Chương 5: Inferno in Hermosville

A convoy of identical black armored SUVs sped through the highway leading to Hermosville. The SUVs weaved through unsuspecting traffic, traveling faster than the speed limit. In one of these SUVs, closer to the center of the convoy, sat Persia gazing out of her tinted bulletproof window. To her side, her next in command, Master Peter Hodgson fiddled with a radio.

"This is Arixxer Knight Peter. Requesting status report," Peter spoke into the radio, his off-hand squeezing his thigh.

Several minutes passed with no reply, so Peter repeated himself to no avail.

"It's not looking good, madam," He said.

Persia reached into her pocket and retrieved a polished metal ball with a symbolic language, that very few people could comprehend, etched in an intricate pattern. She tossed the ball into the air and it levitated before her.

"If only that fat fool didn't delay us," she said. "Now we are stuck cleaning an avoidable mess."

The Grand Master of the Knights of Arixxer spread her arms in the air. Her blue eyes shone white light. The metal ball emitted a similar white light through the symbols etched on it. The car fell into dead silence as Persia concentrated on her clairvoyance process.

"It's looking bad." The glow of her eyes died down. Then she addressed the driver. "How far out are we?"

"About thirty minutes out, madam," the driver said.

Persia placed a finger on her earpiece and voiced a command to all her knights.

"We are expecting a battalion of demons. Prepare for battle."

Their SUVs were custom-made for the knights' specific needs. Regular SUVs usually had three rows of seats. Theirs had two rows—the front and back. In the middle was a storage compartment that sealed the front and back sections. Peter pressed a button and the storage compartment opened up, displaying various parts of his knight armor and weapons for every occasion. Peter picked up a greave and strapped it to his leg. Persia followed suit and geared up.

It wasn't hard for them to find their destination. All they had to do was follow the trail of fire and black smoke. Cars were piled in a hold-up, fleeing the scene, which made it hard for the SUVs to get closer to the scene, so Persia ordered the knights to disembark. Ignoring the frantic attempts of civilians to escape the scene, they pressed forward into the heart of the fire.

Amidst the chaotic scene, they sighted their first demon—a Nazub. Brown-skinned with mottled hide, it soared above the residential buildings, its powerful batlike wings beating rhythmically. Trapped in the razor-sharp teeth of its elongated snout was a young child who flailed wildly.

Peter swiftly pointed his rifle, specially designed to combat demons with bullets engraved with Arixxer's sign and coated in holy oil, at the demon and fired three quick bullets. One soared through and exploded in the neck of the Nazub. The latter two tore through its wings. The Nazub spiraled out of the sky, releasing the young girl from its jaws. Just before they crashed, an ice platform grew under them, cushioning their fall and sliding them over to the knights.

"Thank you, madam," Peter said, before rushing to the injured girl.

The Nazub struggled to its feet before eating a barrage of holy bullets from the knights.

"Spread out," Persia said to her knights. She shot one last look at Peter, who desperately attempted to save the young, mangled girl before she headed deeper into the active area. It would prove pointless to convince Peter to see the bigger picture and head into the foray, especially so when an injured child needed help—however futile their condition was. She only hoped he would be swift at applying his aid.

At the end of the street, behind a large industrial garbage can, she spotted a group of civilians who broke her current train of thought. They had their phones out, recording something she couldn't see.

Her black metal armor clanked as she walked toward them.

One blonde-haired man from the group, in shiny red pants and a New York Knicks jersey, spoke into his phone.

"You won't believe it, guys. I came down to the Organic market to get some avocados—you know how I love my avocados—when I heard people screaming. I thought it was one of those school shooter-type things. But it isn't. My god, guys you wo—"

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Persia interrupted the man, her fiery eyes glaring at the group.

The man glanced at Persia, then returned his attention to his phone. "Calm your knight wannabe tits, babe. We were just…my phone!"

She snatched the man's phone and flung it away. "There is an ongoing demonic invasion and you are prancing about, waving your fucking phones?"

Her metal ball—the Eye of Arixxer floated into the air and started spinning. Then, a frosty mist swirled around her, chilling the reckless civilians.

"If you do not leave," Persia said. "Then I will gladly rid this world of your useless gene pool."

All of them retreated slowly, except for the man whose phone she had broken, and sprinted away when they were at a safe distance from her.

"You will not see the end of this," he said, backing away from Persia. "A hero is supposed to be kind and selfless. But you threatened and attacked the innocent. I'll sue you to the moon and back."

"Fucking dumb sheep," Persia muttered.

She glanced down the street, searching for what the foolish civilians were so interested in that they would forgo their safety to capture. A few buildings down, a squad of Nazubs swarmed a man clad in a suit of black armor.

A superhero.

She rushed to his aid; even though she would rather the demons and superheroes eliminate themselves. But alas, you can't have everything your way. Once she was close enough, long pointed ice projectiles formed behind her and flew with blinding speed toward the armored man. The Nazubs had surrounded and lifted him into the air, their sharp claws ripping into his armor.

The projectiles, rich for targets, sank into the ball of demonic mass, causing them to wail and disperse. That was all the reprieve the armored man needed. He grabbed onto a wailing Nazub and ripped its wings clean off. He repeated this process a few times before dropping to the ground, though the decapitations were less clean than the first. Persia shifted her attention to the flying Nazubs. Aerial demons, no matter how weak they were physically, were tough to deal with.

Persia's ice projectiles scored a lot of hits on the flying demons. To kill them wasn't her aim. It was more effective to wound and down the demons, then, let the armored man deal with them. She could only hope that he was up to par. And competent, the armored man was, cleaving through the demons with a blade that extended from his gauntlet. Like a seasoned duo, they both dispatched the Nazubs effectively. Despite their ability to fly, the Nazubs had no counter to the sheer volume of ice Persia could manipulate.

"Thanks for the assist," the armored man said, scanning the area for more enemies.

"Never fight this many Nazubs alone," Persia said. "Especially when you lack the experience."

The armored man peered at her, his expression hidden behind his helm. His armored suit was black and sleek—etched with deep scratches and stained with blood and viscera. His helm was distinct, spotting 6 small camera lenses, unlike the protected glass eye slits of her and her knights.

"Sound advice. I will heed it," He said. "What are these Nazub?"

"That can wait until after we clear the area." Then she spoke into her earpiece. "Grand Master Persia requesting status."

After a few moments, a click sounded, followed by her knights stating that they cleared their area. Two knights sustained injuries. One of them was in a critical state. Peter had cleared his area as well. That left one group that failed to report. The final voice spoke, almost waiting until the last moment.

"Knight Samuel requesting immediate assistance. Shopping mall at Baker Street. Partner is K.I.A."

Persia replied. "Grand Master Persia. I'm en route to your location. Stay strong."

Turning to the armored man, she asked him to lead her to Baker Street. The impromptu duo trotted past burning houses, casting reddish-black smoke into the air. They stepped into a street flanked by commercial buildings in different states of destruction. Dismembered body parts, some charred, littered the streets. Their pace slowed considerably, weary of the thing that caused such destruction.

"With this much fire," Persia whispered. "Watch out for a Pitblaze. Very tall demon, with long horns and limbs on fire. Should be hard to miss."

A white streak weaved through the debris-riddled street, rendering their attempt at stealth useless. It came to a halt in front of the armored man and revealed a man in a skin-tight gray and white suit.

"I think I've gotten everyone," the newcomer said.

"You think?" The armored man asked.

The newcomer adjusted his gray goggles, a frown appearing on his face. "You know what I mean, Shadow. I've moved everyone I can see. Though I can't speak for the people caught in the fires before I arrived."

Persia now understood who these two men were. Even though she wasn't based in the United States of America, the global reach of the country's media power meant that she was privy to a few of its superheroes, even though she detested them. Especially superheroes in The Radiant Assembly—the top superhero team in the country. The armored man was called Metal Shadow. He wore a powered suit of armor, augmenting his already superhuman physical characteristics. He was also proficient in multiple martial arts and possessed the ability to interact with shadows. Which begged the question. Why hadn't he used his shadow abilities earlier when he needed it?

The man in the gray and white suit was Lightflare, the fastest man on Earth. Lightflare came over to her, introducing himself and thanking her and her Knight Order for their help.

"I already know who you are," she said, pointing at the burning shopping mall up the street. "Besides, we are short on time."

Persia and the two superheroes stopped at the main entrance of the mall, where a massive fire blazed. Lightflare stepped forward but halted when a wave of ice exploded from Persia's feet toward the fire, extinguishing it. Persia laid a path for them with her ice while speaking into her earpiece.

A reply from Knight Samuel never came. She cursed up a storm, the biggest wave of ice erupting from her and blanketing the ground floor in a thick coat of ice. The eye of Arixxer, levitating by her side, spun and burned hot through its etched symbols.

"Show yourself, you demon!" She screamed.

She continued to release a steady stream of frost that coated the walls and crawled up to the second floor. The ice continued to spread until it froze over the entire mall.

"God damn, lady. Do you even need us?" Lightflare exclaimed, glancing around at her powerful showcase.

Despite Persia's onslaught appearing wild and chaotic, it was completely under her control. What her ice touched, she prodded and felt. Lightflare and Metal Shadow went untouched. As her ice spread upward, she felt for survivors.

So many dead people.

"Show yourself, you fucking coward!" She screamed again. "You pick on the weak and harmless. Yet, you flee when someone your size shows up."

The trio moved to the center court, granting them an unfiltered view of the upper floors. This also made them susceptible to attacks from all sides. Metal Shadow gritted his teeth.

"Lightflare, warn her if something attacks." When Lightflare nodded at his request, he picked one of the many shadows resting under an upturned table and slipped into it.

Persia and Lightflare made their way up a flight of stairs, their eyes peeled for any sign of movement. The ice-covered mall sent no signs of life, no matter how hard she probed. The two downed knights rested on the third floor. Later, when this was over, their bodies would be retrieved. She scrunched her face in worry. There were no signs of the Pitblaze's whereabouts either, when she was sure it was here. The charred remains of wood and products littering the floor were a testament to its fiery handiwork. Plus, the eye of Arixxer, floating by her side, forewarned her before she entered the building. And it was never wrong.

"So demons do really ex—," Lightflare said.

"Silence." She would not be distracted by this deviant.

When they reached the top floor, she found the body of the first knight lying on the walkway. His head was parted from his body, barely attached by the skin of his neck.

"Jesus, these demons are ruthless," Lightflare said. "They beheaded him like—"

Persia shot him an icy glare. "Choose your words carefully, deviant."

Lightflare gulped.

Persia did the sign of Arixxer, muttered a few words of prayer, then reached under the knight's chest plate and retrieved his medallion. Getting up, she walked a wide berth around the fallen knight with Lightflare following her lead, vigilant of the environment. She ignored the rest of the strewn bodies. At the end of the corridor, inside a destroyed video game store, rested the body of knight Samuel. Persia kicked the frozen video game packs littering the floor to create a path toward the fallen knight. What was left of his body sat with his back on a destroyed wall. His smoldering chest was caved in, framed by his melted breastplate and plackart.

Metal Shadow chose that moment to materialize out of a shadow. "The scale of the loss of life is unprecedented. Current whereabouts of the demons are unknown."

Persia performed the sign of Arixxer and muttered her prayer before turning to Metal Shadow. "The demons enter our realm through portals. We have to kill this Pitblaze, then close their portal."

"Is it possible the demons retreated through the portal?" Metal Knight asked.

"That is highly unlikely. Demons can't enter this realm as they please. They need an anchor… a connection of sorts to the mortal realm to facilitate their portals."

She hated that she needed their help. But these two were extremely capable. And she was fighting demons here. To achieve victory, and not cast the lives of these knights in vain, she would swallow her pride.

"Then what was the anchor that caused this?" Metal Shadow asked.

"That will be divulged after we eradicate the demons."

"When you say portals," Lightflare said when there was a quiet moment. "Do you mean a spinning black cloud?"

"Yes. Why?" Persia said.

"I think I know where their portal is."