Soon, we could finally see Azrael’s back, his majestic wings glowing in a holy light as he surrounded himself with a storm of feather blades. Any demon that touched it turned into minced meat in seconds.
“We should be careful when approaching him…”
If we got hit by those too, then for sure we’d die, no questions asked.
The number of demons attacking us increased as we got closer to him. Now, we were facing about a dozen demons at a time—practically the limit our group could take on at once.
“Leader, can you hear that?”
Suddenly, Fang appeared beside me and whispered. I turned to her to see her ears wiggling uncomfortably, so I tried to sharpen my hearing too.
“…”
However, even if I focused as hard as I could, I couldn’t hear anything.
“Nope, I don’t hear it. What did you hear?”
Instead of delaying the fact, I just asked Fang directly. She then frowned deeply before holding her ears down, her tail drooping below, seemingly scared of something.
“I, I don’t know, Leader. It sounded like the world was crying…”
“…?”
That’s a pretty vague description.
I patted Fang’s head, trying to soothe her mind as she shook in fear, before turning to the others and asking.
“Does anyone hear the same thing as Fang?”
But nobody nodded their heads. Even Igni, who should have about the same range of hearing as Fang, didn’t hear a thing.
“Weird…”
*RUMBLE!*
As soon as I began to think Fang might just be tired, I started to feel the earth shake. It wasn’t noticeable without paying attention, however, just a slight shaking. However, this vibration is giving me weird signals, giving me goosebumps.
At moments like this, something terrible always happens next.
“Don’t tell me…!”
And, as if on cue, Azrael’s voice reached our ears at the same time.
[Sorry, human. I’ve failed to make it in time…]
“…!”
‘Make it in time for what?’ I’m not boorish enough to ask something so obvious.
I turned toward the center of the demon army and saw that Azrael had been blasted away. He was struck by something powerful, seeing how his face contorted in pain!
“The egg…”
Fatima’s voice trembled as she stared ahead. There, through the crowd of demons, we could see the gigantic egg, about as big as Azrael was tall. And there, around its shell, cracks were appearing, with purple light filtering out of them.
“L-Leader!”
Fang’s body was shaking uncontrollably, like a puppy that was left to freeze in the winter winds. Ember’s expression turned solemn, but her fists were curled tight. Igni, like Ember, was showing a flat face, but her tail was flexed as straight as it could get. Finally, there’s Fina, who was the same as me, only looking ahead with worry in her eyes.
“This is bad…”
We are too close to the egg right now. If whatever was inside it came out, we would end up being within its attack range. I turned to look at Azrael, then at the girls, and let my brain process everything as quickly as I could.
“… Let’s retreat.”
In the end, that’s the only option I could take.
After all, even if it’s the same Void Beast as the one we fought with Fatima in the sealed space, their powers were way different. That one was sealed for a long time and got weakened. This one is just about to be born, burning with as much energy as it could have.
In fact, in my vision, I could already see a whirlpool of various energies surrounding the egg. It was such an astounding amount that even Azrael couldn’t compare to it. That was about the same amount as what the gatekeepers in heaven had!
The girls also came to the same conclusion as me. Staying here would only mean our death.
Ember quickly cast a portal leading straight to the Heaven’s Republic. One after another, they went through it, retreating, until I was the only one left.
I turned to Azrael, seeing him struggle to stand up, and frowned.
“Azrael! Return to the Otherside! Your presence there is needed, so leave this side to us!”
[Human… You do not understand. That thing is stronger than I am! If I don’t handle it right here, right now, then the world will perish!]
Hearing the desperation in his voice, there’s no doubt that what he said was true. However, I shook my head gently, correcting him.
“I know that. Still, if more demons overflow from the gate, then the situation here would just become worse!”
Although having that Void Beast about to hatch from the egg was already the worst-case scenario, it could still get even worse.
“Now, hurry and return before you can no longer be able to!”
[…] .
Azrael had a complicated expression as he stared in my direction. Then, suddenly, a necklace appeared right before my eyes.
[… Take this. You must’ve seen how it’s used before, right? Use that to summon me when the time is right.]
I held the necklace tight, making sure not to lose it, before nodding my head.
“I will.”
Finally, Azrael sighed before his figure began to turn into particles of light. As expected, he himself knew that he couldn’t fight the Void Beast. For now, he should be back to the Otherside and resuming his guardian duties, protecting the door and preventing any more demons from exiting through it.
*SCREEEEEECH!*
“UGH!”
At that moment, a powerful cry echoed, and the world turned dark. The sky got covered with dark clouds in moments, with lightning rolling and crashing down to the ground with a loud crackle.
“…”
I turned to the egg and saw it burst open. The tough-looking shell shattered like a normal egg before turning into powder, changing into energy, and being absorbed by the being standing in the middle of it.
A thin, humanoid body, standing about 50 meters tall. Its skin was clad in purple armor, with red lightning arcs coursing all over its body. With just a single glance, I could tell.
‘That thing is bad news!’
The being suddenly turned its head, its golden eyes glaring in my direction. At that moment, I felt a shiver run down my spine.
“MASTER!”
Ember’s words brought me back to reality before someone tugged my frozen body into the portal. The entire time, the Void Beast and I locked onto each other’s eyes, not blinking until the portal closed.
𝑖𝘦𝑎.𝗇t