Chapter 1077 Lesser Creature

MK7 raised his sword as he summoned a storm of blue flames. Instead of confronting his attack head-on, Seraphine grabbed Sarohan and began fleeing the scene. The tall Waiga was shocked by her actions, as she never backed down from a fight before.

"Is this an opponent we cannot handle?" asked Sarohan with confusion as he started running on his own, giving the demon a breather as she turned back toward him. "As far as I know, even lords cannot survive against you!"

"This man is stronger than lords," said Seraphine as she stared back at him with a frown. "Those blue flames should be extinct alongside their users. I don't know how he appeared here, but even if I can kill him, we cannot afford to be hurt by his flames."

"You already survived being hit by them," said Sarohan with confusion, but Seraphine just shook her head. "You blocked them using your blood mist?"

"And that mist is no longer within my control," said Seraphine as she stared at her palm. "The blue flames have another trait: soul damage. Unlike wounds, souls cannot regenerate once damaged. In other words, you lose the ability to evolve!"

"I see why you started running, then," said Sarohan as he stared at the man gathering his flames around his sword. "If he was honest about what he said, we have a little less than two minutes before he gives up on chasing us!"

"This is the catch," said Seraphine as she pointed at the sky. "One hit is all it takes for him to win. Even if we manage to kill him after being hit, we would never recover from his strikes."

Sarohan watched the flames turn into rain that fell on them. As they ran through the plains, Seraphine used her blood to block the flames, while Sarohan used his Frozen Breath skill. The two ran for their lives, but it was only a matter of time before they became surrounded by flames.

"In just less than a minute," muttered Seraphine as she came to a halt while looking around. "We have been surrounded by the Xelorian Army. The flames were luring us into a trap, leaving only one path to follow."

"How did they know our location?" questioned Sarohan with fear as he raised his frozen sword and looked at the countless knights and flames surrounding them. "Is it an artifact?"

"There is an artifact called Celestial Eye that can foresee anything," said Seraphine as she stopped to catch her breath. MK7 stopped his attacks as he descended between the flames and the army.

"There is nowhere else to escape, demon," said MK7 as he gestured with his arm toward the army. "However, there is no need to fight us. Our lord came here himself to offer you a position in his army."

A man walked from between the knights, who parted ways for his sake. His fur coat hugged him tightly, brown and beige in color. In his mouth was a pipe with smoke rising from it like a snake. The man stopped beside MK7 and handed him the pipe.

"We meet at last, demon," said Marshal Stormblade with narrowing eyes as he examined Seraphine from head to toe. "I know better than to judge by appearances, but you seem weak."

"Fight me and find out for yourself," said Seraphine as her blood mist rose from the ground, threatening to kill them all. "You hide behind your men and act all-mighty."

"Authority is also a form of power," said Marshal Stormblade with a grin. "You should understand that better than many, former Blood Queen. Your army used to be one of the strongest in the universe."

"But here I am."

"Here you are, all alone, surrounding yourself with lesser creatures," said Marshal Stormblade as he shot Sarohan a look of disdain, but the tall Waiga simply acted shy. "I have a better future for you. Become my executor, and you will bask in glory for all your life."

"As I have done once before, I refuse this offer of yours," said Seraphine as her mist rose to form blood walls. "The man I chose to serve is one who will cleave heaven and earth apart. In comparison… you are an ant."

"This saddens me, Blood Queen," said Marshal with a sigh as he raised his hand. MK7 handed the pipe to him, and he inhaled another puff of smoke. "Your blood cannot protect you against my army."

"Let's see about that," said the demon as she connected the four walls and a ceiling covered them. Marshal stared at their defense and waved for his soldiers to attack, letting spells and flames rain on the red cube.

Inside the cube, the blood hue illuminated the interior as the two felt the entire world shake. The attacks slammed into the blood, almost destroying it, before Seraphine worked to hold it still. Inside, she turned toward Sarohan.

"You have to run and call for backup," said the demon with a frown. "I cannot fight with the blue flames around, or there will be no future for me. We need to alert Ascent about the ambush and have Ilia send his army over here."

"You want me to leave you here?" muttered Sarohan with shock before he shook his head. "I will fight with you even if we both lose our lives!"

"I'm not asking you to run, just to get some backup," said Seraphine with a frown. "After you run away, I will keep the blood cube like this and wait for the reinforcements."

"…I understand," muttered Sarohan before he looked outside. "How would I make it past them?"

"I will distract them while you run. They care about me and this," she said while taking out the Blood Gem. "I doubt they would spare any soldiers to chase you. Go straight to Ascent."

Sarohan nodded and prepared himself. His legs were tall, allowing him to sprint in the opposite direction of the army. As for Seraphine, she prepared to unleash a devastating attack.

The demon raised her hands and slammed them to the ground, sending a shockwave of blood to the surrounding. As the blood cube exploded with sharp spears, the tall Waiga made a run for it.

"One of them is trying to escape!" shouted MK7 as he gestured for some soldiers to give chase, but a blood scythe cut them in half. A pair of red eyes glared at them from behind the dust before a figure jumped toward MK7.

"I'm your opponent," said Seraphine with her entire body turning red like a true demon. Blood replaced her skin as she controlled a torrent of mist to attack MK7.

Blue flames exploded from the man with bluish hair, blocking the mist. He stared at her with confusion as he watched the Waiga run into the distance. Then, he looked at her again with a mocking expression.

"You are sacrificing your life for a lesser race?" asked MK7 as his blue flames coated his sword. "A demon's sacrifice? This is unprecedented. No demon would ever give away his life to save others."

"Even demons change," said Seraphine as she raised her hand with blood leaking from them. "And who said that I will lose this battle?"

"You are surrounded," said MK7 with a grin. Countless soldiers hurried to surround her after her first attack killed many of them. "I know you have an artifact. Hand it over and I will kill you in a single strike."

"Stand down, MK7," said a voice from behind him, making the blue-haired soldier turn to see Lord Marshal staring at them. "I want to kill her myself."

"You desire demonic blood," said Seraphine with a grin. "Are you going to earn it yourself?"

"This is not about earning," said Lord Marshal as he reached toward empty air and grabbed space itself. The space around him turned into a sword in his hand as he detached it and raised it high above his head. "I thought demons were nothing but mindless beasts, but seeing your sacrifice to save your friend… earned my respect."

"I don't need your respect," spat Seraphine as her blood flared. "You should not underestimate my friends, Lord Marshal."

Sarohan could feel the ground shake beneath him as a result of the battle. He focused on escaping, so he could not help but pause when he realized that no one followed him. Then, he heard the screams of humans. If Seraphine remained inside the cube, why were there screams until now?

Although she asked him to seek help, Sarohan could not help but stop running and turn around. The battle was far in the distance, but even from here, he could see the blood attacking the army. Blue flames exploded, clashing against the mist.

"Why is she… fighting against them?"

Sarohan could not understand at first, but then his azure eyes widened. He never asked Seraphine if she could last that long against their bombardment. If she knew that she wouldn't last long enough for backup to arrive, then…

"She chose to save me."

An unknown feeling welled up inside him as Sarohan never considered such a possibility. His entire body began to shake as he raised his sword, almost stabbing himself out of regret. As he took a step forward to go back to the battlefield, something fell from his back.

Splash!

Sarohan was confused as he turned to see a small ball of blood on the ground, with a red gem deep inside it. As he touched his back in confusion, he saw it was covered with a blood that didn't belong to him. Seraphine wanted him to take the artifact and escape, and she glued it to his back without his knowledge.