A woman with a draconic body was dragging herself through the ground, leaving a trail of blood in her path. There was an uncontrollable fear in her eyes as she used all the strength that was left in her to move away from the monster.
The lower half of her body was missing and her bowels were visible. There were ambers blue flames on her wounds, that increased her injuries and threw her energy in disarray.
She still could not understand how things went so wrong and how someone at Rank 3 could be so powerful.
The monster that did this to her was a man with dark hair, two completely black eyes, and a vertical golden one. His entire body was covered in black and golden flames and there was a terrifying aura surrounding him.
Her name was Michelle and was a Master Rank 3 Magus. Just like any other Magi, she had always taken pride in her analytic mind and the ability to control her emotions, but the moment she saw those black eyes, a landscape of pure evil invaded her mind and tortured her will.
The fear froze her mind for a moment and her power diminished at least twenty percent and the same happened with all rest of the team.
During that split-second lapse of concentration, a domain was released from that person filled with dark golden flames and immense pressure, that covered the entire team.
The next thing she saw was the man disintegrating into dots of golden light and reforming himself instantly above Ivan.
He was carrying a bone sword full of blue flames and he attempted to hack Ivan's head. His attack was extremely fast and brutal, full of murdering intent.
But the old man had abundant battle experience and was able to react. He activated a necklace that made bark grow all over his body and in the last instant he managed to move his head out of the sword path.
The bark was not able to stop the sword destructive power but it diminished some of its force.
A cut that started on his shoulder, passed through the lung and ended on his kidney was made on the old man's body, leaving a trail of blue flames in its path.
Even for a Peak Rank 3 Magi with a Rank 4 bloodline, that wound was deadly. The blue flame destroyed his organs and there was a black flame that neutralized his regeneration abilities.
The last thing the old man was able to do was to grab the man covered in flames with all his strength and give a warcry.
"ATTACK!"
When Michelle heard that roar, she along with the other three members of the group, Daniel, Vincent, and Sara were able to shake away the fear that clouded their minds and they released the most powerful attack they had.
Michelle had launched a ball of yellow lightning from her mouth, and along with the other spells they made an explosion that covered Ivan and the enemy.
The ground and ceiling of Wasteland were blown apart due to the immense destruction that their spell provoked.
When she saw the power their spells produced, Michelle was hopeful that the monster would have died from their attacks.
But before the explosion even ended, nine beams of chaotic energy were fire from inside it and clashed against Daniel and Sara, destroying their bodies.
She and Vincent were shocked by the death of their comrades. When the explosion finally ended and they saw the state of the monster, desperation filled their hearts.
There was not a single wound on his body and even worse, he was even more powerful now and there was an unmeasurable vitality inside him.
The next thing Michelle felt after that was a horrible pain while what she could only describe as a whip full of blue flames divided her body in two with a speed so amazing, she was not able to react.
The moment she landed on the ground, panic had already invaded her mind and her only thought was to escape.
The events that lead to her condition were repeating over and over in her head, making the fear inside her grew even stronger.
"AAAHHHHH!"
Michelle was able to recognize immediately the voice that released that cry of pain. It was Vincent and now with his death, she was the only one who remained alive.
She starts to move faster and faster, unfortunately, she was barely able to advance a few meters before Zatiel appeared beside her and stomp on her head, breaking her skull.
The Neo-Demon face was emotionless after he saw the carnage he had just provoked and looks at the direction where Severus was, before vanishing into the darkness.
Severus was close enough to detect the explosion and heard the screams of pain that the team released. When he heard Ivan's warcry and understood the fate of the old man, sadness and pain filled his heart.
He had known Ivan since he was a small child and in a sense, the old man was more of a father to him than his own father.
But those emotions were pushed to the side when an immense sense of danger assaulted him.
He acted extremely fast, by landing to the ground and putting the chest beside him before aiming his hand full of black ash at it.
"If you take one more step, I will attack!" Severus could not locate the enemy but he knew that he was very close.
There was only silence after his word, but Severus did not dare to let his guard down and kept his hand pointing to the chest and waited for the enemy to appear.
One minute later, from the darkness, Zatiel appeared and he was less than three meters away from Severus. To Rank 3 life forms, that distance was nothing, but the Neo-Demon did not move and just look at the chest before focusing his black eyes into the young man.
When Severus saw those eyes, he felt a wave of fear attempting to creep into his heart, but he was able to resist.
"Deactivate your spell now."
Zatiel kept looking at Severus with his black eyes, but when he saw how his hand full of ash got closer to the chest, rage appeared on his face and he made his eyes returned to normal.
Severus was able to recognize Zatiel the moment he saw him, and if the death of the entire team had taught him something, was that he was in incredible danger.
There was wrath in his heart due to the death of Ivan, but he knows that any mistake will be fatal, so he thought for a very long time his words before speaking.
"Zatiel Daybreak, the reason I was forced to do this is..."
Unfortunately for Severus, his words were useless, and he was not able to finish speaking before Zatiel interrupts him.
"I don't care about your reason. The others were lucky since they only had to die, but your fate will be different. I will hunt everyone you love and submit them to the worst torture you can image, I will make sure they are defiled in every possible way, and when they ask why I am doing them those horrible things, I will show them your face so they know who to blame." Zatiel voice was cold and devoid of any emotion.
When Severus heard those words, for an instant his heart froze. He understood that what he had just heard was not a threat but something that will happen and that the man in front of him had done before.
It was less than a second but at that moment, when his mind was occupied thinking about what will happen to his loved ones, a breeze passed by side and a crow came from behind him and grabbed the chest before flying away.
The next thing he felt was how a sword cut his waist and split him in two before his head was grabbed and saw two black eyes staring at him and driving him into unconsciousness.
"Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I will make sure you are alive to see that."
Zatiel left a small golden flame into the body of Severus to make sure he will not die before putting him inside his ring.
It was only after all the threats were over that Zatiel finally relaxed and made the Nether Crow come back to him with the chest.
When he opens it, a warm smile appeared in the Neo-Demon's face, something you would not think possible of appearing in the individual that has butchered a group of people without showing a single emotion on his face.
Inside the chest was a small Neo-Demon child, not more than three years old peacefully sleeping.
Zatiel grabs the child with care, making sure he continues to sleep, before flying back to the City of the Sun.
There were a lot of questions on the Neo-Demon's mind and also a desire for revenge that will not go away.
