“Master Kar Kas!” one of the Kas clan demons lifted their fallen patriarch up from the rubble. He was conscious, but unable to move. The clan member named Rai Kas proceeded to give him an elixir in a bottle.

Kar Kas proceeded to gulp down the contents of the bottle. He now was restored, his body regained its vigor and his damages on his body were not as prominent. The elixir made it possible to ignore pain for a period of time and restored mana, but at the cost of future health issues. In a sense, it allowed body to use up large amount of power to fix the body for a short period of time at the cost of future prospects. But this was an emergency. Rai Kas had to use the clan’s secret elixir to revive his master. Kar Kas greedily drank the content of the bottle as if his life depended on it.

“Tell me, the ones attacking us, who are they?” Kar Kas muttered after chugging down the entire bottle of elixir.

“It is the Tengu clan, master. All of them have the mark of the Tengu clan on them. They are led by the one armed crow demon.”

“One armed…Don’t tell me... Korgan Karatengu!” yes, that was right, the demon who dissipated his spiritual form and left him unconscious after slamming him on the wall, it was Korgan Karatengu, the demon lord of Karatengu clan. The last true Tengu type demon; others only bore the name of his clan but were not true Tengu type demons.

“This is bad; if he is here it is going to be a massacre…Where is Nar?”

“He is currently fighting against the Tang clan demon.”

“Damn it! They must have known we would take their member with us for interrogation, but to think that Demon Lord managed to trace them back to us…”

“Master, I don’t believe that is the case. They most likely knew about the location of the fortress from the Tang demon. I am confident he is the same one who escaped from us months ago. He is the only one we know who can use mass teleportation by darkness magic.”

SMACK! Kar punched his subordinate in the gut, causing him to fall over on the ground, kneeling.

“Don’t presume to know more than what you are told! You low blood! Where is the Demon Lord now?!”

“He…he is…over that side.” Rai Kas pointed behind him, obviously struggling to breathe.

“Fine! He needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.” He needed to handle the Demon Lord as soon as possible, even if he managed to beat at least one of the two, the chances of his clan being victorious would rise considerably. No matter how powerful the demon lords are, after casting a level 7 spell, both of them would have low mana, so it was the perfect time to strike them down.

Kar Kas ran as fast as he could towards where the brunt of the fight was taking place. He saw the crow demon in his true demon form. He no longer looked like a humanoid with horns; the default form of demons. Now he resembled a large bipedal crow with wings on his back, wielding a sword with his sole left hand.

Facing him were at least ten Saber tooth type demons. Six had transformed into their true demon forms while the others opted to fight with their spiritual forms. While the spiritual forms were generally more powerful, they use up a lot of energy and practitioners have to be proficient and talented in using them, so many less skilled demons opted to use their true demon forms. True demon forms still required concentration on part of the user, but unlike spiritual forms, instead of coating the body with a large aura, they changed the body, taking on the appearance of their demon type, thus having to risk their body in the process.

One by one each fell to a blade of the Demon Lord. One was stabbed through the stomach, the other was beheaded. The crow demon was merciless.

When they tried to take him down with spells, he simply summoned black flames around himself to absorb the impact of the attacking spells and then unleashed the black flames upon them, cooking those that were not able to escape safely to dark ashes.

Then, his sword transformed. Now instead of a sword, it looked like a giant black wing, and when he swung it, the feathers flew like darts towards his enemies. Countless feather projectiles were unleashed in a single swing, motion resembling molting of feathers but much quicker and deadlier.

When each enemy demon was struck by feather projectiles, the feathers sunk into their flesh. The feathers seemed to be made of tough metal. Like spikes, they embedded themselves into the bodies of his enemies with their sharp ends. Now as if the weight of the world fell upon them, those who were struck with feathers fell upon the ground, unable to move from the extreme weight.

The Kas clan might have the numbers; there were about four times more of them than the attacking Tengu clan. But on their side was the advantage of surprise and they had two Demon Lords. Kar Kas wasn’t sure where the other one went to but he had to deal with the one right here.

Kar Kas quickly assumed his own true demon form. His arms and legs gained muscle mass and his body now resembled a bipedal saber tooth tiger. He could not use his spiritual form at the moment for it took time to reform after being dissipated. True demon form was less powerful and it had vulnerability for it used his own body instead of coating the body with protective aura, but it would have to do.

Now he charged at the demon Lord from behind, intending to cut his head.

To his surprise, the Demon Lord ducked and proceeded to throw a kick at Kar Kas’ side.

“Not yet!” Kar Kas activated his demon eyes. The power he held in his demon eyes was . The power to push his enemy away from him with extreme force, but it worked in only direction he faces with his head, and it can only be used three times per day for it took considerable amount of mana to use. He could use it more times when he was young, but as he got older, his prowess has waned.

The Demon Lord was launched backwards and crashed into a building; his true demon form now reverted to his default form. He now was just a one armed old demon showing signs of age, no longer resembling a bipedal crow.

“Well, well, well, what do you know? I welcome you, Demon Lord, Korgan Karatengu. Why have you come to my humble domain?”

“To take back my grandson. Where is he?!” Korgan was obviously angry; he stood up with unusual dexterity for someone so old.

“Ren Tengu? He is your grandson? He he…What if I told you I killed him?”

Korgan smiled. Kar Kas did not understand why he could be smiling.

“My grandson is not so weak to die at the hands of someone as pathetic as you, that beast is the proof he is still alive.” Korgan pointed at the rampaging hydra devouring the Kas clan members. It was a monster from the depth of hell, six headed monstrosity eating everyone at such a quick pace, devouring and swallowing with a single bite, and crashing down anyone who attacked it.

“That monster is yours, is it not?”

“My grandson’s pet.”

Kar Kas couldn’t help but express his horror. To think that Tengu brat was able to tame such a horrifying beast. He seemed like a fool according to Nar’s description, but apparently he wasn’t so simple. He underestimated that brat.

“Regardless, I will not let you win. I will destroy you!”

“Let me see you try” Korgan calmly said, now facing Kar Kas in his default form. Kar Kas in his true demon form was stronger, but Korgan had a plan.

They both proceeded to charge towards each other.

* * *

“We have to find Ren, he is here somewhere!” Aijasyl shouted out. She, Shaula, Orin, Kizilkoz were leading the assault upon one side of the castle. Akjan left them, saying she had a personal business to take care of. Aijasyl wasn’t sure what could be more important than rescuing Ren at the moment, but it wasn’t time to think about it. It was time to battle for their young master’s life.

When Akjan reported that Ren was kidnapped, Master Korgan was furious. With unimaginable anger and vigor Aijasyl had never seen, he made an emergency summon to all of the present and available Tengu clan members and organized a rescue operation. Kas clan was no longer in the past location and none knew where they were right now. After being suppressed by previous Demon King, they switched their base. Luckily, Akjan knew of the Kas clan’s secret hideout, apparently it was a place her former clan, Tang clan resided before it was conquered by Kas clan. She offered to use mass teleportation by darkness magic to teleport everyone in the Tengu clan towards the location of Kas clan base. It would take extremely large amount of mana and stamina, but it was not the time to hesitate.

First, Sento and Master Korgan launched a first assault upon the Kas clan. Both used level 7 spells in order to weaken their enemies. At least two hundred were injured or perished as a result. But level 7 spells took a lot out of users and even demon lords couldn’t use more than one per day.

Then, Akjan teleported the rest of the Tengu clan to the battlefield. Then a brutal battle began.

Sukesir, leading the lizard type demons charged towards the eastern side of the castle. Aijasyl’s group was charging towards the northern side of the castle.

Master Korgan and Sento were busy fighting off the strongest ones of the Kas clan. Demon Lords were strong, but the Kas clan had the numbers.

Orin was furiously blasting Kas clan members with his explosions.

Kizilkoz likewise was fighting with a flaming bow and arrow.

Aijasyl used two swords coated with green flames in order to fight against the attacking demons.

“I can’t find boss!” Orin shouted, now he ended up stabbing a Kas clan demon with a meter long spike extending from his arm. He used the spike as a sword against his enemies. Then he proceeded to launch spikes from his entire body towards the incoming enemies, skewering them in the process. In a sense he unleashed a barrage of small spikes that were used as projectiles.

“He must he here somewhere, he must be here!” Shaula seemed most worried, unlike her usual composed self.

While fighting the enemy demons, they heard a shout of fear from the Kas clan members, and then the source of their fear came into view.

A large monster with six heads unleashed itself from within the building, eating everyone it came near. Curiously, it was avoiding eating Tengu clan members, only devouring Kas clan members.

“Is that…Fanghead!” Aijasyl mentioned towards the hydra.

The hydra looked at her with scornful look and then proceeded to tear Kas clan members into pieces. Without paying more attention than needed, it wrecked chaos in the battlefield as the battle worn Kas clanners were caught off guard when the hydra bit off their heads. The Tengu clanners already knew the hydra was on their side but still were nervous about coming near it. It was a scary monster, none wanted to come anywhere near it.

“If that thing is here, then Ren must be nearby. Let’s go!” Aijasyl shouted as she slashed her enemies in front of her, making the way for the Tengu clan members behind her. While normally nonviolent, the Tengu clan owed its current stability to Ren Karatengu. Aside from the original dozen members who resided in Karatengu territory, everyone else had joined the clan afterwards, most due to Ren Karatengu, in some way or another. Ren allowed many demons who had nowhere else to go live in Karatengu territory, he personally invited and recruited new members as well. After Master Korgan announced Ren as his successor, even more demons came to join the clan. Now the clan numbered total of almost two hundred members. They were fighting against an enemy who outnumbered them two to one, even with the fact that only four hundred out of six hundred of the Kas clan members were able to fight, but they had a purpose-to save their beloved master at any cost. Many owed him their lives; it was time to repay the debt.

“Just you wait Ren. We will come and save you and then you are gonna get a good scolding from me, you fool!” Aijasyl shouted out loud, motivating herself to push forward.

“Everyone duck!” Kizilkoz shouted. She shot an arrow in the direction of the enemies. There were at least thirty of them. The arrow hit the ground, missing apparently. The Kas clan member whose leg almost ended up being pierced looked smugly at her as if to say ‘you missed.’

“On contraire, I hit it just right.” Kizilkoz smiled. The tip of the arrow had a tiny spark of flame, now that spark expanded from the size of an acorn to size of an enormous dome. It happened so fast, the explosion that carried a shockwave through the air was in one word, monstrous.

Many of the Kas clan members were obliterated by the radius of the blast. Body parts were scattered everywhere. The Tengu clan members stared in shock at the mayhem that was in front of them. All stood in silence.

“What are you guys waiting for? An invitation? Forward, storm the castle!” Kizilkoz said to her stunned comrades.

“That explosion was way bigger than mine.” Orin said in an astonished voice.

“So that’s why she was using her arrows instead of using her mana for combat, it was in order to conserve her mana and unleash it for one large scale bomb. I see, it must have taken a lot of fire type mana to do that, but to have enough control to infuse so much mana on arrow tip, that is almost at the level of a demon lord!” Shaula gulped.

“You know, I think we are lucky she is on our side.” Aijasyl had to admit, this Kizilkoz demon was deceptively strong, how strong she could not tell, but she was someone to keep an eye on.

* * *

“Well, it seems like Fanghead made my job a lot easier. Conveniently found keys on a belt of a formerly alive demon, but now …a half perhaps?” Ren mused to himself as he examined the body of one Kas clan member. He was one of the wardens apparently. Ren followed the trail of destruction Fanghead, his pet hydra, left behind. It seems like Fanghead was having fun of his life. The guards that attacked it were knocked unconscious or if they were unlucky enough, had pieces of them bitten off. The body from which Ren retrieved the keys had only the lower body remaining, the upper body was cleanly severed and was nowhere to be found. The keys were of the prisoners’ shackles, he was sure.

They seemed to have been there for some time now, they might need fresh air. The outside had a lot of sounds, almost as if there was some kind of fighting. Maybe Fanghead was out there and eating everyone, who knows? Yet, not even a hydra could produce so much mayhem. Ren could only come to a single conclusion, there was a battle here.

He did not know who were attacking, but he needed a weapon to defend himself. But unfortunately the only thing he could find of use was a rusty frying pan. Apparently the hydra took care to eat the metal weapons used by the guards and only left the frying pan either because it was out of sight or it might have developed taste for stainless steel, who knows? Ren strapped the frying pan to his belt and went back towards the room in which the prisoners were shackled up.

One by one, he proceeded to free the prisoners. There were about twenty demons there, each of different kind and type, but Ren chose to ignore who he was helping in favor of efficiently freeing the prisoners.

Each one of the prisoners looked at him in disbelief; their expression could only be described as awed. It was as if they were experiencing some kind of miracle. Many of them came to believe that they would spend the rest of their lives in this dungeon of pain and torture, but now their chains were undone by a strange creature, a hornless being with a frying pan on his belt.

“There, the cuffs are off now.” Ren said with a smile. This was the ninth demon he freed. The other demons only looked at him with tear filled eyes and some even thanked him. Some chose to stay and help Ren free the remaining demons while few chose to flee from the wretched dungeon.

Seventeen demons were freed. About nine were standing behind Ren, almost as if waiting for his order. Ren did not realize that by freeing them, he in a sense took charge of them, and because they were gifted with freedom by his hands, the other demons felt obligated to wait for his commands. To them, he was their liberator, their savior. They waited for his guidance.

Now it was the time to free the prisoners who were near the cell Ren was in less than an hour ago.

When he approached the twin demons, the boy stood up, looked at Ren in threatening manner while hiding his sister behind his back. Both were terrified, but the boy was determined to protect his sister at any cost.

“Don’t you dare lay hand on her or you will regret it! Grrr!” the boy growled and roared, if he was larger he would have looked menacing, but Ren somehow found the action rather adorable.

“Easy there kid, I am not here to harm you.” Ren smiled.

“I don’t believe you! All other demons are vile and liars! You will not trick me!”

“I have no tricks, at least not now. I can show you some if I get my hands on some eggs, milk, and flour, I even got a new frying pan now, well…an old new frying pan, but you get the gist.” Ren lifted up the rusty frying pan in his arm, trying to show the kid what he was talking about. Unfortunately, the gesture had the opposite reaction of what he had hoped. The kid ended up ducking and covering his head with his hands, almost as if he was expecting a beating. Ren did not know that this was the result of Nar Kas torturing them for his own amusement, they no longer could feel safe, and their body reacted in paralyzing fear whenever they saw any movement that could be interpreted as threatening.

Both of them were frightened, so scared in fact that their tails were shivering. With their eyes closed, they seemed to be waiting for a beating. Even Ren understood by now that they will not listen to any word. An action had to be taken instead to convince them.

So Ren chose to take another approach. Putting down the frying pan, he proceeded to extend both of his hands and put them on both little demons’ heads, ruffling their hair. Their hair was of yellowish tinge, not blonde but close to white somehow. Very familiar for some reason.

Both of them looked at Ren with terrified eyes, Ren chose to look them straight in the eyes as he spoke, his hands still on their heads.

“I have no intention of harming you, and I am not planning to deceive you, I promise you I am telling the truth.”

“No! You are just like him!” The girl now spoke up.

“Like who?” Ren asked.

“Nar Kas!” the girl shouted the name with absolute disdain, her eyes flaring in anger. It was obvious that she felt a grudge against Nar Kas so intense that it emanated from her in waves of anger.

“He killed every one of our clan members, tortured us, used us for our mana, and made us watch while the other one was….” She couldn’t finish her sentence. Ren understood. Nar Kas made each twin watch the other one lose horn. The injury was now doubly traumatic for both twins.

“I see. So he harmed both of you. Please tell me your names.” Ren hoped that they would at least answer.

“Akjin Tang.” The boy answered.

“Akjai Tang.” The girl answered.

“Tang? Is it the same Tang as Akjan Tang?” Ren curiously asked.

“That’s…That’s big sister’s name! How do you know it?! Is she alive?!” Akjin asked, angrier than scared now.

“Well, she is a close friend of mine; in fact, if it wasn’t for her I don’t think I would be alive right now. And yes, she is alive.”

“You are a friend of big sister? Really? Not a lie?” the girl, Akjai asked in hesitant voice.

“Indeed I am. My name is Ren, Ren Karatengu. Like I mentioned before, I am a friend of your sister Akjan, so let us be friends as well.” He extended both his hands and put them once again upon their heads, but this time they did not resist, they instead looked up at him in awe.

“Now then, I should free you now.” Ren proceeded to get the cuffs off the Tang demons. As soon as they were freed they stood up behind Ren, as if waiting for his orders, other demons did the same.

Now it was for the last prisoner-Korkau Jou.

“Korkau, I know this might sound stupid, but would you like me to free you?”

Chained to a wall, with countless bruises, the Frost Wolf demon still emitted an aura of pride and dignity. Ren wondered whether Korkau would be ok with being helped, his earlier attitude cemented Ren’s view of him as someone who wanted to care of his problems by himself.

“I was beaten by you once and ended up being a prisoner. For months I tried to escape, but each time I tried they put me in stronger binds. Yet, despite being a prisoner just for a day, you managed to free yourself and others. Now I am being rescued by you. I guess the fact that the strong demons survive and weak perish has not changed. The only mistake I made was to assume I was the strong one, when in fact the one who holds the real strength is before me. The weak must submit to the strong...and you are strong.”

“Ok. If you finished your monologue, I will be freeing you now.” Ren used the keys to unlock Korkau’s cuffs. Korkau plummeted to the ground like a rock, apparently being suspended for such a long time took its toll.

“Hey! Are you ok?” Ren asked.

“I will be fine.” Korkau panted before standing up and flexing his muscles, at least what was left of them. He no longer was as fit and strong as before, more like a undernourished and almost broken version of himself.

He flexed his arms and proceeded to punch the wall. The wall now ended up being covered in ice and after a few seconds shattered.

“I have grown weak, my magic has waned….” Korkau muttered. Now he turned around and was face to face with Ren. He was slightly taller.

Instead of attacking him like Ren almost expected him to do, Korkau now took a knee in front of Ren, bowing his head.

“Ren Karatengu, despite your formidable strength, you have chosen to free me, a demon far weaker than yourself. For this I give you my gratitude and my loyalty. The strong must lead the weak. From today on, I shall pledge my service to you, as your humble slave. Only this way I can repay my debt.” He now looked up at Ren. “What are your orders, Master?”

Ren now smiled and said. “Well, I suppose it’s time for a jail break!” he raised his frying pan up in the air. “Let’s all of us get out of this place and kick their hinds while we are at it!”

The cheering that followed could only be described as unanimous, everyone now felt invigorated and inspired. They had their leader, their savior, their hero on their side. For the first time in their existence, they felt like they could win.

With a roar, they proceeded to run out of the jail room, towards the outside of the castle, picking up weapons from the ravaged bodies that were lying in hallways they marched outside towards their freedom.

What awaited them was a battle field.

And it was the main event. The two sides were standing still, watching two demons clash. One was fighting with darkness magic while the other was using lightning magic. It was a struggle that would decide the course of the fight, if one leader fell, the side of the loser would be demoralized and forced to flee for their leader was their spirit, their pride. Now it was the time to see who would triumph.