"Ah…" Malisius groaned all of a sudden and felt the pain sweep all over his body. He slowly began to realise there was something wrong as the heat in his body began to die down. His fluttering wings felt weak, unable to keep him hovering in the air.
"What's happening… to… me?" Confusion took over as his brain lost the necessary blood to function.
Soon after, his massive body dived down like a massive meteor. His body, still burning with fire, eventually landed with a loud thud, forming a small crater around itself. With that, King Malisius, a Supreme Wizard, took his last breaths. Angered, confused and desperate to live, but there was nothing they could do.
Sylvester and Rathagun watched the giant fall helplessly. If they had attempted to heal him in that state, they were sure to have expanded all their solarium reserves. Fighting the Demon would have become impossible.
However, deep in their hearts, both Sylvester and Rathagun knew that this was a blessing in disguise. With Malisius' death, the dragons were left with no Supreme Wizard. Now, the father and son could truly capture the continent and bring some order.
"What's the plan?" Rathagun asked. "The Demon knows every element we know."
"Not mine," Sylvester grunted back, still keeping Zama'tar on the ground with more than a thousand times gravity imposed on him. "I suspect he's already a level ten Supreme Wizard—any more than this means we won't be able to stop him even in our wildest dreams. I don't know what occurs beyond Supreme Wizards, but that's something I'd rather explore personally than watch."
They both decided to go down and fight the man on the ground. Since the rune walls were set to ensure Zama'tar couldn't gain back his solarium, they only had to make the Demon deplete his solarium.
"I must say, you're as much of a genius as I've heard in the rumours," Zama'tar spoke while staring at Sylvester, the flesh across his body already regrown. "I don't know what this strange ability you possess. It's certainly not as simple as Gravity Manipulation."
Sylvester didn't speak and divulge his secrets. He was already experiencing pushback from tampering with the laws of nature at such a scale. "Why did you come to this world? Who sent you? Who is your ruler? Your king?"
"King? Hah, we have our Empress Mother—The purest and kindest soul of all," Zama'tar replied, ridiculing Sylvester a little. "Compared to your civilisation, ours is far more advanced, civilised and honourable."
"I can see—very civilised indeed," Rathagun taunted back. "Does everyone look as ugly as you in your world?"
Sylvester remained silent as they talked since he remembered the vision he once had of the Demon's body under the Pope's Palace. 'From the visions, it's clear the Demons are indeed far more advanced than us. I saw those massive, tall skyscrapers… But if that's the case, why attack this place?'
"Then why are you here?" Sylvester seriously questioned.
"To fulfil my mission," Zama'tar replied and raised his creepy, ten-fingered hands towards Sylvester, albeit showing a lot of struggle to do so. The gravity wasn't as untroublesome to him as he made it seem. "In case you don't know yet. General Zama'tar never loses."
Sylvester sneered and stepped forward, keeping his electromagnetic magic going. That was the only way to restrain Zama'tar enough and ensure no more casualties occurred. "Let me prove otherwise."
Sylvester stomped his foot on the ground, and massive, sharp vines began coming out and attacking Zama'tar from below, forcing him to step aside, but gravity slowed him. His flesh was damaged, leaving holes in it.
"Wraaaa!" Right then, Sylvester roared like a dragon, and similar to Lord Inquisitor, breathed fire at the Demon. Massive, long-distance and powerful—that was the way to fight him.
Bam!
Bam!
Rathagun began throwing spears made of wood at Zama'tar. Each spear was reinforced with magical runes that gave them fire or air properties. They hit Zama'tar's skeleton and injured him physically.
'There must be a key somewhere.' Sylvester reminded himself he was dealing with a Demon. He knew he had to be quick as the electromagnetic magic was eating away at his solarium reserves, faster than what he could absorb from the nature around him.
"Haaaa!" Sylvester gave it his all and ran forward at normal speed. As if drifting on the ground, he used Earth elemental magic, threw sharp stones at Zama'tar, and hit him with pillars that rose from the ground. But they didn't always work as Zama'tar also used Earth elemental magic to negate it.
Boom!
Sylvester again spewed a blast of fire from his mouth, covering the Demon whole. But right then, the Demon copied him and blew out a ball of fire at Sylvester. After that, Sylvester kicked the air towards Zama'tar, sending blades of invisible air that could destroy towns in a single move. However, Zama'tar did the same and negated it.
Woosh!
Bam!
Thud!
Sylvester sent out all the elemental attacks he could while keeping the gravity heavy. However, each time, the Demon countered with the same magic, revealing that he had everything Sylvester did.
'Got you!' Sylvester abruptly jumped back after the exchange of moves. 'The key is in his heart.'
He had been using Elder magic to scan everything around him and see what was inside everything. He was able to see inside Zama'tar's body as well. There seemed to be a beating heart, and inside it was a small thing that oozed out a lot of solarium.
"King Rathagun!" Sylvester jumped beside the elven king and told him the plan. "I'll release the pressure that's keeping him on the ground. The plan is simple…"
"It's too dangerous!" Rathagun objected.
Sylvester shook his head, "Without destroying the key, we can't defeat him. We have to do this, King Rathagun—This is the only way."
Rathagun stared back at the Demon and sighed, "Fine… I trust your words."
Sylvester nodded and looked at the sky. Invisible to others, he saw Miraj flying above and dropping the fine Spear of Infinity, his cherished weapon.
Clank!
Just as he raised his hands and caught the spear, the electromagnetic field vanished and released the Demon from its invisible restraints. Zama'tar vanished from the spot and moved at a speed no less than light. Both its arms had turned into long spears of bones, covered with black poisonous mist. Under his feet was fire magic. On his back was air magic propelling him forward.
Sylvester had done the same and went even faster than Zama'tar. He activated the Spear of Infinity and increased its length. A dozen elder runes of light elemental magic formed on the spear's tip, spiralling and shining bright, massive and round.
Reacting to him, Zama'tar did the same and formed a dozen light runes.
Both sprung at each other with their full strength and before one could even reach them, they collided. Zama'tar's bone spears and Sylvester's Spear of Infinity. Both sides with their magic runes.
BOOM!
Clash!
The dozens of light runes collide with each other first and are shattered with spectacular explosions of white light. The energy released hollowed the ground around them, deepening the massive swamp by hundreds of meters. The crater was large enough to be called another Merkins' lake. The scorching air burned away any remaining roots and tentacles left of the monster Bloodling. And the dirt itself melted, turning into red, hot glass.
"Haaaa!" Sylvester pushed forward, not leaving his feet on the ground. "You can copy my magic—but never my knowledge!"
Clash!
Sylvester sensed two of his rune circles break in front of the spear, and at the same time, Zama'tar was at the last rune circle. The difference was Elder Magic, something Zama'tar didn't have.
Woosh!
Sylvester finally made it through, and his spear penetrated through Zama'tar's body. He pushed the Demon along with his momentum and dragged him all the way to the edge of the cliff, the boundary of the massive swamp.
Boom!
Sylvester pushed his spear forward, pinning the Demon to the rocky wall. But just then, he sensed something. He couldn't feel Zama'tar's body anymore.
"Maxy! He vanished in black mist!" Miraj's voice rang from the top of the cliff.
Sylvester stopped using his magic and turned around. There, he noticed an injured Zama'tar rushing toward Rathagun with the same move. There was desperation in the air, and Sylvester could smell it. That left him in the utmost confusion, as he was the person the Demon should be focused on killing.
'Why is he after Rathagun?!'
Woosh!
Sylvester couldn't spend any more time thinking and went with his final move. He jumped thousands of feet into the sky with the Spear of Infinity in his hand. He reached almost the edge of the atmosphere, from where he could see some of the space beyond.
"Piercing Hell… I hope it works!" He muttered and, from that height, dived straight downward. He matched the direction Zama'tar moved, and adjusted himself. He held the spear close to his chest, with the tip protruding outward. Soon, elder light magic was utilised to engulf the head of the spear with dozens of light magic runes. Meanwhile, behind the spear at the tail, both light and fire magic runes took form.
He fell like a shooting star, with a long tail behind him. The speed exceeded anything he had ever achieved in his life. The destruction he was going to cause was something he didn't even want to imagine.
For all his life, he had heard Supreme Wizards could alone destroy kingdoms. Now he knew—this was how they could destroy kingdoms.
"Haaaaaa!" Sylvester tried to gain any speed he could as Zama'tar was closing in on Rathagun and clashed his blade with the elven king. No sword could handle such strikes, and soon Rathagun was left without a weapon. But still, he used his magic and slowed Zama'tar with sharp vines and some water magic; throwing massive spikes at the creature.
Zama'tar roared and quickly freed himself from the vines.
"Father!" Sylvester's worried voice rang out.
"Hahaha… Just die, elf!"
Swooooo!
Right then, a sound came from the sky, cutting through the wind, "Just die, Demon!"
BOOM!
And Sylvester finally landed the striking blow straight through Zama'tar's body. Not just the body, he struck his heart and pierced right through. His hand also followed the spear's trajectory and captured the Demon's heart with his palm.
The destruction that ensued was massive and long-lasting; everything was covered in dirt everywhere, and Rathagun was blown away from the impact.
How far deep he had fallen into the crater, Sylvester didn't know. But he had Zama'tar's heart in his palm as he stood on top of the Demon's tattered chest, his spear resting there as well, scorching red.
Squelch!
Sylvester squeezed the heart and destroyed it, sensing the small key that brought the Demon into this world in the first place. But when he looked at the thing, he couldn't help but shake his head. The texture, the shape—it was a pendant. He recognised it as he made it long ago with his own hands, for the first anniversary.
"D-Diana?" He exclaimed.
"Father? Haha… That means… T-This… General Zama'tar has fulfilled his duty—All for the prosperous future's beauty." Zama'tar's groaning voice reverberated as its sharp yellow eyes slowly lost colour. His skin began to form countless cracks of decay as he smiled with a different scent of peace. "N-Not an enemy, but a tool—will you be wise or a fool? The realm awaits your arrival—awaiting the end of the vicious cycle… Johnathan King Westerling."
