Xing Lei was indeed within the palace, he'd been here ever since the genie had come for him weeks ago. The little lady had shown a complete disregard for the females alongside him. Her focus was on the kobold who even to the current time was fighting. Her servants, the bug assassins were constantly darting around a large hall, battling the surprising reptile. Her master wanted a self populating guard force that would protect him endlessly, so the genie had ripped an insect straight out of one of the layers of the abyss and bound it to a corpse.
Her masters corpse.
She was rather proud of herself, not only killing the fool who deemed himself her master but then using his body to give him exactly what he wanted. Of course, he hadn't been a corpse at that time, but once the red queen was attached to his face it wasn't long before she had stripped the wretch of every ounce of his vitality. Swirling her wine in her goblet, she watched the kobold racing around the hall, cutting down the offspring with impunity. The fact the bugs couldn't really kill him didn't bother her much, it was entertaining watching him exert himself for almost a month all for a trifle.
Her eyes watched the armor encased kobold moving around with an agility that denied its weight. Comparable to a suit of full platemail it was not only housing Xing Lei but also a fair amount of blood, it had boggled her why the little waste of time wanted to be encased in steel that was flexible yet seamless. Every time he killed a 'mask' the kobold would tear it open over the open maw of the helm pouring its innards in with the kobold himself, such a disgusting sight in her opinion.
Yet he never tired. He was literally repelling himself off the walls and columns, bouncing around like he was encased in anything but metal. After a few weeks she was forced to go looking for his companions, the little beast just never tired, never slowed down. Each kill bug had an blade that could ignore that suit yet none of the blood and gore, caked onto every visible surface, was his. He simply wasn't hurt, wasn't tired. He was a damned machine! A golem grew bored of repetition faster than this Xing Lei apparently would!
Tossing her head back the short infernal glared at another mystic projection. An elf and a Lizardfolk skulked through this very palace using the tremors caused by the kobolds movements to reach closer and closer to the prior hall. She'd get the king and queen to kill his concubines and see if THAT hurt him. Gritting her teeth she stared daggers at these two women, having no initial issue with either but seeing both their heights she was feeling petty. She'd have the two tortured while he fought, that should liven things up nicely.
Of the two being watched Alustriea and Osilliaice clung against a pillar as the entire palace yet again shook, it had been several tremors like these that made the duo remember talk of the genie's master likely dying and having the palace crash to the desert below like an overside shooting star. It didn't help matters that the palace was deserted. Surely it was a beautiful and grand structure, a mixture of gold and purest marble comprising the walls. Golden murals decorated the ceiling and plush rugs covered the hall floor. The few rooms they had peeked I to were finely furnished simply waiting for a host of servants or a royal family to make home.
Yet there wasn't a soul.
No people, no animals. The palace was beautiful all except for that prevailing feeling that rather than a place of royalty, you instead felt you were trespassing in a tomb. All the halls needed were a few caskets and cobwebs and it could certainly double as a royal tomb indeed. Which made the tremors even more shocking for the pair creeping along the hall. The shaking of the structure made both jump, though Alustriea was particularly nervous. With recent thoughts she was just waiting for her streak of misfortune to send this structure into a free fall for no other reason than a Goddess' mirth at making the elf wet herself before she died.
Through the twists and turns another tremor rocked the building but this time they could hear it, the sou d of metal against stone, of combat in full swing. Rushing forward they saw a great doorway, rather than an ornate door the portal was barred with iron. The metallic cylinders crossing each other for small squares that would not even let a child pass through. Still, both sets of eyes widened as the hall beyond was covered in bodies. Those mask bugs were crawling everywhere, shifting corpses when they could, while the more unfortunate critters were caught up by a metallic looking lizard and cracked open like an egg into its maw.
Between feasts, the host of bug mask killers resumed assaulting the metallic kobold, everyone, including the heavily armored one darted around the room, bouncing off every gore streaked surface as battles were fought, withdrawn then rejoined in a savage dance of death. Though this death toll highly favored the bugs as the armored lizard seemed to have not a mark upon their metal shell. The speed they moved at was equally awe inspiring, Osilliaice could easily move in her armor due to its elven make but looking upon the armored warrior within, the armor looked far thicker, more akin to a human or dwarven design.
Alustriea frowned watching the figure slaughtering the bug mask killers like it was reaping wheat, every now and then the bug like creatures moved in odd manners to throw off their targets rythm but the reptilian knight was quick to correct its form and either destroy the host corpse, or snatch up the mask and crack it open into the open maw helm that gave it an almost demonic dragon look.
All of a sudden the action began to die down, rather than the fruitless assault on the reptilian knight, the bug mask killers began to line the hall, silent as the corpses they infested much to the confusion of the armored one. Hopping back and forth looking at the enemies not moving it's own posture slowly relaxed. A metallic clamor rung out as it fell in place where it too had stopped and seemed to be meditating. Gripping the barred door Alusteria peered at that small back and called out, "XING LEI!"
The armored warrior jolted and hopped up turning bodily to look to the doors, behind the reptilian helm that was in the likeness of a roaring dragon, Xing Lei looked upon Alustriea and Osilliaice, his yellow eyes sparkled a bit glad to see his mate and lover after a month of this farce. Unlike his capture in Ironhand, Xing Lei had manipulated the infernal into helping him. Prideful to a fault, Empress Al-Duress, was quick to make a wager with him when it had looked like he had signed himself up for an impossible gauntlet.
Little had the short Empress realized but this sort of high speed training and high end bodies were just what he needed at this stage. To her, he likely was feeding on his enemies like a 'proper' little savage. Instead the blood and ichor was dumped into the sealed suit with his body. Even now it burned his scales, demonic blood being a magnitude of strength above ranked beast blood. It was a risk to use it but when presented the chance he had seezed it. Laughing he turned looking to a certain spot on the wall, a mystical mirror stood there conveying the action of the room to the distant entrenched infernal.
In that distant room Alhana Al-Duress was watching this little reunion play out with a sneer. The queen was dispatched, it would kill his concubines and she would relish in the kobolds suffering. Her visage appeared in the same mirror standing hastily before its twin laughing at Xing Lei. "Enjoy their company while you can beast. This will be the last you see of them. Kill them, now."
Realizing her words Osilliaice turned in time to avoid a slender sword driven through her back, the vicious black blade however did open her side, cutting through the enchanted elven armor she wore like it was no more than paper. Grunting in pain she clutched at her side feeling her blood erupting from the wound to dye her leg an alarming rich crimson. Alustriea cried out, moving to cast a spell, whether to heal her friend or harm her attacker was lost as the flat of that dark blade slapped her across the face, spinning her into the nearby wall and crumpling to the floor, a line of blood on her fair cheek told the story of where the edge had gashed along her pretty face.
The red bug mask killer stood over the two females silently, it's dark blade raised to fall again. Just as the dark blade was falling there was a screech of metal on metal, a pressure much akin to dragon fear fell upon the duo. At first they wondered if this was what the afterlife was but then they saw a relatively short figure standing before them, his clawed hand gripping the blood red mask. That dark blade was swinging wildly, scraping off his naked side leaving no mark.
Looking to each other they turned to regard the doorway, the shell of his armor was pressed against the bars, the bars themselves were ruptured outwards much like the front of the armor. A butterfly tearing itself from its cocoon. Only this transformation saw the kobolds claws digging into that red mask, a shrill, inhuman scream seemingly coming from everywhere. The white masks within were going crazy, clustered around d the metal barrier trying to get to their queen which was in mortal peril.
Xing Lei ignored them. His yellow eyes stared mercilessly at the creature in his grip and squeezed, the mask like carapace rupturing spraying his hand and arm with ichor. The white masks seemingly went insane at this point. No longer tearing at the barred gateway but rather into each other with a savage abandon, cannibalizing themselves with no regard for the trio beyond the door. Alhana swallowed nervously watching her hive ripping itself apart from beyond the mirror, vaguely she could see Xing Lei crush the queen as if she were but a regular ant beneath his thumb.
Glancing around she sighed, revenge for her slain kin had been close, so close. Yet suddenly like a dragon with its reverse scale touched her intended victim had torn through enchanted suit and re-enforced bars to save the pair. Glancing around at the finery around her, her solid shape began to dissipate, like smoke she vanished retreating into her object. Let one of the others deal with him! She, herself, wasn't much of a fighter. She could manipulate sand and summon abyssal vermin, neither of which would help her when Xing Lei came to collect from the mastermind. Thus she fled. The wretched kobold didn't know the form of her prison, she could hide. There'd be future opportunities when the pissed off monster wasn't so near at hand...
Elsewhere Xing Lei hovered over a grimacing Osilliaice, his hand glowed as his magic knit flesh and scale, repairing the damage to his mates hip. Pain still lanced through her even with the wound healed but at least she wasn't bleeding out. Her eyes opened watching as her mate turned to treat the cut on Alustriea's cheek, all signs of the terrifying presence before replaced by the usual warmth of the kobold that was her mate. Yet her eyes drifted over the crushed red bug mask, the corpses face beneath had equally been shattered in his grip, she couldn't help but look with wonder upon her mate...
Alustriea smiled at Xing Lei, baring through the pain along the side of her face, "Looks like we'll never get the chance to rescue you..."
Xing Lei laughed settling back watching the pair who had crossed the waste without his aid, who had stormed the palace of an infernal and yet lived to tell the tale. "You sell yourself too short Alustriea, this can well be considered saving me. Thank you."
Alustriea puffed up her chest proudly while Osilliaice chuckled and rubbed the discolored scales of her healed side. Being the ones to rescue their mate would be nice but this yet again was he saving them without a doubt. The lizardess was fine with that, a mate should be strong after all, and looking to the torn metal nearby, none was stronger than her Xing Lei...