Fantasy [Private] El Stories

[Late]

Ruby
​

It was a long ride yet enjoyable nevertheless. Ruby entertained her new friend with stories, jokes, and even trying to get to know the blond succubus better. Ruby really has caught her heart without a problem, mostly due to how friendly she really is with her and it was enough for the succubus to completely forget to drop her off at the entrance of the town they entered in. They continued to ride through the city, surrounded by old yet sturdy looking buildings with demons of all kind walking by. There were many things going on and Ruby wasn't sure where her friend was going. It even almost felt a bit crowded.

She flashed a smile at the demons that happened to glance over at her and often waved at them if they kept on staring with curiosity, her pet dozing off on her lap as Blue gotten comfortable with the succubus. For a rather poor place, the demons here weren't too bothered by the conditions from the looks of it.

"Ruby, there is an inn down this road. I can drop you off there if you like," the succubus said to her, causing Ruby to look back at her.

"Oh um..." Ruby started to say, having a troubled look as she plays around with her hair. "I...guess that's fine."

"...what's wrong? Don't have the money to stay at an inn?" The succubus questioned, worried that she might offend Ruby.

"That's the case. I left my money with my previous rider and I am completely empty," mumbled the devil, looking down at her wolf. "It's fine really, I can manage."

The succubus bit her lower lip at the sad expression Ruby was holding and she fumbled around the leather in her hands, indecisive of what she should do. After a few minutes, the succubus took in a deep breath and looked back at Ruby, who was still having the sad look on her face.

"H-how about you stay over at my place then? Maybe we can work something out over there," the succubus said and suddenly was pulled into a hug, Ruby smiling happily.

"Oh thank you, Erilot! I knew you would help me out of it!" Ruby cheered as the succubus gave a nervous smile to how close she was with the devil.

"N-not a problem. My place is just further up ahead."

They finally have gone through the busy city and reached to fenced gates in which there was a stationed guard next to the road. There was just one guard, and apparently dozing off on the job as the strange furry demon had its cap to cover its eyes and leaning back in its chair, rather relaxed with arms folding over his chest. Erilot stopped the carriage next to the guard and she had an annoyed look on her face. She turns over to pick up a megaphone from the wagon and turned it on. The succubus aimed the end of it towards the dozing guard and pulled the trigger of it.

"We don't pay you to sleep!" She yelled into the megaphone, emitting her voice out at a larger volume and shocking the guard awake.

"Gah!" The demon jumped up in surprise, putting his hat back on his head yet in the opposite direction as well knocking over the chair. He breathes heavily after getting spooked out of his dozing. "Are you insane?! A nice pat on my nose would've done the trick! You insane bit-" The demon barked angrily at the succubus and held his tongue when Erilot dialed the megaphone for a different setting. "You know what? You're right, I shouldn't be sleeping on the job," huffed the guard, fixing his hat around. He shot an angry look at the bystanders who were laughing at him and looks back at Erilot. "So you returned back, mistress. Along with..." The guard was rather short and had to stand on the table to get a better look of Ruby who smiled and waved. "...who's she?" He asked, not really demanding yet his ears perked up with interest.

"Mind your business, damn mutt. I want the gates opened yesterday," Erilot huffed as the strange demon dog rolled his eyes, his ears drooping.

"Fine, don't tell me. Wait until your mate knows about this though," the guard huffed as he looks over at the gate. He snapped his fingers and the gates' gears rolled into life, pulled back the locks that held the gates in place and slowly the doors opened. "I'm still waiting for my paycheck by the way!"

"You'll get it...eventually," Erilot sighed as she snapped the reigns for the cockatrigles to get moving.

Once they got in, the gates closed behind them and Ruby looked at Erilot with curiosity written on her face. "I didn't think he would have magical abilities like that."

"He is a gatekeeper, as well a barghest. Just be careful around him, he is greedy. Though, he doesn't go past those gates so you should be fine away from him," Erilot said as she smiled at Ruby. "We're here."

"Wow! This is your place?" Ruby gasped as she gawks at the large building, significantly more decent compared to those she had seen outside the gates.

"That's right. I share it with a few others in which you'll meet eventually. Though around this time, everyone is mostly out. I only see a few lights on," Erilot said as she brought the carriage over to the front of the set of stairs.

Upon her arrival, an incubus opened up the doors to the mansion and ran down the steps. "Safe travels?" The male asked as he helped Erilot off the carriage.

"Mostly. I had a few issues but they weren't bothersome," Erilot said and noticed the incubus giving a strange look at Ruby. "She is a friend. Not one of the issues, Kilo."

Kilo blinks and nodded his head, helping Ruby off as well yet jumped back when he saw the wolf with her. "You know that Incoolord doesn't like animals, Erilot," Kilo commented as he tries to go around the animal to get on the carriage.

"Oh, but Blue is a good wolfy! She won't cause a mess!" Ruby defended her friend as she lightly scratches her skull bone, causing Blue's tail to wag in enjoyment.

"I'll talk to him about it. Just make sure to put those cockatrigles away and have a couple of Anu to help you with the rest," Erilot ordered.

"Very well," Erilot said and snapped the reigns to get moving.

Ruby watches the carriage leave, curious on what was exactly under the cloth yet Erilot pulled her attention away from it as she puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on. I'll show you around the place. It's almost time for dinner as well," the succubus said and Ruby went up the steps with her, having a happy smile on her face.

 

[Fume]

Damien​

"Oh we only have 3 demons in a critical state, some are injured, but thanks to the medics that were around and commander Dust to share his medical supplies with them, they were able to stop many deaths, though those three... Well they say that they might need to amputate their arms or legs, but because they lost too much blood they're afraid that it might kill them in the process.

Dust explained to them that, even though infection might appear, it'll only appear in the second or third day of treatment. Right now, they are on the clear, but we still aren't sure about it. If anything, I think that those three might..." Damien shook his head undignified. "No! They will live and they'll laugh with us like the good times! They'll be with their family again and we're gonna have a party when that happens! Plus, we have you two! The two most important people right abooooout now!"

He posed as he pointed towards the glitters that were caught off guard looking at the two humans. They disguised they stare while doing their duties, while still giving some side glances.

"The two of you are gonna be a big topic for a few days, specially with those scarfs! Not everyone can join Dust's squad on the first day, so you having them means you're special in his eyes! Like he saw that I was special in his, by calling me beautiful! Remembering it just brightens my day! ...Er, night!" He corrected himself in a silly mood, trying to sound depressing in times like these.

"Bring in more medical supplies! These two are starting to run on fumes here!" A soldier yelled towards the rest as they were scrambling around with boxes filled with their medical supplies.

"What's happening?" Damien asked to the soldier, to which the demon took a step back for the Ikus to see the soldier that laughed from before riddled with bloody bandages, his wound at his abdomen was opened from him trying to get up from before. A few beds ago, there was another demon that was mumbling to himself as his left eye had a bloody eye patch to it, his femur was out in the air as the medics were trying desperately to circularity put it back in by injecting into the demon painkillers and blood transfusions with melted blood beads. "Oh... My lord..."

On the whole room, the injured soldiers from before were resting as they could, but seeing their friends in pain forced them to feel powerless in sight that might be their last, hence they stood awake for their comrades final breath.

One of the medics looked at the humans before barking at them.

"What are you doing with those prisoners!? Take them back to their cell, this is an operating room right now!" He yelled as he tried to sew the first demons wound so that he wouldn't bleed out.

"T-they're with us! They want to help us! Look, they're with commander Dust!" He pointed towards the scarfs that they wore to which the demons eyes widened for a second.

"If you're healers, then help me with this one! He's been bleeding for almost thirty minutes straight, hanging in by a thread of his life! I need one of you to stabilize him and the other to make sure his heart is still beating! And don't you dare say that it's pointless! We don't let our brothers die, no matter what!" His determination to save lives was like an unending fire that wouldn't be quenched.

"Can you two do it?" Damien asked with hope in his tone.

*****
Demons - Third District​

They spotted their target as they drew closer and closer to what they had in plan. They can take their territory back, they can harm their kind, but they'll never take away the lives that were lost tonight. Not when they were right there beside them, despite being dead. They'll shoulder their dead and carry on what they left behind, their undying loyalty towards their kind and their commander.

"You humans didn't took our proposition, now suffer for what your foolish king has renounced! Try as you might, you will never be able to walk these streets with luxury again!" The squad of demons announced before clicking a button embedded on his belt, before throwing what looked to be a small rock, but in reality a small container with an explosive mix in it.

The humans plus what looked to be two additional ones, dodged it easily, but when the container hit the ground, the street and houses surrounding them exploded in a chain reaction after chain reaction. The squad could see that the two additional ones were able to escape, but not before sustaining damage with parts of their clothes singed. They immediately ran back towards the bridge, to inform of their success to activate plan B.

*****

Dust​

Even though they were a fair share away, the explosions lit up the houses like a powerful bonfire with it's embers emerging like balls of light. The sound of explosions echoed through the bridge, even shaking it from time to time.

"You really went all out, Chloe. Did you reinforce them with a double layer of gunpowder and an explosive spell?" He asked as the dark elf approached him.

"Not just that, but me and the rest put various mines and those trap spells all around the place. I gave the control to a specific demon general that I had in case we needed to activate it." Plan B is a simple plan but rather effective. Hid explosive mines and spell traps around their home turf. This will hinder mobilizing soldiers, making them think twice before approaching the bridge.

"While the idea is simple, there is a good flaw to it." He complained to her to which she agreed.

"This only works for people on the ground. It isn't much, but that'll be enough time to mobilize our army." She said to him while starting to walk back to check on her troops once more, just in case some were starting to feel fatigued.

"You mean your army. I'm just looking around." He replied back to which she retorted with a smirk.

"True, but you here makes morale much higher, with you, Damien and now those humans on our side, I feel much confident on our chances to win."

Late Phant0m

 

[Phant0m]

Phantom and Xiopetec didn't hesitate to get to the bleeding demon after giving a quick nod to Damien. The priest grabbed his wrist while Xiopetec placed her hands on either side of the bleeding wound. A low fuschia glow emitted from her hands as she closed her eyes, focusing her mana to slow the bleeding process. Phantom's gut was starting to drop as he tried to find the pulse, almost sighing in relief when he felt a weak one under his finger but that little voice in his head was starting to count down for the poor demon.

"He doesn't have long," He told the medic in a calm voice, "He's been bleeding for this long you haven't thought to cauterize the wound?"

"It needs to be closed-"

"The bleeding needs to stop. That's the priority! You're poking more holes for more blood to seep through!" He turned to his goddess. "Xio."

"I'm trying to slow it down...his blood pressure is very low child."

"I need something to get his blood pressure up!" Phantom barked at one of the other medics. "Xio, start numbing the wound."

Sweat started to bead at the goddess's brow and she glared at her priest. "You'll stay there and monitor his vitals. Get your fire ready too, now take my place and work your mana."

The goddess lifted her hands and Phantom quickly took her spot, a dull amber light replacing the fuschia as the light element weaved into the demon's body. With his mana going to work, he was able to get a better reading of the heart rate.

"Here!" A soldier announced, holding a bag of melted blood beads attached to a tube that would make transfusing the material into a patient's body easier.

Xiopetec took the bag, slammed a needle on to the end of the tube and with a second of using her mana to find a vein, stuck the needle into the dying demon's arm and she pushed the soldier into a spot to hold the bag. "Don't let that bag get empty." She stopped one of the demon sprinting with supplies and she grabbed a new needle with plenty of suture material and a handful of gauze. She returned to the bleeding wound and placed her supplies onto an empty spot on the bed and she looked to Phantom. "How's he doing now?"

The priest closed his eyes. "Blood pressure is getting back up but it's slow. I think I numbed the wound enough, but slowing the bleeding isn't working. So far...we bought him some more time."

"Give me your hand and light your first two fingers on fire."

Phantom obeyed, resting his left wrist in his goddess's outstretched hand. He put his hand into a fist, extending two fingers and summoning the flame element to gently lick around his fingers. He looked to the medic. "Drop the needle and hold him down."

The medic didn't have the time to protest, questioning why they thought they could take control of the situation before Xiopetec pressed her priest's burning fingers into the area of the wound where the most blood was oozing through. Phantom grimaced at the screams, pushing his mana harder to quickly relieve the pain. The medic held down the flailing demon while the other soldier was holding the needle in place to continue the transfusion. The stench almost made him gag and Xiopetec pushed the hand away and wiped the excess blood away, exposing the burnt skin that closed the blood vessel and revealing her next cautery target.

It felt like forever, the smell starting to spread around the tent before Xiopetec squeezed Phantom's wrist, and he extinguished the flames and had his other hand return to monitoring. Xiopetec took a deep breath before resuming what the medic was doing earlier, quickly moving the needle through to stitch the wound closed around the burned areas. "How are we doing on time?"

"Pulse is still going, blood pressure is getting a little better."

"Good."

Finishing the first set of stitches, Xiopetec grabbed her new needle and attached the stitching material to it and started to get a second set of stitches going, reinforcing the first set of stitches. When tied off the last stitch, her body posture relaxed minutely. "All set..I've stopped the bleeding for now but it's going to seep a bit while his body is trying to heal around the stitches."

"I'll grab the bandages and clean the wound out," The medic said, "Is he stable now?"

Phantom shook his head. "I still don't like how his vitals are," He answered as he looked to the demon's face, seeing him staring unfocused at something. "After they're better, he still needs to be closely monitored. The worse is over now...we made it just in time."

Fume

 

[Late]

Eosforos and Xavier
​

"Hold!" The captain yelled at his troops, the soldiers stopping and flinching in surprise when explosions erupted up ahead. They saw two survivors stumbling out from the explosives, coughing and nearly falling over from the damage they endured. "God damn, I told them to not go too far ahead," the captain growled low. His horse neighed in reaction to the earth rumbling below them and it wasn't stopping strangely.

Eosforos noticed his and was a bit worried about what kind of position they are in currently. Was it possible that the explosion was enough to shake the instability of the earth? He looked up over to the buildings and saw Xavier squinting up ahead and paying attention to the explosives. When it was safe, the man went ahead to scout further up in which Eosforos wanted to stop him from leaving them. He didn't want the same thing to happen again yet Xavier immediately returned back after going through the smoke and hopped down to ground level to check with the dazed soldiers. The angel sighed and walked up to the captain. The earth rumbling was slowly settling in.

"Did that only really caused an earthquake?" The captain muttered and looks down at Eosforos. "Your boy there, he is helpful, ain't he?" He said to the angel and sighed. The troops didn't move an inch until Xavier approached them with the two injured men.

"They have trouble hearing. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a concussion as well. Besides that, I was able to see the demons retreat back to the bridge with haste. I think they got more up in their sleeves," grumbled Xavier, letting go of the injured men so the other soldiers can have a good look at them.

"That is troublesome. We aren't necessarily equipped to be a defensive group. I figured doing an easy sweep around was all there is but it looks like this plan B is the real deal," the captain sighed. "We already worked this hard to claim the area...damn it."

"Let's not lose hope captain. Maybe we can find a way around this!"

The group turned around to see the duo demons approaching them, causing Eosforos to smile.

"So you two were the ones who heard this plan they muttered," the captain addressed them, turning his horse over so he can look down at them. He stared at each of them, his gaze was hard yet he slowly relaxed. "If it weren't for the warning, I suppose, I probably would've rushed through this process."

"And we're glad you didn't. Also, uh, we had a bit of help to get by the night guards since they were very stern to not let us go out. Our reasoning wasn't enough to convince them," Lu explained as she gestured above her.

Xavier looked up and he was pleased to see the nature dragon, Ivy, flying down to greet them.

"I hope I won't get into any trouble for this," Ivy confessed as the captain grinned at the dragon.

"You're a beauty, I doubt any of us here would try to lock you up for letting these two run out of camp. Though at the same time, they ran to us in order to help. I believe they earned most of my trust," the captain beamed. The three seems happy with his words.

"Since Ivy is here, maybe Xavier can have a safer lookout ahead. As a nature dragon, I'm sure she can camouflage herself to blend in the night skies. So I would keep note of that," Eosforos said to Xavier.

"A scout in the skies, yes. We really do need to see what those demons are up to as we can't see it down here," the captain agrees as Xavier nodded his head.

"Oh...uh, mind if I make a suggestion or two..?" Xavier asked, Eosforos nodding his head. "We really don't know what those explosions were for. Maybe to scare the troops away from getting any closer to the area. Yet, the chain reaction of explosions caused the earth to shake more than it should. Maybe we should use it to our advantage, now that Ivy is here."

"You're saying you want to cause another earthquake? The one from the explosion scared us a little," a soldier piped in.

"Ivy here is strong enough to make earth crumble. She is significantly better than before from the fight in Feita when we trapped down the enemy's army. Not to mention, she has something that the other two dragons lacked. If we can figure out what the demons are trying to do up ahead, then we can talk about what we can do about it. The demons here can scout ahead too. Maybe there are more traps yet to be seen, perhaps naked to the human eye. We already counter issues with that when there were spell traps back in camp. It's good that now I won't be the only one to notice those things. Along with the lizard shamans."

"That'll be a dangerous job to scout out for those. You two willing to risk our lives for ours?" The captain asked the demons.

Both Lu and Ciel looked at each other and back at the captain. "It'll be a piece of cake," Lu chirped with a grin as Ciel smiled in agreement.

"Just in case, I wouldn't destroy them when you do find them. Just remember where they are and avoid around them if possible," Xavier commented and made his way to Ivy

"Looks like someone wants to play leader for the night," Eosforos teased Xavier as the captain mobilized his soldiers and asking if the two injured ones were at least awake.

"I just think I picked up a few things for being quiet," Xavier sighed as he climbed on top of Ivy. "Ivy, I'll help you with your sight for a bit."

"I supposed you figured out that ability," Ivy commented, thinking back when she was able to see and work with Xavier's mind. "Dragon riders with that ability are gifted people..." She paused as Eosforos grinned up at her and the nature dragon huffed at him as if she could sense his smile. Eventually, she unfolded her wings and took up into the skies with Xavier on her back.

Eosforos turned back to the demons then. "And you two. You really did come after us," the angel said to them.

"Hey, when I have a guilty feeling about these sort of things, I just can't ignore it. Also, you're coming with us," Lu said, folding her arms.

It took a bit Eosforos to register that and he blinks a couple of times. "Why?"

"Aren't you part demon as well? I'm pretty sure you can scout out for spell traps without any issue. Stop hiding behind your chess pieces for once," Lu hissed quietly under her demon language as Eosforos felt offended.

"Seriously?" He asked with an upset tone. Often times, he doesn't like it when someone figures him out.

"Plus, I think it would be good to have someone watching our backs," Lu said out loud for the captain attention.

"But you have Ciel."

"We're a two-in-one. Sorry."

Eosforos ran out of words to say as the captain walked over to them. "Oie, did I hear that correctly? The angel going with the demons to scout ahead?" He asked for confirmation.

Lu didn't say anything, rather looking away as if she didn't say anything at all as Eosforos sighed aggressively. "Yes. I'm going with them," he answered to the captain.

"Good, more eyes up ahead. Listen up, boys! We're going to start off real slow! Let them scout ahead and dare I say, do not! I repeat! Do not go ahead of everyone else!" The captain yelled. "We can not spare any more men to get injured so pray that these allied demons and Ishmael's soldiers will be our saviors! The enemy demons took all we have from us and now, its time to show them that this is our land and they made a grave mistake for trespassing!"

With that, the soldiers slowly resumed back to advancing yet slowly as they give the demons and the angel enough time to scout ahead. Personally, Eosforos would argue with the former queen about his demonic part side of him. Since the power of the El left him, his demonic side was slowly growing back onto him. It wasn't a fast process as it was practically today that he got kicked out of Ishmael's kingdom but soon, the humans would eventually see his true identity. He only prays that the horns would just come in last. At the very least, she wasn't so wrong about pinpointing certain hidden demonic magic.

Fume

 

[Fume]

A round of applause and cheers were made towards the two healers, Damien hopping around the place like an energetic rabbit while yelling "You did it!" to Phantom and Xio. The less wounded demons really appreciated the kindness and expertise of the two.

"You guys are amazing! Oh dear lord in the night sky, that was intense!" One of the demons said happy to know that at least their friend was out of harms way for now.

"I can't believe I made such a mistake... I was sure that he was already prepared to stitching! Man, being a rookie combat medic is hard..." The medic said disappointed in himself. "I'll keep an eye on him just in case. I thank the both of you. You did a good job today!" He shook Phantom's hand in appreciation, overlooking on how his gloves had fresh blood on them. "Whoops! Sorry 'bout that." He grabbed a handkerchief and wiped the blood off. "How are things over there?" He asked to his seniors that were doing the final work.

"All done. This one will make it, though he needs a long time to recover. My advice would be for him to head back home and recover. I'll send a report to miss Chloe once I'm done inspecting things up." The senior responded to him before cleaning his gloves and helping the rest of his medic squad to organize the equipment. They still had work to do.

"What about the other guy? The one with a spear thrust in his right shoulder?" Damien asked, though the doctors shook their heads.

"That spear was secreted with poison. He died a few hours ago unfortunately. His coronary artery was severed at the point of impact. It was a miracle that he survived this long solely with the blood beads of the commander." They explained, though the mood was somewhat ruined, Damien stepped forth to try and make things a bit lighter.

"Hey come on! No need to look so gloom! We lost one of our friends, but we can't let that put us down! He wouldn't want that! I bet he spoke to you guys before he kicked the bucket, at least remember him for his service and words! That's the best we can do for him now."

"Heh, that bastard still owned me some cash. I'm gonna miss that fool..." One of the demons said with a bitter smile, while the others went ahead to comfort him.

"We lost a lot of good men that day, but don't worry. We still got each other." The injured said to him, only for him to nod in return.

"You two are awesome! Leave it for Dust to find good people! Ah man, this is just great! Lives are saved, life continues and friends coming around! Today IS a good day!" He cheered and praised them making Phantom a bit embarrassed in the process. "What do you guys think!?" To that, they responded with a cheer as well to him as well, though the medics...

"Keep your voice down, damn it! Other patients need some shut eye!" They berated to them. Though Damien...

"Yay~~~~!" He silently cheered once more in a cute whisper to them. "I don't think the others need that much healing, but if you guys wanna help out a bit more, than by all means! Bet the guys around here are more at ease with you two, now that you saved this guy here. Or maybe you want to meet Dust at the gate, Phantom? He did say that he wanted you to come there, while I introduce lovely Xio over here to the rest of the guards. Trust me when I say, that a few of them, took a likely interest in her. In more ways that one."

Phant0m

 

[Phant0m]

Phantom smiled at the medic and he pat his shoulder. "It's pretty overwhelming in tense situations. If it helps, just focusing on the big problem gives you a good place to start on how to treat the patient," He offered as he dismissed the apology with a wave of his hand. Xiopetec hugged her priest from behind, almost knocking her priest off balance as she draped herself over him.

"That was too emotionally exhausting," She complained in his ear.

"Get used to it Xio, this only a taste of what's to come the longer the war goes."

The pair had taken the praise with a small bow of their heads. The goddess beaming with pride, and Phantom with a red face and awkwardly playing with his scarf. He hadn't heard this much praise in a while, and he wasn't praised often enough to know how to respond to it. When he was going to heal someone, well a thank you would be in order but other than that the patient wasn't going to sing his name to the winds for doing what he was supposed to do.

Phantom refocused on Damien when the Ikus focused his attention on him and Xiopetec. He frowned at the information about people taking varying interests in the goddess, a small pang of jealousy blooming through his chest.

"Well...I should go to Dust then," The priest said, looking intently at his goddess, "Unless...do you want me to stick around?"

"I have dealt with those varying interests before, child." She kissed his temple and ran a hand through his hair. Then she hummed, quickly adjusting little details in Phantom's outfit until she deemed him presentable. "I'll be seeing you later, alright?" She smiled at Damien, "I'll take you up on your offer. I can help make the other injured more comfortable to sleep for the night," Then she made a shooing motion with her hands at Phantom, "Now go, child!"

The priest rolled his eyes and waved before exiting the tent and making his way to the gate.

Fume

 

[Fume]

Damien​

As Phantom left, Damien guided Xio around introducing her to the wounded guards. Be her noticing it or not, all of the guards were a little unease with her, more so than Phantom. As they were introducing her to the rear guard guards, Damien spoke up.

"Maybe I should've worded better for Phantom when I said that the demons were interest in you." He nervously laughed remembering the faint feeling of jealously. "Eh, he'll get over it, because it's somewhat serious on your case, big Xio." He then sat down on a barrel, even though he was a bit taller now on top of an object, Xio was a bit taller than him.

"I bet you don't know this, but in the demon realm, although we don't disregard a god or goddess, we have a very strict rule. You can summon them, but you can't make them comeback to the mortal world. And no doubt, I can feel Dust's mana on you, which means you were summoned and then took a mortal body for yourself, Dust probably got it for you." The cheery Damien had a small smile to give instead of his usual toothy grin that he was wearing a couple minutes ago.

"If you break that rule, you'll end up on court. In the lightest of cases, you'll spend 20 years in jail. But if it's the heavy case... You'll get the death penalty. Now I don't mind you saying things like "I'm the goddess Xio" or "I'm Phantom's goddess". That last one I can laugh without a second thought because the demons will think that he's your lover! A few of them whistled without you even knowing! Though, don't say things that can put Commander Dust in trouble.

He summoned you for a reason and I'm not gonna question you about that reason or even force you! I mean, you guys have your reasons and as a new sister into our group we respect each other! But... Well... He's risking a lot. If not for us then for the people that look up to him. He's the only commander that goes around sacrificing so much for the good of our kind, not to mention that the old sages say that he came into our world as a slave.

I wouldn't blame him for being angry at us, but he still calls that world his home. Calls us his family. And doesn't force us to do things that we don't want to. So as a new member to this loving family that he created from his many years of continuous hardships, don't make anymore trouble to him than what he has now, okay?

This isn't a threat! I repeat, lovely lady! This is not a threat! Just a simple request to not show your divine power or claiming to be a goddess around. Not until he says that it's okay. Plus. he did say if you or the cute boy wanted to be part demon. Wonder if the both of you will agree to that? Bah, that's question can be answered later on!" He turned back to his usual self thinking positive.

"What do you think of the demons around here? Are they kind or are they lame? I'd say that they're polite and thankful, buuuuut I'd like to hear from you!"

*****

Dust​

At the gate, Dust sat on top of a platform that he created using creation magic, high above the bridge. Where he was, he could see far, even the rebel camp. He just... watched. He saw plan B's explosions and sometimes feel the air current pass from said explosions.

It didn't take long for the fireworks to seize. He knew that humans were smart enough not to fall into the same trap twice. They had the power of infinite possibilities in them, all mortals do, but most of all, they had the ability to be survivors, to see a disaster through and face tomorrow with the knowledge of the past.

Yes, in that regard they are the strongest, however in other instances they have to face a greater challenge to become undoubtedly stronger. And that is to face their fears, to face their doubts and to be at peace of what they are and what they believe.

Having Phantom around was the nail in the coffin for him to realize that, although this student of his had no genius ability or some powerful spell in his arsenal, he had something that he himself had. A will to better himself for others.

What Phantom did in 5 months, Dust needed years upon years to master. Even though his student still lacked a few concepts, his drastic strength of improvement was astounding, Truly, he couldn't ask for a better student, even if the young man didn't knew half of this, he should at least feel proud of that.

Yes, he took pride in Phantom's exponential growth, he took consideration on the boy when he had to and now he took him in, in his family. But there was one thing that the boy needed desperately now, something that he had to do.

He looked back and saw Phantom looking around the place for him.

"Phantom, up here! There's a stairway on your left!" He yelled back at him, to which the priest looked up before spotting the stairway, he put a thumbs up confirming and started to make his way to him. "Sit a bit with me. You must be tired. This is the best spot to see all around Velder." He asked, but not before letting the boy get comfortable and rest a bit, as he kept a steady look at the sight. "What do you think of the demons now? Are they really that scary? How about the difference between them and the people at the camp over there?"

Phant0m

 

[MementoDei]

Glave​

The Skin Splitter moved its tail and swung it at Darhan, lifting a curtain of black dust and sending shards flying all across that section of Time and Space. A priest applauded, thinking that the angel had been crushed, but the rest were waiting for the dust to go away before celebrating the beast's victory.

"He is related to that former king we helped years ago. His name is Darhan Irisse. I think you know enough of elven lineages to know where he comes from."

Hennon nodded. "Myrrh forests again. A region believed to be where the purest elves lived for centuries, worshipping Yggdrasil. The Irisse was a clan known for their talented alchemists but they never accepted to join us, did they?"

Glave shook his head.

"What a waste. The Irisses, the Myrlens, the Mirwynns, the Palerias, the Tovaris...all those powerful clans lost to a pathetic siege instead of joining forces with us. So different from Resiam nobility. Those Myrrh elves lived stuck in the past, never aiming for anything greatest than their small and pathetic cult."

"Except the Tovari fled to the Resiam Empire eight centuries before the war began. They did aim for something greater, but they never reached high spheres of power within the Empire. Although their wealth was nothing to laugh at, their craft gave them a fortune."

"Oh?" the general raised an eyebrow. He wasn't aware of the contemporary history of the Tovari. Most of what he did know about them was their signature forging techniques and some powerful swordsmen that wielded their own weapons to war. "Then they must be part of those traitors old elven poems talk about. They appear in the poems Requiem to the Moon and..."

Hennon looked down with a frown, visibly frustrated at how his memory was failing him.

"The Unforgiven. Verses three to five and verse fourteen." Glave replied.

"The Unforgiven. Three to five...and fourteen..." Hennon repeated, closing his eyes as he tried to remember how those verses went. After a couple of seconds, he snapped his fingers and told Glave that he remembered. "The most ominous verses for the so-called traitors. The Unforgiven as a whole makes a direct reference to Seven Tower, condemning the actions of Eldrians, Pthumarians and the few elven clans that decided to join them."

The cloud of smoke finally dissipated. The monster looked around and a small trail of silver flew above it, summoning another rain of spears, most of them were deflected by the tough armour.

Glave sighed. "It goes a bit beyond that. It's a declaration of war. Remember how many elves accepted to side with other gods to go in a Holy crusade against Seven Tower? That poem was their mantra."

Hennon huffed. "They did nothing except send their sons and daughters to their deaths. The Seven Tower was at the peak of its Golden Age. That's why the Sun Elves and the Lythari, those shapeshifter illegitimate sons, went extinct. Good riddance."

Glave swallowed his amusement at Hennon's poor translation of 'bastards'. Those two elf species did lose to the Seven Tower, but the combat had not been as easy as Hennon wanted to make it sound. Still, it was thanks to the experiments he did to the Lythari prisoners that the idea of the Seed of Life took shape.

The Skin Splitter jumped towards the angel, its snout open and ready to eat its prey in one strike. A series of small flashes of silver appeared and the beast's snout was bleeding. It fell badly on the ground and got up after a couple of minutes.

"Oracles, zoom in. Let's see how this angel is still inflicting damage."

The Oracles did as they were told and to their shock, they saw the elf fully in control of a fraction of Henir's energy. Its blue marks transformed into old Pthumarian runes before returning to form geometrical traits. His wings had also light blue traits that were absorbing more and more of the Void's power. The elf's sword absorbed back the power his wings gathered and focused it in ropes of energy that tried to restrain the Skin Splitter. It broke free.

"No! We can't have that here! Send more monsters, Oracles! We cannot let him live!" yelled the same masked priest who said before that the angel would die.

Panicked murmurs ran through the room as a hundred hounds and leeches were released behind the angel. Hennon had no words, he watched in awe as Darhan's ears perked up and he evaded most of the leeches' acid. Some hounds managed to bite his wings and bring him down. Darhan's sword charged again another ray of energy that separated itself into ribbons of energy, slashing down the hounds that jumped at him and cutting slightly the Splinter's giant paw.

"..How? How the hell is he absorbing a power that would already turn him into a mindless monster?!" asked the priest who bet that Darhan would beg them to stop his slow torture. "Oracles! How much power has he absorbed?!"

"...Enough to turn any new recruit into a Freak Hound in its second phase of power. Something is keeping his mind from giving in and accept Chaos as his new nature." one of them answered.

"In all my years...I've only seen one other man hold such a strong will. Is it because he's also an elf? A human would've let his desire for violence take over in an instant." the head Oracle mumbled.

An almost perfectly synchronized gasp of surprise floated in the room before Glave put a hand over Hennon's shoulder. "I hope you will think twice before trying to end my little fun, Hennon. You do know what can happen when the power of the El gets slowly superficially corrupted like that, right? "

The general was still under shock and barely glanced at Glave before yelling an order. "Oracles! Contain this section of the Void! Isolate it ASAP!"

"Roger that!" the Oracles said in unison.

"How much time do we have?"

"Not much, General." the head Oracle said. "The fusion of both corrupted and pure El is inevitable at this stage. We might soon be looking at a dimensional breach."

Glave let out a sigh. "He will escape, Hennon. Too bad your deal will be cut off, you better find another way fast." The Administrator was amused by how the tables had turned. In every failure there seemed to be even brighter discoveries.

Hennon, however, didn't see it that way. He clenched his fists and punched the arms of his throne and his hateful gaze darted onto him. "Don't you dare mock me, Administrator. Who insisted on accepting such a shady offer from that bitch?"

Glave chuckled. "My, my. I simply told you the fastest way to get your plan going. I never said it was the most effective."

****
Lento​

He was talking to the centry guards to assess who went in and out during the day, when a report came in through the only crystal communication sphere left. The image of a squad captain appeared briefly before only waves were visible. He rushed along the guards and, considering their pale looks, he assumed that whatever was happening on the field, it was not good. The ground shook weakly and Lento rushed outside to see smoke come out from the third residential district.

The captain of the Centry guards waved at him and informed him of the situation. Some of Yullr's men ran from where the smoke was coming. Although most of them were unharmed, they carried three wounded. Without a second of hesitation, he told the captain to reach the rest of the scouts and prepare them with magic detection amulets. If demons were going to throw cheap tricks at them, they would be prepared.

When he reached Yullr's tent, the elf was soundly asleep despite the commotion outside. Many soldiers had woken up and some had even put some light armour on. He called the elf multiple times, but it seemed useless.

Lento walked towards the hammock and shook Yullr's shoulder. The elf frowned and glanced at him before closing his eyes again. "Do you know how late it is? I'm in no mood for midnight traini-"

"Your men came back. The demons have set an explosive trap around the Third residential district."

With two sentences and half a minute of preparation, Yullr was up and alert. "You called them all back, I hope."

"Anyone would."

"Good. I'll go personally to that part of the town. I need to make sure there's no danger left around."

"There's already people assigned to that."

"Perfect, that means less risks for me. I'll grab a horse."

Yullr seemed irritated, or perhaps just concerned for his men. Without a sound left to reach his ears, Lento couldn't tell people's attitude anymore. Reading lips and looking at half-lit faces under the moonlight was not enough. He prayed that Yullr would return safely.

Late

 

[Late]

Xavier
​

Despite the ongoing chained explosions, it was peaceful up in the night skies. He suddenly realized how much he missed riding along with his family members, feeling the taste of freedom and dominating the skies. It was something he always enjoyed, having a good grip on Ivy’s vines as they quietly glide through the wind and often the dragon would flap her wings so they wouldn’t decline too far down.

Her camouflage was working like magic, back to how Xavier remembered. Often times, this was what she use when they play hide n seek. Of course, Xavier was the one who have to seek her out but at the very least, she would try to make it easy for him. The memory made his lip twitch into a slight smile, ignoring the small pain he felt.

Pain. Xavier forgot when was the last time he felt happy and relaxed. Even though he was up in the skies with Ivy, his heart throbs painfully for the past deaths of his other family members. And he blames himself for it because it was literally his fault. No one could possibly change his mind about that. Even if he brought up the topic, the remaining dragons would likely avoid around the subject and not admitting any truths about it. He knows that they are sad as well but he carries the most weight in his heart.

Maybe that’s the reason why Perkisas has a trouble time trying to click with his mind. If the greed dragon would ever have back his control to synchronize with Xavier’s soul, then it would be one hell of a change for the dragon tamer. Though for now, Perkisas can only manage making comments, humming folksongs, and staying in utter silence in which Xavier knows that the dragon was trying to figure out what Xavier is thinking about. Like now.

“Xavier, the explosions from other areas has stopped,” Ivy spoke, dragging Xavier out of his silence.

“I see,” Xavier replied as he steady himself to get a look below. He can see the demons triggering the explosions fleeing to the bridges. He squinted slightly, noticing that this bridge in particular was supposedly a demon’s camp. He can as well spot a few from other bridges but this one in particular was where the demons retreated to. “Ivy, mind getting a little closer?”

“Fine by me,” the dragon responded as she glide down for Xavier to get a closer look.

They were able to be above of the retreating demons, at least a vine’s length and Xavier eyed at the one further back from the group. Before they could be back in their safety of their camp, Xavier quietly communicated with the dragon to pick up the last demon behind. One of Ivy’s vines shotted down to the further demon, catching it off guard completely as it wraps around its body. The vine wrapped tightly as the demon tried to shout at his allies for help. Yet his breathe was cut short when the vine was fast enough to tighten around its neck before lifting the demon away.

Right at the moment, Xavier tugged the vines he gripped on backwards in which Ivy understood what he meant and was able to avoid making a collision against the bridge, picking up heavy wind in result. Ivy had the demon tight in her hand as Xavier mumbled that they can return back. Ivy took a strange pause as the demon struggled around in her hand but eventually she turn around to retreat back where they left the others. As they got away at a good distance and were closer to the ground, Ivy dropped her camouflage and search around for the group by scent.

Eosfóros
​

They were able to find many spell traps around and it was troubling. It was just too many to uncover their invisibility for the humans to see and it as well would be draining for them to do so. Destroying them at a good distance was just the best bet to get through yet Xavier told them not to and Eosfóros had to agree.

Another explosion against the ground will surely cause an upsetting earthquake. If the loss of the Earth El was this bad, then Eosfóros doesn’t want to think about what will happen if they do nothing about it.

“You think it’s best to move above ground?” Eosfóros asked to the other demons.

“Well, I suppose so. Even though majority of these buildings are unstable,” Lu commented. “You’re lucky since you got wings...though...we could try to scale up that wall over there.”

“Hmm, it’s high...but we do have Ivy,” Eosfóros said. “If the demons only focused on ground floor, then it’s not likely that they put bombs up on the wall. Plus, the demons don’t know we have two new dragons with us. I say it’s not a bad idea.”

Eventually he saw Ivy approaching and the group made a gesture to land towards the safe zone. Once they landed, Xavier hopped off and Ivy let go of what she had in her hand.

“You caught one?” Eosfóros asked in surprise to see an enemy demon, who was somewhat wobbly on its footing before falling over, eyes closed.

“You still can interrogate, right?” Xavier asked as Eosfóros gave a look.

“Without a doubt. I’m assuming this one was a little slow compare to others.”

“Yes, it was. Ivy already put it to sleep and it seems to be carrying a few things on it. Perhaps the weight slowed it down,” Xavier said as he slightly kicked the sleeping demon.

“Well, we have a bit of a plan to get around these landmines. If Ivy is willing to help of course,” Eosfóros said. “To scale up that wall.”

Xavier looked over where the angel was pointed at and stares up at Ivy. “Its tall.”

“I think I’m understanding how Cornelius feels for being more experienced,” Ivy huffed as she nodded her head. “I can help everyone up and down the wall. Not a problem truthfully.”

“As for these bombs?” Ciel questioned.

“Well...since we’re not planning to go in that direction, we could destroy it or leave it as it is. Just mark the street as a minefield,” Eosfóros suggested.

“Let’s ask what the captain wants to do with those mines. Im assuming it’s dangerous up ahead,” Xavier commented.

“That’s right,” Eosfóros said with a nod of his head. “From here and up to that building is how far we uncovered.”

With that, the group ran back to the soldiers and told the captain of their report and the wall. The captain stared over at the wall from the far left, scratching his chin.

“That wall has been used for a good while. It would be too high to scale it up even for us to use but if the dragon can help then it’s possible. We had to send those injured men back to camp so it won’t be long that someone else will return to us. We can have our demon prisoner go back then. So, you say that you can interrogate, angel?” The captain asked to Eosfóros.

“That’s right. It’s been awhile but I know how it works and I have a way with words,” he replied with a smirk.

“Huh, and I guess it helps to have demon translator on our side,” the captain said as he looked over at the duo. Eosfóros didn’t say anything but just a smile at the captain. He didn’t press on about it as he eventually turn to see the wall. “Well, I hope no one here is afraid of heights. Let’s discuss about further plans as we wait for more help.”

 

[Late]

Ruby
​

Even though the succubus only wanted to server her dinner for the night and giving her a spare room to sleep in, Ruby convinced her enough to give the mischievous red hair girl a tour around. So up to this point, Ruby knows more than she should have and Elriot couldn’t understand why her mind would change so often. Yet she wasn’t so mad about it in the end. Though one thing for certain, the succubus was trying to avoid mentioning about the basement. Whenever Ruby would ask curiously about the stairs that would lead to the lower ground, Elriot would brush it off by saying it was storage room. Unfortunately, Ruby was and always will be, a curious girl.

At the end of their tour, they eventually have dinner together. Ruby wonders when the others that Elriot mentioned would show up, yet, she wonders if it was best if they don’t meet her at all. All Ruby was trying to do is to act friendly and innocent, in which someone really took the bait. If no one else were to show up at a later time, it’s going to easy to use whatever was around to her advantage.

Though, she couldn’t stop thinking about what could possibly be in the basement. Ruby absently put her plate down when the succubus was busy talking to other servants. Blue happily ate up her leftovers with no problems, crunching on the bones and licking the plate clean. She rather finished fast as Ruby picked back up the plate to see it was spotless. When Elriot came back, Ruby gave the succubus her signature smile and showing off the clean plate.

Later on, Elriot tried to get more information out of her, such as where she came from. Ruby told her some truths and a few lies: such as coming from a family down south, being the only child, and gone through many travels before reaching here. Elriot ate her lies, or maybe she was getting too tired to pay attention to what Ruby was saying to her. Ruby finally announced that she wants to rest for the night, the succubus being happy to show her the room she will be staying in.

“J-just for a preoccupation, since I don’t trust my, uh...roomates, I’m going to lock your door for the night,” Elriot said, holding up a key.

They were at the bedroom for Ruby, the devil taking a nice walk around with a smile on her face. She looked over at Elriot and nods her head in understanding.

“O-kay! It looks like I got myself a personal bathroom in here as well so I don’t think I’ll be wanting to leave the room for the night,” Ruby said to her, walking up to the succubus. “Thanks a lot! Much appreciated!”

“Ah its not a problem...” Elriot said, smiling back at her and suddenly a servant walked up to her.

“Miss Elriot. There’s an important mail for you,” the servant said to the succubus.

“Not now.”

“It’s rather urgent, regarding to the man in the bas-“

“Not. Now.”

The servant seem to shrink under Elriot’s glare as Ruby raised her eyebrows in curiosity. The servant said her apologies and hurried away. The succubus sighed and gave Ruby an apologetic look.

“Im...sorry. Sometimes these guys forgot that I’m not really in charge here...” Elriot paused for a moment, eyes darting around. “God, things are really hectic...uh Ruby, just know that this might be the only night you’ll be staying here...”

“Oh that’s just all I need! You helped me enough to survive through the night. I think I got a good idea on what I can do the time I leave,” Ruby said with a smile.

“O-oh? Good, that’s good,” Elriot sighed, nodding her head. “Alright, rest well then.”

“Night!~” Ruby said and kissed her nose with a small giggle.

She closed the door before she could see Elriot’s red face and waited around until she heard the door being unlocked. Blue looked up at her with a curious gaze, tilting her head to the side as Ruby went ahead to stretch out her arms and walk towards the bed.

“Let’s wait for an hour or two. Let’s work out these bed sheets...”

 

[Phant0m]

Xiopetec
​

The goddess hummed as she listened to Damien and she opened her mouth to protest. Although Dust indeed summoned her, Phantom technically summoned her first. Although she didn't physically manifest, she still manifested inside his head. Her priest was her tie to the mortal realm...and still is. If anything were to happen to Phantom, she would still succumb to fading again despite all of the hard work.

But she clamped her mouth shut. Despite Damien's easy personality, she didn't trust him quite yet with the task to help her look out for Phantom. She liked him a lot tho, there weren't a lot of souls like his. Beside that point, she'll keep her little correction to herself.

She giggled. "I will keep that in mind Damien," she assured as she pat his shoulder, "Although, it won't be the first time people thought that Phantom and I were lovers," She rolled her eyes, "Honestly, they see a man and a woman with a very close relationship and assume. I'm like a mother to him, and nothing more."

She folded her arms, her eyebrow twitching in irritation. "Besides, I'm not romantically interested in men anyway." She waved her hand in the air, trying to dismiss her tangent. "But anyway, I do like being here even though I haven't been here long. Being a-who I am, I'm not... what's the word...discriminatory about my thinking and opinions? I mean, what I stand for doesn't discriminate between human or other species, so why should I?" She paused for a second, thinking about what to say next. "So far, they've been kind. Distant, but I wasn't expecting more than that."

Phantom
​

The priest started to kick his feet as he stared at the view. "Where do I start?" He chuckled and he gave a half shrug, "I mean, no demons are not really scary. Well, not as scary as the stories I used to hear. But I knew some of those were just to make people hate them. And stupid tales that...I don't know how to refer to her but she used to tell me those stories so I would behave. I know better now but I don't have much of an opinion because I haven't been here long."

He hugged his knees to his chest. "As for how different this camp is compared to the human camp...well I was able to help Xio with saving a patient." Phantom gave a small smile. "And Damien's very nice so that's helping." He looked over to Dust. "But you promised something fun...unless it's the view-which is very nice by the way."

Fume

 

[Fume]

Dust​

"I don't know much about fun. You could say that I have lived little with enjoyment. Never had the chance, never could've take a break. Though, we're not here to talk about me. We're here to just take a moment. Just a fleeting moment before the storm." He said as he looked, his eyes looked distant.

"You might not get another moment like this for a good while." He continued with that look of his, staring beyond the night sky. Just having the nightly wind pass through them. "In my squad, every single member had a problem or two in their lives, making them not take the step forward. Make it demons or humans or whatever race, there's this weight on our shoulders and in our hearts that will never be lift, not without some help.

While it's fine to do everything you can by your own, having a helping hand is always appreciated. You can conquer a whole country on your own, but you'll never conquer your life alone. That's why after a new member joins my squad, I take the time to learn what they are afraid, what years after years of pain made them into what they are now and how to make them cope with it better.

Of course I don't force them to talk, but just that action can make them feel better. No doubt you had Xio to talk about your problems all this time, which I am grateful for that girl, but maybe opening up a little bit to others would do you good too? After all, our circumstances aren't only ours, other people might've been in the same situation, some worse than others.

But I understand if you don't want to talk about it now. We've only met for 5 months and sometimes, we prefer things for ourselves, I'm the same way. I keep things for myself, because my squad and the demons that look up to me need someone strong, someone that they can rely, and I do just that. I push all my dark thoughts and depressing ones away, because no matter what, I know at the end of the day, I'm giving them the strength to keep going and that is enough for me too." He said while continue to watch. The explosions stopped a while now.

"But for now," He stood up and stretched his arms. "We need to let the humans on the other side know that they just lost an invaluable person from their side. And for that, we're going to send them a little something."

With his left hand, he created a spear of fire, before applying his dark element on it, making it crackle it with a fiery black energy. He let some more of his power to be increase it and let it hover in between them.

"Make a spear yourself with your element and combine it with me. Afterwards, all you need to do is throw it. To show them that they lost their chance, that you are here and to stay, that you're alive and well enough to survive, that no matter what, they made an enemy of Phantom Samay. Helper of demons, member under my care and finally, the combat healer that they never knew." He incentive him with a smile towards the new recruit. This is the best way for him to show them that his voice is louder than a hundred soldiers.

Phant0m

 

[Phant0m]

Phantom
​

He stood as well, looking between the spear and where it was pointed. At first his expression was... hesitant but then a wicked grin grew as something sinister started to gleam in his normal eye. His snake almost seemed to give a dull glow as he chuckled. The priest opened his palm, and a spear of fire manifested with the flames crackling with a gold hue, the light element at its work.

He brought the spear to Dust's, and the fire worked as a glue to bring the two spears into one, the light and dark energy almost intertwining with each other as the spear grew more in size.

Phantom grabbed the spear with his right hand, bouncing it in his palm and getting into position to throw it. He grinned at Dust. "A spear is worth a thousand words huh?" He jokes and then he volted it with all of his strength towards the camp.

His grin died a little when he thought of Lento and Yullr, and then his expression hardened. It's war, and besides he wanted to watch Ishmael's toe-kissers burn. "Take that motherfuckers," he hissed.

Fume

 

[MementoDei]

Lento
​

Despite the agitation among civilians and soldiers, he kept everyone busy, either looking for traps or for other incoming attacks. The group of mages were the first ones to report back to him. Despite the explosions, the few sensors left around by Yullr's scouts and those from the Red Knights were enough to alert them that a huge magical projectile was coming towards them. There were only ten minutes before impact, and no matter how powerful he was, he wouldn't be able to forge such a barrier the size of the camp in that time. Some mages put around preventive magical barriers to slow down the demon's attack. In the worst case scenario, they would give them five more minutes before impact. If they were lucky, the shields could delay the attack by twenty minutes.

Yullr had left without any means of communication, but if he was headed to the Third Residential district, then perhaps he was near one of the devices his men left behind. Unfortunately, he was in a silent zone, just in between the gap of reach of two magical detection devices. His first plan was no longer a guaranteed success, but he hoped that Yullr would see the projectile in time and try to stop it.

Lento sent off the civilians and the wounded to an underground bunker typically reserved to the soldiers. He had only one shot at this, and he would do everything in his power to be certain that his plan would work.

****
Yullr​

While he was riding, he saw a glow from the Hope bridge. Two barriers activated in the horizon and a giant energy spear was stopped by the first barrier. Fire, light and darkness magic were mixed into it, and the first barrier was already cracking under the pressure. He spured on his mount and, after some seconds, he saw a magical detection device imbued with his men's magic. Lento's voice echoed from it.

"Yullr, do you hear me?"

"Yes, I do. For the love of Yggdrasil, I got to thank you for convincing Elesis on the necesity of these sensors along the way. That reckless child would have killed us all. The first barrier won't last much, but I suppose the mages have already informed you of that."

"They will have mana potions soon. Do you think you can help in the meantime?"

Yullr took a deep breath and passed a hand over the back of his neck. The seal was weakening, but it wasn't by much. He was becoming way too rusty, but to be fair, he had not been in a battlefield in a long time. "I'll see what I can do, but that spear is made of three elements. Stopping it will require a lot more work."

"Can you weaken it or delay it?"

The elf scoffed. "Good question. I'm getting rusty, so perhaps I can delay it for thirty minutes before passing out. Weakening that thing is way more tricky. You'll have to carefully separate each elemental magic and absorb its mana before it becomes unstable. Good luck to find someone that can do that for you. Evacuate the camp while you can."

"I won't let the demons win, Yullr. I'm counting on you."

"Oi, you do realize that-!" The elf barked at the small device before realizing that the magical communication channel had been cut. He let out a deep sigh and opened his grimoire to let out multiple corrupted water spirits. "If only he was less stubborn..."

The spirits began to gather around him and formed a dome around the magic device. They circled around a five kilometre area and strengthened the devices responsible for the third shield's activation. The second barrier was now seconds away from completely giving in. His grimoire floated in front of him and five hundred small ice spirits got out from it. He couldn't do much about the light and the darkness element, but if he could at least control and, perhaps, even diminish the fire attribute embedded in the dreadful spear, then it would make things easier for Lento and whatever he was planning on doing. He hoped that his friend would realize the right thing to do before it was too late.

The spear was closing in and he felt the mana of at least fifteen mages mix to his spirits' strength inside the amulets. The shield rose into the fading night sky and the white shield took a blue hue thanks to his efforts. The spear was stopped in the middle of the shield and it brought a smirk of satisfaction to his face. He focused most of his spirits on the point of the spear and slowly began to try to find a hole between the multiple mana particles. Drops of cold sweat rolled down his temple as his seal began to throb.

"No, not yet. I haven't done anything to get that thing activated!" he thought.

He was panting when he finally found the opening he needed. The ice spirits began to enter the inferno produced by the spear. A small crack formed on the shield, and Yullr grunted as he began to dissipate the fire element within the spear. Dust. Dust's mana was in there. He had always suspected that hybrid, and he was no different from all those other hybrids he had met in the demon world. The commander had a lot to say about morality or whatnot, but his ways were no different from a demon. As expected. The elf's struggle to diminish the fire was only ten percent done, when he detected another mana.

Knowing whose it was made it more painful, and harder to keep his control over his spell. Phantom. The priest had never seemed like the kind of person to do this willingly. Despite his selfish attitude, he was a good kid. He remembered what he had told that priest before the sun had set, and his pensive expression before he decided to join the other side. Yullr was almost certain that Phantom had not willingly chosen to do such a horrible thing to civilians and rebels. Yet, there was that glimpse of hatred for the soldiers in his eyes. The seal was throbbing even more and he felt a thousand needles got through his neck.

"AAARGH!" He couldn't help to let a cry of pain and sadness. Phantom's face was getting mixed with Darhan's face when he abandonned him. It was the same fake apologetic look. Glowing sky blue lines began to spread like veins over his skin. The seal had been broken."NO! IT'S NOT THE SAME SITUATION! PHANTOM WAS FORCED INTO IT, HE HAD NO CHOICE!" A wave of mana broke the lower part of the shield, and the spirits began to disperse. Yullr had to take back control. Fast. He focused back on the consequences of losing control here and now, and he felt the pain fade slowly away. The blue lines slowly began to shrink and vanish and the wave of mana focused all its power on what he had to do. However, his body was at its limit. His hands were trembling as the last whisps of usable mana left his body. He fell over his back and the spirits he had summoned vanished without a trace. He was covered in sweat, and his body felt like it was made of lead. The barrier had only ten minutes left at most.

****
Lara​

She had seen the last glimpse of memories left. A priest called Phantom, a goddess named Xiopetec, Yullr and Dust had been there with Lento. Their memories were spread like a mist of sad and unifying souvenirs. She liked to think of it the same way one would think of a memento. She had looked for even fainter sources of mana and she had found her. Lara Tureen, the one she had taken been sent to. It was odd to see her struggle to accept Lento's visible advances on her. Why would she refuse to pursue such a vital thing for survival? There were many things that intrigued her about all the people she had seen through the desert's memories. She was crouching over a dune of sand when a portal opened and Lento appeared again. Behind him, some voices hollered something and sounds she had never heard before drowned her hearing.

Lento seemed to be very stressed out, but also certain of what he came here to do. He walked towards her and she got up, dusting her skirt from the sand. "Lento Asini? What brings you-"

"I need you to help me. I know you don't care about human lives or whatever, but-"

"Actually, Lento Asini....I was looking through the memories of this desert and I think I understand a bit more why life is so precious to humans."

The knight raised an eyebrow and she opened her mouth to ask him the hundreds of questions that had troubled her for months, but he continued to speak in a much colder voice than what she or the desert remembered. "Good to hear that. I suppose you will help me out this time. We need to briefly connect our power in order to defend the camp. If we don't, the demons might as well take over the world."

Uniting their power. She still remembered the gestures the other Lara had done before, and she replicated them. Lento was somewhat startled by it, but soon enough, she felt his soul and his mana resonate with hers. There was no need to speak, as their thoughts could be heard by each other.

"...Is this it?"

"H-how-?" Lento stared at her for a couple of seconds and she felt a different kind of anxiety build inside him before being pushed under the rug like it was nothing. "Never mind that. Let's go, Lara."

She looked down, but nodded nevertheless. Beyond the portal, the air was cool and the breeze under the indigo sky filled her with peace. This seemed to affect Lento, as his stress was also lowering. Lara looked around the various shelters the humans had put around and the few humans that were covered in a suit of metal. The small fires lifted a spicy smell into the air and she couldn't help but smile at the unknown jewels that the human world offered her.

"It's so beautiful."

"Yes. But it won't be for long if we don't hurry."

Lento's thoughts were less cold than before, but by looking deep enough into his mind, she could see his memories about a giant spell that would crush them all. That was what kept him on the edge.

"Lara, please don't do that without telling me."

She was a bit taken aback by the request, but by the time she was thinking of a reply, she felt like her own mind was slipping from her own control. "H-Hey! What was that?"

Lento scoffed. "It's how it feels when someone looks inside your mind. Now, we need to forge a barrier to dissolve the elements inside that spear. The mages just told me that the Spear will reach the last barrier within fifteen minutes. Yullr seems to have weakened a bit and delayed it enough for priests to strengthen the remaining barriers."

"How many barriers are left?"

The knight told her to follow him and after twenty minutes, they were outside the tightly-knit collection of shelters. It was an open field where mana flowed in much less quantity than in the desert. She began to understand why Lento had insisted on uniting their power. Without much mana around them, they would have barely enough power to match the gigantic projectile that was on the horizon. A single barrier was standing between them and the apocalyptic power. In perfect synchronization, they closed their eyes and began to gather mana around them to channel their own into a barrier. The mana transformed into a dome and began to expand as a small hole pierced the last barrier put by the mages. Once their barrier covered completely the camp, they opened their eyes and Lento's hair turned white while one of his eyes turned red. She felt the power of the Darkness set loose through her body and her fingertips turned blue, like the colour of the hounds and other monsters she had seen. This new wave of power allowed them to extend the reach of the shield further. The last human defense broke and only ten seconds passed before their mana felt the weight of the spear. Lento grunted, his mana was too focused on destroying the spear that she had to stop him before he made the spear explode.

"One by one. Remember, like Yullr told you. Slowly."

She directed his flow of mana along hers, slowly weakining the links between the fire, the light and the darkness it was made of. He soon got the trick and their work progressed even faster. Because of their nature, absorbing the mana was the easy part. In fact, the more they kept going, the more the neutralized mana empowered them. Roughly half an hour later, the spear's size was reduced to half and the fire within it was almost extinguished. Lento coughed and some drops of blood streamed down his nose. He was overdoing it, but she could help him sustain the strain of their task for a little longer. She transformed the last embers of fire mana into a weak regenerating spell to heal Lento.

"What is next, the light or the darkness?"

"Light seems to be more unstable."

"Good, then we'll get rid of it first."

They heard some cheers behind them, and although voices couldn't empower their stamina nor their mana, they heigtened their will to destroy the lance, despite their shaking fingers or the few wounds that their mana circuits made on their skin from overuse. An hour and a half later, the lance had vanished from the sky and a bright red light was rising over the horizon, bringing to the sky a warm red colour. The humans covered in steel cheered that victory and Lento fell to his knees, exhausted, but laughing.

"Oh, thank the El! We did it!" he lifted his arms up into the air and repeated those same words as he chuckled. She wasn't as tired as he was, but the loud words of thanks and pats in the back she was getting from humans she didn't know made her join the festive aura.

"We did it!" she hollered.

Some caped humans helped Lento up and began to use healing spells on him, but he quickly dismissed them. Lento walked towards her, with a genuine smile on his face and thanked her for her help.

The human realm was truly a wonder.

 

[Late]

Lu and Ciel
​

"The hell was that?" The captain said out loud.

Everyone obviously saw the magic spear flying above them and it took them by surprise to see the attack soaring through and aimed at their camp. It worried the captain that it might have hit its target but from the sounds of it, it looks like the mages back at the camp were able to handle it. There was no noise or explosions from the attack, and even though there was no outcome, the soldiers felt nervous for their fellow friends.

Seconds later, a soldier on a horse returned back to the group and briefly gave the captain new orders from the commanders. "Huh. Looks like we're returning back, men. Surely we'll pick back on this tomorrow now that we figured out what we can do next. For now, get rid of those untouched bombs. Can't have them lying around. We can worry about the damage later, maybe when we have this area fully secured." He gestured to his men to get ready to head back. The captain looked over at the other five. "Make it quick if you can."

"Ciel and I got this," Lu said with a smirk.

"Is it me or have you gotten a bit cockier the last time I was with you," Eosforos questioned the former queen as the human soldiers marched away.

"What? How about you sit still for months?" Lu huffed as Eosforos gave a slight smile.

"I see your point. I guess I'll eventually know how you'll feel now that I am disabled like this," Eosforos sighed.

Lu realized this and coughs. "I mean...I have enough energy to take care of this. It is late after all and it's best if you guys rest up for tomorrow's work. I'm pretty sure after that stunt we did back there, they won't let us out of their sight for a few days. Let us just soak this up before the day ends."

"No, no. I hear you," Eosforos said, waving his hand. "The bombs go as far down to that building. Go crazy with them," Eosforos said with a grin.

They exchanged quick words before Eosforos takes his leave with Xavier, Ivy being adamant to have the angel on her back. The three took off with the captured prisoner, leaving Lu and Ciel alone with their thoughts. The duo watched them leave before facing towards the land of bombs. Despite the silence, Ciel can tell there was a strange emotion coming out of Lu as they stared ahead, feeling a bit worried about what she might be thinking of. There was definitely pain and anger he was feeling from his partner but he didn't want to make her uncomfortable by asking her. Besides, he can probably guess what it was about.

Lu's fists tightened as she let out a sigh, finally looking at Ciel. "Let's make it quick, like how they want it."

"As you wish," Ciel said with a nod of his head.

It didn't take them long to know what they can use. After sending out a large, long ranged demonic attack that runs through the bomb mines, the two walked away with large explosions going off behind them. It was certain that no one else was around the area but who knows how far their attack would go. It, at the very least, took care of what was in the way.

They took a different way to get back to camp, strangely, only because Lu wanted to walk a little longer to themselves as they can hear the distant explosions slowly dying down. Eventually, they noticed a body down the road they were walking on and rushed over to see it was an exhausted elf. Lu took a look around to noticed the sense of magic in the area as Ciel kneeled down next to the elf.

"Excuse me, but do you need help?" Ciel questioned him.

MementoDei

 

[MementoDei]

Yullr
​

He wasn't sure how much time had passed since he had collapsed, but his mind was still foggy from the moment he put back his seal. The night was blurring in and fading out before getting as vivid as the last time he was close to die. He could still feel his tired body, so he was nowhere near death now. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A man's voice approached him.

"Excuse me, but do you need help?"

The elf opened his eyes and saw a blue-haired half-demon over him. He was most likely a servant, but why would a noble be around here? He remembered the spear, the glitters, but beyond that, he wasn't sure of who could be around him.

"I could use some. Which clan do you serve?"

He slowly got up, rubbing his temples due to an increasingly painful headache. It was always like this after he forced back the seal. He glanced up and saw the spear break through the second to last shield. There were still signs of life on the camp.

"The camp will be destroyed soon." he mumbled. "Damn it."

Late

****
Ren
​

The days at the gardens and training areas passed by without much noise about Darhan's mysterious dissappearance, until Ain came to the gardens, around noon, in his child-like appearance. During one of those afternoons, she saw him crouching, facing a bush of El roses. He was mumbling something, the Eids around him were changing between red and blue and his gaze was lost. Ren walked towards him and she finally heard him.

"Darhan had a bad friend, but he's not a bad person. He'll be back. I know." Ain noticed her presence and he glanced at her. "Right? Ren, mother...mother wouldn't send him truly to the Void, would she?"

A lump forced its way on her throat, blocking her words and her grey eyes plummeted to the ground. "I...I am not sure, Ain."

"Then who else is? Mother won't tell me anything. It is because of Darhan that the other alchemists and the blacksmiths are working to make new weapons. He was helping us every waking moment. So why?"

The warrior sat next to Ain and put a hand over his head, like the one she felt over hers in her vague memories. "There are some things that are like that, Ain. They happen without any explanation nor a prelude. But, Ain, I'm sure you're right." Her stomach tied as she told herself that she was doing something good. Although, a part of her wanted to believe in her own lies. "He'll make it back. Ishmael wouldn't let him die in the Void."

Ain's head rested now on the left side of her torso and she was a bit startled by this. She had never taken care of anyone but herself and, although she feltstrange relief to see the young prince calmer, Ren was apprehensive on what kind of expectations Ain would have now of her. Darhan seemed more used to it than her, and he did take care of children before. Over some shots of Vodka, he had even confessed to have loved very few women, and that it was only with one of them that he had seen himself growing old with. Darhan had told her his old dreams of living peacefully along that woman in Resiam, until the demons burned all those dreams to the ground.

"Ren, are you sad?"

The warrior blinked a couple of times before denying what the prince had said. "I was just remembering something Darhan told me one day."

"What was it?" Ain's eyes brightened at her words and she was left with no choice but to continue what she had been thinking about.

"Before you and Darhan met, I had to drag him out of that workshop so he could relax. His life was only work, and during one evening, we got out to drink."

"I can't see him party like other angels. I bet he only took a beer and went out."

Ren chuckled. "Oh, you didn't know him back when he was dealing with everything he needed to take Xavier back. He drank three vodkas like it was water. Of course, that amount of alcohol began to act up on him. I didn't know he was the type that began to talk for hours and hours."

"Really? What did he talk about?"

Ren smiled weakly. "About love, of all things. Would you imagine that? I certainly didn't."

"Hmm. He seems very passionate about everything he does. You see, he told me that the necklace he wears is in memory of someone he loved very very much. He never takes it off. And, you know, when sometimes when he's nervous, he mumbles in elven and he grabs that necklace. It's as if he was praying to that soul. Whoever he talked about, he must've been very happy with them."

Ren was startled by Ain's reply, those two had gotten so close in so little time. Ain untied his hands as if he was praying and said out loud. "Dear soul that looks over Darhan, please protect him and bring him back here, me and Ren miss him very much."

She scoffed and patted the Prince's head. "You're a sweet kid, Ain."

 

[Late]

Lu and Ciel
​

“Sourcream clan,” Ciel answered, helping Yullr to get back on his feet.

“I see that you were trying to dismantle the spear that flew through here,” Lu commented, slowly nodding before walking over to the two.

She stares at Yullr, feeling like she recognized him from somewhere. Lu racked her brain about it, yet whenever she thinks back about the demon realm, all she got was a painful reminder on why she was here in the first place. The demon girl shook her head, knowing she will remember eventually but for now, the man looks tired.

“You did good for helping those back at camp to handle the rest. We already took care of the other bombs and everyone else got back safely. Ciel, help him walk back to camp,” she said to her butler.

“Of course,” Ciel said as he got a good grip on the elf. “I’m assuming you’re tired as well, Lu.”

“Yeah...I just hope I sleep well tonight,” Lu mumbled as she lead the way back to camp.

MementoDei

 

[Late]

Ruby
​

It was night time and the majority of the residents were either sleeping or doing their nightly guards around the building. Well...the night guards did their best. Ruby dragged over a body to an open closet, having a cloth over the victim's eyes and as well another cloth around the mouth, their hands and legs being tied up together. Blue followed along, carrying ripped bed sheets and a large bag with her as she watched her owner stuff the body into the closet. The closet was getting full with the other bodies in there but no one seems to be waking up after getting hit hard on the head. Not to mention that Ruby spared many vases and fragile items when doing her job, wanting to be as quiet as possible. She has heard a few new voices coming by but rather not check out who they were.

Once Ruby was done sweeping around the area, she casually walked around the lovely mansion. Ruby carefully opens through doors and loot whatever was useful to her. Blue does her job by staying quiet, being on high alert, and holding out for Ruby. Most of the items they picked up were pricey to begin with, but eventually Ruby figured out where the vault was. After playing around the locks, she got it opened and gave a happy smile down at Blue who simply wags her tail in reaction. Ruby carried off the money this time around and she figures they were done for now.

Yet, the time she got back to the main floor, she hears glass breaking towards the stairs that lead down to the basement. Ruby curiously looked over, remembering back about what the servant tried to say to Elriot and not to mention that the succubus always tries to get her away from there. The devil took a step forward to the stairs yet heard a small growl from the wolf. Ruby looked down at her pet and saw her eyes staring right back at her. As usual, it was hard to figure out what she was feeling but Ruby knows her well enough.

"Just a peek, nothing more than that," Ruby said to Blue, smiling at her. The wolf didn't say anything afterward and Ruby continues on towards the stairs.

They reached to a door at the end of the stairs, having a magic lock on it which made Ruby pout in reaction. Though after a few minutes of thinking around, she puts down her bag and put a hand over the markings. This itself was a strong lock and in a different language but she got this far. Ruby did her best to remember how the words go as Blue waited patiently for Ruby to succeed.

Eventually, her hand gave off a red glow. "We all have a door with a lock but no key, locking up our secrets, our pasts, our deeds. So why not open yours up for me, as I am the key that set the truth free." She spoke those words and the magic lock glowed to life, breaking down for each word she says and eventually disappearing. "Neat. It looks like I butcher that right," Ruby said as she smiled at her pet. Blue only roll her eyes at Ruby and nudges the devil's leg to get going.

Ruby's tail gave a twitch and she turned the door handle. She opened up the door and the two took a step in. At first, she feels like she entered into someone else's home but after noticing a few things that a basement would usually have such as spider webs, low ceilings, and even a few cracks, this was really a basement. Just with many den furniture around, multiple of empty bottles, dart targets, and lots of papers scattered around. Ruby got a bit confused on what she was looking for exactly until a man finally got up from behind the couch of his.

"I wasn't doing anything!" The man slurred in alarm, trying to get back on his feet. He had a broken bottle in his hand, as well having that hand being wet and it even looks like his face was wet. Probably from the liquids that were in the bottle.

Ruby watched with an amused stare at this man, noting he was shirtless and likely drunk just the way he talks and his movements. She waited until the strange finally stands on his feet, his hair was an absolute mess along with his rather thick beard. If she were to guess this guy's age, it was either high 30s or low 40s. Blue merely grunted in reaction as she likely smells the booze that lingers around. Ruby waited a bit longer before she does anything, unsure what to make out of this guy. This was the guy everyone tried to avoid talking about around her? He doesn't look much.

"Wait a damn second..." The man slurred, making his way around the couch and squinting at Ruby. "You're...new..." He said, squinting really hard and nearly falling over once again.

"New?" Ruby questioned curiously.

It took awhile for the man to recollect his words, often opening and closing his mouth. "...I see that they listened to my request! I'll surely enjoy this night!" The man cheered, laughing before suddenly slipping over the papers, grunting loudly when he fell.

"Who is this guy?" Ruby mumbled to herself and stares at the wolf who stared right back with disinterest. She would leave but there was something strange about this guy and she wants to figure out on what was it.

 

[Fume]

"And with that, your declaration of war has been sent." Dust said as the spear eventually pierced through multiple erected barriers, at the last one it seemed to dissipate on it's own. "Huh, either Lento or Yullr were able to deal with it. Color me impressed."

With a flick of his wrist, the stairs and platform lowered slower until they reached solid ground. The glitter guards stationed around the area were a bit surprised of the human that threw the spear towards the rebel camp. They could feel the power emanating from the spear that they created all the way down here.

"It has been a very active night, maybe having a rest would do you and Xio some good. It will be another busy day, so a small respite should do the both of you good. With our comrades guarding us, you can sleep safely. Damien would probably want to sleep with the both of you for the first time. He tends to do that with new members. I'll guide you back at my tent, that's where the both of you will sleep for a while. At least you have a great view of the river down low." He said as he guided the priest.

"I'm still surprised that you and Xio came here. A pleasant surprise, actually. But now the deal needs to be reviewed, I'll have to work overnight to figure out what to make the both of you do, so basically a normal saturday night with paperwork." He thought out loud as they walked absently. Soon they found Damien talking with Xio.

"Ah! So if men are a no go, then women have to be the sweet spot! Once we're in the Demon Realm, I'll personally bring you towards Pleasure Quarter! Best damn place for an exciting night! I'll even pay for your service, make it regular set, full set, Exotic set and maybe... the Deluxe edition! Yes, I'll go the extra step and offer you a night you won't forget anytime soon! ... Wonder if Dust still has those pills that cures your fatigue in an instant..." He mumbled that last one before noticing a shadow towering over him.

"Every. Single. Time. Can you not introduce the new guys to that part of town? If you spend even a single ED from our squad reserves, I'll officially ban you from going there again, do I make myself clear, Damien?" He threatened him menacingly, to which the Ikus dropped a bead of sweat in response.

"Y-yes, commander Dust! I'll pay it with my own money, don't you worry!" Now he had to make sure to not spend their war money. "Also, is there anything else we need to do? The night is going to be long."

"I'll take these two back to my tent. They must be tired after so much has happened." Dust said as he rolled his arm. "I'm gonna stay awake to deal with some paperwork, what are you gonna do?"

"Is that even a question?" He replied before slipping next to Phantom. "I'm sleeping with this guy!"

"Damien..." The tiredness on Dust was palpable. "Are you okay with that Phantom? If not just say so. He tends to cuddle with anyone affectionately."

Phant0m

 

[Phant0m]

Phantom gave an awkward chuckle, twirling the bracelet on his wrist. "Sorry for dropping so much work on you Dust," He apologized in a genuine tone. He yawned and then started to fiddle with the scarf as they walked, "But I'll do whatever you ask me. No questions...and maybe with my attitude in check but I can't really promise that."

The goddess raised an eyebrow, and she leaned in with an interested smirk. "Oh really? I'd love for a night I can't forget, dear. I'll hold you to it. I haven't experienced much yet so this better not be a disappointing waste of ED." Xiopetec straightened her posture, looking down at Dust and giggling at his threat before she looked to see the unamused expression from her priest. "What child?"

"Xio what the fuck?"

"I do as I please, child. Judge if you wish...but you're stuck with me so get used to it."

The priest sighed and rolled his eyes before tensing up beside Damien, startled that he was suddenly next to him. He looked at Damien before looking to Dust and then to his goddess. Xiopetec looked between the Ikus and the human.

"Unless you'd prefer to cuddle with me, child? Today must have been emotionally stressful for you."

"I mean, I don't mind affectionate cuddling at all," Phantom said with his cheeks growing pink, "But...um, as long as it's just cuddling I'm fine with it."

The goddess stared at her priest, her smirk turning serious for a moment. Phantom nodded, and Xio walked over and bent down so she was eye level with him. "I'm not far, alright?" She smiled, "Have fun with your little cuddle session, child."

"I will!" He stuck his tongue out at her and Xiopetec gave a mock offended gasp before grabbing the priest's cheek and tugging.

"Snarky child." She snickered before yawning.

Fume

 

[Fume]

Dust gave a soft chop on Phantom's head, it didn't hurt whatsoever, it was simply a small bump.

"Just because I'm squad leader, doesn't mean that you have to follow my orders by the book without questions. It would be better if you question my judgement, that is one of the privileges of my squad, everyone gets a say on what they think is the right action. And don't sweat your attitude, just don't go too far with it." He said before cracking his neck with two shakes. "In terms of paperwork it's no big deal. After all, you and Xio are worth a night without sleep."

They didn't had to walk far, for they already walked a good chunk while talking and the tent was opened again, two beds were laid for the use of two people, though only 1 would share 2 people and the other was free to be used.

"Choose your beds. I'll be over here at my desk working, even though this is Chloe's job, she's far too busy to make a report... Ah, I nearly forgot. You guys haven't ate anything right? Give me a moment." He grabbed his sack and went onto a counter at the side of the tent. "You have to be prepared for anything, that's one of my motto's, not to mention that it's better to sleep with a belly filled with food than empty."

He took out foreign food outside of his sack to Phantom and Xio and 2 small plates where he put 2 small flame to heat 2 pots filled with water. He cut some vegetables, like lettuce and carrots, added some beans, some meat and then some ham before stirring the pot.

"Hey, can I do something?" Damien asked wanting to help.

"Can you please cook the rice? I'm adding a few more spices here." He asked as he put a little bit of salt and a small pint of allaros, a demon's spice meant to make the dish's flavor become much more delicious. Inside the tent, the smell of mixed spices and the bumbling of the pot made the occupants inside more hungry, even the demons outside were beginning to feel hungry as well.

"I'm done over here! I'll set the plates!" Damien responded back to him before gathering from Dust's sack some plates and utensils. "Man, you're just a convenient guy with this sack of yours! Must've been hard to get one." Damien said as he dragged Dust's table towards their two friends and set up the chairs for them, before placing on the table the plates and glasses.

"It was somewhat difficult yes. It's not everyday that Glave comes around and gives this away after you do something relevant for him." He replied as he took both pots with his hands and set them at the middle of the table. "Nowadays it's getting hotter... I'll make some cold lemonade before eating, you guys just need to wait just a minute or two." He said before going back to the counter and getting a jug full of water, squeezing freshly cut lemons that he had stored, carefully not letting seeds or anything else pass through and adding some sugar for the sweet taste. He also put some ice cubes in the hopes to make the lemonade cooler.

"Alright, dig in. Take as much as you guys want." He said before setting down the jug close to the edge of the table.

"Don't mind if I do!" Damien said before scooping two servings of rice on half of his plate and two other servings of the bean stew on the other half. "You know what would make this even tastier with the rice? Use the sauce of the stew on top of it! You'll absolutely ADORE it!" He recommended before softly coating his rice with the sauce. He took a bite out of it and he hummed in bliss. "This is just the BEST!! Phantom, take a bite, you'll honest to god feel like in heaven! Or maybe you want me to feed you? I can do thaat~ too, if you want."

"Please don't flirt while I'm eating, Damien. Don't spoil my appetite..." He said as he took a bite of his own. He savored it before swallowing. "Hmm... Maybe I should've put more salt. I'll put the salt here for whoever wants more on their food." He put it next to the bean stew pot.

Phant0m

 

[MementoDei]

Yullr​

He got up thanks to the half-demon's help and he glanced at the demon woman that looked at him. There was no doubt about it, she was Luciela R. Sourcream, although she looked a lot younger than what he remembered. "Yes, I tried, but although the people that formed it are not exactly experts, it's always easier to build a weapon like that than to deactivate it."

He took a deep breath at the remaining shields and remembered that two demons had joined the human side. "Sourcream clan...you must be the two demons that joined the human forces. Good job on deactivating the bombs."

He let Ciel help him walk back, but he feared the threat the spear represented. By morning, the destruction of the camp would be inevitable, but the two demons didn't seem to be concerned about it. All things considered, if there were no survivors, the corpses would be enough to raise an army of his own and defend himself if ever the demons realized that he lived and that he had the knowledge they thought to be impossible to obtain. He trusted that his power would be enough to finally take the life of the two demons he hated the most: Ran and Joaquin.

The sky was barely turning blue when a shield formed by Henir magic appeared and covered the camp completely, stopping the lance. The two demons and him stopped as the entrance to the camp was blocked by the shield and the spear. The shadow of two people were seen in the distance, they were the ones that held the shield. He knew for sure that one was Lento, but he could only speculate on who was the woman to his side.

"Always so reckless..." he mumbled. A part of him wanted to see him fail, just to reaffirm his own thoughts, but he knew that having no allies in the war would not be advantageous for him. The lance was getting smaller and he raised an eyebrow.

Whoever was helping him had to have an immense amount of power, and once the lance was destroyed, the shield dissappeared. He stumbled towards where Lento and a crowd of soldiers were. He had been right, the woman that had helped him was Lara Tureen.

"Ah, Yullr. We did it!" Lento said, still euphoric about his victory, but Yullr didn't share that same enthusiasm.

"Congratulations, Lento."

The mixed-blood looked at him and approached him. "Ah, you must be Yullr." she said in a bright voice. It didn't take more than that for Yullr to realize that something was wrong with her. "My, it's the first time I see your face clearly. Purple eyes too, like Lento Asini. Why are your ears so pointy?"

"Huh? Lara Tureen, what is wrong with you?"

Lento came by and told him again what he had said before. This Lara was not the same person as the one they knew. Lara nodded and told him that after all the time she had passed trapped in the white desert, she had decided to take a different name.

"I can't have exactly the same name as someone else, right? Please call me Sophia."

Yullr frowned and sat on the floor, things were going too fast and he had not a single damn thing left to smoke. "Lento, don't you have any cigarettes?"

Late

 

[Late]

Lu and Ciel​

Both Lu and Ciel watched how the spear was broken down by parts, Ciel being impressed with the technique. Yet, as they suspected, the camp wasn't destroyed. Another day to fight. Lu kept quiet through all this time and Ciel made sure Yullr had a place to sit, knowing now that the elf doesn't need his assistance anymore now that they were back in camp. The former queen looked around and saw the familiar dragon has landed back in camp, safe along with the riders and their captured demon. The demon was still in deep slumber.

"You two!"

Both Lu and Ciel froze when they were called out by a soldier, a guard that kept watch on the gates. He looks rather angry at them, maybe even furious. This was probably because they left in a hurry to warn the soldiers about the plan B, thus not heeding the soldier's words to stop when they asked for the dragon's help for a ride.

"You're bold enough to come back here. I hope you realize that your actions of disobeying orders will not go unn-"

Before the soldier could finish scolding, the captain of the group they saved immediately stepped up and put himself between them. "At ease, soldier. They weren't doing any harm," the captain huffed. "They actually save my men's hides, except for a few idiots. How about you treat them with respect like to everyone else here."

"I don't think you understand, Mike. They didn't stick to the rules we gave, and its bad enough that they are demons," the soldier said with disgust in his voice.

The captain, Mike, sighed at the soldier's words. "Bla, bla, stick to the rules crap. Rules were meant to be broken if it's for a good reason. They have a good reason, and lives were spared. Step off now, you're looking like an ass," Mike grumbled, shoving the soldier back.

"Hands off."

Mike didn't listen, frowning as he once again shoved him further back. "You better start understanding on how much we need help to get around. To survive this god damn war. Did you not see the recent attack? How do you expect us to fight back without the help of anyone outside our race? Are you really gonna treat them like pieces of shit for being demons? Hell, I bet all my money that they never wanted this war," Mike growled at the guard. "This war tainted your judgment, boy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Now, if you really got nothing else to say, you get back to your post!" He yelled, the guard glaring at him in rage and was hesitating on what to do. "Right now! It wasn't a god damn suggestion!"

The guard stopped himself from spitting out angry cuss as he was already feeling intimidated and immediately walked away from them. The captain slowly calmed down when the man left and he turns around to face the two.

"My apologies. I won't be surprised if they remove me from this position as captain for that but hell, I hate stupid shit like that," Mike apologized to them.

"You didn't have to do that," Lu said, a bit surprised and somewhat happy.

"I have to. It is my job to put straying soldiers in their place. Hopefully, the soldiers around here will start trusting you a bit more. I know the men in my group were appreciated for your warning. It's a shame we didn't know any sooner to warn the others but you at least tried. That's all we wanted to see around here, effort," Mike said with a smile. "I leave you two be now. I'm sure both of you are tired after today. Rest well if you can." After that, he walks away.

"We should rest. I'm certain there is a lot to do for tomorrow," Ciel said to Lu, gently putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I hear you...alright, let's go then."

The two walked away to rest for the night.

Eosforos and Xavier
​

"You think that's a fair plan?"

"I...guess so."

Both Xavier and Eosforos agreed on something between each other. For Eosforos to work around at the camp as Xavier help the soldiers on the field. Eosforos wasn't all in for the idea because of one, he isn't a fan of sitting around despite the fact that there was a handful of things he is able to work around with and two, he won't be able to keep an eye on Xavier. They did agree that they will train together on certain days but still, Eosforos wished he wasn't so...handicapped. It was bothering him to the very end and rather making him feel depressed.

"So, you are going to get this demon to talk?" Xavier asked the angel, glancing over the blacked out demon soldier.

"Yeah, I'll get whatever I need to know out of him. Hopefully, this will help to get back Velder in the end. Or make our progress significantly faster. We do need to investigate the area where the Earth El was once resting as well in order to figure out how we avoid a catastrophic event. We just need to shove the demons out because they are swarming there. I guess it should be fun," Eosforos sighed. "Then I need to talk with the blacksmith about making weapons, gathering up supplies and transport them over to those allies who need them. Or, try to talk through Elesis about teaming up with the group."

"You know the soldiers were would have a lot of issues with that..."

"Well, if it ever happens, they would need to suck it up. God, I'm tired..." Eosforos mumbled.

Xavier noticed how he looks so....down. It felt a bit unnatural to see the man like this, yet he wasn't sure what he can do to help. All day for the angel was losing his balance, getting more tired than normal, and his temper becoming short. Normally, all those tasks he would have to do would have been nothing for him. And now, Xavier slightly fears he would see the worse of the angel.

"...How about you go ahead and rest right now," Xavier said to him, putting a hand on his left arm. He wishes he could understand the pain of losing a limb and yet, he doesn't want to know too much about it. "You went through a lot today. I'll get a soldier to help me put this demon away in a cell."

"I should probab-"

"No," Xavier said firmly. "Rest. You need it. I'll handle the rest and I can sleep with the dragons. Don't fight me on this," the dragon tamer grumbled.

Eosforos sighed and eventually, he nods his head. Xavier made sure Eosforos got right into his bed with no issues and got a hold of a soldier to help him with the demon they captured. They were rather thrilled to know that Eosforos will be integrating the demon for information, perhaps hopeful for good outcomes. Xavier let them be cheery about it as he made sure the demon was securely locked away and Xavier was to himself by the time he was done. He wasn't sure if he wanted to sleep or not but he stayed up a couple more hours, practicing around with his staff. After that, he went ahead to sleep, finding comfort to rest with the three remaining family members.

Throughout his rest, Xavier strangely discovers he had a better connection with Perkisas, the greed dragon being able to come out and speak to him in his dreams. It didn't bother him, he was rather happy to see his first mentor. Apparently, there was still more to achieve. His trial was still very much active as his first marking after passing the first trail was still over Xavier's right shoulder. He wonders why he hasn't gone through the second trial yet it may because of the fact he is borrowing a different source of power. Perkisas doesn't answer that question, mentioning that he will eventually see what the second trial was about, making a comment that he was "blind" to see. It confused the man but he simply went along with it.

 

[Phant0m]

Phantom was a little tense and restlessly watching, itching to help out while he watched Dust and Damien get things all set but there wasn't much he could help with. He wasn't familiar with where things were, and he didn't want to mess up some sort of system Dust most likely has within his tent so he sat at the table a patiently waited for the food. Xiopetec, on the other hand, had just sat at ease at the table and just watched expectantly. When the bean stew was ready, Xiopetec had mimicked Damien and had dug right into her plate.

The priest just raised his eyebrow at her before chuckling. She must've been pretty hungry. He just did a single scoop of rice, and then only did one scoop of beans and poured it on top of his rice and had taken a moment to mix them all together. Phantom pointedly ignored Damien's flirt as he judged his food, nodding, and then taking a bite.

"Are they perfectly equal child?" Xiopetec asked, taking a sip of the lemonade.

Phantom swallowed and glared at his goddess. "No," He answered, "But it's close enough. JUst slightly more beans than rice."

"He has the most peculiar eating habit I have ever seen. If a dish has more than one component to it, he has to have equal amounts of everything."

"Way to call me out like that, Xiopetec."

"What? Didn't a host reprimand you because he thought you were reluctant to eat his food? You took forever to get your dinner situated that he was offended. I'm explaining so there isn't a repeat."

The priest just rolled his eyes and continued eating, not minding the taste.

Soon the pair finished eating and Phantom excused himself from the table and chose the bed on the right, plopping right on top of it.

"Classy," Xiopetec scoffed before excusing herself and standing by Phantom's bedside, "But you need to braid my hair child."

"Why?" The priest protested as he sat up.

"Hush. I've been told that it helps keep the knots under control unless you want to spend all morning getting the knots out of my very long hair?"

Phantom scooted over and pat the empty space next to him. "Fine, but you're gonna have to get down to my height if you want a nice braid."

The goddess grinned and promptly sat in the empty space, slouching so that her priest could easily access all of her hair.

"Is this a bedtime ritual?" She asked, flinching when her priest's fingers had to tug through a small knot, "Ow!"

"I didn't say it wasn't going to hurt." Phantom started to quickly braid in movements that were familiar to him, and he felt a pang in his chest. A sad expression was briefly on his face before he coughed and sat up straighter, composing himself. "And it is, I guess. But I'm not fucking braiding your hair every night. You're a big girl." He called for a small vine on the ground, and he plucked it and used it to tie off the end of the braid. "All set."

"Thank you, and goodnight child," The goddess said as she moved to her bed and then gave her priest a very pointed look before tucking herself in, her back to her priest.

"Goodnight, Xio." He looked to Dust, "And Goodnight Dust." The priest then moved a bit on the bed and waited for Damien to join.

Fume

 

[Late]

Ruby
​

"Did you drink all these bottles...?"

Ruby lightly kicked a few empty bottles around, all having crumbled up paper covering their open tops. It looks like the strange man kept himself very entertained, almost all the open bottles have crumbled up paper balls. The man made a strange grumble at her for kicking over the few bottles near her, causing the devil to stop and wait to hear what he have to say.

"Not all of em. Gotta save a few, a treat to myself once I get my new task doooone and over with," the man slurred, slowly getting up and slumping over the couch. "Geez, you're talkative. Not that it bothers me, it's just new. Most of the time..."

Ruby realized the man will be running his mouth for some time so she went ahead to check out the scatter papers on the floor as they all seem to have text on them. Eventually, she noticed that these were letters, newspaper, and everything else was wrappers. Wrappers that she probably shouldn't be touching. Blue took the liberty to sniff around the place, avoiding certain things until she picked up something interesting. The wolf ran back to Ruby with her wisps waving around and held it up for her owner to take. It was a newspaper, the head title is "The Rise of a New King". Blue continues to go off to pick up other newsletters, giving them to Ruby which each of them were different. Titles such as "Steel Queen Gone Missing", "Numerous Politicians Mysteriously Found Dead", "The Ghost Bullet", "A Shot Heard Around the World", "Berngart Plans for the Future", "Aegirp's Men Going Strong Against Humans", and the last one she was given, "King Barkat, the Rightful Ruler for All?". She knows all these names, the kings and knowing about the missing queen. The devil frowned, confused why a strange man like him would have these with him. They were rather kept clean too.

Eventually, she picked up other papers until she ran into one in particular. It was a mission report. Ruby gave a quick read through it, squinting at words such as "assassination", "choice of weapon", a name in which she assumes it was the target with a picture next to it, and lastly the status. It was a success. The man kept babbling on as Ruby kept looking through the scattered papers. All papers were a successful mission, except for one. Ruby stared at this paper longer than the others and immediately got up, finally knowing who this guy was.

"Oh! I know you! Salvator Silver!" Ruby said with sudden excitement in her voice.

Saying his name caught him off guard and nearly rolling off the couch. "You know my name?" The man asked, confused.

"Well, of course! I would never forget such a man like yourself for killing all these demons," Ruby said happily, holding up the papers she collected at his dumbfounded face.

"You know I assassinated them???" Salvator demanded, sounding a bit spooked.

Ruby realized she might have gone a bit far with her excitement, clearing her throat as Blue roll her eyes at her owner's mistake. "I mean...I work with these people here. Of course I know this and who you are," she lied, scratching the back of her head.

Salvator squinted up at her as if he was realizing that she wasn't his entertainment for the night. The man huffed loudly as he lay on his stomach, suddenly a change of mood.

"Gah, go away. I already talked to you bunch and anyone working with that damn king makes me sour," Salvator grumbled.

"Errr, King Barkat?" Ruby asked and watched the man let out a groan.

"I even hate it when someone says that fucker's name. Gah, now I just want to punch him in his stupid face." Ruby wasn't sure where this anger was coming from but knowing she met Salvator, being a lot different than she expected, she was willing to learn more about him. She always heard stories from her father, and now, Ruby finally met him and his drunk self.

"So, uh, you don't like King Barkat?" Ruby questioned curiously, going ahead to sit to an empty space of the couch.

Salvator looked over at her with another squinty eye. "Wait, why you're hereee againn?" He asked, his demon language slightly dropping as if he forgot his words.

"I'm....cleaning around. That's why you see those bags over there," Ruby said, pointing over their bags of goods. "They have...too much around here so I'm just making things fair for the others."

Salvator squints at her long and finally shrugged his shoulders. "Cool, I guess. Anyways to answer your question, let me start by saying this: I wasn't always a demon."

"You were forced to be one?"

"That's damn right. Back where I came from, I was known to be an excellent assassin. I get my shit done and done properly. I am as well a bounty hunter. I have a gift for these jobs as I am excellent at finding my target. I never miss either. I was at the prime time of my life until one assassination mission changed my whole god damn life! Barkat came to my world as asked me to assassinate this other...errrr.....demon? Details were confusing and hell, I can't remember too much about it since it happens a long time ago. ANYWAYS. I thought I got the bugger and gave him the dead body when it turns out, it was a dummy! I was confused! Then that damn demon thought I was pulling his leg and BAM! He dragged me here and forced me to be a demon with a longer lifespan, as "punishment". Now I am his personal slave and all the work I do is to get rid of the competition."

"Huh," Ruby said, wishing that the drunk man would tell her more but this was probably enough for him to say. Though she got a better understanding of how he got here and this failed task mission paper says it all about it.

"Now, I can't do much. Besides eating, sleeping, taking a shit, and repeat. Nowadays, I rarely got any new tasks to do for them since hell, I literally wiped clean of everything! Everyone else is too damn afraid to step up now and the king is in full control of everything......actually, recently, I got a new one. There is a strange revolution going on against King Aegirp. Not everyone is happy about the ongoing war, despite the fact that those idiots stole the Earth El from the material world. They got the El, why aren't soldiers returning back home?! Gah, I'm telling you, I bet Barkat is trying to take over the material world as well. Something that the previous king haven't done. I mean, its silly, we already have a plan here, why try to expand? I could be very wrong though. Barkat is just a crazy sadist in general," Salvator huffed. "Anywaaaays, my mission is to kill off those who are leading on the revolution. It's becoming a big deal lately. King Berngart apparently couldn't help, something about being too busy with his own shit about a god or something like that. So now they shove me the task, to kill off a cousin of Berthe who is, I guess, the main leader of this shit. I, um...you're following me with this, yeah? I feel like I'm just ranting off with this and that and uhh..." The assasin trailed off as if he forgot what words to say next.

Meanwhile, Ruby was listening and she starts to think. She was very well able to help Salvator out of this situation if in return that he'll help her too. She wants to go up to the material world for certain reasons. Salvator was probably her best chance for this. Not to mention it would be good to have a guy who handles ranged weapon and survival skills.

"You know what, I think I said all what I need to say. Now...where's my shirt..."

"Mr. Silver! I have a deal for you!" Ruby said as she got up fast, scaring the man a bit as he jumped up as well.

"What, what?"

"You live in a poor environment here and obviously, you're not being treated fair here," Ruby said as she gestures around the room. "I have the ability to grant you your freedom from the king's seal, if, you help me get to the material world." This was perfect really, the man was probably too drunk to think about this.

Salvator lightened up at the word freedom and already he was nodding his head like a madman. "Hell yes! I'll fucking do it you...you...!"

"Ruby, Ruby Hellfire," Ruby said with a cheery smile.

"Ruuuuuuuby Hellfire! I'll do it!"

"Yay!"

"Yay!"

"Let's go!"

"Yea- wait what?"

"We were planning to leave right away after we finished cleaning up the place. Come on!" Ruby said, snapping her fingers at Blue to pick up her bag.

"Wait, I need my shit before we leave!" Salvator said in panic, walking around the room until he picked up a simple white shirt. "AH, AND MY PISTOLS!"

"We'll get you another pair, we can't linger around here long," Ruby sighed and blinks when Salvator gave an offended gasp.

"Those pistols are my babies! YOU NEVER ABANDON YOUR CHILDREN, RUBY! NEVER, EVER, NEVE-"

"Fine! We'll get your pistols then we leave! Just tell me where they put them."

"I...don't know...BUT I HAVE A BULLET HERE!" Salvator yelled in sudden excitement as he pulled out a silver bullet, Ruby having to hush him for being loud.

"Right...of course," Ruby sighed and gestured over to Blue. Blue perks up as she walked up to Salvator and took a sniff from the silver bullet. It took a bit until Blue finally got it and she darts back to the stairs. Ruby was planning to follow but she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to leave a drunk man here with the door open like this. "Um, here. Get these bags up the stairs. We'll be back when you're done!"

"Alright! Now...stairs..."

Ruby leaves as Salvator mumbled to himself and followed after Blue. They quietly rush through the hallways until Blue paused at a door, putting a paw up to lightly scratch it. Ruby carefully opens up the door and immediately hears quiet snores coming out of the room. She nearly slammed the door back in and pointed at Blue to stay at her spot. Blue sat down where she was and Ruby carefully walks into the room, being light with her steps. She noticed there was a locked vault on the other side of the bedroom, causing her to curse silently as she would have to stay in there longer. The devil carefully walks through, trying to not pay attention to who's room she intruded. She reached to the vault and pressed her ear against the locked container, whispering spell words to get the lock working on its own. After a few clicks here and there, the vault's door was unlocked and she carefully pulled it open. There was actually a lot more in here than she thought, but Salvator wanted his twin pistols more than anything apparently. Ruby carefully picked up the guns and figuring it couldn't hurt to take the different color bullets along with the holsters for the pistols. Before she could move away, she noticed there was a family photo in this vault. Ruby stared at it curiously before picking it up and having nowhere to put this, she casually stored it in her chest. After that, Ruby slowly made her way away from the vault and out to the door.

Suddenly, the lights went off and Ruby froze as she was a foot out of the door. She looked over with slight panic on her face and dropped the holster for Blue to catch which holds the pistols. Blue immediately got the hint that she was caught and went ahead to run off. Ruby continues to stand there as she watches a familiar succubus rubbing her eyes in tiredness.

"Uh...Ruby? How did you..." Elriot said in a tired voice, not aware of what was going on yet. She hasn't looked over to the open vault and Ruby knows exactly on what to do to a succubus like her.

Later

"Oh, helloooo," Salvator greeted Blue as she walked up to him, his weapons being carried. She held it up for him and Salvator picked it up yet frowns in slight disgust. "Eww, it's wet," the man mumbled as he tried to get the saliva off the holsters before putting it on him. Blue only stared up at him, not offended by his words and having her eyes perked up. "I got the bags up sooo....where's Ruby, girl?" Salvator asked, putting his hands on his knees so he can stare down at the hellhound.

Blue stayed silent, making Salvator let out long and exaggerate sighs until he heard someone running down the stairs to the main floor. Ruby finally showed up and there was a strange embarrassment written on her face as she approached him.

"Okay, let's go!" Ruby said, tugging his arm after picking up a bag with Blue doing the same.

"AHH, YOUR HAND IS WET TOO!" Salvator shrieked in sudden fear. "I thought you were done cleaning!!!" Ruby already knew that this will be the longest night that she'll ever have.