At this moment the knight's sheath shined blue, and the sword shot out of it at a speed impossible to follow.
The knight swung his enhanced sword with great momentum. sending out an arc of destructive magic.
The demon disappeared with a blur before the strike could reach him and reappeared almost immediately near the lanky knight.
With a single mighty kick, the knight was sent flying across the room and into the wall on the very end.
"As weak as ever. When will you learn?" The demon demonstratively shrugged his shoulders and sighed in disappointment.
The fight was not over; however, the man quickly got out from the hole in the wall. His armor still looked pristine; it's enchantment was strong.
They were about to engage in a full-on battle, and while it was exciting to look at for Cyril, it was inadvisable to be anywhere near them at the moment.
Richard was sweating at this point; one hand was holding up the group from falling into the battlefield, and his other hand slowly aimed at the unbroken wall closest to them.
With a spell, he turned the metal wall to rust and then to dust, opening up a convenient path for them to escape.
Below, the knight and the demon were already exchanging some blows.
Of course the archdemon had the upper hand; he simply toyed with his opponent. Appearing anywhere instantaneously at will, sending explosions and mocking whenever he could.
The knight tried his hardest to land a hit, sending out slash after slash, moving with astonishing speed.
What he didn't do was consider the safety of other humans nearby.
His attacks covered a lot of area; without their professor's shield, the group would've been long affected by a wild swing.
"Hurry...!" Richard was expanding quite a bit of his strength; it was hard for him to talk.
The group hurried on to leave this room, entering another dark corridor somewhere beneath the tower.
They all ran for some time until the sounds of fighting and explosions became vague and unclear.
The battle was only ramping up, but they should be safe for now.
At least that was the conclusion Richard came to, as he stopped in one of the many laboratories to rest.
He sat on one of the chairs and started to collect his breath; the others had joined him nearby.
"Who... who was that?" Rose wanted to satisfy her curiosity now that they were out of immediate danger.
"Do you mean the archdemon? Or the knight?" Richard leaned back in his chair and assumed a comfortable posture. "I guess both.".
"The knight's name is Flynn. He is the youngest person ever to become a knight; this year he will be 24, I think." His gaze turned more awkward.
"As you have heard, he has another nickname; some call him the Butcher. It's due to the fact that he doesn't exactly know what restraint means; some of the scenes he leaves behind are grisly.
Richard took another deep breath and continued with a slightly more solemn look.
"And the demon's name is Cosmas. He is the archdemon the Empire sees most frequently. He is capable of casting magic unique to him—teleport. He can appear anywhere at any time." There was a longing look on the professor's face.
"It is fascinating; archdemons all possess magic far beyond our current understanding, but they don't need to use magic circles like we humans do. They rely on the way of the magic creatures and use magic instinctively. And we have recreated the spells of famous creatures in the past, so it's only a matter of time before..." There was an unusual fire in his eyes now.
"Professor!" Rose brought his attention back before he went on a further tangent.
"Oh, sorry. Yeron must have influenced me." Richard said half-apologetic.
"That's a dangerous ability; shouldn't the Empire try their best to get rid of him?" Rose immediately thought up different scenarios in her head.
Hearing this, Richard's voice became more mysterious. "Whenever an archdemon gets killed, another will inevitably take his place. Cosmas is not the first archdemon with this ability, and he won't be the last, I bet." This was not something the students knew about.
Rose furrowed her brows, thinking about what she just heard. Cyril was the same.
"I am really curious how they work, such fascinating creatures..." Richard appeared much more interested and involved when talking about demons.
Usually his face is only filled with nothing but boredom, but right now he is very expressive. Perhaps that is a quality of a professor: to be interested in the unknown.
During this whole conversation, Myra never really said a word.
In fact, ever since they've discovered Cosmas, she was in a weird, anxious state. Not talking to anyone, she appeared to be covered in a layer of gloom.
Cyril noticed this. "Are you alright?" and decided to ask her.
With his reminder, the group all turned their eyes to this crestfallen girl.
"Yea... Yeah! I am fine; I just didn't expect to encounter this today..." She quickly composed herself and got up.
"Well, it's understandable. Don't worry, we will be safe; the rest of the knights will be here any minute. Don't think Flynn is all the Empire has." Richard tried his best to make his voice comforting.
At this moment, Rose shot up. "Right! What about the rest of our group? They decided to wait near the elevator; we should go and find them."
"Oh, I forgot about them." Honestly, Cyril did too; he was feeling a bit guilty before Edmund.
Richard still relaxed in his chair and leisurely answered, "Elvira is there with them; they will be fine."
Is Elvira with Cedric?"I kind of want to look at that; it must be awkward. Ask Edmund later how it went."Sure.
"Hopefully they are safe."Said Myra
She joined in the conversation now and continued.
"For how long have you been following us exactly?" That was something Cyril was very curious about too.
Richard's expression showed reluctance, and he sighed helplessly. "I only found you when you were about to enter the doors to meet Cosmas. I wasn't able to arrive earlier—sorry." He looked genuinely apologetic.
"Let's hope he is not lying."
After resting for a few minutes, Richard got up from his chair. "I've recovered enough mana; let's leave this place."
He pointed his arm towards the ceiling and activated a spell.
A hole wide enough for them to pass through was created after the metal turned to dust. Then he created a staircase made out of shimmering light.
"Right this way; it will be much faster." After saying this, he went in first without waiting, and the others followed after him.
In this manner they've passed what felt like 2 floors to Cyril, before finally reaching the surface.
The first thing that grabbed their attention upon returning was all the noise.
There were screams coming from every direction. Did the demons escape into the city?
The group got out in a relatively empty area close to the Tower; they had a good view of what was happening.
Demon corpses were placed all over the ground; a distance away in the city, some of the buildings were set on fire.
Guards were still in the process of fighting the remaining ghouls and catchers; plenty of spells were thrown in the sky, coloring it in different shades.
But their skirmish was not comparable to what was happening about a kilometer away from them all.
A giant tornado of fire engulfed a specific area; inside of it, flashes of light were brightening the fiery red, implying a great deal was happening inside.
It looked almost like doomsday was upon them already.
"What a mess..." Richard put his palm to his face and sighed. The rest stood there silently, processing what was happening.
"This looks too intense for an outbreak of small-time demons." Rhamn was also nervous about their current predicament.
"Earlier Cosmas acted like he was waiting for someone..." Rose voiced their common confusion.
"Yes, it appears there is another archdemon here.... What?" Their professor's expression turned weird.
At this moment Cyril felt a bizarre sensation coming from the hole they just got it from.
"Get out from here!" Cyril moved ahead of this emotional shout from their professor; he took Myra and Rose and jumped away as far as possible from the place.
What followed immediately after was a powerful explosion coming from just below the tower.
The shock wave disturbed the ground, and everyone had to focus to prevent losing their footing.
From the hole they had emerged from, a pillar of fire the size of a house erupted.
Cyril could feel the sheer heat coming off of it; its power is truly intense.
Despite all this, nothing was visibly destroyed on the surface; after a couple of seconds, the ground calmed down, and an eerie quietness reigned.