Dawn- An age of Darkness

"Thanks but I'll pass." There was no doubt in my mind.

I probably won't walk out of this alive, but at least I'll be able to sleep peacefully in my grave knowing that I tried. However, I will not go down without a fight. I didn't like where my thoughts were going, but I did want to keep living.

Instead of being surprised the demon became excited. "I can see why he was so fixated on you: you have bones after all. Too bad, but I'll just apologize to him when I meet him next. Let's have some fun," he said.

A large cleaver with jagged edges emerged from a ball of water next to him. With a sharp look, he charged straight at me, grabbing the cleaver. Damn, he was fast. I didn't even have a chance to blink. It took my all, to just dodge the first blow.

Lianne and the elf boy engaged the princess as the battle began.

"Is that all you've got?" He said as he swung his cleaver lightly. "And I would advise you not to look away during an important battle." He chuckled.

I dodged again. The blade was so jagged each and every cell of my body was telling me to dodge instead of blocking it. I don't need to hear that from you. Although he was lecturing me about priorities he was looking at the elves too.

The cleaver's color was also ominous as though telling me, 'I live to kill.' I could hear the constant rise of my heart. Raindrops bounced off that cleaver as he came chopping through. "What's wrong?" he shouted.

I desperately tried to dodge them. "I thought the emperor would keep his words-"

He stopped, looked at me, and grinned. "Aren't you mistaken? Did you forget what he said? He said he won't wage war not that the demons wouldn't. And besides, we're just killing time, this ain't a war." He burst out laughing. "Plus do you see any demons here aside from us?"

My face stiffened up and anger welled within. So this is just killing time? But one thing was certain both of them were demons. The guy himself just admitted it after all.

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"Now then, show me what you've got!" He kept swinging his cleaver. That cleaver was long and quite scary, to be honest. After a bit of playing around, he plunged it for me and grazed my left shoulder.

He grinned. "Shouldn't you try a little harder?" This was all just fun and games to him. But to me, it was life and death. I couldn't do anything besides dodging and this was going nowhere.

It stung like hell: blood fell on the floor and my body burned. But this was no time to act frail. I gritted my teeth and bore the pain. This guy… might even be stronger than that muscle head. He probably was too.

His cleaver was longer than my sword but it seemed I might be able to reach his hands. The moment he grazed my shoulder I'd found the perfect opening: after all, it's the moment of victory, when one is in their most defenseless form. So, I swung. It reached, and his arm fell off. He raised his chin and examined his wound.

Although my arm was also almost unusable by this point because of the severe pain, I was rather pleased with the result.

"Heal!"

I was healed by the nun again. Upon looking at her I realized we were surrounded by mermaids and the situation was dire. Lianne and the elf boy were barely standing. The princess was really something: she was dodging like crazy.

But the guy I was fighting was on a whole other level. Although I chopped his hand off he didn't even seem a little concerned. He looked straight at me and smiled. "I underestimated you." He cast magic on his hand. Black flares gathered close to his head and he was fully healed. Even his arm regrew. I couldn't tell if he was alive or an undead. But it was clear that he didn't possess even a shred of humanity. This demon was the very epitome of the word demonic. "I believe you are worthy of facing me in my full form. But before, may I ask your name?"

Wait, you weren't fighting in full strength? Sweat poured through all my pores. This wasn't good.

If the guy could cut my shoulder nonchalantly without even trying, I couldn't even imagine what he'd do when he got serious. Frankly, I didn't dare imagine.

"How courteous! I am Daarc," I sarcastically answered. And something was probably wrong with me too. My legs were shaking but I tried to bluff all the way. I wanted to run away and yet, I couldn't. After all the talk and bluff, running away right now just wasn't an option. If I ran away now, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

"I am Zeline, Monarch of the sea, one of the seven. Oh and I'm just taking some precautions. It would be a shame if I didn't write down your name on your skull," he said laughing in a nefarious tone.

This guy has that weird hobby. Something about what he said reverberated in my mind. Wait, a Monarch? So he really was one of those monsters.

Zeline's body became larger and looked muddy in color. His teeth grew rapidly and looked like, that of a shark. His pale white hair grew pitch black and so did his golden pupils. He wasn't an undead. His black eyes were proof of that. His bulging muscles made me even more terrified. I was about to be skewered and there was no doubt about it.

With a grim look, he charged and sharp pain flowed all over my body. I couldn't block any of his attacks, I couldn't dodge them and I couldn't look away. Even with the nun's healing, it was impossible for me to stay on my feet. This is how I go out? Talk about a sorry life. I guess I do make poor choices based on emotions.

At the brink of my consciousness, a spear flew by my shoulder and struck Zeline and he fell a few meters away.

"Daarc! You okay?" Gorgan shouted.

"Boy am I glad to see you!" I couldn't really speak. Honestly, his timing was perfect. If he'd been a second later, I might not be standing anymore. I might have been dead.

He came running and stood beside me with a spear in hand. Some knights came along too; they kept the mermaids around us, busy. They were just too many undead.

The elf boy was on the floor, unconscious. Lianne was breathing rapidly. Her wound on her forehead opened up again. This is not good.

Everything was in shambles and I was powerless.

"Argh, that was a good throw," Zeline said as he got up. He took out the spear from his shoulder and threw it on the ground.

Damn it! What is wrong with this guy?

"Daarc, is that her highness over there?" Gorgan glared at Zeline. But his heart was still with the princess.

"Yeah," I said in a subtle tone.

The princess was fighting there all along. Maybe Gorgan couldn't believe his eyes. But this wasn't the time for that. This was a life and death battle and yet-

"My lady, why?" Gorgan shouted

This isn't the time to ask stupid questions. Focus, you idiot! And yet- I couldn't bare myself to say it to his face.

The princess made a weird expression as though she was innocent. "Oh! Gorgan, you were here? These guys accused me of crimes and now are trying to kill me. Will you not help me, my knight?" Did she perhaps forget that her appearance was different to that of the princess?

"You're not her highness. Who are you?" Gorgan said as his eyes became wet. I was glad that I didn't have to deal with a complete idiot.

The princess started acting all funny. "Hmm, what makes you say that?"

"Her highness never calls me by my first name!"

Seriously that was his reason?

"Ah, I see," she giggled.

Gorgan made a fist and pointed at the princess. "You aren't the princess. I knew something was off but-"

"You are in love with her, right? No wonder you always looked at me with such eyes. Join me and I shall let you savor this body you so love," she said with a wide grin. "I'll even throw in a little bonus and give you-"

How detestable! Even my face twisted in disgust.

"What are you talking about? I want to fight that guy," Zeline said.

The princess ignored the sharkface. "What do you say, Gorgan? Oh right, you prefer being called Jelight. My Jelight?" she said with a seductive tone. She really was a bitch.

"It's true I loved her highness. But- but I'll never stoop so low to crave her body! MY LOVE ISN'T THAT SHALLOW," Gorgan shouted with a shivering but loud voice.

Well said. But do you mind focusing a little more on this shark thingy instead?

"Too bad." The princess sobbed, and then laughed wickedly.

Grinding his teeth Gorgan, pointed his spear towards Zeline. "First, I'll take down you and then her."

"Come!" Zeline said.

With both of us, the fight was even more complicated. It seemed that the shark face had special offensive magic too. "Shrouded flares!"

With splattering, darkness flares came towards us.

"Holy wall!" A wall of light appeared before us. It absorbed the flares and soon the nun fell on the ground. "Sorry, but that was all I could do." She lost consciousness right afterward. With our healing gone, we were as good as dead. It was the nun's healing that kept us up till now.

Cold sweats began falling from my face. My hands quivered.. But my resolve stayed affirm.