Two days later, they met at their base. Which was Aisha's house. Belle and Leah lived with her.
They were planning on how to attack.
"The demon king will take some more time to revive. But he has 5 generals present who will serve him. So let's get rid of the five quickly." Aisha said her plan.
It was quite easy to understand plan. Just attack them head on and defeat them.
"Won't that be dangerous? Those generals are said to be as strong as a duke class demon. They can obliterate a town easily." Mizuki said with concern.
"No need to worry. They are physically weak. So take their magic and they become weak." Belle proudly said because physical attacks were her specialty.
"But we should exercise caution. They each have an army of more than 25000 strong. Also they have specific roles to play." Momoko stated.
"Yes. And we are only going to attack the generals. We won't make any contact with the army." Aisha said.
The planning was done. They will assassinate the generals and then wipe out the upper echelons. Then the army will lose command and will be in turmoil. Using that opening, the human army will attack.
It will be one big fell swoop. If successful, it will reduce the threat manyfold.
The attack will start late at night. But they will leave earlier.
They will say that they are going to train. By slaying a special dragon.
So no one will dare to accompany them and then they will attack once in position.
They executed the plan and as expected. No one dared to follow them.
They went and got rid of the generals. But for some reason, it was easy.
Even though they were not as strong as them, it was too easy.
It bugged Aisha for some time. But seeing that her party was already celebrating, she also let her guard down.
After their apparent victory over the generals, they were elated. Too elated that they didn't notice the trap.
They returned to the city and reported their victory. The king was happy. So even he let his guard down.
The power hungry nobles also took advantage of that and advised the king to make a move.
The demons were a threat to the entire continent. So other countries were also having a hard time.
But they had summoned the heroes. So they had an advantage over the others.
And if they managed to contribute the most in the war, their country would prosper.
So everyone who had power, tried to take down the demons.
Now that those five generals were gone, they had a chance.
So the king ordered a large scale attack. And the hero party was also to take part in it.
They attacked the demons once again in three days with an army of 25000 strong. But that was the start of the tragedy.
The 25000 soldiers died in an instant. Everyone on the battlefield died.
It didn't even last a second. As soon as they stepped in the field, it was over.
No one was alive. Only the ones in the hero party was alive.
And they were unable to do anything.
"What happened?" Mizuki asked.
"I don't...know." Aisha said.
However before their eyes, not a single soldier remain.
It was as if they never existed. This odd phenomenon left them dumbfounded and a little later, a laughter could be heard.
It was cold and cruel laughter. Like laughing before a pig slaughter.
"You foolish humans." A voice came.
All of them looked around but no one was present.
"How foolish. You just liberated me. The great demon king. Now tremble in fear." The voice said in a haughty manner.
But the voice was kinda childish. Like a children's voice.
"What? How did the demon king revive?" Aisha was stunned.
"We liberated it? From where?" Mizuki asked. She also had the same stunned expression.
"I was sealed inside those demon generals. So when they died, I was released." The voice answered the question.
"So we did half of the work." Belle said in a calm tone.
Leah also had a calm look.
Looking at those two the others also calmed down and assumed fighting stance.
But the opponent was a voice. They couldn't see it's real body.
"How do we fight? We can't even see it?" Momoko said.
"But what happened to the soldiers?" Mizuki asked.
"I just teleported them to an unknown location. They are alive." The voice said.
All of them were relieved that no one died. But then what was that. The bloodshed and death they saw.
"I showed you a little illusion." The voice answered as if hearing their inner thoughts.
"Illusion? Visual magic. I guess, we have to train a lot then." Aisha dropped her shoulders.
"Now what should we do?" Mizuki asked.
The great demon king is revived. And they cannot do anything. The situation is hopeless.
"Well it's time for me to come out." The voice said.
And then a crack appeared. It was as if the sky had a crack. And from the darkness of the crack appeared a girl.
She hardly looked like a year old. But she had great power. Anyone can understand that after one look.
She was standing in front of them.
"Are you the great demon king?" Mizuki asked.
"Yes. I am the one you humans call the great demon king." She said.
"But you look like a kid." Leah said.
This made her face twitch. She was angry.
"Don't call me a kid. I am older than I look." She angrily said.
But she was too young and cute to be a demon king. But her power was the real deal.
"So you were sealed? Why? Depending on your answer, we'll move." Aisha said like a warning.
"I won't do anything. I was sealed because I didn't listen to them." She said.
"Them?" Leah asked.
"The devils. They are like demon gods. They ordered me to destroy everyone. But I didn't. So they trapped me and decided to reincarnate me anew." She explained.
"So there's someone like you too." Aisha wondered.
"Of course. I am someone who like to stay away from things." She proudly said like she was praised.
But that sentence reminded them of something. There was another person who said that.
But none of them remembered.
"You girls have a weird magic on you." The demon king said.
"Magic? But I can't detect any magic." Leah stated.
"Maybe because you haven't seen this formula before. It's ancient. Extremely ancient. So even I barely noticed." She said.
"What kind of spell?" Aisha asked.
"A sealing spell. It seals away some memories but unseals the latent talent inside of you." She said.
"Sealing? So we are sealed?" Leah made a complicated face. Like her everyone else was anxious too.
"But you have been getting the feeling that you are forgetting something, right?" She asked.
All of them nodded. Their eyes were cloudy.
"I thought so. The seal isn't perfect and has a time limit. It should release in another 5 years or so." She said.
"5 years. That's too long." Aisha was worried about that.
"Want me to break it for you?" She proposed.
"You can." All of them answered in unison.
"Yes. Though it may take some time." She said.
"Go ahead." Aisha said.
But then another person appeared. It was out of thin air. He was a strange person.
But everyone was thinking about how he came here.
"I can't let you do that." He said.
"What?" Aisha asked.
"The seal. It has to stay where it is. Or things would be bad." He said.
"How do you know about the seal." Aisha was suspicious of him.
"I put it. So I know." He said.
"You put the seal." Everyone looked at him.
"Yes. So it has to stay there. Or the contract would be breached." He said.
"Contract? What contract?" Aisha asked.
But he didn't answer. He went to the demon king and whispered.
After that she turned to the girls. She smiled.
"Sorry. I can't do it anymore." She said.
"What?" All of them cried out at once.
"Because, if I do, you'll be in trouble. So I cannot put your life in danger. So let's put it off." She said.
"Wait." Aisha tried to stop her. But she vanished with the man in thin air.
All of them were left there with many questions and no answer.
They returned and saw that the entire army has returned. No one was missing. Also the demon forces withdrew.
"That's the end of war." Mizuki said.
All of them relaxed a bit but the situation got even more confusing.
"Girls, we are in this together. Let's find a way." Aisha optimistically said.
"Hey," Momoko said,"is it me or we haven't met with the goddess in charge of this?"
With that everyone became silent again.
The moon goddess was in charge. But they didn't consult with her.
"I think we should go to the church." Aisha said with an awkward face.
After all, none of them even considered consulting with her and just rushed in.