"Demon Knights, to me! FORWARD!"
Hearing the General's command, almost every demon on the battlefield shouted in unison, "OOOHHHH!!" Their fire reignited, burning brighter than before. Soon after, all demons in the battlefield resumed their defense and counterattacked the heroes' armies.
"Hah... I can't lose to the General here...!" Lieutenant Akai gritted his teeth and grinned at the General's command. He retrieved his fallen metal club and immediately charged toward the enemies' ranks. The other demons who aided him also followed his lead.
Watching from the sky, Major Kite smiled at the General's command. She then turned to her Skydancer squadron. "Everyone, we can't let General Bella's expectations go to waste! Let's show those pesky heroes where it hurts the most!" She rallied her Skydancer squadron once more.
"Yes, ma'am!" Every Skydancer harpy shouted in unison. They resumed their magical attacks, now even fiercer and more determined than before.
The General herself also advanced forward slowly, while most of her Minotaur Knights began to scatter in different directions across the battlefield, assisting the rest of the demon armies. With a serious expression, she walked into the enemy ranks, showing no sign of fear in the face of the heroes.
Some of the heroes, especially the warrior types, began to gather in response to the General's advance.
"This is as far as you go, Demon General!" declared one of the heroes, a gallant-like swordsman lunging forward with sword in hand, aiming to strike a decisive blow against the menacing and fearless General Bella.
"We won't let you take another step, fiend!" shouted another hero, a barbarian-looking man wielding two large axes in both hands and charging forward with a fierce battle cry, his blades gleaming in the sunlight as he prepared to deliver a fatal blow to the General.
"Prepare to face justice, minion of darkness!" proclaimed yet another hero, a giant full armor knight with his voice ringing with righteous fury as he brandished a giant mace, its weight poised to deliver a crushing blow to the General's defenses.
General Bella, on the other hand, showed little reaction to the impending assaults of the heroes. She raised her giant axe to block and intercept their attacks, shocking the heroes with her prowess. Not a flinch was seen from her in response to any of their strikes. The only reaction that they saw from the General was in fact... annoyance.
"Weak..." muttered the General in a low voice, her axe still engaged in blocking the heroes' weapons.
"Huh?" came the simple yet confused reactions of the heroes upon hearing the General's muttering.
"WEAK!" bellowed the General, pulling back her axe to deliver a full swing that struck all three heroes in one powerful motion. Her attack sent the trio flying together, crashing into the ranks of the heroes' armies and creating a massive impact that left another crater in the ground.
"Ooohhh! That's our General!" exclaimed many of the demon soldiers who witnessed the entire spectacle. Seeing the general defeat not just one, but three heroes simultaneously, further boosted the morale of the demon armies.
"Damn it!" cursed one of the backline heroes, a seasoned mage, as he witnessed the Minotaur General advance toward their ranks while decimating their forces. "All of you! Focus your magic attacks on that Demon General!" he commanded, rallying the heroes and mage soldiers under his command. With determination, he began to charge a spell in his hands.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" replied another mage hero. Many similar mage heroes and mage soldiers also began to charge spells of their own, preparing to strike General Bella in a focused combination attack. After what seemed like the longest seconds of their lives, the mages were about to launch their magics.
But someone interrupted their spellcasting. "Oh my, please don't hurt my friend, dear hero~," chimed in a mystical yet alluring voice. As soon as the voice ended, a dense and wide pink fog engulfed the mage group and several human soldiers around them, hindering their vision. The odd pink fog had a strange effect on them.
"W-what's g-going ooonnn...?" stammered one of the mages, his voice shaky and slurring. Many of the mages inside the fog also began to feel strange, their bodies growing weak while their body temperature rose drastically.
Suddenly, several alluring figures emerged from the pink fog—women in scantily clad outfits with devil wings and tails. One of them, Roxane, the bewitchingly beautiful demon, particularly stood out with her provocative presence.
A few of the heroes realized who they were facing. "Y-yoouuu!?!" the mage hero stuttered upon seeing Roxane.
"Yes, my dear hero?" Roxane replied playfully.
"The Succubus Queen, Roxane...!!!" the mage hero finally declared, revealing the identity of Roxane, the so-called Succubus Queen.
"O-one of the 4 Arc-Demons!?!" Another mage yelped in shock upon hearing and seeing one of the 4 Arc-Demons. Soon everyone of them began to panic upon the implication of the Succubus Queen's presence here.
"Yes, that is correct, dear hero~," Roxane replied playfully. "Now, be a good little hero and relax for a bit~," she continued, playfully but alluringly coaxing them. She and the other seductive women approached the heroes and humans inside the pink fog while giggling.
"N-no...! S-stay away...! N-oooooooooo...!!!" screamed the heroes and humans inside the fog. After a while, the pink fog dissipated, revealing Roxane and her fellow female demons. Meanwhile, the heroes' armies lay knocked out on the ground, their expressions were all over the place. On the other hand, all of the female demons previously in the pink fog have a strangely energetic expression on their face.
Roxane flew to General Bella's location. "Bella-chan, are you okay?" she said, her tone filled with concern. The General had been blushing slightly from witnessing the pink fog attack that Roxane and her fellow female demons had used on the heroes' mage squad.
"U-uhm, y-yes. I'm fine. Thank you for asking..." General Bella cleared her throat, replying to Roxane's concern while avoiding eye contact out of shyness.
"*giggle* I'm glad to hear that," Roxane smiled warmly in response.
"A-anyway! Resume our counterattack on those heroes!" General Bella yelled, rallying her fellow demons. Her command elicited a few war cries of approval from the others, although some of her Mino's Knights tried to stifle their amusement upon seeing the General's blushing expression.
"*giggle* Yes, ma'am~," Roxane playfully saluted the General.
< | X | >
On one of the sides of the battlefield, located in the forest east of Penelope City, few of the archer groups led by some of the bow-user heroes were arguing to whether they should focus their attack to the Arc-Demons.
"We should attack them while they are together! Right now!" exclaimed one of the archer heroes, a determined look on his face as he notched an arrow onto his bowstring, ready to release it at the Arc-Demons.
"No! We should try to cover our allies on the battlefield! They are getting pushed back as we speak here!" argued another archer hero, her voice tense with urgency as she scanned the chaos unfolding before them.
The archers under their command received mixed signals, slowing down their actions. However, before they could proceed with any of their attacks, black figures leaped out from the forest, catching them off guard.
"What the-?!" yelped one of the archers before they were taken down by the black figures. Multiple black figures had emerged, swiftly taking down the archers one by one.
Some of the heroes managed to evade the attackers and saw the appearance of the black figures: cloaked individuals with masks of various designs, standing among their fallen comrades.
"W-who are you people?!" one of the archer heroes demanded, seeking answers from the cloaked figures. However, they remained silent, offering no response. A petite figure among them stepped forward, revealing two wicked-looking daggers.
"Those daggers!!" the heroes exclaimed, recognizing the owner.
"Demon Blade, Judith!!!" one of them finally identified the cloaked demon. But before they could react, the so-called Demon Blade Judith vanished from their sight. The next thing they knew, their consciousness turned dark; all of them had been incapacitated by this petite demon.
With the enemies neutralized, Judith inspected the area. Satisfied that all threats were eliminated, she hid away her daggers and rummaged through her inventory... only to pull out snacks from it and nonchalantly began eating amidst the fallen enemies.
< | X | >
"Lady Roxane, Lady Judith has successfully neutralized the archer squads of the heroes' armies." One of the many lower rank succubi under Roxane reported to her.
"My~ Judy-chan has outdone herself~." Roxane's happily response to the good news.
"Good. The sooner we can rid of the heroes, the better." General Bella commented on the news. But... she then fell into a deep thought. "Hold on... where is the hero Yulia...?" She inquired to the lower succubus.
The lower succubus was taken back by the General's question. "Uhm... The hero Yulia has not been seen from the heroes' armies, ma'am..." The lower succubus answered the General's question. The General herself soon fell into a deep thought again, thinking on what they should do with the hero Yulia's unknown whereabout. But... her deep thought was soon answered.
"...!" Suddenly, both General Bella and Roxane sensed a huge spike of holy aura. They soon discovered the source of said aura: The hero Yulia herself. She was floating in the sky above the heroes' armies. Her full-on silver knight helmet and armor shined trough the battlefield, blinding almost everyone that witnessed her presence.
"Hero Yulia!" The General exclaimed upon seeing the hero's presence. Even Roxane showed a serious expression upon seeing said hero.
Before they could react, Hero Yulia descended rapidly into the ranks of the demon armies. She slammed into the ground with tremendous force, triggering a massive explosion of earth and dust, which also created a massive quake that shook the battlefield. As the dust settled, a gaping crater revealed itself, with Hero Yulia standing defiantly in the center. Many of the demons lay sprawled, either knocked out or blown away by her assault.
The suddenness of Yulia's appearance and attack caught both the General and Roxane off guard. However, they quickly braced themselves for her next move. Yet, just as quickly as she appeared, Yulia vanished from the crater, only to reappear before the two Arc-Demons, her longsword poised for a strike.
Time seemed to slow down as they witnessed Yulia's imminent attack, helpless and unable to react. But before she could land a blow, Demon Queen Anna materialized before them, erecting a magical shield that intercepted Yulia's sword. The clash between shield and blade sent a shockwave, hurling everyone nearby, including the Arc-Demons.
"Hero Yulia..." the Demon Queen called out her, but received no response.
Yulia withdrew her sword, only to launch another assault at the Demon Queen, this time with even greater ferocity. Yet again, Anna blocked the attack with her shield, all the while charging her own magic. With one hand maintaining the shield, she unleashed a demonic blast towards Yulia. The hero managed to block the blast, but upon impact, it exploded, engulfing her in a massive demonic explosion.
After a tense moment, the smoke cleared to reveal Yulia relatively unscathed by the Demon Queen's demonic blast.
Both combatants locked eyes, assessing each other up for the next clash. However, before they could engage, an unexpected interruption occurred.
Two figures leaped between them: Alex, the summoned 'hero,' and Mira, the mage cat-beastkin. Alex held out both of his hands to them both, shouting at the top of his lungs, "STOP!!!"