Black and blonde

Two days after the incident with Adramalech, Alice could finally return home. A punctured shoulder took a while to heal, and to avoid getting her wound open, the half-angel was told to stay at home for another week. While arguing that she was fine and that such a wound was no big deal for her, ultimately she knew that she wouldn't be able to win against Beatrice’s and Lilim’s arguments. Resting on her bed, despite it being a late hour, she couldn’t sleep. The blue-eyed demon decided to keep her company, sitting on the edge as the blonde-haired angel was pulling yet another all-nighter at the Force.

"Sleeping on the side sucks." Alice grumbled, which earned a laugh from the succubus. The shoulder still ached like crazy, and the freshly closed wound was itching due to the slightly too tight bandage wrapped around it. How she wished that her regeneration factor would be at least partially as good as of the proper angels.

"That's your problem? Be glad that I didn’t give you an earful." Lilim mimicked the more stern voice of Beatrice. But half-angel seriously deserved one. Not summoning her armor from the get-go and using no defensive spells. She was lucky that it only ended with a wounded shoulder. Veronica’s words still ring in her head.

"I know, I know." Half-angel tried to stretch but quickly stopped as she moved her left arm too much. Alice softly massaged the aching part in hopes of mitigating the pain. Maybe staying at home wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Want me to kiss it to make it feel better?"

"Yes please!" Half-angel replied even before succubus could process what she said. She blurted it out without much thought, but she didn’t expect anything else from the ginger. Lilim sat closer to Alice and leaned in for a kiss. She gave her a small kiss on the cheek, something that the half-angel did not expect. Angel’s face became beetroot red, and she let out what Lilim could only describe as a scream of joy as she covered her face with her hand. Succubus laid down next to the ginger, who now had a bright smile on her face.

"You look much better with that smile on you." Lilim smirked to herself. Seeing Alice’s smile was worth getting beat up by demons from time to time. Still, she was worried that demons with such strength could just walk into town, and no one could do anything to prevent it. And to think that only because of her did they survive. Lost in thoughts, Succubus felt Alice cup her cheeks and lift them slowly.

"I could say the same to you."

"Well, then you just have to keep giving me reasons to smile." Despite saying that with pure confidence, her response was met with angelic snickering. "Cut me some slack; it wasn’t that bad."

"It wasn’t, but I would never take you for the type to say things like that."

"And I wouldn’t take you for someone laughing at the poor maiden pouring out her heart." Lilim said it dramatically, which ended in both of the girls laughing. More of the night was spent with them, joking and exchanging thoughts. The blue-eyed demon was glad that she could help the half-asleep half-angel calm down her mind away from the last mission. Since the past two days, she has become much quieter, if Beatrice’s words are anything to go by. Apparently something had bothered the ginger, and it was something only the archer knew.

"Hey, do you think we could stay like that?" Alice asked, snuggling closer to the black-haired succubus.

"Sure thing. Though all things considered, it didn’t take you long to invite me to your bed." Lilim winked.

"Here you go again, making everything sound weird." Alice pouted. "At least wait until marriage... Please forget what I said! "

"Don't worry, I am a patient demon; I can wait." Succubus embraced the smaller girl and said, "Say, is something bothering you? I’ve talked a fair bit with Beatrice and-"

"Everything is fine, really. I’m just mad at myself that I couldn’t do much." Is that really all? Somehow, Lilim wasn’t convinced that it was what bothered the half-angel. Alice still wanted to play that card. Seriously, some day she will give her an earful about that. But not now; the atmosphere was too nice to ruin it.

"Don't be too harsh on yourself; now focus on recovering." Before half-angel could reply to succubus, her phone rang, breaking the near-perfect silence of the still night. Lilim reached for it and saw that Beatrice had called. Just what could she want at this hour? She practically never called, mostly sending them coordinates. The demon handed the phone over to the ginger, who put the phone on loudspeaker.

"Forgive me for calling at such a late hour, but I’ve got to talk with Lilim. It's a serious matter, so could you let her speak with me?" Alice put the phone back on the bed and gave the blue-eyed girl a puzzled look. Succubus was just as confused as the half-angel. Demon didn’t think that she got on anyone’s bad side in the past few days, so maybe it had something to do with their encounter with Adramelech.

"It better be urgent. You are interrupting a nice night."

"Bishop Ezekiel received a request for backup from Grad’s branch. The last unit they sent has not come back, and their radars have been constantly picking up auras measuring up to sixty lambdas. Thus, both I and Lilim have been asked to aid them and terminate the demon."

"Can't you do this alone? You scared that damned peacock away, so-"

"We both have been requested, and it would be better if we both went. Such a high aura better not be underestimated, and besides, the faster we will be done with it, the faster we will be able to return home."

"I suppose you are right. Fine, where am I supposed to wait?"

"Wait near the garages. Personnel from termination unit three should already be there. I’ll join you shortly. There’s still a matter I’d like to discuss with Ezekiel."

"Garages, I got you." Lilim ended the call. She sighed and scratched her head. "I’ll try to come back as soon as possible. Make sure to get some rest while I’m gone." Succubus added as she made her way towards the doors. Spreading her black wings, it didn’t take her long to arrive at her destination. Walking towards the garages, she noticed a bunch of people wearing white riot police uniforms, some of whom were starting up the engines of white-painted humvees.

"Miss Lilim from the Purgatorio squad?" One of the men asked, presumably the staff sergeant. "Matthew Hawk, captain of Znena Extermination Unit Three, designated Lemegeton." Matthew shook the demon's hand. Her strong grip shocked him at first, but after hearing about her, he should have expected nothing less. It was the first time that any of his men had seen the demon, and Matt could see that they were rather uneasy about the idea of fighting alongside her. Even if they weren’t showing that now. He heard enough muttering when the bishop gave his order. Honestly, Miss Beatrice would probably suffice for this task, but apparently they couldn’t be too confident. Sixty lambdas was quite high after all.

"So do we know anything about that demon of ours, or are we going in blind?" Lilim asked. It’s not like lack of information bothered her; she and Alice practically never knew what demons they would face, but if she wanted to work with them, even if for this one time only, she wanted to get to know them better. And asking about their task seemed like a good idea.

"Sure thing. Hey Chad, can you give me the tablet for a sec?" One of the men who had already sat in the humvees stepped out and handed the captain a tablet. As she later learned, Chad was a technician and mechanic for Lemegeton. A handyman who could fix any engine. Lilim focused on the information displayed on the tablet. The demon they were after was named Behemoth. Spotted a few times in recent decades, always managing to run and hide. Apparently strong enough to crush steel like nothing and sturdy enough to easily mistake his skin for stone. In short, a major pain in the ass. Great, just great. It’s not how she wanted to spend this night, but it's too late to go back now.

"I see that everyone is getting along just nicely." The voice of the blonde-haired angel got everyone’s attention. Beatrice’s white dress stood out in the night sky, almost glowing, gently illuminated by the shy, peeking moon. Though perhaps it wasn't exactly a dress, at least not one like succubus's own. The top was more like a chestplate, albeit made of rather thin plates. The plates went all the way to her hips, where the armor started to transform into a robe.

"Huh, I never thought I would see you in a battle dress. Is that why we had to wait for you? And I thought I take a long time to change." Lilim smirked while the squad troops saluted the archer. Beatrice turned deaf to the demon's remark and ordered the extermination unit to start the cars. Humvees sprung to life, and nearly everyone got inside. Only demons and angels were left standing.

"What are you waiting for? Get into the one with Matthew. Unless you have some questions to ask,"

"I have one. But I guess it should wait until we are done. And wait, we ain’t flying there?"

"Not this time. And you better not take this for granted. Traveling by car is much more pleasant than flying." The blue-eyed demon couldn’t really agree with that, seeing as she had been in a car twice. Both times being driven by Beatrice. For her, flying seemed much more natural and just straight up faster. But maybe letting her wings rest from time to time would be a welcome change.

The whole convoy moved out, with all vehicles driving in a straight line. The roads were surprisingly empty at this hour. Succubus would have expected such a town to be much livelier at this hour. At least they didn’t have to wait in traffic. And she got to see some new parts of Znena that were still alien to her. Getting on the highway, she saw the sea. Sadly, due to the clouded sky, she didn’t see the "sparkling little diamonds," as Alice had called them, so she had to resort to the angel’s words and her own imagination. It was surely pretty, but Alice’s own little emeralds still won.

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The convoy soon turned away from the highway, now moving on one of the lesser-used roads that connected Znena with other towns. Houses became sparse and few in between, until they were finally gone. In the distance, Lilim noticed rising hills accompanied by an acre-long forest. Apparently, the one they found her in was just a small part of the wilderness. One of the few that managed to survive to the present day. The humvees change their course into the deep, dark forest, following a muddy road. Their reflectors barely managed to illuminate the darkness that covered the entire wilderness.

"So is this a shortcut to this whole Grad or what?" Succubus asked, seeing no reason to go through a forest at night. There must have been a highway of some sort that would get them to the town in a much shorter time.

"Behemoth had been spotted in a forest close to Grad. Their own unit was supposed to draw it away and terminate it. But since there has been no contact with them, it's our job now. If what Bishop Antonio related to Bishop Ezekiel was true, then Behemoth should be somewhere in here." Matthew answered, seeing confusion arise on the demon's face. It didn’t seem like Beatrice had bothered to fill her in with details.

"Should be? You don’t sound too convinced."

"You don’t have to worry, Lilim; Grad’s been generous enough to send data from their radars to our devices." This time, Beatrice answered. The blonde angel handed her one of the tablets. It was picking up a reading of a rather high aura.

"And if that wasn’t the case, we have both of you ladies. I know that you can feel such an aura from a mile away." Matthew added. It was somewhat true. The black-haired demon wasn’t the best at that, but she could pick up a thing or two. Perhaps the angel was a much better tracking dog? Nevertheless, Lilim got her answer and was content with it. Though she still would have rather stayed with Alice.

The convoy suddenly stopped. Matthew ordered, through the radio, for all units to leave the vehicles and prepare their guns. From what their tablets were showing, the demon was about 300–400 meters away from their current location. Deeper into the forest than the muddy road could lead them. After splitting into smaller groups, the extermination team moved in. Two groups were supposed to search for any survivors of Grad’s extermination squad, and the rest were tasked with leading the Behemoth away from the denser parts onto a plain located nearby, giving both women more than enough space to go all out. Lilim and Beatrice took off into the sky and had to do a large-area scan. Should one of them spot the beast, they are to notify the rest.

"You wanted to ask me something, didn’t you?" Beatrice suddenly asked, as succubus was more than focused on looking out for the demon. It took the blue-eyed demon by surprise. She stopped close to the treetops, just in case a hulking mass of stones came their way. "I think we have enough time to talk it through.

"Shouldn't we focus on the mission?"

"And how do you want to focus if your mind is occupied by something else?"

"How did you-?"

''You've been thinking about Alice throughout the entire road, haven't you?"

"Did I make it that obvious?"

"You were constantly spacing out. I’m glad that you are worrying about her so much, but she is a tough girl. A break from work will work wonders for her."

"That's not really it. It’s just that since our fight against Adramelech, she’s been more down than usual. Something is troubling her, and I can’t do anything about that."

"I might just know what troubles her." Beatrice muttered, and thankfully for her, Lilim didn’t hear her. Before she could come up with some reassuring words for the demon, a roar of a mighty beast echoed through the forest. It sounded like a mixture of elephants and bulls. Trees have been knocked over, creating even more ruckus in the woods. From the trampled trees came a house-sized beast. Its body seemed to be covered in human-sized chunks of stone. It moved like a tank, trampling everything in its path with its massive six feet. It didn’t seem to have eyes, as the top of its head was covered by a chunk of stone that resembled a helmet. The most imposing features of Behemoth were his two massive tusks and his trunk, which ended with two spikes on the sides.

Lights flashed, guns echoed, and bullets flew through the air, bouncing off the beast’s skin. Those who weren’t busy looking for survivors have started to drag it away from the denser part of the forest, making sure that both of their ace cards won’t have any trouble dealing with it. Behemoth took the bait and ran off in the direction of the bullets. Beatrice nodded, and both she and Lilim went flying right after the demon. Lemegeton was doing its best, but Behemoth suddenly stood up on its hind legs. It stomped with all of its might at the ground, releasing a devastating quake that knocked over many trees and kept the unit from backing off. In a desperate measure, they all took cover behind the fallen trunks while continuing to spray the demon with bullets. As it was about to charge and trample over any soldier unfortunate enough to stand in its path, three arrows struck the ground right in front of it, making it face the angel and succubus.

Lilim immediately flew down and struck the demon with Prince. A black blade covered in blue flame bounced off its stone-like skin. She tried again and again. At best, she could only make a deep cut into the stone, but the beast seemed unharmed. Behemoth used his trunk like a flail and attempted to hit Lilim. Succubus used her black wings as a shield and took the strike, which came out surprisingly fast. It sent her flying a good few meters away. Quickly getting back on her feet, she wasted no time and jumped back straight into action. This time, Prince struck the Behemoth's hind leg. At the same time, five more arrows struck it right in the back. Three more pierced its skull.

Behemoth was having none of that and started furiously stomping. Lilim quickly retrieved her blade and backed off as the ground around the stone demon started to shake. A circle of tree-sized stone spikes arose from the ground, striking Beatrice out of the air. The blonde angel was caught by the blue-eyed demon, who retaliated by sending a wave of blue flame at Behemoth. It just barely pierced through the stone circle, and the beast looked to be unwounded.

"This guy’s though. Even the minotaur was burned by my flame. But he shakes it off like it's nothing!" Lilim lamented while dodging a chunk of stone launched at them by the beast. Beatrice’s arrows were nothing more than a hindrance to it, and silver bullets were entirely out of the question. "Don’t you have anything more than just shooting him with arrows over and over?"

"Nothing that wouldn’t put you all at risk."

"Damn it. Then I guess I’ll have to chop him chunk by chunk!" Succubus lunged at the Behemoth. With the help of the blue flame, she stabbed through its trunk. Once again, the blue flame seemed to have no effect, but at least it was wounded.

Don't play games with him, Lilim. Use my flames and turn him into ash.

The momentary break in the black-haired demon’s concentration was more than the Behemoth needed to stand up and start flailing his trunk like a flail, sending her flying in the direction of the blonde archer. Beatrice used the opportunity and struck a golden arrow in its underbelly. Lilim landed with a loud thud on the ground, but so did Behemoth. It started to roll, casting chunks of rock left and right.

"Gee, you could at least pretend to try and catch me." The demon said this as the blonde angel was preparing another arrow, this time aimed at the beast's front legs. Perhaps by striking the less armored parts, they could at the very least immobilize him enough for them to finish up the job without bigger problems. Of course, it was easier said than done. Their best chances were when Behemoth stood up, but it seemed more than apprehensive to do so. The golden arrow still dangled. Weirdly enough, no blood was present. Was it just a flesh wound?

Behemoth rushed at them, and both of them took off into the sky. While up there, they were safer, but it also made their job that much harder. Striking it in the back of his head might have as well been equal to tickling him. If they could only find a way to make him fall on his back.

Quit wasting everyone’s time, Lilim. You know my flames are mightier than yours. Kill him and go back to your angel.

The arm that Lilim used to wield Prince seemed to move on its own as she tried to bring it down. The blue flame turned sapphire, and with a downward motion, she released a wave of sapphire flame that seemed to even scorch the air. Unfortunately, it missed Behemoth entirely and instead burned down the trees that hadn’t been trampled by the beast.

Stop resisting, and let me do my job!

We cannot use it with so many people at the site.

Don't try to pretend that you care about them. What was it that you used to say? Ah, right. Only you yourself matter on the battlefield; should the rest die, then it’s their fault.

Shut up!

Lilim had not noticed Beatrice embrace her, but she did notice that, for some reason, she was moving rather rapidly. Finally returning to her senses, she saw a blonde angel fly left and right, dodging chunks of stone that an enraged Behemoth was chucking at them. Loads of silver bullets were hitting the beast, nearly all of them bouncing off, but they managed to get its attention away from their trump cards.

"You can daydream about Alice when we are done." Beatrice smiled a little, seeing a blush appear on succubus’s face as she let her go. "While you were spacing out, I came up with an idea. It might just work."

"Sure, what do I have to do?"

"Can you aim more of those waves at his feet? Make sure that he trips over. It should leave him open enough for a kill."

"I’ll see what I can do." Saying that, succubus let out two more waves. Both of them aimed right before the Behemoth. It slowly started to back away, but silver bullets now aimed at its legs, and another bunch of waves left it trapped. Behemoth was throwing stones left and right, trying to get rid of its attackers. Now trapped in a ring of blue flame, the beast let out a terrified roar. The demon once again stood up on its rear legs. It smashed them back into the ground, putting out the flame but getting itself stuck in chunks of broken earth. Beatrice got behind Lilim and put her bow right before her. She grabbed Lilim’s dominant hand and moved in such a way as if she were notching an arrow. Lilim, while confused, allowed Beatrice to do what she had in mind. While it was harder to make Prince sit properly on the string, after a short while, it nocked on a glowing blue string that dug into its handle. Lilim covered her black blade with a blue flame. Behemoth was forcefully thrashing around, trying to free its feet. It lunged backward, standing on its hind legs, breaking free.

Beatrice let go of Lilim’s hand, which resulted in Prince soaring through the air. A blue flame arrow struck Behemoth in its underbelly, making it fall on its side with a pained cry. It was slowly burning from the inside, and it didn’t take long for the soft skin to catch itself aflame. Behemoth’s carcass set itself ablaze in a yellow flame.

"You better have somebody fix that." Lilim said as she retrieved her weapon. Succubus showed the makeshift nock on her katana’s handle and said, "And tell me when you want to use my blade as an arrow. Now can we go home?"

"But of course. Boys, I believe that you don’t require our help in finding the potential survivors." Beatrice stated with a smile on her face as she grabbed the demon that was barely standing on her legs. Shooting out that many blue flames wasn’t something she was used to.

"Yes Ma’am!" They all replied before hurrying off to help their companions. Hearing that, the blonde angel took off into the sky and slowly made their way towards their home.