The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

"Da...ddy?" Milliendra asked.

"Millie… fight him," Zaos said. "Memorize those symbols, and when you feel tired, use the spell, don't let him make you fall asleep."

Zaos drew the symbols of Cleanse for Milliendra, and she looked toward it slightly confused, but then she began to feel the presence of the demon god again. Zaos thought that he would interfere more, but it seemed that he couldn't control someone who was awake that easily.

"Are you all right?" Drannor asked while he felt the surroundings getting weird.

"You are…" Milliendra said in confusion while she looked around and saw everyone.

"He is your real daddy, Millie," Zaos said. "I am sorry for hiding everything from you, but everyone who is here wants to help you, so don't fear that voice. We can beat him."

Milliendra looked slightly puzzled at them, but then she felt her head hurting again, and her eyes began to get heavy. She used Cleanse, and just as Zaos had expected, she succeeded on the first try, but the demon god didn't give up. He kept trying again and again. Zaos wished that he could help Milliendra, but his mana was drained. He lost quite a lot while he was holding Millie, so he was forced to put her down.

Everyone approached as they knew that the demon god was focusing on regaining control over Milliendra again, and despite the situation, she smiled when she saw Aleni approaching. She had also seen the others, and while she didn't know who Cohnal, Melisse, and Nyana were, she recognized her two grandfathers.

"You look so much like your mother…" Dalyor said while crying and holding back his wish to hug his granddaughter for the first time.

"Ugh… sorry," Milliendra said while she was holding her back. "I wanted to let him go so that he could be defeated, but… it is too dangerous. They all will come as well."

"They?" Zaos frowned.

"The other monsters…" Milliendra said. "They are caged in a dark place…"

Zaos didn't believe that Milliendra was talking about demons; besides, Milliendra wasn't supposed to be able to see the world of the dead… while the demon god could do the inverse, it was because he had far more arcane knowledge.

"It is okay, Millie," Zaos said. "Let him go… summon him."

"Captain?" Cohnal asked, visibly surprised.

"If Milliendra summons him, he will probably take all his powers from her so that she will be free from the curse," Zaos said. "That solves the main problem. As for the monsters she mentioned… they are probably the same ones he defeated before going mad. The scrolls said that they were creatures from another world, and that was the place she saw them. We just have to close the door on the other side while we keep him there as well."

"You… I thought that she had sealed your memories. How did you…" The demon god said, shocked.

The others didn't understand what the demon god said, but they could see Zaos' point. It was a bit dangerous, but it was their golden chance to free Milliendra from that fate of being a puppet of the demon god. Strangely enough, the demon god didn't try to interfere, so they could tell how confident he was.

"Hmm? The gentle lady told me just now that it won't work if you go alone," Milliendra said.

"Gentle lady?" Zaos frowned since he didn't mention to anyone that he was planning to fight the demon god alone.

Zaos had planned that because it was risky and he couldn't let Milliendra lose her birth father… he couldn't help Ameria, but at least he could make up for his crimes by making sure that if something goes wrong, he will at least keep the demon god busy for a while.

"She was the lady who talked to me when he tried to convince me to summon him for the first time," Milliendra said. "She also said that once he is back to life, all his followers will go berserk and become much stronger than before."

Zaos didn't like that… it seemed that someone… a third party that knew a lot more than he talked with Milliendra more than once. Was she the goddess of that world? The person who made him reincarnate in that place? If such a being really exists, why did she only talk with him once?

"Were you really planning that, Zaos?" Aleni asked with a cold tone.

"Well… we can't leave Milliendra unprotected, and in case some monsters come to this side, we will need people here," Zaos replied. "Remember what Ameria asked us to do? We can't just…"

Suddenly, Milliendra became pale, and she held her head again… the headache came a lot stronger than before. They lost too much time talking, and the demon god didn't plan to make things easy for them.

"Millie… do as he told you," Drannor said. "It is fine. He won't go alone."

"Drannor…" Dalyor said.

"It is okay, Your Majesty," Drannor said. "We can't let this idiot do what he wants any further. Besides, only the two of us can damage the demon god. It would be better if we were to go alone."

"... We will deal with the problems on this side," Drian said after he touched his son's right shoulder. "Make sure that you will defeat him and that he won't try to make history repeat itself."

The group didn't have much time to say anything since Milliendra was suffering, so Cohnal, Melisse, and Nyana just nodded at Zaos. Still, they waited for Laiex to say something to his son. Their relationship was beyond complicated, but still…

"If after everything you have done, you still make Milliendra cry... " Laiex said. "I won't allow failure."

"Well, I wouldn't pick a fight knowing that I would lose," Zaos shrugged. "Anyway… sorry about this, Aleni. In the end, things will end just the way they started, huh. One of us will leave, and the other will stay behind and protect Milliendra."

"I suppose it can't be helped…" Aleni smiled. "As much as I hate to say this, I will leave the big roles to you two."

Zaos smiled as well and then nodded to Milliendra… the group moved away from her a little bit. After taking a deep breath, Milliendra wished with all her heart to make her powers go away. Much to everyone's surprise, she succeeded on her first try, but then her mana left her body just to create a powerful vortex that began to pull all the mana around. It was barely noticeable, but some particles of dust began to accumulate in the vortex, and Zaos felt a large concentration of mana in those while they were taking the shape of something very humanoid.

"The ashes of the demon god?" Zaos thought.

The creature was so powerful that just by concentrating his mana in a single place, the traces of his body that were destroyed a long time ago began to return to the place it once had been. Once Milliendra got rid of all those powers in her body, she fell unconscious, but Zaos could feel her presence. She had become a completely normal girl, and Aleni grabbed her with her arms and couldn't feel her mana being drained. She sighed in relief and then nodded at Zaos.

The vortex became even stronger as the body of the demon god was being restored, and just like Zaos had imagined, a weird portal coming from another dimension appeared… It looked like the demon god sent a part of his spirit to the dimension of monsters. That was how he managed to interfere with the mortal world… Zaos could see countless grotesque creatures in a world of darkness and blood, but he couldn't see the demon god. Still, he could feel his presence approaching.

Zaos frowned when he saw the physical appearance of the demon god, he was a lot taller and physically stronger than he had imagined for a mage. While Zaos wasn't that big, the demon god was almost of his size… maybe he increased his physical abilities before his defeat. Nevertheless, the demon god also had long, straight black hair that reached his waist and light-brown eyes that sometimes looked red. The very moment he blinked, Zaos activated Thunder Armor and then grabbed by the neck and then charged toward the portal behind him. Drannor quickly followed him, and as if it had been waiting for them, the portal closed soon after. The others who watched didn't like it… it seemed that the demon god was planning to fight Zaos and Drannor on his territory, and he didn't want anyone getting in their way…

As soon as those two disappeared, the entire area began to tremble. The snowstorm began to dissipate, but not in the way the group wanted. When they looked around, they saw the winds moving toward the demons, and the creatures were trembling uncontrollably. The soldiers tried to use that chance to attack, but their attacks weren't causing much damage, and the little damage was being healed at an insane speed.

The group looked around in search of those portals, but they didn't find any. The demon god could likely open them at will, but he probably won't do it until he defeats Zaos and Drannor. When the demons finally stopped trembling, they began their counter attack. Cohnal could see two thousand of their soldiers still standing and around seven hundred demons still breathing. If they kept fighting together, he was sure that the humans would win, but he changed his mind when one of the demons that had four arms punched a heavy infantryman and made him fly for ten meters. The soldier didn't die with that only, but he didn't get up either.

"Let's organize our troops. It is the only option we have if we want to win this battle," Dalyor said, and then the group began to head down the mountain.

---- ----

In the area close to the northern base…

The followers of the demon god had been fighting fiercely against the soldiers garrisoned in the northern base for two weeks, and one week ago, they almost took over the entire place. However, an army of fifteen thousand mercenaries and fifty soldiers arrived just in time to save the day.

"So, these are the infamous northern lands…" Kat said as she watched the followers of the demon god retreating. "I can't imagine how people can live in such a cold place.

  Kat thought that the followers of the demon god wouldn't try to fight since they were outnumbered three to one, so alongside Elius and Ruvyn, Kat organized their forces to keep moving up North and join the other group that went on ships to find Milliendra. However, much to everyone's surprise, they showed up again the next day and attacked relentlessly from a distance with their spells. For some reason, their magic power was even greater than before, so despite the odds, they were able to fight against the mercenaries and the soldiers of the kingdom.

"What is going on here… it is almost like ten years ago," Elius said while sweating cold.

"What happened ten years ago?" Kat asked.

"It was around the time Milliendra received the powers of the demon god… and around the time his followers began to get more powerful," Elius replied.

Kat quickly connected the dots… Elius was worried that they would become more powerful because the demon god was finally back. It was hard to say, though. If Zaos and the others had failed, the demon god should head to that area and deal with that vast concentration of soldiers. If that were to happen… Regardless, Elius and Kat told their subordinates to use their crystal swords and poison without holding back. The world will truly be doomed if the demon god marches south with his army intact…