Evan immediately noticed that the overlord had six eyes on his head. Four were at the front and two were at the side of his head, right under where his horns grew out to resemble the shape of a reindeer’s antlers. But that aside, Evan also noticed that he was quite small. Not as small as Evan himself but when compared to his towering subordinates who were all well over six feet tall, the overlord looked quite miniscule.

            “What did you just say to me boy?” the overlord’s front eyes looked to Evan. “You think that I am small?” he roared. Oh no, was mind reading one of the overlord’s ability.

            “Well to be fair…” Evan began as he fiddled with his hands. “You are kinda…” Evan twisted his mouth and turned to the side. “small.” He said quietly and before he knew it, the overlord was right there in front of him. Now while he were taller than Evan, the boy still wouldn’t quite say that the demon ‘towered’ over him. It was more like he was elevated slightly above where the boy was at in terms of height.

            “You’re still thinking it?” the demon lord roared and it was then that Marcus pulled Evan aside and took the lead. Now, this was a case where someone towered over another.

            The demon lord raged as fire shot from his six eyes. “How dare you interrupt me human? I was talking to that boy!”

            “Leave the boy out of this. You can’t reprimand him for something he simply thought about. On another note, my oh so great overlord, we have a matter to discuss.” Marcus spoke as he waved his hands around and peered down at the small demon.

            “Very well.” The overlord vanished in a smoke of malice and appeared back at his throne. “I suppose you’re here to ask me about the rifts that have been opening up in your world. You probably want to know which demon that is responsible for this?”

            “Correct.” Marcus replied.

            The demon lord laughed. “Well I’m afraid that you’re out of luck. While I do know of the general location where the rifts have been opening up. I do not know exactly who is doing it. And that is because of the place where this is all happening.”

            “And where is this place?” Marcus eyes’ dimmed.

            “Far far away from my kingdom towards the east is a place that not even I control. It is a lawless area where no one is ruler. One called the pit of shadows. It is there where I sense the rifts being created.”

            “And why is this place called the pit of shadows?” Marcus asked as he folded his arms and placed one foot forward.

            “Because it here where malice beasts are made.” The demon lord raised forward from his chair and began hovering around in the air. As he moved and waved his hand, malice formed pictures and images of indescribable creatures of all sorts. “You humans think that malice beasts are demon’s companions. But you are wrong about that. Just as malice is formed in your world and manifests as those hideous creatures, the same is true for my world. It is just in our case, malice is much greater in hell than it is on Earth. And because of that, the creatures here are much stronger and viler. So to deal with that, my ancestors created regions to keep the malice beasts contained. The ring of malice that you passed to get to my kingdom is one of those regions. Another is the infamous pit of shadows. And it is there that I have sensed the rifts approaching.”

“And there is nothing that you can do about it?” Marcus asked.

“Well, even for me, going into that place is dangerous. I see no reason why I am to be held accountable for one demon. You don’t see me going into your world and demanding you find the human responsible for this on your side. That isn’t of my concern whether mere rifts form to allow malice beasts into your world. I am the overlord of demons. Malice beasts are not of my concern.”

Marcus gritted his teeth. “Very well then. All I ask is that you show me where this pit of shadows is.”

The overlord looked to Ronin to his side. “He will show you.” The overlord pointed to his subordinate.” He then continued. “And since I am so kind, I will also allow him to accompany you into the shadow pit. Use him as you will. Go on now, leave my presence.”

With that said, Ronin bowed to his king and lead the Gifted out of the castle where they once more boarded the strange carriage and soared off into the red sky.

~

Meanwhile in the human realm, things were not going so great.

Eon panted as he lunged far distances across the landscape searching for the bodies that were missing. It was impossible for the king to keep track of all the small villages in the kingdom. And it was from those villages, did the bodies come from. Had the Gifted taken the time to see to these cases when they were first reported, perhaps none of this would have happened.

As the man destroyed another sphere, he looked back to the meadows where three giants of malice were making their way towards the capital. Ever since Evan left, more rifts had opened overnight.

And now they hadn’t enough manpower when factoring in the Gifted that were now ordered by the king to protect the far outlying villages. The man gritted his teeth and launched himself forward into the air. He soared through the skies with wind rushing to his face as he began descending to the ground. And with a might battle cry, he landed his fist into the head of one giant, sending it pummeling to the ground.

Smoke drifted from the creatures head as it healed and shrunk itself. Soon it got up wobbling as its two companions came marching forward.

Gifted and soldiers alike lined themselves behind Eon. Raus and Lias were among them.

“Hold the line!” Eon yelled and then he charged forward like a mad man into the malice of the monsters in front of him.

~

Somewhere far West of the capital was a little village named Rustal that lied on a nearby lake. For the longest while, a small long haired brunette had been protecting this village. But she finally found some relief when the Lady Natura entered on to the battle field. And with the miraculously light that danced around the town killing those of darkness that came near it, the woman was finally free to take some rest.

“It seems that you have been working hard, my lady Mohan.” The lady Natura said as she sat beside the woman on a log, her golden hair shining like no other.

“Yes, but it seems as though I can have some rest now. Thanks to you, that is.” Mohan replied as she got up from the log and looked towards the capital. “But I can’t help being worried. Evan only recently went to the capital. I hope he is safe.”

“I’m sure he is.” Lady Natura comforted with a smile.

Mohan downed her head. “Regardless, I think I will head to the capital.” She looked to the Lady Natura. “Can I trust you to take care of Rustal?” she asked.

“With all my strength.” The lady said as she placed a clenched fist on her breasts.

Mohan smiled and then went for a horse in a stable. She threw a saddle on the creature and then jumped on it herself. She galloped the horse and then began riding towards the capital. And while the beasts that were nearby attacked her with all their might, her regal pink shield covered her body as well as the horse, making her nearly invincible as she went onwards to her destination.

~

The carriage now dashed through the air at remarkable speeds. It moved faster than even the blazing horse that had taken them to the dark kingdom. The world below became blurred with lines as Evan tried to make out features of the landscape. His eyes simply couldn’t keep up and before they knew it, they had decelerated to a halt and now hovered over a tornado of malice that spiraled below.

“Is that it?” Marcus asked the demon lord.

“Indeed it is.” He replied and the demon lord spoke a strange language that told the carriage to fly down through the eye of the storm below. Into the malice they descended, heading deeper and deeper until they were in total blackness.

Teya let a ring of fire circle around the carriage but even with it, they could not see more than a few meters to each side. So in all, they could see almost nothing at all.

Then out from the shadows, a giant arm reached for them.

Ronin merely blasted a red fire towards it, destroying the malice filled arm in a single strike.

“Be on your guard.” The demon warned. “It will only get worse, the deeper we go.”

And just as he said, more creatures of darkness came at them from all directions. The Gifted could merely keep them away long enough for Ronin to destroy them. If not for the demon, they would probably be dead by now.

“Damn, these things are relentless.” Blyke said as he shot a bolt of lightning to an incoming tentacle that stopped its approach.

“What else did you expect?” Rill said as grabbed a medium sized bird and threw it away with his liquefied arms. “This is hell.” The blue haired boy continued. “And we’re in a place that not even the overlord has control over.”

Blyke gritted his teeth and continued to strike lightning upon his foes. Whether they would survive to make it out of here, he didn’t know. But at the very least, he would fight to his dying breath and bring honor upon the once great family of Electura.

~

Somewhere far away from the kingdom hiding safely within a mountain itself came a royal messenger guided by two from the Aerite family.

The red haired man that sat peacefully in front of the dining table frowned as he saw the royal attendant come into the poorly lit room.

“Who let you in here?” the man asked as he sipped a cup of his wine.

“It was I, father.” A long red haired individual raised his hand. “I simply cannot tell a royal messenger off. It is against the law even for noble families.”

“Tsk.” The man said and then looked to the shivering attendant that held a scroll out in front of him.

“What do you want?” the terrifying man asked.

And the royal attendant began to read what was written on the scroll.

“By order of King Roy Regalia the third, the Electura family are to return to the capital and assist in dealing with the malice beasts at hand.”

The man closed the scroll and took a step back where he then proceeded to leave, guided by a servant of the Electura family.

“Damn that Roy! Disturbing my peace.” The Lord Electura slammed his fist into the table.

“What will we do father?” the long haired man asked.

“What choice do we have?” the tall man rose from his seat. “Tell everyone! Prepare yourselves to head back to the capital.” The man’s eyes became fierce and he walked through the darkness as his son ordered several servants to spread the message. The tall man then paced towards the exit which was but a cave. He entered into the light and saw the two Aerite’s beside the messenger. “He sent the messenger with two from the Aerite family. He must’ve known that I would want to go ahead.” The man said to himself.

“Very well.” The man looked to the three in front of him. “The ones of Aerite lineage, take me with you.”

And at that, a disc of wind appeared beneath the man as he along with the messenger were carried by winds into the skies heading back towards the capital.