◆ Samael, the Serpent of Death
HELIOS soared through the skies like a blade of wind. Mr. Julius’s spear sliced through the monsters that managed to evade Ruto’s magic. The expressionless, pale human faces had bulging, unfocused eyes that gazed into the abyss. They opened their crimson maws, revealing their icicle-shaped rows of pearly whites and slimy tongues. A bottomless void peeked through their teeth, implying that I’d be swallowed whole.
“Consume!” Samael’s order rang in my head.
I finally realized what he meant and bit my lip. The monsters clacked their teeth together and flew toward Helios, but he managed to dodge them with ease, allowing Mr. Julius to slice them into shreds with his spear. The vast blue skies were decorated with splotches of vivid, red blood that bloomed in the air.
Ares’s large and sturdy body knocked King Shesif’s jewel birds away as the dragon plowed ahead. Dark purple blood spilled from the numerous scratches on Ares’s torso. Yet, Prince Faisal didn’t falter and continued to fly forward.
We should go too, I thought. The corpses that plunged into the desert were buried in the sand. Mr. Julius had mentioned that an ocean of bodies lay at the bottom of the desert when we arrived at the Sacred Kingdom of Rasheed. Should Samael be allowed to roam free, there would be far more corpses buried in the sea of sand. With every loop and somersault that Helios did in the air, my world was literally flipped upside-down.
I wasn’t able to keep up with the constantly changing scenery, and I could only desperately cling to the dragon’s armor. In contrast, Mr. Julius maintained his cool and expertly defeated the monsters. As their necks and wings were hacked away, they fell into their sandy grave below. Helios flew between the monsters that plummeted to the ground as though he was navigating through a dark, thick cloud and continued to increase his altitude.
We were swiftly closing in on Samael, who was high above the skies, looking down on us as he sat cross-legged in the air. The demon didn’t seem at all distressed as he curled his lips to form a smile.
“I guess mongrels like them aren’t good enough for you,” he cackled. He smiled like a child who wanted to be praised for his actions. “But it served as decent entertainment, did it not?”
“How awful!” I cried. “Please turn them all back!”
“As an alchemist, you should know better than anyone, Chloe. Once mixed together, they can never be reverted to their original forms.” His voice sounded nefarious and unpleasant to my ears, as if just listening to him made me filthy. The demon turned to Mr. Julius. “Was it fun to kill these human-dragon hybrids, Julius? Surely it gets you all worked up—you’ve got the blood of a murderer.”
I shuddered. A chill ran up my spine as though a snake was slithering across my body.
Before I could retort, Mr. Julius replied coldly, “Shut up. Enough with your babbling. I’m tired of hearing your voice.”
His icy tone was unable to mask the deep fury emanating from him. He finds Helios more precious than anyone else. I’m sure Mr. Julius doesn’t want to harm the dragons. And I feel the same.
“Are you sure about this?” Samael goaded. “If you kill me, Minne will die. The wishes of Salim, who offered his life for his beloved, and Holy King Shesif, who went to this extent to protect his sister, will be all for naught.”
“I don’t care,” Mr. Julius replied.
“In truth, I don’t want anyone to die or get hurt,” I added. “But it’s nigh impossible to protect everyone. And what I know for sure is that I can’t let you be! You’ll only cause more pain and suffering for everyone!”
“You can only spout those pretty words precisely because you’re not intimately involved in their affair,” Samael claimed. “If you could save your loved one in exchange for the world, can you firmly declare that you would never make that choice?”
Mr. Julius was the one to reply, “That choice will never be necessary. I’ll protect them with my own power. The day that’s no longer possible will be the day I die.”
His answer was firm, but for a moment, I hesitated and was unable to say a thing. I’d never thought about it before…
“Chloe!” Mr. Julius bellowed, snapping me back to reality.
Now isn’t the time to think about stuff like that. I had to use my own powers to protect those who were important to me. I pointed my Thousand-Year Tree staff at Mr. Julius’s spear.
“Burning Angel Michael, heed my call! Use your fiery sacred flame to thwart the darkness and bring upon dawn! The blade of ancients!” I chanted.
I recalled this anti-evil spell from the book that Jahala had given me. Oddly enough, the spell coursed through my body as though I’d used it many times before. It felt mysteriously nostalgic. A gentle wind surrounded my body, reminding me of the days when my mother used to stroke my hair. It lasted for only a moment before I felt absolutely exhausted, my magical energy sapped away from me.
I grabbed onto the handle on Helios’s back so that I could maintain my posture. Suddenly, a sliver of light fell from the skies like a bolt of lightning, transforming Mr. Julius’s black spear into a weapon of white. The glowing spear was inscribed with red letters in the center, which I’d never seen before. White feathers fluttered around before disappearing into particles of light.
Once the glow died down, I felt a lot better. However, it felt different from the other anti-evil spells that I’d used in the past; it felt like a good chunk of my magic had been taken away.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Julius,” I apologized. “I don’t think I can use this spell very often.”
“Not a problem,” he replied. “I’ll kill him in one swing. Let’s go, Helios!”
Helios gave a large flap of his wings in response.
“Very well, come,” Samael said. “I’ll be your opponent.”
Various spots of dark void appeared in the sky behind the demon as several dark hands slowly emerged, layered on top of each other. Each hand transformed into a black serpent with wings. As Helios cut through the air toward Samael, the den of winged serpents pounced on him.
Mr. Julius went on one knee and braced himself atop his dragon’s back before he launched into the air. Using the back of the snakes as his footing, he easily sliced through the serpents. For some reason, Samael’s eyes were glimmering with genuine delight.
“Amazing,” the demon gasped. “It’s truly been a while since I used this much power. How long has it been? Ah, I last went all-out when I fought against the army of angels! How long ago was that? Goodness me, I simply can’t remember.”
“Enough with your incessant yapping,” Mr. Julius growled. “Die!”
Mr. Julius jumped off a vanishing serpent and swung his white spear down with everything he had. My eyes couldn’t keep up with his speed—he was like a bolt of white lightning in the air.
Helios flew under Samael, likely on standby to catch Mr. Julius. The spear sank deep into Samael’s back, the blade penetrating through his stomach. Yet, the demon didn’t gasp for breath as he flapped his wings to fly away. Mr. Julius grabbed onto one of the four wings as he crouched low and unsheathed the sword from his waist. He pointed it directly at Samael. There was a flash of cold steel when the unthinkable occurred.