The appearance of the massive serpent brought a pause to the battlefield, but I had no intention of giving the Demons any time. The moment it appeared in a shower of dirt and stone, its large slitted eyes locked onto the Demon, Andras. The ground shook as the serpent coiled like a spring before erupting in a blur that defied the creature’s enormous size.

Andras stumbled back. The young Leviathan under his feet rose up in response. The mass of vines that comprised its body weaved together into a wall that protected the Demon. With each vine thicker than an ancient tree, the Leviathan created a shield around itself.

With the serpent's speed, this was all the Leviathan could do before the strike, an almost instinctual response to the sudden extreme danger. Blood splashed to the ground as the serpent’s mouth closed around the Leviathan and bit deep into the weave of vines. An inhuman screech reverberated through the valley. The Leviathan was easily as big as the serpent's head. Among its siblings, it was probably the strongest that had entered our realm. If anyone else had been forced to face that mass of vines, a dozen domain warriors would have been slaughtered, but against the serpent, it might as well have been a mouse. The serpent's jaws widened as it closed around the entire Leviathan. It tried to escape the deadly crunch of the bite. The vines thrashed in every direction, striking at the serpent’s face, lashing at its eyes, and constricting around its neck. If it had been any other creature biting down on the Leviathan, it might have been able to free itself but against this serpent, all its desperate struggles meant were futile. My undead felt no pain. They felt no fear. There was only the unshakable resolve to follow my commands.

The Leviathan struggled with all its might, but with each passing second, it was slowly being swallowed whole by the serpent. Throat bulging, the withering mass of vines slowly began to disappear down its maw. I could see protrusions under the serpent’s skin as the Leviathan continued to fight from inside. I could imagine it lashing at the inside of its stomach desperately, but the enormous reptile paid no heed to the anguish of the Demonkin. In fact, it almost seemed as if the serpent was smiling in delight. Its tongue flickered as its eyes roamed the battlefield for its next meal.

The Leviathan was no more, but its struggle had given the Demon Andras time to escape. He flew through the sky with a whirlwind at his back. Even from this distance, I could see the fear in his eyes as he fled to the safety of his army.

I frowned in thought as his figure dashed into the distance. I was not going to let him get away. If he escaped, it would not be long before the tragedy of the Novus Kingdom was repeated. A new land would be corrupted by the blood mist. Countless souls would be sacrificed to the Demon, and with the barrier between the realms getting thinner daily, his army would be stronger next time.

I glanced over at Charly. His eyes were wide. His jaw practically mimicked the serpents with how it hung open. The sight of the undead big enough to topple mountains had shocked him even more than I expected. My eyes twinkled in delight as I watched his surprised expression. It was not often I got to show off like this, and I was enjoying every moment of it. “Amazing, isn’t it?

Charly nodded numbly. “Yes, not even my wildest fantasies of the Thirteen Divisions compared to this.”

I nodded in satisfaction. “Good, then you can take control. I am going after the Demons.”

Charly blinked a few times as he looked at me incredulously. “Wait! What?”

“I’ll leave enough energy in the throne so it can continue functioning for a while. Just tap this bone here and tell the serpent what you want to do. He will hear it, and I can make sure he listens to you.”

“Is… is that really ok?” Charly stuttered.

I shrugged ambiguously. “Probably. Just don’t let him roll over. I just got my city back. I don’t want it crushed under an oversized worm.” Without waiting for him to reply, I pushed the dumbfounded Charly onto the throne. He looked incredibly out of place and uncomfortable surrounded by the countless polished bones. I laughed at the sight and waved at him before stepping onto the balcony. “Have fun!”

My domain wrapped around my body and lifted me into the air. I looked in the direction Andras had fled and grinned. Now that most of my power was returned, it was time to test how fast I could fly.

The air began to tremble as power gathered under my feet. Visible ripples radiated inwards as I took a deep breath. Then with a sharp exhale, I launched into the sky. The scenery blurred, and there was an audible sound of thunder following in my wake as my domain ripped apart the air in front of me.

Within just a few seconds, I reached the battlefield in the sky. Despite our victory on the ground, it was still utter chaos here. My gaze immediately shifted to Lucia. It was hard to tell who the beast was as she faced off against six Alphas simultaneously. Her wild and feral movements made her completely unpredictable as she jumped from enemy to enemy in an explosion of green fire. Nearby, a ray of light from Sebastion cut down a Demonkin as it tried to approach Lucia from behind. A little further away, Dom, Svend, and Cyra worked together to block one of the Leviathans. Their wealth of experience allowed them to face the much larger foe without losing ground.

Meanwhile, Vissna and Mare were each able to take on a single young Leviathan on their own. Though, their fight was far more challenging, and it was not clear who would be the winner if things continued as they were. Not far from them, Sigmund, the Sword Saint, led the remaining domain warriors from the various countries as they faced off against Abigor, the regeneration Demon, and Aym, the sight Demon, alongside a small horde of Alphas.

I saw Donte there as well, standing in the air under the power of his own domain and fighting evenly with one of the Alphas. Regardless of what I thought about Mare’s experiments, I could not argue with their results. Between becoming an Adept and the Divine Body, the boy had accomplished in a few months what should have taken decades or even centuries of hard practice.

I scanned the battlefield quickly and took stock of the situation. If things had continued as they were, we would not have won this battle, but the situation had changed thanks to the giant serpent. With a way to hunt even the young Leviathans, our victory was assured. Now I just needed to finish off the remaining Demons before they could flee.

As I examined the battlefield, my eyes locked onto Andras. The Demon had already fled quite a ways, but he was still in sight. I could catch up.

With a murderous grin, I rocketed towards the Demon. A wave of green fire spread from my back as I flew.

Andras’s eyes went wide as he sensed my approach. “Abigor, Aym, stop fighting those peons and block her!” he shouted with a quivering voice.

I frowned as Aym immediately stopped his fight with Chancellor Otto and moved to stand between me and my prey. Abigor was a bit slower to respond. He had been laughing joyously as he fought Sigmund, but the moment Andras shouted his command, his face shifted to an annoyed scowl.

“Are you running away?” Abigor asked with a clearly disapproving gaze.

“Just block her, you musclebound oaf. I will handle the human insects on your side of the battlefield and then we need to fall back. I will not lose more Leviathans to that… thing.”

Abigor frowned but reluctantly nodded. Sigmund tried to stop him from leaving. His sword sliced open the Demon’s neck. He was nearly beheaded in a single strike but Abigor completely disregarded the swordsman and did not even attempt to block his blade. A second later, the wound had already healed as if it had never existed in the first place.

Abigor smiled at Sigmund playfully. “Try not to die, and we will fight again after I kill that little girl.”

Sigmund stared at Abigor without making any more attacks. With a sigh, he sheathed his blade and stepped aside to let Abigor pass. “You have a warrior’s heart, but you lack the most important quality of an expert. Without the fear of death, you cannot take that last step to becoming truly strong. This will be our last fight. I have no interest in facing someone as boring as you again.”

Abigor’s face turned red in fury as he stared down the swordsman. “Once I finish with Aurielle, I will tear you limb from limb. Let’s see if you still think I’m not strong after that.”

Sigmund simply shook his head as he let Abigor move past him. I now had two Demons standing between Andras and me, but Abigor’s words had caused him to stop running. Andras had calmed down and no longer looked afraid. Under his command, the Alphas and Leviathans started to fly up, drawing the battlefield away from the giant serpent on the ground. He seemed to be preparing for a more strategized and tactical retreat while I was forced to deal with the two Demons.

Now that I had regained most of my power and my city, I had several ways I could interfere with his plan but decided against it. This was exactly what I wanted. If the Demons and Alphas had all split up and each fled in a different direction some of them might have managed to escape. However, if Andras was trying to save most of his forces, I would get to fight two Demons without any interference and could save my surprises for later.

I grinned in amusement as I prepared to fight the two Demons. Abigor, the brute, was the straightforward type. His bulging muscles and lack of gear equipment all practically screamed his crude fighting style. I had plenty of experience dealing with his kind. Aym was likely to be a bit trickier. The maggots crawling out of the holes dotting his body could form an extra layer of armor and a potential danger of infection to any unsuspecting enemy. It was disgusting but effective, especially since his eyes could see through most forms of trickery. Fortunately, he was not as strong as the other two Demons or he might have actually been a serious threat.

I spread my arms out wide as I faced the two Demons. Fire roared as it spread to fill my surroundings. The blood mist boiled as the intense heat spread. My domain was like a roiling ocean, crashing over the two Demons. Both of them blanched as they felt my returned strength for the first time. An expression of betrayal flashed across Aym’s face as he realized why Andras didn’t want to fight me.

My laughter filled the skies as I shouted my delight. “This is going to be fun!”