“It took rather long, but we are only five minutes away from the entrance on foot,” I said with a smirk.

“Whatever. We just have to kill them to gain access to the Imp guy's place, right?” Raze’s voice was devoid of energy.

I nodded while dismounting from the cart. ”The imp sisters manage the barrier to his castle, but they live in the common realm of the imps, so we just have to find where they are located.”

Raze leaped off the cart and stretched out his legs. ”It feels so fucking good to be able to walk again. I'm also getting a little bit sick of steak.”

I furrowed my brow. “Well, we can’t do much about that...”

We walked side by side through the rocky terrain. Every step felt prickly and foreign against my boots. I felt somewhat bad for the beast-kin that had to live outside in this wasteland. It was so much less colorful.

Before long we could see the large lumpy brown structures of Imp City. All we had to do was get through the heavily-guarded iron gate. Small dunes allowed us to hide from view, but once we got close enough, Raze began acting up—or should I say—started being himself.

“Ah-ha-ha! Look at those little midgets with their spears longer than their bodies. Ha-ha. It's like they are part of a clown gang or something.”

I made sure we were behind a rock structure before I reprimanded him. “Can you be a little quieter? Neither of us is armed, remember? I am terrible with weapons and you didn't think those swords were ‘up to your standards'.”

Raze crossed his arms and snorted. “And I stand by that.”

I rolled my eyes. I wanted to slap him for being so immature but now was not the time. We needed a way into the town, and undetected at that. And that's when it hit me.

“Those walls are only ten-feet high or so, I think. For the imp with an average size of under five feet, that would be considered high. However, with your jumping Skill and my wings, we could easily get over the wall as long as we aren't spotted.”

“I see.” Raze nodded. It seemed like he actually agreed with me for once or at least pretended to.

I wonder if he respects me more after doing something that he miserably failed at?

I closed my eyes and agreed with myself. It seems I would be a more important asset than he thought.

“So we should start from the left side and work our way down……….Raze…?”

He was not behind the rock wall with me. No. Leave it to the Savior to rush into things once again. I spotted him on the left side of the wall with white rabbit ears poking out of his head.

At least he wasn't engaging in combat this time, I thought, full of fabricated optimism.

I decided to sprint after him until I could make sure the imp guards wouldn't spot me. I watched him easily scale over the wall with a single hop before landing on something hard from what it sounded like. I let my wings flap and flap until I could thrust myself into the air, using my momentum to carry me over the fence before landing down, light as a feather. It was a miracle I wasn't spotted.

“Gah! What is thaaaaat?!” I screamed.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist. He was there when I landed and the impact crushed his skull. Nothing to worry about.”

“Why would you think I would be worried if it was dead or not? I'm scared that you were seen in the act and that a few hundred imps would be rushing over to us from all sides!”

I quickly looked in every direction. There were a few small lumpy houses around us, but luckily we seemed to have landed behind a dwelling.

“See. We’re fine. I have a plan, too.”

I raised an eyebrow at his audacious claim. “You? You have a plan? You?” My voice was layered with a combination of sarcasm and disbelief.

“Yup, but it's going to require both of us to do a part, so go along with it and don’t be a little bitch, ‘kay?”

“....” I turned away from him and hugged my arms to my chest. “I'm not sure what you are referring to, but I'll play along for now…” I have a bad feeling about it, though.

He pumped his fist, his face littered with excitement. Seeing that alone made me a hundred times more nervous than I was supposed to be. Still, I followed him from out behind the house and mimicked his confident stride.

Why are we walking on the main street? Why are walking right up the first group of imps we see which happen to be nicely dressed in tuxedos? Why am I being thrown at said imps? Why is this commotion allowing Raze to stomp on the skull of every imp in the area with swift execution?

I had questions followed by questions followed by more questions, but getting the answers wouldn't have mattered at this point. As usual, I just put up with it. Soon, every imp in the vicinity had been reduced to a bloody mess of tattered flesh and cracked bones.

“See. I told you it would work.” He jovially puffed out his chest and scraped the imp remains off his shoes.

I pulled myself up after being thrown for the fourth or fifth time and patted off my clothes. ”Do you really think the plan of throwing me at the enemy and killing them while they are distracted will really work for an entire city of imps?”

He quickly shook his head as if I was the crazy one.“No, of course not, stupid. This was just to get through my three good deeds a day set by that ugly goddess. Now I can focus on what actually matters. Plus, I don’t think every imp here is into that large rack of yours, but these guys definitely dressed as they would. I was just using your assets the same way you would, yeah?”

I knit my eyebrows while trying to hold back my anger. “Soooo, you are saying that you used me, a girl you're supposed to protect, as cannon fodder with a pair of breasts, while you got your daily Savior points? Are you serious?! And I don’t use my boobs for stuff like that!”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Why do you look so mad? It's not like we didn’t get split XP and some good combat experience from this battle. Oh, and what do you use them for then? Seems just like a heavy burden going to waste if you asked me.”

“...I’m not going to even try to explain to you, so let's roll it back to the Savior part.” I pointed to all the mutilated corpses that littered the ground. “You call this a battle?!”

He started to walk past me. “A battle is a battle. These little fuckers just got outplayed, that's all. Now come. It's time for Phase Two.

There's more?

I slowly followed him, trying to not fall too far behind, but he stopped soon after.

“Actually, I came up with a better idea. I saw it in some movies and I think it might actually work. Of course, I'm not the biggest fan, but I’ll need your help for this.”

Is he implying that I'm not the one that has gotten us through the majority of our troubles so far?

“Well, what is it?”

He grinned. “Well, it goes a little something like this.

————————————————————————————————————————————

Klara Vos and Vara Klos gracefully walked down the steps of their small, but humble palace to meet with the head of their warrior division. Apparently, the newly appointed Savior had been apprehended by someone who's from outside the city.

“Do you really think he was captured so easily?” Klara blew the hair off one of her eyes, but it fell back in place shortly after. After a few tries, she gave up.

“If it was a fake report, we will have the head of the lier. We could take him to Lord Archevaz.”

“He would be very pleased.”

“Indeed.”

They continued to walk in sync, their high-heeled shoes quickly clanking against the marble floor as they made their way to the large entrance door.

Without hesitation, they grabbed each side and thrust it open. With a slight chill from the morning wind, they licked their lips as they searched for their target. A few feet below them stood a larger-than-average imp in a military uniform and cap.

“Empresses, the prisoner, and his captor will arrive soon.”

“Who captured him?” Klara asked.

Vara nodded, clearly interested in the exact same question that her sister had inquired.

The imp general took off his cap and put it against his large puffy chest. “Before I get to that—I must say, you two look as lovely as ever with those outfits. They really suit you.”

“”Thank you,” they purred in unison.

“Though, which of us do you think has worn it better?” Vara struck a pose

“Indeed,” chimed in Klara as she did the same.

Sweat poured from the general’s few strands of hair as the two imp beauties stared him down.

“Well, Lady Klara’s red eye that isn't hidden behind her hair goes great with the red leg plating of her armor.”

She smiled deviously at his praise.

“Lady Vara’s bright blue eye goes splendidly with the blue metallic clothing around her breasts and chest.”

Vara grinned just as brightly as her sister.

“”Thank you, general.””

“It's my pleasure, but what were we talking about before that again?”

“The prisoner, right?” asked Klara

“Yes, the Savior,” affirmed Vara

“Right. Well, a beast-kin from the wasteland who works under another Lord of Tyranny was passing by and noticed him trying to sneak into our city. She used her strong magic and unique Skills to quickly suppress the boy since he is still quite weak.”

“I see…”

“Are they here?”

“They should arrive at any moment. She said she wanted to bring him directly to you out of good faith.”

Klara placed a hand on her hips.“She made the right choice.”

Vara mimicked her. “Indeed.”

“Well, I shall be taking my leave then.”

The general slapped on his cap and waddled down the steps and out of sight. In his place was a group of four imps and wedged between them was a beautiful bat beast-kin girl and a young man with ashen hair and a strange-looking device over his right eye. He glared directly at the two sisters.

“What's with the sexy outfits made of armor? Skanks, much? What is this—some fantasy game for horny teens? That shit is hella revealing. Also, why are you hoes so much taller than the other midgets?”

The four imps took this conflict as a signal to retreat and quickly scuttled back the way they came.

“This one surely has a mouth on him.”

“Indeed, sis, but he did call out outfits sexy.”

They both looked back at the Savior. Klara took the initiative. “As you can see, female imps are significantly superior to our male counterparts. We are special—the chosen ones. Hence, there are reduced numbers. ”

“We are precious jewels, after all.”

“Ah.’ The Savior nodded. “So that would make you brood mothers, right? You two must have a shit-ton of kids! Ha-ha-ha!”

The bat beast-kin gave him a hard slap on his face. “Silence, human!”

“You bitch, that hurt,” he growled. “When this is over, I'm going to—OW!”

“I said—silence!”

“She is in control.”

“Indeed, she is.”

The Savior quieted down by biting his lip. He did not seem to be a fan of the situation he found himself in but who would?

“Now, I was promised a reward for the Savior's head. Can I take that up with you or the Imp Lord?” The bat beast-kin looked at both of them for approval, her lips somewhat quivering under their stern gazes.

“Follow us inside and we will take you to him.”

The bat beast-kin hesitated. She was rather uneasy at just casually stepping into the lair of the Imp Lord.

“So he's in there?” she asked, her tone full of doubt and disbelief.

The imp sisters immediately crowded around the bat beast-kin, pushing the Savior to the side. Each of them set an arm on her shoulder and leaned in close to her ear. “Well—yes and no.”

“He isn’t inside, but going inside is the quickest way to meet him.”

The bat beast-kin just nodded at their cryptic explanation. She broke free from their grasp, distancing herself, and returned to the bound white-haired boy.

“I don’t have a lot of time to waste, so please take me to your l-leader and allow me to present this reward to him, myself.”

The bat beast-kin expression was one of impatience. She really sought to get the job done. The twins didn’t think she was acting out of the ordinary. Or, at least, they didn’t think it was an issue.

“Right this way then.” Klara led them forward.

“Make yourself a home before you depart.” Vara became the caboose of their conga line.

The four of them shuffled into a rather small, but posh palace with the door slowly closing behind them.

“Wow, this place is so pretty. The walls are just dazzling with beautiful art.” The bat beast-kin’s eyes were sparkling. It slightly filled the twin’s heart with a fire of jealousy.

“Mmmmmmmm. You have good eyes, my dear.”

“It took us quite some time to amass fine art from many different species. It was quite an arduous task.”

“Who the fuck cares?” the bound Savior complained

“”QUIET!!!”” The three shouted in unison.

“Pfft!” The Savior retaliated by spitting on the floor, anger seeping all over his face. He chose to do it right before being brought in front of the two shimmering silver thrones.

“How dare you.”

“Disgusting.”

“Putting his disgusting…tendencies aside, how can we meet with the Imp Lord?”

“Ah, that.” Klara settled into her throne on the left.

“Yes. That.” Vara sat down on her own throne on the right. The twins radiated an aura of pompousness, as they stared down the pair. Deep smiles were plastered across the twins' faces.

“We were thinking...”

“Yes, thinking…”

“”Why don’t we kill you and take the reward for ourselves? He will surely be more pleased than with some no-name underling,” they spoke in perfect unison, followed by wicked smiles and snarling teeth.

“So that’s how it's going to be, huh? Well, Raze. You can do whatever now. At least I got us here.”

“Jeez, about fucking time.” The Savior’s arms were no longer bound.

“Oh?”

“Interesting.”

The twins slowly stood up from their thrones. A ghastly ball of dark magic appeared in Klara’s hand while Vara’s projected a large shard of raw ice. Both of them grinned menacingly with the intent to kill.

“A fake-out.”

“Somewhat unexpected.”

The twins stood back to back, like partners in crime. It was time for them to show that they were more than just a pair of pretty faces. They were the guardians of their Lord’s barrier, after all.

The Savior and his partner stood by each other. One had a shit-stained grin while the other had their lip curled, brimming with confidence.

With defiance and the hunger for battle wafting through the air, both parties began their dance to the death.