Outside, the knights of House Elathion finished the last of the surviving demons.

  Six of them had accompanied Elen’s rescue mission — a force generously permitted by Lord Draeven under the matron’s urgent request. Another rescue party, led by the Knight Captain Lauren, was also scouring the port for them at the moment.

  All of Joarris’s party members survived. Though in pretty bad shape — not helped at all by Eri's ear-killing barrage early — none suffered life-threatening wounds or were crippled.

  The same could not be said for the rescue party.

  One of the knights was missing an arm. Another had lost a hand. The rest carried wounds and were displaying signs of extreme fatigue and mana strain.

  Even Elen was not unscathed. Her right eye was gone, and her armour was falling apart from acid damage and claw marks.

  “We need to go, now,” she ordered. It had barely been two minutes since the knights had arrived to save them. Everyone was clearly in rough shape and in no condition to move.

  “C-can’t we take a breather?” Bori protested weakly. He could barely stand, even with the health potion he had just drunk. “All of us are at our limits, and I don’t just mean my merry little band. Your knights look like they are about to collapse.”

  “They are not my knights,” Elen huffed. “And no, we can’t rest. The whole port is awake. This place just turned from a sleepy deathtrap into an active one. We need to go.”

  “With all due respect, My Lady, that is a terrible idea,” Joarris bluntly said. “Most of us can barely walk. Just give us a few minutes to recover our bodies, and—”

  “The Ruby-Core demons are on the prowl,” she interrupted him harshly. “Lauren’s party is holding them off at the moment, but if one of them reaches us, we are dead.”

  The rest of the party shut up at that.

  “I don’t care if you have to crawl. We are going. Right now. Knights, carry the noble kids if you have to, but we are not—”

  Elen paused, sharply turning towards the North. Eri strained his senses and felt his heart skip when he detected an incoming Ruby-Core accompanied by several other magical signatures.

  He relaxed when he saw the figures leaping from the rooftops — armoured, humanoid figures.

  Captain Lauren and his men arrived. They didn’t look in much better shape than Elen’s group, with the Captain in the worst shape of them all. His armour was completely destroyed, melted into slag. One arm was badly broken, hanging limply with bones sticking out. He wore no helmet, and half his face and scalp looked burnt.

  Even so, when he arrived, he did a double-take at the cannons lined across the second floor of the pumping station. “Are— Are those naval cannons? Those are House Elathion’s, I recognise their designs used for our ships. How are there so many here?!”

  Though they had kept their silence, the knights who had arrived earlier were mildly confused by the artillery battery’s presence as well, and now were equally curious about the answer.

  All of them turned to Eri.

  “W-why are you looking at me?” he stuttered. “It’s not my fault. We found it in the station and used it for our defence.”

  “Don’t use the word ‘we’. None of us wants a part in your theft and insanity!” Bori protested.

  “You found twenty-two fully loaded and functional naval cannons in a derelict pumping station and somehow managed to get it up to the second floor?” Lauren asked in disbelief.

  “Is this really important right now?” Elen growled, moving to cover for her ward’s lacking lies. “Maybe they were leftover weapons used in the defence of the port when it fell a hundred years back. Either way, we have more important things to worry about. We need to get back to Castle Elathion.”

  “Right, well. About that.” Lauren sucked in a breath. “The Ruby-Core demons are out in full force. I managed to thin their numbers, but we have a bigger problem.”

  “Bigger than Ruby-Core demons?!” Julie squeaked. “What, is the Hellgate Archon after us now as well?”

  There was an awkward silence when Lauren didn’t comment on the absurdity of that statement. Pale faces soon followed.

  Elen swore, loudly and creatively.

  “That’s not fucking possible!” the matron yelled after she finished her tirade.

  “I wish I could tell you otherwise, but I saw the enormous hellbeast rise from the lake myself,” Lauren said resignedly. “The Archon has left its Hellgate. And for whatever reason, it’s coming straight here for us.”

  Every hellgate — even the major ones — had an ‘anchor demon’ that kept the Hellgate open. This anchor was often referred to as the ‘Archon’.

  It was essentially the local leader of the Hellgate’s demons. Killing the Archon would seal the Hellgate and leave the Hellgate’s Core vulnerable to plunder. Given the regularity of new, minor Hellgates popping up across the continent, Chosens were periodically tasked with hunting Archons and sealing the Hellgates up, thereby protecting the populace from emerging demons.

  However, such a feat was not so simple.

  Even if the Archon’s magical energy were of the same rank as the Hellgate, their combat capabilities were often vastly superior to those of their peers. Furthermore, they usually reside within the deepest levels of their Hellgate, guarded by an army of lesser demons and thus well protected from harm. It would necessitate an invasion of the Hellgate — an ‘Expeditionary Force’ — to reach the Archon.

  Cases where Archons willingly leave their Hellgates were exceptionally rare, even across five thousand years of war.

  But in cases where they do… It represented both disaster and opportunity.

  “I’m not really well-versed in these kinds of things, but isn’t an Archon leaving a Hellgate a good thing?” Raharim asked. “Violet’s Maw Archon has hidden itself away deep within the lake for a hundred years. No expeditionary force has ever reached it. This might be the only opportunity Kaldreach will ever get at killing it without employing a Saint to spearhead a minor Crusade.”

  “Except we don’t have any way to kill it,” Joarris pointed out. “We’ll need more Gold or Ruby-Ranked Chosens to evenly match its power, and as long as the purple mist blocks all visibility, there’s no way we can get reinforcements from Kaldreach… Unless Lord Draevan happens to be nearby?”

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Lord Draevan was a Sapphire-Core Chosen — only one rank above Ruby. On his own, he would not be powerful enough to tackle an entire Ruby-ranked Hellgate, its demon army, and the Archon waiting at the end of it.

  However, if the Archon was outside its dungeon, vulnerable and exposed, there was a chance Lord Draeven could strike the head of the snake and finally put an end to this blight upon his lands, once and for all.

  Captain Lauren glared at Joarris. “The Lord is still in the castle. If he is informed of the opportunity, he will surely take full use of it. However, that still necessitated us to escape from this port while the Hellgate is fully active — a feat made much harder given how House Elathion now finds itself burdened with five other nobles to rescue. Five nobles who should not be here.”

  “Hey! Don’t lump me in together with them!” Julie complained. “Unlike these snobs, I’m a proud peasant!”

  Everyone ignored her.

  Joarris stiffened. “House Dervaine is fully willing to explain itself, as well as provide compensation for the successful rescue of all involved. For the moment, I implore you to prioritise our safety rather than suspect us of ill intent.”

  “Such pretty words, yet I cannot deny them,” Lauren grumbled. “It would be troublesome if you lot die within House Elathion’s grounds. The compensation had better be worth this mess. That being said…”

  “If the Archon is out in force, its honour guard would be with it.” Elen paced about the grounds, agitated. “Dozens of Ruby-ranked Demons and hundreds of Gold-Cores. There’s no fucking way we can safely move through the streets.”

  “Not to mention the thousand or so lesser Demons that would swarm us instantly,” Lauren grunted.

  “It just doesn’t make sense,” Elen hissed. “Why would the Archon be outside its Hellgate? There’s almost no precedent for this across five thousand years. Why would it happen now?”

  “I mean, I can think of a few reasons,” Bori hesitantly muttered. “After all, it’s coming right here.”

  The group turned to him and saw the nobleman point at the giant, glowing blood effigy with serpentine corpses curled around it. It was the eerie sanguine flesh-obelisk that Eri had created earlier during the fight with the King Hydras.

  “Right, that was going to be my second question after the cannons,” Lauren admitted, turning to Eri. “What the hell is that? It’s the same stuff that killed Gunther.”

  With no small amount of panic, Eri discreetly eyed the rest of Joarris’s party.

  The after-battle evidence of his Bloodflame Artes — namely, the leftover sanguine blades and ashen tendrils — were not as damning as they appeared to be. The world held myriad mysteries and powers, and though strange and frightening to look upon, the inert bloodflame weapons — void of discernible mana — hardly served as evidence for demonic arcana.

  The thought of a Chosen wielding such Artes was outlandish enough that most people would not even consider it. They would simply suspect Eri of having an exotic and secret School of Magic on hand, as most prodigious and talented Chosens were wont to possess.

  It was why the likes of Captain Lauren or his men never knew of Eri’s damning secret, even though they had to personally remove Gunther’s corpse from the bloodflame blades.

  However, it was a different matter entirely if one witnessed Eri using the Bloodflame Arts in person. The spew of demonic corruption pouring from his body during its active use left zero doubt about his true nature.

  Joarris’s party knew the truth. They were evidently just realising that Captain Lauren did not.

  Bori hesitated, but ultimately held himself back from speaking. Raharim refrained as well.

  Alvine, to Eri’s great alarm, actually took a meaningful step towards Captain Lauren, her mouth opened to speak, before both Julie and Joarris pulled her back. Firm hands were pressed over her mouth. The pair held her quiet while ignoring her infuriated glares.

  Eri would have sighed in relief, if not for Captain Lauren’s growing confusion. The man was still waiting for an answer.

  “... It was already there before we got here?” Eri tried.

  “It might be keeping the demons away, though we aren’t sure why,” Joarris added, sending an apologetic look to Eri while he still held an indignant Alvine in place. “If the streets are filled with demons, it might be safer to fortify here and wait for further reinforcements.”

  “Warding effect or not, those Gold-Core demons still got in here and attacked you earlier,” Elen snapped. “And lest you forget, the Archon is heading right for us. Don’t be fooled. Our best option is still to run for Castle Elathion.”

  “We do that, a lot of us will die,” Captain Lauren warned.

  “We stay here, all of us will die,” Elen countered.

  “Be rational,” Lauren stressed. “We only have twelve Silver-Core Knights, a Ruby-Core Captain, a Gold-Core war veteran, and a kid who supposedly killed a Gold-Core Immortal. All of us are badly wounded, too. We cannot brave those streets right now.”

  “Don’t forget us as well,” Julie added.

  “You want us to help? What the hell are we supposed to do?” Bori complained to Julie. “Distract the demons with our crippled bodies by bleeding on them?”

  “I meant it more along the lines of ‘Don’t forget about us and leave us here to die’,” Julie corrected.

  “The lot of you, zip up if you have nothing useful to say,” Elen snarled, shutting the group up. “Lauren, talk to your men and get them organised. The same goes for you and your friends, Dervaine brat. I need to talk to my idiot ward here.”

  The knights hastily discussed possible plans while Joarris gathered his party, making full use of the time to hasten their recovery and scrounge together every last bit of stamina they could.

  Meanwhile, Elen pulled Eri aside and whispered to him: “How badly hurt are you? Can you run?”

  “Not very well,” Eri admitted. “My body is still sluggish. I think I can walk, but that’s about it.”

  Elen cursed. “Fuck. Alright, here’s the plan. You find someplace, and you hide. You are good at hiding, and I know you have enough provisions to last forever. Once this mess blows over and you recover enough, you leave Kaldreach and never look back.”

  “What are you—”

  “Eri. Listen to me. There’s no way any of us is making it out of this. We are too wounded, too slow, and too many,” Elen stressed carefully. “That Archon is going to hit us soon, and when it does, it’s over. Your safety is worth everything right now. The death of me, the knights, or even those noble kids does not matter. You need to prioritise yourself above all else.”

  Eri recoiled, stunned at her brutal indifference. “You know I can’t do that.”

  “You can and you will.” Elen’s grip tightened. “You are objectively worth more than everyone here combined. You need to live!”

  “And I can do that while still saving everyone here,” Eri retorted, his eyes bright with resolve.

  Elen glared. “You can’t fight.”

  “I can’t, but my greatest abilities were never solely in fighting,” Eri replied. “That Archon… It’s definitely coming here.”

  “You can sense it?

  “Vaguely.” Eri grimaced. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think it’s because I used my abilities that caused it to come out. It feels… strange. There’s something else pushing it to leave its home.”

  Elen looked conflicted. “Whatever the case is, we can’t leave here with demons prowling the streets, and we can’t defend this position if an Archon shows up. What exactly is your plan?”

  Eri hummed. “Do you remember that incident a few years back, when we went on an expedition together, and you became badly wounded? We were days away from the closest hospital outpost. You were minutes from dying.”

  Elen blinked in realisation, then grimaced. “I remember. What you are suggesting… It could work. But it exposes more of your secrets.”

  “They are already exposed. Sort of,” Eri sighed, gesturing to the cannons and the blood effigy.

  “You running away alone would be cleaner,” Elen suggested carefully. “Everyone here dies, and no one else knows of your nature except for that Dulcina girl. Once her House falls, her word would matter little. It could be a clean start for you.”

  Eri nearly flinched at the disgusting callousness in her words. He stood firm. “That is not going to happen.”

  “... Fine.” She rubbed her eyes tiredly. “Fuck me, I wish I raised you more selfishly.”

  Eri shook his head. “I would not care for my dream as much as I do now if you did. I do not regret the person you raised me to be.”

  “You may do so one day,” she sighed. “But never mind that for now. Let’s hope that inventory pouch of yours has enough space to store an entire party.”