Side Story Part II  

Thankfully, he had learned a very important secret from one of the dukes of hell that he had taken in as one of his followers. He initially had thought of continuing on with his usual style of going on as a lone wolf, but with that bump his original plans, he could not afford to maintain the status-quo. Thus, he had reluctantly given up his usual style and had started accepting followers. However, only those who were worth their salt would be given the opportunity to be his followers.

And that was absolutely true for the duke named Ruka who was one of the earliest followers that had come under Zeke’s flag. Ruka had the power to foresee the future and he had told Zeke about the visions he had seen - one of which was the fact that Zeke was not going to be the winner of this game. There was someone else who was to be the winner that would sit on the throne. And with the advantage that Ruka’s foresight had given to him, this was what had prompted Zeke to come up with another meticulous plan to achieve his goal.

"We’ve found him, My Liege." Ruka’s voice echoed behind him. The duke then appeared before him. He had long and braided blond hair accentuating his face that was so beautiful anyone could mistake him as a woman if they did not hear his deep voice.

Zeke did not even bother to look at him and continued staring down at his ring. "Are you certain it’s him, this time?" he asked calmly. Though his voice seemed calm, there was a warning tinge underlying it. "Yes, My Liege." Ruka sounded confident. "There is no doubt this time. I saw him with my own two eyes. He’s dark haired and grey-eyed. Right now, he’s fighting with Prince’s Callum’s minions."

His fingers that were fiddling with his ring halted and he finally lifted his gaze to Ruka. "Is he winning the fight?"

"No." Ruka flashed a crooked smile at his liege and shook his head. "He’s actually all by himself. Seems like he doesn’t have an army of his own. I believe that he’s acting as a lone wolf. He reminded me a lot of you before you decided to take on followers." A wolfish grin then slanted across that feminine looking face, changing it into a ferocious yet manly and attractive countenance.

Zeke stood from the stone that served as his seat and flicked off a light sprinkling of hell ash from his lapel. "Lead the men. I’ll go ahead first before we lose him." And he disappeared in the next second, leaving Ruka sighing at his liege’s lone wolf style. Though he now has followers, still, his habit of getting things done on his own could not be removed. It must have been ingrained in him for a long time - even from before he came to this place. Ruka only shrugged as there was nothing that he could do about it.

He then turned and arched his brow at the big man who had just arrived, missing his liege by just a few seconds. He was a knight demon and the general of Prince Ezekiel’s army, Archer. "The Lord has left if you came looking for him." Ruka told him casually as he spread his dark wings behind him. "He had ordered us to go into battle." "When?" Archer raised a brow.

"Now." Ruka flippantly answered. "What!! Now? Where?" Archer bellowed, indignant that his liege had given out such a sudden order without giving him time to prepare. Sighing, Ruka flapped his powerful wings and flew away, causing Archer’s voice to thunder from behind him. "Come back here and speak properly! You little assduke! Should I shoot you down?!"

"Shut up, you muscle head. Just use your thunder voice to summon the men and follow me!" Ruka teased Archer as he circled in the air.

Archer sighed heavily as he rolled his eyes, knowing that his liege knew it was well within his power and abilities to summon and arrange the troops even on such short notice. After all, that was the reason why the prince allowed him to be his follower and had even granted him the position as the general of his armies.

When Zeke arrived at the battlefield where the person he was looking for was at, he was surprised to see him badly losing. He had expected him to be strong since he was acting out on his own. He even thought that the guy was probably stronger than him because well... he was supposed to be the one who would be sitting on the throne one day. But what was with this scenario he was looking at? Why did this person seem so weak from what he is observing?

Seeing that a higher demon was about to successfully rip his right wing, Zeke did not hesitate to jump into the battle. In one strike, the knight demon’s head was severed from its body as though Zeke was cutting through tofu instead through a body. And then everyone attacked Zeke and the man in the black cloak at the sight of their general’s fall.

Zeke could only protect the man who was now obviously too weak to fight his own battles. Doubt hit him as he really could not fathom how would a man as weak as this one could win this merciless game. Was Ruka mistaken? But the moment he had a glimpse of the man’s striking grey eye that was exactly like his when he was still a half-vampire, Zeke could only sigh helplessly within himself and protect him.

Soon, Ruka and Archer arrived along with his army of lesser demons and took over the fight.

"Leave these minions to us, My Liege!" Archer yelled full of determination, and Zeke simply nodded and returned his attention to the man who was panting and had both his hands on his knees, bent over next to him.

"Why did you save me?" the man asked. He managed to pull himself up to a standing position, but still, he was clearly struggling just to keep himself steady. "I can tell you’re a prince of hell. And hell of a powerful one at that."

"I’m Ezekiel." Zeke introduced himself. "I saved you because I was looking for you.."