CHAPTER 70: SACRIFICE

The demon could sense it clearly—this man he was again, was no ordinary human. He carried knowledge that no mortal should possess.

Vowen...

A name that hadn’t been uttered in over a thousand years. It was what his kind had once been called—warriors who fought in the legendary war against the Great Demon Lord Argrouth. And now, it seems, this human was also the same as the demon.

If someone still remembered that name, it could only mean one thing—

This person, too, has retained his memories from a thousand years ago.

Since the fall of the Vowen, no reawakening had ever occurred. Their bloodlines were believed to have vanished, their souls left dormant. Even the Demon Lord had disappeared into the shadows, biding his time.

But recently, something shifted. The stars began to align. Godsend Apostles started to descend once again. The dormant demonic legions stirred. The world, unknowingly, braced for another reckoning.

Amid the growing unrest, the Vowen found him—his target.

A soul destined to tip the balance.

A threat not only to the Vowen King... but to the Demon Lord himself.

And that’s why the Vowen had only one goal—

To eliminate both the Apostle... and the anomaly standing by her side.

"Quite brave of you to present yourself before me," the demon said, still facing away from the pair. His voice was calm, yet carried the promise of carnage.

Around them, the demon’s forces had already taken position. A whisper would be all it took to unleash the slaughter.

Arthur, unfazed, stepped forward and spoke, "I’m not here to fight."

He raised his hands slowly, glancing at the girl in his arms.

"I came to surrender. I’ll give you... her."

The demon turned, the shadows parting to reveal a malicious grin stretching across his face. "You take me for a fool? Spit on me if I ever fall for such a cheap trick."

Arthur let out a long sigh. "Look, I have no ties to this girl. The only reason I’m here is because of the Goddess who blessed her—she forced my hand. But now that I’ve seen you, I have a question."

His voice hardened, eyes narrowing.

"Has Dartoreth awakened?"

The demon’s grin vanished.

Shock flickered in his blood-rimmed eyes, and for the first time, he took a step back.

"How do you know that name?"

Arthur stood firm. "Just answer me. Has that being returned? I’ll give you the girl in exchange."

Elowen trembled upon hearing those words. She didn’t understand the full weight of their words, but every time Arthur mentioned offering her, her breath caught and her grip on his arm tightened. She clung to him with desperate uncertainty.

The demon gritted his teeth and narrowed his gaze, inspecting Arthur from head to toe.

The Vowen King—that name was buried deep in the black pages of history. He was the commander who never stepped onto the battlefield. A phantom. Even during the war, few knew his true face. For someone to recognize his name...

"...Were you one of us?" the demon asked quietly.

Arthur gave a lazy shrug. "You could say that."

Silence stretched. Then—

"Hand me the girl."

A decision had been made. For someone to know the Vowen King’s name meant they were either an ally... or something far more dangerous. Regardless, the demon saw no risk in accepting the offer—for now. He would take the girl... and report this conversation to the higher ranks.

Arthur stepped forward, slowly, deliberately, Elowen still holding onto him.

But in his eyes... something glinted. Not fear and definitely not surrender.

Something else entirely.

Elowen’s anxiety rose but she only pressed her face deeper into his chest, not willing to see that she was inching closer to her possible demise.

The beast army hasn’t shifted even a bit so it means the demon was truly trusting him to hand Elowen.

Just as Arthur reached the demon, the latter asked, "You still didn’t answer me; how do you know my Lord’s name?"

Arthur pause.

*Grin*

"Because I was the one who slaughtered that pig and made him eat his body."

"...!" The eyes of the demon widened.

"I was the one who dissected his arms and legs, made him bathe in the pool of his own blood."

The demon’s complexion began to shift as the memories of his Lord’s dead remains started flashing in his head.

*THUNK* *THUNK*

Those beasts who tried attacking were temporarily blocked by water walls which kept pushing them back. However, Arthur knew this wouldn’t last long so he added,

"Pulled his innards and made him gobble them up. Left small insects to feed on his body. Plucked his eyes and popped them before him." His words were laced with a venom that even Arthur didn’t know he still possessed.

"Y-You...are lying....you couldn’t have killed him..." The demon’s words were shaky and the beasts were going out of control.

Arthur smirked, "How would I get such fine details on how that behemoth cried for his life and ran to his daughter’s cabin to get protected by her? Ah, and his daughter was also beheaded by him. Damn, it was such a clean cut-"

"DAMN YOU!" And, he snapped.

Arthur ducked under the punch before creating a stone pillar beneath the demon, which hurled his body into the air.

The beasts have turned into shadows and the miasma of the surroundings has turned thick as fog.

Arthur hurriedly took some distance before pushing Elowen on his back and using her shawl to bind her to him.

"Don’t slip away or you are dead." He warned her as he saw a fuming demon charging at him at an unbelievable pace.

"I’LL KILL YOU!!"

THUNK!

The furious punch slammed into a thick mud wall—Arthur’s defense—but it barely held for a second.

BOOOOOOM!!

The wall exploded into flying chunks, and Arthur leaped back just in time, dodging the full force of the demon’s blow. The ground where he stood cracked open from the impact.

But Arthur was already chanting. His lips moved quickly, and in a blink, glowing water orbs appeared around them, spinning in the air.

The demon snarled, turning sharply toward Elowen.

"Charge!"

The water orbs pulsed and fired. Dozens of ice needles shot out—small at first, but growing longer and sharper as they flew. By the time they reached the demon, they were like frozen spears, cutting through the air with deadly speed.

They struck.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

But—

Nothing.

The demon stood tall, the shattered ice melting at his feet, not a single mark on his dark skin. Unbothered.

"Such petty tricks," he said with disgust. "You can’t even scratch me."

Arthur smirked. "Your Lord had the same pride. Look where he is now, you fucking orphan."

The demon’s eyes flared with rage.

"You...!!"

And then all hell broke loose.

Explosions rocked the clearing. Fire and smoke burst from every corner. Trees cracked, the air screamed with heat, and the earth trembled beneath their feet.

Arthur was barely holding his ground.

Water walls burst up. Mist clouded the air. Rock pillars slammed into the dirt. He was using every spell he had ever learned—just to stay alive.

The demon’s fists crashed into the defenses like thunder, shaking the battlefield with each blow.

"Stop running like a coward!" the demon roared.

With a furious sweep of his arm, a black wave shot forward—dark, twisted energy tearing through the ground like a storm.

Arthur didn’t flinch. He dropped to one knee and slammed his hands on the earth.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A series of thick mud walls rose in front of him, one after another.

CRACK—CRACK—CRASH!!

The waves tore through them like paper, blasting chunks in every direction.

"Damn it—!"

Arthur jumped to the side just in time, rolling over the dirt as the dark energy scorched the spot where he stood.

The heat brushed past his cheek. His skin stung. He gritted his teeth.

’He is too fast to capture in the water prison...and continuing to be on the defensive would be self-harming.’

"AWAKE AND SERVE YOUR LORD!" The demon cried, and instantly, a huge ape-like beast, towering taller than the trees, erupted from the shadows with its leg raised.

Arthur’s eyes widened as he pulled the shawl from his front and threw Elowen away before.

"Ah!" Elowen cried as she saw the foot landing exactly where the stranger stood.

*DHAK*

Her back crashed against a tree, and before she could have fallen, someone held her from the shawl.

It was another beast, holding her with its beak.

The demon appeared in the clearing, a grin stretching his lips.

"Princess!" Suddenly, the voice of several soldiers resonated as they surrounded the demons.

It seems the demon lost control over his spell, and they were able to track down them.

However, Elowen’s focus was not on them at all.

The only thing her eyes could look at was that huge paw....under which the stranger was stomped.

Her eyes turned moist as a few words left her lips, ’D-Did he sacrificed himself for me?’

********

A/N:- Thank you for choosing my work.