Asoko Side

"I am Zylos. They call me Winter's Frost." The blue-skinned boy states with a perpetually sullen expression.

"Never heard of you." I simply respond and snap my free arm around at him. He dodges it nimbly and grabs my wrist after it has passed him. Searing pain runs through it as if it has been scorched by fire, but instead of burns, I see my skin turning purple at his touch. A moment later, my entire hand has become discolored and I'm unable to move my fingers, losing all feelings in it. Before it can spread any further, I detach my arm completely.

Looking at the severed arm he's holding, Zylos contemplates on what to do with it for a moment, before dropping it carelessly. It shatters on impact with the ground; apparently it was frozen from his grasp. Now I can understand why they would call him Winter's Frost. What I don't understand is how he wasn't petrified by Nesis' gaze; maybe it has some convoluted rules on its effects, but her usefulness as a medusa has dropped significantly by that display just now.

I grow a new arm and curse the fact that I never gained the dragon's template. Their anti-magic capabilities should be able to negate or at least lessen the effect of this guy's powers, provided they are actually based on magic. It seems to me that it's his nature, though I don't know what exactly he is. But one thing is for certain: He's not a human. And judging by the expressions of the others in the room, they weren't aware of that fact, either.

How am I going to fight him? I don't know that much magic and I don't have many templates. My strongest point, the weight and density of my body, coupled with the ability to expand and swallow my targets whole, has basically been negated by him. After all, if I eat him up, my whole body might get frozen solid faster than I can digest him.

"And who are you?" Zylos asks me upon seeing my regenerative capabilities. Should I tell him? He might go all out if he knows that I'm the daughter of the demon queen. Right now he's observing me and waiting for me to take action first.

"You don't need to know." I'll go with that. After all, it doesn't matter who or what he is, if he's on the side of the humans, I'll have to kill him, too.

"Very well." With his constantly upturned eyes he states emotionlessly. "If you stand by the demon queen's side, I do not need any other answer." It seems we had the same thought there.

Without another word, I immediately produce a spike from my body and stab at his chest. It pierces his clothes, but I can tell that it didn't go any deeper than that. Before he can grab onto it, I retract the spike and step back, pushing Kamii out of the room behind me. I don't want her to be anywhere close to this; in the absence of my other half, I have to protect her from any harm.

I extend my arm and pull out the sword I stabbed into the soldier's visor earlier, before swinging it around in a whipping motion. I don't have any training with a sword, but instead I improvise with my convenient body, utilizing its malleability to produce more strength than a normal swing would be able to. Well, I'm physically stronger than any human when I increase my density, so I can brute force a lot of things.

The sword makes contact with Zylos' shoulder, but once again, doesn't cut deeper than through his clothes. I thought that maybe if it was a weapon made of steel, it would be able to achieve more than what I can produce with my body - which is limited to teeth, when going by the hardest organic material I have at my disposal. But the fact that he doesn't even flinch from the impact shows that his body is practically impenetrable.

"This is answer enough for me." He states while looking at the sword casually. The moment I feel the grip grow cold, I let go of it immediately. Apparently his coldness is conducted through any material at an incredible speed, even from as little contact as a blade's edge. How do I beat something like that?

Then, from the corner of my eyes, I spot Ninlil stirring on the bed, as the two conducting the magic ritual around her return to their senses. They completely missed all the action going on, but it seems they were doing something to return her consciousness, which I accidentally robbed her of by keeping her inside myself for a long time and subjecting her to some sweet torture. She looks around herself, before realizing where she is.

Then she screams.

Everybody is startled and turns towards it, but I already saw it coming; I use this opportunity to chant a spell I secretly learned from my other half.

"Spirit Spear!" I shout and will it to fly right at Zylos, who hears it and immediately moves out of the way despite not even looking in my direction. The fact that he dodges it means that it's capable of at least hurting him, so all I need to do now is to keep him in place for long enough so that I can hit him with one.

The spear pierces through the floor and leaves behind a tennis ball sized hole in it. It seems that my output isn't as strong as my other half's, but it's still strong enough to pierce solid stone. But really, it's such a destructive spell, I don't want to use it too much inside the castle, or else it'll turn into a Swiss cheese before long. Rewera would chew me out for it, if not maou-mama herself.

I wonder how she's doing.

"Ohnd Spyd!" The woman in white chants, and above her a massive spirit spear appears. Oi oi, don't shoot that in here, it'll destroy the castle!

"Morkets Skold!" From behind me, I hear the voice of Nezera. A sphere of translucent purple darkness surrounds me, just in time to block the spirit spear that was launched at me. Both the light and darkness seemingly cancel each other out, but the spear wins, shattering the sphere and piercing through my chest. Well, I had enough time to create a hole for it to pass through me, and since it came from an angle, only a wall is behind me right now. The remaining spear pierces through it and disappears from sight.

Before she can cast another spell, I'll kill her first. Even though Zylos may be indestructible, if all he can do is freeze on touch, his destructiveness doesn't even measure up to this woman's. If she can get a spirit spear off at the wrong angle, it could have devastating consequences for the maids outside the infirmary.

But just when I create a spike from my body and extend it through the room, the bald man with the shield steps between me and my target. Bone is weaker than steel, so my spike is blocked without even scratching his shield's surface.

"Ohnd-" I hear the woman chant again. Damn, I can't-

"Do not interfere." Zylos' frigid voice interrupts her. Huh, he wants to fight me one-on-one? But he didn't actually commence a battle with me so far.

"But-"

"Do not make me repeat myself." It feels as if the entire room's temperature just dropped noticeably at his words and the emphasis he put in them, despite not really changing his tone. I can feel a shiver run down my back, and I'm sure everyone else present had the same sensation just now. This guy is really bad news...

Lenoly Side

The demon castle is under siege.

I was in the deepest depths of the castle, enjoying a long bath after spending time with Asoko, when I heard a commotion outside. By the time I got out, dried myself up and got dressed, nobody was around and I had to wander through the hallways to find a maid to ask what's going on. That's when I passed a corridor with windows towards the outside, and saw that the capital is in flames and human soldiers are walking through the streets, chasing down my kin.

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Why did nobody tell me about this? And where's Asoko?

Did she and the maids head out to suppress the enemy? I don't see any signs of resistance from the demons below, so that can't be the case. Unless... they already went out and were defeated? No, that's impossible. I can't ever imagine a Crawling Chaos losing to mere humans. Even that time when Onee-sama fought against the principal and many of the masters, she was only banished to the heavens, not killed.

So maybe something prevented her and the maids from going out there? Then my first bet is to go to the audience hall, where the largest amount of people can gather. I'm sure they're holding a war council or something like that there right now... I hope...

As I round a corner, I run into somebody much taller than me and fall onto my bottoms. When I look up, my mind goes blank.

"Hm? If it is not Miss Lenoly." Master Thorvadis is towering above me, flanked by an old man with an even larger and whiter beard than him, and a female soldier in a richly ornamented runic armor. "What a surprise to see you here. So this is where you disappeared to." His tone is friendly, but considering the situation, I can only feel terrified. What is he doing inside the demon castle?!

This means that the soldiers in the city below are something like a distraction, and the enemy has already infiltrated the castle. Furthermore, the fact that Master Thorvadis is among them means that this is the alliance for bringing down the demon queen. But the demon queen is currently not here, so it must mean that they seek to occupy the city and lure her into a trap when she returns.

I need to let Asoko know that they're already inside here, but I won't be able to run from the principal at all. He can lock me down with magic immediately, and under the circumstances, it wouldn't be strange if he just killed me on the spot. I need to talk to him and buy some time somehow.

"W-what are you doing here?" I can't keep my voice from shaking, and such a direct question won't serve as a good distraction. But the very fact that I can even talk given the position I'm in should be commendable; after all, I'm looking death in the face right now.

"As you may be able to guess, we are here to bring down the demon queen." His demeanor is strangely open and easygoing despite the fact that he's in enemy territory. Does this mean he's so confident in his capabilities to defeat the demon queen?

"She's not here right now-" I start, but he smiles and interrupts me.

"Oh, we know that she earlier returned today and is currently in this castle. Maybe you were not informed of it." He corrects me and speaks with conviction; it means that he has absolute knowledge, not just a hunch. "So, what are you doing here?"

The demon queen returned today? Damn, Asoko knocked me out for such a long time this morning, I missed everything that was going on and now I'm in a bad spot. What should I do now? He doesn't seem like he's going to kill me, but considering the fact that he's here to kill the demon queen, and I'm clearly aligned with her daughters, I can't just say "alright, go ahead" and turn a blind eye to save myself.

"I-I'll have to stop you!" I muster all my courage and ignite my flames, knowing that I won't be able to lay a finger on him even though I can cast certain fire spells without chanting, due to my nature as a Capra demon.

"Allvar." The instant my body lights on fire, Master Thorvadis speaks this while pointing his crystal-encrusted wand at me almost casually. Just like that time when I came to Onee-sama's help, I'm pulled to the ground as if my body has become incredibly heavy. The principal is among the few humans who have an alignment in space magic, but he's the only one who mastered it, which is why he's considered humanity's greatest weapon. It's not something I, a simple girl from a rural town in the depths of the Dominion could hope to stand up against. "What a shame. You were a promising student, but you have forfeit your own life with the side you have chosen."

Suddenly the female soldier who has been keeping a distance behind Master Thorvadis is flung across the corridor and into a wall, the impact shattering rock and armor. Spinning around, he and the old man accompanying him behold the attacker. From my position, I can't really see who it is, but the fact that he or she sent a heavy armored soldier flying like that means that it's somebody who is physically very strong, to say the least.

"Have no fear, for I have come." Around the corner steps Rewera, her dark red eyes glowing with an intense anger that doesn't show on her facial expression. She towers above even the principal, who is already very tall, her gaze one of inspiring confidence.

"Allvar!" However, the fact that she isn't immediately attacking Master Thorvadis leaves him enough time to chant the same spell that has incapacitated me. The maid leader's knees buckle and she appears to fall. Yet, in the last moment, she catches herself and straightens her body with some strain, as if shrugging off the effects of the spell with her strength alone. "Be careful, Lord Creator!" The principal gestures at the old man beside him and points his wand at Rewera like a dagger.

"Leave her to me, you go on ahead." A rasping female voice speaks and I watch in horror as the soldier who was flung into a wall with such force that she was embedded in it stirs again. The runic armor melts off her body and from within emerges a naked woman with glowing hot skin like molten rock. Her hair is a blazing flame that puts those of my people to shame and her eyes are two orbs burning bright like the sun. When she opens her mouth, the intense glow inside her throat seems to suggest that her insides are even hotter than the outside.

I can instinctually feel that this is an existence far above me. I have a certain level of immunity to fire, but I'm sure that she can burn me to ashes with a single touch, if she wills it so. The ground around her naked feet heat up with every step she takes forward, leaving behind footprints of melting stone. This person is like a living volcano, a force of nature that can destroy all life around it on a whim. I don't think anyone could fight her, not even Asoko or Onee-sama.

??? Side

"This is the place." A man in heavy robes with a bandaged face states in a muffled voice as he places a hand on a heavy two-winged metal door richly ornamented with a relief of various demons vying for a massive ruby let into its center. He is floating above the ground and has thus been going undetected by Xaggavea's spider-web network. Turning to his companions, a woman wielding a sickle moon staff and a massive cloaked figure towering at almost twice her height, the man bows his head respectfully.

"Are we really doing this?" The woman leans on her staff and looks up to the cloaked figure, who places a gloved hand on her head and pets her hair. She closes her eyes and enjoys it for a moment, before pouting and giving a reproachful gaze. "That's not an answer, though."

"I do not share everybody's enthusiasm about this game, Shelnir. I only wish to make sure that nothing unforeseen happens. To that end, I do not mind if you condemn me for this." With a deep and ephemeral dark voice, he responds and places a hand on the giant ruby. It begins to glow and the wings of the door swing open slowly, revealing a dark circular hall with a single sky window, which casts a beam of light onto a lone empty throne.

"I would never condemn you..." Shelnir mutters under her breath and looks at the cloaked man's back with a longing expression, as he walks into the hall. However, he does not hear her response and continues on towards the throne with a clear objective in mind. Every single long-legged step is accompanied by the clacking of metal on stone, and along the way he takes off his glove to reveal a large skeletal hand.

"Time to remove the uncertainty factor." His voice echoes within the hall and is amplified to a death-like hollow choir.

"What may that factor be?" A woman's voice resounds through the darkness of the hall and seems to come from everywhere at once. Stopping dead in his tracks, the giant man looks around slowly, but without a hint of anxiety or even fear.

"Show yourself, Demon Queen Pelomyx." He speaks in a low tone, slightly menacing and said as if issuing an order.

"Do you really want to see me? Very well." With a snicker, the darkness around them seems to come alive. "If you would be so kind, Mithra." That line is directed at the man in the heavy robes, who respectfully waited outside the hall. Shelnir and the giant man spin around towards him, clearly surprised at the fact that she appears to trust her former court mage turned traitor with doing something for her.

"As you wish, my queen." Mithra responds in a tone that leaves no doubts in his true allegiance. In the next moment, the doors shut with a decisive bang.

"So he was a spy for her all along..." Shelnir glowers in anger, as she bites her thumb, her beautiful face distorting from the ugliness of an uncontrolled expression for the first time.

"Look at my face, you mighty, and despair." The darkness within the hall wavers and moves to gather in one spot beneath the beam of light from the sky window. The remotely humanoid form it takes on reveals an unholy existence so alien that it cannot be reconciled with the human mind. Tentacles for hair, arms and legs, a body with its dark purple and black skin shifting constantly to never retain a singlular shape for long, it is both repulsive and fascinating, mind-bending and enchanting.

However, the most remarkable and horrifying fact is that Pelomyx' face appears to censor itself in the minds of the beholders, and it is no different for these two. Nausea washes over Shelnir at the sight, but she cannot help but keep staring at it, suppressing the urge to scream in terror.

"You seem to be fine." With an eyeless gaze, the demon queen turns her attention to the giant man, who takes off his other glove to reveal another skeletal hand. Lifting his hood up enough for the little illumination in the hall to fall onto his face, a gigantic skull comes to light. The eternal and empty grin stands in stark contrast to the two yellow orbs glowing in the hollow eye sockets, which give him a grim expression.

"Death..." He speaks without needing to open his mouth. "... has no need to fear itself."