Chapter 80
CHAPTER EIGHTY
Mephisto had victory in his eyes as he outstretched his deadly claws.
He pushed his power forward with lethal intent, making sure this hit counted.
He would deal the deity a deadly blow, one that he wouldn’t be able to recover from.
With Leviathan out of the way, victory would be theirs.
In fact, he could already see the outcome in front of them.
This wasn’t really a war against everyone else.
This war would be decided right now. It was a battle between him and the deity, and whoever won their match would decide the outcome of the war.
No other upper-level deity was here fighting, which meant this war was as good as won.
Victory was his. He swung forward to deliver the fatal blow.
As his claws closed in, a bolt of electricity hurled toward him, striking the ground between him and Leviathan.
“What the hell?” Mephisto looked up at the sky. A titan-sized black dragon spiraled toward him, crashing into the ground, blocking Leviathan.
A cloud of dust stretched up into the air, temporarily cloaking the newcomer.
Through the cloud, Mephisto saw a yellow energy leap out toward him.
He barely managed to dodge it as he stood there in shock.
Who would dare attack an original demon but a deity?
There were no other dragon deities. So who was this dragon?
And what was this intimidating power coming from it?
He stared at the raven-black dragon angrily as the dust settled.
Whoever this stranger was, they were dead.
They had taken away the opportunity he had to end this battle quickly.
Leviathan would soon recover, and he wouldn’t be able to end things like he’d planned.
“I see you wish for death. I will grant it to you.” Mephisto growled and leaped toward the dragon. Several jolts of lightning sprung forward as the black dragon flapped its wings. Blackness charged toward him, and he had to retreat once again.
“Don’t think you can win against me so easily, demon of the deep,” a feminine voice spat out poisonously.
Mephisto reached up, touching the shoulder where he had been burned from close contact with the electric energy.
He snarled at the intruder. She was not an ordinary dragon.
Power radiated from her, and her attacks were deadly.
She was even able to keep up with his speed.
She wasn’t a full deity, but she was definitely part.
And that lightning … he recognized the attacks. It was far too similar.
“Astrape … you’re the daughter of Astrape. Who would be bold enough or dumb enough to sleep with her?” Mephisto leaped forward, hoping his words had shocked her as he sent a black cloud her way.
She flapped her wings, pushing the darkness away, but then Mephisto slammed into her.
Her body went flying to the side and crashed into a tree.
The force broke the tree in half, the loud sound of branches crashing into the ground echoing in her ears.
Her amber eyes watched as the demon dove toward her, his fangs bared and his claws outstretched, only to see him hit by a wave of blue energy.
It was his turn to get slammed into a tree.
She rose to her feet and looked at the blue dragon, who was now fully composed once again.
“Thank you … Jade,” Levi said as his gaze met hers.
“You know of me?” she asked, shocked.
Levi chuckled. “I’m the dragon deity. Of course I know of you.”
“Does he know?” Jade asked quietly.
Levi shook his head. “No, but I think it’s finally time.” He then turned his full attention to Mephisto. “Thank you for saving me. But it may be best for you to stand aside now.”
Jade smiled and shook her head. “No. I’m here to assist you. Selene gave me the kick needed to make sure I got here in order to save your life. Because saving your life means saving his, and protecting him from a life of imprisonment.”
Of course, Selene had another plan up her sleeve.
Even after foreseeing his death, she continued to work behind the scenes in order to avoid it.
She couldn’t get a tier-one deity, so she got the next best thing.
A tier-one deity’s child. A demigod, but not just any demigod.
In order for one to be this powerful, there had to be some powerful blood mixed together.
And indeed, there was. Jade was the daughter of the deity Astrape, the Lightning Goddess.
But she was also the unknown daughter of the previous Dragon King of the West, Xander’s half-sister, and she was powerful. Even stronger than a tier-two deity.
Lee smiled. That crafty goddess. She’d managed to save his life.
He guessed he owed her one. He watched as Mephisto narrowed his eyes on him and began moving in slowly.
“Thank you, Jade. I appreciate the help. Just be careful, and don’t get yourself killed.
I was hoping to have this introduction soon in the future, but what better time than risking our lives? ”
Jade walked toward Leviathan and lifted her head in Mephisto’s direction. This would still be a tough battle, but hopefully they would both make it out alive.
Dex, Mason and Weston’s dragons commanded the air. There might have been a lot of rogue dragons, but they were no match for the armies of the four kings of the sky. Together with the combined strength of their mates, family, and armies, they were taking down the traitors.
Still, they were not able to get to their deity when they saw he was in trouble.
So it took them by surprise when an unknown black dragon came to his aid.
Dex wanted to study the dragon more, but there wasn’t enough downtime for that.
For now, it was enough to see that it appeared to be on their side.
But he was shocked to see its strength. A dragon that strong was not an ordinary dragon.
“Mason, Weston!” Dex yelled, snapping their attention back to the fight in front of them.
“Don’t forget to concentrate on our fight.
Ruby and Lila need assistance.” He immediately dove to his sister’s side to help her fight against the rogue dragons while Mason and Weston got their heads back into the battle as well.
They were all shocked by this newcomer, but for now, they had a battle to fight.
“Who the hell is that?” Xander watched as a dragon as dark as night came to Levi’s aid.
It was a dragon he had never seen before, one that was incredibly powerful, from the looks of it.
Too powerful, in fact. He was a Dragon King, and he couldn’t stand toe to toe with Mephisto. So what was this dragon?
“Whoever it is, they just saved Lee’s life.” Reiya breathed out in relief. She waved her hand and whipped water over another wave of demons, sending them backward as Xander once again scorched their existence away.
She finally took her eyes off Lee to assess everyone else once again.
Freja was in real danger, but she wasn’t the only one.
She watched as Chasen’s bear went rolling backward, receiving a powerful hit from the hellhound.
Once his body came to a stop, that was when her real terror set in.
A demon with bladed arms sliced into Chasen’s side.
He let out a loud roar from the pain as the blood pooled from his body.
“Chasen!”
It was taking everything Chasen had to fight against the hellhound.
Inwardly, he had to laugh at himself. He deserved this because of the hard time he gave Brody.
He would glance over at his brother from time to time.
It looked like he was doing better against his own hellhound than he was.
Uncle Grayson was right. Experience did go a long way, and this was his first encounter with a hellhound.
He could also see Hunter was holding his own, but he was feeling apprehensive about Freja.
The demons were focusing on her. She was fighting multiples at a time, and there was no way she could keep that up.
There was nothing he could do but try to hurry and take this hellhound out. And that was where he got sloppy.
Out of haste, he tried to rush the process and the hellhound slashed into him, sending his body sprawling backward.
The pain rippled through him, burning his skin.
But then he felt like his body was being split apart as another painful stab hit him.
A creature with bladed arms had stabbed him while he was down, creating a pool of blood around him.
He roared in pain from the burning invasion.
For a second, his vision blurred and went dark.
His gums began to pale, the energy leaving his body.
At that moment, he felt so weak he couldn’t move.
He looked over the ground at the countless bodies of demons that had been slaughtered, yet still they continued to advance.
Then, the demon was suddenly gone from his side, and the ground surrounding him was covered in flames.
Black smoke came from the burning bodies as a white dragon flapped her powerful wings over him.
Immediately, he felt his strength returning.
He rose to his feet and gazed up at Ciana.
She nodded to him, then lifted back into the sky to heal others who were in dire need. She could heal people faster if she was closer to them, and in that moment, she had breathed life back into Chasen, fully healing him.
Chasen noticed she looked a bit drained but was thankful. He would not waste the energy she had just bestowed upon him. He turned back and lunged at the hellhound. This needed to end now. He had to protect Hunter and Freja.
Brody sighed in relief when he saw Chasen back on his feet.
He would yell at him over it later. The demons kept coming, and the hellhound in front of him was not conceding.
He was a guardian, and Elysia was in danger.
Besides protecting the fairy princess, protecting Elysia was also his task.
It was like he could feel a power emanating from the kingdom hidden behind the pines and flowing into him as he took a powerful step forward.
The hellhound lunged at Brody, swiping his claws against his flesh.
Blood splattered from his shoulder, which he’d purposely left exposed to lure the hellhound closer.
He turned his head and latched his powerful jaw on the hound’s neck, clamping down with all his strength.
The creature howled in pain and tried to shake the bear off him, but Brody dug his claws into the side of the demon hound, and more crimson liquid splashed onto the ground.
As more and more blood oozed from its body, Brody could feel it weakening until finally it was lifeless in his jaws.
He released the body and watched it fall to the ground. One down. Brody raised his eyes to see another hellhound approaching him as the endless nightmare continued. He turned to face it and steadied himself, preparing for another brutal battle.
Through the cuts and scrapes, Freja wouldn’t let a sound escape from her mouth.
The demon wanted to use her as a distraction, and she wouldn’t allow herself to be one.
She was definitely in pain, though. Her white arms were covered in red from both her blood and that of the slaughtered demons.
It was endless. No matter how many she killed, they just kept coming.
She was getting tired, and there were too many.
Even her flames were no longer deterring the demons as stronger ones began to attack.
The only thing she could think of doing was falling back more and leading the demons away from Hunter, but she wasn’t giving up. She couldn’t leave his side when she was so close. She continued to slash and attack, but there was also a limit to her body. So, she made a decision. It was time.
She shifted fully into her wolf and leaped into the ball of demons.
Her fangs and claws slashed at them while her flames burned them as well.
Another wave of demons began to overtake her.
Suddenly there was an opening, and then another.
Jester slashed at the demons along with his mate Irene, who took a protective stance at Freja’s side.
Irene looked at Freja and smiled. “Our orders are to protect you at all costs. You are the key to our treaty after all.” Irene launched her stakes and began slashing with her daggers.
Freja felt a new strength inside Ember, as if she was getting a second wind. Together, they used this energy to stand side by side with Irene and Jester. The demons only seemed endless, but there would be an end. They just had to continue, to persevere.
Freja’s wolf lifted her head to look at her mate.
He had Leoric backing up and retreating.
But she noticed an evil look in the demon’s eyes.
She followed his gaze, only to find an ogre with a spear in his hands.
As if in slow motion, she watched the spear fly forward, sailing in the air toward Hunter.
She watched as a blur leaped in the air. The spear sunk into the wolf's flesh, sending the body crashing lifelessly to the ground. She felt the pain in her chest and heard the cry from Blaze as he saw what happened.
Ember dove into the demons with a new, intense ferocity. She needed to get to the body. Please let him be alive.
Blaze couldn’t do anything as the spear came hurling toward him. There was no time to react. He braced himself for impact, but it never hit. He opened his eyes to see a familiar wolf falling to the ground as it took the impact of the spear.
No… please, no! Hunter stared in shock at the motionless body on the ground. He growled out loudly in sorrow. NOOOOOOOOO!
The battle continued to rage around them. The two armies clashed and beat against the other. But Hunter glared with contempt, his eyes locked on Leoric.
Hunter stepped toward Leoric with an intense darkness he had never felt before. He bared his teeth and roared with rage. A mysterious, shadowy red energy surged around him as he took a step forward.
Through his pain, through his sorrow, through his anger, his sleeper had awakened. And it demanded the demon blood of Leoric as payment.