The Demon King's First General
Chapter 48: Your Ticket

Chapter 48: Your Ticket

Earlier, in one of the streets of Shieldscape City, the people were enjoying the best of their lives when the clouds darkened all of a sudden and creatures clad in lightning descended from the sky.

Fear rose from the hearts of those who had witnessed the scene. They were curious yet afraid to approach the center of the phenomenon.

However, there was a man who was walking in the direction of it while a wide smile was protruding from his lips.

His dull and lifeless eyes were staring at the dragons circling above the castle, as if he were counting the creatures’ every scale.

"Hmnn, a phoenix and now a dragon in a single place," he uttered. "I’m quite excited,"

Then the dice on his left ear glowed.

’Eliana,’ he thought.

And a white circle line appeared around him as its center, and it expanded in diameter to cover the whole city.

But after a few moments, several arrows were hurled at his location without any warning. He stepped sideways to evade some of the attacks while a scythe appeared on his left hand, and he deflected the remaining arrows with its blade.

The people were caught off guard by the raining arrows; some ran for their lives while others froze in place, and they were struck before falling to the ground, crying for help, while the silver-haired man was the only one who remained standing.

"It’s the same pattern as yesterday; don’t you guys have any special attacks for assassination?" He asked while shaking his head.

Afterward, a woman whose face and limbs were covered in white cloth emerged from one of the alleys. The only visible parts of her body were her yellow eyes and some black hair dangling from the gap of the bandages.

"It’s not like what you think; I’m just here to prevent you from going to that place," the woman conveyed before taking off her leather jacket to showcase her curves.

Her slim body and chest were all covered with white cloth.

"Is this some sort of trend?" Zeno smirked.

"Anyway, are you capable enough to stop me like you have said?" He asked, smiling.

But the woman in front of him laughed upon hearing his words.

"I can even trap you for eternity if you want," she replied.

Then Zeno’s eyes widened as he heard the woman. Then he facepalmed before blurting out a loud laugh.

"Then show me!" He said as soon as he stopped laughing and stared at her.

The next second, he appeared behind her while pointing a jet-black dagger at her neck.

"You should be dead by now," Zeno uttered, grinning.

’H-how? His speed...’ The woman thought.

She didn’t even blink, yet the man before him became blurry, and after that, she felt a sharp object touching the surface of her bandages.

At the same time, people dressed in black clothing appeared while crouching on the roof. All of them were aiming arrows at Zeno’s location. However, they couldn’t afford to let go of the bowstring; they were scared to accidentally land a hit on the woman and receive punishment after.

"Don’t give me that surprised look," Zeno whispered to the woman’s ear.

Then she turned around to give the man a smack on the head. However, Zeno’s silhouette vanished, and he appeared once more several distances away from her.

"What happened to the overwhelming confidence earlier?" Zeno asked, smiling while fidgeting with the dagger on his right hand.

"You dare threaten to stop me when you don’t even know the scale of my abilities. That’s idiocy, Tiara," he added.

His statement made the woman widen her eyes upon hearing her own name from a stranger she had never met before in her life.

"You! How did you know my name?" She questioned.

She was puzzled. First, she didn’t expect the man’s agility, and now he somewhat knew her name, which even her associates knew nothing about.

Then the bandages strapping her right hand to her shoulder slowly untangled and fell on the pavement.

It revealed her skin, which had lots of scars. The size of them differed from each other, and their shapes were not identical.

"It’s nasty, isn’t it?" She said after seeing that Zeno’s gaze was focused on her arm.

"It depends on where it came from. Scars are beautiful; they represent the hardest battles you went through. They’re like tattoos that signify victories," Zeno replied.

Tiara was stunned because of the words she heard. After all, this was the first time that someone didn’t get disgusted upon seeing her skin, and he even told her that it was beautiful.

However, the woman shook her head to free herself from her thoughts. The task that their helper assigned to her was to prevent the man with the red dice from going near the castle grounds, and it was not the time to admire someone she didn’t even know.

In fact, she had no choice but to obey; after all, she was bound by their organization’s rules, and their commands were absolute. Even though she didn’t hear the exact reason why she needed to block the man’s path, the thing she witnessed just now was enough for her to jump to conclusions.

"My heart is pleased by your words; however, please forgive me; you are a treat to our plan," Tiara expressed herself.

Then the tip of the bandage moved and extended in Zeno’s direction at an incredible speed, but he didn’t evade. He tried to cut it with his dagger, yet he was amazed upon seeing that his weapon and hand just passed through it.

The bandage struck him straight on the chest, but he felt nothing; there was no wound at all. It looked like it passed through his skin and entered his body.

’Hey, maybe I should have dodged that,’ he thought.

Although he was unfamiliar with what was happening, he didn’t show any nervousness. Instead, he smiled, excited for things to unfold.

But Tiara couldn’t grasp the situation. Her attempt to do her thing was a success, yet she found it troublesome to see her opponent not bothered by her attack.

Then Zeno tried to cut the cloth once more, but just as he expected, the blade of his dagger passed through it again.

"What’s next?" He asked, smiling as he stared at the woman.

"Will you burst my heart from the inside?" He added upon seeing that Tiara was not speaking at all.

This was the moment that the woman’s expression turned grim.

’Is he not frightened to meet his end here?’ She asked herself, curious about his opponent’s mentality.

Then she pulled the small knife hanging above her knee and made a deep cut on her arm. Afterward, Zeno’s right sleeve was tainted with blood, though it was not that visible due to its color.

Tiara knew that the silver-haired man had received the same wound as her as soon as a speck of red-metallic liquid dripped from his wrist. However, Zeno didn’t bother checking his arm and just stared at the woman while smiling like a maniac.

"Are you not afraid of death?" Tiara asked to satisfy her curiosity.

But Zeno didn’t answer right away; instead, he slowly walked in her direction.

"D-don’t c-come here! S-stay where you are!" Tiara stuttered.

She slashed her other arm, and blood sprang from it, and it also happened to Zeno’s. However, the demon didn’t stop and continued to move closer to her.

"I’m warning you! Do not approach me!" Tiara exclaimed.

Fear was now starting to bloom inside her, and the white cloth wrapping her hand had been soaked with blood as soon as she slit her wrist. But upon seeing that Zeno was not halting his steps, she stabbed her stomach, and blood gushed out from the wound as she pulled the knife from her body.

She cried in pain before coughing up blood. And the man before him received all of the damage she did to herself, yet he disregarded all of it.

"S-stop right there! Or I will kill myself!" She yelled before she pointed the knife at where her heart was located.

But Zeno ignored her action while maintaining a smile on his face.

Seconds passed, and Tiara didn’t move from her position. The knife was still pointing at her chest, but her hand was now trembling. Then Zeno stopped, inches away from the woman’s arm.

"Y-you..." Tiara uttered, and she stepped back a little.

Then Zeno’s course of action dazed the woman. He held her hand, which was holding the knife, and shoved it to her chest.

Tiara felt immense pain the moment the blade pierced her skin, yet she still did her best to push Zeno’s arm away.

"Death? You’re asking if I’m afraid of it, aren’t you?" He asked while looking at the woman who was staring at him with tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

"Why would I? Death itself is me, and my judgment..." Zeno paused for a moment and exerted strength, enough to thrust the knife into Tiara’s heart, which made her slowly let go of his arm before her lifeless body fell to the ground.

"Is your ticket to the afterlife," he continued.

"If you were born a demon or any creature with infinite regeneration, your Legacy would be fearsome," he added while staring at the corpse lying on the concrete pavement. Then he turned his attention to those who were aiming at him with their pathetic arrows.

. . . . .

"Shit," Rish murmured as he stared into the incoming blade.

He didn’t have enough time to cast the spell that he used a while ago to get loose from his brother’s grasp. All that he could do at the moment was cast a single layer of magic shield and hope that it could handle the strength of the strike.

’After all those years of practicing my magic, will I die just like this?’ He thought while waiting for the blade to collide into his defense.

However, in the blink of an eye, as the barrier collapsed, his surroundings changed. The bright sky was replaced with a dark brown ceiling, and the red-colored sword coming at him disappeared without a trace.

"Grand Mage," Rish said in a calm manner.

Then a person materialized in front of him without any further ado, and like he expected, it was the man he thought.

"I like how you easily perceived the situation," the Grand Mage praised the first prince of the Herish Kingdom.

Rish didn’t speak and stayed alert for any surprise attack.

"Calm down; I did save you, didn’t I?" Seth conveyed to alleviate the tension rising in the room.

But the prince was still on guard, and the grand mage just shook his head before speaking.

"Listen here! The entire city is currently sealed; I can’t detect anything outside the walls," he stated, which surprised the prince.

The grand mage waited for several seconds before speaking once more.

"I need your help; everyone inside the capital is in great danger," he said.

. . . . .