Chapter 1153: The Demon and The Sorcerer [Part 3]

Chapter 1153 – The Demon and The Sorcerer [Part 3]

The creature answered with a broken, guttural growl.

Its cracked lips peeled away from crooked teeth as black saliva slipped down its chin. No words came. No fear-driven confession. Not even the smallest recognition that Lux had asked it a question.

Around them, the other demons slowly began moving.

Claws scraped against stone as they spread through the corridor, forming a loose circle around Lux and Runa. The eyeless one lowered itself onto all fours. Something with an elongated spine crawled onto the wall, its fingers sinking into the mortar. The creature Lux had knocked through the doorway dragged itself upright again with a wet snarl.

Lux’s smile disappeared.

He watched them carefully, but not because he considered them a threat.

Something was wrong.

There was no formation.

The creatures weren’t positioning themselves like trained guards protecting an objective. They were behaving like territorial animals irritated because two strangers had wandered into their nest.

Lux inhaled slowly.

Dark energy saturated the fortress.

It seeped through the stone beneath his boots and lingered heavily in the underground air. Weak demons could feed on an environment like this for months, perhaps years, without needing to return to the Lower Realm.

Then he understood. "Oh."

Runa glanced at him. "What?"

"They aren’t guards."

She looked around at the growling creatures surrounding them. "They’re doing a convincing impression."

"No master marks. No binding contracts. No command formations." Lux tilted his dagger, studying the creature pinned against the wall. "They’re strays."

That explained everything.

Mortals had summoned them somewhere in this realm through one foolish ritual or another. Once loose, they had wandered until they discovered this place. The fortress contained enough residual dark power to support them indefinitely, so naturally they had stayed.

Free housing.

Free demonic energy.

No rent.

Lux almost respected the arrangement.

[You appear to have discovered demonic squatters.]

Runa stared at the creature Lux had questioned. "So? Where’s the answer?" She folded her arms, tail snapping behind her impatiently. "Should we wait another ten minutes? Maybe it’ll suddenly develop language skills."

Lux looked back at the demon.

The creature growled again.

Yes.

Very informative.

"No."

His right dagger flashed.

The blade swept across the demon’s throat in one clean movement, severing its head before the creature could react. Before the body could collapse, Lux reversed his second dagger and drove it directly through the center of its chest.

The blade pierced the core.

Black light cracked beneath the creature’s skin.

Then the entire body went limp.

Lux pulled both daggers free. "They’re useless."

Runa’s eyes followed the corpse to the floor. "So kill them?"

Lux rolled one shoulder and adjusted his grip on his twin daggers. "Kill them."

Runa smiled.

Lux immediately reconsidered whether giving her permission had been responsible.

Too late.

She vanished.

The first demon barely had time to turn before Runa’s fist crashed into its face.

-BOOM!

Its body left the ground and slammed through a cracked stone pillar. The upper half of the pillar collapsed behind it in an avalanche of dust and rubble.

Lux stared. "Try not to destroy the—"

Runa seized another creature by the ankle.

"—fortress."

She swung it.

Once.

Twice.

The demon became an unwilling weapon.

-BAM!

It collided with the eyeless creature.

Both flew across the corridor.

Lux closed his eyes briefly.

A shriek came from above.

The wall-crawling demon launched itself at Lux, claws extended toward his throat.

Lux stepped sideways.

One dagger sliced through its wrist.

The second buried itself beneath its ribs.

He twisted his body, used the creature’s momentum against it, and drove it hard into the floor. Before it could recover, his other dagger punched directly through its core.

Black blood spread beneath it.

Lux pulled his blade free and continued walking.

Another creature came from his left.

He ducked beneath its claws, pivoted, and cut behind both knees. The demon collapsed with a howl. Lux caught it by the hair before its face reached the floor. "Nothing personal." His dagger plunged into its chest. "Actually, that’s a lie. You tried to eat me." He withdrew the blade. "Somewhat personal."

Three more demons charged together.

Lux’s wings opened.

The sudden burst of demonic pressure stopped one mid-stride.

Lux threw his first dagger.

The blade spun through the air and struck directly through the creature’s core.

Before the corpse even fell, Lux teleported.

Darkness folded.

He appeared beside it, pulled the dagger free, then turned both blades outward.

The other two reached him simultaneously.

Lux moved between them.

His left dagger parried claws while his right blade opened a deep line across one demon’s chest. He ducked beneath the second creature’s jaw, drove an elbow into its ribs, and stabbed upward.

Core.

Dead.

The remaining demon tried to retreat.

Lux caught its shoulder with one hand. "Oh, no."

It twisted toward him.

"You were very enthusiastic five seconds ago."

His dagger sank into its chest.

The creature collapsed.

Across the corridor, Runa was considerably less elegant.

She was having a conversation with violence.

A demon lunged toward her.

She caught its face.

Not its neck.

Its face.

Her fingers tightened before she drove the creature backward into the wall hard enough to crater the stone.

Another jumped onto her back.

Runa grabbed its arm and threw it over her shoulder.

It hit the floor.

She stomped down.

-CRACK!

Lux winced. "Runa."

"What?"

"Core."

"Oh."

She punched through its chest.

Dark energy burst outward.

"Better?"

Lux stared at her. "...Technically."

A creature attempted to flee down the corridor.

Runa’s ears twitched.

She turned.

"No."

She launched herself after it.

Lux sighed and teleported first.

He appeared directly in front of the fleeing demon.

It skidded to a halt.

Lux smiled. "Leaving already?"

The demon spun around.

Runa was behind it.

It looked at Lux.

Then Runa.

Then Lux again.

For perhaps the first time in its miserable existence, the creature seemed capable of higher reasoning.

Unfortunately, enlightenment had arrived too late.

Lux crossed his daggers.

Two blades flashed.

The demon dropped.

Silence returned to the corridor.

Relative silence.