"Who's in charge now?" Isaac asked.
The demons lowered their heads, too afraid to speak.
The demons huddled in the corner began to tremble. Some dropped to their knees, some lay flat on the ground, and some turned to run. Elena stood at the doorway, her crystalline hair stirring as ice spread from beneath her feet and sealed off the exit.
The demons who tried to flee slammed into the ice wall and were bounced back.
"Either obey, or rot to death from the plague." Elena's voice was ice-cold.
The demons looked at the giant fungal sacs steadily closing in outside, at the black fungal mats devouring everything. Their dark energy was waning, they dared not touch the holy light, and the plague would consume them. They had nowhere left to go.
The first demon knelt, followed by the second, third, and fourth. In the end, every demon was on its knees.
Isaac looked at the demons kneeling on the ground. "From today onward, you obey me. Disobey, and you die."
The demons kept their heads down, not daring to move.
Isaac turned and walked out of the fortress, with Elena following behind him. The demons behind them remained kneeling. Not one dared to stand.
By the time they returned to camp, night was nearly upon them.
The grayish-yellow sky had turned gray-black. The fungal sacs glowed in the darkness like countless rotting stars.
Clayton was crouched before the analysis table, still studying the samples. When he saw Isaac and Thomas return, he immediately stood and asked, "You brought in both the angels and demons?"
Thomas nodded. "We did. Fewer than two hundred in total, all battered remnants. They can't fight."
Clayton shook his head. "I didn't bring them in to fight. I brought them in so they wouldn't cause