Just a few moments ago, it looked like the battle was over and the humans managed to thwart the invasion of demons.
However, Berith's rage happened to be something that powerless Arcana Masters couldn't cope to face.
Within seconds, 12 Arcana Masters died, of which, one of them was even an Exalt realm expert. They were too unlucky with their hearts, necks, heads, or other vital body parts being pierced with thick metal rods at great force.
More than 20 of them were heavily injured, of which half of them lost consciousness. Perhaps, it is because Berith's attention was on Captain Lyman. He was attacked by several pillars. His body was pierced from all directions but his strong vitality is keeping him alive and protected his consciousness.
The remaining were filled with fear as the metal alloy pillars rose in the air and gathered at one spot, transforming into a giant metal golem.
Fortunately, an already injured Azzy was left unharmed due to the timely act of Lenore. After saving him, she used random teleportation to temporarily get away from the spot.
However, they couldn't get away because of the existing barrier placed by the four commanders which prohibited teleportation. Hence, they ended up crashing into the wall of a barrier but they were completely fine.
As Azzy completely healed himself, the metal golem transformation is completed and Berith landed on top of its head before speaking loud enough that even people from a kilometer away could hear it.
"Hello, warriors of the human race. I'm Berith, a duke of Hell. First of all, let me clear up some misunderstandings. I have no enmity with humanity and neither have I any intention to invade your world. It was purely a business visit and nothing else."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"then, what the hell was this?" This thought appeared in every listener but no one is in a state to argue with the demon at the moment. Moreover, all of them were working for WAMO and were in elite positions. One can say that they were veterans. They might feel afraid and hesitate to attack but won't run away like cowards even while standing in the midst of corpses.
These elite Arcana Masters were simply waiting for their bosses to finish up their seal and come down to deal with the enemy. If his speech will give them some time, then, they will patiently listen until the end without making any move.
On the other hand, Azzy started rapidly absorbing the natural energy around him. Maybe, the demon wasn't paying attention, or maybe, he cannot sense the changes as Azzy was a bit far away from him, or maybe, he just didn't think it was a threat.
Whatever the case, Berith didn't look in the direction of Azzy and continued his speech.
"Just like our late master, I only follow the terms of the deal I make with the humans. My summoner was a poor victim of human arrogance. He was innocent, yet, made guilty by a person with connections.
The man only wished for one thing. He wishes to take revenge against the arrogant people with power and authority. Surprisingly, his wish and my line of thoughts were quite similar. Hence, I decided to go all out. What's better than a place where those kinds of people exist in a bunch of groups?
Too bad that I couldn't bring down my entire legion but I guess I would be enough for you all.
Anyways, coming to the point, since you all lack the authority, let's make a deal. I will leave you kids alive if you sacrifice the very power that makes you arrogant. Your soul energy…
If you don't want that, then, I have another option for you. Join my legion and kill my enemies. I will even reward you.
Surrender peacefully, you will leave with your lives intact.
Or else, die with the rest. Oh! Yes, there's the last option. You can run away but the civilians will die in your place.
You are an intelligent species that came a long way compared to millions of years ago. You can think and act. So, choose wisely. You have one minute to walk forward and stand behind this creation of mine." Berith patted the head of the golem and ended his proposition before taking a glance at the sky. It looked like the seal will be completed within a minute.
Is it just a coincidence or a planned one? Only time will tell.
But, for now, everyone just silently stood in their places while healing their injuries and helping out their colleagues.
Within a whole minute, not even one of them stepped forward and joined the demon for their life. Azzy was indeed impressed by such a scene because he didn't expect that no one would be afraid for their life.
He didn't even see anyone run away including those rank-5 Arcana Masters who were standing out of the barrier and became spectators, following their orders.
This tells the loyalty of this organization's employees, thought Azzy as he continued to greedily absorb the natural energy.
Since there was less forestation, and water sources like lakes in the city, Azzy expected that it would take a while to absorb the natural energy up to his maximum capacity. However, Berith, unknowingly, made a favor for him.
Because the golem is made of natural metal alloys, Azzy was able to steal natural energy from it and reduce its durability.
Obviously, Berith sensed it and he even managed to discern the reason and person behind this phenomenon.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBut, since he made a promise to wait for the next 60 seconds, he would not attack unless someone launches a direct attack aimed at him. Not to mention, Azzy was a target of special interest.
Unlike the others, Berith planned to capture him alive to solve the mystery of how his mind control and divination powers not working on him.
The clock is slowly ticking and there is complete silence on the battlefield. Everyone's eyes were glued to the sky and they were praying for their saviors to come down while Azzy was done with his preparation for the battle and focused on formulating a perfect strategy. Of course, he was in consultation with the Reaper.
As Vajra couldn't be used in the battle because its presence will only put additional pressure on the Arcana spirits of his allies, Azzy went on summoning it just before the time limit and quickly unleashing its hidden skill, the merge.
It was only for a moment. So, no one had witnessed or sensed the presence of the wolf except for Lenore and the Supreme realm experts as well as the demon general.
"You are a twin arcana user." Lenore couldn't help but comment and Azzy calmly nodded as he was finished with the merge. Other than the fact that his eyes turned yellow and a black gem appeared on his forehead, visibly, there were no other changes in Azzy.
After activating the Eyes of God soul skill, even those yellow pupils disappeared and his eyes turned pitch black with no visible pupils, thereby almost finishing his preparations for the upcoming battle.
Why so much preparation when the three guardians of WAMO will come down and fight with the demon? It is because it will take one more minute for them to finish the things above, according to the Reaper. One of them (Ramiel) isn't in the supreme realm and is not a sealing master like the other two.
And just like Azzy feared, the guardians up there weren't finished in time and Berith let out a smile, followed by an announcement "Time's up. Prepare yourselves to die, humans."
*Swoosh*
Azzy charged forward with his fastest speed.