Book 2 - Chapter 51

Book 2 - Chapter 51
Chapter 51 – The King of Sattus



When Henri returned to Sattus, it only took seconds for him to know where Caym was—inside the castle, in Solene's room, where she hadn't even seen yet. He was trying to conceal his presence, but to no avail. It was pathetic. It was laughable. Nothing could escape Henri's notice, especially when inside the castle.

But Kelios said he was in Tartarus, supervising his army. It totally contradicted the facts, so this meant Caym was using his power of manipulation. He was certainly manipulating someone into posing as him, or he had someone transform into his likeness, or he transformed this volunteer into his clone.

Whichever was the case, Henri knew this was all a trap—a trap he was more than happy to play. He instructed Kelios to pose as him too and with Jacob's help, mid-teleporting into Tartarus, Kelios changed into Henri's face and build. Even the King's great scythe was cloned all just for selling the ruse.

Meanwhile, Henri teleported inside the castle and snuck into Solene's room. Under the cover of shadows, he observed the blasted demon calmly waiting as if there was no battle happening elsewhere. What riled Henri even further was seeing him lying on Solene's bed, legs crossed while his arms nonchalantly folded over and under his head.

The damn demon was really pushing it too far. Was he actually expecting his wife to take this as an invitation? Now, he hated the bed for that reason, and it was only acceptable to destroy and replace it.

Henri gripped his great scythe tightly and in a blink of an eye, he was on top of Caym, mid-swinging his weapon and aiming it directly at his head.

Taken by surprise, Caym's eyes bulged and his teeth gnashed. It took him a millisecond to dodge the attack, but still, the blade was able to slice a part of his shoulder. He cringed in pain. The scythe was, after all, a deadly weapon to all souls and living things alike.

The mattress was torn in half, while the bed frame splintered into pieces. Henri was pleased with this, but he would have been pleased even more if Caym's head would crumble like it. Aiming for this very bloody ending, what happened in the next few seconds became a deadly game of chase.

Henri teleported to the spot where Caym landed, aiming with his scythe again. The latter saw this, cried out a curse, and pivoted in another direction. The blade slashed his boot diagonally and ended up slashing his calf too. Blood colored the lush white carpet as a result.

Continuing with his attack, Henri appeared on the third spot where Caym landed, and the same thing happened, this time wounding him on his torso.

On the fourth spot, Caym received a blow to the nape. On the fifth, he received cracked ribs.

"You can't escape from me, Caym. You are in my castle, my territory now. Your pathetic life will end here," Henri stated, stopping mid-teleport just to give this speech. He examined the trail of destruction they caused during the chase, and it was horrible.

Solene's room couldn't be called her room now. The white walls were crumbling, the carpeted floor had craters, the furniture was incomplete and upside down, and the ceiling had a gaping hole, allowing water to rush in from the artificial pond garden he had built for her too.

"I admit, your—presence here is a—surprise. Is the one—in Tartarus your—clone?" Caym stated, wincing every so often due to the wounds he received.

"Does it matter? Your army including your double will lose still even if I'm not there," Henri replied, cocking a brow as he stood in what could have been Solene's walk-in closet. "Why are you hiding yourself here, Caym? Do you honestly think I won't know? I am not like you who was oblivious to my presence in Gehenna."

Caym winced again, but this time, it wasn't because of pain. It was because of his memory of Hope, which he thought mocked him.

"It was a mistake—for me, I know, but I am not—surprised," he answered and briefly sneered. "You are the King of—Sattus, after all."

Henri stared at the crack of Caym's mask and wondered if he would end such a charade. He knew already what he looked like underneath. He knew already how ghastly his face was after the old Demon King punished him for simply being too overreaching. He was a demon who bit off more than he could chew; who had delusions of grandeur that didn't fit his position or his status in Straghris. Who thought hiding behind a mask would change who he was and cover his stupidity.

What a laugh.

"Now, answer my question again, why are you here?" Henri clenched his jaw, unable to stay patient anymore.

Caym tipped his neck to one side, and a joint cracked into place audibly. "Why, to welcome—your wife, of course," he answered with an arrogant smile. He cracked an elbow joint too and took a deep breath as if this realigned his broken ribs. "I believe I have someone—on Earth to fetch—her. Someone that has a—hand on her death. She will become—my queen when you—die—well, at least that was—the plan before you—came."

After hearing this, Henri scoffed. Clearly, Caym was talking about Amon, the Demon of Avarice. However, what he didn't know was that this demon was dying. As his mate, he could feel Solene's power radiating out of her body. He could sense his guardian, the Oratongi, too, on Earth, clearly summoned by its master. She was winning, and he was pleased with this.

"Hmf, you misjudge her, and that's your continuous mistake even when she was still in Gehenna, Caym," he stated, not giving away anything about what was happening on Earth.

But Caym just shrugged and snorted. "In case you—noticed, I am not in—Gehenna now, so all events up to this—point still favored me."

He pointed to himself and lifted his chin up. "Me, the next King of Sattus!"

With that, an explosion of smoke and dust enveloped the entire room. Henri, in reflex, covered his eyes. Caym used this to attack, summoning spheres of light around him, and ordered it to bomb Henri continuously.

The latter though was undaunted. Using his scythe to create a barrier, he torpedoed towards the demon and did a forward slashing motion directly to his face. Blade struck blade then. Out of thin air, Caym produced a sword that was as tall as him: thick, with two small blades jutting out near the quillon. The contact made a powerful electrical spark.

Henri jumped backward. Caym jumped forward. Disregarding his wounds, he kept on attacking the King of Sattus in blind fury. He hacked, thrust, and swung his sword to the right and left. He summoned his spheres again, used it to distract Henri, and it was successful—or at least some of it, tearing most of Henri's upper robe and giving him a few gashes.

Henri was on the defensive. He admitted the demon had some bite in him. He was, after all, the demon general of Straghris before he died. However, he wasn't an opponent to equal his strength. No one was.

He allowed Caym some form of control until it was time for him to counterattack—do the tango, so to speak. He swung his scythe forward and clashed it with Caym's blade. What happened next was more slashes, kicks, punches and chaos. Pure chaos. Moving from one room to the other until they both exited the castle and landed in a gorge, creating a deep crater in the process.

Caym, seeing this as an opportunity, released a thick fog. He hid in it, masked his presence and waited for the opportunity to strike.

Henri, on the other hand, was tired of such cat-and-mouse game. He aimed his scythe to the sky, muttered a word, 'Sainz!', and when he released it, the end of the staff hit the ground, creating a light wave across the gorge.

Sainz meant locate, so this located Caym, who was but a few feet away from him, attacking him from behind.

Henri quickly pivoted and used an energy shield to block the attack. However, to his surprise, Caym's sword transformed into two blades. One like a scimitar and the other into a rapier.

His attention traveled to the second weapon wherein it extended into a chain and it wrapped around the scythe like a boa constrictor. With Caym's forceful tug, the scythe was released from his grip.

For a moment, Henri's energy shield flickered out, but this was enough for Caym to drive the scimitar into his heart. Successfully, it penetrated his chest, making him groan in pain.

"HA!" Caym laughed as he paused and stepped back. "What a sight! The King of Sattus down on his knees in front of me!" He stretched his arm, and the chains turned into a rapier once more, dragging the scythe with it. He caught the staff mid-glide and gripped it tight with great pride, as if he was just crowned king of the land.

"The tables have turned now that I have your great scythe. You will die in your own weapon of destruction, Hein. You will finally feel what it feels like to be a demon, your soul slowly sucks up by your blade!"

Henri chuckled in response and slowly stood to his full height. He waved a hand near his chest and the wound on it disappeared, along with the lacerations on his skin and some broken bones on his leg and arm.

"The great scythe is no fool, Caym," he snorted. "Ever wondered why, despite knowing the blade will kill me, no one has ever attempted to steal it from me?"

Caym stepped back and glanced at the weapon in his hand with sudden anxiety. It felt right to hold it. He felt powerful and invincible. But something was amiss...

"That's right, Caym," Henri stated as he saw the demon's face change into alarm. "It only sees me as its master."

Without warning, the internal fire of Sattus burst out from Caym's body, making a blue and bright orange bonfire out of him in seconds. Fearing for his life, Caym tried to release the staff, but it stuck in his hand like it was glued forever to it.

"NO! This can't be! This is not right! I'm winning. I'm winning!" He flailed, released another blanket of fog, covered himself with dust and soil in an attempt to smother the fire, but it was unsuccessful.

Henri raised his hand and flexed his fingers in a crushing pose. As a result, Caym, now absent from his mask and looking hideous with his charred skin and muscle, paused and gazed at Henri with fear in his eyes.

"You always think everything is in your favor, Caym, and that is your downfall."

Blood spilled on the corner of Caym's mouth then. His eyes dulled. His flaming body turned limp and fell to the ground. The great scythe remained floating.

Henri sighed, neared it, and claimed it back. "You souls just don't get it, do you?" He stared at the demon lord's lifeless form, still in flames and tsked. "I am the King of Souls. I rule over all souls in Sattus. You just signed yourself a death warrant the moment you stepped outside Gehenna."

After taking a deep breath, he then looked up and smiled. He could sense his wife inside Sattus now, and he could sense her near Gehenna, helping her father seal the crack.