The sight before me screamed one truth: the brutal cruelty of mankind.
"Despicable," Erelya muttered beside me, and I couldn't have agreed more.
Corpses littered the clearing—men, women, even children—murdered in cold blood, piled in grotesque heaps. Their bodies were mutilated beyond recognition, nothing more than ground meat. Blood pooled across the circle etched into the floor, the crimson liquid dripping down the pyramid of corpses. And behind it all stood a figure—his body vaguely human, but anyone could tell he was something else entirely.
"Get ready," Erelya warned, eyes sharp and steady. She didn't show fear, but there was a palpable edge of tension.
"For what?" I asked, barely finishing before a searing beam of light shot toward me.
I barely dodged.
Boom.
The forest erupted in flames, thick smoke billowing as trees turned to ash. If you hadn't seen it before, you wouldn't believe anything ever grew there. A massive chunk of earth was scorched black, a crater of destruction where life once thrived.
"Shit… if that hit me, I'd be dead," I muttered, heart pounding. Hell, they wouldn't even find a trace of me, I thought, scrambling to plan my next move. For a novice like me, this was way beyond my skill. There was nothing I could do.
"Funny how weaklings start acting tough once their superiors are gone," Erelya said dryly, her gaze never leaving the enemy. This was a demon—but Erelya didn't seem fazed. I wondered briefly what her life had been like before now.
"Hehe… the first victims of my bloodbath," the demon snarled. "I am Vlad. Ah, how good it is to be free."
In an instant, the earth cracked beneath his feet as he lunged at me. Before I could react, his hand was clamped around my neck, crushing the air from my lungs. I knew immediately: this opponent was beyond anything I could face with my current abilities.
"Let go of him," Erelya's voice cut through the chaos—cold, commanding, sharp as a blade.
Though she wasn't speaking to me, I knew better than to doubt her. Vlad's grip loosened as he snapped his head toward the source of the voice, a mocking smile curling his lips.
"You've got to be kidding. Is that you—the 11th Seat?" he sneered, running a hand through thick black hair. His smile was vile enough to freeze my blood.
"Fuck…" Erelya cursed, annoyance flashing across her face.
"Hahaha… You know, even in Hell, your battle with the Seven Greats remains one of the most destructive fights ever fought—" Vlad began, but before he could finish, a colossal beam of light cut through him, slicing his body clean in two. Around Erelya, the trees withered and died.
"I didn't think any demon, no matter how foolish, would dare piss me off," she said with a laugh that was more irritation than amusement. It was a sound I'd never heard before—no mockery, no humor, just pure, cold frustration.
"Is it over?" I asked, staring at the smoldering remains.
Hell, if anything could survive that, it'd cause a continental disaster, I thought as I stepped toward Erelya.
She turned to me, crimson eyes glowing fiercely in the dark. Any doubts I had about her being a demon vanished then—anyone who saw her in that moment would call her the Queen of Darkness, a force capable of razing even the heavens.
"S-sorry," I stammered.
"Don't be," she said, shifting back to her usual self. "He's weak now, but I'm not exactly at my peak either."
"But that laser—it vaporized him," I said, awestruck.
"It was stronger than I expected, but it was powered by aether from the plants around us. I doubt it would kill him outright," she explained.
"Oh, so that's why the trees withered," I said.
"Yes. We were lucky to be in a place overflowing with aether, but even then, we're at a disadvantage," Erelya said, concern tightening her brow.
"And he was once a general—his combat skills are impeccable," she added.
"But I have a plan. I need you for it to work," she said, locking eyes with me.
"Sure," I replied grimly. "It's either that or we die."
After a tense silence, Vlad's body began to regenerate. But it wasn't ordinary healing—it was resurrection.
"Heh," Vlad chuckled darkly. "I was right—you've grown weaker, Ash Queen." His madness returned, laughter ringing like a twisted bell. The fear he showed before was gone.
What kind of person was Erelya to humble someone like him? I wondered. Ash Queen? What the hell does that mean?
Bloodlust radiated from Erelya like heat from a furnace, her aura dark and thick.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded, voice low and menacing.
"Don't look at me like that," Vlad sneered, confidence oozing from every word. "And why would I tell you?"
Suddenly, a blinding light enveloped Erelya. Her form shimmered and shifted, and when the glow faded, a figure more breathtaking than anything I'd ever seen stood before me. Her lush red hair flowed in the wind, and even Vlad visibly trembled at the transformation.
Is this her true form? I thought. She doesn't even look like a demon.
"Vlad… it seems that while you've been away, you've grown far too brazen," she said, voice icy.
Vlad said nothing, frozen where he stood. Then, without warning, Erelya vanished—only to appear behind him.
What the hell? I thought, eyes wide. She's so fast, I couldn't follow her movements.
"Since you've become so reckless, I'll have to teach you a lesson," she whispered into his ear.
Vlad stood paralyzed as Erelya's hands wrapped tightly around his neck.
Squish.
With one crushing squeeze, his neck exploded, blood splattering everywhere. I froze, horrified by the gruesome sight.
"Gross," Erelya said, casually wiping the blood from her face.
But Vlad healed swiftly, returning with renewed fury, desperate to end us.
Boom.
Erelya snapped again, engulfing his body in flames until it exploded once more.
"Kael, you're the key. I can't hold this form much longer—end this quickly," she urged as she suddenly doubled over, clutching her gut.
Before I could react, she began to fade, disappearing before my eyes.
"Hah," Vlad's voice echoed in the air. "Ash Queen, your time is up. I'll send you an invite to the afterlife soon enough."
He turned to me with a cruel grin.
"You seem special to her. Make sure I crush you thoroughly."
I stared in disbelief. What? This was an opponent even Erelya couldn't beat? What could I possibly do?
Slash.
Vlad's head rolled across the ground.
I blinked, searching through the dust and smoke for the figure who'd just appeared.
"What the hell was that?" I muttered. "Was that a demon."