Days after the battle on the Red Plains, the wide stretch of land was now devoid of life. Smoke rose in great plumes to the unforgiving red sky, Fiends littered on the red sand. In life, their enmity ran deep, but in death, they lay side by side.
The only life left on the devastated battleground was a lone black shadow. He didn't approach the carnage, knowing that soon, fire would be set to the rotting bodies, to make way for another battle.
Asael no longer had his shadow shroud, so his features were clear to see, skin as black as ink, his bound hair a pure white, gray eyes filled with disdain. He had lingered in the foul place for days now, expecting the return of his target.
It was such a troublesome situation, he couldn't ascertain whether Lord Kath'tan was dead or alive, and going to Earth wouldn't solve his problems. In such a vast world, it would take years, if not more, to find the Demon, and by then, he might very well have returned to the Hells.
Staying in the Red Plains had been the best option; the summoning circle should return the Fiend Lord here, and then he would resume where he left off. That had been two nights ago... Asael was starting to hit his limit.
It didn't help that he had no destination, moving from job to job. An incomplete mission was a stain on a Shadow Demon's dignity; he was essentially bound to this mission until it was completed.
It was almost midday, the five suns of Flaeris were cruelly shining down, casting a red haze over the plains. Shadow Demons were unaccustomed to such brightness; the depths of Noctyrn were dimly lit, the silver light of her moons casting shadows.
But out in the Red Plains, there was nowhere to hide from the light and the strength of the suns, it made him squint his pale gray eyes, displeasure on his face. Centuries of being an assassin, and he was still finding new obstacles to get in his way.
It was blinding enough, yet when a bright flash caught his attention, he could barely look directly at it; it felt like one of the suns of Flaeris had fallen from the sky. The golden gleam was uneasily familiar, so even though it burned his vision, he approached the light.
Closer, he could better see the sigils on the ground emitting the light, a summoning circle. How coincidental.
Asael walked around the summoning circle, studying it as best he could. Sigils barely held useful information, and that was because they were meant to trap Demons and pull them into the summoning portal. He could only glean that whoever had cast it was incredibly powerful, it was similar to the summoning circle that had spirited his target away.
Without hesitation, he walked right into the summoning circle, his clothes rustling as he fell through a portal amidst blinding gold light.
-+- -+- -+-
Kath'tan caught a strange light out of the corner of his eyes, curious but not curious enough to hunt it down, until an explosion rattled the forest, blinding light seeping through tree trunks.
That gave him enough of an incentive, he warped to the general location the light was coming from, having a nagging suspicion that the foolish Vampire had gone out of his way to anger him.
He showed up just as the light cleared away to reveal the last thing he hoped to see... noticing a pale figure crumpled at the foot of a tree in the corner of his eye. The foolish Vampire had summoned a Shadow Demon, and an incredibly powerful one, as that.
Asael landed on his feet, shrewd eyes quickly taking in his surroundings. He discarded the figure on the ground, putting together that that was the human who had summoned him. A flash of red appearing in the next moment made him grin -- finally, luck had come to his side.
Before his eyes could completely adjust from the flash of light, he was already on the move, shadow dagger in hand. There were things to be considered, like how a human that seemed to be knocked out by their own summoning circle managed to keep a Fiend around for so long, but he would consider that after his mission was complete.
Kath'tan had immediately gone on the defensive at the sight of the Shadow Demon, the disloyal creatures were a bad omen, but it barely helped, seeing as he didn't have a weapon on his person. He held up his forearms to block the incoming attack, cursing in an unknown language when the shadowy dagger cut deep to the bone.
Asael was unfazed by this, expecting his attack to be blocked. Having perfect command of weapons with both hands, he slipped a well-carved dagger out of the wide belt around his waist, aiming low with the intention of carving out the Fiend's guts.
A pale figure flashed between them in that moment, Dulce seeing the dagger and reacting in time. Much shorter than Kath'tan, the dagger pierced right through his heart, startling both Demons. "M-My apologies for interrupting," He mumbled with a mouthful of blood, a self-conscious expression on his face. "But could you hold off your attempts to kill each other?"
Kath'tan reacted first, grabbing the Vampire's hair when the Shadow Demon's dagger dissipated to nothingness, staining the pale hair purple with his blood. "You summoned another?" He demanded, enraged.
Dulce's bottom lip wobbled- he had made another mistake. Now he had another problem to deal with, and he still didn't have his hound. "I-I didn't put the clause in that prevents me from undoing the summons," He scrambled to explain, his voice strained. "I'll undo it right away."
Asael finally recovered, a grim expression on his face. Shadow Demons attacked to kill; the dagger was poisoned. The fact that the human was still alive was a miracle. "If you do, you'll die." He said calmly, pale gray eyes still focused on his target.
"Oh, don't worry," Dulce waved his hands, blood staining his dress shirt. "I can't d-"
Kath'tan covered the mouthy Vampire's hand with his other bleeding hand, his eyes narrowed. "Why did you attack me?"