Chapter 7 Part 1: Siege

"Payon's being attacked by monsters!" Naomi yelled at the top of her voice.

"What the…" Allazelle stood shocked as he looked down upon Payon. People ran for their lives as countless monsters began their siege on the peaceful town. Even the Porings and Willows, monsters usually serene, became aggressive as well.

"Let us hurry. We do not have much time," bellowed Eddga.

"You mean you're coming too?" asked Allazelle in an unbelieving tone.

"If that town succumbs to the Dark Lord, the next to fall will be this mountain and if that happens, the elixir will fall into his hands and Midgard will never be the same again." Eddga went to a compartment and took a cloak as big as it was. It wore it and as if by magic, it was transformed into a fairly built assassin with vicious golden eyes.

"Cool. I didn't know that was possible." Loki said as if there was no danger present.

"Hurry guys, I don't think those hunters will hold out much longer," said Naomi worriedly.

They immediately left for Payon to help out against the monsters. As they sped off, a cloaked being grinned devilishly from the trees.

As they dashed through the forests of Payon, they suddenly realized that Loki was not with them. However, they did not give much thought about it for they were more concerned about the current crisis at hand.

They reached their destination, only to see that it was almost completely defeated. The only buildings left standing were the castle and the hunters' guild. Bodies laid scattered all over with dark, petite Deviruchis gobbled the fresh carcasses. The hulky Majorus and Minorus swung their hammers in a wide arc, smashing those unlucky to be in their path. The most devastating attack however was the rain of meteors that left rubbles where the glorious buildings once stood.

"Naomi, hurry towards the palace and help anyone you can. Eddga and I'll try to draw their attention as much as possible," instructed Allazelle as he took his crossbows and began showering the monsters with silver arrows."

Naomi nodded and immediately dashed towards the palace. An Injustice dove for her but it was parried just in time by the katars of the assassin Eddga.

"Be wary, priestess. One slash from these vile creatures and it will spell death."

Eddga then sidestepped and executed consecutive slashes at the undead assassin, all aiming for the vulnerable points. The Injustice gave off a dying screech and evaporated into a thick smoke.

By the entrance, Allazelle held the monsters back by himself. Among those that were attacking him was the twin bulls, Majorus and Minorus. As one bull drew back its hammer, the other struck. Their tactic disabled Allazelle from attacking so all he could do was to evade their blows along with the attacks from the other monsters.

Suddenly, he felt the demons within him reawakening again but he hesitated to unleash it for he feared that he would forever lose control of his body. Without warning, a hammer fell on the spot where he was standing with such tremendous force that it caused a shockwave from where it hit. The Majorus withdrew its hammer, leaving a bloody Allazelle in the huge crater that its blow had made. As it turned its back, Allazelle suddenly stood up, despite of the fierce attack that would've killed even the strongest knight in Rune-Midgard. His eyes, however, had a darker shade of red, the sign of the demonic blood awakening once again.

Eddga looked back and saw Allazelle in his demonic form. Though a bit shocked by the sudden transformation, he continued slashing the monsters that blocked the path and led Naomi towards the castle.

The Minorus began to draw back its hammer. It struck as hard as it could but it was stunned to see Allazelle holding back its gigantic hammer with only one hand. It drew back once more but before the blow fell, Allazelle jumped towards and clawed into its eye, causing the bull creature to screech in pain. The Majorus turned back to see that its twin was being pummeled by the hunter that it had supposedly killed. It came to help but as it saw Allazelle's blood red eyes, it ran away in fright, leaving its twin to die.

Not content with what he had done with the beast's left eye, he punched its other eye so hard that the head popped off its shoulder, causing its blood to splatter all over Allazelle. After licking the blood off his lips, Allazelle dashed towards its next victim: Majorus. He reached it with ease for the weapons that laid on the street provided as caltrops for the huge Majorus. It turned and kneeled, as if pleading for its life. Allazelle smiled as he clawed into the bull's chest and pulled out its heart, the fear still evident on the dead Majorus face.

As Majorus fell, the monsters turned back to see who had killed the massive being and as they caught sight of Allazelle feeding on the bull's heart, the monsters began to flee.

The Payonese sighed breathlessly as they thanked their gods for turning the battle to their tide. However, they stopped cheering as they saw another monster dashing for them. The hunters took aim and pulled back their bowstrings but before they fired, they realized that the monster was actually a hunter drenched in blood.

"Close the gates quickly! Do not allow the hunter to enter! Quickly!" Eddga commanded the hunters who looked back at him quizzically.

"He's one of us! Why should we close our doors to someone who saved us?"

Eddga thought that if he revealed that Allazelle had demonic blood, they would shoot him down so he quickly thought of an excuse but before he was able to speak, a feminine voice called out to the hunters, instructing them to bar the doors. The hunters immediately complied and began to close the massive castle doors.

"Aaaaaahhhh! Aargh!"

A loud thump came from behind the closed doors. Eddga, after sensing that the danger has passed, began to open the massive doors. However, he was ceased by the hunters.

"Don't stop the assassin. Open the doors!"

"As you wish, Lady Melissa."

The doors slowly opened, revealing a bloody Allazelle. The priests immediately rushed to him and checked his vital signs and feared the worst. His breathing has stopped and his heartbeat was slowly fading away. Thinking that they would not be able to heal him, they began to leave. However, Naomi remained and began casting her most potent healing spells. The priests, seeing Naomi's effort to save the hunter, did the same but even as the healers ran out of mana, there was still no sign of revitalization.

"That's the best we could do. The rest will be up to his will to live on."

As if by miracle, his eyes began to inch open. As he saw Melissa, he smiled at her and tried to sit but every bone and muscle in his body was aching. The priests' healing was only able to cure the minor wounds and close the terrible gashes.

Seeing this, Melissa couldn't help but smile. She was relieved that the worst has passed. She looked back at him again, only to find out that he had already fallen asleep. She kneeled beside him and placed his head on her lap.

"Sleep well."