Will of the Apprentice

Chapter 12: Downfall

A bright purple flame bursts out of Samuel's chest, leaving behind a devastating roar along with a powerful shockwave that scatters the entire squad. Its sheer aggressive yet majestic aura makes anyone stunned and speechless.

And that's exactly what everyone's reaction right now. Eyes fill with fear, body's shivering despite having a massive fire nearby. It's almost like they're greeting a devil, not just any juvenile demon, but a true warlord. Even the two Stormguard captains have the same feeling flashed through their mind at some point.

The fire slowly reshapes into a somewhat human figure before returning to Samuel's body. The moment it thrusts its humanoid arm through his chest, a quiet but terrifying shriek said "Finally!" taps on everybody's mind in the fire radius. Too shocked before what has just happened that they didn't notice, all of the bruises, the wounds caused by blades and metal on Samuel, are gone.

He opens his eyes with a completely different gaze - a stare of death towards his surroundings. Fire emerges from every corner of his robe. All circulates around one spot - two twisted horns that's just recently appeared on his forehead. He starts walking with his hand stretched out to his enemies, intense pressure can be felt from every direction. It's almost like any lives could be taken right now.

The Stormguards hesitate to take half a step near him. Normally, they'd be the one that strike fear to the enemy, but right now they can't even hold their swords steady in front of this thing. In the middle of the long silence, a word breaks out.

"Burn..."

In an instant, geysers of flame bursts from the ground. The scene quickly turns from chaos to a living hell.

"Steady your defenses! There's only one enemy, where're you going, cowards!"

Although Selina's command reaches their ear, but deep down their mind tells them different. Deep down, they know that running is a much better option than keep holding their sword. But that doesn't save them either since fire spreads to every pebble they stepped on.

"Glaive....what is that?"

"I....don't know, but my instinct tells me that this is not a prey" - Celeste is safe behind Glaive.

Surprisingly, the fire didn't reach them.

The sea of flame continues to expand, it grows stronger and more fierce with each minute that passes. Samuel doesn't seem to be stopping either.

In a desperate attempt, Ardan throws his gauntlet towards the inferno beast, only to be stopped mid-way. The fully charged gauntlet that has the power to knock out even the most viscious predator in the Halcyon Fold is now simply blocked by this demon with one arm. It raises the other which has Nether flame burning in the palm, a slight grin runs across its face.

"No, Samuel! Don't!" - suddenly it got interrupted.

It immediately moves its sight to the speaker - Celeste. She managed to save her father right before that demonic hand pierce through his heart.

"He's not an enemy, you have to stop this, now!"

The normal reaction for it would be killing her as well, but as soon as it looks into Celeste's eye, a quick thought jumps to its mind that made it staggered.

Ardan is released, but his gauntlet is beyond repair under the effects of the fire. The demon relentlessly holds its head as if something is trying to break out, but its power still shows no sign of disappearing.

In the middle of the struggle, a familiar feeling comes again, a feeling that makes it hesitated for the first time - the unparalleled pain that wraps around its heart.