The Damned Demon

The carriage jolted violently as it was bombarded with powerful blasts of mana, sending shockwaves through its structure. Naida, her face beaded with sweat, struggled to maintain the protective shield around them. Her voice was strained under the pressure, "I can't keep up this shield for long. They literally have a small army outside firing at us. You should go while I will stay behind and buy some time. Eradicator is leading us to the ground, which should allow you to hide in a nearby place in disguise until reinforcements arrive."

Asher, despite the excruciating pain wracking his body, grasped Naida's hand firmly, "I am not leaving you behind. We either... face them together... or we don't," he declared with unwavering resolve.

"My king..." Naida whispered with a shake of her head, her eyes a mix of soft feelings and determination.

Making a swift decision, she called out to Eradicator, "Please escort His Majesty back home safely. I will hold them behind." With those words, Naida planted a kiss against Asher's lips while opening the carriage door and broke the kiss with a soft smile as she suddenly stepped out of the moving carriage.

"Naida, don't!" Asher cried out, his voice filled with desperation and pain. He reached out to her, but it was too late; she had already exited the moving carriage.

Determined to stand by Naida, Asher called out to Eradicator, "Eradicator... stop here."

Eradicator's voice, usually stoic and unwavering, betrayed a hint of conflict. "You are not well, Your Majesty. I have to get you back safely to protect you," she insisted.

"No... I am ordering you... stop here. We are not leaving her behind," Asher commanded through gritted teeth. His words were a clear directive, echoing with the authority of a king.

He knew it was a death wish, but he could never live with the fact of leaving someone he cared about behind. He wasn't that kind of man. He didn't care if it was the most foolish move, but he couldn't let Naida face them alone.

For some reason, the memories of Selene facing those werewolves all on her own and dying alone flashed in his mind.

Eradicator, feeling the weight of her king's order, tensed her hands. She was sure that only death would await him if he got out now and couldn't understand why he was putting a subject of the kingdom above him.

Still, after a moment of hesitation, she complied, bringing the carriage to a halt, sticking to her duty of listening to his orders.

A couple moments before, Drakar, leading his troops numbering nearly 1250 through the sky, barked out commands with strategic precision, "They are heading to the ground. Go ahead and form a perimeter just in case. We can't let them escape in any direction," he ordered.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" his men responded in unison, quickly dispersing in various directions to execute his orders. Numbering around 1250, they were like a large, dark, ominous cloud that would make anyone standing on the ground tremble in terror.

As Drakar and his remaining forces descended, they came to an abrupt halt upon spotting a woman jumping out of the carriage.

Drakar's voice dripped with scorn as his wings folded behind him, "Lady Naida... Looks like you've decided to die here, have you? No matter what you do, you won't be able to save your king. He is doomed to die today after I get what I want."

Naida, facing the barren landscape around her, replied with a defiant smile, "This doesn't seem that bad of a place to die." Her smile then turned icy as she added, "But when you die, I can assure you it won't be pretty, and my king will live to see to it."

Drakar's laughter was harsh and dismissive before he turned to Larvo, his tone turning cold, "Blast her to bits, and let's get him."

Larvo nodded, his expression resolute. He gestured, and the armed men advanced with heavy-duty cannons, charging them with dark mana, ready to unleash their deadly payload.

Naida's hands began to glow with a red light, her face marked by beads of sweat, her eyes scanning the surroundings while her chest heaved up and down.

"Fir-" Just as Larvo was about to give the command to fire,

*ROARRRRRR!!!*

The air suddenly reverberated with a thunderous roar that shook the very ground beneath their feet, making everyone look up instinctively.

A torrent of flames cascaded from the skies, engulfing the area where Larvo and his men stood as their eyes widened in shock and terror.

"Shields up!" Larvo bellowed, reacting swiftly to the unexpected assault.

As the onslaught of flames washed over them, the Draconians, including Drakar and Lysandra, hastily conjured dark red shields to protect themselves.

Their efforts were bolstered by the use of their own powers, fortifying the shields against the fiery attack.

From the carriage, Asher emerged, his face contorted in pain but his expression shifting to one of recognition as he gazed upward, "Rowena..." he murmured, a mix of relief and concern in his voice.

Above, the dark clouds parted dramatically, revealing the immense shadow of an approaching creature, vast and awe-inspiring. The heart of this formation was a mighty dragon. Its dark golden scales glistened in the crimson sunlight, giving off an aura of molten gold tinged with crimson.

Rowena, wearing her majestic black gown and a crown with long, sharp horns, was sitting atop Flaralis, directing the dragon in its fiery assault on the draconian forces. The draconians, though some were protected by the hastily erected shields, were not all so fortunate. The disparity in the strength of their defenses was evident as the flames engulfed those less protected and reduced them to ashes.

Drakar, fists clenched, watched as the 50-meter-long dragon wreaked havoc on his men. More than 200 of his men, who all were peak Soul Purgers and some of them being low-level Soul Devourers, were reduced to ashes with just a single attack!

The creature's serpentine body, powerful wings, and razor-sharp claws made it a terrifying sight, striking fear and awe into the hearts of all who witnessed it.

Lysandra's eyes narrowed as she observed the queen of the Bloodburn Kingdom sitting atop the dragon.

Asher watched as Rowena cast a relieved glance in his direction. Her voice, clear and resolute, came through his Whisper Stone, "Help Lady Naida recover, and she and Eradicator will help you get home. I will deal with these draconians and return once I am done."

"Wai—" Before Asher could even respond, Rowena cut off the connection to his Whisper Stone, leaving him with a tumult of emotions. He was grateful for her timely intervention, yet he was also concerned about the risks she was taking. Her presence on the battlefield dramatically shifted the balance, but it also meant she was directly in harm's way. He knew she was here to buy time for him to escape, while risking her life. He can't let that happen. He was well aware he was useless to her in his current state. But leaving her behind and not being able to know if she would be alright would leave his heart restless. There was also the fact that there was no point in escaping with just Naida and Eradicator as everyone would be out hunting for them. Their plan to hide himself somewhere in disguise only offered a very small chance of survival which wasn't something he wanted to gamble considering the present scenario.

But struggling with the mounting pain, he resorted to one of Naida's cold potions. This time, however, the relief was fleeting, barely numbing the agony that throbbed through his veins. Blood trickled from his mouth and nose, making him feel like he was really dying. Yet, he pushed aside his own suffering, his attention fixed on Naida, whose stance weakened from exhaustion.

He knew that Naida had been pushing herself to her limits, expending her mana to protect them ever since they left the Draconis Kingdom.

With Rowena's arrival offering a brief respite, Naida had finally allowed herself to succumb to exhaustion.

"Hey... let's go back to the carriage and get you... better," Asher managed to say, panting heavily as he grabbed her wrist.

Naida, hearing his voice, quickly regained her composure. She stood up, shaking her head in disbelief, "What are you still doing here? You could have gotten killed," she admonished him gently.

Asher offered a weak smile, his voice tinged with resolve, "Maybe. But it's better than letting you die alone in the middle of nowhere. Come... Let's get you better so that you can also help Rowena, and we can get out of here."

"I don't think that's what the queen wants me to do. Even if she didn't tell me, I know I am supposed to take you back, even if it's through force, for your own good," Naida said as she looked at him with a shake of her head.

"You know…you know we can't leave behind my wife, our queen, just like how I couldn't leave you behind. So you take the key and protect our kingdom until we get back," Asher said as he was about to put his hand into his robe.

But Naida suddenly stopped him and sighed, "You are too stubborn for your own good, my king, but that's what makes you...you I guess. So keep the key with you, and we will use it to protect our kingdom together. Deal?"

"Deal," Asher smiled as they made their way back to the carriage, with Naida supporting Asher.

Meanwhile, Drakar and his forces were visibly frustrated, forced on the defensive by Flaralis's overwhelming assault. However, Drakar was prepared for such a scenario and issued a commanding order, "What are you doing? Prepare the Drakebane Glaive and bring it down!" he barked at Larvo.

Larvo quickly relayed the command, and soon, his men brought forth an intimidatingly large weapon – the Drakebane Glaive. The polearm, crafted from iron and infused with ancient runic magic, was both elegant and deadly. Its blade, adorned with crimson inlays, pulsated with immense power that could make even the mightiest warriors flinch at its sight.

Just its size alone could impale a dragon.

Rowena, perched atop Flaralis, noticed the draconians preparing the deadly weapon, and it wasn't something she was unfamiliar with. She knew the draconians had come up with all kinds of weapons and tricks in the past to deal with the dragons of her kingdom, as if they knew that one day there was going to be a war again.

With a gentle pat on Flaralis, she communicated her instructions to her dragon, telling it to distract the small draconian army away from Drakar and destroy them.

No soul in this realm would dream of taking on a draconian legion numbering 1000 alone, except...dragons!

She knew Flaralis would be able to fight better as long as it didn't have to divide its attention to her.

Drakar watched with a calculating gaze as Rowena executed her daring maneuver, leaping gracefully from Flaralis and descending towards the ground like a feather until her feet touched the ground.

Her dragon veered away, drawing the attention of Drakar's men. This tactical move by Rowena was not lost on Drakar, who recognized the strategy behind it. Yet, he seemed unperturbed, almost preferring this direct confrontation.

"I don't know if I should call you foolish or brave for coming to face us alone, Queen Drake," Drakar remarked, his voice dripping with cold scorn as he and Lysandra squared off against Rowena. Lysandra cast a quick glance around her surroundings as if to see if anybody else was there.

Rowena, undeterred by Drakar's words, raised her piercing crimson eyes to meet his, her eyes brimming with a cold fire that only seemed to grow.