Chapter 18
The Aris clan of Sun Lion Demons had everything going their way. They had strong leaders, many followers; best chance of success out of any clan inside the Kalkan kingdom. In terms of power they were not inferior to Altyn clan, and they had more subordinates than them. Their prime rivals, the Jou clan was no longer there to hinder them. Without their enemy to stop them, Aris clan thought that winning the t.i.tle of the demon king would be within realm of possibility.
Aris Noi found out the hard way that everything could crumble to dust. She was one of the six leaders of her clan. Being a leader essentially meant she was one of the strongest in her clan and thus acquired position to command subordinates under her.
There were total of twenty six demons who decided to partake in the Selection. But the night before the first trial had begun; the five of the six leaders were poisoned. Noi was spared only by the fact that she did not drink liquor the other demons were indulging in. Out of her twenty subordinates, four fell to poison.
Noi was left as the sole leader of her group of sixteen demons. With no time to grieve, they hastily used earth magic to bury the dead and proceeded to enter the first trial.
What they met was a land of crystals that made them want to go to sleep. Luckily for them, lion type demons have very strong resistance against psychic attacks due to their physiques, so they did not succ.u.mb to the effect of drowsiness and sleepiness while the other demons were falling down one after another.
Unfortunately, her clan was not the only clan that managed to cross the initial point. Along the way, they encountered Baris clan, the clan of Tiger type demons. They have very strong physical strength, comparable if not greater than the Aris clan's demons. Both clans had somewhat similar abilities, Aris clan's ability being Lion Heart, while the Baris clan's was Strength Vene. Although the clans were similar, they were different types of demons. Currently there were at least twenty Baris clan demons there, so fighting was out of question. They tried to hide their presence and stay out of sight.
But, turns out they were watched as well. Aris clan was ambushed by the war-loving Bukka clan of ox demons. Their preferred weapons were axes. Before she knew how to respond, the Bukka clan had already killed six of her subordinates.
Somehow they were able to win the fight, but only because of the fact that Bukka clan does not go around in large groups. They may have entered the Selection as a big clan, but their natural love for fighting causes them to split off and fight by themselves. The fact that there were six Bukka clan demons working together was surprising to say the least. She lost six subordinates, now left with only ten.
"We can't stay here, more enemies might show up" Noi was forced to make a very painful choice of leaving her subordinates' bodies there, not put to rest. But if they stick around to make graves or take their bodies with them, then they would definitely not survive the first trial. There was no telling when other clans will strike them. They were not safe at all. After hastily burying her comrades using earth magic in unmarked graves, Noi had to tell her followers to move forward.
Walking ahead, they found themselves at the entrances of the tunnels. They were sure they were tunnels that led to their eventual goal. But the problem was choosing which one to go into.
"The Great Ones are looking for the most worthy successor, so having a dead end to those who are unlucky is counterproductive. So that means all of
Her clansmen were astounded at her keen insight; happy to have at least one of their leaders around was a blessing. So, they proceeded to enter the tunnel she chose. Little did they know, they chose the worst possible one to go into?
They walked through the tunnel that seemed to stretch for a long distance. When they were about to take a rest, they heard a voice.
"Well, you bunch are some unlucky demons, to cross paths with me, after all the trouble I went to choose the least likable entrance to the underground." The tunnel they chose to enter was the furthest down, Noi had a.s.sumed if they entered that one it would take less time to cross it.
A figure that was sitting on top of high crystal jumped down in front of them. It was a figure of a humanoid male, wearing black clothing, black hair, and brown eyes. The crystals in the tunnel were glowing, allowing the demons to see his face clearly. It was a rather normal face, with very small bags under his eyes, yellowish skin.
"Who are you?" Noi was in front of her group, as their leader she had to be the one to confront the dangers first.
"You are not going to need to know that. After all you will be put to rest very soon." He looked at her face, she could see it clearly now. His left eye changed color from brown to white.
"Demon eye!" She cried out. In an instant he teleported from his location that was about seven meters away from her to standing right next to her. With a thrust of his fingers he proceeded to stab at her. She blocked his stab with her arm, but found her left arm pierced instead.
She bit her lip in pain. 'This guy, he is a demon for sure. And he seems to specialize in hardening his body!'
Not wasting time, one of her subordinates slashed the enemy vertically with a sword.
For a second it looked like the sword cut him in half. But in the next moment she realized that her enemy had split himself in half, avoiding being half altogether by becoming two perfect duplicates of himself.
"What? What the heck are you?" the one who slashed cried out in surprise.
"Your executioner." The two of them whispered before one punched the demon on the jaw while the other stole the sword. In split second both recombined together. "Now then." He proceeded to stab the demon in the chest with the sword, killing him instantly.
"Let's have some fun shall we?" from the look in his eyes, Noi could tell this was going to be a disaster.
"RUN!" She screamed to her subordinates while charging at her enemy, but it was too late.
Using teleportation, the enemy proceeded to cause ma.s.s slaughter. Bodies of her clansmen fell one after another. She wasn't sure if any escaped. She was sure at least three ran towards the entrances that were ahead. She just had to buy them time to escape this monster.
She tried to hold him off, but the more she attacked him, the more injured she became. His limbs were as hard as metal, and he used them as thrusting weapons, almost like his hands were swords. The worst part was he kept using teleportation. The moment she thought she landed a blow on him, he would teleport and strike her in her vitals. Now she was injured all over, both arms bleeding, deep cuts in her chest, right leg felt dislocated with the bones damaged, and breathing heavily she tried to rely on her abilities.
Her ability mainly was using physical strength and earth type magic. She tried to use it in order to defend against his attacks, but he was too fast. When she conjured an earth wall in front of him, he proceeded to teleport behind her and kick her, making her strike her own wall.
She resorted to using earth as projectiles. She shaped earth into sharp triangular pieces and launched them at him. She made it shower upon him from every direction so even if he teleports, at least one would hit him.
Unexpectedly, he placed his hand on the earth and in an instant an earth dome grew out of the ground, covering him from the projectiles.
"He can use earth magic as well!?" She didn't expect this, then him not using magic before meant he was going easy on her. The thought of being looked down upon made her wreath in anger. Not only did her kill her clansmen, but he insulted their honor by not fighting with his full strength.
Using the earth magic, he proceeded to make the ground shake in a single wave, making her lose her footing. He immediately teleported next to her.
Using her sword she relentlessly blocked his attacks. By simultaneously using earth magic, she managed to hit him with a column she extended from the ground. She did so by using earth magic with her feet. Unlike the many that only knew how to manipulate earth with their hands she knew how to do so with her entire body. So she took advantage of the moment when his hands were blocked by her sword to his him with an earth column. This was the only solid hit she managed to land on him. He was knocked back but he immediately stood up.
She started to run to the first entrance she could find; she managed to enter the tunnel. She kept running. 'He will catch up with me, I just know it' she had to admit, he was too strong, and she was terrified in her heart.
Just as she thought that she escaped him, a voice near her ear whispered "Leaving so soon?" She gasped.
He proceeded to stab her in the lower back, making her fall down on the ground. She was rapidly losing her consciousness.
"It seems you were too weak to quell my bloodl.u.s.t." Her enemy said with a hint of disappointment. "Such a shame, just when I thought I found someone interesting." Just like a child who lost interest in a toy, he proceeded to walk away, not even looking at the gravely injured, bleeding demon he left behind.
Aris Noi had to cling on to her life with all her will. "I can't die here, otherwise my clan will…." She clenched her teeth in pain. Right now she could only move her left leg and right arm slightly; the battle damages she received were finally noticeable after the rush of adrenaline she felt while fighting had subsided.
With a steeled resolve, she crawled forward a dozen meters before collapsing on the floor of the cave. She knew her life was fading and she could only blame fate for giving her such an unlucky outcome.
'I truly am an unlucky leader, huh.' She thought, while lying there. She was slowly losing consciousness as her mind faded away into an abyss of darkness.