(3rd POV)
"Mistress, what should we do?" Astaroth asked.
Lilith said nothing, simply finishing off the remaining wine in her glass before firmly placing it down on the side table beside where she sat. She closed her eyes for a moment before giving a tired sigh. Her crimson orbs opened again a second later, staring out of the transparent glass window beside her. Lilith fixed her gaze on the turbulent sky above their nation.
The once bright day was now ruined. Storm clouds had gathered overhead, swirling as if to signify an incoming hurricane or tornado. Unfortunately, it wasn't a natural disaster that was coming for her country, something that was unfortunate but avoidable through the use of magic. No, this time it was something intentional. Something ugly. It was an attack.
Lilith looked up at the tens of thousands of angelic figures hovering in the skies above and gave a tired sigh (A/N: She got this trait from Alaster) before she hardened her resolve and answered her husband.
"What else is there to do? We shall drive these invaders from our home the same as we always have, right?" Lilith said with a devilish smile on her face. "It's been a long time since someone other than Aria has dared to attack me... Why don't we give them a warm welcome."
Lilith stood from her chair elegantly before taking a step toward her favorite 'pet'. Astaroth continued to kneel, though from the slight blush on his face and uneasy panting while keeping his eyes down, she could tell at least a certain part of him was 'ready'. Lilith smiled for a moment in amusement before delivering him a kick across the face, sending the pervert flying backward a meter and landing on his back.
"Kyaa~ Thank you, mistress!" Astaroth mewled while wiggling around the floor for a moment in blissful pleasure.
Lilith's eyes gleamed a sadistic glint. She took a step forward towards her destination, a door that lay on the opposite side of the room, however, she carefully chose her strides. The first step landed directly on Astaroth's unguarded and unprotected crotch, the next directly on his nipple, and the final short step placed the sole of her foot on his face before she stepped off of him and continued her stride towards the balcony door, seemingly uninterested in the 'trash' she just strode through. Astaroth twisted in glee for a moment after his brief trampling, nearly having come to climax at the humiliation of it all, before getting up and following Lilith obediently.
As Lilith threw open the door, she looked to her left. Her closest advisor and strongest combatant outside of herself, the reincarnated human turned Daemon who'd saved her during her Harvest Festival thousands of years ago, Scar, stood ready and at attention. It was clear as day that he was more than willing to fight off these insects if it was for the sake of his beloved Mistress Lilith.
"Lady Lilith, how shall we proceed?" Scar asked with a bow.
"The same with any other enemy. Kill them. Kill them all." Lilith said without any mercy or care in her words.
A sadistic evil smile formed on Scar's face, completely different from his normally reserved and mysterious demeanor. It did not suit his handsome face at all. "As you have willed it." He replied, turning to the small legion of demons and succubus soldiers who stood at attention below.
"Soldiers! We have our orders! We shall drive away these pesky pigeons who dare sully Lady Lilith's sky!" He roared.
The crowd below howled in approval, showing that their motivation was at its peak. And why wouldn't they? For so long they've been waiting for a day like today. Many trained their whole lives never to see a lick of combat and even the occasional daemon raids coming from the Northern Dark Continent where Guy resided had gradually lessened over time as the military of Babylon became the best in the world and even the daemons began to fear it.
At the very least, these Angels would be decent opponents. Scar roared, full of confidence once more as he took to the sky, followed briefly by the thousand Succubus Warriors known as the Pink Guard and charged directly at the formation of Angels above them.
To any force other than the Angels, a group of highly trained and skilled warriors charging directly at their formation would be intimidating, but the unflinching angles simply raised their hands to the sky and began gathering a large amount of Holy Magic power in an attempt to reduce the army in front of them to nothing but red mist.
"""{Heavenly Tribulation}""" They all chanted simultaneously and without emotion.
There was a large flash of light before a ray of pure Holy Energy descended upon the incoming formation in the form of a large lightning bolt. If it were any other force, the Holy Light which fell upon them would instantly vaporize their bodies and souls, especially since the combination of nearly 100,000 angels using Legion Magic is enough for even True Dragons to have their scales melted off.
If it was any other force, then the Pink Guard might have bothered to slow down. But this wasn't any other force.
"{|Wall of Babylon|}" Lilith muttered as the Legion Magic instantly dissipated before even touching the charging army.
The attack was neutralized in an instant and without anything in their war, Scar and the Pink Guard met the angels in the sky for the first battle of the Great Tenma War.
...
Kornu was in a bind. His army of 100,000 angels was getting thinner and thinner all the while the Pink Guard was seemingly not even taking any damage. No, that was inaccurate. They WERE taking damage, but they were healing faster than the angels could inflict wounds upon them.
Kornu grits his teeth. "This was supposed to be an easy mission damnit!" he said, punching the head off of one of the succubi who'd broken through the ranks of defenders and come to challenge him. A split second later, the succubus' body rejuvenated itself and she swung her spear at Kornu, who dodged to the side and threw a powerful kick at her which sent the woman flying down into the ground a kilometer below them.
Kornu clicked his tongue when he noticed her stand up, seemingly without a scratch on her, and give him a glare. Kornu sent a few dozen angels to take care of her while he moved on to his next target.
He glared down towards the immaculate castle at the center of the large township. His eyes met that of Demon Lord Lilith and Alaster's daughter. She was giving him a smug glare like he was a disobedient child who'd not listened to his parent's advice and was immediately hit by karma.
"That damn girl!" Kornu growled as he looked down at her. He then noticed, that beside her, laying on the ground was a man, squirming about in a disgusting way. His eyes narrowed before widening in shock. The wiggling man's neck was just slashed before instantly healing. His heart was pierced before being restored and his eyes were just gouged out before reforming inside his skull.
Kornu quickly looked across the battlefield. Those same wounds were just inflicted on several members of the enemy army before being healed. It all made sense. That man down there was somehow substituting the injuries of the women with his own body and due to some kind of regeneration-type skill, he would be healed instantly.
"What kind of ability is that? And why does he look so happy?" Kornu asked in disbelief.
"It's my colleague's Unique Skill [Masochistic One]" Scar said as he appeared next to the Angel and sent a devastating kick to the Angel's face.
Kornu didn't bother dodging, only wrapping his body with a dense fighting spirit aura, blocking the shot from harming him. Kornu's eyes narrowed as he looked at the daemon who didn't appear to care that his sneak attack failed to do damage. He was annoyed, but he was also curious. He needed to know more about that man's Skill, so talking would probably help him here.
"What kind of Unique Skill would allow someone to take the damage for an entire army?" Kornu asked /1\
Kornu was confused. While the power itself was not too out of the ordinary, as there were plenty of substitution-type skills out there, one that could control an entire army at once? Surely that is reaching into the realm of the Ultimate Skill and is far beyond the scope of a mere unique Level Skill.
Scar, seemingly noticing Kornu's confusion, continued to explain. "[Masochistic One] allows its user to substitute themselves for any of the attacks focused on their master, taking the damage for them..." He explained.
Kornu huffed, not understanding what Scar had said. Obviously, he could tell that just by looking at what was happening around him. Why did he need that explained to him again? "That's obvious. That's not what I'm concerned with. I asked how it can affect so many at once?" Kornu said, throwing a punch infused with his Magic Aura.
Scar deflected the brute's blow, pushing it off to the side and out of harm's way. A shockwave from Kornu's attack shot past both combatants and decimated a formation of angels who were regrouping to cast more Legion Magic behind Kornu. Kornu grunted in annoyance. He'd easily be able to defeat the daemon in front of him if he was really trying, but he needed more information first.
'It will do me no good to fight this man if he will heal from it immediately.' Kornu thought, which was why he was only half-assing his fight while the two spoke.
"I know you aren't from this world, so allow me to enlighten you," Scar said as he fired a {Nuclear Cannon} at Kornu.
Kornu grunted and dodged, sending a few rays of light to pierce Scar's torso. Scar, a Spiritual Lifeform, allowed himself to be struck by the magic. Spiritual Lifeforms do not need their bodies to survive as material lifeforms do. They can think with their Souls, so even if their hearts were to be torn out or heads destroyed, they wouldn't die, though they'd be rendered incapacitated. Minor damage, like what Kornu had just dished out, could not even be considered an 'attack', as taking it didn't diminish Scar's fighting ability at all. Pain was a human weakness and wouldn't slow down Scar at all.
"Lady Lilith is the first succubus and the progenitor of the species! Any succubus or incubus ever born has come from her genes." Scar explained.
"Get to the point," Kornu growled, swinging his arm downward and severing Scar's arm from his shoulder. Kornu was now taking this fight more seriously, as he noticed that Scar wasn't healing like all of the other succubi who were fighting below. Kornu saw this as an opportunity to take out some of his frustration on the daemon who was clearly one of their commanders.
Scar smiled. "Lady Lilith is Astaroth's 'master', you know." He said with a smug look on his face.
"So?" Kornu asked, increasingly irritated.
"So..." Scar replied but was cut off when one of Kornu's Magic Aura-infused firsts made his way toward Scar's head.
He wouldn't die if he took that blow, but just because losing his head wouldn't mean his true death, it didn't mean he'd be able to fight without it. His material body would be damaged beyond repair and he'd be forced back into the underworld until Lilith summoned him again. His body had already taken several hits and despite his relaxed demeanor, his spiritual body was on the brink of collapse because of it.
A shockwave emanated from where Kornu's fist struck. Unfortunately, Scar's face wasn't what took damage. What was blown away was Astaroth's arm as Lilith caught the Primordial Angel's punch with her bare hand.
"So all of my children are a part of 'me' and thus they receive Astaroth's protection." Lilith completed what Scar was about to say. She didn't bother mentioning that this effect had a 'range' it was only usable in, as telling him that wouldn't do any good.
Kornu smiled fiercely as he saw Lilith in front of him, defending her chief lieutenant. He had the answer he wanted and his target had voluntarily come to him rather than running away. This was perfect.
"I see. So as long as that boy lives, your army is immortal huh?" Kornu smiled as he thought of a brilliant idea to make his target despair. Especially since it seemed he couldn't kill her through conventional means.
Kornu quickly retreated before gathering a large amount of Holy Magic in his palms. Lilith watched Kornu with a disinterested gaze. Nothing he threw at her would harm her. She knew that, so she allowed him to waste his energy reserves freely by trying. Kornu saw this and smiled wickedly.
'She thinks I'll be aiming for her when in reality!' He thought before quickly throwing the ball of magical energy directly at Astaroth who was rolling around on the balcony below in absolute bliss as the pain he was being constantly fed was turned into a mind-melting pleasure incomparable to anything the flesh could normally withstand.
Kornu's evil smile never left his face as he watched the ball of energy strike Astaroth.
"Ohhh~ I'm cuminggggg!!!!" He moaned loudly as he was disintegrated in an instant.
Kornu, still with a large smile on his face looked up toward Lilith, expecting to see a horrified look on her face now that her army's immunity was gone, however, he was taken completely aback when he saw that she had the same disinterested face on her as she had a moment earlier.
"Wha-???" Kornu couldn't help but feel confused.
"Do you honestly think we'd tell you of the biggest glaring weakness of our army and then not protect it? Why do you think I decide to come here?" Lilith asked.
Kornu was confused and quickly sent a slash to Lilith's face, which split open for a brief second before being restored not even a moment later, the same way all of the other succubi were healing. Kornu backed away at that moment and felt confused.
"Impossible! I killed him just now!" He yelled hesitantly.
"Yes you did, but he's back already," Lilith said with a smirk, pointing downward.
In the crater below, Astaroth's body was already back in full health and he was taking damage for the army again.
Kornu balked at this "Impossible! No amount of regeneration can protect from complete disintegration!" He yelled.
"Oh, it wasn't regeneration that saved him. So long as I remain alive, he will live too." Lilith explained.
"Wait! If that's true then that makes you-" Kornu hesitated at the absurdity of his situation.
"An Immortal Army." Lilith stated nonchalantly "A perpetual motion machine of combat. Also known as the unstoppable force AND the immovable object." Lilith smirked sadistically.
A shiver ran through Kornu's spine. If that was the case, then the only way to win was to either disintegrate both Lilith and Astaroth at the same time. It would be tricky, as both were very far apart, but he still had several thousand angels left over. If he detonated them then it would be enough to vaporize them all.
He'd have to beg Feldway and Michael for forgiveness later for losing the rest of his army, but that was fine by him. He'd still accomplish his mission.
"Angels! I order you! Come to me this instant!" He screamed.
In that moment, the remaining few thousand angels stopped what they were doing and turned to fly toward Kornu as they were ordered. They did so robotically and without hesitation. Many of them being struck down by Succubi as they turned their backs to their opponents to follow said order.
Lilith watched all of this unfold in front of her without even a hint of worry on her face. When Scar looked at her and saw this, he smiled. Lilith was a Great Woman. She would not allow herself to get into a situation that she could not also get herself out of. If she didn't make any moves, neither would he. He had been focusing on healing his broken body and was now fully back in shape.
A large halo of angels now surrounded Kornu who was chuckling lightly, believing he'd soon be rid of that smug smile on his opponent's face. A brief flash ran through his mind, reminding him of how Alaster looked whenever he was gloating. It was clear that she was his daughter now, even if it wasn't by blood. Kornu grits his teeth slightly and briefly thought that maybe his plan was already seen through by the Succubus Queen.
Kornu shakes his head, casting his doubts aside. Not even a True Dragon could survive what he was about to do. "DIE!!!" He commanded as he detonated all of the Angels that had gathered around himself.
Kornu wasn't stupid and he didn't want to die either. He had made sure to employ a powerful spatial barrier around himself which would nullify the explosion, even if it did cost him over half of his magic power.
There was a bright flash of light and then nothing.
There was no explosion.
All of the angels were just gone, as though they never existed in the first place.
Kornu's eyes widened as he took a step backward in the air out of a mix of confusion and fear.
the only thing in front of him was the Demon Lord Lilith, arm outstretched with that same damn evil smirk on her face.
"Y-y-you! What did you do!?!" Kornu screamed in a mix of confusion and fear.
"[Judas]" Lilith said, her arm still outstretched. /3\
Space began to distort in front of Lilith's hand as her Aura and Magical Energy began to be compressed by a magic barrier. The barrier was then wrapped in several other barriers to form a multi-layer barrier in front of her hands.
Kornu was terrified. He wasn't the smartest tool in the shed, but even he could tell what Lilith had done. She was wrapping up dozens of levels of Anti-Skill inside the multi-layer barrier. If he took that shot head-on, then it would penetrate through any and all defenses and strike him dead center. One layer penetrates his outer defenses, another layer penetrates his physical body, another his spiritual body, another his astral body, another for his Soul all the way to his Nucleic Heart before releasing that devastating amount of magical energy directly into his vulnerable Nucleic Heart, the essence of who he was at his core.
If that was destroyed he'd simply cease to exist and no amount of skills or abilities could revive him. 'Not even Veldanava could-' Was what he thought but the next words froze him in place in such fear that his mind stopped operating and retreated into itself to escape the incoming insanity.
"{|Oblivion|}" Lilith whispered as the shot instantly shot into Kornu at light speed. /4\
'Too fast!' Kornu though how-?'
"Seems like you've considerably slowed down," Lilith gloated.
Before Kornu could even fully register what she had said, he felt his core under attack from Lilith's chaotic magic being unleashed.
"Ggggyyyyyyyaaaahhhhhhh!!!!" Kornu screamed in agony as his very essence was assaulted and began to vanish. "Damn you! You bitch! You whore! Aaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!" Those were Kronu's last words.
Lilith smiled evilly. "Well, I'm called the Whore of Babylon for a reason I suppose." /5\
.~.~.~.
A/N: I'd like to address something here really quickly. Lilith was by no means stronger than Kornu here. If you recall earlier, I said Astaroth's arm was destroyed when Lilith caught Kornu's punch. That's because Kornu's physical ability and magical energy reserves are several times higher than Lilith's.
The reason why she and Scar went out of their way to tell Kornu about Astaroth's broken skill and their army's 'Immortal' status was so Kornu would try to kill Astaroth and when that failed due to [Subordination Immortality], it would cause him to feel afraid of them and give up hope of victory. Kornu is a spiritual lifeform, which means that if you break their will, then they become too weak to even fight back, which is why Lilith went so far out of her way to look so calm and cool.
The correct answer for Kornu here was to retreat, as unless he had [Parallel Body], it was impossible to avoid {|Oblivion|}'s one-shot due to how much weaker he was due to having a crumbling mental state.
Also, if Kornu had taken a step back to think, he'd realize that Astaroth can only regenerate so long as he has magic power, meaning that if he made it a war of attrition where the goal was to inflict the most injuries possible onto the opposing side, eventually Astaroth would run out of that power and the army would lose its 'immortal' status. So long as he avoided getting hit with {|Oblivion|} then he would have won that fight, but he sacrificed his entire army in an attempt to destroy them all at once to get around it. Lilith simply used [Judas] to delete the magical energy before it could explode and that's how Kornu's panicking lost him his life.
While [Masochistic Constitution] grants the user magic power for every time he takes damage, it doesn't recover more power than he uses up when regenerating so many wounds at once so it only prolongs the punishment... which is exactly what a true masochist would want.
.~.~.~.
/1\:
Geld's [Guardian] has a similar ability.
/2\:
Masochistic One's subskills are:
·Masochistic Constitution: Converts Damage taken into magical energy.
·Infinite Regeneration: Allows the user to regenerate from physical damage.
·Substitution: Allows the user to receive the damage of others in their stead.
·Tribute: Allows the user's master to borrow magic power from the user. In exchange, the user gains [Subordination Immortality]
·Subordination Immortality: So long as the user's recognized 'master' is alive, the user is immortal and can be revived instantly with their mind intact so long as their soul isn't completely destroyed.
·Perfect Memory: It allows the user to record their memories in their Astral Body. It lets the user retain their memories for as long as the Soul remains intact. This makes the resurrection of the user possible even if the user's brain and spiritual body have been destroyed.
/3\:
Lilith's Ultimate Skill is [Judas: Lord of Heratics]. It's an Ultimate Skill that takes the 'Anti-Skill' thing up to 11. If you recall, Lilith had the Unique Skill [Denier] and it was upgraded to an Ultimate Skill during her Harvest Festival.
[Denier] was combined with the Unique Skill [Progenitor], which she received from the VotW for deciding to restart her race even if it meant having them being born as monsters.
Subskills
·Skill Destruction: The ability to suppress, seal, or destroy magical energy and Skills. The offensive version of [Anti-Skill]
·Anti-Skill: A Spiritual Body constitution that has the ability to suppress or "seal" all spiritual/magical forces that the user comes into contact with
·Universal Barrier: A Multilayer Barrier that can freely adapt to any situation.
·Birth of a Dependent: Allows the user to create lower ranking monsters of their own Genus as subordinates. Doesn't permanently reduce the user's magicule count.
·Collectivism: Enables the subordinates of the user the ability to share information remotely.
·Thought Domination: Allows for the manipulation of one's targets to ensure they follow orders.
·Law Manipulation: Enables the manipulation of the laws of the world from either a magical or scientific perspective.
Mystic Arts that were created from this Ultimate Skill.
·{|Wall of Babylon|}: Combines Anti-Skill with a Ranged barrier to delete incoming magic attacks
·{|Oblivion|}: A one-shot technique that wraps a [Multi-Layer Barrier], where each barrier carries the effect of Anti-Skill, around a large amount of magical energy and aura. Bypasses all defenses and resistances to strike the Nucleic Heart and completely destroy the target's soul.
/4\:
{|Oblivion|} is the magic version of [Sandolphon]'s [Judgment] Bullet that destroys the target's very existence. Alaster told Lilith about it when they were having the family get-together during the Council and she thought about recreating its effects with her Ultimate Skill.
/5\:
Lilith's country is called Babylon.
The story everyone believes about Lilith is that she was 'seduced' by Guy to leave Alaster's side and become a Demon Lord.
For the two reasons above, she received the title 'Whore of Babylon' by the humans, though if Alaster hears you say that he may cut our your tongue for insulting his daughter.