NOVPUB
Chapter 139: 139
Ikem was stuck with making a decision until he sensed Tula trying to make a move, reacting quickly Ikem quickly took Tula out from their hiding place before she exposed them.
Tula was hyperventilating once Ikem let her go "Why didn’t you save the child your highness" she screamed at him while trying to head back to where they were.
Ikem held her tightly as he said with a heavy tone "There is too much to lose Tula, I know you know that too"
Tula kept struggling till she calmed down with tears falling from her eyes "I know your highness but that’s a child"
Ikem said nothing to respond as he stood there letting her cry her eyes out. The sight had Ikem temporarily resign Tula from her job as she could hardly hold herself together from the guilt and anger whenever she saw the demon.
Ikem for a certain time had to take over Tula job while Zephyr played the leader during his absence, during the time Ikem did Tula job, he was being to see why "people will always be people"
There was this unsatisfiable greed in emotional beings that he had a hard time understanding, he watched as the apelings he stayed up at night thinking of ways to make their lives better fall into degeneracy while following the demons word.
This sight changed something in Ikem that he himself didn’t know, he hardly feels anything when he sees the dead body of his people. This also affected the way he taught his current student "Tula" as after a while she came back to her job completely changed as she like Ikem observed everything with cold eyes.
The only good thing out of this was that Tula was now able to use the artifact with no problem, which led to Ikem handing back the job to her.
That was what she has been doing till today. Now in the current time as Ikem followed the traces left by Tula, he tried to think of any possible reason why the demon was making such a bold move.
"Did the gods’ awakening scare him?" Ikem thought, if so then he would have to get back the demon. Running away means that it truly believes that the gods can truly kill it.
Thinking of that Ikem quickly took his speed up a notch more soon he sensed the Bara he had on Tula, raising his hands to his ear Ikem said "I got it from here, fall back" 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
Tula, who got the message, halted in her steps as she looked at the back of the demon getting further away, when all of a sudden a figure quickly passed by her. She saw the figure booking at her position before heading off into the distance, Only one person has always managed to see her when she is covered by the helm. Raising a hand to her ear she said "Careful your highness, he has with him the unknown book treasure"
She got no answer back in return but she knew he got her message. Ikem who ran past Tula quickly locked on to the life force of the demon, soon the demon appeared in his view and he was quickly closing in.
Clenching his fist, Ikem used the current speed he was at to throw a punch at the demon. The demon was slow to react but as Ikem’s first was about to connect, the book the demon was holding glowed which sent out a pulse of energy that quickly covered the demon as a shield.
Ikem’s fist made contact with the shield, there was a small resistance but he broke through it connecting with the crossed arm of the demon who was quick to react. The force of the punch sent the demon flying leaving the book behind.
Ikem’s feet dug deep into the ground as he halted his momentum while quickly stretching out his hand to take the book but like a sentient being, the book dodge before quickly flying after the demon.
Ikem frowned seeing that so he took off once again after the book, he halted as the book flew into a cloud of dust where arms that looked bangled up caught the book. Ikem stopped to see the demon walk out of the dust holding the book while occasionally coughing up blood.
"Your highness? You almost killed me, what are you doing here" The demon said to Ikem with a clear confusion on his face.
The demon really is having a hard time comprehending what was going on, in his mind him escaping was something already done and accomplished yet right in front of him was the leader of the apeling who was supposed to sit in his palace leading.
Ikem saw the demon confusion so he responded with a smile on his face "It seems we did a very good job keeping you in the dark if you are this confused"
"He knows" the demon quickly connected the dots as he began frowning, soon steamy smoke began pouring from where he was bruised, it didn’t take long before he went back to his usual look.
"How long have you known your highness?" The demon asked as he clenched the book he was holding.
Ikem smiled and said "Since the beginning, so should i still refer to you as your taken name Meray or would you rather just be called a demon"
"You know of our existence?" The demon asked in shock as it took a step back while looking up to the sky like it was expecting something.
Ikem not wanting to answer anymore question said "You can quietly come back with me to the kingdom where we can have a long talk or you make me force you back to the kingdom where we will have our talk but more unpleasant this time"
The demon stayed quiet at that as its body began growing, transforming soon taking a more burly and muscular form, contrary to its primate predecessor a monkey, the head of the demonic apeling is similar to that of a traditional ape, but with some menacing alterations. Its face is elongated, resembling a blend of ape and demon, with sharp fangs protruding from its mouth and glowing, fiery eyes. Horns sprout from the crown of its head, curving backward and then forward in a sinister arc. A long, prehensile tail extends from the base of its spine, ending in a barbed tip.
Ikem frowned watching the transformation, "I don’t know how you know of me, young demigod but i have been preparing for a day when we will inevitably crash" The demon’s deep voice said to Ikem as the book in his hand opened up.
The demon’s eyes flashed causing his brows to twitch "Still not enough" It thought to itself as its mouth opened wide open before the previous hearts it swallowed flew out of its mouth.
The heart fell to the ground in a pattern before the demon spoke out loud again"These hearts would have served a better purpose but this current situation doesn’t leave me with much of a choice"
Saying that a huge magic circle opened up, from the center of the magic circle was a huge circular dark hole. Ikem didn’t know what was going on but he wasn’t planning on letting the demon do whatever it wanted.
Rushing towards the demon, who immediately responded by stretching out its other hand where a wave of flame moved towards Ikem who responded by conjuring a wooden red shield surrounded by red blood flames, the flames from the demon clashed with Ikem blocking his view.
All of a sudden the demon was taken off its feet as a big root tendril grew out from the ground where it was standing, wrapping one of its feet and throwing it up to the sky. As the demon went to the sky, Ikem was right behind with his two hands clenched ready to fall on the demon like a hammer.
The demon was able to react fast as flames shout out from its hand which it used to balance itself and dodge Ikem, a smile came upon the demon face as it watched Ikem fall without support when a red tendrils grew from the back of the falling Ikem wrapping around the demon leg. As soon as the root got hold of the demon it detached from ikem’s back who turned and took hold of the detached root as he began swinging with the momentum from the air.
The demon was dizzy from being swung around, but that soon stopped as the next thing the demon knew was its body heading quickly face down towards the ground. A huge explosion of dirt came after the demon was dropped from the sky.
Not bothering with the demon, Ikem moved towards the opened up magic circle, he was about to hit one of the hearts when the book which was close by generated a shield again blocking the heart.
With a roar of anger a wave of red flames came out from Ikems hand as he waved towards the book who dodged but this created an opportunity as the shield was taken down. Smiling Ikem was about to destroy the magic circle when a huge flaming hand came from the dark hole grabbing hold of Ikem and squeezing hard before throwing him away.
