Return of the Demon Sovereign (Book 1) [MxM]

24. Miscalculation

Erebus stilled and stared into the space where the portal once stood. He was too late... again. An unfathomable anger overwhelmed him, and his aura became overwhelming, making the surrounding Devils cower and back away.

He promised the King and General Halcyon he would find Leo, but when he finally did, he lost him again. He felt fatigue deep in his bones because of his little rest during this chase, but there was no time to stop now. He needed to move fast.

Devils were still fighting the Shadowbane troops, but they were struggling. Erebus turned towards the group, his eyes burning with rage. Nash, Comet, and Claire were fighting fiercely, focusing on one person dressed as a Shadow Guard.

Erebus glared at the guard, knowing he was the second Djinn. The Djinn instinctively turned towards the killing intent emanating from Erebus and faltered. He backed away from Nash and the others and started looking around for an escape, but Erebus would not allow him to do so. Erebus moved quickly through the shadows and appeared before him. With a roar, Erebus' blade pierced the Djinn's chest.

He gritted his teeth. "Why?!" He cried out, alerting the others around him.

The Shadow Guards, still under his spell, turned towards the sound and saw that a stranger had stabbed their comrade. They lifted their weapons, ready to attack, but were surprised when an arrow flew into the man's throat. They turned and saw Nash had fired it with a dark look in his eyes.

The Djinn was still trying to fight back and held a sword in one hand. He lifted it, intending to strike Erebus, but Comet clamped down on his arm and pulled it out of the socket with a wet ripping sound. The Djinn tried to scream, but only blood bubbled from his throat.

The Djinn lifted his other arm, but Claire's sword cleanly cut it off.

"You dare ask 'why'?" Erebus growled. "I need no other answer except that I fucking hate Djinns." He twisted the knife until he heard the Djinn's heart shatter. His skin returned to its original blue shade, and then he dissipated with the fog.

Erebus wasn't done, and his anger wasn't sated. He turned towards the Devils and moved like the wind, slicing open a Devil's throat and moving to the next. This woke up the others, and they continued to fight their opponents. Cutting them down without interference from the Djinn was easy for the well-coordinated group.

One by one, the Devils fell until there were none left. Erebus stood in the middle of the corpses, breathing heavily. He closed his eyes, focused on the tracker he left on Leo, and felt it pull north. He had already guessed they would take him to the facility, so at least he knew they would keep him alive. However, leaving Leo in their hands for too long was unwise because this could be a fate worse than death.

He turned towards the large group and saw that Claire explained what happened with the Djinn while Nash and Comet checked the wounded. One of the injured was the giant of a man, Heath. He was frustrated and kept looking back at the space where the portal was, and Erebus could understand his discontent.

When two dozen pairs of eyes gazed at him with unwarranted adoration, Erebus regretted not listening to Claire's explanation. It seemed that she was generous with her compliments. He looked at Claire helplessly, which caused her to giggle. 

Through her journey with him, she found Erebus to be a man of great mystery and magnificent skills but unbearably humble. She vowed to beg the generals to invite Erebus into Shadowbane immediately and grant him a ranking. The meager title of Hunter was wasted on him.

One of the Shadow Guards coughed lightly. "Did you really survive Comet's Lightning Domain?"

Erebus nodded awkwardly. "I moved through the shadows hidden in the domain."