The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Drannor and Noemi opened their eyes in shock when they heard some explosions in the distance, and when they looked above, they saw some weird creatures that had a bat and falcon-like wings on their backs. They had arms and legs that looked humanoid, but their skin color varied from green to purple. They were the demons… and some were powerful enough to even carry other creatures that were two times bigger than them.

"Tell everyone who isn't a soldier to take refuge in their refugee shelters!" Drannor shouted, and he headed toward where Milliendra was.

It didn't take long for Drannor to find the small village being attacked by the demons. The kids were utterly terrified, but Drannor, who grew used to fighting them, only felt anger. He finally realized that the rage that he felt was almost instinctual and automatic… the curse of the demon god was real, but only now did he realize that.

The demons were flying around in search of Milliendra, it was impossible to know how they found the place, but it seemed that neither of them could feel her presence. Drannor sighed in relief when he realized that his daughter was fine, but in order to lure her out without hurting her, the demons approached the kids to attack them. When Drannor realized what they were planning, he dashed toward the nearest demon and swung his sword toward the creature. When the demon looked at him, he was already on the other side. A few moments later, the demon was split in half.

"That sword… is that the other accursed sword…"

  The demons were getting nervous when they saw the other Legendary sword, so the flying ones stopped their attack for a moment and dropped their big partners. Those demons weren't as big as Darkaun, but they were twice of Drannor's size. He could tell that their scaled skin was even tougher than armor, but only that much wouldn't stop him.

The demons tried to surround Drannor, but he didn't wait for that to happen. He dashed toward one of the demons, and when he swung its massive arms to smash him, Drannor lowered his stance and then swung his sword fast like the wind. In the next moment, he appeared behind the demon, and the creature fell on his knees since the ligament of its legs had been cut. Drannor didn't stop there. He dashed toward the demon again before anyone could notice it and then beheaded the creature from behind. 

The other demons tried to attack Drannor at the same time with their punches, but Drannor just spun around and split the hands of the demons with a single swing. The sword obtained the blood of the demons, and Drannor used it to enhance his physical abilities. While he could only keep that state for one second for each liter of blood the sword got, he was talented enough to use it effectively well.

Those big demons without their hands could only attack with bodyslams, kicks, or headbutts. Still, as soon as they prepared that, Drannor swung his sword, and even though he was five meters away from them, their heads rolled. Upon seeing that, all the demons opened their eyes in surprise… they didn't hear much about What Drannor could do with the king's sword, but now they knew that Drannor was hiding his skills. He was pretty much a monster with it…

The demons that couldn't fly hesitated, while the flying ones decided to attack Drannor with their dark magic. Even though they focused their attacks on him, and dozens of those fell on him every second, he still repelled them just by swinging his sword in circles. Around that time, Noemi and the other guards appeared armed with magic crossbows. Without hesitation, they bombarded the big demons with fire bolts that made their flesh explode and make chunks of flesh fly whenever they hit. The power of those was absurd, but even so, it took a while for the demons to die. Upon seeing that they couldn't do much more that day, the flying demons decided to retreat before they could join their allies on the ground. However, the direction they headed was dangerous…

"They are heading to the ports!" Drannor said and then tried to follow them.

  Unfortunately, Drannor realized when he arrived there that only half of the demons had attacked the village… the other half had attacked the secret port and the main port… as well as they had destroyed all the shops nearby. Before he could make them pay, Drannor clenched his teeth in anger as he watched the demons disappearing on the horizon. They will return. If that weren't the case, they wouldn't have destroyed the ships.

"This isn't good… we have to send messages to the other islands and to His Majesty," Drannor said when Noemi and the other guards finally found him.

Drannor and everyone else thought that Noemi's island was the best place to protect Milliendra from Zaos. Even if he was the best mage, he couldn't possibly keep up with the best naval fleet in the world. However, Zaos wasn't the real enemy, and against demons that could fly and have nearly unlimited access to magic powers, the island and the ships were nothing. In fact, now it looked like they were trapped and could only keep fighting until the demons gave up.

"They are real… I can't believe it," Noemi said, visibly shocked.

"Noemi, calm down… getting nervous won't help us," Drannor said. "The demons are back, and they are a threat to the whole world, so we can't make mistakes by letting fear control us… tell all your allies who have ships to bring as many magic crossbows as possible. Sairus kingdom will probably bring a lot more, so tell them not to hesitate in using them."

"Right…" Noemi nodded and took a deep breath. "Send the message to put all our ports on high alert! The demons didn't go far. They are probably resting and hiding in one of the nearby islands. Send a message to Enrico as well and tell him and his friends that they are free to come and go if they help us, we will need all the help we can get."

Enrico was the smuggler that helped Noemi, Drannor, and the others twelve years ago. He didn't abandon his old profession, so if Noemi was considering asking help even for his friends, then things were truly dire...

Since it was necessary, given that the volcano had already erupted in the past, all the houses, even the ones used by the kids, had underground shelters. They were told to hide there for the time being while the adults prepared for the next wave of attack. It was impossible to predict when the demons would attack, and given that they could just fly above the clouds, they could approach without alerting anyone, until the very last moment.

That island had ten thousand inhabitants, but only 1500 of them were walking around. They were the guards of all the families who were keeping guard and ready for the next fight. While they didn't suffer any casualties thanks to Drannor's absurd power, Noemi was getting impatient. Since she didn't receive any reply from the other islands… the chances that the demons attacked those places were also high…

"How are Milliendra and the other kids?" Drannor asked.

"Only a few of them saw the demons. Most of the kids were sleeping and didn't leave their homes when they heard the sound of the battle," Noemi replied. "Milliendra didn't see anything, but she seemed pretty nervous. When I asked why she said that she felt something bad around the island… the aura of the demons was terrible according to her."

"Aura…" Drannor muttered.

"Heiti, the kid who is always with Milliendra, saw the demons, and he said that the ones you defeated seemed like the monster that Zaos fought years ago," Noemi said. "What do you think of that?"

"You saw it… when I killed the demons, they turned into humans. They were possessed," Drannor said. "I would say that the ones who captured the kids were another demon…"

"If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed it… I wonder how we are going to convince the whole world of this situation," Noemi said, and then she looked through the window and saw the starry sky. "Do you think the demons came for Milliendra?"

"That is the only explanation… aside from her, I am the wielder of the king's sword. This weapon has a story with demons," Drannor said. "Aside from us, none else should be a target of the demons."

Even Drannor would have a hard time against them if he were to fight against several of the flying ones without having a crossbow. That shows that most soldiers or guards would have an even harder time… with that in mind, the demons have the advantage in most situations and against most enemies, so they wouldn't have to fight or cause damage to a small group that was protecting the kids.

Drannor decided to help the guards of the island more often than before, to the point where he was barely sleeping three hours per day. Still, that didn't help them in any way since, on the next three days, nothing happened. Drannor wondered if the demons were targeting somewhere else or they were waiting for the guards to grow tired… that was troublesome in more ways than one since it confirmed that demons weren't mindless beasts and that they probably could use the wits of their vessels.

Regardless, despite the fact that the guards never dropped their guards, the constant vigilance and the lack of news from other islands started to take a toll on their minds and bodies. Even though Drannor showed them that they could be defeated, few people actually were confident in facing the demons.

On the fourth night after the attack, Drannor suddenly heard some impacts in the distance. Due to the darkness of the night, he couldn't tell what was happening, but it seemed that some residences of the island were being attacked.

"They are trying to lure us away from the kids…" Drannor said.

"Maybe we should help… with you. We can repel the demons from most areas and raise the morale of the guards," Noemi said.

"I can't… leave Milliendra, even if she is safe in the shelter underground," Drannor said. "I just can't…"

Noemi felt bad since she didn't consider how unreasonable she had been by saying that. Besides, if Milliendra is captured, a lot more people will suffer. In the end, Drannor's guess was right… the demons wanted to lure him away, but they got impatient and decided to attack the village again. Even if they fail yet again, as long as Drannor keeps getting exhausted, eventually, they will succeed.

Drannor prepared to behead all the big demons that could knock down houses. Still, the flying demons scattered them across the area instead of dropping them in the center of the village. Drannor clicked his tongue since he couldn't finish them off quickly and efficiently.

"They know how to deal with my sword…." Drannor said while he clenched his teeth.

  The more Drannor's sword absorbs blood, the more he can heal himself or get stronger. However, suppose he only fights one at a time. In that case, the effects won't be that efficient… before Drannor could find a solution to that problem, the flying demons began to use their dark projectiles. The guards raised their shields to protect themselves. Still, a weird metallic sound began to spread across the area… after a while, everyone noticed that the shields were practically melting, even though the dark magic didn't emit any heat.

Before things could get out of hand, the mercenaries used their crossbows and attacked the flying demons. While their speed was fearsome, the demons still were getting hit. Thus, making their attacks decrease in speed and quantity. Once he realized that, Drannor ran toward the demons that had been spread across the area… he had to deal with them before they could attack someone from behind or hide in the area by using the flora of the island. Once the demons realized that Drannor was hunting them, they spread even more, but he had a surprise in store for them as well…