Chapter 281 - Elite Guard

Unlike the time when he journeyed the western demon lands, where he was constantly challenged. This time around there were no challengers, in fact, the other demons seem to be avoiding him like he was a plague. Some of them bowed their heads as he passed by, while others don't look him in the eye and start sweating. 

Kretos didn't bother with these people. If they don't have the will to fight, then they were worthless in his eyes. Death was not frightening, it is when one loses the courage to fight is what frightens him.

Once Kretos reached the Northern demon Lands, the first thing he saw were mountains. The mountains were covered with a rug of trees, green, yellow, scarlet, and orange, but their bare tops were scarfed and beribboned with snow. From carved rocky outcrops, waterfalls flowing down the edges. 

Kretos was surprised to see such a scene in the demon lands were infighting was rampant. This place looked like a whole other world. While Kretos was amazed by the scenery he felt multiple mana fluctuations approaching him. They numbered around a few hundred. 

Feeling these approaching presences made Kretos smile. He looked above his head and the blue sky now had a black portion to it. Numerous flying type demons were approaching him and fast. Kretos took out his sword from his shadow and waited patiently for the group to arrive. 

When the flying demons got closer Kretos saw that they were a combination of tengu and harpies. Tengu were known for their spells and were mostly long-range fighters. Harpies, on the other hand, were more vicious beings as they prefer to use their talons and teeth in battle. Both these tribes were what populated most of the Northern Demon Lands. 

'Long-range Tengus and close-range Harpies, they also seem to be split evenly. This is going to be a very fun fight.' 

The group of Tengus and Harpies landed in front of Kretos. They were all glaring at Kretos and were emitting killing intent. Kretos stood there unaffected by their killing intent and waited to see what they would do. 

One of the Tengus steps to the front, he seems to the leader of the group. He looked at Kretos with disdain in his eyes. 

Kretos was liking the reaction of this group of people. After defeating Darius most demons wouldn't even look him in the eye, yet this group were not only glaring at him, but they were also looking at him like he was a bug. 

"Kretos of the Shadow Clan, be honored for our master wishes to meet with you. We have come to escort you to him." 

"Oh, then who's is your master?" Kretos obviously knew who the master was, but he still asked just to be sure. 

"Our master is the one and only overlord of the skies, the one true demon lord!" The Tengu announced with passion. 

"So you're here to bring me to your master so that I can defeat him." The moment those words came out of Kretos's mouth the killing intent the group of Tengus and Harpies were emitting intensified. 

"As I thought a knave like you doesn't deserve to see our lord. In his place, we the elite guard of the overlord of the sky will punish you for your insolence!" 

After that declaration, the elite guards were about to fly up into the sky when Kretos suddenly moved forward and tried to catch one of them. When he was about to come into contact with one of the nearby Tengus, one of the Harpies used her talons to intervene.

Seeing the claw about to hit his hand Kretos unconsciously evaded and failed to capture the Tengu in front of him. The Harpy's attack would have never get pass his mana defense so he did not need to evade, but because of his reflexes, he would dodge surprise attacks unconsciously.

...

The elite guard were now up in the sky, the Tengus started using spells to enhance the Harpies speeds and power. After receiving the enhancement spells, the Harpies dove down on Kretos with their talons ready to tear him apart. 

At the same time the Tengus rain down spells upon Kretos, mostly wind type spells as that was their specialty. The spells unleashed by the Tengus were released in such a way that it didn't affect the diving Harpies. This was a sign of how good their teamwork was. 

Kretos enveloped his sword with mana and started slicing the incoming wind spells. Seeing that he was distracted by the spells the Harpies moved onto Kretos's blind spots and attacked. Unfortunately for them, Kretos doesn't fight simply by relying on his eyes, he uses his mana to sense the fluctuation of his opponent's mana. 

The moment one of the Harpies got near him Kretos immediately ducked and caught the Harpy's leg and started swinging her around hitting the other nearby Harpies. Kretos then placed his sword back into his shadow and summoned multiple spears instead. He acquired these spears back in the armory of Demon Empress Nimune's castle. He had gained a lot of weapons from that armory but he has never used it until today. 

While he was evading the strikes from the Harpies, Kretos was throwing the spears at the Tengus flying above. The Tengus were unable to react to the spears flying towards them. The speed and power of each spear made it hard to evade. Also because of their rather tight formation, even if one of them luckily evades a spear the one behind would still get hit. Spear after spear would hit and the Tengus started dropping like flies. 

"SPREAD OUT!" The leader of the elite guard shouted at his men who flew into different directions. 

...

The Harpies on the ground had their blood boiling in anger, as Kretos simply disregarded them. He made it look like it was easy to evade them and they weren't worth his notice which is why he attacked the Tengus first. 

Thinking about this made the Harpies feel infuriated as they charged at Kretos with more fervor. The Harpies were now surrounding Kretos giving him no space to evade. This also resulted in the Tengus being unable to unleash any spells since they would hit the Harpies. 

Seeing the change in his opponents' battle formation, Kretos placed the spear back into his shadow and took out a pair of daggers. Kretos twirled the daggers in his hands and showed that vicious grin of his. An overwhelming burst of bloodl.u.s.t suddenly filled the air. Mana that could suffocate the weaker ones came crashing down on the Harpies. When the Harpies felt this sensation they wanted to flee, yet their bodies wouldn't move. They finally understood how Kretos was able to kill demon lords. Kretos seeing the Harpies weren't moving spoke to his terrified opponents. 

"Come little chicks, be my partners, and let's dance the dance of death!"