543. Falling

“Haec! What are you doing?”

Taburas cried out, running after Haec as he continued forward. He glanced back at the [Succubus] and shook his head. Even after he warned her twice against following him now, she still pressed on. And it irritated him.

He raised a hand, stopping her from taking another step forward.

“This is too dangerous for you, Taburas. Get back.”

“But if it’s too dangerous for me, why are you running straight at it? It’s Level 193— what are you going to do against it? What can you even do against it?”

Taburas protested as she grabbed onto his arm. Haec pursed his lips, looking at her pleading gaze. He hesitated. He wasn’t sure what there was to say. He took a step back as she blinked, and he slowly pulled away from her.

“I’m going to do what I can, Taburas. But I don’t want you to get hurt. Please listen to me. Just get out of here.”

The [Succubus] blinked. She opened her mouth, but Haec spoke over her.

“I can handle myself, Taburas. And I’m simply going to offer aid to Hartia the Ruler of the Border. He will need my help to bring down that [Cerberus].”

Haec eyed the wild Primeval Demon as it let out a terrible roar. It unleashed its black flames towards the edge of the Expanse, incinerating a thousand soldiers before bringing down the border wall.

The ground shook. A tremor nearly knocked Taburas off balance. Haec steadied her, eyeing the dust and debris shooting into the air. He gritted his teeth. This was his chance. There was no better moment to escape the Domain of the Demon King other than right now. He had to act.

He watched as a swarm of wild Demons poured in, assailing the Third Legion from behind. And he turned back to Taburas. She gave him a worried look, and he sighed.

“But Haec—”

She started. But Haec continued.

“It’s a Primeval Demon. It’s nearly 50 levels above me— it’s over 50 levels above you. I don’t want you to get hurt. Please… just run.”

“If I’m going to be running, we should be doing it together.”

She tightened a fist. Haec raised his head towards Hartia. The Ruler of the Border flew high in the sky, continuing his onslaught of attacks against the [Cerberus of Hell].

“I’m sorry, Taburas.”

Haec closed his eyes as he lowered his head. He turned away from the [Succubus], whispering softly.

“Please, just trust me. I’ll catch up to you soon.”

Was it a lie? Perhaps it was. But Haec knew he had no other choice. He had to leave Taburas behind if he really wanted to track down Salvos. He glanced back fractionally.

“I care about you, Taburas. I don’t want you to get hurt. Do this— for me.”

He stared deep into the eyes of Taburas. She shifted back, eyes growing wide. The [Succubus] averted her gaze for a moment.

“I…”

But before she could make a decision, the ground shook. A voice resounded, echoing throughout the valley. Haec blinked and looked up as he heard the loud cry in the distance. It made the entire Third Legion freeze in fear. It made Taburas lock up with wide eyes. It took everyone by surprise. Whether it was Laxi or Betrugil or even Aemula.

And it was just a single word. But it came from the only person who mattered.

“Retreat!”

Hartia the Ruler of the Border yelled as he zipped away from the [Cerberus of Hell]. He was a Level 185 [Unseelie Lord]. He was the Primeval Demon in charge of this section of the Expanse. Haec had seen him carry out very many great acts and feats over Advent.

But this was the first time Haec had ever seen Hartia… flee. Fly away and scream to retreat. It made no sense to Haec. The [Cerberus of Hell] hadn’t even gotten close to harming the [Unseelie Lord]. And yet, Hartia had called for a retreat.

It didn’t matter if they were winning or if they were losing. The fact that their leader had left them behind meant only one thing— pandemonium broke out.

And everyone began to flee.

Laxi stared. She didn’t get it. Why was Hartia the Ruler of the Border fleeing? She stood atop her flying carpet, completely dumbstruck, even as she circled the [Cerberus of Hell].

She tried to work her jaw.

“Why is he leaving? He is supposed to be the Ruler of the Border…”

But the Third Legion broke out of their stupor. Laxi watched as the swarm of soldiers began to break off and flee. They screamed and shouted far below as she could only look on with wide eyes.

“Run!”

“Get out of here!”

“We’re all going to die!”

Tens of thousands of soldiers started sprinting all at once, fleeing from the wild Primeval Demon. They escaped down the valley and gave chase to their leader. But Hartia the Ruler of the Border was already long gone.

The [Cerberus of Hell] howled, sending another shockwave out that nearly knocked Laxi off her flying carpet. She steadied herself, gritting her teeth. But the other winged Demons weren’t so lucky, being sent crashing into the ground. Even the oncoming wave of wild Demons were slowed by this blast of air.

There were hundreds and thousands of soldiers in total, and they were all finally beginning to process what was going on. Once enough of them had broken formation, they scattered. A few thousand tried to stay and fight back, but they couldn’t even hold off the weaker wild Demons, let alone the [Cerberus of Hell].

Laxi clenched a fist as this scene unfurled. This… was ridiculous! This was against everything she stood for! The Demon King would never stand for this cowardice! She flew forward, shouting as she tried to rouse the Third Legion.

“Do not retreat! We cannot run! If we do, the Expanse will fall!”

But her voice fell on deaf ears. Laxi screamed, and the fleeing soldiers refused to slow. She cursed as she tried to garner whatever support she could.

“We cannot let the Expanse fall! We cannot abandon our duties! We cannot—”

And Laxi paused when she saw a shadow loom over her. A towering darkness that stood far above her flying carpet. She blinked as she looked up, seeing a terrible maw hovering right before her. The [Cerberus of Hell] stared at the Archdemon, and she gulped.

“No…”

But before she could even finish getting the words out, the wild Primeval Demon chomped. And nothing remained.

Haec wasn’t sure what he could do now. The Third Legion was consumed by pure chaos— soldiers were fleeing in every direction, and wild Demons rapidly approaching in the distance. The [Cerberus of Hell] took a step back as it swept its three heads over the valley. Everywhere it looked, it saw enemies. And it unleashed its black flames in all directions, incinerating thousands by the passing moments.

The opportunity to escape was gone. Ruined because of Hartia’s cowardice. Haec glanced back at Taburas as she tugged at his arm.

“We need to go, Haec! There’s no point fighting that wild Primeval Demon anymore!”

He hesitated. He thought he would be able to fake his death. But now, he couldn’t even make it past the fallen wall anymore. There were too many wild Demons swarming towards them. It would practically be suicide.

Haec shook his head as he took a step back.

“You are right, Taburas. Let us go.”

He knew he could escape from the Expanse some other time. But his focus now should be surviving— escaping from this battle unscathed. He heard the shouts all around him. He caught a brief glimpse of Aemula as she yelled something in the distance. He was pretty sure he even saw Betrugil sprinting over the heads of a group of soldiers to evacuate from this place.

Haec turned around— then paused. His brows snapped together as he sensed it. Taburas blinked, looking at him in confusion.

“Haec? What are you—”

And his [Dangersense] blared in his head. Haec’s eyes darted back towards the [Cerberus of Hell] as it reeled, raising its claws high in the sky. A black aura overcame its claws as it cast its gaze towards the ground.

“Oh no. Get back, Taburas!”

Haec yelled as he grabbed the [Succubus]. She blinked, and he activated a Skill. There was a flash of a white aura around them as the [Cerberus of Hell] smashed its claws down, shattering the earth.

The ground exploded as a translucent barrier protected both Haec and Taburas. The nearby rubble carpeting the earth was cleanly swept away as thousands of crevices tore their way through the valley, ripping apart the nearby hills.

The mountainside cracked open with a thunderous crackle, and a gaping hole opened up beneath the two Archdemons feet. The aura rippled from the shockwave before they fell into the darkness as a crimson glow waited for them below. And alongside them, tens of thousands of screaming soldiers fell into oblivion.