Chapter 82. Saviour

"Yes, Princess." The knight replied with his hand resting on the hilt of a sheathed, rusted blade. "This is the end—the [Demon Lord] is here."

Luna Cloudhell stood rooted in place. The roar of the titanic monster that had emerged from the Grand Dungeon echoed through the valley as a red-scaled limb ending in three claws slashed through the coiling smoke and smashed down onto the street below.

Bells rang throughout the city as a constant reminder of the impending fate of the Frostlands. Luna felt a yearning to run back into the castle and spend her final moments with her father—but she paused. Her father had witnessed the death of his wife and son in recent months, and Luna didn't wish to let the old man see her death as well.

It's best to let him sleep his final moments away. Oblivious to the doom his daughter and people are facing.

Perhaps it was a selfish decision, but Luna didn't want to see him cry again. The once proud king had been reduced to a hollow husk with no life left to give.

With the Frostlands military and Delvers likely overwhelmed, Luna saw no hope anymore. A part of her wanted to fall to her knees and break down in tears, but she held it in and addressed the waiting knight.

She stood at attention, putting her feet together, and bowed, "I thank the gracious knight for serving my kingdom throughout such terrible times. Henceforth, you are dismissed."

The knight smiled sadly and returned the bow, "My deepest thanks for your kindness, Princess." And with those words, he turned around and departed through the castle's gate with a melancholy look on his sunken face.Follow current novels at novelhall.com)

Luna bit her lip as the chaos continued in the distance. What should she do? The idea of running always festered in the back of her mind. There were secret tunnels in the castle that led away from the mountains, but they were in disrepair and unmapped. She also didn't fancy her chances of surviving a trek to Eshnar across the cursed forest with nothing but the clothes on her back and her mediocre talent in ice magic.

Her eyes drifted to the stone castle walls that had felt so safe and secure throughout all her life. But with them being desolate of guards and the castle gate wide open, Luna realized how fickle it all was.

Curious about how dire the situation was, Luna decided to climb up a winding staircase within the wall to the top. Every step felt like it could be her last as blood rushed around her ears.

Once on top, the breeze helped calm her quivering heart. The smell of flame and death tickled her nose, but she ignored it and enjoyed the scene. In the distance, she could see the Grand Dungeon's entrance overflowing with monsters. A sparse line of the Frostlands military was left fending off a dense wave of monsters that endlessly poured out.

The most numerous foes were the red-scale reptiles that were the size of a dog with a tail ending in a spiked ball and limbs that ended in claws. They should have been easy enough to deal with as they were known for populating the first couple of floors, but the soldiers were famished and exhausted, so they were hardly holding them back.

However, the most significant issues arose with the next wave of mobs, the golems. Not known for being outright aggressive unless provoked, the three-meter-tall humanoids of stone shook the ground as they lumbered forward with laborious steps.

Luna saw this destruction clearly as the Grand Dungeon's entrance was on elevated ground higher up the mountain. Screams of her citizens filled the evening air, and the smoke rose in columns as everything was set ablaze.

In the street below, a knight furiously fighting off two red lizards noticed their impending doom too late as a golem's thick arm hurtled and pulverized them into a paste.

Removing all her curiosity about what had happened to the incoming pile of bricks, Luna asked seriously, "Esteemed mage Alice, why are you here?"

"Why am I here?" Alice chuckled, "To provide help, of course."

"Why?" Luna felt lost. Why would an S-rank mage bother saving such a backwater kingdom? Did the mage hope for payment or a noble title? Luna turned pale at the thought of her empty coffers without a single item worth selling. "I don't understand..."

"It's simple, really." Alice's smile sent a shiver down Luna's spine. "I obey the Demon Lord's orders."

Before Luna could even process what Alice had just said, the sky lit up as a flash of purple lightning shot across the city and slammed into the titanic red-scaled monster. For a brief moment, Luna thought she saw a tall, shadowy humanoid that towered over the buildings, but it was already gone. Had that been a figment of her imagination? Who shot the lightning...

"Wait, Demon Lord?!" Luna stumbled away from the castle walls edge. "You work for the Demon Lord? Why are you helping me? I don't understand!"

"Just stand there and watch. It will all be over soon." Alice proclaimed as black flames materialized in her hand. She then casually chucked the fire.

Luna watched a tiny ball of condensed black fire sail lazily through the air and land in the center of the lizard and golem horde. A second passed, and nothing happened, but then one of the lizards exploded into an inferno of hellish black flames that ate away at its skin, melting it alive.

The flames rapidly spread like a plague from one lizard to the next until the fire melted even the golems. Luna couldn't help but feel uneasy seeing a single spell kill hundreds of monsters, and Alice had made it look so effortless.

But then a shadowy mist appeared, obscuring the bloodied street. A voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once echoed like a chorus of the dead, "Rise my minions."

The dead bodies in the shadowy mist trembled as they stood up again. The air then shimmered as a shadowy being materialized, the same one Luna had seen only moments ago that she thought had shot the lightning. A cloak of shadows shrouded its towering form, and Luna caught sight of meter-long blades glinting in the light, and many golden eyes swirled among the darkness.

The creature was destruction incarnate, and Luna had no need to guess the creature's name as her system sprung to life and helpfully displayed it in bold red words floating ominously above its head:

[Demon Lord]

The [Demon Lord] spread his arms wide and decreed, "Secure the city. Conquer the Grand Dungeon. From now on, the Frostland is under my rule."

The monsters, which had been only moments away from eating Luna alive, roared in unison for their new master and charged toward the Grand Dungeon alongside a hoard of undead ogres and knights the Demon Lord had brought with him.

"And make sure to leave all the people alive." The [Demon Lord] called out after his forces.

Luna collapsed onto her arse and stared up at the smoke-filled sky. Why would he want to leave us alive? What horrific fate awaits us?