Return of the Demon Sovereign (Book 1) [MxM]

58. Procession (2)

The remaining Devil priests rushed forward to attack. However, Erebus met the Devils with gladness and vengeance. He sliced his blades mercilessly, taking a head or limb with each blow. Leo's party quickly joined him and took down the other priests alongside him, not letting Erebus face this battle alone.

They all knew something was wrong with the people in red and avoided them. However, Astra paused and stared at the first woman in red, her face paled.

"Praise... him?" She whispered.

No one could hear her words in the chaos except for Erebus. He cut off another head and rushed towards her, standing in front of her and blocking her sight.

Her gaze was unsteady, and her emotions were in turmoil. "There was nothing... Just these words and an obsessed feeling for something... an A'Teh."

"Praise him!" Those in red echoed when they heard the name A'Teh.

The battle was raging around them as they stood facing each other. "I know," Erebus said quietly. "Avoid looking into their minds."

Her eyes narrowed, and a darkness covered her face. "I know some of these women. They are from Silvercloud and disappeared from the sect house months ago. Everyone thought they had run away. Why are they here?"

Erebus examined the surroundings and found that Leo was directing the troops well. He was protecting Erebus and Astra so they could speak.

"They never went to Undanfold?" Erebus asked, trying to hide his worry.

Astra's eyes narrowed with anger as she shook her head. "They never joined any missions before."

Erebus cursed inwardly. The only logical explanation was someone from the other realms was pulling the strings behind the scenes. Someone was supplying sacrifices for the Devils.

"Join the battle," Erebus told Astra as he stared at the people in red.

She quickly left to fight, leaving Erebus alone.

He sighed emotionally. The world had always been corrupted, and the greatest enemies colluded behind masks. He was destined to flood the realms with the blood of his enemies.

He turned his eyes towards the back of the procession, and those banging the drums were rushing towards their group. But Erebus felt something was off. Suddenly, four of them started to manifest a ball of fire in their hands, shocking Erebus, but he kept moving and circulated his mana.

He couldn't help but be perplexed because in all the years he fought the Devils, they only used runes drawn with outside tools. They could not gather mana for an attack. Without a functioning core, there was no way to. However, these four were able to use mana.

Erebus analyzed the mana that they were using and found a core resting in their bodies. However, the core was not in harmony with the body, but it was enough to allow it to circulate mana and use its respective element. Despite their inefficiencies, they were still powerful and could be considered intermediate King Realm.

The Acrid Doctor had something similar embedded in him, but this was a new level of evolution. The Devils reached a scientific breakthrough, which meant another scientist was amongst them. And this one was much more advanced than the Acrid Doctor.

"Leo! Help me block them!" Erebus yelled. He called Leo because he would react appropriately. He didn't disappoint Erebus and quickly circulated his mana. Both erected shields just in time and absorbed the fire mana.

The heat from the fire evaporated any moisture and chill from the air, and Erebus' skin, previously slick with sweat, became uncomfortably dry. The air rushed towards him, making his hair even more disheveled. After stopping the flames, he merged with his shadow domain and appeared next to one of the Devils.