Chapter 4 THE PYRE OR ITHYKA

The ground had split into two.

“We've got company.”

“C-C-Com…pany?” I stuttered, my eyes still staring at the split ground. “What is going on?”

“Rogues.” He answered, taking a leap from the ground to the other side of the room, his feet still suspended in air.

My eyes widened in sheer horror. First, he somehow managed to appear before me in split seconds, now, he is levitating in the air.

“Stay where you are.” His voice echoed in my ears and I nodded my head in the affirmative.

Thick, black mist, demonic energy covered the atmosphere and eerie sounds whispered in the rising shadows. I quickly covered my ears. Slowly, the shadows turned into people. Three people.

A pale-looking man with a snake tattoo stepped forward, smirking evilly. His elongated fangs glistened as he smirked and his claws dripped with blood.

He wasn't human. He was a demon.

“Give us the human girl.”

Azmiel cast a brief glance at me and returned his eyes to them.

“Unfortunately, I can't.” He deadpanned.

“You lowly demon!” Snake Tattoo spat. “Do you know who I am? I have torn through kingdoms and clans, I have shredded demons to pieces, I have lived for four hundred years. How dare you try to stop me?”

Azmiel didn’t look fascinated.

“Who are your parents, boy?” He asked, shutting his eyes tight and rubbing his temples rather calmly.

“Boy? You must be an infidel if you don’t know who my parents are.”

Swiftly, he moved toward Snake Tattoo with blinding speed, his shadow stretching like liquid. Instead of striking with raw force, he disarmed the demon effortlessly, shifting the energy around him to pin Snake Tattoo in place. The demon struggled, claws scraping the floor, but couldn’t move.

“I said no,” Azmiel said, his voice deadly calm.

He extended a hand, and Snake Tattoo’s limbs lifted slightly from the ground, immobilized by a glimmering field of energy. Without harming him outright, Azmiel slammed him into the split ground with the force of magical gravity, leaving the demon stunned and unable to rise.

The other two demons lunged, but Azmiel’s movement became a blur, dodging effortlessly, his shadow stretching to guide them into restraints of pure energy that pressed but didn’t crush.

“They will remain subdued until their parents arrive,” he explained, his eyes calm and almost bored.

I watched, wide-eyed, as he neutralized all three without a single scratch on himself, demonstrating terrifying control instead of brute force.

Azmiel turned back to me with a smirk.

“Are…they dead?” I asked carefully. I didn’t want to offend a man who just immobilized three demons, all over four hundred years old. Four human lifetimes.

“No. But they will when their parents show up.”

I nodded. He walked towards me, stopping a few meters away from the hole.

“If you're this powerful, then why were you here and how did you summon me?”

“I summon all beings, human. Summoning you was not a—”

Footsteps interrupted him and his face fell into an expressionless one.

“Halt!” Another powerful voice echoed, causing the room to tremble.

Azmiel turned and I craned my neck to stare at the intruders.

Four men. All dressed in black. One in regal clothes similar to Azmiel's and the other three in armor.

“Overlord Azmiel!” The three chorused in unison, shock evident on their faces.

I gripped the wall, my legs trembling. The mere presence of the Demon King was unbearable.

The one in regal clothes didn't seem fazed. Instead, he looked like he had been waiting for him to show up.

“Welcome back, Overlord. Ithyka awaits your return to the throne.” He announced, lowering his posture for a bow.

The other three went on their knees and bowed before Azmiel. My breath wavered and I almost passed out. I quickly grabbed the walls for support.

The dreadful Demon King of Ithyka was in my presence? I was standing before Overlord Azmiel of the Ithykans and I spoke to him with utmost disregard? I even called myself Demon Queen!

“I….” my voice trailed off.

I quickly fell on my knees, bowing down my head and covering my face with my palms.

Semaen mythology had previously said anyone who saw the Demon King didn't live to see the next splitting second.

Azmiel smirked at me, giving me an ‘I told you’ look.

“Human girl.” He called. “Are you Semaen?”

I didn't respond, I just trembled under his watch.

“Raise your head up.” He ordered.

“Yes, Your Lordship.” I nodded frantically, shivering as I did.

The other occupants of the room stared at us with interest.

“She's Semaen, My Lord.”

“I know, Roshan.”

Roshan. So the other man in regal clothes was named Roshan.

“She woke me.” Azmiel said, glancing at me briefly.

Roshan snapped his neck in shock. Even if Azmiel reawakening didn't faze him, the news of a mere human waking the Demon King would shake him to his bones.

“That's impossible….”

“But it happened, anyway.” He took a deep breath. “How's the Court?”

“They all wish you wouldn't return. The Eleven Houses have been looking for whom to reinstate into your Phoria. The most suitable candidate is Mykhael.”

His face darkened as he listened to the report. I could tell he was boiling, about to explode. Whoever the Eleven Houses and Mykhael were must be very powerful people to have offended the Demon King.

“Let's go.” he beckoned to me.

Go. To where?

“I'm not going to Ithyka with you. I won't give up my life here.”

His face curled into a slow smirk and he stretched his palms towards me. Instantly, a surge of force lifted me from the ground, and my stomach lurched violently. My hands clawed at the air as panic flared in my chest.

I was back on the pyre. Burning again.

His voice echoed in my ears.

“The pyre or Ithyka — the choice is yours, little human.” He said with a tinge of mockery in his voice.

The pyre or Ithyka—the choice was mine. One meant death, the other was going into the unknown, under the gaze of the Demon King.