The Demon Clan. Once, they were the most feared force in the world—ruthless, savage, and primal. Legends said their children were trained to kill from the moment they took their first breath. Though born of hatred for the God Clan, they had once allied with them—just once—during the First War, to challenge the mortal races together.
Now, that ancient terror returned.
In the present, Diana and Will Ruthwilfer stood frozen in horror as more demons poured into the castle hall. Over fifty of them, snarling and howling, swarmed the grand ballroom in a chaotic ambush.
"RAWWRRRHHH!"
One of the beasts lunged toward the nobles—only to freeze midair, encased in ice.
"GET TO SAFETY! ALL OF YOU!" Iccia's voice rang out as her magic surged. Shards of frost still danced in the air where her spell had hit. The Fafner Clan's magic had always been of ice, their bloodline known as the Blizzard of Mountains. They were born from the snow, shaped by the cold.
"Dante! Please take my wife and daughter to safety!" King Giang bellowed, his eyes locked on the chaos.
Dante blinked. "What? Isn't that supposed to be the other way around?!"
"Oh... right," Giang muttered in embarrassment.
Phonk!
"You idiot!" Queen Xilang koncked her husband on the back of his head.
Dante turned to Zhurong, who stood beside him, arms crossed. "Are your parents always like that?"
Zhurong sighed. "Don't ask me."
Then Dante spotted him—the old smith, standing across the hall. Their eyes met. Dante subtly formed a finger-gun gesture.
The smith nodded in silent understanding and rushed off.
"RAWWWRRR!" The demons howled again, charging anew.
"Savage runts!!" Will cursed, fists slamming into one demon's face while Evan drew his blades, slashing through others.
"Brother, where's your sword?!" Evan shouted.
"If I had one, don't you think I'd be using it?!" Will yelled back, grabbing one demon by the head and smashing it against the stone wall with a sickening crunch.
The demons hesitated, pulling back slightly.
"They're retreating?" Evan muttered.
Then—
A soft hiss, a whisper of silk, and a thick pink mist slithered into the hall.
A sultry, voluptuous silhouette emerged from the fog. Every demon dropped to their knees in reverence.
Will's breath caught in his throat. "No..."
"Oh yes," came the purring voice.
She stepped fully into view—barely clothed, her curves bathed in the glow of lustful aura, her skin a blend of rose-red and twilight pink.
A succubus. Not just any, but the succubus.
"Ah... the new generation," she mocked with a smirk. "Pity the old ones were more handsome."
"Who are you?" Evan asked, weapons raised.
The woman laughed. "Oh, darling. The Ruthwilfers are truly ignorant now, aren't they?"
She spun slowly, revealing a demonic sigil etched between her tail on her buttocks. "I am Lustia. The Sinner of Lust. One of the Seven Deadly Sins. Loyal servant to the Demon King himself."
Will's jaw dropped. "Lustia? The Lustia who killed hundreds of men with a smile during the Pre-War? The one who made entire battalions impotent just by walking through them?!"
"Bingo, lover boy." She winked.
"Shit. Will—what do we do?" Evan asked.
"What do you want?" Will barked. "Why are you here?"
Lustia grinned. "Because I only need to say one sentence... and all your clans will tremble."
She raised her arms theatrically.
"THE ALDERMAN CLAN LIVES!!!"
A heavy silence fell like a hammer. Gasps, screams, then hysteria. The name alone shattered the air.
Even dragons trembled.
Some nobles tried to run. Others dropped to their knees. A few even attempted to take their own lives.
Dante furrowed his brow. "The Aldermans? Who...?"
King Giang clenched his fists until blood seeped from his knuckles. "The Alderman Clan... were the first true humans. Ruthless, brilliant, divine. Their women were goddesses of intellect and beauty. Their men? Born warriors."
He looked to Dante.
"They worshipped the Goddess of War—Kilamahi. And when she danced her Dance of Annihilation, they were blessed with power beyond mortal comprehension. Their land? Forged from her breath, turned into living metal."
"But I thought that metal couldn't be forged—only awakened?" Dante asked.
"Blood-awakened," Giang confirmed grimly. "It was the first Patriarch's wife who first awakened it when she discovered how to use it the right way and then made a journal to pass it on the the next generations of Aldermens. And from that moment, their strength was tenfold that of dragons. Every attribute—speed, precision, knowledge, durability, everything perfected."
Giang leapt down to join Will and Evan.
Lustia chuckled. "Ohhh... the Dragon's lapdog joins the stage."
"Spare me your filth," Giang snarled. "Why did you say that name?"
"Oh... you didn't know?" Lustia mocked.
"There's one left. A child."
The three men went pale.
"No..."
"Yes!" Lustia laughed maniacally. "A descendant lives! And with his blood, we will awaken our Demon God once more. And this time... there will be no God Clan!"
Will's voice shook. "What did you do to the God Clan?"
Lustia drew a finger across her neck. "Extinct."
A hush.
Only two clans had ever stood toe-to-toe with gods and demons: Dragons. Aldermans.
And they were alone now.
"YOU'RE DEAD!!" Giang roared, lunging at Lustia. He tackled her clean off the balcony and onto the snowy cliffs below.
The two stood, mana surging.
"Oh, how you've grown," Lustia purred. "Last time we met, you were Behemot's apprentice."
"SHUT UP!"
Their fists collided with explosive force. Each miss tore up chunks of ground. Each strike echoed like thunder. Each fist meet laid cobwebs of destruction on the ground.
"RAAAH!!" Giang's final punch landed square on Lustia's face, sending her crashing through a tree.
He exhaled, furious.
Then—a moan.
Lustia stood, blood dripping from her lip. She licked it slowly.
"Ah... I... FEEL... FUCKING ALIVE!!!"
Dark energy exploded from her, surrounding her in a twisted aura.
"It's been a century! A century since I felt this! Pain! Lust! Adrenaline!"
Her scream ripped through the sky.
"IT BURNS MY FUCKING—FUCK!! FUCKING CORE!!!"
"You're insane!" Giang spat.
"So what? I do this for my King. My God. My Race! The Demon Clan shall destroy everything you've clans built!"
"You betrayed the mortals and joined the gods! It took thousands of silvermanes clan members to craft and seal you all away!"
"And you sealed us! Only dragons and Aldermans could destroy us—and now the Aldermans are almost gone!"
"No more!" Lustia howled, blasting Giang with dark magic.
---
Back in the main hall...
Demons swarmed like shadows.
Iccia, Will, Evan, Diana, and Fina fought side by side to stem the tide. Queen Xilang stood protectively before her daughter.
Zhurong clung to Dante's hand, trembling.
Xilang noticed. Despite the carnage, Dante wasn't shaking.
"Does he not know fear?" she wondered aloud. "Or... has he just never faced it yet?"
She turned to him. "Dante, dear boy. Can I really trust you to take my daughter to safety?"
"W-what? Why me?!"
Xilang gestured with her eyes.
Zhurong's hand—clutched tightly around his.
Dante's face burned. "Oh come on—how did I not notice that?!"
"DANTE!!" the smith's voice called.
He turned.
The old man was there, holding a box and tossed it to him.
Dante caught it and opened it.
His gun. The one they forged earlier that afternoon.
But... there were two.
"Wait—why are there two?" Dante asked.
The old smith gave a knowing smile.
"I may have... made a prototype so I can send it the drawfs to let them study on that plan you drew."
The smither scratch the back of his head.
"Old man, you just made my day easier."
Said Dante. He took the pair of guns and turned to Queen Xilang.
"Lady Xilang, can you place your dragonic energy into my weapon?"
And without a question. Xilang place her mana into Dante's guns. But confused on this new weapon she has never scene before.
The beep sound was made. The energy was red. Lock and fully loaded.
Dante slide the glocks single handedly both handed on each of his gun and prepared to protect Zhurong by Queen Xilang's request.
"It's Showtime baby!"
---
Chapter 7 — End.