Chapter 344: The Trap

Arthur and Kryx flew side by side through the open sky, the wind tearing at their clothes as the landmass beneath them gave way to open ocean, until finally a floating island came into view in the distance, suspended impossibly above the waves by forces acting against the natural gravity of the planet. 

They descended together, touching down on a solid stone path that seemed to lead towards a clearing outside a huge castle, and Arthur immediately noticed they weren't alone. A small crowd had already gathered and stood waiting, an eclectic mix of beings whose very presence spoke to the sheer diversity of Thyrandel's divine pantheons. 

Some bore unmistakable draconic features, scales glinting faintly along their forearms or jawlines, while others carried the delicate, ethereal beauty typical of elven bloodlines. A handful displayed animal traits woven into otherwise humanoid frames, animal ears twitching atop their heads or tails swaying idly behind them, marking them as beastmen lineage, and a few among the group looked entirely human, indistinguishable at a glance from any mortal walking the streets of Avalon.

Arthur's gaze swept across the assembled group and paused briefly on a familiar face. Theron stood among them, though he looked entirely different from the last time he had encountered him, he was no longer wrapped in tangled bark and roots, his form now settled into something closer to an ordinary human appearance, weathered and dignified rather than wild. The two exchanged a brief, wordless nod of acknowledgment as Arthur and Kryx made their way to the front of the gathering.

Kryx spoke first, Cyris falling into step beside him as they reached the group. "Meet Arthur," he said, his voice carrying easily across the small crowd. "He is the one who took down the nine Godkings."

A long, heavy silence followed that introduction, every gaze in the group shifting toward Arthur with varying degrees of shock, suspicion, and open curiosity. One of the Godkings, a figure with unmistakably elven features and an aura carrying ancient power, spoke almost absentmindedly, as though thinking aloud rather than addressing Arthur directly. "I don't sense any divinity from you... What exactly are you?" A beat later, seeming to catch himself, he bowed his head slightly in apology. "Forgive my inappropriate behavior."

Arthur recognized him immediately from the recorded footage of the earlier battle against the demon controlling that corrosive miasma, the same elven Godking who had cut through it with precise, controlled gusts of wind. He offered a small nod of acknowledgment but said nothing further, unwilling to waste time on introductions when there were clearly more pressing matters at hand. 

Another Godking, this one bearing the distinctive features of beastman lineage, turned toward Kryx with visible impatience. "We should hurry up. The demons aren't going to wait around for us to finish our pleasantries."

Kryx nodded in agreement, his expression settling into something more serious as he addressed the full gathering. "You should all be aware that this isn't an ambush in the traditional sense. The demons are almost certainly expecting our attack, and they may have already prepared traps in anticipation of it. Don't worry too much, though. With my precognition, we should be able to avoid the worst of whatever they've laid out for us." 

He paused, letting his gaze sweep across every face present before continuing. "What concerns me far more is the possibility of their Emperor intervening once the fighting begins in earnest. We cannot afford to fight him here, not within Thyrandel itself. Arthur and I will do everything in our power to draw him away from the planet entirely while the rest of you finish off the remaining demons. I hope that's clear to everyone."

A murmur of agreement rippled through the group, heads nodding in understanding, and together the assembled Godkings and Arthur lifted off from the floating island, streaking through the sky toward the continent that had once belonged entirely to the demi-human races.

…

With the restrictions sealing Thyrandel finally lifted in full, the demons had gained unrestricted access to deploy their Demon King level powerhouses across the planet, a capability they had clearly been anticipating for some time. Yet they hadn't earned the title of world devourers across countless conquered realms by acting carelessly or without proper caution. 

Word of nine Godking level beings dying had reached them just as swiftly as it had reached every other pantheon of Thyrandel, and that knowledge had left them understandably wary, aware that something capable of killing godkings with apparent ease now stood somewhere on the battlefield. 

Wariness, however, didn't equate to cowardice. Rather than retreating or hesitating indefinitely, the demons had spent the intervening time consolidating their forces, quietly preparing a trap designed specifically to level the playing field, one built around the singular fact that Godkings, unlike demons, could not be permanently killed when they are close to the planet. If they couldn't match Thyrandel's Godkings in this aspect, they intended to balance that equation through careful preparation instead.

Streaks of brilliant light tore across the sky as the attacking force descended, coming to a stop directly above the massive black castle dominating the center of the continent. Without wasting a single moment, the Demon Kings surged out from within the fortress to meet them head-on, their numbers now swollen to thirty total, the original ten reinforced by twenty additional kings who had arrived in the intervening days. 

Zagan stepped forward as the acknowledged leader of the assembled demons, a mocking grin spreading across his face. "Well, well," he called out, his voice carrying easily across the tense space separating the two forces. "Looks like you finally woke up from your little nap."

Laughter and jeering erupted among the ranks of demons behind him, several voices calling out further taunts. One of the dragon Godkings standing near Kryx sneered openly in response, clearly unbothered by the mockery. "I'm itching for a good fight after so long. I hope you bunch of imps can last longer than a few minutes."

The exchange continued for a few more heated rounds, insults and challenges volleyed back and forth between the two sides, until Kryx finally raised a hand and addressed the gathered Godkings behind him. "Let's not waste any more time on this.” and added using telepathy ‘Stay alert, and watch for traps.’ 

The others nodded in unison, and taking that as the signal to finally begin, the demons surged forward as well, the two forces colliding in a sudden, explosive clash that darkened the sky above the continent almost instantly.

Only a handful remained apart from that initial chaos. Zagan, flanked by two other demon kings, stood facing Kryx and Arthur, all five watching the surrounding battle unfold without immediately joining it themselves. Nearly five minutes passed in tense stillness before Arthur finally broke the silence between them. "Are you sure their Emperor is actually going to show up?"

Kryx shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry, I can't perceive the future with that kind of precision. All I can tell you is that there's a high probability of him intervening if the demons suffer major casualties on their side."

Arthur let out a short, unbothered breath, something close to amusement flickering across his expression. "So it's essentially inevitable, then."

Kryx smiled at the confidence in Arthur's tone. "Yes."

Another ten minutes dragged on as the battle raged overhead, neither side managing to gain any decisive advantage over the other despite the sheer scale of destruction being wrought across the ruined landscape below. 

Then, without warning, an enormous magic circle bloomed into existence across the sky, its intricate patterns spreading wide enough to cover roughly half the continent's surface. The Godkings engaged in combat above visibly faltered, their eyes widening in shock as they lost focus for one critical instant, and the demons wasted no time exploiting that momentary lapse, driving home several brutal strikes that left more than a few Godkings staggering, wounds blooming across their bodies.

Arthur's eyes narrowed as he studied the massive circle spreading across the sky, a low murmur escaping him. "What are these guys up to?" Before he could dig any deeper into analyzing its structure, Kryx's voice cut through his concentration, with an urgent tone. "Arthur, this is the trap I warned everyone about. You need to absorb the energy powering it to destabilize the whole structure. Hurry, there isn't much time."

Arthur turned toward Kryx with open suspicion written across his face. "How do you know that I…" But the words died in his throat as he sensed the circle's energy beginning to surge, clearly moments away from full activation, and he abandoned the question entirely, teleporting directly to the exact center of the massive formation. 

He pressed both palms flat against the core of the magic circle and began drawing it into himself, absorbing the core’s power at a rate that made the entire structure visibly flicker and strain.

Zagan's eyes went wide with alarm the instant he registered what was happening. "Stop him!" he bellowed, the command carrying across the battlefield with unmistakable urgency. Every demon king within range immediately abandoned their current engagements and shot toward Arthur's position, desperate to intervene before the circle collapsed entirely. 

But they were already too late. The magic circle cracked violently under the sudden, rapid loss of energy at its core, fractures spreading outward across its surface in jagged lines before the entire structure imploded in a blinding flash of light. When the resulting blast finally cleared, revealing the scorched, smoking crater left in its wake, Arthur was nowhere to be found.

***

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