Vera had seen Kione's smile directed right at her just before the dark liquid swallowed him whole. It was not a sad or regretful smile. It was… a brilliant smile that was full of pride. As if he had told her that moment the words 'you're amazing, keep flying higher and never stop'.
And she knew right then that she had lost him. Forever. He was gone. Kione was gone for good.
She shut her eyes tightly closed after screaming out his name, calling out even though she knew that there was no point in doing so any longer. Her body was trembling as she held herself back from crying. This was not the time for her to break down. She knew she did not have the luxury of crying right now. Later… she promised herself. There was always later.
The monsters had emerged from the wall of darkness again and Kione's army charged ahead with a thirst of vengeance for their fallen lord. All of them were roaring out their battle cries to the heavens as they attacked with all their might, not holding anything back.
But Vera could tell that the dark faes would soon be overpowered – especially now that their Lord Kione was no longer there to provide the extra shield of protection for them. The monsters were just too many and too powerful for their small army to deal with. She did not know what to do. She was unsure whether she was doing it right, but she just knew that she had to save them no matter what! Her heart was set on the aim of saving all the warriors and killing off all the monsters.
So she swung her hand in an arc before her and ordered, "Kill all those monsters!"
Azure listened to his master and breathed out arrows of sharp crystals that materialised in the air before him. They flew straight ahead and pierced through the monsters. Anyone who had been hit immediately turned into ice and then crumbled like glass that was shattered by one hit from a stone.
The dark faes looked up. Their wavering spirit due to losing their lord started to strengthen again at the sight of the powerful creature above them. Hope flickered in their eyes as they rallied their own troops and fought against the oncoming monsters.
…
At the other side of the abyss, King Belial had already started retreating.
He had already sent out more than half of his army to aid the other armies but that was not the problem he was facing. He had realized that the enemy was trying to swallow him and trap him.
He had managed to stand his ground and not be pushed back by the monsters, but the armies to his sides, however, were pushed back and losing ground. And now he was being surrounded by two massive walls. He did not know what would happen if he got trapped within the wall of darkness. But from what he observed so far, he just knew that the result would not be good. He could survive but his entire army might get annihilated.
Seeing that the darkness was pushing towards him from both sides at the rear, the king ordered his army to charge backwards while he fought the monsters behind them. He could only hope they would be able to make it in time. The biggest and most troublesome monsters had kept him occupied, not giving him any chances to look back that he had missed noticing this vital matter earlier on.
He had realized now that the monsters must have had some intelligent ones among them who were sending out orders for the rest to follow. They were certainly not just charging mindlessly without any plan. There was a strategy in their war. And he thought that their first goal was to get him, the king, to be swallowed up by the darkness. He also felt that he must not let that happen at all costs.
Though he had been inside the abyss countless of times before, something was different this time around.
Seeing that a massive creature blasted its attack towards the rear, killing hundreds of his elite armies just with that one hit and also causing the wall behind him to keep pushing closer, Belial gritted his teeth. He then decided to teleport to the rear of his army and fought against the giants that had appeared from both their left and right sides. The moment he appeared, he lashed out at the monsters, slashing at them mercilessly and trying to reduce their numbers as much as possible.
"Your Majesty!" One of his generals shouted out. "Please leave this to us! We need you out of here before it's too late!" As a general, his main concern other than leading his army to fight in the war was to ensure the survival of their king.
Belial just smirked at his general before he moved like a blur, stabbing at the monster that was about to lop the general's head off his body.
"We are serious, My King! This situation is getting bleak! At the rate we are going, they are getting us trapped in completely!" another soldier shouted out in a pleading voice. "Please, Your Majesty! Just go and leave us! We will hold the fort."
As his general said that, the giants came rushing at them. Jumping straight out from the wall of darkness. They literally came out of nowhere, catching most of them off guard as they were focussed on asking their king to retreat.
Once the king brought three of the giants down, his eyes widened at the sight of most his men already scattered out of formation and some were even badly wounded. The general that was begging him to leave had also had one of the giant's large finger still stuck in his body. Its long bladelike nail pierced through him.
Anger rose within him as he stared at his general and friend's body already severed on the ground. He was just speaking to the general a few moments before and now the man was already gone. The next second, his darkness pulsated. The initially very well controlled dark magic within him began to turn violent and uncontrollable.