Chapter 139: Chapter 139 - The Capital(Part 7)

Point-of-View: Argent Stryker

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Okay, just one more turn up ahead and then it’s a straight dash to the entrance of the castle...I’m almost there, just a little bit more and it’ll be in sight...!

As I approached the next corner, my eyes widened as a rapid blur came flying out from around the corner and slammed onto the wall with a bloody splat, before sliding down to the ground and collapsing in a heap...it’s a Knight, their armor is all mangled and destroyed.

"Oh, you’re back already?" Came Izzy’s voice, as I flew around the corner and landed, blood dripping down her claws as she waved at me.

"Why are you inside, weren’t you supposed to-...well, never mind, I suppose it doesn’t really make a difference. Let’s get going, it’s time to leave the capital," I remarked, as another Knight sprang up behind her, before she smashed his head into pieces with a bored, backward swing of her fist.

"Yeah, okay. This was really disappointing, no one put up even a half-decent challenge against me. I was hoping to see that Knight lady I fought before, but it doesn’t look like she’s here. Maybe I should have taken the time to memorize her scent, she’s the only one in the capital who managed to give me at least some challenge," She sighed wistfully.

Hate to keep things from her, but I won’t mention that I literally just encountered her...there’s a good chance that Izzy will run off searching for her if I do, and I need her to stick with me right now. I can’t fight at full strength while carrying dad, so I’ll have to count on her to protect us.

"Once we’re out of the castle, could you fly me out of the walls? You’re a lot faster than I am, and way better at flying. Plus, I don’t think I have enough Mana to fly that far, I doubt I could make it all the way to the outer wall," I remarked sheepishly.

"Sure, no problem, I can do that," She nodded in response.

"Uh-oh...," I frowned as I focused on Area Detect, "A whole lot of Knights just showed up outside the castle."

"Shall I blast them away with my Dragon Fire?" Inquired Izzy as we closed in on the entrance.

"Yes, please."

I landed on the stairs outside the entrance as she zipped out with a sharp inhale, several Elemental Spells being fired our way. She then blasted out a massive wave of blue flames, vaporizing all the incoming Spells and engulfing the dozens of Knights who’d gathered out here, burning them all to crisp in a matter of seconds, before they could even cry out in pain.

"Okay, ready to go?" She turned back at me, after drawing the blue flames back into herself, having killed all of them.

"Yeah, let’s-...," I began, before trailing off and freezing in alarm, as I sensed something barreling this way from inside the castle at an unreal speed, snapping out of it and yelling to warn her, "Hey, something’s coming!"

I sprang out of the way with Jet Soles to increase my speed, while Izzy spun around and stood her ground, right as a blindingly rapid blur shot out of the castle entrance towards her, halting as it reached her and an immense shockwave bursting out as they clashed.

What...what is that? A humanoid figure, appearing to be female. She was tall and slender with an attractive, curvy build, dark purple skin, and two long pointy horns on either side of her head.

She had red eyes, with the whites of her eyes black like Izzy’s left eye when she gets fired up, had straight shoulder length dark blue hair, black feathered wings on her back, a long black tail with a sharp arrow-like tip and razor sharp claws on both hands.

She had a metal vest strapped to her torso with several glowing crystal orbs embedded in them, along with matching shackles on her forearms and calves, and a collar around her neck.

The clothes underneath looked old and tattered, and she had a dazed, trance-like look in her eyes. The metal on her torso, neck and limbs, I don’t think it’s simply just armor, they look more like restraints...no, it must be some kind of Magic Item that’s keeping her under the control of the Nobles.

There’s no doubting what she is, based on her appearance...she’s a Demon. Likely one of the Demon Generals Izzy mentioned to me before...the Demon Lord Satan is male, so it can’t be him.

As I glanced at Izzy, I felt my heart sink as I caught sight of her expression...she had a distraught look of recognition on her face, her mouth opening but no words coming out as her lower lip trembled.

Suddenly, a powerful force burst out from the Demon’s hands, sending Izzy flying back and skidding along the ground, coming to a screeching halt against a couple of charred corpses.

Shit...this is really bad, I’ve never seen anything knock her back like this before. As the Demon took a step towards her as she began to get back onto her feet, I blasted out flames from my mouth at her, the Demon slightly shifting her gaze this way...before suddenly disappearing from sight.

A chill ran down my spine as I sensed her right behind me with Area Detect, my blood running cold as I turned my gaze back and saw her raising her hand with a blank, lifeless expression, her claws extending out with a gleam. I was frozen in fear, unable to move...I can avoid it if I turn intangible, but I can’t turn dad intangible, wh-what do I do...!?

"NOOO!!!" Exclaimed Izzy as she shot in this direction rapidly, getting behind me right as the Demon swung her claws at me, letting out a stifled cry of pain as she got slashed across the right shoulder, blood gushing out.

"Izzy!" I yelled out in alarm and horror, as she stumbled back and her blood splattered the ground.

Suddenly, the Demon froze, her eyes widening slightly as a faint glimmer of light returned in them, before her right eye glossed over slightly and a tear ran down the side of her face.

But it was just for an instant, as the glow of the crystal orbs around her restrains intensified and a look of excruciating pain appeared on her face, before she charged up a Negative Energy blast. I quickly grabbed Izzy’s left shoulder and pulled her back, swinging my right foot up towards the Demon.

Right as it suddenly felt like the force of gravity increased drastically, my left knee buckling as my body felt like it had gotten several times heavier, I turned my leg intangible and let it pass into her chest as I used all my strength to resist the increased force pushing down on me.

As my foot went through her chest, I turned my sole tangible, directly striking her heart from the inside and eliciting a choked gasp of pain as she stumbled back, the field of intensified gravity vanishing upon impact. I then put my arm around Izzy’s waist and activated Jet Soles, flying away as fast as I could.

"Hey, you need to take over, I’m not fast enough to-...!" I began, trailing off as the Demon teleported ahead of us.

"N-no, sister...," Izzy whimpered with a look of despair as she met the Demon’s gaze...and as she uttered those words, the Demon froze again, straining as she reached for the collar around her neck before letting out a sharp cry of pain as the glow of the crystals intensified sharply again.

"Izzy! We have to get away, NOW!" I exclaimed urgently, snapping her out of it. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"O-okay...," She responded with a heartbroken, pained grimace, before spreading out her wings and rapidly flying past the Demon.

As we shot past her, in that split second, I couldn’t sworn I heard the Demon say something to me, a look of agony on her face as she tried to resist the Magic Items controlling her and uttered...

"Protect her..."

All I could do was nod in response, in an instant that felt like it was moving in slow motion, a faint, weak smile spreading out across the Demon’s lips before we flew, a cry of pain echoing out behind us as she presumably continued to resist the force controlling her.

Izzy had a stunned look of shock on her face as we rapidly flew towards the boundary of the capital, the outer wall coming into sight as we shot through the air.

I wanted to say something to try and make her feel better, but I couldn’t think of the right words...or maybe there aren’t any words that she wants to hear right now.

She called the Demon ’sister’, so seeing her while under someone else’s control and being used like a puppet...it must have hurt her more immensely than I could imagine. I can’t offer her any words of comfort, they would only ring hollow to her...but if nothing else, I can say this much...

"We’ll be back here, I promise," I remarked with a grimace, as tears began pouring down her face and a slight sob escaped her lips...

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