This is an ongoing story. If it’s your first time reading the novel I suggest you start from Episode 1. If this episode is not where you last left off, then please check the Table of contents of all episodes released so far and find the last episode you read and continue from there.

Kingdom of the Red Rose

Overflowing with the corruption of their master’s evil, the Demons’ skin shares a random combination of colours between blood red, charcoal black, phlegm yellow and rotting green. Their eyes have a single colour, revealing their altered soul and the vast emptiness inside, a never ending and absolute darkness.

No matter how deformed they become from the corruption of evil, the basic structure of their body is the same. Humanoid, with an extra set of hands, wings, horns, tails, reptilian hard skin, or maybe even armour, and countless other disfigurations depending on each Demon’s personal preferences. Griffin’s horrid train of thought was interrupted when Lance turned his bow towards Griffin’s face. It looked as if Lance were about to shoot Griffin between the eyes at point blank range.

“Unlike Myrianthy, I never joke. You know that Griffin,” Lance released the string.

Griffin felt the arrow’s feather tail stroke his cheek bone as it whizzed past his head barely missing him. The arrow reached the peak of the mountain and exploded in a strong, slow burning, red light, and it slowly fell to the ground. The train appeared at the beginning of a bend that led around the mountain before disappearing into a tunnel.

Griffin tightened his grip on his weapon, “Emma, I’m no train expert, but considering there’s a bend before the tunnel, isn’t that train going a little too fast?”

The scythe started glowing yellow as it searched for information. Emma is Griffin’s weapon and personal assistant, helping him carry out his missions.

“Yes, Griffin,” Emma replied, “The train is going about sixty kilometres over the recommended speed limit for that bend, and its speed is increasing.”

The train’s first carriage tipped over and derailed before it could complete the bend. The rest of the train’s compartments quickly followed, and the sound of metal bending and deforming echoed loudly. A powerful explosion shook the entire mountain and fire quickly spread to nearing trees. The train started breaking apart and was halfway through its first barrel roll down the mountain when all of a sudden time slowed down. The train stayed suspended in the air and the flames looked as if they were part of a painting, hovering mid-air perfectly still. Griffin knew this was thanks to Dafne using her mana to slow down time; something that only affected inanimate objects and souls still contained within a mortal shell.

A foul stench filled the air as hordes of Demons rose from the ground. It was a wretched mixture of sulphur, rotting corpse, burned flesh and the fumes from flames consuming all of the above. Next came the unmistakable sound of their howling, filled with agony, anger and a thirst for mana that can never be quenched. It echoed all over the mountain as they charged ahead, ignoring Archangel Gabriel and any other Angel in their way.  Most Angels and Grim Reapers stood still and stared in horror, as the Demons’ unified cry spread fear amongst their ranks in the blink of an eye.

Another roar sounded, this time coming from near the tracks. The roar forced a sudden burst of adrenaline, a rush of excitement. It was a battle cry, a shout of courage, and Griffin knew well to whom it belonged. There was only one Angel who could make everyone around him feel ready to run into battle, no matter the enemy, Archangel Michael.

Griffin’s soul overflowed with bravery and he brought his scythe forward, ready to jump on that train and start collecting any souls released from their mortal bodies. But he knew he could not move until he received the signal from Lance.

The Archangel’s lone battle shout quickly turned into a sea of booming voices as his team joined the screaming and rushed forward. Archangel Michael, equipped as always with his trusted and universally renowned shield, appeared at the mouth of the dark tunnel accompanied by the rest of his unit, and collided with the Demons heading for the train up the mountain.

Archangel Michael led the charge dressed in his chainmail armour. The tallest of the Angels were just below Michael’s thick neck and it took two of them standing side by side to match his broad shoulders. The Archangel raised his shield and used his massive body to open a path deep into the Demons ranks. He slammed into the first Demon he came across and kept pushing him back, crashing into several other Demons before Michael came to a stop. It was like a truck hitting cardboard boxes as the Archangel’s shield crushed into the demons and bodies went flying into the air. His dark eyes stared at the enemy before him as he released another roar, encouraging his team to jump into the now scattered Demon formation and tear them apart.

Archangel Michael is known for his raw strength and brutality. He pulled out his sword and started striking his enemies, using a combination of shield slams and sword slashes that made it almost impossible to get near him and land a blow. He swung knowing his enemies had better step out of the way as his blade would cut through bone and armour alike.

“I guess Myrianthy was right,” Lance was brimming with joy, like a ten-year-old in the middle of a loud carnival, “All of Hell broke loose for this mission.” He launched a carefully aimed arrow and the force of his bow drove it through the head of a Demon that had managed to get on one of the train’s carriages. The arrow kept moving until it plunged into the chest of another Demon behind the first, and they both fell to the ground. “That won’t keep them down for long, but an Angel should be able to get to them and send them back to Hell before they recover,” he turned and gave Griffin a smile.

“Someone already has,” Griffin pointed.

Lance turned just in time to witness Archangel Michael bury the bottom pointy edge of his shield into the second Demon’s throat, severing the head from the body. Just like the first Demon, who died at the hands of Gabriel, this Demon exploded, turning into black liquid before imploding back into the wound Archangel Michael had caused, disappearing into thin air.

Lance raised his bow, pretending to cover his eyes from the brutality he had just witnessed, and turned to Griffin with an almost convincing grimace of disgust on his dark-skinned face, “I don’t know, and honestly don’t care, how much pain Demons experience in Hell, but that Demon definitely felt the pain from that hit,” a smile spread across his face, followed by chuckles.

The train was still hovering mid-air, albeit closer to the ground, ready to complete the barrel roll it started, but it was still moving at an amazingly slow speed.

“Why aren’t they calling us in to capture souls?” Griffin asked in worry. “Dafne can’t keep this up for long without depleting her mana. Lance, you know she can damage her soul and force her body to reset if she keeps this up for too long.”

“Stop panicking and take a minute to think, Griffin. What would’ve happened if a soul had broken free from its body?”

Griffin lowered his scythe and looked at his reflection in the blade, gently tapping his fingers on the handle. “We would have seen it rising through the railway carriages’ walls since it would no longer be affected by Dafne’s mana slowing down time. And probably frantically running around, as the soul would now be able to see everything its human eyes couldn’t.”

“Exactly, we’re slowing down time to allow the angels to push back the Demons before the souls are released. We can’t prevent their death, but we can save their souls before the Devil tries to steal them.”

“But how did the Devil acquire such power in the first place? To claim souls he has no right to?”

“That is way above my current rank, as well as yours. And we’ve no time to talk about it now. Archangel Michael is signalling me to send you guys in.”

Lance formed another arrow and launched it up in the air. He then turned and bellowed in the direction of the Grim Reapers who were spread out on the treetops behind them. “Nicolas, take over from Dafne, and make sure you do it right, the Angels are counting on you. The rest of you, we charge as soon as my flare touches the ground.”

Griffin turned his head to the sky and noticed that this time Lance’s flair was green. As soon as it touched the ground all the Angels, like a group of dancers who practiced their routine to perfection, disengaged any Demons they were fighting and faded out. They turned transparent and immaterial. Dafne stopped slowing down time and the train did two devastating barrel rolls down the mountain, dragging and killing most of the Demons that stood in its path who failed to fade out, or move out of the way. Nicolas stepped in and once again time slowed down. All the Angels quickly faded back in and continued their attack, unaffected by the sudden change in time and the train’s deadly barrel rolls. A strategic manoeuvre executed flawlessly. All Grim Reapers rushed forward towards the train and started chasing the dozens of souls that had been released. Their little trick with time might have killed some Demons, but it also allowed souls to release from their shells and become unaffected by the time distortion Nicolas’ mana was causing. Only Griffin and Lance stayed back, staring at the battlefield.

“Hey,” Lance punched Griffin on the shoulder, pulling him out of the trance he had lapsed into, “I thought you wanted to collect souls. Why are you standing here? Waiting for Nicolas’ mana to run out before you help out?”

Griffin shook his head, “No… No. I just… I just can’t believe how they planned and orchestrated that time change.”

“That’s what you get when you have the best of the best planning a mission. I’m telling you, Archangels Michael and Gabriel could bring Hell to its knees, had they been able to cross into it without becoming weak and succumbing to the corruption of Hell.” Another launch of an arrow from Lance and another Demon fell, preventing him from attacking a Grim Reaper and stealing the soul he was carrying away from the train. “Now will you go and help out or are you just going to stand here and admire my work?” Lance fired two more arrows.

Griffin pulled the hood over his head and leaned forward. He spotted a soul that had just risen through a carriage and started flying towards it.

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