"The... Ruined Citadel?"
Maya’s scream echoed across the battlefield, her eyes locked on the black-robed knight.
Everything clicked into place for Drago.
"That’s right..." he muttered, eyes widening. "This is the same Undead Commander that once guarded the Ruined Citadel. But how? How did it get here? And more importantly—someone managed to form a contract with it?"
The realization sent a cold shiver down his spine.
"Drago! Things are not looking good!" Maya shouted urgently. "My Clairvoyance... I can’t see a future where we survive if we press this fight!"
Her voice shook, not with fear, but certainty. She prophesized death if they stayed.
Drago’s jaw clenched, gaze shifting upward.
Above them, the Metal Dragon clashed violently with the Mountain King. Steel against stone. Flame against earth.
But it was one-sided.
The Metal Dragon was only a mid-tier adolescent—fierce, but far from matured. In contrast, the Mountain King towered like an ancient deity, each movement causing tremors, each strike like the judgment of a wrathful heaven.
A single palm descended with a slow, divine weight.
The dragon was swatted from the sky like an insect, crashing into the plains below, forming a crater upon impact.
Dust and rubble scattered. The Metal Dragon writhed, trying to rise—but its wings were bent, its armor cracked.
"This isn’t a battlefield..." he whispered. "It’s a graveyard. We’re just intruders."
The aura of the Mountain King flared again—followed by the silent pressure of the Undead Knight’s presence.
Nearby, the Fallen Angel remained still, her obsidian claws gleaming as if thirsty for blood, her eyes watching them with amused cruelty.
He finally raised his hand.
"Fall back! We’re leaving!"
Maya and the others hesitated only briefly before nodding. The pressure bearing down on them had become unbearable. Retreat was the only option.
A collective sigh escaped their lips. Whatever nightmare they had stumbled into, they were grateful to be leaving it behind.
Her voice rang out like a Queen’s Command:
"Who said you could leave?" Evernight’s voice echoed, cold and unyielding.
The group turned to her with narrowed eyes and furrowed brows.
"Don’t push us too far, Demoness," Eagle scowled, his pride burning. "You think we’re afraid of you?"
"Fufufu... Of course you are," Evernight grinned, unfazed.
Eagle’s face flushed with anger. "Let’s go, Leader," he muttered bitterly, turning away.
He believed she was bluffing. Just trying to rattle them on their way out.
But before they could take another step, she moved.
Evernight stepped forward and blocked their path with the quiet authority of a predator.
"Fufufu... Like I said... you can’t just barge in here, disturb our master’s peace, and walk away like nothing happened. For your insolence, a compensation must be paid."
Drago’s expression darkened. "Compensation?" he growled. "What kind of compensation?"
It was already humiliating to retreat. To now be asked for penance by the very enemy they couldn’t defeat? It was outrageous.
Evernight tilted her head, smile never fading.
"Nothing too difficult... Just let me turn you all into undead."
The air dropped several degrees as she said this.
Then her eyes chage its color from Charming violet to burned dark, deep as the abyss.
A sickening change rippled through her form.
Her curved horns grew longer, arching with infernal grace. Her once-feathered wings darkened into devilish appendages of void.
Her skin remained hauntingly pale, but her lips curled into a crimson smile of madness.
"You’ll make fine additions to our master’s army," she whispered.
The ground cracked beneath her as cursed energy surged.
Drago took a step back. Then, in one swift motion, leapt onto the back of his Metal Dragon.
The others followed without hesitation, each jumping onto their respective beasts.
Wings beat hard against the wind as they soared into the sky, their mission incomplete but their lives preserved at least.
Without a word, they split off in different directions, scattering across the skies like fleeing shadows.
But Evernight wasn’t done.
With a beat of her dark wings, she launched into the air, her figure slicing through the clouds like a blade of vengeance.
From her pale fingers, chains erupted twisting like living things of pure shadow.
Unlike holy chains of light, these radiated unholy power, writhing like cursed serpents in the sky.
The chains hissed and snapped as they pursued their targets like sentient predators.
But four fled because of their quick response, evasion, desperation.
Eagle’s breaths came out as gasps. A chill ran down his spine. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
He turned just in time to see the black chains closing in.
But before he could even call for help, the chains struck.
They didn’t wrap around him, but around Goldwing, his Fiery Eagle.
The majestic bird shrieked as the chains coiled around its wings and talons, cutting its flight short.
With a monstrous pull, the chains yanked them from the sky.
The ground split beneath the impact as Goldwing and Eagle slammed down, raising a plume of dust and scorched earth.
Eagle groaned, coughing through the pain. His vision spun. But above it all, he heard her smooth, cold, final voice:
"They’ve escaped... but you’ll be enough for compensation."
Evernight landed with eerie grace, her black wings folding behind her like a queen of death.
Eagle’s blood ran cold.
He might not getting out of this alive today.
After nearly an hour, Igaris finally twitched.
His eyes opened slowly, greeted by the warmth of unfamiliar comfort. The exhaustion that had plagued his body was gone, as if washed clean by some invisible force. He felt... renewed.
Around him, his summoned army stood in silent vigilance, like a protective ring of power and loyalty.
His gaze drifted toward Evernight.
She sat nearby, legs crossed in meditation. Though her expression was calm, her very presence pulled attention like gravity.
In that posture, the contours of her figure became more pronounced, her robe draping over her form in a way that bordered between regal and dangerously alluring.
Her big boobs rose and fell with slow breathing.
A faint flutter of her lashes broke the stillness.
Then her eyes opened, and they locked with his.
"My Liege, you’re awake," she said, her tone soft as honey.
"Ahem... yes," Igaris coughed lightly, shifting his gaze away from the sight that threatened to trap him.
Evernight smiled knowingly.
"Perfect timing. I have a present for you," she said, gesturing toward a sturdy tree just a few meters away.
There, bound in tight chains of shadow, was Eagle.
Slumped against the trunk, his arms twisted behind him and his expression full of venom and shame.
Beside him, the majestic Fiery Golden Eagle also lay grounded. Its wings chained, flames extinguished, its proud eyes now dull and defeated.