Chapter 25: Wings of Blood

Almost a week had passed since Rooko and the others left. The city had returned to normalcy. All the buildings that were burned down were now standing again. The injured civilians were all in hospital beds and the dead were buried. Bann was able to walk again after two days and he kept a sharp lookout over the town along with the other Bashers.

"A week and not even a trace," Zakei said while looking out over the city walls. "The N00bs are gone."

"This is strange, even for them. They usually regroup by now and attack. Hey Bann, what's up?" Recks asked his brother who was staring off into the distance.

Bann staggered for a moment, looking at the mountains to the east. "It… it's nothing. I just have a bad feeling."

"Like what?"

"I have a question for both of you."

"Yeah?"

"Remember that night at the castle? Remember… our Cree?"

"What about it?"

"We could talk to them. They helped and healed us."

Zakei and Recks stared at Bann in disbelief.

"You must remember. You guys spoke to Dark Magician Girl and Cave Girl."

"I don't remember much about the night on the tower. Everything before transferring our Cree to you is blurred. Parts of my memory are missing."

"I remember my duel with Jigen, but…"

"You don't… remember…" 'Was it all a dream? Am I going crazy? I know it was them that saved me. But Gearfried, not since I fought Levistus have I been able to even summon him. In fact, I haven't been able to summon a lot of my Cree in quite some time.'

"The day is over. We should go home and get some rest."

Later that night, Bann slept uncomfortably. He twisted and turned in his bed. Dreams of Gearfried being massacred by an army of small demons, Joker's Knight getting possessed by the giant serpent, Mammon, and changing into serpentine creature himself, Saint Knight Isaac being eradicated by Baalzebul, and finally, Dullahan, the uncontrollable demon created from his own darkness. No wonder his Cree had now abandoned him. They were afraid of what he had become. They were gone now and he didn't deserve to get them back.

BANG

"Wuh?" Bann woke up from the sound of an attack. Were they back again? They waited one week and were pulling the same strike? Bann grabbed his clothes and ran outside, but everything was fine except for a strange dark creature with enormous, blood red wings on top of the castle tower, visible in the moonlight.

"What is that thing?" Recks asked as he ran out of the house.

"No idea."

"What's going on?" Zakei yelled at the others as he came running down the road.

Tiamat, Jesi, Migome, and Vaila followed. They were shaken up, but the rest of the town lay peaceful.

"Why are we the only ones outside?"

"We… we were called. The bang. Whoever did it only wanted us to hear."

"But who did it?"

"Him," Bann said as he pointed up to the creature on top of the tower. "I'm having another bad feeling. This seems all to much like déjà vu."

"You said it. Didn't you beat Asmodeus last week?"

"Don't remind me."

As the words left his mouth, the creature jumped into the air and blacked out the moon with its silhouette. It flew down to the city and landed in an alleyway in front of them, covered by the shadows.

"Brace yourselves. Asmodeus was one of… no, was the strongest opponent I ever fought."

"Are you comparing me to a devil? I am far from being some pathetic devil lord."

A man dressed in a blood red cloak walked out of the ally. He was not much taller than Bann and he wore a red headband above his eyes. Black hair flowed down his back. His eyes were a crimson red and sparkled in the twilight.

"Who are you?"

"Me? Hmmm… we usually don't take on names, but… let's see. You can call me Sagitar if you like. It means Final Sight in my language."

"Final… Sagitar? What are you? Was that Cree that you were using?"

"Actually, my people can't use Cree. Our souls are too twisted. Well, I shouldn't say that. I can use Cree, but those wings you saw were my own."

"What the hell are you!"

"I am a Bloodwing, of course. The missing link between the world of humans and demons. We were born from the fires of hell, but have settled on the human plane. Normally, we keep to ourselves, but at the moment, that is impossible."

"Why?" Recks inquired.

"Because of Erebus. He commands that we oversee his revival. Of course, I would rather speed it along, but that is only because I have a lack of patience."

"Why do you want him revived? To destroy the world?"

"Of course not. Why would I ever use somebody else to do my own handiwork? I want to kill him. As I am now, it is impossible, but soon I will have the power. All I need is Cree and the power of the Divine Gods. I have the power to use Cree. Now I need the power of the six."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Well, I have recently acquired my Cree and I wanted to test it against the one known as Bann. If he has the power to defeat the Lords of the Nine, then this should be quite the match."

"What makes you say that?" Bann asked as he stepped forward.

"Well, you see, after acquiring this power, I traveled through all nine hells and defeated each Lord, one-by-one."

"Im… impossible…"

"You didn't think you killed them, did you? No, you only were able to go deeper. Anyway, what say we get this duel started?"

Bann just stared at Sagitar. He knew he was in trouble. Most of his Cree was gone. Although he was physically normal, he wasn't mentally. He would never be able to defeat him. He looked back at his friends. 'This is for them. This is for all of my friends. Even the ones who aren't with me.' "Duel!"

"I'll start. Ah yes. You may recognize some of the creatures I am about to use. While searching from this power, I came across your old master."

"Hmm?"

"I summon Archfiend Soldier."

"Wait, Archfiend? The Sinwraith. How did you get his Cree?"

"Well, I think it suits me more than him, but I will tell you. When I came across Rooko in the Eastern Mountains, almost frozen in the snow, dark creatures were tormenting his mind, so I used a special ritual I had learned to place part of his soul within me. With it, I took the dark creatures as my own."

"What happened to Rooko?"

"He is fine… for now. In appreciation, I helped him find a cave."

"What happened to the three men who were with him?"

"Three men? All I saw was him."

'Jigen, Morgen, Cios… Rooko-sensei…' "Finish your turn, Sagitar."

"Oh, I will. I cast two spells. Your turn, Bann."

"Alright." 'Shit…' "I summon Steed of the Fierce Knight. This legendary stallion allows me to Special Summon Gaia the Lone Knight."

A familiar purple horse trotted onto the field, followed by Gaia, now wielding a sword in his right arm and a shield in his left.

"I cast one spell and end my turn."

"Ah, I see your power now. I am not impressed. Let's really get this duel started, shall we?"

Next time on City of Fire: Time for a Change