As Iscariot was going to his chamber he was stopped by Igor and Natalie. Angel just quickly glanced at them, chuckling a little seeing how the Champions truly looked without their armors. If he had not known better then he would say that they were simple commoners who somewhat managed to get inside the castle. Natalie was no different than most blond women he had met during his stay in towns and as for Igor, he had met many, many black haired men who usually tried to prove themselves and challenged them to battle. Those of course ended in a matter of seconds but he had to appreciate their courage to do that.

Albeit as much as he did not want to, he had to acknowledge their status as those so called "monster slayers" thus making them somewhat equal to him, he could not help but wonder what they had wanted from him.

- That is some nice golden spear- Igor said and while Iscariot had not felt any malice or even simple mockery from that he also did not expect it to be a simple admiration for his weapon. He let the pole rest on his left shoulder, the blade as far away from the humans as it was possible. The news about the demon being nearby caused him to be in a really good mood and he had not wanted to participate in any meaningless quarrels.

- Of course it is, now let us skip over that. What do you two really want from me?- he crossed his arms as he noticed that Rose seemed to be tense. Angel observed his stone face which could shatter at any moment. He knew this type. They tried to act as though but truly were as scared as anyone. Now what would cause him to act like that? The demon, him, or something completely else? Honestly he always thought of humans as stupid yet really intriguing creatures and antiques like that only confirmed him in those thoughts.

- I think it is finally time for you to tell us what your plan is. Do you simply want to take that demon head or what?- Igor tried to keep an eye contact with Iscariot at minimum. The fact that he easily towered over them was more than enough to make him uneasy, let alone those red eyes that could easily belong to a demon as they kept on staring right into his soul. He could only imagine what Victor felt when he had to work with an entire legion of beings like that.

- Don't worry your head over that, I made sure that my plan is simple enough for you to follow. Besides, you will learn everything at the meeting which I guess would be within an hour or two- he then pushed Igor aside- Oh and remember that curiosity is a first step to Hell- power then vanished on the corridor. This was one of the reasons why Igor had not liked angels all that much. They just felt so wrong, like in this case. Even though Iscariot's body had golden parts, he made little to no noise as he moved almost like a ghost. By the little smirk on Natalie's face but also a concern that painted itself on it he was sure that he was now paler than sheets.

Just as he was regaining his color, Victor and Johan joined them. Both of them were still in their armors and the former with a proud look on his face. It seemed like mobilization of the troops went well. Igor wasn't really sure how the captain managed to do it so fast, but he guessed that having an iron clad behemoth with you helped.

- What happened to you? You look like you have seen a ghost- the younger man said as he stopped beside the champions.

- I wish I had- thorn knight tried to force out a little laugh, yet it simply came out awkward.

- Let's just say that a certain angel called us stupid albeit in more polite manner- Natalie added- Oh, and on the meeting we will learn if we are anything more than meat shields or not

- As long as I will get some easy task then everything is fine by me- Victor said and Blacksmith nodded.

- And I hope I will get to fight against that bastard. I still have to make sure that he will never mess with us anymore

- I'm pretty sure that Iscariot will take all the fun for himself. But enough about that, how about we go outside? I would shoot some more dummies, besides we still have a good hour or two of free time- Typhoon then grabbed Igor and Victor, leading them outside with Johan following after them.

Just as Iscariot came into his chamber, he made sure to lock the door. While he had not expected any of the servants to bother him, Champions were a whole other story. Sitting on the bed, which was the only thing in the chamber; for his own wish of course, he carefully removed a part from his golden shoulder. There was something that has bothered him for quite some time and he wanted to make sure that he was not imagining things. Indeed he was not.

On the golden plate he held was rust. Not a lot of it but it was there. Or so he wanted to think it was rust, yet deep inside he knew what it truly was. No, he shook his head, it couldn't have been. It was nothing serious, just a common thing that came from neglecting all of that demonic blood that he used to be constantly covered in, an old habit he now tried to avoid. Surely it would go away soon. He was just needlessly stressing himself. He chuckled at that. Virtue promised himself to not spoil his fun and here he was, worrying about unimportant stuff when that demon was so close now.

He will cut off his head, and he is going to enjoy every damn second of it. And this time he will make an excuse for not being covered in blood. He will make sure that it will be everywhere. But that needed to wait just a little longer.

As Iscariot was dreaming about the approaching future, another angel has just woken up from a dream. The first thing he saw were cold, stone walls unfamiliar to him, at least from this side. Then he slowly got out of the bed which was slightly too small for him. Slowly making his way to the exit he checked his body, trying to remember how he even got there. Small cracks were present on his hands here and there, but it was nothing too serious. Last thing he remembered was a bright light and a demon. That's right! He fought against one, but he wasn't sure if he managed to kill him. And even if he did then the soul was probably left untouched. It could have been problematic.

Just as he opened the door, myriads of small hands wrapped themselves around him, nearly making him lose his balance. Alcadeias needed to kneel in order to not fall. Recovering from the slight shock he nearly slapped himself mentally. Of course the kids would have been worried about him.

- Alright kids, give Alcadeias some time to recover. Besides I have to talk with him, then you can play with him. Is that fine?- father Simon asked. All ten of the kids pouted but released the angel from the hug and the warrior in question just nodded. They returned to the room commonly used for treating the wounded.

- I am glad to see that you are doing fine- Simon closed the door and sat beside the angel- Mind telling me what happened exactly?

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

- As I was patrolling the area, I have stumbled upon a demon and what I guess could have been his companions and a summoner

- A samurai perhaps?

- Yes

- So Igor was right... Have you heard what they might plan? Or where they might be going?

- Sadly no, albeit I got to know the demon's name. Do you know any fiend by the name of Phantasm?- priest just closed his eyes and scratched his chin. He was mumbling but the angel could not make what he was saying.

- I do not recall even hearing of such demon. But then again not many demons have been, do I dare to say, "classified" so it is no big surprise

- This is troublesome- angel crossed his arms- Is there anything else you would want to know?

- No, but I would like to ask you to help Igor and Victor in Gniew. Of course if you feel well enough to do so

- I don't I really understand with what I can help them

- You see they have ventured there to inform king Leopold about that fiend and since they have stayed there I would guess that they are plotting something against it

- So I am supposed to help them with the potential fight against him? I guess I could try- Alcadeias stood up and went to the exit- But for now I guess that I should properly greet the kids- just as he opened the door, father Simon heard many kids already running to their favorite angel. Perhaps sending him for a demon hunt wouldn't be a good idea.

While Alcadeias was still deciding if to go, Iscariot already awaited for the champions in one of the greater chambers of Gniew. It was specially built for deliberations, meetings with bishops, archbishops, counts, dukes and whoever else had any urgency to speak with the king. After all, the great round table standing in the middle had met many various guests. And so he was one of them.

Virtue was casually glancing all over the chamber, occasionally his eyes stopped at the statues which stood in the corners. The entire room was a little too colorful for his tastes. Especially with all of those murals with the entire legacy of Leopold's family, going as far as to his great great grandparents.

Leopold and Vladislav were quietly discussing the details of angel's plan, but as long as it had not concerned him directly, Iscariot could care less. If the part of him killing Phantom still was there it was all that mattered.

Then at last the doors have opened and the servants brought forth the champions. They all sat on the opposite of the table to face the kings. Albeit they have only taken four sets out of many. Virtue guessed that there probably were more of them invited, but for some reasons they had not made it. He hadn't really minded that. Even that four was more than enough. And if everything will go fine, they all might even survive his plan. Which, considering the demon they were hunting was not a possible outcome, but there was no reason to stress them now. After everything is done, sure, maybe even during the battle. That is if he won't forget.

- Well then Virtue Iscariot, it is time to introduce the glorious champions to your plan- Leopold tried to speak with a calm voice to not alert the champions. He already knew the plan and was more than sure that neither of them would agree with that. Not even he wanted to proceed with that, but Iscariot kept on assuring him that is the only way which would not end in great bloodshed.

- Then allow me to keep it simple. What we are going to do is turn a town into a trap- at first there was a lack of reaction which angel guessed was from neither of them, still being sure they had heard him right. Then there was the uproar, albeit kept to rather civil levels due to the presence of the kings. Of course he had not even mentioned the lack of evacuation of the civilians. It would have given it all away. Demons were dumb but not that dumb. Even Phantom.

- Before you will crucify me, tell me any better ideas. I just want you to know that with what I came up with comes the least risk of failure and even collateral damages. A town at worst. But I guess if you want to send soldiers with no experience to death then that's fine with me- he had to admit that his answer was harsh, but there was no other way. Besides, a little bit of guilt never killed anyone so it was fine. And judging by the faces they made none of them had any better idea.

- So I see that there are no objections, right?- Iscariot waited for a while. When he was met with silence, he continued- Now we will need a lot of silver plates. We will cover a central area in town with them. Having dusted silver would also help albeit it isn't required

- And what will you do after the plate will be in their place?- Igor asked.

- Then I will engage the demon. Try to get as close to the plates as possible. After that, well- while virtue's mask showed no emotions, everyone gathered could tell that he had smiled- It will be a pure pleasure from that point

- It is a nice plan, but what about his summoner?- this time Natalie took voice.

- That's your job. Now if you excuse me, I need to see how big the town is- after that Iscariot stood up and exited the room. Igor wanted to say something, but the silent plea in Leopold's eyes made him stop and just agree to the angel's plan. He swore that even if one civilian will die then the angel will have to learn to fly without his wings.

Virtue as a blinding string of light came above the Potok. From what he saw it was a medium sized town. A cluster of wooden buildings on the outskirts and stone ones closer to the center. They have rested on a rather small hill surrounded by a river. But that wasn't important right now. Staying in the air he was sure that he felt an aura that belonged to a demon. Its sharp, sulfur-like scent that fit those beasts. Albeit its sulfur part was rather weak. Much more prominent was the much more pleasant smell of elderberry. Perhaps it was like that in order to hide itself. Otherwise the angel had no other idea why a demon would have its aura smell like that. Any other would smell also like fire, blood or even dirt. But that had not mattered to him. Demon was a demon and after his job he would deal with that one too.

Noticing a bright, orange light forming in the town he descended from the sky to accompany the champions and soldiers. Their sudden appearance had caused an uproar, but the coldness that emitted from Iscariot made townsfolk quickly return to what they were doing before.

- Virtue Iscariot- one of the soldiers saluted. Judging by all of the ornaments on his armor probably someone of the higher rank- We have brought all of the twenty three silver plates from the armory. More are estimated to come in the following days

- Great, what about the sand?- confusion painted on the soldier's face made the angel groan in annoyance. Had he really had to tell them everything. For him it was more than obvious to cover the plates. Phantom might have been dumb, but a little bit of thought put into a plan wouldn't hurt. He quickly ordered him to go and told him to bring at least seven sacks of sand. In the meantime as the champions and soldiers put down the plates and explained everything to townsfolk he took a stroll through Potok just in case there was something worth using in his plan.

After what felt like an hour he found nothing valuable. Even that elderberry aura seemed to grow weaker with each passing second. Perhaps those were some remains of a demon only just briefly passed by. But there was one thing that intrigued him. For a moment he felt another aura. Yet it was specific to say at least. It was at one place then a few steps later it completely vanished only to reappear a few meters from the original point and then vanished again.

Iscariot laughed slightly. He couldn't believe his luck. If neither of those demons left the town he could even possibly kill three in a matter of days if not just outright after killing Phantom. Longinus longed for blood and so did he. Ah, if only he could kill them right now. But the main dish was still away so he needed to wait just a little longer.

- Just you wait snake, just you wait- Iscariot unfolded his wings and took off to the sky in order to spread his aura even if just by a little bit.