"Hey, Basil." Marigold said as the man sat in front of what was once his short-lived home, his face unsettlingly neutral.
After the funeral, the adventuring party set camp in the spot where the house once stood and let Basil bunk for the night. The next day, after they made food and packed up again, they unfortunately had to move on. And now Basil was looking at the sight where his home once stood, a group of lizard men collecting or breaking down anything left to clear the area for a new one. However, it would have to be in a new spot since the previous area was little more than a huge hole.
After getting no response, Marigold continued, "I just wanted to let you know that my party and I are headed off. And we all want to say thanks for your hospitality despite…everything. We all wish we could stay longer, but we have a quest in the Empty Lands."
Everyone at the party, especially Marigold, didn't want to leave Basil in the state he was in--losing his home, business, and a close friend on the same day. They wanted nothing more than to stay and help or console the poor man, especially after he had done so much for them. Unfortunately, they had a quest that was ranked as a high priority, and they wasted enough time as is. Duty was a hard pill to swallow, especially when faced with loved ones.
However, the man still didn't reply, acknowledge her, or anything. Just stared off into space. After a bit, she asked, "Are you gonna be okay?"
Finally, Basil made a move. He sighs loudly before saying, without enthusiasm, "Yeah. I'll be fine. I just need some time to absorb everything. Come back soon."
Without thinking, Marigold walks behind him, hugs him, and whispers, "I promise.", making Basil hold her arms and shed a tear.
Just when they break the embrace, the rogue hops into the scene and calls out, "Hey, uh, Basil?", Turning to the Halfling to see what the matter is, he tells him, "You may want to come see this."
Basil and Marigold look at one another, curious and confused by whatever has gotten this reaction. So they get up and follow the little creature until they encounter the other adventurers, all looking out at something with differing expressions. Looking in their direction, they saw black smoke rising above the town of Ash End alongside the sound of screaming!
Basil dropped to his knees and then his face while complaining, "Oh, not again!"
Before Basil could get up and take care of the new threat, Marigold told him quickly, "Basil, no! Let us handle this!"
"Like we 'handled' it last time?", said the bard, only getting a stern look from the woman.
Basil moaned before getting back up and saying while activating his Telescopic Vision, "No, he's right. I can see what's going on right now. A floating woman in a gown is throwing magic all over the place. No doubt she is after me."
As he said, a well-put-together woman with immaculate clothes, hair, makeup, and accessories was floating around the town as people fled. All the while, she had a very twisted expression of fury on her face and threw a strange kind of magic that looked like a shadow was fire and also reflected light in an even stranger way with colors he couldnt describe.
"What gives you that idea?", asks the paladin.
"BASIL!", the floating woman screams loud enough for all of them to hear.
"Forget I said anything.", the paladin retorts.
"Can you see anything else?", asked the rogue.
Using his Appraisal Skill to suss her out, he was thankful to see that it wasn't blocked and could figure out what she was. Which kindly told him through the window;
Devil Peer: the third highest rank in the devilish hierarchy. These devils look almost exactly human but must concentrate to hold a single form. Their numbers are few. More information is needed.
Shaking his head to get rid of the window, especially after she looked his way, he told the group, "She's something called a…Devil Peer?"
"Nope.", the bard said suddenly and firmly.
"What?", Basil and Marigold asked.
"Nope. We are not doing that. Nuh-uh, no way!" the bard instated while pushing everyone along with their stuff to start walking. "The Dullahan and Devil Marquee were one thing, but this is a whole different kind of monster.", he said with fear in his tone while trying to play it off jokingly.
"How bad are we talking here?", Basil asked while blocking the dwarf.
"Ancient Red Dragon levels of bad.", the barr replied while pushing past him.
"That's worse than an Ancient Black Dragon?", Basil inquired, only to get a disapproving look from the red-haired dwarf, making the man say, "Noted."
Basil looked out again to see if he could find more information while Marigold argued with the bard and paladin. As he skimmed her over on the surface level, trying not to get her attention again, he saw something and announced it.
"Wait, she has a title or name or both?", This made the arguing stop, and all eyes were on him as he squinted his eyes to say aloud, "Calamity of Sin, the Devil Peer Charlotte!"
"That's Charlotte!?", Marigold exclaimed.
This fully pushed the bard and the rest of the party to pack up and high-tail it out of there! Making him say, "Well, let go. No way are we dealing with one of the upper executives of the Devil King."
As the party begins to walk in the opposite direction, Marigold attempts to stop them but only makes disgruntled sounds as they move. The woman gets increasingly worked up until she yells while marching away, "Fine. Run away all you'd like- AGAIN! Cause I won't! I'll go out and do what I'm paid for and because it's the right thing."
As Marigold trudges off to fight the devil, Basil looks between the two groups like a lost child looking between both parents, unsure of what to do. Only to shiver in stress before running off towards the woman, yelling, "Oh Marigold, wait up!"
As he caught up to her, Marigold told the man firmly, "Basil, don't follow me! I'll take this for you."
"Well, then, let me help instead of fighting. I can distract her, and you can put down the hurt.", Basil offered as Broomy came into view, jumping onto him while holding out his hand for her.
Marigold paused for a moment, conflicted with the offer, but ultimately decided to agree. She grabbed his hand and allowed herself to be thrust upon the flying broom. There, they both raced off into the sky and headed off for Ash End.
After a short flight, thanks to Broomy's magically enchanted speed, made even more potent from Gossamer, they landed in Ash End, where Marigold ran off to hide and wait for her chance to strike. As Basil and Broomy looked around the now partially destroyed town, fleeing people and buildings engulfed in magic, they quickly found the devil herself, screaming like a woman possessed.
"BASIL! You can't hide from me forever! Come out before I raise this shit hole to the ground!", Charlotte demanded as she floated near their direction.
"No need to be so callous. I'm right here.", Basil called back as Broomy took refuge in his Magic Pocket.
Charlotte smiled wickedly and madly at the man, floating down to meet him. With repressed excitement, she said, "So, you finally arrived."
"And who are you exactly?", Basil shot back, though this statement seemed to be the trigger, and without warning, the woman attacked.
She raced to him, so Basil quickly put up a reinforced shield of holy magic that blocked her physical attack. She kept striking at the shield until she blasted him with the same shadowy fire magic covering part of the town. But the shield held up; only when the smoke faded did he see that she vanished. Before he could think about what had happened, he felt a hard kick in his back that made him tumble! After laying down to feel his badly bruised back, he heard the devil woman cackle with laughter at his state of being.
But thanks to his natural healing, he was back to top form and ready to brawl, where he threw a firebolt at her, which she flicked aside. So he threw even more, causing the she-devil to use both hands to flick them aside. Then he threw a Fireball at her, which she grabbed, powered up, and threw right back at him! Basil made a shield, but it broke, so he was sent back again. She stood over him, glaring with a sharp smile. So he summoned a magic kitchen knife, imbued it with holy magic, and charged at her, only for the devil to stay absolutely still until he was just within range.
Once he was about to stab her, he found himself suspended in the air and unable to move! Basil failed to get traction or anything back, only to see her raise a single hand up, making a motion like she was holding him aloft. Then, with that one hand, she caused him to slap and slide across the ground several times before getting flinging high into the air! Just when it seemed like he would fall to his death, Broomy came racing out of his Magic Pocket and caught him!
Charlotte sees this and reacts amusedly before summoning a portal right before his flight path. Basil raced right through and came out on the other end right before the she-devil, where she used Force Magic to separate the two. She made Basil fly right off his flying broom and skidded across the ground! Charlotte used her Telekinesis to shove him into a building with one hand and then, with the other, shot a ball of the shadowy fire, which engulfed him at first before suddenly turning into a solid stone-like structure that came out like many dark spikes and restrained but didn't pierce the man! Basil, finally out of steam and feeling his vigor getting sucked away by the strange black rocks, stayed dangling like a puppet on strings as Charlotte casually walked up to him.
Upon seeing him in his messed-up state, already looking half dead, she sighed with pleasure and said, "Ah, that felt so good."
Basil, who managed to catch his breath, demanded, "Just who the heck are you?! What do you want?!"
Charlotte's happy expression quickly turned to anger as she slapped his face and growled, "Looks like you got that mouth of yours back; looks like I'll have to get rid of it again."
She then gazed over his body and grabbed at his shoulder cape before ripping it off; she stated, "And you still can't dress properly."
After this, she took notice of his long hair, which had grown to his chest, and grabbed a handful while saying in disgust, "Ugh! And what have you done to your hair? What are you, a girl? I always wondered if you were a secret homosexual.", Basil grunted as she pulled hard, she smiled slightly at this and then said in a sinister tone, "But maybe I can fix that now."
Charlotte then proceeded to pull on his hair, slow but firmly, making Basil scream until she ripped out a large chunk of his hair! After which, she disposed of the hair, flicking it away as Basil lay there breathing heavily, red-faced, and on the verge of tears from the pain. Charlotte tried to go in for another bundle, but Basil fought back and tried to snap at her hand! Charlotte screamed at this as she pulled her hand away, only to discover that his teeth had cut the tip of her finger!
Making a strange expression between a smile and a sneer, she commented, "Ah! You've finally got some guts. Don't know if I should be impressed or angry."
"Cut it out!", Basil yelled, causing her to pause. Basil tried to catch his breath and exclaimed, "Just who are you to talk to me like that?! Like we know each other."
Charlotte made a strange face and asked curiously, "You don't recognize me?"
Basil made a strange expression back that bored on anger as he half yelled, "Recognize? I've never seen you in my whole life!"
This seems to piss Charlotte off as she grimaces at the question, roughly grabbing his face with her nails digging into his flesh and forcing him to stare at her evil eyes as she says in a slightly deranged tone, "Look at me. Look at my face, my eyes, my lips. Look closely, one more time, and tell me, love."
Basil, who didn't want to do that, was suddenly hit with nostalgia and looked up at the woman. The way she grabbed his face and dug her nails into his skin, how she spoke the words she chose to say, and even how she looked. Her face. It was so…familiar. Then he saw it! Like two photos standing side by side before morphing and overlapping one another. There he realized who this person was, and he was horrified! This woman, no, this monster, couldn't be his ex-wife…right?
"Mi-Shook?", he questions, only getting a sadistic smile in reply, confirming his suspicions. The same smile she'd always give him. His hair rose on end as his body heated up and began to tremble. He pulled his face away and vehemently denied it, saying, "No. No no no! No! Th-That's impossible. Impossible! I-I saw you! Your body, the coffin, the funeral, everything! I saw it when you died! You can't be here!"
"Well, you're wrong; I am here.", Mi-Shook, or rather, Charlotte, said to him before slapping his face hard and yelling, "And that's for killing me!"
Basil brought his head back to look at her, where he denied, "Killing you? I never killed you! I've never laid a finger on you, unlike you."
"Shut it!", she yelled while slapping him again.
Basil huffed out a breath to calm himself and try to dull the pain in his face, then he looked back at her and explained, "You went into another of your tantrums, and your heart gave out. If anything, you killed yourself."
"You left me to die!", Charlotte accused him.
"You broke me and made me numb to the things you do!", Basil finally yelled back at her, making the devil step back from the unforeseen forcefulness of his action. After breathing from straining himself, he told the woman, "You had done the same things so many times I just thought you were being theatrical again. But when you didn't get up, I realized something was wrong. I called the doctors, and they told me you dropped dead before you hit the ground. Even if I acted in the moment, there was nothing to be done."
Charlotte slapped him again and yelled, "Lier!"
Spitting out blood from his now swelling cheek, Basil shot back, "What reason would I have to lie? And you still haven't told me how and why you're here. The One Being should've broken down your soul and used its parts to make others!", then he paused for a moment as he asked himself, "How did I remember that?"
"So you, too, meet the One Being? Not surprising since you're here. But I'll let you know.", Charlotte asked him with a raised eyebrow before explaining, "I put on a little show, cried, and begged him to give me another chance. Saying how I saw the error of my ways and wanted to take it all back. Oh boo-hoo!", she said in a mocking tone while draping her back over the rocks, one hand over her head as she acted out the scene while trying not to laugh. But she failed and ended up cackling like a maniac before telling the man by holding his chin with a single sharp nail, "The One Being fell for it; hook, line, and sucker!"
"You always were good at manipulating.", Basil growled at her.
Charlotte chuckled while looping her finger through one hair loop and saying, "It's one of my many talents and womanly giales."
Then something clicked in Basil's head, and he inquired with shock and terror, "Wait a second. Then that means your a-?"
Charlotte cuts him off with a deep sigh and says, marching around him, "I was a Chosen Touched. But I lost that when I developed into a Devil Peer. I admit I miss those times. But I still have more than enough power as is, and it's still growing! Even if it did take a few decades.", she said while holding out her hand as a ball of the black fire came to life, simultaneously illuminating and shading her face.
Basil looked at her in confusion before asking, "Decades? But I've only been here for three years, and I died only a few days after you. So how can you say you were here for longer than me?"
Dismissing the fire, Charlotte told him, "Think of it like a raging river. Even if you jump in at the same time, it all depends on the current on where you end up."
Basil shook his head, still confused and overwhelmed by it, but dropped the topic as he demanded, "That still doesn't explain what you want. Why are you here? Why do you want me? You already have everything you could want, right? Fame, wealth, power, eternal beauty. Why me?"
Charlotte then grabbed his face again, holding it up so tightly as he nail cut and bled his face, while she came close to his face and said in a manic tone, "Because you're my toy! And you'll always be my toy until your final breath, no matter what world you end up in! That I can assure you."
"You're the devil!", Basil said as his cheeks were squished together painfully.
"I am a devil you fool. And I'm your devil, forever.", she hisses before releasing his face and letting him sag there. She fixes herself up there and says sweetly, "Tell you what. I'll cut you a deal. I'll spare this rat hole and never return on the pretense that you come with me to be my servant like you were back in our old world."
Basil thought about it for a moment. Ever since he's lived near this town and gotten to this world, he's brought nothing but trouble for everyone! And it doesn't matter how often he fixes it; something always comes looking for him, and the people of this town get hurt because of it. He would be better to act as a sacrificial lamb, allowing everyone to be safe. After all, a devil's contract is binding.
But then he remembered the nearly fifty years of hell he suffered under his ex. Now, he didn't have death to look forward to since she couldn't die naturally, and she might make him immortal just to keep him. Then, he wouldn't be able to see the people he cared about and loved. And who's to say something else won't come when he's gone? He couldn't let that happen! He won't let that happen! Not again! Not to others or himself!
So, with all the vigor he could muster, he glared up at the devil herself. Seeing her toothy grin and dark eyes, he tightened his hand and yelled, "No!" Charlotte was taken aback by this, and even more so when he yelled in denial, "I'll never go back with you! I'll never go back to that life! I'll just fight you myself!"
Charlotte went through a flurry of emotions within herself and on her face: surprise, anger, wonder, contempt, and finally amusement. Smiling at his snarling and exhausted face, she said, "Bold but stupid. I guess that's why I chose you. I'll be sure to whip you back into shape to serve me. You will be back to your old subservient self in no time, love.", she whispered sinisterly while grabbing his face and whispering into his ear, making Basil whimper.
Before anything else could happen, Teto, who came out of nowhere, sneak attacked the devil from behind with a magic knife! Well…at least he tried, but Charlotte seemed to sense him, and with one swift motion, she turned around and hit the Kenku away with Force Magic! Teto flew far and fast before slamming into a wall unconscious.
"Get lost, bird!", she yelled at him as he fell.
"Teto!", Basil yelled in terror.
Charlotte turned back to him and questioned, "Teto? You named that bird after your old pet? How pathetic. Maybe I should do to him what I did to the original."
Hearing this, Basil froze up and forgot his friend for the moment. Looking up at the she-devil, he asked in fear, "What?"
Charlotte coyly tilted her head and inquired, "Oh? You still don't know? Nearly fifty years of marriage, and you never knew the reason your beloved bird died so suddenly."
As this was happening, Marigold, who was still hiding and not sure of what to do in this situation, saw the bird fly in her direction. When the devil turned away, she ran to him and began to perform basic first aid.
The wires crossed, and it all clocked in his head. He said in a small and scared voice, "No."
Charlotte smiled at this and exclaimed in zeal, "Yes. Love birds are quite delicate. A little bit of aerosol, and it dropped like a stone.", Basil looked down and into the void.
He had always wondered how his precious bird died so suddenly. And when it did, he was crushed! Now he had to remember that almost every terrible thing that had ever happened to him in his whole life was due to this monster before him! And this was just another addition. Tears streamed from his face as his body vibrated violently at the thoughts attacking his mind, all while Charlotte starred in glee.
Breathing a sigh of exaltation, she commented, "Oh, how I've longed to see that face again. Reminds me of the glory days. It is good to see my conditioning has stuck even after so long. Breaking you won't be half as hard as I expected."
All Basil could do was look away and try to hold back the tears that threatened to spill out as Charlotte revealed the sight of his weakness. The way she had always seen him and always wanted to! But she was stopped before taking the prize she had long awaited.
"Hey you!", shouted Marigold as she marched up to the devil who turned to face her. "So it's true what you said? You're his old wife from the other world?", she demanded.
Charlotte gave a sideways smile, and looking elegant, she boasted, "Indeed I am, and you must be the little girl he's come to admire so-."
It was only to be immediately silenced when Marigold took the tip of his boot and drove it right between the devil's legs! Even though they were hidden and covered by the many layers of her dress, Marigold managed to hit the target! Charlotte's eyes nearly rolled to the back of her head in pain as she bit down on her lower lip to stop crying out. She was stunned by the pain for so long that Marigold took this golden opportunity to do what she'd been itching to do!
After bringing her foot back, she kicked Charlotte in the stomach, causing her to double over in pain, where Marigold followed up with another kick directly to the face! But just before Charlotte could fall to the ground, Marigold kicked her with enough force to fly her into the side of a building! Before the devil could slide down to the dirt in pain, Marigold grabbed her by the neck, holding her up, and began to punch her again and again directly in her face!
Charlotte barely made a sound as she was beaten, and Marigold only grunted in anger after every blow! Black ichor splattered over Marigold's hands, arms, and face, while Charlotte's face, hair, and makeup were ruined after every decisive blow! The beating got so bad that Marigold actually began to cave her face in! Basil watched the sight with a mixture of hope, wonder, amazement, joy, relief, and a bit of horniness. His mouth was agape as Marigold's bold profession washed away his previous sadness, stress, and mental instability.
He never expected someone would come to his aid for something like this. In his old life, whenever anyone tried to help him, maybe his parents or wife, they would get the short end of the stick, and he would get punished. But seeing his ex come back, trying to take him back, and see someone stand up in his defense was his equivalent of a child seeing an animal at the zoo--no idea of its existence, but elated and shocked that it does.
After finally getting all her rage out, Marigold stopped her beating and allowed herself to breathe. Only after did she let the devil go before letting out a scream of anger and hitting her with one last haymaker at full strength! Punching so hard that the she-devil's head got embedded into the wall.
"THAT WAS FOR EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER DONE TO HIM!", she yelled at the monster before grabbing a fist full of her undone hair and saying with her blackened hand still in a tight fist, "And this is for me!"
But before she could land what looked like a killing blow, Charlotte got her second wind and expelled Force Magic from her body, sending the woman away with the chunk of hair she held onto! After Marigold was out of range, Charlotte stumbled around. While feeling her face and looking in a nearby window, she sneered with an expression of rage so intense that it shattered the glass!
"How dare you-.", she said in a small voice before turning to the woman and speaking in a much higher tone, "Ruin my.", Charlotte then realized a whole ton of Force Magic from her body as she screamed at the top of her lungs, "BEAUTIFUL FACE!"
The explosion was so massive that it completely destroyed the house she was next to. It also sent Marigold flying away before slamming into another home, as Basil had broken free of his black rock prison! Marigold managed to pull herself free from the house after Charlotte stopped her rage. Once free, she fell to her hands and knees, breathing hard, and quipped while rubbing her aching muscles.
"I see no point in keeping beauty if everything else is hideous.", she smiled wryly at the devil.
"I'm still prettier than you.", Charlotte shot back with a deep frown and scowl. Blood ran down her face, staining it black.
But just before the devil could close the distance and stomp the woman's life out, Charlotte heard someone call out to her in a gruff feminine, sounding voice, "Hey! D-bag!", turning around, Charlotte was shocked to see a small army of mixed goblins all armed to their snarling teeth with crude or well-made weapons, all staring her down with death glares. In front of the army was Brium, who demanded in a snarl, "Wes heard it all. Yous the one that caused much hurt to Basil scrunk!"
At this statement, the rest of the goblins all growled, snarled, and roared in anger, but Charlotte looked utterly unperturbed by their threats. Waving them off, she commanded, "Begone goblins. Your presence and stench are not welcomed in my pristine presence."
But this only pissed off Charlotte and the other goblins even more as the female Bugbear roared, "Yous gonna eat those words! When wes rip yous limb from limb!"
As the army charged at the devil, Charlotte was briefly taken aback by their actions. Typically, they run for the hills when she threatens a lesser creature. But they are different. The moment they heard that she was the source of Basil's previous torment, they had no hesitation in charging when she so vastly overpowered them.
Shaking off her hesitation, Charlotte erected a weak magic wall and floated at high speed to the freed Basil, who was trying to get back to his feet when Charlotte grabbed his hair, held him up by it, and exclaimed, "You!", Basil said nothing as he tried to fight against his hair getting pulled painfully. "How in the hell did you manage to manipulate so many damn monsters to fight for you!?", she demanded while holding him off his feet, making him cry from the strain and kicking his feet.
Basil managed to catch his breath enough to speak, and he informed her through his strain, "I didn't do anything like you would've. They love and care about me. They are my friends and family."
"So annoying.", Charlotte groaned while dropping him and then landing on his chest as the goblins broke through the barrier. Looking at the oncoming army, she snickered at them and looked back down at Basil, saying, "Fine. Then I'll just decimate your new friends and family and this town you seem to love! I'll break you and then take you back to be all mine again, love."
Charlotte rose into the air, high above the army, intending to simply throw magic spells at them until they were vaporized or worse! Only for tons of rocks to be thrown at her from the ground! Looking down, she saw a large colony of halflings chucking stones from their slings at her. Before she could blast them first and then deal with the goblins, a plethora of ropes were thrown over her body from every side! Just before she was pulled down, she caught sight of a huge herd of Small Torahs holding her against the ground with the ropes, all with angry faces!
Before Charlotte could phase through the ropes, snap them, or overpower the small sheep creatures, the goblins had made their way to her and began to swarm her like flies! The beating she took was unreal as each and every goblin, Halfling, and Small Torha all crowded, piled, crawled, and whatever else over one another to attack the she-devil with whatever they had! After several minutes of the onslaught, Charlotte finally managed to get a hold of herself and forced out a pulsating wave of Force Magic so powerful that it not only sent every creature and monster around her flying off in all directions but also knocked them all out and completed leveled the whole area round her for several yards!
Charlotte pulled herself up from the dirt mixed with her own black ichor, beaten, bruised, and broken in ways unimaginable or unrealistic for any mortal creature to survive. Pooling all her magic, she instantly healed and cleaned herself up! The only thing that wasn't restored was her hair; noticing this, she used magic to retire her hair into a braided bun. She looked around at her handy work and groaned to herself. If she hadn't been nearly beaten within an inch of her life, especially on the head, she would've used a Force Magic spell that would have ruptured their organ into goop instead of just knocking them out. Either way, at least she destroyed all resistance to oppose her, only for that thought to be dashed aside as she was harnessed to the ground!
Before she could act, a huge weight was thrown onto her back and began sinking sharp fangs into her flesh! As her skin broke and ichor flowed freely again, she used her Blood Magic to set her ichor a flame! Crimson red flames mixed with black erupted, and whatever was on her jumped off before they came. They also burned off whatever was restraining her. Standing up while healing herself, she noticed that she was previously bound to the ground in spider silk, and she saw a strand burn away in her blood magic. Realizing what had attacked her, she turned her gaze to a very angry-looking Myeon, who had her fangs spread and mouth open in a display of intimidation.
Charlotte smiled at the demon spider, glaring down at it while blabbering, "A greater demon spider. I thought your kind was culled long ago. Then again, your demons are annoyingly persistent. You must be one of the Spider Gods kids, who has been removed many times. Even still, being so inbred, your demonic blood is as potent as ever. Another thing that's annoying about your kind."
Myeon hissed in response while igniting a flame in her mouth!
Charlotte huffed at this and continued, "And the only way to truly get rid of a demon is to squash them like the bugs they are!"
But before she could start the attack, Wrinkles came up from behind and chomped down on her head! Though his fangs were sharp, they only did enough to break the skin and cause her to bleed. So, with one swift motion of her head, she flung the small dragon on the ground and stomped him into the dirt! Bringing her head up to face Myeon, she was shocked when she saw the spider flying towards her with its mouth wide open!
Charlotte managed to grab the spider's fangs but was thrown into the dirt, skidding along the ground, where she stopped her descent by crashing into a building! The blow to her head Nearly knocked her out, so she found it much more challenging to fend off the spider as she tried to snap her jaws around her head! Myeon kept pushing with all her might as her mouth grew ever closer to the devil's head, venom splashing on her face and making it harder to fight back as eight strong legs pushed against her two arms! It was only a matter of time, but Charlotte managed to heal the blow to her head and use her full strength to push the spider away as Myeon's legs sunk into the dirt to fight back!
Just when it seemed Charlotte would gain the upper hand, Myeon stopped her snapping and opened her mouth widely as she breathed a stream of fire upon the monster's face and body! Charlotte screamed in what sounded like a pain but really was crying about her perfect face being ruined despite it being burned to the bone! After the fire ended, Meyon thought she killed the devil, but was shocked when she saw her use ice magic to seal her mouth shut and then use a frosting spell to push her back and freeze her solid!
Charlotte arose like a corpse from the grave and used her magic to fix her face. All her makeup had been removed at this point, so she had no choice but to go natural. After fixing herself up, she readies herself to smash the frozen spider, only for something new to try to attack her! Since she was distracted, she had yet to react in time to the latest threat coming from behind and the air! She is once again pinned to the ground but flattened onto her stomach with something biting and clawing into her back! Using her force magic, she pushed the huge thing off her and turned herself into a smoke cloud to escape. After getting to a good position and healing her injuries and clothing, she saw Melon standing before her with wings raised and fangs bared!
For a moment, she was honestly impressed by the fact her ex managed to tame a wyvern, but the moment passed as Melon lifted into the air and began to spray a barrage of venom from her tail and fangs! Charlotte countered by summoning a shield and allowing the venom to drip immediately. Seeing this, Melon changed tactics and dove right down with her talons extended! But Charlotte did nothing but stand and watch with self-confidence, only for that and her shield to shatter upon contact and force the Devil Peer to teleport away!
Melon skated across the ground and flickered her tongue to find her prey. Smelling her arrival, she ran to the spot where she would appear and slammed right into her as she appeared, Charlotte getting a face full of wyvern. Melon bit down on her neck and forced as much venom as she could into the she-devil's body, which was a lot.
In seconds, as Charlotte attempted to pry off the fake dragon, she felt her limbs go numb, her lungs strain, and her eyes fill and leak out the excess venom that burned them! Melon would've killed her then and there, but she decided to throw the devil to the ground and sting her with her stinger in the chest and face, causing an even more potent form of venom to enter her body! Charlotte lay on the ground unmoving with eyes wide open as venom mixed with her blood leaked out of every orifice on her body, wondering how such a lesser creature could kill her.
Then she remembered she had turned off her Otherworldly Guise skill and mentally slapped herself for forgetting about something so needed. Turning on the skill, her body gained immediate immunity and banishment of the venom in her body. She stood up fast, shocking the wyvern, giving the Devil Peer a chance to grab her neck! Melon tried to break free, but Charlotte was far stronger. Melon tried to use her tail, but Charlotte caught that, so her only choice was to scream at her! Seeing this, Charlotte raised an eyebrow before using her Force Magic to send a sonic scream right into the wyvern, sending her flying away before falling unconscious and through a wall!
Dusting herself off, she used her Demonic Sensory skill to ensure she wasn't attacked while distracted by her looks. Seeing that her dress had been ruined yet again, she went with a sleeveless, backless, and straight gown look instead of the many ruffles and layers. Her Demonic Sensory kicked in as she admired her handy work and sensed herself being surrounded. However, she saw nothing.
Realizing that whatever it was was invisible, she used an ice spell in a large area and froze everything solid, revealing a horde of Lizard Men now ideally encased in ice. Then she senses a spell about to be fired at her, and she looks to see a half-frozen Pythor melting himself free and chanting a spell. Not waiting for the end result, she used another ice spell to freeze the Shamen!
Finally, having a moment to breathe, she gave herself ample time to sit in her thoughts, one of which was why all these monsters were attacking her without self-preservation. Usually, monsters would see something far outclassing them and run, but the moment they keep their eyes on her, they go for blood. So what was different?
"It's because of what you did.", said a voice.
Turning to the voice, she saw Bow and Ball both standing several yards away and walking through the landmine field of frozen lizard men to get closer. So she asked, "What?"
Finally coming close to her, Bow pulled his cape free from some ice and told her, "It's because of what you did to Basil in the past; that's why they want to kill you so badly."
Charlotte hummed her throat and replied, "And he says I'm the manipulator."
"Wrong.", Bow retorted.
"What?", Charlotte shot back.
"Wrong. Basil didn't manipulate them. He grew bonds of trust and compassion. It comes from love.", Bow said with a smile on his face and a hand on his chest.
Charlotte made a half-burp, half-vomit sound as she swallowed down her nausea and proclaimed, "Bleck! How disgusting!"
Bow shrugged and quipped, "I guess it can't be helped in your case. After all, it's clear you don't love anything except yourself."
Charlotte snapped her ire at the boy and demanded, "And who are you to speak so badly to me, child!?"
"I'm the Shepard druid Bow, and this is my companion Ball. Say hi Ball.", Bow introduced himself with a bow while Ball bleated in response.
Charlotte looked him over, then demoralized him, saying, "A Shepard druid? Cute. But you're not going to beat me; I've faced druids of far greater class and more potent power than you."
"Nuh-uh.", Bow argued.
Charlotte put on a disgraced face and exclaimed, "What do you mean, nuh-uh!?"
"I mean, nuh-uh. I'm going to beat with you, and that's that. Because, like all the monsters you've faced, I too love Basil with all my heart!", Bow proclaimed while holding up his shepherd's hook.
Charlotte rolled her eyes at him and commented, "Cute but pathetic. I guess I can play with you for a bit.", She said with a devilish grin while igniting fire in her hands.
Before she could throw it, a water spell was splashed over her, and the fire was put out. Charlotte spotted water that got thrown into her mouth and looked upon a giggling Bow. Fire rose off Charlotte, extinguishing the water, and she rose up into the air while manifesting two giant balls of fire by her sides. She raged aloud at the insult of her being and prepared to throw them down upon the boy!
The fire from the spheres was so intense that the lizard men began to thaw! But Bow knew he had to act before all of them were shattered and eviscerated! So he silently chanted his water spell until it reached the fourth state of power and created a wave strong enough to take out one of the spheres, leaving only the other, which Charlotte had already thrown. So, thinking on his feet, he chanted a minor wind spell to hold it back long enough for him to chant his ice spell.
As he finished the chant, it flew towards the other sphere, and the two canceled out one another, causing a huge cloud of streak to form and blind the two fighters. Bow couldn't see the woman, but she could see him, and with her Devil Sight, she locked into a much more scattered fire attack, which sent dozens of tiny fireballs at the boy! They broke through the fog, and Bow had to build an earth wall to block them quickly!
Bow knew his nature attacks wouldn't be enough to harm her, so he had to use his spirits. Unfortunately, none of them could fly, and she didn't look too keen on coming down anytime soon. So he thought up a quick plan, hoping it would work. He chanted his earth spell, sent up a huge amount of earth, and spoke at her, causing Charlotte to back away and downward. Then, right after, a grove of vine and roots shot up from the ground and grabbed hold of the devil, bringing her down to the earth.
Charlotte broke out easily but was quickly assaulted by…sheep? Looking over where the first one hit her, she saw Bow out of his protective wall and golfing spirits shaped like sheep in her direction with his shepherd's hook. Each sheep looked a bit like Ball in how they were shaped, but their eyes were exposed. Even though she could take the hits, they hurt like hell! Then she remembered that spiritual beings are affected by other spirits, a.k.a. whatever that kid punted at her.
These lesser spirits were easy enough to dodge or block, but then Bow summoned a huge spirit sheep from under his feet and rolled it right before the devil, using it like a ball! Charlotte was so stunned by the massive spirit summoned by a child that she could not move or block. She was steamrolled by the ghostly animal and stuck to its body as it rolled all over the town. Bow then stopped the animal and jumped up before landing on it, making the spirit implode on itself.
The explosion ran out in a plume of orange smoke and tangerine scent, and as the dust settled, a significantly flattened Charlotte lay. Bow walked over and looked down upon the monster, wondering if she was dead, only to be told as she sprung up and tried to attack him! Only for Bow to act fast and hook her neck with his staff and slam her face first into a large stone!
Charlotte pulled herself up from the rock, nose bleeding from the impact; she attempted to grab his staff, but Bow channeled his magic through it, making her let go! Pulling away as her hands smoked, Charlotte growled and doused her own arms in magic and slashed wildly at the boy who fought back with his own magic-infused weapon! They both clashed against one another with equal footwork and strength behind their attacks, but neither could strike the other!
Until Charlotte stopped attacking wildly and began to use her head, she put far more pressure and power behind her attacks, and quickly, Bow began to lose ground until his staff was knocked from his hands, and she blasted him in the stomach with a weak magic attack. Bow landed far away, and the devil began to approach him until Ball stood in her way.
She stopped and studied the little sheep before smiling at him and stating, "Well, well, I never would've expected someone like you to be here. But then again, I've had plenty of surprises just today. Nevertheless, you're cavorting with a child? How…interesting. I'm sure you were able to intimidate my subordinate, but let me tell you this: I ain't scared of someone so below me.", with that, Charlotte moved like a bolt of lightning and kicked Ball with enough force to send him flying into the horizon.
Meanwhile, Bow was trying to make his way back to his staff painfully, only for Charlotte to appear, snap his staff on her heel, and pick him up by his neck! Bow coughed and gagged and tried to break free with no success as Charlotte watched him struggle and suffer.
Holding his ear close to her lips, she whispers, "I told you you can't beat me."
Bow gulped down what air he could and wheezed defiantly, "Nuh-uh."
Charlotte glared hard as her face contorted in a way that made her demonic side show! And she began to strangle the boy, ever-increasing her grip until he either stopped kicking or she snapped him. Luckily, the boy was saved as a stone struck the devil-woman's head hard enough for her to lose her grip over the boy! Dropping him to the ground as she gingerly touched her new wound, another flaw she would have to fix, she looked over to see who would dare! There, she saw Marigold with a ragged expression and slightly hunched over posture while breathing hard.
After wiping the sweat from her face, she said, "You're a heartless harlot."
Charlotte made a humph sound as she leered at the woman and said back, "Oh, you're still standing, even after nearly having all your bones shattered against that building. I'm impressed. And what did you call me?"
Charlotte spat on the ground and exclaimed back in a tone full of venom, "That makeup you cake on like frosting blocks your ears as well? I said you're a heartless, spineless beast! All this bravado, you boast, but without the power to back you up, what are you? Nothing!"
Charlotte let loose some of her Force Magic, and with a contained furious expression, she threateningly demanded, "Say. That. Again!"
"I'll do you one better. I'll carve it into your giant forehead.", Marigold threatened back while taking out her dagger, which glowed red hot, showing that it had a new fire enchantment on it as the two women faced off.