Chapter 42 – Clash of the Generals
The heavy doors of the crimson castle groaned open, spilling a flood of dim red light into the stone courtyard. The air smelled of scorched iron and something older — power that had been waiting too long to be used.
Zed, Makroz, and Carmel stepped across the threshold together. The moment they did, the temperature dropped. The castle was alive — veins of red energy pulsing through the walls like a heartbeat, whispering in a language that made mortal lungs ache to hear.
Carmel lifted her gaze toward the vaulted ceiling where shadows crawled like ink. "We're not alone."
"No kidding," Makroz muttered. "This place stinks of guard duty."
Zed's flames flickered faintly along his hands, illuminating the nearest hallway. "Good," he said quietly. "Let them come."
---
A chorus of metallic footsteps answered him. From every corridor, armored figures marched into view — Natas's guards. Their armor was blackened steel, etched with glowing runes that pulsed in rhythm with the walls. No eyes behind their helmets, only faint slits of light like dying embers.
"Alright," Makroz said, cracking his neck, "I count at least forty. Think they're all here for the welcome party?"
Zed smirked. "If they are, they forgot the food."
Carmel exhaled, her tone calm but sharp. "Stay close."
She raised her right hand, and with a swirl of gold light, a staff materialized in her grasp — long, elegant, covered in winding leaf-like patterns that wrapped around from the bottom to the top. At its tip bloomed a closed rose, shimmering faintly with red and gold threads that pulsed like veins.
As the staff settled in her hand, the ground beneath them trembled, and waves of warm light expanded outward.
"Divine Blessing!"
The air shimmered. A golden aura wrapped around Zed and Makroz, their wounds vanishing, muscles tightening, breath steadying. Makroz's shadows grew darker, sharper. Zed's flames turned blue at the edges — hotter, faster.
Makroz grinned. "Now that's my kind of magic."
Carmel smirked. "Don't get cocky, shadow boy. Buffs don't replace brains."
Zed raised a fiery eyebrow. "Let's save the flirting for after we survive, yeah?"
The first wave of guards charged.
Zed didn't wait. His hands ignited, and he launched forward, a streak of gold and orange tearing across the floor. Fire burst beneath his feet with every step, burning runes into the stone. He slammed his palms together — a pillar of flame roared outward, swallowing six guards instantly.
Makroz vanished into the smoke. Shadows spread like wings, splitting and moving in different directions — his silhouette multiplying, attacking from all angles. Two guards swung their blades where he had been, but the blades passed through a wisp of darkness. Makroz's real form reappeared behind them.
"Midnight Rend."
His hand sliced the air — and the guards simply folded inward, their armor collapsing as if swallowed by their own shadows.
Carmel twirled her staff once and struck it against the ground. Golden sparks burst outward. "Blazing Sanctuary!"
A dome of light erupted around the three, absorbing a volley of spears thrown from the rear line. The golden barrier pulsed with living warmth, each impact scattering petals of flame that drifted through the air like soft embers.
Makroz laughed under his breath. "Remind me to never fight you."
"You wouldn't last a second," Carmel replied dryly.
Another wave of guards came from the staircase — heavier, faster, enchanted. One swung a massive halberd down on Zed. He caught it with one hand, his fingers melting the metal where he gripped it. With a fierce pull, he tore it from the guard's hands and smashed the butt of it across his helmet. The guard staggered — then Zed kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying into a column that exploded into rubble.
"You'll pay for that!" another guard roared, rushing him.
Zed tilted his head. "Add it to my tab."
He twisted, fire spiraling around his arm before he slammed his fist into the ground. "Infernal Quake!"
The floor split open. Flames burst through the cracks, consuming the charging soldiers in a wave of molten fury.
But even as the last of the guards fell, three figures still stood — motionless at the far end of the hall.
In front of the throne door.
They hadn't moved once during the entire battle.
---
The first was a tall, broad-chested man with green skin marked by scars, his torso bare, his muscles bulging with unnatural energy. In his hands, he held two long whips made from monster spines, dripping with glowing green venom. His eyes gleamed with cruelty.
"Djab Baka," Makroz muttered, his tone darkening.
Beside him stood a towering figure with skin the color of red wine — Bètlèd. His bald head gleamed under the dim crimson light. He gripped a massive hammer, its head carved into a demon's face, its mouth wide open as if ready to swallow souls. Each breath he took made the hammer's eyes glow brighter.
The third was a woman — elegant, deadly, and cold. Azouzwèl. Her long black curls flowed down her back, and her entire body shimmered under a dress of pure darkness. Her nails, lipstick, and eyeshadow were all the same deep black that drank in the light. She leaned casually on a spiked staff topped with a red crystal that pulsed slowly, like a heartbeat.
They didn't attack.
They simply watched.
Djab Baka smiled first — wide, sharp, cruel. "Well, well, well… look who decided to crash the King's homecoming." He stepped forward, swinging one of his bone whips idly. "Looks like daddy came to the rescue of his little girl."
He grinned, fangs glinting in the red light. "Aaaaw, how sweet."
Bètlèd and Azouzwèl both laughed — deep, mocking laughter that filled the hall.
Makroz cracked his knuckles. "You talk too much for a dead man."
"Oh?" Baka tilted his head. "Then make me shut up."
The atmosphere snapped.
Zed's aura flared — bright and furious, flames bursting to life around him in a storm of gold and scarlet. His eyes glowed white as molten metal. The ground beneath his feet began to crack from the sheer heat.
Makroz's form darkened until he became almost transparent, a living silhouette outlined by shadow. The air turned cold, the torches dimming under his presence.
Carmel stepped forward between them, the rose at the top of her staff unfurling slowly, glowing like a newborn sun. Her aura radiated outward, faintly red with streaks of divine gold.
"Three against three," she said softly. "Fair enough."
The three generals released their own aura —
Djab Baka's glowed green, reeking of venom and decay.
Bètlèd's pulsed red, dense and heavy like magma.
Azouzwèl's spread dark purple, thick and elegant, whispering like silk over the stone.
The castle trembled under the weight of six powers colliding.
---
"Let's see how much that divine glow helps you when you're split in two!" Baka roared. He cracked both whips, sending two green streaks flying toward them.
Zed jumped back while Makroz dove low, his body dissolving into smoke. Carmel spun her staff, drawing a symbol in the air. The threads of leaves around it glowed brightly as she shouted, "Nature's Veil!"
The ground bloomed with golden vines, intercepting the whips mid-strike. The venom hissed, sizzling through the air, but the vines held.
Makroz emerged behind Baka in a ripple of shadow, his hands turning into dark blades. "Caught you!"
He slashed — but Baka's whip coiled backward, wrapping around Makroz's arm. The venom burned through shadow, forcing Makroz to hiss in pain before he sliced it off with his free hand and vanished again.
"Shadow tricks won't save you," Baka taunted.
Zed appeared beside him, flame crackling across his fist. "Didn't plan to."
He punched, and fire exploded point-blank, engulfing the Baka general in a flash of heat. The shockwave blew dust through the hall, but Baka emerged laughing, his green aura flickering but unbroken.
"Cute," Baka sneered. "My turn!"
He cracked both whips again. The air shrieked as green fire arced toward Zed, but before it hit, Carmel slammed her staff down. "Blessed Flame Barrier!"
A golden wall burst to life, absorbing the blow. Sparks and acid hissed against divine fire, canceling out in a burst of steam.
Meanwhile, Bètlèd stepped forward, hammer resting against his shoulder. "Playtime's over."
He lifted it high. The air itself seemed to buckle under the weapon's weight. Then he slammed it down.
The floor erupted. Cracks tore through the stone, sending shockwaves outward. Zed and Makroz leapt aside as huge slabs of rock burst upward. Carmel's barrier wavered under the impact but held.
"You call that a hit?" Makroz shouted, appearing behind him. "This is how you smash!"
He drove both palms into the ground. Midnight Lattice!
Black lines rippled outward, forming shifting grids under Bètlèd's feet. The massive general stumbled as the ground moved beneath him, and before he could steady himself, Zed appeared above him, both fists burning white.
"Infernal Descent!"
He crashed down like a comet, flame spiraling around him. The explosion rattled the entire hall, sending debris flying.
When the smoke cleared, Bètlèd stood in the crater, blood dripping from his temple, still grinning.
"Now that's more like it."
Azouzwèl sighed, tapping her staff. "Men and their need to show off."
The red crystal on her staff pulsed faster. She raised it, and dozens of dark shards floated into the air around her. "Let's see if you can handle something a little more… elegant."
She pointed, and the shards shot forward.
Carmel raised her staff in response, the rose at its tip glowing bright. "Sanctum Bloom!"
The rose opened fully — petals of pure light spun outward, deflecting every shard that came near her allies. Each impact exploded into a spark of red and gold.
"Zed!" she shouted. "Left flank!"
He nodded, fire swirling around his feet as he dashed toward Baka again. Makroz shadow-stepped alongside him, weaving between attacks, the two moving like they'd done this a thousand times.
Their synchronization was perfect — flame and shadow intertwining like partners in a deadly dance.
Carmel stood behind them, chanting under her breath, her staff glowing brighter with each line. "Blessing of Speed… Strength… Endurance!"
The buffs washed over them in waves. Zed's strikes grew heavier, faster. Makroz moved like smoke and lightning, untouchable.
They hit hard, breaking through the guard line the generals had raised. Baka's whip snapped and cracked, but Zed caught it mid-air, flames bursting along the cord until it melted.
"Remember this smell," Zed growled, "because it's the last thing you'll feel before you burn."
Baka snarled, aura flaring, his muscles bulging grotesquely. "You'll regret that, fire rat!"
He lunged — but before he could swing, Makroz appeared behind him and drove a kick between his shoulder blades.
"Language," Makroz said coldly.
The three generals regrouped near the throne door, their expressions darker now — less amused, more calculating.
Azouzwèl wiped a smear of blood from her lip, smiling faintly. "Impressive. But you're far from ready for what waits behind that door."
Zed's eyes blazed. "Then open it."
Bètlèd chuckled. "You'll have to go through us first."
Makroz spread his hands, shadows swirling like smoke. "That's the plan."
The two groups squared off again, power humming in the air like an orchestra tuning before chaos.
Carmel's golden light flared behind them, warm and steady. Zed's flames roared brighter. Makroz's darkness deepened.
Three forces in perfect balance — light, fire, and shadow — standing against the poison, wrath, and corruption of Natas's elite.
And as they clashed again, the throne doors trembled behind the generals — as if the being within was already watching, waiting, smiling.