
His hands trembled uselessly.
"Freya… Ethan… no…!"
Wills saw it and froze. His body refused to move. His mouth refused to open. His heart knew the truth before his mind could accept it.
This is the end. He thought.
The meteor fell.
Then... In an instance...
SLASH.
Lines of black light carved through the sky.
The meteor shattered, cleanly, Precise, Absolute. Massive fragments broke apart midair, crumbling into harmless debris that rained around the village instead of destroying it.
Silence consumed the battlefield.
Demons froze. Humans stared.
Even Herod's smile twitched.
A figure descended from the sky.
Black cloak fluttering like torn wings.
A dark blade resting loosely in one hand. Mana so dense it distorted the air itself.
The moon above shifted, bleeding red, mirroring the glow of the figure's eyes beneath the hood.