"Hold him off for a moment, Max."
"Got it." (Max)
The muscular man strode purposefully towards the Royal Guard, who was preparing to attack William for the second time.
"You're fast." (William)
William got up from the dented car and shook his arm. He would tear this devil with a tail in two with his next attack with Titan.
Before William could attack, a thick arm wrapped around the Royal Guard's neck and another grabbed one of his legs before pulling in two different directions. The girl's force field stopped all of the Devil's movements before they could be completed.
"The Royal Guard of the Imps is fast, but fragile."
With a wet, disgusting sound, the Devil of the Royal Guard was split into two separate halves, his organs spilling all over the floor.
"I'm Andreus Orgus, and that's Maxxine Stinger over there." (Andreus)
(Powerful physical strength and long-distance support make a good team.)
"Max." (Max)
"William Stone." (William)
William accepted the handshake from Andreus, who laughed with excitement and jubilation, then proceeded to give William powerful pats on the back.
"Hahahaha!!!" (Andreus)
"I see you've grown a lot. I wouldn't have recognised you if you hadn't told me your name" (Andreus)
"Do we know each other?" William raised an eyebrow doubtfully. Depending on his answer, he would decide on his next course of action. It wasn't pleasant to be slapped by a guy who weighed almost three times as much as he did.
"I saw you once when you were a baby. Your father, Uriel, and I are old friends. We worked together for a few years. Did he never tell you about me?" (Andreus)
William quickly searched his memory until he found an old memory of him looking at some old photos of his parents. In one of them, Uriel was hugging a huge guy around the shoulders.
"I remember seeing your face in some photos, although my father never told me your name." (William)
"That damn show-off. We lost touch for a few years and he forgot me as if it were nothing." (Andreus)
As they talked, Maki raised both arms towards the sky. Her black raincoat floated away from her body as dozens of sharp knives flew out of her pockets and floated in the air. They were golden and had no handles, just two sharp points at both ends.
When Maki lowered her hands, dozens of these floating blades fell like rain on the remaining imps, impaling them all against the ground and trees.
"Shouldn't we have left a couple of them to guide us to their nest?" (William)
"It's not necessary. We already know where it is." (Andreus)
"Where?" (William)
Max did not answer William's question, instead throwing a snapshot at him.
"Saint Cross Pantheon, it's about twenty minutes from here." (Andreus)
William caught the photo with two fingers. Although blurry, it showed the large metal gates of the cemetery with her name written on them.
"Right, girls, if you're done gossiping, let's go" (Max).
Maki returned each blade to her trench coat after waving them in the air, which removed every drop of blood.
"Are you coming with us, William?" (Andreus)
"Why not?" (William)
William took his backpack and jacket from Mrs. Rocher's house. He didn't want to damage or stain his jacket with imp blood. His current black shirt already had a huge tear on the right side.
Saint Cross Cemetery
"So which of these graves is the entrance?" (William)
"No bloody idea, we have to start searching. Split up and look carefully for a gravestone with a stone imp on it." (Andreus)
"I'll go to the right."
"I'll go to the left."
"I'll go to the centre."
Each of them took a different direction and began searching every gravestone in their path. Without success, the three arrived at the same place in the centre of the cemetery.
"Didn't you get the wrong place?" (William)
William sat down on a square stone protruding from the ground. There were many around it. The centre of the cemetery was unusually empty except for these rocks and the grass covering the entire area.
"There is only one cemetery with this name in the surrounding area" (Andreus)
Andreus crossed his arms in annoyance. His search was taking longer than expected for such a trivial matter.
"And we're supposed to keep wandering around until we find something?" (Max)
"Crack"
"Max, it's disrespectful to kick a grave." (Andreus)
"I found it!" (Max)
Max raised both arms cheerfully. He had kicked a random gravestone, which was covered in ivy, and behind it was the destroyed stone figure of an imp.
"Now where is the door?" (Andreus)
"I have no idea. I'll try to lift the entire floor in this area. Maybe it was buried." (Max)
Max knelt down and touched the floor with both hands. After shaking, the entire floor rose, revealing rocks, dirt, and gravestone debris, exposing a huge circular stone door embedded in the floor.
"It's useless, this isn't going to move no matter how hard I try." (Max)
(It looks like the Faun's door from a few months ago. I wonder if they have anything to do with each other?) (William)
The stone door had a winged demon holding a trident in its hands. It looked very old and extremely sturdy.
"It seems they built the cemetery right on top of this place" (Andreus)
"Typical Normies taking what doesn't belong to them, as it says up there" (Max)
Worn ancient letters surrounded the door; even after so many years underground, they were still completely visible.
"Latin, 'He who dares to release what rests here must be prepared to disappear. Open the way with a drop of your blood to prove you are worthy of your duty.'" (William)
"It's a bit confusing, it could be 'Rest' or 'Prison'." (William)
"Who's going first?" (Andreus)
Max silently pulled out one of his daggers with his telekinesis before rubbing one of his fingers on it, a drop of blood falling onto the stone.
It vibrated slightly before falling silent.
"Looks like not, your turn big guy." (Max)
Max slid the dagger through the air towards Andreus, who cut himself slightly on the back of his hand. Blood dripped onto the door and there was complete silence.
*Soft laughter*
Max suppressed a mocking smile.
"Okay, it's your turn, pretty boy." (Max)
William silently pulled out Titan. His blood fell in slow motion until it came into contact with the Imps' door. After a creaking mechanism, the enormous door, weighing at least a ton, swung open, revealing a spiral staircase that descended deep into the earth.
"Your family has existed for hundreds of years, it wouldn't be strange if one of your ancestors had something to do with the construction of this door. Come on, I'll go first" (Andreus)
Andreus took the lead, followed by Max and William. They descended for some time, lighting their way with torches. Apparently, Andreus always carried them in his car for situations like this.
Just as the group of three reached the lowest point, the large torches attached to the wall lit up one by one until the entire corridor was illuminated with their red light.
"Guys, come and see this" (Andreus)
The long stone walls stretched high above, with grooves at regular intervals, making the wall look like a huge honeycomb.
Each groove was occupied by a stone figure in the shape of a devil or imp. They were perfectly shaped, with every wrinkle on their ugly faces, the folds in their skin, and even the cruel expressions on their faces rendered to perfection.
Many of these statues were broken into pieces.
"Are they empty inside?" (Andreus)
"I think something came out of them, to be exact." (William)
Max had kicked an intact statue, spilling blood and organs onto the floor.
"It takes them some time to change state between stone and living being." (Max)
"Perhaps the word is prison, thousands of imps and devils contained in stone sculptures." (William)
"Let's hurry, maybe the King hasn't left his prison yet." (Andreus)
The group began to run down the corridor. If they arrived in time, they would avoid unnecessary combat.
"We're always late" (Max)
The main hall was spacious with a ceiling dozens of feet high and walls decorated with enormous marble pillars. Large bonfires contained in iron cages hanging from the ceiling illuminated the spacious hall.
And on a solid stone pedestal rested the largest of tonight's Imps. He was even bigger than Andreus. William estimated him to be about ten feet tall. He had skin as red as blood, gigantic wings, and a long tail that ended in a sharp bone tip.
He looked imposing and powerful even though a layer of stone still covered one side of his face. His enormous horns protruded from his forehead, two curved like a goat's and two vertical.
He had long, pointed ears and black eyes with no visible pupils. His large hooves struck the ground in a peculiar rhythm, as if humming a song.
When the last note of its song came to an end, the last fragment of stone from its face fell to the ground and its gaze fixed on the intruders at its awakening ceremony.
"The barrier between worlds is finally breaking down. My awakening is only the beginning of a new era. We will recover everything that belongs to us, everything that was taken from us." (Imp King)
The great Imp King stood up and gave his speech, opening his arms dramatically, his strong voice echoing off the empty walls.
"And we will spill their blood and that of all their loved ones. We will feast on their flesh and suffering." (Imp King)
The Imp King descended the steps as his sharp claws tore at his wrists, his hot, steaming blood splattering the large statues that surrounded him.
As if reacting to his words and his royal blood, the large statues at the base of the pillars began to crack, and the remains of the Royal Guard answered their king's call.