Everyone in the tavern was shocked. They haven't received any news related to the war since they thought it happened in the south of Lagendia Kingdom. A moment later, a soldier in armour who seemed ready to battle told Zeliker and the others the same thing and urged them to move out of Shasui to a nearby refugee camp on the east.
"Let's go! We must help the soldiers in Marlom!" A young man, who looked like an adventurer, carrying a big sword on his back, told his group of six people.
"Go!" The others replied, and they hurriedly left the tavern.
Zeliker turns his eyes to Silvert. "Let's go too."
Silvert nodded and they both left the tavern afterward, after Silvert paid the owner for their food. The residents were hurriedly running outside to the east while people who could battle and soldiers gathered at the gate to cross the border. On the other side, heavy smoke and light from the burning flame float into the sky.
"The battle seems heavy." Silvert telepathy Zeliker silently.
"Yes. We need to help them without exposing ourselves." Zeliker replied.
"I will cover us with my dimension."
They ran toward the still open gate to the border since residents from Marlom were running to Shasui. They found both cavalry and infantry soldiers from the Eskimos were moving toward Marlom. Once Zeliker and Silvert stepped inside Marlom, the troops there were already engaged with Entenoa's troops, wearing black armour while the human side wore blue or white armour.
Zeliker saw the six adventurers helping the soldiers. He was amazed by those young men and women's skills. Who could have thought that, other than people entering the army, they would be people who didn't. He moved toward a high tower with Silvert.
While moving, they killed some of Entenoa's soldiers along the way and saved some Lagendia and Eskimos soldiers who were confused by the death of demons around them. And they were unable to detect or find Zeliker and Silvert's presence.
On top of the tower, Zeliker watched the battleground below. He noticed someone with another set of troops waiting outside of Marlom.
He smirked. "No wonder they managed to reach here easily. They have another kingdom to help."
Silvert narrowed his eyes. "I couldn't believe Entenoa had combined with Weety and they would even send Weety's second prince, Itsven Brigia, to the battle. Entenoa was really serious about conquering Lagendia this time."
He too saw the demon prince from the Weety Kingdom. The prince had dark orange eyes and wore dark armour with a kite shield on his left and a spear in his right hand. His height was 1.8 metres. Like Zeliker, he had black hair and wore a circlet on his forehead with a pair of orange earrings on his ears.
"Yes. As long as they get half of Lagendia territory, it would become Lagendia's big loss. This ambush will alert other human kingdoms soon and the Eskimos might send their armies here, which would expose some weakness to the south again."
A slight fit of anger appears in Zeliker's eyes. The Eskimos Kingdom was now his ally. He didn't want to see it fall. More so since his beloved was in the heart of the Eskimos' kingdom.
"This was like twelve years ago, and it's going to happen again if we let Itsven conquer here. With his strength and power, he might have gone to the north next to subjugate another border, cutting off the help from Eskimos. We cannot allow it to happen." Silvert expressed his concern about it.
He couldn't find any stronger people to fight the royal rank demon within the human army. Since it was a sudden attack, the generals from Lagendia Kingdom may have been shocked and on their way. Who knows how many hours they need to travel here. Their chance for Marlom to survive was gone, and the only person who could fight him was Zeliker.
"I'm going. Cover me."
"Wait, Zeliker! You must be very careful. Itsven has many experiences in war."
Zeliker noticed the worry in Silvert's eyes and gave him a small smile.
"I know. Which is why I must battle him alone while you distract his underlings."
"I understand."
"You should be careful too."
Zeliker then disappeared. Silvert calmed his nervous heart before his serious red eyes snapped to rainbow colours. He too disappeared to help Zeliker.
Unbeknownst to them, a male demon disguised as a human from the Lagendia Kingdom wore white armour and a mask covering his entire face, along with one of the adventurers, a young handsome man, had noticed Zeliker's presence. The demon had long silver hair, and the adventurer had dark red hair.
Both have their eyes on the tower with slight confusion. Within their silence, they had called out Zeliker's name at the same time. They were unable to locate Zeliker again after he disappeared and had to focus on the battle near them.
A few moments later...
"Zeliker..." Dark orange eyes lock on the figure that appears within his detection.
Although Zeliker was wearing his devil mask, Itsven could still accurately call Zeliker's name because he knew what Zeliker's aura was like.
"Hello, Itsven." Zeliker spoke of his name too, with a lighthearted voice.
The soldiers around Itsven were shocked into a stupor after they saw Zeliker coming out from the shadows of the trees in front of them. His eyes glow along with the red background, making his low presence more intense. They thought they were seeing Nekruis' shadow in Zeliker, glowing with murderous intent.
"Prince Zeliker Asterostes?! Why are you here?!" A commander under Itsven, Luuya Narid, asked with a frown.
He doesn't understand why one of their royal demons would be hostile to them. He doesn't see a device control collar around Zeliker's neck, which only means, this prince was not under anyone's control.
"Commander, the prince went missing four months ago. I heard he was captured by humans." One of the soldiers whispered to him.
Luuya, of course, already knows that. They even got word that if anyone finds Zeliker and brings him home to the Flink Kingdom, they would be rewarded with Eleise. He wondered why Nekruis would reward anyone with an immortal item, just for the sake of bringing Zeliker home.
Won't giving them a high payment be enough? Now, it seems, he understands a little bit after looking at Zeliker. Zeliker might have been enchanted by the demon or powerful summoning Guardians working with humans to become their enemies. Bringing him home would be a very hard thing to do.
He knows lots of humans' thoughts. A royal-ranking demon, rather than killing them, it's better to make them into their puppets for them to control.
Luuya was angry after thinking about their royal-ranking demons being controlled by humans, since it happened once before to Entenoa Kingdom's youngest prince, Zeriew Anoie.
"Everyone, be alert! Ready to battle!" He commanded everyone.
"Your Highness, please stay back." Luuya told Itsven.
He was still worried about what kind of trick Zeliker in control would do, and he didn't want his prince to get hurt.
"No need. I will battle him alone. You all get back."
Itsven, too, thought of the same thing as Luuya. He thinks Zeliker was in control. He needs to beat Zeliker until he is knocked out and bring him back to the Flink Kingdom for a cure. Among the demons here, only he can fight Zeliker.
"But, Your Highness..."
"Luuya, are you defying my orders?" Itsven glared dangerously at him.
Luuya immediately went down on one knee in fear. It was his mistake to cross the line.
"Please forgive me, Your Highness. I will follow your order."
Itsven slowly walked away from his men's surroundings, and they too backed away from him. The incoming battle would be on a disaster level since both were royal-ranking demons.
Zeliker smirks. For this battle, he didn't summon out his long blade that he used to battle Flare, instead he summoned a sword about a metre long. The sword was thick, with two handles side by side. When Zeliker grabs them, he pulls them apart to become two swords. Both glow in their own colours, blue and green auras.
Seeing those swords, Itsven growls lightly. It seems Zeliker will be fighting all out against him. Those swords he had seen once when there was an exchange of royal battles among their royal demon children. The royal battle happened around five years ago when Zeliker was fourteen and he was eighteen at that time.
Zeliker blade was destroyed by Hursei Fugain, the first prince of the Opyru Kingdom. To protect himself from being killed by his opponent, Zeliker was forced to summon these unknown swords, awakened by his desire to live, and won the battle swiftly. Everyone at that time was astonished by his performances and the circumstances of the battleground.
Everything had turned into a freezing cold region, which was a small weakness for demons since they favour blazing hot temperatures more than cold. However, Zeliker was unable to continue to battle since he was affected by the cold a lot more than Hursei, almost killing himself.
"If it was not for Nekruis to rescue him on time, he might have lost his life. I couldn't believe Nekruis didn't do anything now to get him back and let him be captured by those humans."
Itsven grips his spear before, in a blink of anyone's eyes, his spear moves to thrust at Zeliker's body, but Zeliker deflects the attack with one sword. Their battle started right away.
Itsven noticed the cold sword auras were contained within it but when his spear clashed against them, a spark of coldness was felt by him.
"He managed to control his swords, unlike five years ago." He examined Zeliker closely, and there was a thrilling feeling from behind those glowing eyes.
"He's not in control?!" A sudden realisation hit him.
For a demon who gets enchanted, their eyes would be slightly diluted in darkness. Zeliker's eyes weren't showing any of it.
"What are you doing?"
He frowned when they clashed their weapons with each other and met eye to eye.
"What do you mean?" Zeliker let out a small grin.
"You're working with humans willingly? Why? Wasn't it they who captured you?"
Uncontrollable Zeliker along with being so serious by summoning his best weapons and then fighting against him. His actions were not like he was playing any tricks. It was like Zeliker was trying to stop him from something, which he guessed was his subjugation toward this border.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I would like to have a long chat with you, but I don't think you want to. You already figured out why I am here, right?"
Itsven showed his fangs in anger and pushed Zeliker's weapon away before he fired out a dark swirly ball at Zeliker. The latter avoided it by jumping up and slashing his swords down at Itsven. He can't let Itsven make more swirled balls after seeing it swallow a small area and leave nothing behind. If he allows Itsvert to take control of Marlom, the place will be no more. And he knows it's painful in the butt to build it again later.
Their battle had destroyed almost the entire area surrounding them. Zeliker's swinging of his swords was now freezing everywhere the missed slash hit and Itsven's missed dark swirled ball also made their battleground have loopholes here and there. The ground was also cracking apart from their jumps and accidental hits on it.
Silvert inhaled an astonishing breath after seeing Zeliker fighting Itsvert with his true strength. He got worried because Itsven doesn't seem to use his most powerful attack yet.
'God, please protect him.' He prayed silently.
"That's Zeliker... Who is he fighting?" The red-haired adventurer already heard the roaring fighting outside Marlom.
He went to watch it after defeating the enemies around his area and was shocked to see Zeliker fighting with another demon prince. A slight fear appeared in his heart and nervousness for Zeliker. He can feel the hidden strength inside Itsven that hasn't appeared yet.
'If only I had my armour with me. Then, I should be able to help him.' He thought while gritting his teeth.
'The only choice I have is to return to Rezigh and get my armour.'
He didn't predict that another demon prince would appear near the place he was investigating.
"Flare!" A few people called him from behind.
He turned to his back and saw his team running to him.
"Reuris, Hetero, Aiga, Liyuna, Shiruna." He said their names.
"God! What's this?! It's the royal demons! Wait! Why are they fighting each other?" Hetero was stunned after seeing Zeliker and Itsven.
"The swordsman, he is the one I told you guys before." Flare explained quietly.
His team members were confused before they slowly remembered something. All their expressions show shock and bewilderment.
Aiga, who wore eyeglasses, stares at Zeliker. "Are you sure we can trust a royal demon like him?"
"Heh! It's all up to you." Flare answered. "During our investigation through Eskimos, we already found some interesting news about him. Believe it or not, he is someone we can befriend."
Aiga went silent for a moment. "You trust him because he changed the war three years ago. And the reason for us being here was all because you were searching for him, since the news that he was captured by one of the Eskimos' soldiers."
Flare didn't reply, but there was a small grin on his lips. His gaze shows excitement while looking at Zeliker.
Three years ago, he and Zeliker fought each other in the war between the Shildia Kingdom and the Griko Kingdom. Zeliker won their battle and could have won the war instantly after killing him. Yet, the latter let him live and instead hurt himself.
Because of Zeliker's absence, the morale of the demon soldiers plummeted. Humans should have been able to gain more momentum in the war after Zeliker's defeat, but it ended with no one's victory. Still, the king and his adjutants were relieved by the war's result.
When Flare went home, a huge celebration was held for his triumph against Zeliker. His people were so happy, but Flare hadn't shown anything besides his cold eyes. The truth behind the winner was only known to him and Zeliker. He was frustrated by his defeat and confused by Zeliker's action.
At home, Flare has been thinking about a lot of things, such as why Zeliker would do that and what the reason for his action might be. Unfortunately, he was unable to get any answers. Another war happened a year later, and he participated in it again, but he didn't see Zeliker anywhere on his enemy's side.
Flare was disappointed but still carried out his duty to bring victory in the war by taking down one of the enemy generals. A few months later, he heard some shocking news from one of his attendants. His attendant knew Flare was looking for Flink's last heir information, and he told his prince about the successful capture of Flink's heir by Eskimos.
Flare's heart was beating fast when he heard the news, and then he realised one of the feelings he had for Zeliker was anxious. He was anxious to know more and was concerned for Zeliker's well-being.
After thinking for a very long time, he deduced that Zeliker's action back then was to stop the war. The reason, although it was unknown, but the result of Zeliker's defeat was that the war had stopped earlier and they didn't have any heavy casualties like in any other war before.
He didn't have proof, but his good memories remembered every detail of Zeliker's expression at that time before he slit his throat. Zeliker had shown him a slight despair and relief before it was gone a moment later. Flare believed in what he saw, and so, he wanted to believe Zeliker wasn't like any other royal demon.
'He was odd, but perhaps he was just like us.' That was what he thought back then.
He asked his attendant to look out for more news, but nothing was found anymore because it was hidden tightly by the Eskimos' defender. Feeling frustrated, Flare makes a bold decision to find out Zeliker's circumstances on his own.
He formed a team with his trusted friends he made during his solo adventure when he felt he needed some fresh air. They were the ones who knew his face and true identity. He trusts them with his life too. Flare starts his investigation with them.
Some time later, he gets some news that Zeliker and his servant were going to the Miko Kingdom. He believed he would be able to intercept them in Shasui. As a result, he did find him at the tavern. Zeliker may have hidden his face, but Flare would notice him instantly because he trusts his instinct.
'I finally found you...' He said silently in his heart.