The tall demon was adorned in a scale armor that featured bursts of rugged, brown fur at the joints of his steel bracers and just above his greaves. What looked like a scarf of braided blonde human hair was wound around his neck, pairing beautifully with his pale, yellow skin.
The demon was rather handsome. He had sharp features on his face that were all nearly human-like except for two small extra eyes on either side of his face. His long, dark hair cast a shadow over his face and as he looked from the hulking warrior to Arlosse, his fury was unmistakable.
The great, bloody battle axe in his hand was suddenly suffused by a raging crimson tide of energy the likes of which the Incarnate had yet to see on any demon, much less a weapon.
“What is going on here, hybrid?” he said in a sharp tone, his blood-red eyes constricting on Arlosse’s figure. “I desperately wish, for your sake, things are not as they appear.”
Arlosse stammered. He wanted to speak and quickly explain, but something about this tall demon restricted him. His skin wriggled violently in warning, but in a sort of way it had never done before. His blood seemed to pool to his three hearts, making him freeze.
Unconsciously, or perhaps consciously, he used the Host Guide to measure the prowess of the tall demon.
===
Name : Prevron Garldo
Race : Flame-heart Demon
---
STR : 56
AGI : 43
END : 41
---
Spirit Essence : 495
===
Those attributes…
Flame-heart Demon…
Dear heavens...!
The light of Reform vanished from Arlosse’s hand.
“Hmm. It seems I wasn’t mistaken after all,” the demon said and he raised his axe. “Traitor.”
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Arlosse took a sharp breath.
This was bad. Somehow, he couldn’t move.
He was surely going to die.
SHIIICK!
There was the sound of ripping flesh and then a roar of agony. A ghostly blade had stabbed into the flesh of the demon before Arlosse. The hulking human warrior on the ground seemed to have manifested the blade, but he didn’t seem capable of a meaningful follow up as he remained lying down. The tall demon growled and turned to face the hulking warrior with immense hatred.
The hulking warrior didn’t meet his nasty gaze, however.
He simply looked in Arlosse’s direction and cried, “Go!”
The Hollow Demonling wasn’t sure if he meant him or the horse, but it might have been the latter because the white horse whinnied mournfully and forced itself to stand.
The tall demon raised his axe and plunged it ruthlessly into the hulking human warrior’s chest. Blood splattered and the sound of gurgling agony came from the warrior. The white horse neighed loudly, a dark look in its eyes.
The hulking warrior gripped the axe digging into him as he took short, rapid breaths, but he kept staring in Arlosse’s direction, at his loyal steed.
“Go…” he said softly and his body suddenly turned radiant, greyish Spirit Essence wafting from it like a bunch of bulbous globes of light.
Arlosse instantly knew that something explosively catastrophic was about to happen, as did the tall demon whose face turned paler than normal.
The Incarnate felt a sharp tug from behind; his dirty, burnt tunic was dragged backward, faster than the wind, and he found himself rapidly leaving the scene with heavy gallops sounding beside him.
BOOOM!
A powerful detonation ensued in Arlosse’s vision, cocking up dust, bringing immense heat, and crushing the ground hollow. He had no idea what the hulking human warrior had done, but he was sure he wouldn’t have survived it if he had stayed in range.
Goodness…
Did that tall, scary demon survive though? The dust and heavy mirage hid the facts.
The white horse galloped for what seemed like an eternity, tramping human and demon alike as it went. It must have crossed nearly two kilometers across the dry lands before coming to a halt and dropping Arlosse on the ground with very little care.
The Demonling rose and looked behind him. The white horse had plopped on the hot, rocky ground, and in its eyes was a terrible, furious light.
Arlosse had no words.
What was he to make of this situation?
Tearing himself from his reverie, he quickly assessed the surroundings.
There were a lot of corpses and not many living creatures too close by. Of course, he spotted a few demons racing after humans from behind the many rocky protrusions lifting from the ground.
‘When does this end?’ Arlosse thought to himself before realizing the irony in that question. He knew more than most when it ended: It never did. War had no end.
He turned back to the horse. It huffed angrily, bursts of chill snorting from its nostrils.
There was a strange human element to its emotion. It was gnashing its teeth, half of which were missing. Evidently, it was mourning, but it had shown enough awareness and intelligence to run and drag Arlosse away from the blast radius of the hulking warrior’s sacrificial attack before.
“Uh…” Arlosse said as he drew closer to the horse.
The creature immediately pierced him with a wrathful look. There were no bits of loyalty in those eyes. Of course, Arlosse expected that.
“Look. There are still a lot of enemies about. We have to find a place to hide for a bit. I’ll heal you up then,” he said.
The horse snorted and looked away. He seemed to not heed Arlosse’s words at first, but then he started to get up only to drop to the ground, grunting in pain.
“I’ll carry you for now,” Arlosse immediately proposed. He was confident he would be able to carry the horse despite it looking as though it weighed a ton and a half; it was also quite broad and tall, which would make it difficult for any man, nomatter how strong, to carry it.
A few moments later, Arlosse heaved the white horse over his head, his feet sinking slightly into the sun-baked ground. He started running as fast as he could away from the nearing demons and humans. He didn’t intend to run too far as that would only lead him towards other enemies.
His goal was to find a stone pillar that worked as a blind spot for most of the fighting that remained. He could then settle there and take a breather while killing his pursuers silently.
It didn’t take long for Arlosse to find a semi-suitable pillar. Quite frankly, he hadn’t wanted to continue lugging the white horse any longer in the wretched heat. He dropped the horse firmly behind the four-meter-wide pillar and plopped to the ground, panting.
The horse whinnied, a cloud of frost leaving its mouth. Arlosse gave it an appraising look.
“There’s a lot of demons still following us. I’ll deal with them and then…” Arlosse had begun, but was forced to a stop.
He noticed that there was a hollow in the pillar and part of a greave was poking out of it, trembling vehemently.
There was someone in there!
Arlosse drew the Fickle Viper and hurried towards the hole, the sword brandished before him.
Perhaps sensing his decisive approach, a human figure immediately popped out of the hole and dived to his knees, begging desperately.
“Please! Please! Don’t kill me! I’ll do anything!”