Laying on dark soil, Ezra continuously coughed out blood.
His skin was dark pale, a sign for extreme weakness in demons.
As a human turned demon, he was but a half demon as of the moment, but a demon either half or complete, was still a demon.
"What are you doing?" Raven inquired. "We can not leave him alive"
Spark!
"His meridians are broken and his core shattered, he poses no threat"
Deneris backed him up. "Surely, you of all people realize how absurd those words are"
"I will do to him as I wish!" The Emperor affirmed his authority.
_____________
An hour ago…
Elisa flashed through cities rapidly with her warp holes, a smile on her face reminiscing her talk with Ezra.
—-------
"I have reason to believe a Grandmaster will arrive at this city before the day's end"
Elisa's eyes sparkled. 'Where did you hear this news?'
"I cannot say, but it's accuracy is confirmed"
Elisa locked eyes with him. "Hmm…even if what you say is true, whatever shall I do about it?"
"A Grandmaster's arrival would spell my death" Ezra said. "I need you to bring reinforcements"
He inhaled. "I need you to head to Iris and have the Emperor come here"
Elisa's eyes twitched. "Am I being ordered about?"
"No, if he arrives here to stop the grandmaster, you need not mention my name-meaning all the merit will be yours"
Elisa chuckled at the ridiculousness. "And if nothing happens"
"Tell him I insinuated it, that should save you all the trouble"
"Hmm….seems you're sure of this"
"I wouldn't have proposed this if I wasn't"
Tapping her cheek for a while, she nodded. "Alright, I'll do it"
"Just in case I need to escape, where is your warp hole?"
"You expect me to tell you?"
"You expect me to place my life on the chance you arrive on time?"
"Why not?"
"The Emperor would kill you if I died"
"Huff…it's in a small shed at the end of seam street"
Ezra nodded.
_____________
Elisa had placed a warp hole in Iris years ago, so she wasn't worried about not being able to get there.
That said, warping from Gattitse straight to Iris was pure insanity.
Not to talk of the mana cost, only a Grandmaster's constitution would survive warping such distance in one go. She on the other hand would be shredded, leaving not merely pieces as a proof of her existence.
This was why Ezra didn't warp to a city deeper in the continent.
Elisa warped from city to city, saving mana expenditure.
That said, she had to rest her body once in a while to heal from the year of rapid warping.
She reached Iris, where the Grandmasters faced off against one another.
The scale of the battle was beyond her interference, so she had to wait, staying her time before gaining the Emperor's attention.
Risking her life, the message was delivered, but as expected, the Emperor was extremely sceptical.
Worse, he became suspicious of her motives.
But all that ended when the enemy Grandmasters began moving erratically.
Soon after, a message of Gattiste's destruction reached him, prompting him to action.
With her words proven, the Emperor took her seriously.
More importantly, the distance between Gattiste and Iris was too far to cover in a few minutes-Elisa, a space mage, was the only one who could help with that.
"Open a portal to Gattiste"
"That's impossible from here-I don't have that much mana"
"Then send however far you possibly can"
'Like father like son, huh?'
With an incredible sigh, Elisa's eyes shone green, conjuring up a dark green warp hole.
At first small, it continuously expanded double the Emperor's height.
"Hurry!" She cried. "It's only stable for a minute at most"
"Hmph" the Emperor snorted. Stepping through.
Deneris landed in front of him. "I'm going with you"
"No-
Before the Emperor could interject, Deneris flew into the warp hole.
*Veins popping*
The Emperor subsequently ran in behind him.
___________
They arrived in Niton and promptly flew for Gattiste with haste.
Closing in on Gattiste, they find it in ruins.
But before they could begin puzzling over the situation, the presence of a sinister existence lit up, and it wasn't far away.
This was the moment Ziltris took on full transformation, forming a red fog above the beast region.
Hence his thought, 'They would've definitely noticed me now'
That said, Ziltris revealing his presence intensified the battle ensuing between Fredrick, Raven, Mervida and the two from the enemies side.
Fredrick's attacked like a raging beast.
He was alarmed. 'My liege is in trouble!'
Reconfiguring the landscape with his attacks, Fredrick's murderous intent rose to the sky, but his opponent-a fire mage-didn't let up either.
Worse, with Mervida poisoned, her battle strength was mediocre compared to the others, not being much help.
At this time, they picked up the presence of two Grandmasters.
Subsequently, the Emperor and Deneris appeared on the horizon.
The tides turned instantly.
Just as the Emperor wondered whether to stay and kill these grandmasters or head for the grandmaster emanating a sinister presence, another presence was felt!
What's more, its location mirrored that of the sinister Grandmaster.
Ezra ate the mana stones!
With his silver aura rising to the sky, the Emperor made his decision.
"Let's quickly kill these two"
The Emperor supported Fredrick while Deneris supported Raven.
The enemy grandmasters had no chance-which made them all the more desperate.
Their attacks intensified trying to run away while Fredrick and Raven forcefully held their attention.
In a few seconds, Fredrick was injured a few times before the Emperor's arrival, and then the enemies were killed.
In the time it took to take down the two grandmasters, they could see the clash of Ezra and Ziltris-covered in Silver and Red auras-not too far away.
Moreover, as they approached, the overarching effects of their battle became vivid and had them apprehensive when they put themselves in the scenario.
All of them confirmed.
'Beating such opponents won't be easy'
Deneris couldn't help but comment. "We seem to have more Grandmasters on the continent than I recall"
The others nodded.
Fredrick understood.
Rather swoop in, they waited, marking off the perimeter so none of the grandmasters escaped.
They slowed a bit, letting the fighters tire each other out before intervening.
Having just finished one exhausting battle, it seemed the smartest choice of action.
But in their minds, the best outcome would simply be to have both of them kill each other.
'We don't need more Grandmasters'
It was already tough wrestling power with the existing Grandmasters, it was better to maintain the status quo than allow more parasites.
'Not on my watch'
But Fredrick wasn't going to follow the script.
He rushed forth-
Wait, no, he tried to.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Raven stopped him.
"Your concern?"
"Do not interfere"
"Don't ever tell me what to do!" Fredrick howled at him, his aura flaring.
'Only one person can do that'
'Tch' Raven was annoyed. 'How does he still have so much mana?'
He thought Fredrick would be exhausted, and rightfully so after battling a mid-Grandmaster, but this dude was still energetic.
'Still'
Raven wasn't letting up. "Don't interfere"
Fredrick flew forward, Raven stopped him and they entered a brawl.
The Emperor and Deneris didn't even act as if they saw them, smoothly flying.
With both Ziltris' and Ezra's energy encompassing their surroundings, both men didn't notice the presence of the fighting grandmasters.
And how could they? While trying to decapitate one another.
The fight died down soon after, with Ezra killing Ziltris. Only then did the Grandmasters fly in.
Getting closer, the Emperor's eyes widened.
'Ezra?'
Moreover, his son's skin was thick red.
The Emperor made a conjecture, but hoped it would not be true.
'No'
He swooped in, the others following quickly behind him, having seen Ezra's figure.
The boy himself stared into the air as if possessed.
Before suddenly plopping to his feet when they were already close and making an attempt to run.
The Emperor stopped in his tracks, wrestling the other Grandmasters-whose murderous gazes made clear their intentions.
_____________
Back to the current situation…
"I will do with him as I wish"
Raven stood in his path. "We will not allow you"
"It is too dangerous to the Empire to leave such a threat alive, we cannot allow demons to go unchecked" Deneris followed suit.
Their gazes alternated between the Emperor and the boy in his hands.
'Dangerous to the Empire?' the Emperor snorted.
B*llshit!
These b*stards aimed to weaken the Royal faction!
Never mind being a demon, if the boy was in fact a Grandmaster, leaving him alive was asking for untold troubles, regardless of his neutralized threat level.
They knew it wasn't the first nor the second prince-as they were well known-so the boy was only a child.
The lifespan of Grandmasters was longer than most as was their tenacity and constitution.
Even a bit of thinking brought headaches.
Too many thoughts clouded their minds, but one thing was certain-the boy had to die.
The Emperor let it rip, lightning ravaged the surroundings, his face conflicted.
"I will not watch you kill my son before me!"
Deneris and Raven braced themselves.
"That is not your son, but a demon"
Right then, "I agree with the Emperor"
Fredrick backed up the Emperor.
Andrew locked eyes with Fredrick, nodding without a word.
But the intent of appreciation was delivered.
Deneris chuckled. "How many times are you going to battle today?"
"Depends on your next move" The Emperor replied.
Both sides watched each other closely, awaiting the first strike.
