Lirikah felt a shiver down his spine. it was the first time in a very long time that he had felt such a deep and primal fear, demons in the first place were a race that was supposed to be feared and not the other way around.

And yet... the thing that had wiped out the advance force that was sent to retrieve the enshrined Holy Blade was something that could make even a dragon tremble. The control of blood he showed was something not even the ancient vampires could replicate.

'Is this another one of the human's experiments?' He wondered as he used the enchanted spyglass to watch the red-haired reaper as he constantly shifted his view away from the golden-haired human. 'Could he have felt my presence?'

Lirikah thought he could feel cold sweat form on his brow. He was scared enough to feel like running right there and then, sure, demons were usually prideful beings, but they still knew to value their own lives than anything else, especially Lirikah, it was the reason he was able to become as strong as he was now.

Then again... maybe he had become a little bit more ambitious than the others of his race. There was something deep inside him, a primal desire, that made him want to kill the monster before him. A test of his own acquired strength that has been honed for decades.

'You crazy bastard!' He cursed himself internally, but couldn't stop the nervous grin from appearing on his face as he took his blade.

He had long been planning his attack, the only thing left was to initiate it. 

Through the spyglass, he searched for an opening to strike. "The forest, once they... huh?!"

Lirikah's eyes widened as his two targets disappeared, the only thing left in their place was a trail of rising black smoke, no, it actually seemed closer to mist.

Something inside the demon just clicked and before he knew it, he was already running the opposite direction. He couldn't stop his own body as all his senses kicked in for self-preservation.

The surroundings started to darken into nothingness as if he was waking up from a dream. The air in his lungs was cold and the feeling in his limbs started to numb, it seemed as if he ran for an eternity but still didn't feel as if he had moved from his position, soon his entire vision was drowned in nothing but darkness, his body completely void of any feeling. 

A realization came to him then...

You can't outrun death.

= 0 = 0 = 0 =

Esio's senses blared as he felt danger approach, he immediately began erecting a dome of blood that surrounded him and the girl. It was halfway complete before suddenly breaking apart and evaporating into red smoke.

Black mist that had the silhouette of a man suddenly lunged at the girl beside him. 

"Shit!" Esio cursed as he dashed in between the two, but the mist simply shifted out of his way.

It was only for an instant but he saw a hand appear out of the mist with a black dagger that struck out towards the girl. As fast as he could manage, Esio pulled the girl towards him and spun effectively switching places with her. His body moved on instinct and he threw a kick towards the mist.

There was no impact or anything like that and Esio only found himself upside down and several dozens of meters in the air.

Below him, mist surrounded the girl. He cursed himself and made a thin platform of blood for his feet and kicked-off to accelerate his descent. 

A familiar figure appeared out of the mist. "Stop!," Esio cried out. 

Forming long curved blades out of his own blood he twisted in the air as he rocketed downwards.

There was a sharp clang as his blades struck something solid, shockwaves enough to split the ground below in two. Between the fingers of Gabriel, Shadow Walker, one of the Twelve, his blades remained stuck, no amount of his strength would have allowed him to pry it away.

The black mist suddenly disappeared, flowing towards the Shadow Walker's chest as his body fully formed. There was a loud snap as he broke the blood blades between his fingers.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Shit!" Esio cursed as he jumped away, feeling the killing intent that was raging towards him like a tsunami. Not even being able to launch from the ground, he felt something grab his collar before suddenly accelerating backward at an imaginable speed.

The world turned into a blur and pain assaulted him as he was slammed down on the rocky ground and dragged like a ragdoll.

Esio grunted as his entire body was used to cut through rock at a speed he couldn't even gauge, it was enough to break through his natural defenses and with his head taking the brunt of the impacts, he would be unconscious before long.

Gritting his teeth he tried to grab the arm on his collar, trying to somehow escape the vice grip of his superior, only for his hands to phase through a cold black mist.

Just when his vision started going dark, Esio felt the air wrap around him before slamming back down into the dirt. He was on the edges of unconsciousness and unable to move his limbs. 

In front of him was a man, towering over him by over two heads length, long black hair tied into a warriors tail dancing in the wind with the tips seeming to become black mist. The man wore no armor, only loose black robes that seemed to absorb the light around it, even so, he looked just as intimidating if he were covered in thick armor. With pitch-black eyes absent of pupils and muscles with pulsating black veins, the man was certainly no human. 

"You... insolent child, to try and attack you're superior and the most disgraceful act of all, you had disobeyed the will of the Overlord and escaped from your post in the Spire's time of need," Gabriel spoke slowly, his tone neutral, but with the very air around him warping and cooling down into extreme levels at every time he opened his mouth. 

Esio could feel the air in his lungs become cold, causing him a slight inconvenience with every breath. This was the way the Shadow Walker showed his emotions.

Gabriel formed a short blade from the mist around him. "If it were solely up to me I'd have taken your arms and legs for all to see to save the Overlord face from the taint you have made on his great name, but as a fellow creation of the same creator, I will deliver you to him for only he has the authority to punish us," Gabriel said as he threw the dagger into Esio's stomach. 

Esio stilled, unable to control any of his bodily functions except those required for him to keep living.

"I'll bring the thing you have picked up, perhaps there is information she may be able to give about the Shadowspire's predicament along with the horned creature I have picked up, after that they will be disposed of." 

Those were the last words Esio heard before he felt the space around him warp in a feeling similar to having his body disintegrated.

= 0 = 0 = 0 =

Xero dispelled the [Gate] spell and it closed behind him. He was now back in the Shadowspire. Glossy white walls adorned with gold carvings in a hallway that seemed to stretch out indefinitely entered his vision. The place was large enough tho accompany a family of dragons and still have enough room to house an army, it was nothing short of amazing. And on these walls was an array of countless different doors, all of them leading into a separate pocked dimension that together formed the Shadowspire.

"Amazing! I've never seen anything like this before." Seira's eyes glowed with curiosity at her first time seeing the convoluted system of spacial magic utilized in the Shadowspire. Beside her was Silith who simply held a neutral expression as she held the hand of her master's soul contracted weapon in silence, she was ordered to hold onto Seira so she wouldn't get lost in the near-endless maze known as Silith's home. 

Xero walked with the two girls following him with Silith basically having to drag Seira every time she stopped to inspect something she found particularly interesting, the small girl's voice filled the hall as she asked question upon question. As he moved through the hall of endless doors, another [Gate] opened inside the realm, two familiar mana signatures emerged, one was strong while the other was weak, and the lingering mana signatures of two unfamiliar beings were barely noticeable. 

A tall man in black robes with a body that partially formed to mist kneeled before him, it was Gabriel, his Shadow Walker. 

"I greet the Overlord." Gabriel's eyes remained downcast, not even daring to look at his master's feet without permission.

Xero let out a quiet sigh as he gave the man permission to stand, but remained kneeling, only raising his head to look upon him and the two with him. He could feel the aura coming from the Shadow Walker, silencing Seira as she was probed and searched by Gabriel's mana. 

Sweat started to form on Seira's brow. She gulped nervously as the mana of the kneeling man overpowered hers completely. Somehow she was able to regain control over her frozen limbs and quickly hid behind the grey-haired maid that barely looked taller than her.

Gabriel wanted to ask about the little lady that followed his master, but upon feeling his master's own mana signature implanted deep within her soul, he felt it beyond his standing to ask. His master always knew what was best, and he would trust him eternally, he felt disgust at himself for even thinking to question his master, but now was not the time for self-pity.

"Master, this servant would want to speak to you," Gabriel spoke with the utmost respect, the air around him becoming gentle and warm. "I wish to-"

"I know you wish to report something to me, but it must wait, I have something to... clean up. Gabriel as one of the Twelve, please bring Silith and Seira with you and report to Lilith." Xero cut-off Gabriel while he was speaking, he needed to do something first before anything else and make sure every last one of his creations was safe.

Gabriel didn't refute or act out as his words were cut short, no emotion of anger or annoyance, only a simple overwhelming desire to act out his master's will. "Understood, I shall execute your orders without fail."