Chapter 1152: The Demon and The Sorcerer [Part 2]

Chapter 1152 – The Demon and The Sorcerer [Part 2]

Kaelmor had taken her humanity.

Imprisoned her.

Turned her into a living tower because she had rejected him.

And now she was standing outside another place where he had potentially done something similar to someone else.

Of course she wanted blood.

Lux couldn’t blame her.

But they had one problem.

They didn’t know who was imprisoned here.

Friend?

Ancient monster?

Some poor bastard who had annoyed Kaelmor five hundred years ago?

Maybe all three.

Lux rolled his shoulders. "Let’s go inside."

He stepped forward. Calmly.

Runa marched ahead.

"Runa—"

She punched the fortress doors.

-BOOOOOOM!

The enormous reinforced doors ripped from their hinges.

Both flew through the entrance hall.

One smashed into a pillar.

The other traveled considerably farther than architecture normally permitted.

-CRASH!

Dust billowed outward.

Lux stopped walking.

He stared.

Then slowly looked at Runa.

She lowered her fist.

Her ears twitched.

Lux looked at the destroyed doorway again.

Suddenly, several things about Naomi made sense.

The strength.

The ability to make violence look suspiciously hereditary.

Lux nodded thoughtfully.

’So that’s where Naomi gets it.’

Inheritance.

Wonderful.

He stepped through the ruined entrance. "I said we were prepared for direct confrontation."

Runa followed. "Yes."

"I didn’t mean declare war on the building."

Her jaw tightened. "It was locked."

"You could have waited three seconds."

"I could have."

"But?"

"I didn’t want to."

Fair.

Unhelpful.

But fair.

Lux sighed. "You need to be careful."

Runa stopped.

For a heartbeat, anger flickered openly across her face.

Then her eyes became cold again. "I know."

"Runa."

She looked at him.

Lux’s expression softened. "We don’t know who’s inside."

Her fingers slowly unclenched. "I’ll try."

That was probably the most honest promise he was getting.

Lux nodded.

They continued.

The interior was darker than the courtyard.

Ancient banners hung in tatters from the walls. Dust coated the floor, but beneath it Lux spotted footprints.

Recent ones.

Several.

The fortress wasn’t abandoned.

Obviously.

Because that would have made today considerably easier, and the universe had developed standards.

Lux lifted one hand.

A small black flame appeared above his palm.

Runa’s ears moved. "Do you hear something?"

Lux stopped.

Silence.

Then...

Metal.

Far below.

A faint scraping sound.

Chains.

Runa’s face changed.

Lux’s smile disappeared.

The corridor ahead divided into three passages, but the system map suddenly flickered.

[Spatial distortion detected.]

[Underground structure exceeds exterior dimensions.]

Lux stared into the darkness.

Somewhere beneath them, something moved again.

-Clink!

Runa stepped forward.

This time, Lux didn’t stop her.

He merely summoned both daggers into his hands.

Their dark blades caught the black flame.

"Stay beside me."

Runa nodded.

Lux started walking.

Slowly.

Calmly.

His wings folded behind him while his tail swayed once.

The fortress had finally noticed them.

He could feel wards awakening beneath the stone.

One.

Two.

Five.

Twelve.

More.

Good.

So much for an abandoned building.

Lux’s lips curved into a thin smile. "Let’s find out who His Majesty was so desperate to hide."

Something was scratching behind the walls.

Then came a wet growl.

Another answered from farther ahead.

Lux stared into the darkness.

"Oh, wonderful."

Two pale eyes opened.

Then four.

Seven.

Twelve.

Shapes crawled out from behind the broken pillars.

Demons.

Technically.

Lux almost felt insulted on behalf of his species.

The first resembled an emaciated humanoid with arms reaching below its knees. Its gray skin stretched tightly across exposed ribs, while its jaw split considerably farther than any respectable anatomy should permit.

Another crawled along the ceiling backward.

Because apparently walking normally was beneath it.

Three smaller creatures emerged from the shadows, black claws scraping across stone. One had no eyes. Another had too many.

Runa’s expression hardened. "What are those?"

"Low-level demons."

She glanced at him. "Demons?"

"Very low-level."

Lux sounded almost embarrassed.

These were the types that frequently wandered around the Mortal Realm.

Not because they possessed some magnificent ability to breach dimensional barriers.

No.

Mortals invited them.

Mortals, in their infinite wisdom, occasionally discovered half-translated summoning formations in ancient books, abandoned temples, suspicious internet forums, or the basement belongings of deceased relatives and thought...

’You know what would make Friday night interesting? Demonic summoning.’

Candles.

Symbols.

Blood.

Chanting words nobody understood.

Excellent plan.

[Historical evidence suggests mortal curiosity possesses a remarkably poor relationship with survival instinct.]

Lux sighed internally.

’You’re not wrong.’

These creatures were the source of countless Mortal Realm horror stories.

The shadow at the end of the hallway.

The thing crawling across the ceiling.

The monster answering a badly performed ritual.

The creature appearing behind someone after their idiot friend read Latin from a book they found under the floorboards.

Most stories were nonsense.

Some were elaborate jokes.

Some were drunken hallucinations.

Some were unfortunate encounters with raccoons.

But a few?

A few were absolutely real.

The ceiling demon suddenly twisted its head one hundred and eighty degrees.

-CRACK!

Lux grimaced. "See? That."

"What?"

"That unnecessary neck thing."

The creature hissed.

Lux pointed one dagger toward it. "That is exactly why mortals keep making terrible movies about us."

The demon launched itself from the ceiling.

Lux didn’t move.

His tail snapped forward.

-BAM!

The creature flew backward and disappeared through a doorway.

Runa stared.

Lux shrugged. "Low level."

Then all the others charged.

Runa stepped forward.

Lux caught her shoulder. "No."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

"Because we need answers."

One demon lunged.

Lux casually drove his dagger through its shoulder and slammed it into the wall.

Another attacked from behind.

His wing struck it aside.

-CRASH!

The remaining creatures hesitated.

Good.

Apparently there were several functioning brain cells available collectively.

Lux’s red eyes glowed.

His demonic pressure rolled through the corridor.

Not enough to destroy them.

Just enough to remind every creature present of one extremely important biological fact.

Predators also had predators.

The demons froze.

One whimpered.

Another immediately lowered itself to the floor.

Runa blinked.

Lux stepped toward the nearest creature.

"Now," he murmured pleasantly, "here’s what’s going to happen."

His dagger rested against its throat.

"You’re going to tell me who brought you here."

The demon trembled.

Lux smiled.

"And more importantly..."

His eyes shifted toward the staircase descending beneath the fortress.

"...what you’re guarding."