I looked around the plain familiar room of my castle bedroom. My character’s massive tits jiggled obscenely as I shifted my weight off the bed and stood up. I swiped over to the level up screen and sifted through my skill options. I ended up choosing a healing spell called [Minor Wound Healing] and [Hex Resistance]. If my fight with Mellica was any indication, I was completely powerless against her hex spells. The healing spell would be useful when my priestesses were otherwise occupied and would make me that much harder to kill. My blood tithe meter also filled twice and my demonic body glowed with blood red energy. My athletic physique became more muscular, while the blades on my body and my claws lengthened even more. Finally I felt my wings strengthen and stretch as they grew larger, and I extended them with satisfaction.

After I equipped my gear I pulled up my character screen. Greater Demoness Allexus exuded power and strength, while still maintaining killer curves and a voluptuous feminine body. My old character in comparison looked like a pushover compared to what I looked like now. As I opened the door to leave my room, the sense of dread I usually felt was far less;. I may not be as powerful as my master yet, but I was certainly getting close.

I strode into the throne room and looked around for Mellic. I expected to be attacked, chained, struck, or something that I wasn’t prepared for as I searched the empty chamber. It wasn’t just that he was missing from his usual perch, the entire room was nothing but slate gray stone and dimly lit torches. As I turned to walk back out of the room I couldn’t shake the feeling that my master was still planning on suddenly appearing when I least expected it. When I finally stepped out of the castle I sighed deeply. I wasn’t entirely sure where Mellic had disappeared to, but I was sure it wasn’t a good thing.

I stretched out my wings eagerly and launched myself into the air. With my larger wingspan I cast a very wicked-looking shadow on the ground, and I grinned as I soared even higher. I flew much more quickly than before, and it wasn’t long before the large orange portal came into view. For a moment I thought I had flown to the wrong gate because of all the angels and Angelspawn swarming around the gate, but after seeing them attacking the demon guards I knew that something was amiss.

I readied my sword and hurled myself feet first at the largest angel warrior. With my free hand I started casting my summoning spells, and with a tremendous impact my spiked boots hit the massive Angel in the chest. The force from the blow sent him flying back and he dug his long bladed weapon into the ground to keep himself from being knocked back further. I summoned my demon warriors as I cleaved a low level Angelspawn in two.

“Focus on thinning out their numbers and drive them back!”

All 20 of my demons turned at once and started attacking the surrounding enemies viciously. I turned back towards the giant angel who had turned his attention on a low level Demonspawn. I focused my energy on moving as quickly as I could to shield the other player and I surprised myself with just how fast I was able to move. The huge angel brought the weapon reminiscent of a Japanese naginata in a wide arc meant to cut the player in half. As I landed in between the Demonspawn and his attacker I knew that I couldn’t draw my shield in time to block the blow, so I did the only thing I could think of: I grabbed the large blade and summoned up all the strength I could muster.

When the attack meant as a killing blow was suddenly stopped, I’m not sure who was more surprised: me or the angel. The blade had bitten deep into my gauntlet, and the impact from the blow had knocked off a chunk of my HP, but I was otherwise unharmed. I used the angel’s momentary hesitation to my advantage, and brought my sword up swiftly. His brightly gleaming armor would probably protect against all but the strongest blows, and if it were one of the various Demonspawn attacking him, the sword stabbing into his chest would have made nothing more than a scratch off his heavy platemail; but I was no mere Demonspawn. My demonic strength surged and I drove my corrupted sword deep into his ribcage. I bared my fangs at him as I pushed with all my might until the hilt of my blade clanged off his armor. A look of surprise and horror was painted on his face as he died and I withdrew my blade as his huge body fell backwards. The heavily armored corpse fell with a large crashing sound, and I turned to face the person I had moved to protect.

I extended my hand forward and helped the level 13 to his feet and he looked at me with eyes as wide as they would go and a look of awe stuck on his face. I couldn’t see his HP without being in his party, but other than being banged up and bruised, he appeared unharmed. When he finally spoke the words tumbled out of his mouth so rapidly it was hard to decipher exactly what he was saying.

“Howdidyouyoukilledhiminone I thought he wasgoingtokillme who areyouwheredidyoucomefrom?”

As he continued to babble incoherently, I summoned the rest of my demon army and dispersed them with a few commands. I turned back towards the enthusiastic player and held up one of my hands to silence him.

“Get inside the Hell Gate and see if you can’t help the other Demonspawn stay safe, can you do that for me?”

He nodded and ran off and I let out a tremendous sigh of relief. I was sure that after this was all said and done I would have to fend off more adoring fans, but for now I could focus on making sure the remaining attackers were taken care of. I was about to move to attack the nearest Angelspawn when a thought occurred to me.

“Pain! Panic! I need you.”

The small black demons appeared in front of me and clutched my leg tightly like a child would with their mother. After a moment they pulled away and gave me eager looks.

“Run through the Hell Gate and find Emelia and bring her back here. If she can’t make it safely, return to me at once and let me know. Got it?”

“We’d rather stay here and protect you, mistress! Why do we have to find that frigid bitch anyhow?”

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I glared at Pain (or Panic… I couldn’t tell the two of them apart) and the other smacked his brother.

“Points for the ice joke, but I won’t say it again; find her! NOW!”

They both turned and scampered off towards the Hell Gate with their crossbows at the ready. I grabbed my shield off my back and swiftly deflected an arrow as it flew towards me. I turned to face the shooter and saw a mid level Angelspawn taking aim at me again. I bared my fangs and flew towards him rapidly. When I closed the gap between us in less than a second, the player realized the mistake they had made and dropped their bow in an attempt to flee. I gave into my demonic nature and savagely slashed at the terrified archer. My blade dripped with Angelspawn blood as I turned to find my next target.

It seemed the waves and waves of angels and Angelspawn were never ending. I lost track of how many I cut down, and I was starting to feel my body moving more sluggishly as I grew more and more tired. With my own healing spell and the constant healing from my priestesses, I was still mostly unharmed, but I knew I couldn’t keep up at this pace for much longer. As a group of 30 enemies drew closer, I raised my sword and shield in preparation. Massive spikes of ice rose from the ground and impaled the attackers before they could make it to me, and I was glad Emelia had made it out of the Hell Gate. I turned to face her and was shocked to see she was leading a huge army of Demonspawn. She ran over to me and gave me a thumbs up.

“You OK, babe?”

“Better now that you’re here. I was beginning to think I was going to have to take them on all by myself. Great way to start off our day together… What the fuck is going on? Why are they suddenly attacking now?”

She shrugged and waved her hand to create a massive frozen wall to keep the attacking army at bay.

“I have no clue… Maybe the double XP thing has people trying to grind any way they can. But I’ve never seen that many players all in the same place. Any ideas on how you want to handle this?”

“Whoa whoa whoa! I may pretend to be in charge of our band of misfits, but there’s no way in hell I can lead everybody back there.”

I wanted to panic at the sheer amount of responsibility it would require to lead everyone, but my demonic body merely hungered for more violence. I sighed and turned to face all the players that had amassed before turning back to Emelia. She gave me a look of determination and placed her hand on my arm.

“Everyone’s saying that you took down an angel commander with one hit, and after I helped a bunch of players they started following me after they saw I had the same clan tag as you. One thing led to another and before I knew it I had a whole army following me to come help you out. The only reason I found you so quickly was because of Pain and Panic there. They found me and kept trying to get me to come to you.”

She moved in front of me and beamed up at me. I couldn’t help but smile back at her as she stuck out her tongue.

“Look, our clan doesn’t just follow you because you have a powerful character… We follow you because you are a brilliant strategist and we trust you with our lives. Well… our character’s lives anyways. More than that though; I’ve known you for less than a week and I already feel like we’ve been through so much together. You can lead them, I know it. This is the same as the fight against the spiders or the crossbow demons, only now you have even more firepower at your disposal. We have thousands of angels and Angelspawn charging at us, but we have the high ground and we are more familiar with the terrain. How do we proceed, Greater Demoness Allexus?”

I closed my eyes and visualized the battlefield in my mind. As long as we could hold our ground we had a decent chance of winning. Losses would be heavy and a lot of players would be “reset,” but I didn’t want to think about what could happen if the angels managed to overtake the Hell Gate. In every game of chess the pawns were typically the first to move. Pawns…

If we have all the summoners move their armies to the front, the mages and archers can attack at range while the enemy battles the “cannon fodder.” Warrior and Paladin types just behind the summons to protect the mages and take out any attackers who manage to break through. Healers will be at the back out of harm’s way as much as possible. Enemy mages with heavy area of effect spells are going to be an issue with our army so close together though… We need mages who can cast any type of defensive spells like Em’s Ice or Jade’s Bones. If we stay on defense the entire time, eventually they’ll wear us out with their superior numbers. High damage types like rogues and fire mages need to flank the enemy and take out the biggest threats so the rest of the army can push forward. If only we had a way to draw their attention away so the high damage characters can get into position… Wait… Aeryn!

“Em, do you have a way of contacting your brother? We could really use a distraction for what I have in mind.”

She nodded and reached into a pouch on her belt before pulling out a small statue of a spider. She opened my hand with hers and smiled.

“He said it basically works like a two way radio. So I guess just talk to it?”

“Aeryn, can you hear me?

The small stone object in my hand shifted and began to move as if it had come to life. One of the front legs raised and waved at me like it was saying hello.

“The Hell Gate is under attack from angels and Angelspawn. We need you, the others, and as many spiders as you can spare to attack the enemy from behind. I have a plan, but it requires a distraction… Are you guys able to make it here quickly?”

The spider waved its hand again, reared up like it was going to attack, then shifted back into the original statue position. I handed it back to Emily and nodded, she in turn squeezed my hands and kissed me on the cheek. I spoke as loudly as I could so that everyone assembled knew their roles, and I was grateful that my demonic body purged any fear or trepidation that I would have felt so my voice remained strong and confident.

“I need everyone to separate into groups based on your specialization. Summoners in one group, ranged attackers in another, Warriors and Paladin types in another, and healers in another. Everyone who I didn’t list will form the last group. Group up and await further instruction. Move!”

I watched as everyone shifted and started forming up into the groups that I had assigned. Everyone knew that time wasn’t on our side, so they moved quickly and quietly. I could tell that there were a few players who were unsure of where they should go, but eventually everyone was divided up into their groups. I took a deep breath and told everyone the plan. They listened intently and nodded as I explained exactly what I wanted them to do, and after I finished everyone moved into position.

Emelia had grouped up with the defensive mages, and I walked over to them as they started casting their various spells. She finished reinforcing the enormous wall that separated us from the attacking army and ran over to me.

“Even with all of us making this thing as strong as we could, it still won’t last long against that many attackers.”

“We only need it to last long enough for Aeryn to provide the distraction. Any word from him yet?”

She held up the spider and shook her head.

“Well… shit.”