"Gernos, even you betrayed me?!"
In the midst of battle, Hailmondas suddenly heard the roar of cannons erupting from within the rift. Looking up, he saw a barrage filling the sky. Yet those shells were not aimed at him; they landed on the only route the reinforcements could take. He was instantly filled with fury.
Though foolish, he still knew his own limits. He knew that he was severely wounded. After being ambushed by that Sorcerer, he had lost his tail, an arm, a wing, and part of his head before the battle had even begun. Surrounded and attacked from all sides, he had little hope of victory.
The only reason he still fought so fiercely was, aside from a dying struggle to preserve his dignity, to buy time until the Burning Legion loyal to him arrived. Perhaps then he could turn the tables and kill them all.
But Gernos's artillery support had brutally shattered that last sliver of hope.
Even now, he could not understand why Gernos had betrayed him. He had never imagined that such a weak Gargan demon, someone he had always ignored, could prove so crucial at the critical moment and drive him to his death!
Of course, he knew even less that Gernos had long since signed a contract with Evenson and had disappeared from the Fel Scar Rift ages ago. A Lord who knew neither the abilities nor the whereabouts of his own subordinates had reached this point only because he was personally powerful. Otherwise, he would have died long ago.
"Fel Magic, Your Excellency's tyranny has long earned the resentment of the rift's demons." Dest the Beholder suddenly appeared, floating high in the air as he narrowed his eye and looked down at Hailmondas with contempt.
"You are... Dest..." Hailmondas stared at the