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

64. Lychgate

The Shadowbane members were surprised to hear their language come from the Devil's mouth. It seemed that lately, they were running into more Devils that could speak their tongue, which only meant they constantly encountered stronger Devils.

But this Devil ignored every other soldier and only looked at Erebus. He pointed his long claw towards the women. "My offerings haven't broken yet. I thought they were strong... yes, yes. Very strong. But then I looked deeper and saw a deep darkness hidden inside them, guarding them." He cackled again.

"And then I saw you." He lifted his claw to his temple and pressed down harshly. "I saw you looking back like a shadow desiring to devour me whole."

He pressed the claw so hard that blood dripped from his head, but it didn't seem to faze him. Erebus clenched his daggers tighter, never letting the Devil leave his view.

"Such a glare you have. Yes, yes. I can still feel the shivers down my spine." He giggled and grabbed his horns with a crazed smile, revealing his blackened fangs. He tilted his head again and laughed while spinning slowly on one foot.

He stopped suddenly and bent his waist, pointing his now bloodied claw at Erebus. "I must know... who are you?"

Erebus ignored his words and barked out orders to his men. "You know your orders, but mind the suppression runes. Leave the crazed Devil to me."

The Shadowbane members were already filled with a deep rage and wanted to kill these bastards. Once they got the order, they rushed in to attack.

The Devil who was talking wasn't concerned that his own soldiers were getting attacked. He stared obsessively at Erebus.

"Who~ are~ you~" He sang out while swinging his arms to his own tune.

Erebus pulled out his blades. "You don't deserve to know."

The Devil giggled. "I do. I do. They call me Lychgate. The gateway. The resurrection. This is who I am. That is my identity. " His hands were raised as if he were worshiping himself.

While his arms were still raised in praise, he looked back at Erebus and grinned. "But you... who are you? You see, these idiot peons murmur things like Demon, General, and Shadowbane. These are not your identity... I know because I saw you staring back at me... You are more. Yes, yes. So much more. The shadows whispered to me... called you the ancient one. The shadow of shadows. The night of nights. Hope and terror combined."

Erebus crouched low with his daggers tightly grasped in his hands. He wanted to attack, but something about this Devil made him hesitate. He looked at the Devil and saw death.

"I have lived in darkness. All my life. But you, ancient one... you are true darkness." The Devil, Lychgate, said and mirrored Erebus' crouch with his claws to the side.

Erebus still felt uneasy with this Devil and tried to steady his mind and heart. But at these words, he couldn't help but sneer. "You know nothing about darkness."

He waved his hand, and black swords suddenly emerged from the darkness and launched towards the Devil.

Lychgate twisted and turned in almost unnatural positions to avoid the shadow swords, but Erebus followed up with another attack. Instead of swords, many shadow fans spun and cut through the air like horizontal saws. Lychgate looked at the attack with wide eyes and jumped high in the air to avoid them. Erebus took this as an opportunity and used one of the fans' momentum to launch himself in the air after Lychgate.

Lychgate flipped himself over and started to fall towards the rising Erebus, his claws outstretched. Erebus crossed his blades in front of them and sliced out instantaneously when he met Lychgate. However, to his surprise, Lychgate caught both blades with his hands, creating a terrible screeching noise.