“Surround her!” the lieutenant shouted. “Keep a sharp eye on her every move. Demons are known to be extremely crafty.”

The soldiers did not dawdle or argue. They heeded their lieutenant’s orders and quickly formed a circle around the lady who they had deemed to be a demon. They trained their weapons and eyes on Xatara. Though they warned to be cautious, they couldn’t help but be enticed by the deep and impressive valley that was her cleavage. Some were even eyeing her up and down, giving emphasis on her bosom and her pale tender thighs that were exposed through the slits.

“Demons are known to be cunning but do you know, demons are also known to be resilient against simple steel such as these pitiful weapons you are all wielding.”

“Shut your trap!” the Lieutenant howled.

“How pathetic,” Xatara scoffed. The dark lightning flame in her hand took the shape of a blade. It floated and twirled above her palm.

“Silence, wretched being!” the lieutenant snarled. “Keep your eyes peeled! Don’t be swayed by her words or her body, especially her body!” He put emphasis on the last part because he saw his men loosening their postures as they gazed at the lady’s bountiful parts.

“Oh, I’m indeed a wretched one. I don’t deny. But are the bunch of you any better?”

“Attack!” the lieutenant ordered in a bellow and all of the soldiers charged at her at once.

The lady sighed and waved her hand. The blade of fire and lightning spread into seven and flew toward all of the soldiers.

The soldiers could only widen their eyes in astonishment as the blades streaked through them. They were all too astounded by the spectacle of a spell Xatara just displayed to respond aptly. They had never seen such a spell before. They didn’t even know what the spell could do. When the blades began to dance, it was already too late.

The soldiers collapsed to the ground, one by one, leaving only the lieutenant standing. His eyes and jaws were agape. He was trembling uncontrollably. His bladder lost its grip and all the rum he had drunk before the incursion came trickling out.

Xatara grimaced. “Barbarous,” she sneered and the blades lopped the lieutenant's head off at her will. She had wanted to inquire for some answers but after seeing his pathetic display, she knew she wouldn’t be able to get anything out of him as his mind was already in shambles. “And to think he holds the title of ‘lieutenant’. Has the might of the military also declined over the years?” Xatara wondered to herself.

After all of the soldiers were dead, the blades returned to Xatara’s side. With a flick of her wrist, the blades reassembled into one and vanished into a puff of smoke.

Xatara took this opportunity to give her surroundings a good glance while she reorganised her thoughts. She had only just escaped her seemingly perpetual imprisonment and memories of the previous host of her current body were mixed with her own memories.

Her name was Xatara and she was the sovereign of all demons. It went without saying she was one of the most powerful beings in the world, putting gods aside. More than a thousand years had passed since her imprisonment at the hands of the heroes. Her physical body was destroyed and the heroes had her soul bound and sealed in a sub-dimension. Over the years, her prison deteriorated and she was gradually breaking free but a physical vessel was needed for her resurrection.

By the whims of fate, Alayne, a sixteen-year-old girl from a nearby village, stumbled right onto the doorstep of Xatara’s prison and this very girl just so met all the requirements, and more, to be the Demon Sovereign’s physical vessel, which wasn’t too absurd of a coincidence as the requirements were simple. The vessel had to be a female, untouched by men and women alike, and consent.

The absurd coincidence was that Alayne possessed a soul that was on the same wavelength as Xatara’s which allowed the latter to instantly regain half of her powers in her prime upon resurrection.

“Perhaps my resurrection is destined,” Xatara muttered conceitedly to herself, breaking into a faint smile. “That’s enough pondering for now. Time to fulfil my lovely host’s final wishes.”

As promised, Xatara fully intended on bringing ruin and destruction upon the soldiers who destroyed Alayne’s home and killed all of her friends and family. Xatara did have her own goals but she put them on hold. She had been out of commission for more than a thousand years. Taking revenge for her dearly departed host would do just fine as a warm-up.

From what she could gather from her host’s memories, the soldiers were most likely still in the village, enjoying the pillage and rape. Since her late host had run quite far before meeting her untimely end, the village was at least two miles away. It would be around an hour’s walk if she walked leisurely.

Xatara didn’t doubt the soldiers would still be there even if she didn’t make haste and took her time sauntering. However, after so many years of idleness and inaction, she was itching for a fight and hungering for glory. She was able to suppress her latter desire to some degree but her former desire was something she wanted to quell as soon as possible.

Xatara flicked her hand and after a second, the space split apart in front of her, revealing the scenery of the entrance of her late host’s village. This was a spell of hers known as Rift Portal. It allowed her to create a portal that could take her to the places she had been to. Though Xatara had never been to the village, her late host’s memories solved that minor issue.

There were two soldiers standing guard at the village entrance. “W-what the hell!?” the two of them cried in shock when they noticed the portal and someone walking through it.

After Xatara emerged from the portal, it closed up behind her and the space returned to normal. “Evening,” she greeted.

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The two soldiers were briefly captivated by Xatara’s immense beauty but they recovered from their lust-struck stupor when they saw her amethyst eyes and her horns. They assumed their combat stances and trained their spears on her.

“Who goes there!?” one of them demanded in a shout.

“Me?” Xatara answered dryly.

“Don’t mock us! State your identity and business, this instance!”

“Are you one of the villagers?!”

Xatara sighed with a belittling smile and snapped her fingers. Her shadow swelled across the ground, eliciting a shriek from the two soldiers. Something leapt out of the dark puddle and pounced on one of the soldiers. That “something” was a dog-like beast the size of a tiger, moulded by darkness. It proceeded to tear the soldier apart with its fangs and claws.

The one that didn’t get pounced on dropped his spear and stumbled backwards in a panic, all the while wailing in fear. He looked conflicted as to whether he should run or help his partner. He made the decision to run when he realised he no longer had his spear and another Shadow Beast was climbing out of the lady’s shadow.

The soldier only managed to turn his body around. Before he could even take a single step, the Shadow Beast caught on to him and ripped him apart piece by piece.

Xatara was smiling as she watched her pets mauling and devouring their pitiful prey but she wasn’t being an idle spectator. She was feeling out the village, gauging the number of soldiers present within and also their strength and abilities. She smiled wryly when she finished her inspection. She didn’t sense any powerful foes amidst the soldiers, with herself as the standard of course.

Not wanting to engage in a pointless battle with these weaklings that could barely be considered a warm-up, she summoned thirty-two Shadow Beasts, matching the soldiers’ number, and sicced them on the soldiers in the village. She also made sure her Familiars would not harm any of the surviving villagers.

After a few moments, a series of cries and screams erupted from the village.

“What in the name—!?”

“We are under attack!”

“Monsters! Monsters! We are under attack by monsters!”

“What in the thousand hells are those things!?”

“Demons! Where are the mages when you need them!?”

“Where’s the Lieutenant?! Is he not back yet!?”

“The Lieutenant! The Lieutenant! Where is the Lieutenant?!”

It was evident from the voices of mayhem. The soldiers were overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of the Shadow Beasts. The soldiers were caught with their pants down, literally for more than half of them. Had they been doing anything else other than reaping their gains that were the village girls and women, they would have at least been able to put up a good fight. However, it was a massacre.

Xatara was still standing motionlessly at the entrance of the village. She wanted the soldiers dead but she didn’t see fit to dirty her own hands to do so and hence her reason for idling. The sounds of bones and flesh being torn apart echoed widely, reaching Xatara’s ears. She could also hear the clangour of steel but all were immediately followed by wails of despair when they realised the Shadow Beasts were impervious to their weapons.

When the wailing and shouting died down, Xatara finally stepped into the village. She strode past numerous corpses, villagers and soldiers alike. Of course, she wasn’t the one responsible for the villagers' corpses but the Shadow Beasts were munching on the corpses indiscriminately. The Shadow Beasts were able to turn the flesh they devoured into energy that sustained their existence.

Xatara finished off any soldiers that were faking their deaths or were on the verge of death as she ambled her way across the sacked and razed village. There was a soldier who hid himself well from the Shadow Beasts but Xatara knew where everyone was in the village. It was no use hiding. Using a telekinesis-like power, she crushed the cowardly soldier’s heart.

When Xatara reached the centre of the village, she could see the survivors had gathered there. Unsurprisingly, they were all females as the soldiers had left them alive to unleash their carnal desires upon them. There were also children too and some of them were not spared the cruelty. They were all in tattered garments and bruises riddled their bodies.

Seeing Xatara walking around, unfazed by the corpses and the Shadow Beasts’ presence, they quickly deduced she was the one who commanded the Shadow Beasts and the one who saved them from their peril. They were further convinced when the Shadow Beasts melted into shadows and slithered back to Xatara's shadow.

“T-thank you, lady…” muttered an elderly woman as she cautiously walked up to Xatara. Her gaze was fixed on the horns on Xatara’s head but she managed to pry her gaze off.

“Don’t mention it,” Xatara muttered back indifferently.

The elderly woman would have bowed if she had not been under the soldiers' abuse just minutes ago. The traces of their savagery could be seen all over her body. “I don’t know why you saved us but nevertheless… thank you, lady.”

“One’s gratitude does need to be greeted by gratitude,” Xatara retorted without stopping or even sparing the old woman a glance.

“W-what? What do you mean by—”

Xatara stopped and turned around to face the old lady. “I said I don’t need your gratitude, in case I wasn’t clear enough.”

“I-I understand, lady. But… may I at least the name of our saviour?”

Xatara chuckled. “I’m not your saviour. I have not saved anyone.”

“But thanks to you, some of us are still alive.”

“Yes, but for how long will you still be alive?”

The old woman gulped at Xatara’s question.

“Your homes are destroyed. Your crops were burned. Your men were killed. The way I see it, you’re better off dead.”

The old woman scowled. “That’s not for you to decide, lady.”

“You are correct. It’s not. But it has already been decided.” Xatara said and turned around to leave.

“Wait, you’re just going to leave us like this?” asked a young blonde woman who seemed to be in her late twenties.

Xatara did not stop to answer the young lady. She kept on walking while the blonde kept demanding an answer from her.

The young woman lost her patience and stomped toward Xatara. “If you leave now just like this, who will protect us when the soldiers return?”

Xatara did not stop.

“Lady, I’m talking to you!” the young woman shouted and reached out her hand to grab Xatara by the shoulder.

Immediately and abruptly, all of the women dropped to their knees and the children started crying as a dreadful and oppressive wave swept past them. The young woman lost control of her bladder and wetted herself.

Xatara glanced over her shoulder and stared at the young woman coldly. “I slaughtered the soldiers due to an obligation. Saving you lot was never my intention.” And it was true. Her late host did not hold any desire to save her village as she believed all was lost. She wanted only vengeance and Xatara was happy to oblige.

Just then, a loud screech resounded from within the forest. It came from the direction where Xatara was walking. She was going that specific way because it was where the soldiers came from judging by the footprints and it was in that direction that a wyvern appeared in the sky.