The Devil's Warrior Queen
Chapter 175: My Demon Knight

Chapter 175: My Demon Knight

{One hour before the invasion: Malika’s side story}

It was early noon, Malika tended to the garden, she didn’t have to as a handmaiden, since she was in a higher rank but it was one of the less tedious chores she loved to revel in, also she had fallen in love with the exotic garden.

Earlier, she had scanned the castle for lord Zamiel so she could request for him to escort her to the bookshop in a bid to spend some time with him, but she hadn’t come across him and even though he had informed her to call for him anytime, she still felt reluctant to go to his chambers and disturb him.

At first, she wanted to push everything aside, summon up the courage and go to him, but her demure nature overwhelmed her. Days had passed since their unexpected kiss in the lake under the crimson moon but she hadn’t caught a single glimpse of him since then. She wondered where he disappeared off to, or maybe he was simply avoiding her after their strange encounter.

Reminiscingly, she brushed her lips with her finger, a tiny smile grazing her lips when she remembered the feel of his lips on hers. She sighed at her silly behaviour because of a mere kiss, but even though it was weird, she felt a hollow longing for him.

’Maybe it’s because he’s my first kiss.’ she thought inwardly as she continued tending to the garden.

As she plucked out the weeds sprouting amidst the flowers, she noticed the colourful petals were slowly adopting a different colour, a dark greyish hue tinged the petals as if darkness had been infused into them and in the next moment they withered before her very eyes.

Shocked at the strange occurrence, she stood frozen as she watched the dark infestation spread through the array of flowers, every single flower withered to the very root.

Her lashes quivered in disbelief of what she was seeing, she looked at the other servants who had equally halted at the strange sight, their brows furrowed and heedfulness in their eyes like hers.

Unexpectedly, an ominous lightning thundered across the bright neon blue skies, earning a unified gasp from the servants as they watched the sky in anticipation. The cloud rumbled with an uncanny wind blowing past them heavily.

They watched as the sky dimmed, a cloak of shadows wearing over it as the sun disappeared, the blackened clouds swallowing it into its depths of darkness.

Malika, aware that it was no mere natural occurrence but rather a supernatural one, backed away from the garden ready to take off into the castle and seek shelter, meanwhile the servants watched in suspense even though fear was evident in their faces.

She, on the other hand was slowly shifting her feet backward ready to run, she could feel the dark energy imbued in the air as looming darkness cloaked the land.

"Witches!!" She heard the shrill scream of terror resonating from the servants.

Fear rocked over her body as she whipped her head to the area where they pointed at. Her eyes narrowed closely into the full body sized mirror materializing out of thin air in front of the gate with pale figures appearing out of it.

Realizing they were the witches, she sought to run, but her legs stuck glued to the floor when she saw the chaos and destruction they caused. Hoarse gasps of terror erupted from her lips at the sight unraveling in front of her.

Thick flares of dark mists erupted from their bare hands as they attacked the hysterical people, whoever it touched, they would shrivel up and rot, their forms scarred, leaving only hideous corpses in their wake.

They manipulated the essence of nature, as vines would eject from the ground and ensnare them in an unbreakable trap till they were crushed to death.

Her lips quivered as she took trembling steps back, her eyes dilating at the scene unfolding before her, it was too much to digest. She was in confusion on what was transpiring and why the dark witches were attacking the castle, but in her state of disarray, her survival instincts kicked in as fast as adrenaline coursed through her veins.

The castle grounds was in a state of hysteria as the servants hustled around for their lives, they were heading for the entrance door leading into the castle, after all it was more sheltered.

She and a few others were closer to the entrance door, she immediately rushed to her feet, reaching for the door, but a horde of desperate, survival driven humans pushed and tugged at them without a logical thought of waiting for the first batch to go in first.

They all wanted to go in first to avoid their unfortunate demise, but yanking others hair and pushing through was only going to make it harder for them to go in, leading to a lesser chance of survival, but of course no one would listen at that moment when their lives were hanging on a thin thread, in the mercy of the dark witches.

A loud clamour broke out from the crowd struggling to go into the castle to preserve their insignificant lives.

Some fell amidst the hurry in the urgent situation, while others stepped on them like rugs as they pushed into the castle. Meanwhile as she pushed through, only a foot away from entering the castle, she felt someone tug at her hair and pull her back.

The force in pulling her hair was so hard, she could swear it was intentional just to lead her to her end. As the unknown person yanked her hair viciously, she found herself falling backward and she watched others quickly scurry into her position as they pressed through the narrow entrance.

She groaned in pain as her body collided against the floor, her limbs ached at the unexpected impact from the crash, her head had hit the floor and when she struggled to get up, blood trickled from her forehead onto the floor.

Thankfully it was a slight collision to the head and a minor wound, but her head spun in a dizzy state as she got up with staggering movement. Looking up, she swallowed in fear when her eyes met the pitch black ones of a witch staring down at her. They looked even more hideous up close.

Her body trembled under the reckoned coercion of dread, their oppressive sinister black eyes stared down at her with malice and murderous intents.

Shutting her eyes, she awaited her gruesome end, it was terrifying, but she was well aware that she was helpless against a horde of dark witches possessing dark magic.

Not wanting their monstrous face as the last thing she would recall, she created vivid images of happy memories in her head even though the arising tension in the air was palpable, she could feel her end like a pair of cold arms gripping her or maybe it was the witches gripping her, ready to claw her throat out.

She could feel the air rippling with darkness as they summoned their dark magic to lay waste to her. She was quite sure she was the last person present, the others might have already ran off into the castle for shelter as she could no longer hear their screams.

She braced herself for the incoming hands of death, although she was troubled with a lot of things, how hideous her death would be and Rama’s heartbreak if she gained news of her that, but with all that aside, she made peace with her fate.

In a matter of seconds, she sensed an overwhelming rush of wind gust past her, the ground trembling beneath her feet as a malevolent force thundered past her. The pressure made her lose her balance as she fell from the unexpected pressure.

Confused, she opened her eyes, only to see lord Zamiel effortlessly laying waste to the witches as he ripped them apart spitefully, he seemed to be in some unknown rage as he tore them, limb by limb, conveying an agonizing and bestial death on them.

She could sense the uncanny darkness oozing from his aura as he slaughtered them, she felt a sense of relief and although it wasn’t the right time, but she was impressed by the display of his flawless strengths and she found herself gaping at him, a red tinge flushing over her cheeks.

She reddened at the fact that he had come to save her, or maybe not but still, her mind imagined it as so, her demon knight.

After getting rid of the first batch, he veered around to steal a short glance of her while the mirrors rippled, indicating the emerging of more witches. His eyes were steely hard as he growled at her "What are you doing?! Get inside!" His voice thundered, snapping her back to reality.

Although the witches were no problem for him, but It was a matter of life and death for her as a fragile human, yet she had been ogling at him all through.

She nodded frantically as she proceeded to leave but then she halted, feeling slightly unsettled about leaving him alone to face the witches even though she had just seen him exterminate them effortlessly.

"What are you waiting for Malika? Go!" He growled at her, louder than before and for a split second, she saw a flicker of concern melt through his icy gaze.