With a bit of fire magic from my blue demoness, Tilly and I teleport back to my laboratory.

“That was… something.” Tilly says, her radiant smile not matching her unenthusiastic words.

“Well… you’re dressed now.” I say awkwardly, motioning at her new outfit.

Tilly nods, a giant grin covering her face. “Yeah!” She strikes a seductive pose. “I look great!”

I rip my eyes away from her. “You do.”

“Thanks!” She squeals. Suddenly I’m wrapped in something firm and warm. I look down in shock at the arms wrapped around me. “Thank you, so much Oubi.” Tilly says softly.

I look the woman in the eyes, our faces dangerously close. “For w-what?” I ask, confused.

She grins. “For changing me, what else, you dork?”

Oh… right.

Tilly laughs. “I feel so much… lighter now, like I’m actually here, actually alive.”

I nod. I kinda understand how she feels. It wasn’t as… dramatic for me, but I had been bodiless for quite a while beforehand.

The angel suddenly frowns. “But…”

I tilt my head. “But?”

She looks at me worriedly. “What about the others in my squad, what do we tell them?”

Shit… I forgot about them… “The truth, if you’re willing.” I say bluntly, not sure what else to do.

She touches her lips with her fingertips as she drifts into her thoughts. “I… I think that would be okay, but how will they take it?”

I shrug. “Who cares at the end of the day? It’s not like they can do anything about it.”

She frowns. “What if they… if they get violent?”

I give her an evil grin. “Let them try, they don’t have guns anymore, remember?”

Her face relaxes. “Oh… right, I actually forgot.”

I look her over, taking in her tense body language. “I’m kinda surprised, don’t you feel any… loyalty to them? They were your comrades.”

She makes a weird face. “I only joined the military for warm meals and a safe place to sleep, but… yeah I guess I do feel a bit bad…” Her confident tone deflates mid sentence. “Sarge… he was good to me, really ‘took me under his wing’, ya know?” She glances up at me. “He’s really the one I hope takes it… okay, at least.”

Thinking about the blank eyes of the Sargent after his battle with Freako makes me doubt it’ll work out like she hopes.

“Well… There’s only one way to know…” I point out.

She tenses up. “N-not yet! Please?” I feel almost attacked by her puppy dog eyes.

“F-fine! I’ll introduce you to the others first…” I pull away from her hug, reluctantly. “Let’s go to our closest… coworker.”

“Alright!” She says excitedly, her wings fluttering. “Where to?”

I smile. “Back where we started this whole thing.”

I grab her hand, and lead the way.

────────────

Not wanting to bother one of my generals for a teleport again, we head back to Blue’s courtyard on foot. At first that is.

Thud

“Ow…” Tilly whines.

I reach down and pull the angel to her feet. “Fifth times the charm?” I ask jokingly.

“Ugh! Why is flying so hard?” She fumes.

Gee, I dunno, why is using a whole new set of limbs to do a completely unique action difficult? Who could say.

“I know, what a bummer.” I say, patting her between the wings.

“EEK!” She squeaks, twisting her body away from my touch.

I step back. “What did I do? Did that hurt?”

Tilly shakes her head, and I notice her flushed cheeks. “N-no, just… just don’t touch there!”

I nod slowly. “Alright…”

Without saying another word, the girl turns around and tries to fly again.

I hop along after her, and after a few more crash landings, she gets the hang of it. With her flying, and my hopping, we make it to the courtyard faster than expected. I lead the angel to Blue, who is luckily here. He disappears sometimes, maybe when he sleeps? I dunno for sure.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Blue!” I call up from the elemental’s feet.

The big guy looks down at me, his blue eyes winking in joy.

I smile back at him. “This is Tilly, the newest demon general.” I say, pointing to the woman next to me.

“What?!” She cries out. I turn to face the screaming angel. “Demon general?! You never said anything about that Oubi!”

I shrug. “It only makes sense, you’re as strong as Maddi or Azrael, so why wouldn’t you be.”

She blinks at me. “I’m as strong as them now? But they were…”

“Do you want proof?” I interrupt. I pull up her monster statistics, and start reading them out to her.

Tilly Dungeon Demon (General) Pseudoangel Adult Female Dungeon Enforcer Pain, Slashing, Crushing, and Impact Affinities High Vitality, High Strength, High Endurance, Otherwise Average

“Those stats are on par with the other generals.” I repeat.

She stares at me in shock. “Okay…” She eventually croaks out. Her head slowly rips away from me to look up at the patiently waiting elemental. “Hello Blue, I’m Tilly, a Demon… General.”

Blue moves one of his massive hands forward and gently pats Tilly on the back. He makes a happy rumbling sound.

“T-thanks… I think.” Tilly stammers.

Well that went well, next is the other generals. I send the duo a ping each, and it isn’t long before they make a connection to my mind.

“What is it?” Azrael mutters crankily.

“Yes, Oubi?” Maddi asks politely.

Geeze they’re so… different from one another.

“Could you send me, Blue, and the girl next to us to the laboratory, and then meet us there?” I ask silently.

“Of course!” Maddi says, a smile coming through her thoughts.

“I’ll be there…” Mumbles the cat. …Is he hung over?

A massive blaze of blue fire later, and the three of us are back in the lab, joined by the two generals. We all turn to face each other, and I see the newcomers sizing Tilly up.

“Who’s she?” Azrael asks with unbridled hostility.

Well I guess they can’t tell who’s a dungeon monster at a glance then.

“This is Tilly, the newest demon general.” I explain.

“You made another one? Were me and the hothead not enough?” Azrael asks, somewhat wounded.

“I agree, I don’t think another general was necessary, mistress.” Maddi adds, looking at Tilly pointedly when saying the last word.

What the hell, where is this coming from?!

“When was this decided? I never said anything like that!” I protest.

Azrael just turns away from me, pouting.

“I assumed we were… good enough, Oubi.” Maddi says, a bit dejected.

Oooooh… “That’s not it, Maddi…” I let out a sigh. “Tilly was formerly one of the soldiers from Earth.” I explain.

Azrael whips around, his hair ruffled in anger. “Which one?!”

I glance at Tilly, who gives me a nod. “Greg.” I say.

The catboy doesn’t react. “I don’t know their names.” He hisses.

I sigh. “The one with the bat…”

Like a bomb went off, the room suddenly becomes nothing but movement.

Azrael launches himself at Tilly, who pedals backwards in surprise. I move to stop the cat, but Blue’s massive arms come down in front of me protectively, blocking my way. I look to Maddi for help, but she’s just watching with a blank expression.

The cat demon lands on the angel, and conjures tendrils of shadow from beneath her. Each vine of darkness reaches up, latching on to a part of her wings. Tilly struggles in vain against the magic. Then the first blow lands.

Azrael hits her with a right hook, his fist snapping her head to the side.

“You think you can just be one of us? After all the shit you and your shithead friends put us through?” He screeches.

He throws another punch, but it's knocked aside by Tilly. She takes advantage of the opening, and lands a hit of her own. The cat’s head rocks back from the blow. Tilly’s wings suddenly snap their constraints, and lift the two of them to their feet.

Azrael kicks off Tilly’s torso, landing a few feet away.

The woman glares at the boy, spitting out a wad of blood. “I don’t think you get to decide if I can or not.” She says quietly. She reaches over her shoulder for the bat that’s no longer there.

Or at least shouldn’t be there. Her hand returns with a long pipe of metal that’s unmistakably the shape of a baseball bat. Except it's clearly not one, not a legal one at least. The metal shimmers blue in the light of the room, and glowing gold runes pulse on its surface.

The room is suddenly filled with an invisible pressure. I turn and look toward the source. Azreal crouches close to the floor, his eyes glowing red, his black cloak fluttering around his body in an unseen wind.

Black energy crackles through his raised hair. “It really is you, the one who called my mistress a witch. After she was so kind to you, and let you all live?!” He screams, the pressure coming off him increasing dramatically. “Even if she is willing to forgive you, I won’t.”

His hands are rapidly covered in liquid darkness, which shapes itself into massive, razor sharp claws. He kicks off the ground, cracking the floorboards.

Tilly lets him come, standing assuredly. As he’s about to impact her, she swings her bat. Golden light trails behind the weapon as it collides with the shadowy claws.

The entire room shudders as the blows collide, golden lightning crackling against black. Sawdust blasts away from them as the floorboards underneath the duo are turned to dust, and the stone below that cracks. With a loud explosion, the two are violently pushed away from each other. Both stay upright, Tilly skidding a few feet back on her bare feet, while Azrael gracefully lands on all fours.

Without wasting a second, the two rush each other, repeating the clash. While the two try to overpower the other, a black whip swings from behind Azrael. The black tendril spears Tilly in the thigh, causing her to scream. Azrael pushes while Tilly is distracted, sending her tumbling backwards, a trail of blood following her. She lands on her feet with a bit of maneuvering of her wings.

“Fuck!” She grunts. I stare in shock as I realize… She's smiling.

Apparently Azrael also notices, and is not pleased. “What’s so enjoyable about this, you insane human?” He leaps towards the angel, his claws going for her throat. “If you like pain so much, I’m happy to give you more!”

Just as Azrael’s claws are about to cut into her, she grabs his wrists and spins in place. His momentum broken, she lifts him into the air in front of her. Her bat comes screaming from beneath the cat, and slams into his gut with a roomshaking thud.

She drops Azrael, who lands in a heap.

The moment Blue removes his hands, I rush to Azrael’s side. I look him over, and don’t notice anything serious, but I push some life force into him all the same. Once I’m confident he’s okay, I turn and face Tilly.

And slug her, knocking her onto her ass.

At the same time, I rip Maddi’s feet out from under her with my tail, and drag her next to the other two. I wrap the two women’s legs in conjured wires, fastening them to the floor. After a minute of waiting, Azrael’s eyes flutter open. He doesn’t make it an inch before I tie him up as well. The three of them restrained on the floor, I give them an angry glare.

“We need to talk.”