Chapter 114: Chapter 114
"Fucking traitors..." Eren’s voice was ice cold and so were his eyes as he spoke the words, observing the group of bastards who dared to betray him and join hands with the fire bastard, led by the Geraldine’s father, Mr. Renaldy, who barely looked like himself, the once dignified man was but a shadow of his old self, he looked miserable and half dead, as if he had no reason to live anymore.
" Oh, pardon us for our ‘treason’, my Lord, you see, every action has a consequence, and you should have thought about this one particular consequence, when you murdered my only daughter!" Mr. Renaldy's sardonic smile didn’t match the angry glare he threw at Eren while talking about the dead Geraldine "She loved you, My daughter, She did everything and anything just to make you happy and satisfied, and when she saw, as we all saw, That you were losing yourself and your way for that hybrid, She tried to save you, And what did you do?"
"I killed her..." Eren finished what was the elder shadow going to say, without a shred of remorse, his eyes shining with defiance "And I will do it all over again, and maybe make you watch, but since I can't kill an already dead person, why not kill you and send you to rot with her instead?"
"Oh, my dear friend..." Lord Micka stopped Mr. Renaldy with a sign of his hand and took the honor of replying to the ‘overconfident’ shadows’ lord, "You don't know what you have gotten yourself into, Do you?" Lord Micka asked with an amused smile, while the many shadow holes started to form on the cave's wall, the cave then suddenly turned horribly hot and significantly large, while fire demons started to appear inside the holes.
How? Eren asked as he looked at them, none of the things he was feeling appearing on his demonic form, but the urgency and danger of the situation were there, especially with the princess who was engulfed in his shadows.
"Allow me to welcome you in to the gate of doom, this here, is my own demonic gate, and unlike yours, this one is actually a secret passage, connecting the human lands to the fire empire.” Micka didn’t miss the way the shadows’ lord gulped when he told him about the place, and even if the reaction was small and barely noticeable, he was still very satisfied with it, the place was another one of Emilia’s brilliant ideas, to use the magic and life force of many demons to create that place, and then use the magic of nineteen demons to hide it, the same demons the shadows’ lord killed without stopping to think about their weird states.
As stupid and reckless as ever, Micka thought.
Eren wanted to understand more about the things Micka was talking about, a secret passage to his lands? How possible, the fire empire was the furthest from Taghit, there was the whole kingdom of Buskeen between them, so how was it possible? But he couldn’t spare that second to think rationally as the fire attacks were back, more numerous than before, there were thousands of holes opening in the walls to reveal a fire demon who shot him a fire ball before they were quickly closed, hiding the demons from the shadows’ lord using shadows, his own element, the ones he spread around him to gain the upper hand were now being used against him, and with the heavy attack, he didn’t get the chance to focus on his shadows as his priority was to evade the attacks and dodge those that targeted the princess.
Like daughter like father! Eren thought as he shielded the princess, taking few attacks on his back and legs, they both betrayed him for the same bastard, and even more, used his energy against him, the holes kept on appearing and then disappearing fast, making it almost impossible for him to predict the attacks.
With his thick skin and Godly powers, the fire balls were not a real threat to him, but the problem was in their intensity, they kept on coming like the droplets of heavy rain, and a droplet after the other was able to cause him some discomfort that gradually turned to actual damage.
The other problem was Nara, he was certain if one single attack managed to even graze her skin it would be her end, he didn't notice it at first but when he looked at the ground were the balls landed before extinguishing, leaving behind big dents with weird dark foam, he understood that the balls had some kind of corrosive substance in them, he wasn't so vulnerable to them as he would be if he was his old self due to his new powers, but nevertheless, this whole thing wasn't about him but about the terrified princess clinging to his arms.
Micka was watching the scene closely, with his eyes almost digging holes in the shadow lord's fast body, he had spent the last two years preparing for when the chance would come to take down the filthy shadows’ hybrid, Micka was a proud pure-blooded demon who knew, better than anything, how to keep a grudge, he didn't take the fact that he was beaten and almost killed by the shadows’ lord last time, especially when he was so close to have the hybrid girl and from there everything.
Unlike the shadows lord's stupid plan of waking up the divine blood in the hybrid and then use it to create a shielding spell that would allow the demons to walk in day light and approach the center without being turned into dust and go fight the Gods on their lands, Lord Micka had other plans in his mind, he planned to make the hybrid girl submit to him, be fully and wholeheartedly his, and then use her as a weapon, Unlike the shadows’ lord, he didn't plan to show her any mercy, he didn't plan to spare any part of her body and soul without breaking it, she needed to be fully broken, And then he will rebuild her as his weapon, one that only answered to him, and with her help, he planned to take over both the demon and the human lands, the Gods would eventually show themselves but he would be ready for them, with humans, demons, and his weapon on his side, the outcome of that was already set inside his head, he was going to be the ultimate ruler, the supreme God and the only one, however, his perfect plan never saw the light, and his dreams were crushed the moment he tried to make the first step, take the hybrid girl, all because of the shadows’ lord.
On that unforgettable night, Micka was only saved by his fiancée whom he resented before, his Emilia, who poured most of her energy into him, almost draining herself in order to save him, he didn’t understand at the time why did she do that, but it did change the way he saw her and treat her, he decided to give her a chance, and she proved herself worthy of being his partner.
Micka focused his attention back on the shadows’ lord who didn’t just look different but feel different, his spies had told him that the shadows’ lord was much stronger than before since his return from the center and no one knew how, something he was seeing with his own eyes as the hybrid bastard was unbelievably fast and elusive, the attacks barely did anything to him even when they were fueled with poison, The fire lord had spent the last two years devouring thousands of humans in order to make himself stronger, but he was glad that his fiancée convinced him to test the waters first and see how true the rumors were about the shadows lord’s strength, and like always, she was right, the rumors appeared to be true after all, Micka concluded, the attacks barely seemed to scratch the shadows’ lord who only looked concerned for the human princess.
Snapping his fingers, the attacks intensified while lord Micka took his demon form, setting his whole body in flames, his fiancée disappearing in the shadows while he charged at the shadows’ lord, aiming for his chest.
Eren sensed the violent wave of energy and the murderous intent rushing towards him, in a quick move he pushed Nara who was still engulfed in his shadows aside and placed his crossed forearms in front of his chest, dodging the burning sword that came for him, the attack was successfully but not easily dodged and Eren was thrown a few feet back, same as his opponent.
"So, you finally decided to play fair and fight me like a man?" Eren smirked at the fire lord while quickly standing, and even when the words that left his mouth sounded playful, he was anything but that, every nerve in his body was alive as he knew how difficult his situation was.
"Me? Playing fair?! Don't be ridiculous...." Eren didn't understand what Micka meant at first, but when he did, terror took over him as he saw the red demoness pulling Nara behind the dark veil and into darkness.
Eren lunched forward trying to stop the red demoness from taking Nara beyond the dark barrier but he was stopped by Micka midway as the fire lord attacked him with his fire sword, Eren didn't need to guess that the sword was no ordinary, the heat radiating from it was enough to melt steel, and Eren wondered about the number of lives the fire bastard has taken in order to be that strong.
"Let go of the girl, Micka, You have got what you want, I am here..." Eren hissed, angered and worried, it felt like he was fighting a thousand enemies at once, the fire demons kept on shooting their balls at him, the few shadow demons were using their shadows to wrap them around him and hamper his movements, Micka wasn't giving him any time to rest or look elsewhere with his fastened attacks which he dodged and blocked without trying to attack back, in any other circumstances, Eren would be having the fire weasel's heart in his palm, No matter how strong the fire lord had become, it was nowhere near the divine power Eren had, beside being a very strong demon in the first place, but with the princess in their grip, he knew he will be killing her, indirectly, if he killed the fire lord.
"Don't be ridiculous, Eren, after all the trouble my precious Emilia went through to bring her here, Oh please, It is much more exciting with her in here " Micka smirked, already guessing what was going on inside the shadows lord's head, he hated to admit it but the hybrid bastard was indeed stronger than him, even when the fire element was stronger than the shadow element, he still fell behind a hybrid, it was the bitter truth that Lord Micka knew and choose not to neglect a second time as it almost killed him when he did two years ago.
Behind the shadow barrier that the shadow demons created, Emilia dragged Nara to the edge of a large hole, like a well, Nara still had Eren's shadows wrapped around her but even they couldn't block the dangerous heat that started to melt the ground under their feet, it was hard to breath, and her head was throbbing with pain, her skin and throat were beyond dry and felt as if they were facing direct flames, the demoness holding her was nowhere near being gentle as she harshly dragged a screaming Nara who begged the shadows’ lord to save her, tired of the human’s screams, Emilia slapped the annoying princess hard enough to make the later fall unconscious and hit the ground, her lip split open and a red mark on her cheek.
Emilia knew that the princess was only needed alive for the time being, just to bend the shadows lord's arm in case the fire lord couldn’t defeat him, but after that, the two were doomed, and that is why she didn’t see the point in being careful with the annoying human, leaving her on the hot ground, Emilia walked to the well like pit, staring at it depth, a place she personally prepared as a backup plan incase Micka, her Lord, cousin and fiancée, was in danger, again, she wouldn't let the shadows’ lord walk out of the cave alive, the pit was like a portal toward the furthest point of the fire empire, the place called the dead lands, where the dark energy was too dense even for demons to stand, it was the place of no return, Where those who were sentenced to death in the fire empire were sent, her mother being one, after betraying her husband with a human and bearing his child, the whole situation was glossed over considering the woman was of high status and so was her husband, the child, who was no one but Emilia, was kept alive and taken in the family, but the woman was sent to the dead lands, and just like anyone who was sent there, she never returned.
The whole passage was in fact Emilia's idea, since a very young age the demoness fought to gain her father’s love and her family's respect, things she had no idea how she lost in the first place, she was an excellent fire wielder, better than all her peers, she always tried to be the perfect girl, she sat like a lady and fought like a mad dog, she smiled warmly and hit ferociously, she composed poems the same way she composed plans and tactics, she was both dangerous and elegant, sly and strong, delicate and obedient, she tried to be everything but she was always treated as nothing, a nobody.
Things didn't change much when she was told she was to marry the heir of the fire empire, Micka, the boy who always called her names and belittled her as kids, then totally ignored her as grownups, Lord Micka was her maternal cousin and in order to keep the blood pure cousins were turned to husbands and wives, of course there weren't any girls of the right age beside her and the council who set the rule didn't know about her real father's identity, Even she didn't know until her fiancée told her, after that he just kept on ignoring her, never mistreating her, occasionally insulting her when she tried to get close, and always ignoring her, and somehow that led to her falling for him
Love was stupid, crazy, strong, and unpredictable, she told herself.
For so long, she hid her emotions in her heart, never telling him how she truly felt, until that night two years ago when he was almost killed and she was the only one there to save him, it was the first time he looked at her with interest and recognition in his eyes, and she was at last given the chance she always craved, with Micka's acknowledgement everyone else followed his lead, she became someone, with a voice to be heard and an opinion to be taken, she was the only woman in her fiancée’s life after that, he didn't approach another woman, only her, just the two of them, loving each other and planning a long life filled with dreams and ambitions.
Emilia combined her forces with the shadow demons and the ice demons that turned against the so called ice queen, someone she respected before until she fought lately, apparently, the ice queen had given up the demons’ way which turned her into the weakling she met in the humans’ castle, her weakness and the way she kept on defending the human king as if she loved him were enough to swipe away every bit of respect she had for her, and understood why her people turned against her, and with those traitors and the ones from the shadow lands, she created the passage between the human lands and the fire lands, it was the same way her mother used to meet her human lover, and inside, Emilia decided to throw something she liked to call her little secret, the plan B she told no one about, the pit, creating a portal with one side in the cave and the other in the dead lands, with the spell carried by one of the demons that were sent there.
The pit wasn't activated yet, and it would be just by a snap of her fingers, all she had to do was persuade the shadows’ lord to jump there, using the useless human princess, and then send him to the dead lands, just in case Micka couldn't take him down, staring back at the unconscious Nara, Emilia reached down to grab her but a jolt of pain run through her shoulder almost ripping it off before she was thrown away from the human's body.
"Hands off my sister you bitch...."