Inner Corridor- Helen

Dashing through an empty hallway, with chandeliers hanging from above, I glanced at the knights behind me.

While they were all showing sign of exhaustion from the constant movement and combat, they were still holding strong.

It was to be expected since they were the knights that I have gone through everything together with. They were my servants, friends, companions, and amongst them was Chloe who I considered as my family.

Looking at them, I was glad that there haven’t been any casualties. Even though we knew that death could overtake us at any moment, and that a knight must always walk side by side with death, it still hurts to lose a close companion.

The sisterhood that we have formed, I did not want to see it break apart. I didn’t want anyone to die. It was idealistic of me, but I continued to pray that this would go smoothly.

If we did not have Mikhail, maybe we would have not gotten this far.

As we progressed towards the demon lord’s room, the security and amount of demon present grew to be far too overwhelming for Mikhail to handle alone and most of us had to fight our own battle.

Not only that, since we started, there has yet been a moment of rest, and while everyone was tired, they did not show any sign of stopping.

There was a battle raging outside the castle walls. Many of these soldiers were dying under my command. With every second that passes, more and more people are will die. In order to save as many as we can, we must quickly slay the demon lord.

Mikhail, who was ahead, was sweating profusely.

With more enemies, there were more instances where we nearly gave away our position and caused the remaining guards to swarm us.

Once we made it into an empty room with a few marble statues depicting the demon lord and the Goddess of Darkness, two rows of Corinthian columns that supports the ceiling, and glass chandeliers hanging above us, lighting up the room, I decided to stop.

“That’s enough everyone,” I ordered, “let us stop for a moment and rest up for a little bit. If you all push yourself too hard, it will not do us any good-”

Suddenly, I felt a cold breeze against my body. It caused my entire body to shudder as if a bucket of water had been poured over my body.

My mind immediately screamed of danger, but my body felt petrified.

Before I could react, Mikhail turned back swiftly and pushed me aside.

As my vision blurred, I watched as Mikhail’s arm was sliced off his body.

The others, noticing the drowning malice that the air carried, immediately surrounded me in a protective formation.

Mikhail, who lost his arm, drew his sword from his waist.

“To think that rats have infiltrated the castle,” a voice drifting within the hall said in contempt, “I must praise your effort for getting this far undetected, but this little game will now be coming to an end.”

Mikhail clicked his tongue, “be careful, he’s a dangerous one.”

Even though he was bleeding profusely, he did not bother with his injury.

When his arm was sliced off his shoulder, he did not even flinch as he swung his feet at the general direction that the invisible blade of wind came from.

I immediately stood up and looked helplessly at my sword which had been dropped. It was too far away for me to pick up.

The wind began to blow once more.

Numerous wounds began to appear on Mikhail’s body as he stood silently, enduring every single attack without faltering for even a second.

His sword was held in front of him, yet he did not swing it even once.

It baffling to watch.

“If you are not going to do anything, then die!” The voice shouted, showing a hint of impatient.

Mikhail’s eyes sharpened into that of a blade and immediately swung his sword down.

Just as everyone thought that he had simply swung at the air, there was a disruptive explosion of force that was released instantly from his sword.  

It stopped against a wall of wind that had instantly formed.

The wind began to gather around underneath the wind barrier, and a translucent figure appeared in front of Mikhail.

Just for a moment, it resembled a shady, constantly changing demon figure, but just as it appeared, it immediately vanished.

“You are a danger one as well,” the demon said, not bothering to attack as its voice drifted to the top corner of the room, “but, something tells me that you are not a human.”

Even though he did not attack us, one by one, the chandeliers above were unlit.

Helplessly to retaliate, we watched in horror.  

“…” Mikhail lowered his sword.

He was regaining his breath.

Once the room was completely pitch black, the wind demon began attacking Mikhail once again.

Their exchange lasted for a few minutes with a standstill. The wind demon was no longer able to land a blow on Mikhail, but Mikhail was unable to land his attacks due to the wind barrier that would appear the moment his sword got close. 

“This smell, you are… an incubus,” the voice muttered, “but your appearance…”

Mikhail drew his sword back, “this is annoying but you will have to die.”

“I see, so you are the reason that they’ve decided to attack us. I thought it was strange that the humans would attack us when the demon lord, Valefor was farther out than us and acknowledged as the lowest rank. But, if you think you can kill my master, you are overestimating yourself,” the demon filled the hall with laughter, “for threatening me with death, and for betraying your own race, I will tear you apart limb by limb!”

Stepping back, he continued to swing his sword at the air.

Even though it seemed like he was randomly swinging his sword, they all connected with the wind demon’s attack.

The backlash from their battle was huge, and having been caught in it, everyone stared helplessly at their situation. The demon was not our opponent, everyone knew that.

It was something beyond what we could comprehend.

Everything around the two of them were destroyed. The tall pillars that had surrounded them were nothing but blocks and pieces of marble when caught in their fight while the floor was covered in deep trenches formed from their attacks.

Suddenly, a stray wind blade that the demon released struck one of the knights on our left flank.

Whether it was out of random, or a trick to have Mikhail look away from the wind demon and break his concentration, I was unsure of. But, it marked the beginning of a massacre.

The armor that she wore was ineffective against such destructive power, and her upper body slide down her lower body as she was cut clean in half from the waist.

There was a long moment of silence before the girls around her screamed in horror.

Her closest friend, watching blankly, immediately turned to the demon.

The room, filled with unrest, immediately descended into a battlefield.

“Die you monster!” Her closest friend shouted, casting a spell.

“Wait, don’t-” Mikhail turned around and shouted hurriedly.

Unfortunately, it was a second too late.

From her magic circle, a giant fireball formed.

Catching the attention of the wind demon, its presence completely vanished.

Immediately after, a gust of wind in the shape of a crescent blade swept through, slicing the fireball in half, causing it to explode.

The conjurer was sliced in half, while those around her were engulfed in flame.

Having stood behind her, my body was splattered with her blood.

Chloe stepped in front of me and slashed at the invisible blade, shattering it before it could cut me. I saw death for a moment reaching out towards me.

As I watched her body collapse into halves, my body began trembling.

Horrified, I stepped back only to lose my balance and collapsing onto the ground.

I couldn’t feel an ounce of strength coming from my legs.

No matter how horrifying it was, no matter how much I wanted to look away, my eyes would not listen. It was like staring into the bottomless pit of the abyss, waiting for the horror underneath to surface and drag me into the darkness. I wanted to scream, but nothing would come out. It was as if I was silently being strangled by fear itself. Her innards seeped out from between the space that her body had split apart.

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Her face was contorted by horror and fear. It was a miserable look of a person scared of death.

The others, seeing the tragic fate of their companions, all began to cast their own spells in a hurry. They were overtaken by fear of sharing her fate and anger for their fallen companion.

The wind swept right through and more began to fall into a bloody mess. Countless spells were sent flying recklessly without an actual aim.

Mikhail, who most had casted their spells toward thinking the monster was close to his proximity, was caught in their spells and was sent tumbling as his body was impaled by shards of ice, burned by multiple fireballs, and struck by fragments of sharp rocks.

Amongst the explosion, his body flew out and crashed against a marble column, forming cracks at the point of impact. His wounds were further opened from the impact, and with a cough of blood, he collapsed onto the ground. The pillar was coated in his blood.

His body became motionless as a pool of blood formed under him.

“Annoying, you are all annoying!” The voice belonging to the wind shouted.

Within the room, a maelstrom of wind rushed from every corner of the room onto the center point where it emerged. The beast began to take form at the eye of the whirlwind.

With a pair of gigantic claws twice its size, a lower body spiraling about like a whirlwind, and the upper body resembling that of a gargoyle with bat-like wings, the wind demon released an ear wrenching screech.

Struck by its voice, those who were casting their spells were disrupted and was caught in the backlash of mental damage from failing to conjure their spells or had their spells explode in front of them.

The knights were in a state of chaos with everyone acting separately.

Since we were all disorientated by the chaos that had unfold, we were easy targets for the wind demon, and wherever the monster struck, more lives disappear.

With the hall dyed in the blood of my companions, our group fell into the pit of despair. Everyone was panicking. When faced with death, it was only reasonable that they would act in such way. It was our first battle against a malicious demon who even Mikhail had trouble with.

This is what it must feel, I thought, remembering the events that took place moments ago. We were being slaughtered like the demons that Mikhail had killed previously.

The disparity of strength between the demon and us were far too big to fill.

Blades of wind began to form from all direction, bombarding our general position.

Chloe appeared in front of me amidst the chaos. 

Even though everyone was trying to protect themselves or recklessly attack a monster that was virtually invisible, Chloe did not hesitate to cover for me.

“My lady, it’s impossible to defeat this monster,” Chloe said calmly, “the best option now is for you to retreat.”

Faced with the impossible, it seemed illogical to continue fighting any further.

Yet, everyone was still fighting desperately.

“No, I won’t leave when everyone is still fighting,” I replied, picking up a bloodied sword from the ground whom owner was sliced into eight pieces, “if we cannot kill him, we won’t be able to proceed. If that happens, many more people will die.”

“My lady, if we call for the hidden groups to advance, then our-”

“Chloe, you don’t have to worry about me,” I replied, desperately holding back the fear I felt within my heart from pouring out, “at this time, we should be thinking of a way to defeat this monster, not cowardly running with our tail behind our back.”

Even though I had suggested that, the battle was growing worse by the seconds.

The majority of the knights that were present were either killed or gravely injured.

The people that I had known since I was a child, the servants that trained by my side, the friends that I have made through enduring terrible experiences with, the friends that I had made countless bonds with, were reduced into piles of indistinguishable meat and flesh.

Without a sign of damage dealt to the monster, we were drawn into a helpless situation.

*****

In a matter of minutes, within the room riddled with corpses, only nine of the twenty-five of us were left. 

After a while, the wind demon dispersed its body and began tormenting us separately in amusement.

One by one, the knights that he targeted would be torn into a thousand pieces from a storm of wind. They were cut with precision in order to avoid hitting a vital.

From just looking at it, we could see that it was testing how far it could go before the person it tormented would die.

It was a revolting game that it played.

Whenever the creature spoke, his voice would come from a different direction then where it was last heard, and whenever he struck, it was from another direction from where they faced.

Without a target, it was impossible to land any sort of offensive spells, and without a body to slice at, our weapons were useless.

We did not know how Mikhail was able to locate him, but at this point, it wouldn’t mean anything if we knew. There was nothing we can do.

Having lost my arm that held the sword that I had picked up, I sat on the ground, staring blankly as everyone around me die. The pain that I felt from having lost my arm was nothing like the anger and frustration I felt as I watched my servants, my friends, my family perish one by one with death worse than the previous.

I looked at Mikhail, hoping that he would stand up and do something about the situation, but no matter how much I wished for it, he did not show any sign of waking up.

Mikhail, who was laying on the floor, didn’t seem to be alive. Ever since he was caught in our spells, it would be impossible for him to be fine. At most, I hoped that he was just unconscious or badly injured.

Having given up on living after witnessing the nightmare before me unfold, I began to ponder within my delirious head.

If I died, I knew that I would have to apologize to him.

If he gives me that smirk expression he always wears on his face when we meet again, even if I do feel sorry, I might not say it.

It was while I was thinking about how I would apologize to Mikhail when Chloe came into view.

Chloe, who managed to dodge a few of his attacks out of luck perhaps, was in no better condition as Mikhail.

Her armor was completely destroyed. Even with her undergarment revealed, and her flesh sliced up in multiple location, she continued to fight in front of me. Her breathing was heavy and her face was paled like a corpse.

From her condition, I knew that she would not last for much longer.

I wanted to apologize to her, to tell her to run away. At least someone should live.

“Ch-Chloe, ru… run away,” I muttered, using the remainder of my strength to speak.

Chloe turned around, and having been distracted by me, she was struck in the back.

I gasped in horror. What have I done…

Her body collapsed onto mine.

As I held her, with dilated eyes staring off into the distance, I felt her blood pouring from the deep cut that had been inflicted on her back. Her body was growing colder and colder by the seconds.

“Thank… you… for letting me be by your… side,” Chloe muttered weakly.

With Chloe in my arm, I closed my eyes and awaited my death.

“For your offense, I will send you all to your death,” the voice taunted, “now, who shall be the next to die?”

Even with my eyes closed, I could hear the miserable screams of those struck down.

Then, everything became silent.