Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.

Saga 35: Hellhound on my Trail Part 3

Nean Outskirts, Common Realm, Clover Kingdom, Night

Standing before them was an imposing wolf-demon standing on two legs, it's night-black fur glimmering in the dimly-lit cavernous depths, it's blood-red eyes adjacent between the white spade pointing downwards glaring at the two as it approached the two mages, raking its sword-like claws against the stone floors, creating sparks against it.

"... Sister, get Gauche out of here." Jericho stated. "I'll hold it off."

"Are you insane!?" Theresa barked out. "There's no way you can't hold this thing off on your own!"

"You have children waiting for you back out there, right?" Jericho pointed out. "They need you, Sister. I'll get Marie out of here even if it kills me."

"Here's a better idea..." Tiamat interjected. "HOW ABOUT YOU BOTH DIE INSTEAD!?"

With the snap of her fingers, Gilgamesh commences his attack towards the two.

Jericho intercepts the wolf-Demon's claws with his [Stardust Knuckles], only for him to be down to one knee upon his whole body absorbing the physical impact of the summoned Demon's blow.

"S-Shit!" Jericho internally panicked. "The impact alone almost dislocated my shoulders!"

Gilgamesh then began raining multiple blows upon his [Stardust Knuckles], each strike creating a sizable dent into the plating.

"He's breaking." Tiamat pointed out. "Crush him!"

As ordered, the summoned Hellhound balls both of its hands together into a hammer fist, swung down towards Jericho's head.

Before the hammer fist lands on top of his constructed gauntlets, Jericho jumps away from the area of impact, right back to where he started.

"Hmm, smart move." Tiamat dismissively remarked. "... We've got a savvy one here, Gilgamesh."

"Argreun." Gilgamesh voiced out in words that sounded like a thunder's boom. "Najor'll be raavhas annoyaumn avo deal wiavh."

"... So the Demons have their own language too?" Jericho thought in disbelief. "Just hearing it is making me sick..."

The summoned Hellhound maintains its distance, all the while keeping its blood-red irises locked onto him.

The beast then goes into a stance similar to Jericho's, foremost arm guarding its lower midsection, and hind arm close to its cheek.

"... It's observing me." He thought. "It's trying to learn how I fight."

Jericho then switches own stance into raising both of his arms up towards his face into a boxing stance, springing his footing up and down to build up momentum.

"Can't afford to be careless..." Jericho told himself. "If I slip up even once, then it's going to be like that Dungeon all over again!"

As both Magic Knight and the Demon stared each other, Theresa began analyzing the whole battle at hand as she tried to sneak the injured and unconscious Gauche out of the caverns, the head Hellhound kept a hawk's eye on her, knife in hand, blade held against Marie's throat, keeping the poor soul hostage, preventing the nun from taking action unless she wants to lose another child.

So all Theresa can do is watch as the methodical combat slowly unfolds.

"From the stance alone, it's clear that the boy is extremely disciplined in the beats of non-magical combat, something only him and Meroleona have not only taken up on, but also mastered." Theresa thought. "But the fundamental difference is that while Meroleona would've just charged in and begin mounting up the pressure against her foe, Jericho is planning to end this in one blow, calculating every possibility of success and failure. One is a relentless predator that won't stop pursuing its prey and is a master of mounting pressure upon her opponent, while Jericho is the methodical predator, never risking to mere chance to let his prey slip by his fingertips."

She then begins to observe the Demon with one of her eyes while keeping another locked at Tiamat.

"This summoned... thing, it's no wild beast that merely destroys everything in its wake." Theresa analyzed. "The way it's reserving itself despite having enough brute strength to dampen through [Mana Skin], it's adapting to how it's foe fights, learning from every slight mistake that the boy makes, making it clear that it's opponent stays dead after the fact. It's acknowledging that Jericho's the bigger threat here, and Tiamat is making sure that none of us get away by keeping Marie hostage."

Jericho and Gilgamesh lock their eyes upon each other, not a single moment of focus spared.

"Whoever makes the wrong move dies..."

Jericho tightens his fist as his gaze towards the Demon imitating his previous stance steeled itself.

Both then spring off of the earth, and towards each other, fists wound back, gazes unbroken, and resolves steeled and tempered.

"BRING IT OOOOOONNNNN!"

"Vicavorausan or deaavh!"

The wolf-Demon thrusts its fist first.

"Too slow!"

Jericho weaves across the Demon's jab, while at the same time, concentrating all of his ki into a singularity of his left knuckle as he propelled forward.

The Hellhound takes notice of his attempt and delivers a surprise uppercut aimed towards the Magic Knight's lower nape.

However, Jericho anticipated this counter, and braces his right elbow with all of his strength in an attempt to dampen the momentum of the Hellhound's counter.

The counter is negated by Jericho's right elbow, using the the uppercut as an axis to add additional momentum to his deathblow, the Magic Knight drives home his decisive strike upon the Hellhound!

"OOOOOORRRRRRAAAAAA!"

The fist connects to the Hellhound's nose, the metal platings drilling into the nose of the Hellhound, the pent-up inertia now being released through the Magic Knight's [Stardust Knuckle], right before the collectively released force explodes outwards!

"EEEEEAAAATTT! TTTTTTHHHHHIIIIIISSSS!"

The punch sends the spawned champion flying off the earth, and hurling itself towards the cavern walls, before smashing into the stone surface, the sound of the impact echoing throughout the depths!

*BOOM*

*RUMBLE*

"YEEAAAHHHHH!" Jericho roared out triumphantly.

"I don't believe it." Theresa thought in surprise. "The boy actually overcame the Demon."

Across the cavern surface however, Tiamat still stood where she was, only now, applauding.

... Mockingly. Sarcastically. Spitefully.

"Congratulations." Tiamat dryly remarked. "You've managed to best only one of my many champions."

"Wait..." Jericho heaved out. "... One?"

From the deeper depths, another Hellhound emerges, fur coat, glimmering like freshly-fallen snow, a jet-black spade pointing downwards from its forehead, it's eyes shining in a bright topaz, and in its grip of its clawed hand, a massive meat cleaver-like blade, was being dragged across the stoney earth, creating sparks against the friction.

"Sargon dear, playtime is over." Tiamat bluntly ordered. "Kill the filithy half-Jotun."

The Hellhound also begins to speak in the Demonic tongue that burned the ears of mere mortals.

"... Auk... lat urdan."

The Hellhound springs into the air, cleaver raised over its head, and swung down towards the Magic Knight with the strength to topple mountains!

The heavy blade cleaves cleanly into the stone earth, generating a sizable fissure from its swings alone, the impact threatening to bring the whole cave system down with it!

"... Okay, of course there would be another." Jericho grimaced out. "... I feel like an idiot for not taking into account for her to have hidden reinforcements, particularly-"

Sargon swings its cleaver towards the Magic Knight, only for him to backflip out of the way.

"... From someone who uses [Summon Magic]." Jericho finished his thought out loud. "But if she can summon more, why isn't she just running us over with an entire horde?"

"You want to know why?" Tiamat taunted. "It's because last time I utilized that same tactic, there were survivors left. So if overwhelming them isn't efficient enough, I thought being more... methodical might yield more satisfactory results, and by that, I came all the way from the Spade Kingdom to make sure that all of the townsfolk below, will die."

Before Jericho can reply, the cleaver-wielding Hellhound knocks him away into the other cavern, now out of sight from the main chamber as their brawl is taken elsewhere.

"You monster!" Theresa barked out. "Just why are so intent on killing the innocent!?"

Tiamat's irises shrink to a soul-piercing glare.

"... Innocent?" Tiamat replied maliciously. "Just who do you think you are, calling THESE LITTLE VERMIN INNOCENT!?"

She then grabs the unconscious Marie by her hair after dropping her knife, tugging her body closer towards Tiamat, revealing the Hellhound's heavily scarred forearms underneath her cloak of dark animal pelts.

"YOU MORTALS THINK YOU CAN APPEAL TO A COLLECTIVE SENSE OF MORALITY JUST BECAUSE YOU FUCKS ESTABLISHED IT!?" Tiamat manically ranted. "IF LIVING BY THESE SO-CALLED MORALS IS SO IMPORTANT, AND SAID SENSE OF MORALS ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT THE WEAK, THEN WHY ARE YOU BASTARDS NOTHING BUT MALICE AND HATRED!? WHY IS THERE NO TRUE LOVE IN YOUR HEARTS? WHY IS EVERYONE LIVING FOR THEMSELVES IF THESE SO-CALLED MORALS ARE SUPPOSED TO MAKE PEOPLE GOOD!? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE SAVE ME AT MY UTMOST TIME OF NEED, WHERE MY BODY WAS DESTROYED ALONG WITH MY CHILD'S!?"

Tears of blood and tar began to seep out of her eyelids.

"WHY, DAMMIT!?" Tiamat howled out in despair. "... But then they came for me."

She then picks up her serrated knife that she dropped earlier on.

"Only the Demons heard my prayers..." Tiamat whimpered out. "Demons, the very embodiments of mortal sin, were the ones who opened my eyes..."

She then points her knife towards Theresa, now her eyes stained with bitter blood and tar, burning like the roaring flames of the inferno below.

"... That if one were to want love, then they have to take it." Tiamat declared in a resolute tone. "And as the Prince of Conquest, I will take this whole rotten world, recreate it into my very image, INTO A WORLD WHERE I CAN FINALLY BE LOVED!"

"... You are utterly pitiful." Theresa spat out. "To be taught love by Demons, of all things... A concept foreign to them, taught to a child who gave up too soon, all to be their puppet."

The already-enraged irises of Tiamat shrunk down to pinpricks.

"... You've pissed me off for the last time."

In a flash, Tiamat disappears.

A cold sensation runs through Theresa's neck like a gentle breeze.

"... Farewell, loveless one."

The nun's perspective then turns upside down, before her worn temple hits the cold, hard earth below, before seeing Tiamat standing behind her own headless and lifeless body.

"It's time that you expired."

Tiamat then flicks the blood off of her dagger's serrated edge, before coming to inspect the headless body.

"Hm, plenty of mana to spare, despite the old age." Tiamat remarked as she looked into the exposed nape cavity where the nun's head once laid. "... I almost regret killing you. Almost."

As Jericho was too busy fending off Sargon and his swings from his massive cleaver-blade, the unconscious Gauche slowly wakes up...

... Only to be greeted with the lifeless eyes of the deceased elderly nun.

"... Old hag?" Gauche heaved out. "... No, it can't be."

"There's no fire in those lifeless eyes, so it can't be her... right?"

A foot then kicks Theresa's eyes aside, leaving a trail of blood behind.

"... No, it can't be, the old hag really isn't-"

The sounds of exsanguination was heard above Gauche's temple.

The young man looks towards where his head was pointed above at.

... The pelt-wearing bitch was squeezing the blood out of the habit-wearing headless body of the old bag, wringing her wizened and paled corpse of Sister Theresa like a well-abused squeeze bottle of mayo.

"... No. No no no no no no nonononono..." Gauche whimpered out. "Not in front of Marie, not in front of my angel..."

... His prayers were rejected, as the gods arouse the sleeping young one from her slumber, and exposing the innocent one to the unspeakable display of mortal depravity and soul-shattering horror that awaited her mind to be completely destroyed.

"... Hmhmmm..." Marie grumbled as she opened her eyes and began to smell blood once more.

"DON'T LOOK MARIE!"

It was too late for the little girl, for her elderly guardian that had taken in both her and her older brother...

... Was already dead.

"... No." She whimpered out. "God... please no... please... tell me I'm still dreaming..."

Tiamat drops the headless body, moves her own face closer towards the tearful little girl's own, and licks off her single tear with her pierced tongue.

"This is reality, pumpkin." Tiamat spoke venomously into Marie's ear. "She's dead."

The last dredges of sanity now abandon the forsaken girl, as she screamed towards the stone-barricaded heavens above her head, her single, baleful and maddened wail echoed throughout the depths of the caverns cyclopian stones.

"MARIE!" Gauche roared out as he tried desperately to stand up with his heavily-fatigued body. "MOVE DAMMIT! I SAID MOVE, YOU STUPID LEGS! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE-"

Tiamat then slaps the girl right across her cheek, knocking out a few molars from her bruised cheeks, cutting off her wails of despair.

"... Ahhhhh~"

Tiamat's whole body arches backwards as she moaned in pleasure, her rolled-back eyes making contact with Gauche's own as her tongue stuck out through her chapped lips.

"This, child-beater, is true despair..." Tiamat drooled out in pure ecstasy. "... The sight of utter helplessness as your beloved is now afflicted with a fate worse than death."

Gauche then looks towards his torn-up angel.

... The angel was devoured of her innocence.

Those eyes, once being the light of his life, were now completely extinguished.

"... No no no no no, oh gods, please don't do this to her." Gauche whimpered out. "... Don't do this to her. ... Kill me."

"Oh?" Tiamat cooed. "What did you say? Didn't pick that up."

"I SAID KILL ME!" Gauche roared out. "KILL ME IF IT SATISFIES YOU! I'M THE ONE YOU'RE AFTER, RIGHT!? SO IF I HAVE TO DIE JUST TO MAKE YOU HAPPY, THEN FINE! RUN A FORK THOUGH MY SKULL AND BE DONE WITH IT ALREADY! MARIE DOESN'T DESERVE ALL THIS!"

Gauche's roars lowered to a whimper.

"... She's just a little girl." He whimpered out. "She doesn't deserve what I went through."

Tiamat's arched-back body straightens back to normal right before facing Gauche...

... And picking him up by his collar before tossing him aside like a worn rag doll.

"No." Tiamat bluntly stated. "You ain't worth shit."

Tiamat then spits at his face.

"For what you did to my daughter, you need to suffer." Tiamat venomously declared. "And if death is the only way of solace, then I have every right to deny you of your salvation, worm. No matter how much you beg, plea, grovel, or lick my heels, I'm not even going to even bother with the notion of pardoning you of your sins, so instead, suffer. Suffer for everything that you've brought upon my family. Suffer for what did to not only my daughter, but also to the kids that shielded me from your onslaught. And once your atonement has been complete, then you have my permission to die."

All hope left in Gauche's heart finally withers away as the sole light of his life right in front of him ebbs further away into the dimmer and dimmer depths of despair.

"... So enjoy it, as me and my clan will take over the whole world." Tiamat triumphantly remarked as Sister Theresa's blood formed itself into another maigc circle. "Our conquest has just begun."

Outside...

"... Hey, the snow stopped falling." Cole remarked at the now-normal night sky. "Guess we won't be needing the firewood, then."

Sol nods in agreement, as the two of them saw people riding on brooms heading their way.

"Evac's comin'." Sol remarked. ""C'mon, let's get these kids out of here-"

"GET BACK HERE, YOU FILTHY HALF-DEMON!"

"OH PISS OFF, YA BLOODY TWAT!"

From the forest emerged the short blond male with the disproportionately gruff voice, running away from an eyepatched man with a cloak and a longbow in hand, arrow aimed towards the blond person.

"Umm, excuse me!?" Cole called out towards the two. "... You know that this place is under Magic Knight jurisdiction, right-"

"SHUT YOUR JAPA!" The eye-patched man screeched back as he shot his arrow towards the blond, only for the latter to vault over it while running.

"... Um, what's going on?" Sol asked.

"I'm just as clueless as you are." Cole flatly replied.

Then their communications device buzzed.

[Blue Rose Knights, this is Jaqueline Harrs of the Coral Peacocks. There're two unknowns surrounding your evac area. What the hell's going down there? Over]

Cole groans out before replied.

"... Coral Peacock, this is Cole Evens of the Blue Rose Knights, and I have no idea what in the hell's ingles is going on, but the two seem to be way too preoccupied to be any bother to the priorities." Cole addressed. "Proceed as planned. Over."

[... Affirmative. But as soon as they show any hostility towards any of us, then prepare to engage. Over]

"Copy that." Cole stated. "The kids are ready for extraction-"

Suddenly, a top part of their cave erupts into an explosion of gravel, out with two brawny figures grappling each other midair.

"... Coral Peacock, this is Cole Evens of the Blue Rose Knights, and I'd like to deliver an update." Cole flatly spoke through the comms. "... GET US THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

[Copy. ETA three minutes. Over]

The two grappling figure crash back to the earth, and revealed from the kicked-up dust cloud was a brawny Magic Knight with a Black Bulls robe around his shoulders, currently being pinned down by a massive white-furred humanoid wolf-monster, wielding an equally-massive butcher's cleaver.

"... That looks really bad." Sol pointed. "... You think we should help him-"

The Black Bull kicks the monster off of him, and the monster retaliates by smashing its massive blade into the earth, emitting a massive shockwave trailing towards the Magic Knight, with the aforementioned dodging out of the way.

"... On second thought, I don't think we're any help over there." Sol muttered out. "I mean, holy shit, man."

"You noticed too?" Cole remarked. "That monster doesn't even have a lick of mana in him, and yet he's on even ground with an ex-Royalty."

"ORA!"

Jericho punch-parries the monster's swing with his [Stardust Knuckles], only to be swatted away like a fly.

"Dammit." Jericho cursed. "I left them behind, and even worse, that thing's putting on my ropes."

Jericho then notices the Hellhound eyeing something behind him.

... Two Magic Knights and a group of children.

"Oh shit."

Sargon then makes a run towards them, running on all fours, cleaver between teeth, and its appetite for human flesh now whetted to its apex.

"NO YOU DON'T-"

The Hellhound rams Jericho out of the way, as the Magic Knight was flung into the air like a rag doll.

"... Godammit, I'm going to let them die." He thought. "... The Clover Kingdom is going to pay the price for its complacency, starting with them..."

He then saw the short blond man he met back at the town's diner, hand extended...

... And stops the Hellhound dead in its tracks, constricting his iron vicegrip into the beast's nose.

"Oi buster." Dagda spoke to the Demon. "... Doesn't your mum still need to clear her tab after she destroyed my tavern a year back?"

Sargon tries to break free by clawing and prying the grip away with its claws, but it didn't even make the half-Demon's grip budge an inch.

"... Yeah, about that."

Dagda then crushes its nose into a bloody meatball, right before punting the Hellhound back next to where Jericho landed at.

"Oi!" Dagda cried out as he walked towards Jericho. "You okay over there?"

"... Uhh, barely." Jericho grunted out as he scrambled back up to his feet. "... Just who are you, really?"

The blond smiles.

"Name's Dagda." Dagda introduced himself. "The one-eyed arsehole behind me is Dragunov."

"Just be glad that there are bigger issues here now." Dragunov grimaced as he glared towards Sargon, now slowly standing back up. "That thing... trying to kill the kids?"

"I think the giant meat cleaver speaks for itself." Jericho pointed out as he reformed his [Stardust Knuckles]. "You two mind for one more? That thing was after me, so it'll do great if I pulled my own weight."

"Just try not to die." Dragunov stated as he drew back his arrow. "Especially you, halfling."

"Tch, right back at ya." Dagda remarked as he drew his dragon-handled shortsword from his back-slung sheath. "Guess it's time for good ol' [Fragarach] to rampage again."

The Hellhound charges, cleaver raised over its head, and swung down with extreme brutality.

"Now let me show you how an Ulsterian fights!" Dagda declared as he charged ahead towards Sargon. "[Counter Magic]..."

"... Wait, is he casting a spell with his sword!?" Jericho thought as he saw Dagda's sword react akin to Clover Kingdom's grimoires.

"... [Rebound Impact]!"

With his [Fragarach], Dagda parries the blow from the Hellhound's meat cleaver, redirecting the projected force back into Sargon's blade, shattering it into shrapnel.

"You're up, Dragunov!"

The one-eyed archer releases his arrow towards the beast, the arrow itself glowing before turning into lighting, and then entering through a portal, with several [Spatial Magic] portals now opening around Sargon in all directions, each portal releasing a lightning bolt firing towards him.

"[Spatial & Lightning Rune Compound Magic: Sagitta Pluviam-Fulminis]!"

The many bolts of lightning shock the Hellhound into submission.

"Alright, it's my turn-"

"No, not yet." Dragunov obstructed Jericho. "It ain't dead yet."

From the smoke, Sargon, with its white fur-coat marred with burns, stands back up, now claws out and teeth bared fully from its pitch-black gums.

"... I remember that it took me everything I had to kill just one." Jericho mentioned. "So is it just me, or is that guy way more resilient?"

"What did the bloody fido looked like?" Dagda asked.

"Black fur, white spade, and blood-red eyes."

"... That was a [Zealot]-Class Hellhound, then." Dragunov grimly pointed out. "Those sukas are middle of the road when it comes to overall lethality."

"Then what are we facing!?" Jericho asked. "Just what is that thing!?"

"... A fucking [Templar]-Class." Dragunov answered. "HERE IT COMES!"

Sargon then charges towards them with utmost savagery.

"HALFLING!" Dragunov roared out as he pulled back is bowstring harder. "THE ONLY ONE ALLOWED TO KILL YOU IS ME! SO YOU BETTER NOT DIE, YOU HEAR!?"

"Peh, I'll die whenever I please."

Dagda then grasps both of Sargon's hands while pushing back at it.

"AND IT'LL BE REALLY STUPID FOR ME TO DIE TO A NO-NAME MONGREL LIKE THIS LITTLE PUPPER!"

Dagda then yanks Sargon towards himself, while jumping up into the air at the same time, before driving both of his feet into the Hellhound's chest, and bursting out of its back.

"... That was easy." Dagda remarked as she shook off the black blood all over his clothes while Sargon, now bearing a barrel-sized hole through its chest, fell dead like a stone in water behind the half-Demon.

"Easy!?" Jericho pointed out. "You killed a Demon!"

"... About that." Dragunov pointed out. "That's not actually a Demon, more like an offshoot of a Demon's power. Like an artificial construct, as you may put it."

"So that's why they emit no mana..." Jericho observed the corpse. "... Those bastards are literally meat-puppets."

"Yeah, for something so fake, these guys are really emotive." Dagda pointed out. "Can't tell if them thinking that they're really alive is either sad, or just creepy."

"They don't deserve to live." Dragunov venomously remarked as he poured a clear liquid onto it before striking a match. "They're Demons, after all."

The Inquisitor then sets the body alight, charring it into ash.

"... Okay, I didn't have time to ask this because I was being assailed by this asshole currently on fire, but who the hell are you guys?" Jericho asked the two strangers. "And by that, I mean proper introductions."

"Ah, oh right, that." Dagda remarked. "Name's Dagda, from the Ulster Alliance, Spade Kingdom. 33 years old, and I run a tavern on top of a giant pig. It's true."

"I'm Dragunov Smirnov, an Inquisitor Kapitan of Avalon, Spade Kingdom. I'm 37 years old, mean and my subordinate, Kalashnikov Turgenev, were sent Southeast to track down and kill Tiamat, and I swore upon an oath to kill every Demon I run into, including this filthy halfling as soon as I get the chance."

"Wait, halfling?" Jericho pointed out. "I remember that I being keep called a half-Jotun constantly for the past few hours. What the hell does that even mean?"

The two look at Jericho in confusion.

"... You know that a half-Jotun is really not that hard to recognize, right?" Both stated in perfect unison.

Before Jericho can ask another question on the whole "half-Jotun" business, several Magic Knights bearing the Coral Peacock sigil descend from the skies from their brooms.

"Okay, who needs evac!?" The head Coral Peacock called out.

"Over here!" Cole replied with his hands up and waving. "Get em out of here! This place is about to turn into a warzone!"

"Help the kids in. Help is at the other side." The head Coral Peacock spoke out as she opened a portal. "Name's Jaqueline Harrs, [Spatial Magic] user."

As Cole and Jaqueline get the kids through the portal one at a time, something began picking away in Sol's mind.

"Now that I think about it..." Sol thought as she looked back at the cave's entrance. "... What's taking them so long?"

Her thoughts were then cut off by several young women emerging from the foliage, four of them wearing the Blue Rose Knights Robes, while one had a cloak and two sheathed swords around her waist, her sharp eyes clashing horribly with her rod-like object held orally, along with her slightly-pink blushes on her cheeks.

"... Who are you people, exactly?" Sol asked. "I know that most of you are Blue Rose Knights, but what's with her?"

The girl with the black bob cut heaves out a few tired breaths before answering.

"... It's a long story."

Back Inside the Depths...

"Okay shitheel, where are the rest of them at?" Juniper asked as she and her squad pushed the two Sluice Brothers into the cave for guidance.

"Geez, calm down, it's not like we're established any long-contacts with the others." Baro grumbled out in slight annoyance. "Us scumbags only lasted this long because we keep a good length of social distancing."

"Ugh, why are we even listening to him?" Noire pointed out as she ground her teeth in frustration. "And you better not be leading us in circles, or otherwise, I might slip, and turn your fatass inside-out."

Suddenly, Lyra's lyre strings stop reverberating.

"... I take it that's bad." Juniper pointed out.

"The strings were supposed to detect the children's heartbeats..." Noire pointed out in horror. "... So the absence means."

"Aw shitbiscuits, boss lady's going scorched earth." Baros grumbled out. "... She's about to make a run for it, supposedly by 'lightening the load', if you know what I mean."

"They're killing the kids." Cygnus pointed out as she materialized her [True Love's Kiss], a sword forged from her [Ice Magic] in her hand. "That means they're close."

As they approached deeper into the depths, the scent of blood began to grow more poignant and bitter to their noses.

"... Too close." Juniper gagged out. "I don't even want to look what's beyond there..."

"Jiak cannoav blame lat."

Behind them, an unholy voice was heard, revealing a hulking figure wearing a wolf pelt over its head emerged, its clawed fingers jutting out of Neige's chest, impaling him and killing him.

"... How?" Lyra asked in a dumbfounded tone. "I couldn't hear its heartbeat... let alone mana."

"Lat aukukume avoo much." The pelt-wearing... thing remarked. "... Ahem, excuse my language, does this sound more... friendly?"

The thing's voice transitioned from an incomprehensible and snarling voice to a more, human-like voice.

Noire then notices Baro wetting himself before this anomaly's presence.

"You know this guy, lardball?" Noire asked, all the while, suppressing her sense of horror in her attempts to keep face.

"We're dead, we're so fucking dead, we're dead, we're dead, we're dead..." Baros whimpered out as tears and snot dribbled down from his facial orifices.

The pelt-wearing thing lets out a small chuckle before devouring Neige's head off before tossing it aside.

"... There's no need to fear, human." The thing stated in a serene tone. "After all, you're already dead."

"Wha-What-"

Baro then suddenly explodes into a cascade of blood, bile, blubber, and bones in an instant in Juniper's grasp, splashing blood all over their faces and robes.

"Excuse the mess, I meant it to be a quick kill." The thing remarked towards the bloodstained Magic Knights. "But still, it's rather rude of me to not introduce myself."

Around this enigmatic pelt-wearing figure, several sounds of snarls were closing in towards the now-surrounded Blue Rose Knights.

"I am Romulus Apsu Babylonia, second-in-command of Tiamat's Hellhounds, and a [Messiah]-Class Hellhound, with several [Martyr], [Crusader], and a few [Zealots]-Class Hellhounds now all behind me, ready to devour you all fine people down to the very last bone at my command."

The blood on the Blue Rose Knights's faces began to float off and gravitate towards Romulus's hand.

"... But enough of playing with our food." Romulus declared. "Time for the appetizer."

The orb of blood in Romulus's hand forms into a magic circle.

"[Summon Magic: Knighting Ceremony]."

The Hellhounds behind Romulus all begin to grow in size, now with a pack of towering Hellhounds before them.

"Now the once-mewling [Martyr]-Class Hellhounds have been promoted to [Crusaders]." Romulus remarked. "Kill them."

"NOIRE!"

Blood then splatters everywhere around the cavern walls.

"... Wait."

Romulus then sniffs the "bloodstains".

"... That's no blood." He remarked. "... They couldn't have gone far. Find them."

The [Crusader] and [Zealot]-Class Hellhounds scatter around the caverns, searching for their elusive appetizers.

"... So a [Spatial Magic] user pulls wool over my eyes, once more."

Romulus then punches through the stone wall with ease, digging through it like water.

"... You can run, little lambs. But you can never outrun a Hellhound."

He then enters into the blood-splattered chambers of the caverns, where a single lance was staked into the ground, slowly absorbing the blood of the slaughtered children into it from its dual-pronged spearhead.

"... And you especially cannot outrun an apex predator." Romulus grinned manically as he retrieved the spear from the ground. "[Bident, the Infernal Impaler] will drink all your blood until your bodies turn into husk, and the children will feast on your sinews."

Romulus then begins his prowl around the depths for the ones that got away.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: A short chapter I wanted to get out of the way so I can work on my other fics. Hopefully, this will suffice in terms of content. Also, plenty of foreshadowing for future arcs.

Clarification for Tiamat's [Summon Magic]'s summon pool (think Gacha RPGs).

1-Stars: [Martyr]-Class; the rank-and-file Hellhounds, the "children" of the pack.

2-Stars: [Crusader]-Class; the squad captain, the "older siblings" of the pack.

3-Stars: [Zealot]-Class; the division captains, the "young adults" of the pack.

- Named [Zealot]-Class: [Kingu] and [Gilgamesh]

4-Stars: [Templar]-Class; the overseers, the "mature adults" of the pack.

- Named [Templar]-Class: [Sargon]

5-Stars: [Messiah]-Class; the leaders, the "elders" of the pack, has access to [Summon Magic] spells.

- Named [Messiah]-Class: [Romulus Apsu Babylonia]

0-Stars: [Prophet]-Class; the one who's summoning the Hellhounds in the first place, the true leader of the pack, Tiamat, the Prince of Conquest.

- The "prince" part is only a title, "She is the King" rule is in full effect.

Also, Hypothetical Voices (for funsies):

Jacqueline Harrs: Eriko Matsui (JPN), Ashly Burch (ENG)

Romulus Apsu Babylonia: Katsuyuki Konishi (JPN), Curtis Arnott/Takahata 101 (ENG)

So, what do you guys think of this Saga?

Please leave a comment or a review, for I'd love to know what my audience are thinking!