The Demon King's First General
Chapter 195: Extent of Your Abilities

Chapter 195: Extent of Your Abilities

"The cut is too clean," an elf uttered while examining the centaurs’ corpses.

"The weapon that was used against them was a piece of art. Its sharpness is the real deal," added another.

Then, their conversation came to a temporary halt when a few other elves arrived at the scene. Crescent was included with them along with four royal guards, ensuring her safety outside their territory.

"My Lady, this way," the same man who informed the princess about the carnage said.

He guided them towards the exact location and showed them around.

The grass was drenched in blood, and a foul metallic stench lingered in the open air. Even the towering trees had a drop of blood on their roots and trunk.

Crescent averted her gaze and closed her eyes upon seeing the bloodied corpses. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the gory scene, as she didn’t want to upset her stomach.

Though she still felt curious about how the group of centaurs suffered such misfortune and who was the one responsible for this unusual bloodshed.

The next second, Crescent ordered her people to leave in a hurry, afraid to be seen present in the massacre by the centaurs. Though she believed that this intensive killing would be blamed on them, the elves. After all, those half-horse, half-human creatures’ would think that they did it as compensation for burning their homes.

However, contrary to her expectations, it was not the centaurs that they met in the place but two men, or a demon and a dragon, to be exact.

Crescent stared at them while her guards and the other elves drew their weapons.

"Who are you? State your reason for wandering this place," the elf in front stated and blocked the two people’s paths while maintaining a safe distance.

’Is that a dragon rider?’ Cresent asked inside her thoughts upon realizing that the black-haired man had a presence similar to a dragon, while the other one felt like a human.

"Ehh? Centaurs earlier, and now these irritating elves? What a very pleasant day?" The silver-haired demon was the one who answered; his voice dripped with sarcasm.

Then, he gave each of the elves a glance enough for them to shiver in fear. That pair of dull and lifeless eyes had a massive impact on their minds.

"General, your orders," the black dragon hiding in a human skin stated as he glanced at the people present.

"Stay put. No need for you to join the fray. I got this covered, and besides, I found something a little interesting," the silver-haired man replied while his eyes were focused on the elven princess’ chest.

Blackwell nodded before taking a single step backward. At the same time, Zeno, the demon, pulled the black dice from his coat’s pocket and let it spin on the tip of his forefinger without averting his gaze from the princess.

However, Crescent’s mind was occupied by a single thought, so she failed to notice the demon’s latest action. She was busy contemplating why a dragon was talking with utmost respect to a human.

"Knowing how prideful that bunch of lizards is, this is way beyond impossible; there’s definitely some sort of catch here," Crescent uttered, still pondering.

Then, she was just pulled out from her thoughts when the man started to emit a terrifying presence, enough to produce a gust of wind.

’T-T-There’s no way a human is capable of this... and have such strength,’ the princess stated in her mind.

Thus, she began to look at the man in a new light.

"I-I—" She was about to say a word in regard to surrendering to avoid further trouble when all of a sudden, the elves fell on their knees.

They couldn’t withstand the man’s presence, though; Crescent was left unaffected as the demon spared her from suffering.

"M-My Lady! Run!" One of the elves stated while doing his best to free himself from being pinned on his knees.

But it was nothing but a foolish act, as the demon had no intention of retracting his presence. He even took several steps forward to reduce the gap between him and the Elven Princess.

"W-What... W-What do you want from me?" Crescent stood her ground, summoning all of her courage to ask.

Even though her voice trailed off from fear while her hands trembled from the unwanted emotion, she showed overwhelming resilience worthy of respect.

However, the demon didn’t reply and only halted his tracks after reaching a few feet away from the princess.

Then, their eyes locked into a silent exchange as no one spoke a thing for almost a minute.

"Your eyes are quite beautiful, perfect for your name," Zeno stated while staring straight at the pair of crescent moons present on her eyes.

Its viridescent hue gleaming, hiding all the woman’s fear away.

After hearing his statement, Crescent furrowed her brows in confusion, and she tried to recall if one of the elves uttered her name earlier, but as far as she remembered, no one did.

’Why is he talking like he already knows my name?’ Crescent asked inside her mind, but she chose to put it aside for the meantime.

"A-Answer my question! What do you want from me?" She repeated.

But the man ignored the princess’ query and took another step forward, which caused her to step backward to maintain the distance between them.

"Why? Would you give it to me?" Zeno answered with questions, and the edges of his lips curled into a playful smirk.

"I-It depends; if I can provide it to the extent of my abilities, why not?" Crescent replied, trying to talk her way out of the man.

"My Lady! Don’t listen to—" one of the elves chimed in, but he lost the ability to finish his sentence when the demon’s companion slammed his face on the ground.

"Peniel!" Crescent yelled, her voice laced with worry.

Then, she gave the man in front of her a glare and spoke with a heavy tone.

"Order your servant to leave my people alone," she said, her fists clenching and nails digging into her palms.

Zeno’s smile turned even wider upon seeing the concerned look on her face. Then, with just a simple gesture, by raising her left hand at his side, he signaled for Blackwell to release the elf’s head from being stuck on the ground.

Then, he gave him a glance and smiled.

"Why don’t you welcome the other guys instead? They will be here in just a few moments," Zeno stated.

Blackwell nodded upon hearing the man’s order. "I’ll get going then; please take care, General."

Afterward, his body turned into a massive black dragon and flew upward before disappearing into the clouds.

Meanwhile, out of nowhere, a sudden thought crossed the elven princess’ mind. Her heart began to race, and she gulped a mouthful of saliva before she stared at the silver-haired demon’s eyes.

"Y-You... You’re the one responsible for these deaths," Crescent said, fear evident on her face.

As soon as the demon heard her statement, he couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle, which made the princess’ brows furrow in confusion.

"Took you too long to realize," he stated, teasing her while staring straight at her eyes.

With an annoying smirk, he spoke again, but this time, the words that came out of his mouth caused the woman to freeze in her place.

"You’ve said that to the extent of your abilities, haven’t you? Then, please, may I ask if your soul is free for me to take?" He whispered, his voice soft and gentle but loud enough for the woman to hear.

. . . . .

A few moments earlier, somewhere in the Garden of Dreams, a large group of centaurs was preparing to march their way towards the location of the massacre. All of them had weapons in their hands, mostly spears or war axes.

"How sure are you that the formation you got is right?" A centaur with a black tattoo of a sun on his chest asked.

His lower body had black stripes, while a pair of quivers and a bow were strapped on his back.

"I’m certain about it; I saw them with my own two eyes. The elves are there along with two individuals, and I believe that the other one is a dragon. Around them are the corpses of our brethren," someone from the pack answered.

Upon hearing this, the centaur with the sun tattoo gave everyone a glance and spoke for a second time.

"So that’s the reason why I haven’t seen Thane since this morning," he uttered.

Then, he stepped forward and raised the spear in his hand.

"Let’s move! Avenge our comrades! For the centaurs!" He yelled, and a war cry from the rest of the group followed.

With their hooves trampling on the open ground, they sprinted towards the said location. Their eyes filled with a raging spirit to retaliate against those who killed their comrades.

However, little did they know, in the path towards that very place, a man with hair darker than black was already out there lying in the middle of the path and waiting for them to arrive.

. . . . .