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VAMPIRE KING APOLLYON

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"He had tricked all the Faerie Kings and the Queens of the High Court." The Faerie Prince shook his head. "It would be impossible to trick the trickster."

Apollyon smirked, taking advantage of his alliance, anyways. "The best thing we could do was to drag King Zephyr as our last resort."

It would be easier to defeat the Archdemon Magic with something of similar caliber.

Prince Aspen mirrored his smirk. "That's a good plan."

Aspen prowled closer to the faerie dragon's lair, and the movement might have caught the creature's sixth sense because it had stirred.

Ah.

Apollyon realized that the dragon was pretending to be asleep.

"I have kept you in the dark at the Spring Celebration because I want to keep this information a secret as much as possible," Aspen said as he bent his head to peer at the unmoving creature. "The captive had acquired magical abilities that were out of this world--- magic that was unheard of. You would think I am lying if I tell you."

Its feathery antennae sprouting from its head had twitched in unison to Aspen's steps.

"From what I have seen, the Fae had access to Archdemon Magic but only to a limited period." Aspen continued, "His appearance also changed as the time went by where we had bound him to the Hanging Tree."

Bound him to the hanging tree?

Apollyon raised a questioning eyebrow. "We are here, but I have yet to see this 'hanging tree' and the 'prisoner' around us."

Prince Aspen placed his index finger and his thumb in his mouth to release a loud, piercing whistle, waking up the faerie dragon in front of them.

As its turquoise scales shimmered into sparkles dancing from its body, it turned its head to look at them with beady black eyes before emitting a small keen.

The faerie dragon rose from its nest and flapped its butterfly wings, opening its mouth to sing a unique melody.

Apollyon knew that the song was loaded with magic from the pleasant yet powerful vibration in the air.

It was so pure in its power, and he felt that it was purging the forest of negative energies.

The night elves appeared out of nowhere as the glamour disappeared, revealing a dead ancient forest with mammoth snags left to decompose at a snail's space.

Apollyon realized that the night elves had come out from the hollow crevices and cavities of the deadwood.

They approached the faerie dragon's lair and formed a circle with Apollyon and Prince Aspen.

They watched the faerie dragon's iridescent coat of scales turned into the colors of the rainbow as it sang in a wail, flipping its long tail from side to side.

After the Faerie Dragon's song, the closest snag's thick, rotting trunk slowly opened up to reveal the captive out of its cocoon.

This seemingly dead tree was teeming with life as one of its dead branches moved to snake itself around the captive, pulling him out.

The half-naked captive hung upside down, unconscious.

His feet and wrists were all tied up.

Apollyon stepped closer, and Prince Aspen placed a hand on his shoulder to hold him back, warning him not to be near the captive within grabbing distance.

As he looked over his shoulder, Apollyon gave him a curt nod.

Apollyon returned his gaze on the faerie captive, and his muscles went rigid.

Prince Aspen wasn't joking when he said that the captive had also changed its appearance.

He had sharp and pointy black horns, curving from the front to the back, forming a 'C' on top of his bleeding blond head.

His face was unrecognizable because he was covered in Archdemon runes, including his upper body.

Apollyon's pulse sped up as his heart pounded in his ears like an incessant drum.

It was eerily similar to Luna's after she had acquired it from an Archdemon who had forced a blood bond on her.

The faerie captive might not have been the Archdemon summoner, but the runes in his body had indicated that he was bound to one by an oath.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to control his ragged breathing from both rage and excitement.

That was all Apollyon needed to see to know that this faerie had conjured—or must be one of the original conjurer's allies—a real Archdemon to gain power, however limited.

At least, the runes had proven that there was a demonic disturbance in the Faerie Realm, and he hadn't wasted his time coming here with his sleeping Empress.

Giving him a questioning gaze, Prince Aspen spoke abruptly, "What do you think?"

Apollyon said in a low voice, "Archdemons."

That one word alone was a confirmation in itself, and he felt a jolt of a spark lit up his body.

He smiled, determined.

Apollyon can save Luna after hunting down these 'faerie demonic cult killing unicorns.'

It would be easy.

He would ask the ring leader to summon her wife back from Hell in exchange for their freedom.

"I'm not shocked at all." Prince Aspen sighed with relief. "At least, now that you had verified its existence, I can now sleep at night peacefully without doubting King Zephyr's involvement in this."

The dark faerie captive was unconscious because of the faerie dragon's magic song of purification.

The faerie dragon that had safeguarded the captive's magical items can scent a creature's will.

It was effective with absorbing, redirecting, and nullifying demon magic.

He doubted that an Archdemon had possessed the captive because he still lacked the strength of not getting caught.

As he studied each of the Archdemon runes, Apollyon asked. "What had the captive done when your faerie sentinels had caught him, Prince Aspen?"

"My best guess was… this faerie had just acquired demon magic from his cult just recently because the faerie sentinels had caught him practicing in the forest. They had found it strange." Prince Aspen replied. "It was the first time they had seen someone wield magic like his. He can summon a bright ball of sickening green energy from his hand and throw it into a creature, making it larger than life or tiny as an ant."

Apollyon's eyes widened with shock. "That kind of ability shouldn't exist."

"He can choose." He deadpanned. "He had tried it into a kingfisher once."

"Where is the kingfisher now?" Apollyon asked. "Did it turn to normal?"

"No. We have hidden it. I don't think I can erase its existence unless I killed it." Aspen rubbed the back of its neck in frustration. "The bird was so large that I could ride behind its back, and we can fly into the sky."

"That's high-level magic that even I couldn't do." Apollyon frowned as he planted his crossbow into the ground to cock it properly. "The Faerie Realm will be in destruction if these kinds of faeries had roamed around freely, killing unicorns in exchange for limited Archdemon Magic."

Apollyon lifted it back and settled it on his shoulder to aim.

"Exactly."

He removed a forged iron arrow from the quiver behind his back and placed it on the rail.

"I should wake the bastard up."

Settling the sight on the hanging captive's shoulder, Apollyon squeezed the trigger and fired.