Inside the command center of the border fortress, King Diaprepes was observing every moment of his troops who were engaged with the small enemy squads spread out in four different directions. He noticed how every one of the squad seemed to be upto something. Four persons, from the five-member enemy squad, fought the troops which outnumbered them one to four as they guarded the last one in the center, who were busy drawing something on the ground. Suddenly King Diaprepes noticed one of the generals under him being slayed easily by the young-man. Although he frowned, that was only for a moment. After all, being a King he knew how to control his emotions. Even now he seemed to be in some thought trying to recall something.

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Captain Phenex calmy observed his surroundings. Suddenly he stepped left and a blue beam of light grazed his injured shoulder and disappeared in the horizon.

“Che!” Letting out an exclamation filled with frustration. After the initial sniper shot, he was being targeted by not one but multiple snipers. Despite having the advantage of speed he did not try to lose them, as if there was some hidden motive behind this.

“How long?” He asked radio-ing his squad.

[Almost there, Cap.]

That was the reply.

‘These people better hurry or I might get roasted over here.’

Captain Phenex thought, despite being powerful he could not beat these advanced weapons shooting condensed energy beams.

Rolling, twisting, running and relying on his power along with the battle instincts he was able to hold on for so long, but there was a limit to his stamina. Huffing and puffing, he knelt on the ground. His black robe was covered in dust and dirt. Sweat dripped from his forehead. There were multiple injuries on his body, none fatal though.

‘Shit, these idiots. Ha, I guess it was my mistake trying to act cool in the beginning.’

He thought and closed his eyes.

[Captain, everyone is done.]

A confirmation which seemed like a melody rang in his earpiece as the fifth person from every squad poured out some black liquid from a small vial on the drawing engraved on the ground simultaneously. Captain Phenex’s eyes opened with a bang as he stood tall.

-Phew-

Another beam pierced his arm, the smell of charred meat filled the air. The Captain, not bothering with this, took out a black page. He swiped his hand drenched in blood and sweat on the page, throwing it in the air.

The blood was immediately absorbed by the page and at the same time another two beams of light grazed past his body while another one headed towards the page floating in the air, punching a hole in it. Suddenly--

-ROAR-

A heaven defying roar rumbled across the island. At the same time, four pillars of black flames arose from four different locations which corresponded with the location of the separated squad members.

[WHO DARETH HURT THY!]

An ancient voice reverberated in the surroundings. The four pillars floated in the air and one could observe a piece of the same black paper between them. The four pillars intersected with each other and formed two huge eyes.

-AHHH-

As the black eyes formed, a scream was heard followed by total silence. The crackling of the flamy eyes was the only sound that could be heard.

[HMM. CONTRACTOR OF ARS GOETIA, WHY THY SUMMON THIS PRINCE!]

Once again the voice sounded.

“Oh mighty Prince of Hell, please help this lowly being by destroying the enemies in front of me who dare to beseech the reputation of Hell.”

Captain Phenex spoke in a respectful tone.

After a brief silence, the voice replied.

[I SENSE THE DETESTABLE BLOOD OF THAT FELLOW IN THOSE WEAKLINGS. THEIR SOULS SHALL BE PURGED. I WILL BORROW YOUR BODY THEN.]

The flamy eyes turned into a stream and engulfed Captain Phenex’s body.

--------------------

Just when the roar sounded, King Diaprepes commanded the troops to return back to the base. He knew very well what they were dealing with and that none of them would be that entity’s match.

The King now stood in front of the fortress. His sapphire pupils shone with a threatening glow. He bent his body to gather energy and jumped up leaving behind a small crater. This one jump covered the long distance between the now covered in a black gooey substance Captain Phenex and the fortress as his landing created another crater.

King Diaprepes’s sapphire pupils scanned the creature in front of him. He could feel a sense of disgust emanating from within his bloodline, which confirmed his conjecture. Without even bothering to wait for a reply from the creature he closed the distance between them and punched.

The sheer speed and power behind the punch created a shockwave. But a black tentacle extended from the creature and absorbed all the impact. This did not deter the King, he increased his pace and retracted his fist while kneeing the creature in the guts.

-BOOM-

A short shockwave and the creature was launched like a cannon. Bending his upper body the King jumped, reaching above the creature and landed another kick on its back.

-Crack-

The creature landed on the ground creating a crater. The King was not to stop here. He rushed in again but alas--

-SPLAT-

A black tentacle whipped out from within the creature towards him. He raised his arms in defense but was sent flying, crashing into the ground the King left behind a trail. The King watched as the creature stood on its legs, there were additional three tentacles on its upper body.

King Diaprepes’s sapphire eyes flickered with a radiant glow as he launched himself again. The second round resumed but this time the King was totally on defense as he was barely able to dodge the attacks from the whip like tentacles. Just when he parried another attack to his head, one of the tentacles landed on his stomach and sent him rolling and crashing.

-Cough-

The King covered his mouth and coughed some blood. The creature did not pursue this, it gazed at the distant horizon, towards the huge pillar of blue light in the center. Then one of its tentacles detached from the body covered in black flames with a hint of purple in it.

King Diaprepes immediately understood from the aura being emanated from that flame that it was fatal. He ran towards the creature in order to stop it, but the other three tentacles kept him busy. Gritting his teeth, the King took a deep breath. His eyes glowed a bit and lost all the sapphire luster as a small crystal with the same color appeared on his forehead.

Just as the crystal appeared, the black-purplish flame launched itself towards the horizon at a breakneck speed. The King, without bothering about the flame, rushed towards the creature. But then another tentacle detached from his back, this time it was a small black flame which rushed towards the King.

The King hurriedly dodged and the flame landed on the ground, engulfing the surrounding land. By the time the flame disappeared, the creature was nowhere to be found. King Diaprepes frowned and the sapphire crystal disappeared from his forehead and his pupils turned sapphire once again. He knelt immediately and started gasping for breath, but his gaze was locked on the distant center of the island towards the blue pillar.

Inside the central pyramid, the rest of the Kings were observing the battle that took place between King Diaprepes and the black-flamy abomination. As the black flames neared the pyramid alarms started ringing throughout the central city due to the intense concentration of energy within the attack. The black flame left a trail in the air as it surged through the central part heading straight towards the device on top of the central pyramid. The citizens watched in amazement at this, totally not bothered about the consequence. In-fact even the Kings were not bothered about it. Indeed considering their advanced technology they could act arrogant as an energy shield propped up around the device, but alas--

-Plop-

Along with a popping sound the flames passed through the shield as a thin veil of water. It entered the ionized blue energy beam and suddenly---

-HMMM-

A loud humming sounded from the device. The energy being emitted from the device stopped mid-air and started converging at a single point. A small purple orb formed in the air as it started devouring all the energy being emitted from the device, slowly the purple orb started turning larger the more energy it absorbed.

Everyone in the city and the Kings watched in curiosity as the purple orb was slowly being replaced by a large cave-like entrance, surrounded by an abyss like darkness. There were some protruding structures at the entrance which could only be seen as the light refracted from their sharp and pointed tip. Just as the entrance reached a certain size it stopped expanding but that was not all.

-WHOOSH-

A horrifying gravitational pull originated from the entrance and the citizens watching in curiosity were dragged from the ground as they started moving towards the entrance and disappeared inside. After a brief amount of silence, the city was filled with people screaming and struggling to stay on the ground. Chaos descended within the city. There were hardly any troops stationed within the city as the Kings never thought that someone would be able to breach the city’s defenses.

The faces of the Kings within the central pyramid turned grim and rage built up within them. King Atlas hurriedly conveyed the order to switch off the device but it was too late. Even after the device was stopped people were still being devoured by the entrance.

“We have no other choice than to awaken the ancestral artifact’s power to destroy that entrance.” King Mestor relayed his thoughts hurriedly as the rest of the Kings agreed.

Inside the pyramid the Kings discussed. Before reaching the decision the Kings tried everything they could. They fired the Ion Cannons located on the city walls towards the entrance but it devoured everything like a tonic. Thus in order to safeguard the citizens life, they ordered everyone to evacuate the city as a barrier was erected around the pyramid which blocked the force from the entrance. But the energy of the barrier was also being devoured, which made it hard to keep it operating for a long time, which led to them using their ultimate trump card.

Located beneath the pyramid was a huge room covered in patterns and inscriptions. In the center was a huge circular platform and a crystal emanating a cool and relaxing aura placed in the center. But the Kings knew that beneath this ambience lay a hidden weapon with enough power to bring forth destruction.

“Let’s get started.” King Atlas said as he closed his eyes and placed a hand on the groove on one of the five pillars erected around the crystal. Followed by King Atlas, King Ampheres, King Mneseus, King Elasippus and King Azaes closed their eyes and placed their right hand on the grove.

-Click-

After a soft click, the blue crystal turned into sapphire-colored water and was absorbed by the platform. As the water disappeared, something could be seen floating above the platform. It was trident around two meters tall, seemingly made of ice.

-BOOM-

As soon as the weapon appeared a tremble jolted the whole pyramid, it emanated from the abyss like entrance.

“It’s working. Everyone, into formation fast.” King Atlas ordered.

The nine Kings each gathered around the platform with King Atlas in the center touching the trident. Within seconds the sapphire color receded from their pupils and a crystal emerged on their forehead. The sapphire crystal emitted a small blue laser like light as it gathered around the trident and entered King Atlas’s body. Sensing the abundant energy in his body, the King moaned as his hand tightened around the trident. Then--

-BANG-

The King banged it on the ground.

Meanwhile, just when the trident appeared, at a certain location a woman was seated, eyes closed, on a throne made of an unknown silver substance located on some mountain peak. Lightning flashed around her and thunder boomed in the surroundings. Just when King Atlas held the trident, her eyes flashed open as her gaze seemed to pierce through the layers of space landing on the trident.

“So, it was there. Truly regretful.”

She said and closed her eyes again, but it could not be said for the lightning around her. A flash of light appeared as a strand of lightning launched itself digging deeper in the space.