"Lanka no!" Irene yelled, seeing her servant and friend collapsing.
She ran towards the Nekomi who saved Amber and checked her pulse. It was something she learnt from the books gifted by Theon. She felt a faint heartbeat under her fingers as they pressed gently to the girl's throat. Irene kneeled and started casting helping spells when Luna's multilayered barrier surrounded them. Rin clenched her fists and turned towards the opening in the wall. She was ready to charge and kill anything that appeared, but she held herself back. Her master needed her...
•••
I turned around and gritted my teeth. Lanka was still alive, but she was living on borrowed time- the only thing that was keeping her alive for the moment was my mana that fueled her self heal skills. My mana that kept Lanka alive was burning by the hundreds and soon thousands- but I refuse to just let her die. I'm a sore loser.
"Irene! Save her! I'm going to resolve this battle." I tried to teleport, but it was locked. "Amber, Luna, stay here."
I tried to use blink, and it worked, so I moved myself to the part of the still-standing wall. The army that encircled us was much bigger than previous demon forces and consisted mainly of demons of the same type we fought before. They fought the phalanx lines, and it looked like they were going to break them at one point. My lines in front of the opening in the wall were decimated. The horde of demons started pouring towards me with victorious battle cries. I couldn't find the one responsible for threatening Amber and almost killing Lanka, but the closing demons' cries worked on my nerves.
"To hell you go..." I raised my hand in which materialised a longsword, and I aimed at the succubus leading the demon forces towards the collapsed wall. "... Fucking hoe!"
Behind me formed ten large magic circles and my personally created minigun skill began its harvest. Yes, Lanka may be using almost half a million of my mana points now, but after the previous battle, I had to expand my mana vault to thirty million mana capacity, and it was filled to the brim. The victorious shouts of demons changed into shock and then into wails of terror when I mercilessly mowed their lines. There would be no mercy...
The similar dark bolt that, technically, killed Lanka splattered on my shield, instantly consuming two million mana points. No wonder Lanka was unable to block it. I looked up and saw a flying demon, probably the commander of this army, as he slowly descended. I ignored him, moving the tip of my blade upon the attacking army, erasing entire battalions from existence. It took much more mana than I gained, but it was satisfying; I stood there as the angel of death and nothing could sneak past me.
"Hey! You, mortal! What do you think you are doing?!" The demon finally moved faster toward me, seeing that his number advantage in this sector crumbled under my wrath.
I coldly looked up and stored away my sword. With the flash of bright and blue light, I blinked, only to appear just behind him. He was a male, similar to the succubus we captured previously, so he was... An incubus? I think so... I caught both of his wings and, using my full strength, I delivered the kick that sent him flying to the ground with tormented screams of pain. The trail of dark blood marked his quick descent to the ground. He hit the ground with a loud, wet thump and he lay there in the quickly growing puddle of blood. I blinked again, standing in front of his broken body as he tried to stand up. I tossed in front of him his wings that I had torn away, with disgust painted on my face, and lifted him by his throat.
"Was it you who destroyed the wall and killed one of my friends?" I asked, as cold as the emptiness of the vacuum between the stars.
"Who...ghyyy..aaa!" He chuckled as I started clenching my fist. "YES! ...!"
His begging fell on deaf ears when I slowly closed my grip. I saw the fear and terror in his eyes as I watched his futile struggle to break free. But he couldn't; both his legs and one arm were shattered, and broken ribs pierced through his skin from his unplanned landing. I saw his mouth forming into the last begging for life.
"Please..." He whispered with his foul tears falling on my hand.
"I am out of mercy for those like you..." I slowly closed my hand crushing his throat and watched as the life started escaping his body.
•••
"You think you have caught me, but you are in a trap! My brother will free me!" The Succubbus screamed at Dahlia, who was sitting on her stomach, painfully holding her immobile. "He is a level 80 Incubus! Hahaha!"
Something wet and obviously dead landed near her, splashing her face with still-hot blood. She quickly looked, expecting to see the dead husk of the man who humiliated her, but to her growing fear and sorrow, she saw the mangled and lifeless body of her brother. His once handsome face was frozen forever with a horrible grimace of pain and suffering. His lifeless eyes looked at her with the fear of an animal, which thought it was a cunning hunter before falling to true and powerful predator. Cahrona just now realized that she was crying and wailing.
"Oh? Someone, you know?" The cold Dahlia's voice pierced her scream, making her understand these people were not normal.
She silently admitted to herself that their entire mission failed and soon she was going to find out what true terror and pain was...
•••
The warm blood of demons sprayed my face as I hacked any that crossed my path. Their screams of pain and panicked movements showed me their weakness. Some of them dropped to their knees, begging for their lives, but most of them tried to run. Demons were not simple mindless monsters like the zombies they used before to fight my legion. As I walked across the battlefield, the pool of demon blood splashing under my boots, I realized that devilkins were yet another race of the people of the world. As they perished under my merciless sword, I wondered what madness drove enemy commanders to chat with their opponents in the middle of battle. What insanity created this stupidity? Was this arrogance? Or maybe overconfidence?
"My armour is contempt..." I cut off the head of one of the braver demons that tried to interrupt me.
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"My shield is disgust..." With a lazy movement of my hand, I pointed a finger at the demon wizard that tried to cast some sort of spell, sending a single arcane bolt her way. My magic hit directly, ripping a giant hole through her chest.
"My sword is hatred..." I cleaved the panicked demon in half when he turned around and tried to run.
I walked slowly towards the still-raging battle on the eastern flank, as the situation here was contained. I understood perfectly why so many dungeons turn to blood lust. Despite my rage and wrath, I paid full attention to the mana gains and losses. My mana vault is expanding, as I paid millions of mana points, despite the fact I was personally engaged in the battle and used way too much mana. This wild rush of magic that fueled my power would have been exciting if not for the grim display that I had to see all the time in the corner of my eye. The counter on which the numbers still grew higher and higher. The counter indicated that Lanka...
It stopped.
•••
Irene was panting heavily, but thanks to Rose, she hadn't collapsed. She tried everything to save Lanka but in the end, she had to use the Saintess Miracle to save her life. The Nekomi girl was breathing slowly, but Irene was still worried. She was quickly regaining her strength, possibly feeling a bit better now than the last time she used a Miracle.
"Thank you, Rose."
"Always at your service, my Queen!" Rose happily looked at Lanka, who seemed to be simply sleeping now.
Irene summoned another staff and dropped the melted remnants of her previous weapon on the ground. She turned her face towards the captured succubus and slowly and menacingly headed towards her.
"What was this spell?" Irene hissed the question, and she was looking more akin to an angry lioness than the Saint. "What did they use?!"
"I don't know!" The terrified succubus tried to move away from the angry woman, but was mercilessly held by Dahlia.
"You are lying."
The cold and calm voice sounded behind Cahrona as the head of another greater demon landed near her. She cried and squealed in dread when it was crushed to pieces under the heavy boot of the human she underestimated. Dahlia stood up and stepped aside, but still was very close to the prisoner.
"I will give you one chance. Tell me the truth or else..." Theon looked at the succubus, weighing his options.
He made a few steps and kicked away the remains of the incubus who dared to raise his hand against Amber. The chained woman cried angrily and looked at Theon, but she lowered her head quickly.
"Tell us what that spell was." He wasn't asking anymore. Theon used Directed Command, one of his skills.
"Never! What kind of hero are you?!"
"What made you think that I am the hero?" Theon almost laughed. Luna watched her husband and champion of her God in silence- right now Theon was terrifying.
"You think I am stupid?! The kitsune is following you! You are the summoned hero!" Something in the succubus pushed her to speak despite her fear.
"Oh, no... You are wrong. Heroes are warriors of justice and light; they roam the land to fight the forces of evil. They are shining beacons of hope in the darkness of the world." Theon crouched over the succubus and lifted her by her hair to look deep inside her eyes. "You see, I am not a hero. Heroes tend to just defeat the dark lords and leave chaos and anarchy in their wake. But you are partly right; I was sent here to save this world."
She screamed in pain, suddenly too terrified to speak. But she looked inside his deep glowing blue eyes and she gasped...
"I am not a hero." He slowly repeated as he stood up, dragging her by her hair. "I will save everyone who swore their fealty to me. I will destroy each and everyone who will oppose me. Because I don't believe in heroes. Now... YOU WILL TELL ME EVERYTHING!"
•••
Galahad slowly shook his head. His King was furious, and that anger quickly spread among the Legio Fulminata, or, to be precise, what was left of it. The cavalry took huge losses, but no single demon retreated into the darkness of the shadow realm. The triarii were slaughtering the last resisting demon units, but functionally Legio was no more. In normal circumstances, about 85% losses would mean that the entire legion had to be formed anew. But Fulmianata legionaries would respawn just in a few days, maybe a week. Galahad was ordered to take some prisoners, and right now, about twelve higher-ranking demons were kept under guard.
The battle was over. It hardly could be called a victory- not when they failed so miserably, endangering Queen Amber. Only the bravery of Lady Lanka saved the day. Galahad couldn't wait to see how the legion would perform unhindered by the King's orders. Galahad regrouped what was left of Fulminata and seriously started thinking about bringing reinforcements. The legion entered the fort with their prisoners and Galahad sent orders for the next Legio to be ready to deploy at any moment.
•••
Cahrona Ashes, with numb terror in her eyes, was kneeling in front of this man, too afraid to even shiver. She explained how a soul-shattering bolt works and with a careful dose of satisfaction, she watched the fear on the faces of younger women. But when the women called Amber, Irene and Luna heard how the skill worked, they just smiled. Cahrona tried to despise them, but when three enormous magic circles illuminated the never-ending dusk of the shadow realm, she couldn't hide her awe. She didn't understand how they were going to save the shattered soul, but the amount of mana these three commanded was beyond impressive. These three must be the ones who destroyed the twenty-layered barrier that protected this place.
She felt the movement behind her and noticed the knight she had seduced before. She tried to focus and use her pheromone magic, but the painful jolt of magic threw her on the ground in convulsions. Hoping her magic still had him in her power, she looked at the knight expectantly.
"Help me..." She tried to look as pitiful as she could without the help of her magic.
The knight moved towards her and took out his sword. Her heart started beating faster with the hope of running away, but this hope was short-lived. She looked at the sharp tip of the sword that the knight held motionless right before her face.
"The only help you can receive now is honest advice, woman. Do everything King Theon asks you to do."
•••
After Irene explained her crazy idea, I took Lanka's empty husk in my arms and waited for Luna's mark. Back on Earth, Lanka would be classified as a 'person in a vegetative state', or someone after brain death. Her body was technically fine, she should be healthy, but there was nothing inside- her soul had been brutally torn away and shredded. It really was a very dark magic. She felt so light in my arms, and it was so strange- as if I was holding some doll.
"Theon, now!" Luna yelled.
I focused and called for Lanka in the same way I dragged the Lich's soul from his afterlife. But instead of gaining mana, I started losing it rapidly. I gasped in shock, which turned to fear when the numbers went into high millions. A quick glance at my Queens made me realise how this was draining for them as well; they barely stood with faces covered in sweat. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, Lanka gasped and started screaming and crying. Immediately after her first scream, Amber collapsed, breathing heavily, but was caught by Iris who stood nearby. Irene kneeled, panting from exhaustion, and only Luna was left standing, rubbing her eyes, but after a moment she needed to sit down as well.
"Welcome back, Lanka." I slowly fixed her dirty hair when she looked at me through her tears. She hugged me, crying loudly.