Donovan, with Charla and the guards by his side, dashed through the blood-stained castle hall. His eyes shifted around the hall, finding even more of the twisted and bloodied corpses of the succubi and castle guards left from the war waged. "This is bad." He thought. "We need to get to Kalika and fast!"
He drew his focus back on the path and stopped, realizing the paths were now diverging. We have to get to that balcony." He turned to Charla, then the contract that he tucked back into his pocket. "Perhaps I can-."
Steps echoed through the halls. From both sides, succubi with bloodied hoods armed with axes, spears, and swords, marched with Zorbians dark puppets behind them. The succubi chased at once, only for an earth wall to suddenly erupt before them, blocking assault on Donovan and his group.
The guards by Donovan's side prepared their magic, and Donovan his pipe. "Damn it! We don't have time for this!" He glanced back down the hall they came from, hearing an uproar of footsteps headed their way."
"Human!"
Donovan froze, then glanced back at one of the grey-haired guards who called him. "
"
********
Biltrix, with a growing seriousness, leered from side to side at the black, sludgy walls.
"Psst! Biltrix!" Fricius whispered. ""
Biltrix glared back. "
Biltrix glanced at Kalika, who kept her eyes to the front. "
"
Biltrix glanced to the side, discovering Cyrus by them. Irritated, he groaned and turned his gaze back to Kalika. "
"
"
"
"
" " ""
Kalika gave a side glance at Cyrus and Biltrix before turning the corner and seeing a wide doorway with a buzzing and crackling energy on the other side. "Ugh. Finally." Kalika blurted.
Her eyes drifted from the door to the bloodied bodies still visible within the black sludge. Undeterred, Kalika entered, discovering an apple-sized black sphere surrounded by a dark mist and encased within a translucent blue barrier, sitting in the very center of the chamber.
Above the guarded sphere, a strange blade pillar hung over the barrier, cracked, deteriorated, and worn away like a relic even more ancient than the room itself.
"So this is it, huh?" Kalika approached even closer to the translucent barrier and reached her hands.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Cyrus warned. From behind the elders, he took several hands from one of the dead guards and threw them within that barrier. In seconds, it disintegrated to nothing. "Records stated that the mist eats away at flesh, metal, and even magic."
"So if you step in here, it kills you?" Kalika asked.
"Yes, but I have a few ideas on how we can work around this." Cyrus, with a single drop of his blood, froze the elders in place, then approached Kalika.
The elder demons darted their glares and sported their ugly mugs as Cyrus ignored them, pushing past them and leaving the puppets to guard them.
Biltrix exchanged a glance with the others locked on Cyrus, and watched as he shifted through his pouch and pulled a piece of parchment.
Kalika eyed the parchment, but turned away, uninterested.
"So, what are these so-called options you have?"
"The first to use a Zorbian contract to collect the sphere," Cyrus said.
Kalika raised a brow as he continued to explain.
"There's a legend among these demons even older than humans. That this world is the body of Zorbian himself, and for a millennium, it's believed that this very core was that dead god's soul. So if that legend is true, this legend is true, this contract can't be destroyed."
Cyrus inserted a white parchment and watched as it disintegrated. Shortly after, he pulled a black parchment doing the same, and to his own surprise, the parchment stayed intact. He smiled and pulled the paper out. "Truly fascinating. If it were up to me, I would have studied such a thing ages ago." With envy, he hovered his hands over the barrier. "By then I would've uncovered all its secrets too."
Feeling a strange energy, Cyrus ceased, then turned back to the paper. To his shock, a darkness erupted from the paper, forcing his hands off it.
The magic within the paper continued to grow stronger and stronger. Eventually, the energy subsided, leaving Cyrus even more befuddled as he stared at the parchment.
"What was that about?" Kalika asked.
"I'm not sure, but the paper is still intact…."
"Hmm… What was your name again, old guy?"
Cyrus glanced. "Me? I'm Cyrus, an alchemist of the previous king."
An air of recognition flashed in Kalika's eye. "Cyrus? Oh yeah. You're that alchemist demon Bjorn was looking for. Zelak told me that Donovan found you strolling in the city."
"D-Donovan? You know that human?"
"Of course. That idiot helped me out back when that bastard Rakon was playing games with me again… He seems to be a good guy with a good heart, just like the heroes, but… All of this… It's just a dream. One that I'll wake up from soon."
"Dream? You're not making any sense."
"Neither does this dream, nor everyone in it. Once I wake up, I'll be with Father again. And with Lily, before she turned into a demon. And before I-" Kalika turned her gaze to the sphere in the middle of the chamber, feeling an invisible call from it.
A cold sweat ran down the side of Cyrus's face, unsure what to think of Kalika. "This man… Donovan, you wouldn't happen to have a contract with this man, do you?"
"What's it to you?"
"I'm curious. I wasn't expecting the man to friend with another demon."
"Demon? Who the hell are you calling a demon!?"
Suddenly, Kalika's head flew. Cyrus, stunned, glanced, discovering Krason with his red-stained axe, poised and ready to strike, along with the other elder. "Impossible! They broke free!?"
Fire and wind magic exploded, sending the puppets flying and burning as
Biltrix, with a calm glare, conjured his red-stained sword and, along with the other elders. " Cyrus, Alarm Splashed his blood on the ground as Krason leapt, freezing everyone in place.
" " A blood spike sprang just beneath Cyrus.
" Unfrozen, Krason slammed his axe, shattering the ground as Cyrus jumped out of the way.
Cautiously, Cyrus scanned the room, seeing the elders prepared to attack him all at once. He backed himself into the wall of the round chamber, with his mind running a million miles an hour.
Determined, he prepared blood in his hands, but to his and the elders' shock, Kalika slumped back up and spoke.
"Who the hell killed me!?"
Stunned, everyone slowly turned to find Kalika, annoyed and snarling at the group.
"She's alive?" Cyrus uttered.
Undeterred, Krason cut through again, slicing through her waist. " His disbelief soon turned into utter shock. He and everyone watched as the blood receded into Kalika. And before she even drew breath, she grabbed the demon's axe with a hand that convulsed violently. Slowly, she stood to her knees, then her feet as she raised her head.
" Kalika Dodged. She conjured her dagger and clashed with the elder. " " In an instant, Kalika repealed the demon, shocking him.
" Fire and wind magic rippled toward Kalika like a vortex of destruction.
Krason jumped out of the way, and Kalika, who was posing with a dagger, swung.
Her dagger, newly cloaked in a dark energy, sliced through the magic, striking Pellock in the shoulder.
" A pain scream echoes in the chamber, quickly silenced with a dagger to the neck. Biltrix could only look back in stunned silence. " Biltrix and the other gritted their teeth and, ignoring this newfound loss, attacked Kalika at once.
Swords slashed, fireballs hurled, and axes cracked through the air in a coordinated sequence designed to ensnare Kalika in their claws.
Biltrix timing attack, threw his blood to the ground, a shifting wave of blood spikes, in the direction of Kalika's dodge, and trapping her within Jaf's ambush
Like thunder, He smited her with his hammer, destroying head and body. "" He gasped, shocked to see her arms grabbed the handle of the hammer and tossed the demons aside.
Fricius the blind demon, with his sword, zipped past his comrades and sliced her arm off. " Kalika, with her destroyed body, dodged the second attack and circled the chamber floors, forcing the elders to pursue.
Fricius, keeping up, swiped and swung at Kalika, attempting to trip her as she completely revived,
Completely resurrected, Kalika glared at the blind demon and turned to attack, only for spikes of blood to shoot from the ground, separating the two.
"Tch!" She turned her glare towards Biltrix, who returned the same sentiments. From behind him, Borth Farn and Gelun rushed past with spears of blood in their hands. The two lunged at Kalika, stabbing the ground and air alike, as Kalika clashed and dodged their attacks.
Sensing an attack from Behind, Kalika jumped, dodging Krason's axe, once again.
Krason's face said it all to Kalika. He was unwilling to give, just like the other elders in the room.
She landed back on the ground, kneeling, and took a deep breath.
Using this moment, Farn and Gelun lunged back into the fray, with spears ready to skewer, and pierced right through her. Unexpectedly, Kalika raised her left arm filled with a tiny dark ball and shot it into Farn.
The dark miasma struck his body, washing over and cloaking it in a dark fire.
"Farn!!" Gelun looked from the dying, screaming Farn to Kalika, who prepared another dark ball in her hand.
"Go to hell."' Krason. Once again, slice her head from her shoulder. However, the magic shot from her hands struck Jaf's hammer.
Acting fast, Jaf threw his hammer to the side, forced to watch as it burned with fiery intensity.
"Quick!! Throw her in the barrier!" Biltrix ordered.
Acting on his order, Jaf and Gelun quickly grabbed Kalika's headless body by the shoulder and threw her into the barrier.
Krason did the same with her head, tossing it with her body.
Too stunned by the display of force, Cyrus could only watch on as they threw her into the barrier.
" However, they soon paled as they watched Kalika, unaffected, stand up, revived. Even Cyrus stood in shock, unsure what to make of what they were witnessing.
Fully awake, Kalika looked at the five remaining elders, unamused.
Jaf slowly approached the barrier in utter bewilderment. " Kalika could only sigh in annoyance. " Seeing Kalika's Approach, Jaf turned and moved, but froze in place instead. "What the-" Like Jaf, Gelun, Krason, and Fricius stood Frozen.
" "NOOO–!"
TTZCCHHH
Jaf's face and body turned into chunks of ash that flew off and disintegrated in the air. Kalika chuckled, then broke into laughter as she saw the demon become nothing. Seconds later, Biltrix sent waves of blood spikes at Cyrus, breaking his control of frozen demons.
" Krason, not wasting, jumped over Cyrus, ready to smite him. But from the corner of his eyes, a black magic hurled his way, striking the side of his head, and burning it to nothing as the body fell limp next to Cyrus.
Fricius followed behind with a shot in the chest and another in the head as Kalika continued to laugh on in complete amusement.
Biltrix, stunned, watched as Kalika laughed from inside the barrier, preparing a new ball of dark magic.
She launched it straight at Gelun, who dodged.
"This damn woman! Why is it she can't die? She's just like that human woman Rakon's talked about! It could be that she's…."
Seeing that she had prepared another magic, Biltrix sent a wave of his blood spikes at Kalika, but to no avail. "Fine if we can't get to you, then stay trapped there forever!!>"
Controlling his blood spikes, Biltrix surrounded the barrier with his blood magic, trapping Kalika within that barrier.
Biltrix took deep breaths, unsure if they truly trapped Kalika. "Hey, Gelun-!!" To Biltrix's shock, Gelun fell, his head fresh with a round hole through it, with Cyrus standing over him.
"I remember that name now." Cyrus thought. "A woman said to be unkillable with even the most sure of methods: Kalika Archelion, the princess of the fallen nation above." Cyrus clenched his teeth in frustration. "Did Lucius use his magic on her too!?"
With his sword ready to strike, Biltrix lunged at Cyrus with fury, taking him by surprise. However, from the cracks of the blood spikes, Kalika's dagger flew, Biltrix in the neck.
The blood spikes immediately dissipated, allowing Kalika to leave and approach Biltrix.
Still alive, Biltrix gazed up at Kalika, still gasping for breath.
Without reservations, Kalika knelt down and tore her dagger from the demon's neck, watching as he slowly died in front of her.
"If only you were that demonic sister of mine. Or even Rakon. But you just had to be an old man.
"Kalika," Cyrus called.
"Hmm?"
"Tell me honestly. Were you once… human?"
Kalika glared at Cyrus menacingly. She stood and startled the demon. "What the hell are you talking about? Of course, I'm human. Now, if you excuse me, Zorbian is calling me. Apparently, he wants me eat that black thing now."
"Z…Zorbian?" The monocles from Cyrus slipped off completely, shattering on the ground.
Kalika reached, re-entered the barrier, but stopped, hearing a familiar voice.
"Hmm?" Kalika turned to the door she entered from, hearing steps coming from outside. An unexpected call of her name swayed from Zorbian's voice that urged her to hurry, and within seconds of hearing her name once more, she was at a loss for words as a familiar man appeared before her. "D... Donovan?"