Despite him doing nothing wrong, Blue kneels behind the other three.

“What the fuck was that?” I ask. All of them look away from me, refusing to meet my gaze.

Getting no answer, I let out a sigh. “If anything like that happens again, I will…” What will I do? Hurt them? No, I’m not a monster… mentally. Then… “You’ll have to protect the miners for a month!”

Tilly doesn’t react, but Azrael’s head snaps up, his eyes filled with fear.

“No! I won’t do it! Don’t make me help those weaklings!” He begs, his voice wavering. That’s one down, two to go.

I glare down at him, and say nothing. When he finally turns attention back to the ground, I look at the person next to him. Tilly is looking away from me, staring at the stone floor to her side. I have no idea how to get her to listen to me…

“Tilly…” I start. The woman turns her face upwards and looks me in the eyes defiantly. “Please don’t do anything like this again?” I ask softly.

She grimaces like I hit her. After a few seconds, she responds. “...Okay.” She answers, with a small nod. She looks downwards again, going back to staring at the floor.

…That should be good enough for now. Last, but not least, is Maddi.

I cut straight to the point with the demoness. “Maddi, why didn’t you step in?” I ask frustratedly.

The blue woman faces me, her eyes calm. “They needed to work that out.” She says simply.

Ugh… I think she might be right. But I don’t like that she just… let that happen.

“Either way, you should’ve stopped them, you’re my aide, you’re supposed to help me manage the others.” I say pointedly.

My words seem to have the intended effect, since she starts frowning. “A-alright… It won’t happen again.” She says, her confidence not quite as firm as before.

I sigh. “Good.” Stepping away from the three of them, I dissolve the wires binding their legs. They each stand up, shooting glances at each other.

Suddenly Blue makes a rumbling sound. I look up and see him pointing at himself.

I tilt my head in confusion. “Do you… want to be told off too?”

The gaseous being nods.

“Uh…” I point my finger at him. “Don’t… don’t do that again?”

Blue’s eyes sparkle in happiness, and he stands up as well. …As long as he’s happy I guess.

With the tension mostly diffused, I take in a deep breath.

“Now… we need to deal with the Earthlings.”

────────────

“So… Tilly!”

The angel turns towards me.

“What should we do?” I ask.

“...You’re asking me?” She squeaks.

“You are the one who knows them best…” I reason.

“Uhh…” She taps her fingertips together nervously. “I guess… I’d just tell them, rip the bandaid off.”

That’s… about as delicate a plan I expected from her. I turn and face my other two generals.

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“Do you guys agree?” I ask.

Maddi shrugs and Azrael tilts his head.

“I dunno.” Azrael says. “The leader of their little band seems… broken.”

Maddi nods from beside him. “I have to agree, he rarely reacted to anything when I was watching them.”

Well… that’s worrying. “I guess we just… rip off the bandage then. Maddi, could you bring them here?” Maddi nods, and starts conjuring some flames. While she does that, I summon a set of chairs, arranged in a large circle. After making enough for everyone, I motion for the others to sit.

Just as the demons all take their spots, the soldiers start dropping from individual fiery vortexes overhead. One by one they plop into chairs, grunting and swearing as they go. The last to fall through is the sergeant, who doesn’t make a sound. It takes a minute for the men to get their bearings, but as soon as they do their anger becomes palpable.

“Where’s Greg!” One snarls at me.

“I’m right here, you moron.” Tilly roars back.

The men all stare at her, faces completely blank. All but one.

“Greg?” The sergeant says quietly.

Tilly smiles meekly. “Yep, it's me, Sarge.” She gives a weak chuckle.

The commanding officer stares at the angel, his eyes flickering all over her body. Eventually something clicks into place, and his vacant eyes return to the present.

“What did they do to you?” He asks.

“N-nothing I didn’t want Sarge!” Tilly hurriedly explains. “I… I asked for this.”

The sergeant just stares at his former subordinate in total disbelief. “No… no that’s not right.” He mutters. “You… No you couldn’t have wanted that.” His eyes run over the angel’s body. “To be a monster?!” His voice quickly escalates, becoming more and more aggravated. His eyes lock onto me. “What did you do to him?”

My ears flap in annoyance. “I didn’t do anything to her, dude. I just let her be herself.” I shrug.

He stands up suddenly, knocking the chair he was sitting in backwards. The other soldiers all tense, as do the demons around me.

“No…” He snarls. “No, you… messed with his mind. His thoughts. Didn’t you?” His anger filled gaze locks with my own. “You won’t get away with it.” He threatens.

I let out a long sigh. Should I just… kill this guy? I really have nothing to lose by doing so, and he seems insane… But I'm pretty sure that would devastate Tilly, and she’s emotionally fragile enough as it is. I’ll just send him hom—

In a flash of movement, the Sargeant lunges at me. His movements are so fast that I have a hard time registering them. None of the others even notice something is off before he’s right in front of me, a knife descending on my chest. …Well this is gonna hurt.

A dark shape moves from behind me, intercepting the soldier. The man falls backwards, landing on his ass. His right hand spins away, cut free from the rest of him. Once the murky shape in front of me stops moving, I immediately recognize them.

Freako stands between me and the shellshocked Sergeant, licking blood off his long nails. His pale back is turned to me, and he’s blocking the man’s way… protectively?

“FUCK!” The sergeant roars. “GODDAMN FREAKS!” He staggers to his feet, gripping the stump on his wrist tightly. “I’ll… I’ll kill you… all of you!” He points the bleeding appendage at everyone, flicking blood all over. “I’ll kill you, and I’ll put Greg down, so he can’t… so he can’t be used by you fucks anymore.”

I feel something inside me snap. The last shred of patience, that I’ve been clinging to for Tilly’s sake. It blows apart like an overstressed steel cable, sending shrapnel through the rational parts of my brain.

I reach in front of me while also pulling from deep within me. The energy in my core whirls to life, spinning happily at my attention. I direct it outwards, through my hand, and directly at the madman. Orange light flies from my hand and slams into his chest. It permeates his skin, causing him to glow brighter and brighter. And then, with a flash, he vanishes.

I step past Freako, and face the remaining soldiers. “If you lot don’t want that to happen to you, leave!” I yell, pointing behind them. Where I’m gesturing, a black portal opens, swirling shades of darkness rippling together.

None of them say a word, they just run through the gateway.

────────────

A giant spider sits in the center of her large home, the silk around her rustling with the movements of thousands of her children. She watches with a pleased feeling as they all scurry together, giving the impression of a family. She’s enjoyed it… but it must come to an end.

Her children haven’t died for quite a while, but neither have they hunted. Without new food, her youngest will starve, and… that’s just as bad as seeing the eldest die on the hunt. With a weary, but fulfilled, heart, she lets the thick strands surrounding their home fall away.

The dungeon shudders as several thousands tons of silk collapse throughout the tunnel systems, crushing stones and creatures as they go. After a minute of shaking earth, the strands settle.

Go, little ones. The spider tells her young. Go and get food, food for your siblings, become strong, and come home warriors.

She feels the pleased emotions of her young as they heed her commands. They surge from the now cramped passages, and flood out into the rest of the dungeon. Tunneling spiders start clearing away silk and rubble as weavers begin making new webs.

The mother of them all lies down, anxious for the first prickle of death to brush against her mind. For the first death in so long. But… it is necessary. They need food, she needs food. Death is part of life, and she won’t let her children die in vain.

Her mind wanders. To her strangest child, the one who made her. It has been quite a while since the spider’s seen them.

She hopes they’re well.