The Dark Devil Church – Athea Kingdom Branch
Hyx, the leader of the Althea branch of the Dark Devil Church, sat only on his bone throne like a king without his subjects.
A pitiful sight.
He was quiet, deep in thought, probably because he hadn’t heard from the men he sent to take care of the Alderford family.
Well, they were dead.
But he didn’t know that yet—it had only been a few hours since their deaths anyway. Oh, he didn’t know because he was confident his men would succeed.
But he was wrong. He had lost nine Root Sages and three Root Great Sages. Meanwhile, the ones in charge of the life crystals were debating who would deliver the news to their leader.
Undoubtedly, they wouldn’t be walking out of there alive. They would die, and none of them wanted to be the one to bring that fate upon themselves. So, they pretended they hadn’t discovered the 12 life tablets.
However, 12 hours after his men had died, he went to check on their life crystals. That was when he discovered they were dead.
That day, Hyx became enraged. Without a second thought, he flew out and headed toward Caprath City without reservations.
He planned to kill every last person associated with the events that began with Lady Sandra’s death. He had already lost enough, and because of that, he couldn’t think straight.
But he didn’t get far. In fact, he didn’t even leave the borders of Vastport City when she was stopped in his tracks by a man on an eerie-looking horse.
The man in question was clad in a dark cloth and a hood, with burning green eyes.
“Who are you?” Hyx asked, unleashing his level 3 Root Transcendent cultivation base. The entire space he was in was filled with a powerful presence that could break even Peak Root Great Sages
“It seems you have lost your way, Rider. But don’t worry, master has risen and he calls. You can stop living a life of deceit and schemes.” Uncle Drew, in his Night Rider form, said, showing no sign he was being affected by the aura.
Hyx, who sensed this, was immediately enraged and punched forward.
However, before he could get within a meter of Uncle Drew, a flaming arrow arrived and exploded in his face. This forced him back, but as a Root Transcendent, he wasn’t injured.
But it hurt like hell.
He looked to his right and saw another dark figure sitting on yet another eerie horse. However, this one had a different design from the one Uncle Drew was sitting on.
“Who are you people?” Hyx asked again, his eyes bloodshot.
“Like the captain said, it’s time for you to ride again,” Aria, the Archer Uncle Drew saved back in the Demon Mountains, said, looking eerie at Hyx.
She isn’t fully a Night Rider, but that doesn’t mean she can’t command the flames of hell to a certain extent.
The flames of hell are among the most powerful and lethal fires in the universe. A mere touch can be very agonizing.
Hyx chuckled, then raised his hand. A spell circle appeared in the air, six layers showing that he was casting a Tier 6 spell.
A large shard of ice appeared inside the circle, instantly shooting toward Uncle Drew while Hyx dashed toward Aria. However, strange-looking chains burst from the ground before he could move, grabbing hold of his legs.
The chains bonded his legs, preventing him from flying away.
As for the ice shard, Uncle Drew unleashed a sword attack that instantly severed the shard into countless pieces.
Hyx became even more enraged, and thus, he tapped into his strength and unleashed his trump cards.
“Come out and kill them!” the enraged Hyx shouted, and a portal opened.
From the portal, four spirit beasts appeared:
A flaming lion with a large horn.
A white tiger with golden stripes on its fur.
A giant-looking humanoid troll wielding a large club. The club seemed to be made of metal, and from how it looked, it was very durable and lethal.
The last one was a shadowy horse or perhaps a unicorn. However, the moment the shadowy figure appeared, Uncle Drew raised his hand, and a portal opened.
From the portal, flames poured out, immediately consuming the four beasts, with the shadowy beast being the last.
The creatures vanished as quickly as they had come, making Hyx look at the dark-cloaked figure in fear now. He could tell he was powerless in front of him.
Of course, he was. No Night Rider can attack their captain, regardless of their power. In front of him, they are ants.
But he was only prolonging his inevitable end.
He tried to wiggle his way out of the chains but couldn’t. His strength was slowly leaving his body.
Strangely, the two dark figures didn’t attack him.
They just stood there, watching him.
Two hours later, Hyx had lost all strength in his body. The chains of hell have drained all his strength.
“You have disobeyed the summoning of the Riders of the Night, so for your punishment, you will spend 200 years in the flames of hell.”
Just when Hyx had given up, Uncle Drew spoke. The next second, the chains bound him completely, and a portal of flames appeared.
He was tossed in, taking his screams with him.
This sight seemed to have affected Aria, who immediately asked why. They had indeed come to take him and succeeded—so why punish him?
“That is the rule of the Night Riders. Those who refuse their summon will spend time in the flames of hell as repentance.
This is for his own good since being reborn by the flames of hell will mould them into who they are meant to be, making them much stronger.”
“Then I want to enter there since my awakening isn’t complete yet,” Aria said, moving close to Uncle Drew.
“Okay.” He didn’t ask why. He just bound her in chains, and she, along with her shadowmare, was tossed into the flames of hell.
It was like Uncle Drew had expected something like that. But since being reborn from the flame seemed to have a good effect on them, he didn’t bat an eye.
The irony.
After they were gone, Uncle Drew transformed into his human form. The way he looked before inheriting the true name of a Night Rider.
His shadowmare also transformed into a carriage, which he laid down inside, whistling as if he hadn’t just sent two people to hell.
________________
Twenty hours later, he transformed back into his Night Rider form and opened two portals. From within the portals, two people emerged. One was calm and looked much more dangerous.
The other was screaming like a bastard. Of course, Hyx entered as a mortal, not as a half-Night Rider, so he experienced the short end of the stick.
That day, Hyx Von Martin, who had spent 200 years in hell, learned that there are some things more painful than being cuckolded.
“With the Authority of the Riders of the Night, I summon you to stand and ride again into the night. Do you heed the call?” Uncle Drew asked, looking expressionless under his hood.
That day, the third member of the Night Riders has heeded the call. Soon, they will ride all over this world and beyond to summon back their brethren to ride into the night with them.