Let's see what your superior race is capable of, gladiator…
Thick eyebrows of Deron tightened as the voice in his head spoke again. He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the scimitar. At any cost, he wanted to prove himself to the mocking voice and shut it up.
Deron loosened his body, but he made his legs stiff. With Neg on his back, he knew he couldn't dance around in the fog, so he decided to make himself a pillar of meat and iron and deflect attacks before they hit.
Deron's arms reached his mate's arm. He pulled it tight around his shoulder and said.
"Hold tight."
However, there was no response except a nod. Deron shrugged it off as this was not the time to ponder on her silence. Without looking back, Deron raised his scimitar and positioned it in front of him. His other arm pulled out a buckler from his belt. The cold metal surface of the buckler brushed against his palm as he held it on his left side.
A pouncing beast would not care about the dagger in front of it. However, only if the beast was enraged or simply stupid, it would ignore the threat. Deron hoped the apparition was ignorant enough to take the bait and charge into him.
Thud.
The apparition halted half a dozen meters before them…With a shriek, the scorched abomination charged into them. Heavy thuds now replaced the deafening silence around them,
Jagged bone blades of the apparition cut the lantern poles as they waved recklessly.
Deron knew that if he were not careful enough, he and his mate would be sliced into two halves. He did not want his intestines and severed legs to be his last image; everyone around him now readied themselves.
The abomination's blade crashed into Ryne. However, before it could cut him in two, Ryne blocked it with his buckler. However, the buckler groaned heavily as Ryne couldn't deflect the slash.
With a loud thud, the blade sent him flying into a wall to their right. Ryne lay on the ground for a while before getting up.
The apparition now charged into Deron.
Thud-Thud-Thud.
Ryne got lucky, as it was only a single blade. If the multiple limbs came at him all at once, he would've been diced.
Multiple limbs of the abomination twitched, slashing the fog into ribbons as it charged toward him.
When the thud finally reached him, a blade slashed the air above Deron. However, before it could meet his flesh, Deron launched into the abomination's chest and lodged his blade deep into its chest.
Deformed limbs of the apparition twitched at a quick pace and sent blades everywhere into the fog. Deron skillfully dodged a few of them as he tore the burnt meat and bone with his blade.
The charred bones cracked. Deron pushed his weight forward and blade deep until it tore through its back and emerged out of its spine.
Finally, the abomination's charred body no longer twitched. Its deformed, roasted limbs now slumped onto the black stone road. Deron watched, his chest heaving.
Gradually, its blackened body deteriorated into dark grey particles. Ash fell onto the ground as its skin cracked, the bones next, and finally its organs. After a moment, nothing was left in front of Deron except his scimitar, swallowed in ash.
Ryne might be the leader, but Deron was still the powerhouse. Deron's face shifted into a smug expression, and his tight fists loosened.
With a proud groan, Deron screamed, not caring about his bandmates.
"Disappointment, huh? This is what my superior genes are capable of!"
Deron stomped the ground as he continued screaming.
"Where are the kluck are you? You filthy sewer rat! Are you scared to insult me now? Come out, you basta-"
However, before he finished his words, his body swayed.
The fog, his scimitar, his partner on his back, everything started to blur, and the world started to tilt. Slowly, he lost control of his body until his face met the stone with a loud thud. The street in front of his orange eyes turned blurry.
Multiple voices beside him echoed, but they too were blurred.
Fog swallowed his senses, Peace calmed his rage, and finally…he shut his eyes.
…
A sharp pain in Aegis's head jolted him awake. He snapped open his eyes to see what it was.
It was an ugly, fat fiend standing in front of him with his foot on his head. For a second, Aegis couldn't recognise him, but after squinting his eyes, his heart jumped.
It was his master; his disgusting face tightened as he screamed.
"What are you doing here, you bastard! Go up and serve customers!"
His master's boot crushed his head one final time. Aegis groaned and stiffened his body, and then his master left the cellar. Aegis sat up and stared at the ladder in silence as he left. He looked around and expected to see his cellar. But the scorched metal lamp posts, eaten by milky white fog, met his sight.
Aegis gasped as he couldn't understand what was happening.
He rubbed his eyes hard enough to blur his vision, and finally looked again. This time his cellar met his sight.
Phew
With a soft sigh, Aegis got up and walked toward the cracked mirror. The cracks on the mirror looked like an arachnid's web. However, in it…
What?
An orange-skinned middle-aged fiend stood, the multiple figures in the mirror stared back as Aegis touched his face. The fiend in the mirror had thick brows and orange eyes, and strangely, two horns.
Aegis's heart beat rose, and he began thinking.
Isn't this the fiend from my dream?
In panic, Aegis knelt in front of the bucket of water below the mirror and bent his head and drowned his face in it. His breath faltered, but he did not lift his head.
Slowly, the dizziness faded away, and finally, he lifted his head. Gradually, he stood up and took a look at the mirror again.
His heart galloped as his eyes slowly turned toward the mirror. However, this time, it was his reflection.
Gradually, his heart calmed down. Aegis wiped his face with a dirty cloth hung beside the mirror and walked toward the ladder. He had only a pair of clothes, so he didn't bother changing.
The sight of his tattered mattress, cage-like cellar and rusted iron ladder was welcoming. With a sigh of relief, he climbed out of the cellar into the kitchen. Metal scraped as three fiends wearing aprons with oil stains cooked, they shrugged off Aegis's presence and kept cooking. Smell of seasoned grease and slightly burnt meat reached his nose; his nose twitched, but he
forcefully shrugged it off.
Aegis slowly looked toward the sink and prayed.
"Please be empty, please be empty."
Looks like the Arch Devil granted his wish as his red pupils met the sight of an empty sink. He thought that if he really slept for long, then it made sense why it was empty, after all, waiting for him to wake up would delay the day, so some chef must have scrubbed the dirty utensils.
Aegis had to serve the customers and clean the tables; he had to endure till afternoon. His fat master and all the cooks eat in the afternoon and close the tavern for an hour or two. Aegis could go out then.
As he stepped out of the kitchen, chatter hit his ears, warmth brushed his skin, and the sight of wooden tables with fiends around them greeted him. However, some of them sneered and turned away as they saw him, of course, who would love to see a filthy-dressed and stinky cambion first thing in the morning.
Slowly, Aegis's footsteps approached an empty table with a new fiend, and he spoke in his meek tone, avoiding the customer's gaze,
"What would you want, sir?"
Bulky fiend in front of him looked at Aegis in disgust, his eyes scanned him from top to bottom. Since it was a new customer, Aegis expected this reaction from him. Every new customer gave him the same reaction. However, they did not care enough until Aegis touched their food directly.
So, he took the order from the customer and served it to him. Soon, a new group of fiends entered the tavern and sat at a slightly dirty table. Aegis hurried to their table and was about to wipe the table clean.
However, when the cloth in his palm touched the table, it disappeared. Instead, Milky white fog, and the cold, scorched stone road stood beneath them. Fog shifted as he wiped the air in front of him.
What?
His face went pale, the hair on his neck stood up, and a chill ran down his spine.
What is happening?
Without a second thought, Aegis wiped the air recklessly, hoping the table and tavern would reappear. However, pain surged in his chest as he was sent flying into the wall.
With a thud, he crashed into the wall, and the sight of the tavern returned. However, not a welcoming one.