We couldn’t exactly unleash our fire powers, given that the ground floor of Emilian’s mansion was lined with Imen. But the least we could do was deliver targeted attacks against our enemies. Jax had his hands full with Rowan and Farrah, while Hansa held her own and then some against Emilian.

It got worse when Karellen, one of the other daemon princes, made his way into the mansion and grinned at the sight of Blaze. We hadn’t seen him with Shaytan before, and it left me wondering where Adaris, the last of the daemon king’s Council, was lurking. Blaze, however, didn’t seem too affected. My dragon had taken on plenty of Karellen’s kind already.

I took on Shaytan’s son, Mammon, the biggest of the hostiles left in the room. Broken glass crackled beneath my boots as I used my flaming sword to protect myself from Mammon’s attacks. He defended himself remarkably well with his broadsword, but my fire was starting to heat his blade, gradually chipping away at its integrity.

The rest of our allies handled Garros, the remaining Correction Officers and two daemon guards, while the mind-bent Imen left standing tried to intervene. Peyton and two of his Maras overrode their previous commands, forcing them to retreat into a corner with the others. We couldn’t let them go outside, where more of our rebel allies were fighting the Mara townspeople.

Despite their animosity and the cancellation of their truce, the Maras and the daemons were working together against their common enemy—us. Unfortunately for them, we’d come to win, and we would stop at nothing until they were dead or until they surrendered.

“I’m going to eat your fiery little soul.” Mammon sneered at me, then brought his sword down with considerable force. I blocked it with my fire blade, but the impact still took its toll on my joints.

“Careful not to get burned,” I shot back.

I brought my right leg out in a powerful side-kick. It was nowhere near enough to cripple him, but it did cause him pain. I followed it up with a sword slash, making sure I hit the same spot on his blade. I could see the meranium steel alloy blade starting to crack, almost imperceptibly. A couple more blows, and his sword would be rendered useless.

He came at me, vicious and determined to deliver the deadly blow. However, I ducked, then slashed at his abdomen. It drew blood, making him hiss. I shot back up and went for the sword again. This time, I launched a flurry of hits, until I heard the satisfying clang of his blade breaking.

Mammon froze, staring at me, wide-eyed. “How did you…”

“Nothing beats fire,” I replied, then went after him even harder.

With less than half the sword left, Mammon found it harder to defend himself from my strikes. Despite his considerable size and intimidating muscle mass, he could still go down, if I knew where to strike. I’d fought him for long enough to register his weak spots.

My own body was hurting, worn out by the exertion of each sword hit, but I wasn’t ready to give up. On the contrary, this was my moment. I swerved to his left, then stopped halfway and quickly slipped to his right. He’d already begun turning in the opposite direction to block a left side attack. I stabbed him with my fire sword.

The red-hot blade went in deep. Mammon cried out in agony. I withdrew my weapon, then jumped and cut off his head. The smell of burning flesh invaded my nostrils. His head rolled onto the floor. Then his body collapsed.

“This is to thank you for your ‘hospitality’ back in Infernis,” I muttered.

I was panting, but I was nowhere near done. I caught a glimpse of Blaze, who was seconds away from obliterating Karellen. The daemon prince was strong and resilient, and he’d managed to avoid most of the dragon’s fire attacks, but he could only keep it up for so long. Blaze got his hands on a bigger sword from one of the fallen Maras, then proceeded to combine his fire breath with ample sword hits.

Before I could witness the conclusion of that fight, I was confronted by a new opponent. This time, a Correction Officer had taken it upon himself to try to take me down. I smirked, then produced a fireball from my lighter and threw it in his face. He’d probably expected me to attack him with my flaming sword, so he didn’t register the fireball until it engulfed his head.

He ran around screaming and flaming, until Idris decapitated him and put him out of his misery. Across the room from us, Hansa had just dodged one of Emilian’s long knife hits. She brought her broadsword up in an ample slash, leaving him with another deep cut across the chest. The Mara Lord has seen enough fights in his lifetime to make it difficult for the succubus to kill him quickly.

“It’s a good thing that you’re taking care of Shaytan’s sons for us,” Emilian hissed, then launched another offensive against Hansa. He couldn’t do much with those two knives. Hansa blocked his every attempt, then came back with heavy, joint-shattering blows.

“You’re next, Emilian,” Hansa replied. “Your arrogance, your greed, and this fracture between your species and the daemons are going to be your downfall. Just give it another minute. I’m almost done with you.”

“Don’t be foolish, succubus! Look around you! There’s only so much you can do without your dragon at full force,” Emilian shot back.

Hansa didn’t have a single moment to spare, but I looked around and found myself concerned. We were losing plenty of our own. The bodies of rebel Imen and Maras were starting to pile up on the bloody floor. Peyton and Wyrran were still hard at work, hacking and slashing left and right against the Correction Officers. The enemy was losing fighters as well, but there were plenty more where those had come from. Our advantage was not in numbers.

However, we’d never really relied on that. Our main objective was to keep the fight going and the Lords busy, while Harper and her team got Lumi to bring down the shield and let our people in.

I tackled another Mara, while Idris and Rayna handled the remaining daemons. A loud thump caught my attention. I looked to my left, then breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Karellen lying flat on the floor, blood pooling beneath him. Blaze gave me a passing smile as he advanced through the room and joined the fight against the daemons.

Just then, I saw Scarlett coming in through the front door, accompanied by Patrik, Pheng-Pheng, Cadmus, Aymon, Velnias, and several other supernaturals. I assumed the latter had been released from prison, though I had yet to hear the story of how they’d ended up on Neraka in the first place.

They didn’t waste a single minute. They jumped right in, taking on the Correction Officers that were left inside the mansion, as well as Garros and the others that started coming in after them and through the back door. We fought together, keeping an eye on each other and providing backup wherever the extra hand or flame was needed.

“Arrah and the rest of her crew are outside,” Scarlett breathed, once she ended up by my side. “We stopped the moon attack. All we need is that shield to come down.”

“I take it there are plenty more of these bastards outside, right?” I asked, watching another Mara headed my way. I brought my flaming sword up, and genuine fear made him break into a cold sweat. Nevertheless, he didn’t have a choice. He had to fight me.

“She’s been working her way up from the sixth level. She’s looking to square things off with Rowan,” Scarlett replied, then moved back into the center of the living room, where a Correction Officer was about to kill Peyton. She drove her sword through his back, giving Peyton the second he needed to cut his head off.

“There you are!” Arrah’s voice boomed through the mansion.

For a split second, everyone paused. Arrah had just come in, carrying two swords and a furious scowl aimed at Rowan. The Mara Lady stepped away from Farrah, leaving her to deal with Jax by herself. She sneered at Arrah, bearing her pearly white fangs.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to find me,” Rowan muttered, then licked the blood off her blade. She’d managed to wound Jax, it seemed.

“It ends here, you vicious, heartless, insufferable bloodsucker,” Arrah shot back.

There wasn’t enough swamp witch magic and brute force among the Correction Officers and the one remaining daemon in that place to stop us. This sudden increase in our numbers, caused by Scarlett and her team’s arrival, was the boost we desperately needed to get one step closer to victory.

I could hear the entire city rumbling outside. Our allies had reached the base of the mountain and were working their way up through the levels. War was progressing at a frightening speed, and all I could think of was to hold on and take as many of our enemies down as possible.

Soon enough, this would all be over. Or so I hoped.