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The sound of thunder grew louder as Palan and Pyre drew closer to the wall. “It’s the red harpy, right? Palan asked. In the cloud of harpies, one of them was noticeably different. Her hair and feathers were red while her skin was tinged pink.
“Yes,” Pyre said. “Try using your powers on her. I’m curious.”
“What did I just say about curiosity?” Palan asked.
“We’re not in Eljiam. It’s fine,” Pyre said with a laugh. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
Palan grunted. He was planning on dragging the harpy down to the ground anyway. If his power worked, then that would be for the best. Though he could float, he couldn’t maneuver himself in the air. Ballistae bolts and arrows were flying towards the harpies from the wall, but they continuously avoided them while retaliating with lightning. All of them had purple orbs which they used to call upon the power of temperance. Neither party noticed Palan and Pyre approaching.
Palan narrowed his eyes and sucked in his breath. A black halo of light appeared around the harpies. A few of them shouted as they plummeted towards the earth. They flapped their wings, but that only slowed their descent. Projectiles flew towards them, but they also sunk, missing their targets by a large margin. The red harpy let out a screech as she flapped her wings harder. Though she was higher up than all the other harpies, she was still being pulled towards the ground.
“What’s going on?” one of the angels on the wall asked. He lowered his crossbow and wiped the sweat off his brow. The red harpy noticed and zapped him with a bolt of lightning, killing him instantly.
Palan frowned at the sight. He was planning on using Pyre to deflect the lightning bolts, but he changed his mind. Pyre would probably explode if he did that. By now, the duo had drifted above the wall, and both the harpies and angels noticed them. Palan stopped his power, causing him to fall towards the wall. Pyre screamed, but Palan was careful not to jostle him too much on impact, letting his tail absorb most of the force.
“Wait here,” Palan said as he released the angel in his grasp. He ignored the crossbows pointed at him and leapt into the air again, heading towards the harpy. She yelled and shot a lightning bolt at him, but Danger Noodle blocked the blow. A whine escaped from its mouth as the snakehead looked at Palan. “I’ll use a different tail next time,” Palan said and snorted. His purple and red tails moved forward to block the onslaught of lightning. A few scales were torn off as gashes appeared on their skin, but Palan gritted his teeth and pushed through. He wasn’t a stranger to pain.
The red harpy panicked and tried to fly away when she realized her abilities were having no effect on Palan, but she moved as if she were trapped in a bog. The black halo condensed until it was solely wrapped around her body. The other harpies regained their ability to fly, but Palan didn’t care. Danger Noodle flashed through the air and wrapped around the harpy when it got close enough, and Palan canceled the power on himself. The duo plummeted to the ground, leaving a tiny crater when they landed. The harpy passed out from the impact. Palan frowned when he tried to lift his tails but found he couldn’t. No wonder why Danger Noodle didn’t want to get struck by the lightning.
On the wall, Pyre was talking with the person in charge. The armored angel had his brows furrowed. “So you’re saying that demon is yours?” he asked.
Pyre nodded. “We’re the reinforcements from Hailing Academy. I am Professor Khondra,” he said. He cleared his throat and put away his pipe while straightening his clothes.
“But isn’t that the demon that we were told to watch out for? The one that crossed the wall?”
“That was just a misunderstanding,” Pyre said. “We had urgent matters to deal with and had to hurry back to the academy. We didn’t have time to pass through the checkpoint using conventional methods. If you don’t believe me, you can ask your boss. It’s likely the news hasn’t been passed down to you yet.”
An angel who was slightly charred spoke up. “That demon murdered people and destroyed homes. My cousin was one of them.”
“False accusations,” Pyre said. “Do you have any proof? Do you know what the punishment is for slander? Can you bear responsibilities for your words?”
The angel pursed her lips and lowered her head. Her hands clenched into fists.
“I’ll have to report this, Professor Khondra,” the angel in charge said. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, but it’s standard protocol.”
“I know,” Pyre said and nodded as he folded his arms while straightening his back. For once, he did look like a proper professor—well, he would if he removed the blindfold covering his eyes. He had put them on after Palan released him. At least a blindfold was less noticeable than demonic eyes. Palan leapt up the wall and landed beside Pyre, still holding the unconscious harpy.
“Heal me,” Palan said. Pyre nodded and fumbled around his bag for an orb.
“I’ll do it,” the angel in charge said as a white glow appeared on his hands. He placed them on Palan’s chest, and tendrils of light snaked over his body. The angel gasped and began to sweat as he exerted more and more mana into his palms. When the white light found nothing else to heal, the angel stopped and stared at Palan. “Are you an archdemon?”
Palan snorted. “Which way is the rebel army?” he asked.
“Just follow the harpies,” Pyre said and pointed at the sky. The remaining harpies were in the process of retreating after their leader was captured. Palan nodded and grabbed Pyre with his tail before leaping towards the sky.
The angel in charge placed his hand on the shoulder of the female angel who had spoken up about Palan’s actions. “If he’s lying, he’ll get what’s coming to him. Justice always finds a way.”
The slightly charred angel nodded, but she didn’t believe her superior’s words.