Chapter 184 - Vol. 3 - 57

Ash

Following the few skirmishes Ash participated in, she thought she was starting to feel at least a little more prepared. Currently, she was standing in front of a Gluttony demon that had its eyes set on two old soldiers who were injured in front of it. The demon's tongue launched out and snaked around one of their legs, but Ash was already moving. 

She leaped up and, as the demon's tongue was retracting, she stabbed through its head. The lump of mass groaned and fell back, its tongue loosening its hold over the soldier it had grabbed. 

"T-Thank you, Savior!" One of them yelled out, and ash ignored him. 

All of her thoughts were on one thing. The demon she'd be fighting later. 

What happens if it's still faster than me, even with Kaori's stats? Ash asked herself as she looked around for more demons to fight. There were none.  If none of my attacks hurt it. If Magia's ability doesn't do enough. What do I do then? 

"Looks like, uh, this street is clear..." Kaori said softly behind her. Ash nearly didn't even hear her. 

"Yeah, let's keep going," Ash said. 

"Wait..." Kaori called out. Ash stopped. 

"Yeah?" 

"... Are you sure it's good to just walk over to this thing?" Kaori asked. "I mean, maybe it's better to let it come to us? We could at least see it coming then." 

"Yeah, but that would put less distance between it and the palace," Ash replied. "I want them to have at least a little bit of time to prepare if things don't go well for us..." 

"O-Oh," Kaori replied. "I... Okay." 

"... Besides," Ash chuckled, "I just wanna get it over with already. My head already hurts, I swear." 

"... Our abilities," Kaori said. "When should we use them?" 

Ash paused. 

"... If we use them at the same time, we'll probably wipe that one demon out, but we run the risk of wasting them. Even though it's one demon we're looking for, there's still a whole army of those things to deal with, and no Vermia or Ren to help us this time. I'll use mine first," Ash told her. "If that doesn't work, we use yours. Or, if mine does work, we use yours to wipe out the rest. If nothing works, we haul ass out of there." 

"... Okay. Okay. I understand." 

After that, the two of them continued walking down the street, drawing closer to where it sounded like the bulk of the fight was. Even now, many soldiers were hustling, running towards the battle. Some were reinforcements coming from the palace, some were soldiers that had already been fighting, were healed, and were now running in for a second round. Ahead, spheres of fire flew through the air, barely missing Lust demons as Onyx's mages tried their hardest to put them down from below. 

Those sounds became deafening as Ash and Kaori arrived at a checkpoint, a section just in front of a factory, where dozens of soldiers were holding off the demon forces. And, here, Ash finally saw it. 

A single demon that stood taller than all the others. Its long, flowing white hair was stained with red blood as it swung its greatsword from one person to another, rendering whoever it struck into a puff of crimson mist. Ash narrowed her eyes at the level 90 creature. 

"T-There it is..." Kaori whispered. Ash nodded. 

"Okay... Here I go." 

She had made up a small plan before arriving here. In order to give herself the best odds of succeeding, she needed every single soldier here to fight their hearts out. And she had the tools to facilitate that. 

So, she started by casting the incantation for  Empowered Light, the spell that enhanced the effects of Light magic on whoever was affected by it. 

"For Light of grace to reach those in need, Lumina, allow our faith to dictate the power of our words. Let no prayer we utter be left unheard. To this end, show yourself in our actions and let your brilliance be seen." 

Satsuhiro had once told her that Blessings, which this spell was one of, were made stronger by a person's connection to Magia. For once, Ash was hoping the thread that tied her to that goddess would show itself here. 

Every soldier in the street found their bodies glowing white. Most of them were too distracted by their fighting to notice it, but the few who weren't looked down at themselves with confusion in their eyes. 

Next, it was time to top them all up. So, she cast the spell  Land of Grace, which healed everyone around her. 

"This is a place of piety, let our faith be rewarded and our wounds become old memories, soon forgotten!"

All around her, many of the soldiers who had been fighting for far longer than Ash had tonight saw their accumulated injuries fade away, as the combined strength of Ash's affinity with Light magic, and the Empowered Light spell proved itself at this moment. 

"Push them back!" One reinvigorated soldier yelled and, suddenly, the humans began fighting with a renewed ferocity. 

Ash checked her mana. 

Level 48

MP: 140/230

She chuckled nervously. 

Shit, almost halfway already. Well, I'm not done yet. 

She needed these soldiers to perform, but they couldn't do that if they were all exhausted, even with their closed wounds. So, next up, Ash cast the spell Lumina's Spirit on one soldier at a time, quickly, restoring the energy of the highest-level warriors she saw.

"May our vigor never fade, find our spirits emboldened."

She cast the spell a total of five times, which brought her mana to 65. 

Ash wiped her forehead. She was already sweating from the mana exertion.  Can't stop yet. I have one more spell to cast, she thought, but by now, the demons in the area had all figured out that she was the one enhancing the humans. A few Lust demons flew her away, and Ash tried to speak this last incantation as quickly as she could. 

"Make this field unbearable to those who commit sin freely, let Lumina's judgment purge their consciousness."

The spell  Sacred Ground quickly irritated every single demon around her, and with that, Ash was done. 

"Kaori, the spell!" 

"Huh? You're going to fight it now!?" Kaori asked. 

"Yeah, do it!" Ash said. 

She had a reason for this. That was, that although fighting it in the middle of all this chaos meant that a second demon could come and interrupt her at any moment, the same could happen to the Nightmare. Another soldier could come and land a clean enough shot, and if it did, Ash could take that moment to finish it. 

Kaori closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and Ash's body glowed. 

Okay asshole, let's do this!  Ash thought as she ran forwards. The level 90 Nightmare was standing behind a small wall of demons and humans who were still fighting. Ash had planned to jump over them, but the Nightmare had other ideas. 

With one swing, it slashed forwards, clearing out all of the bodies and killing every human and demon that was caught in its attack. 

... Guess it has the same idea in mind,  Ash noted, and, finally, she arrived in front of it, and their fight began. 

---

Eliza

"Are the citizens safe?" The Lord asked one of her generals. 

"For the time being, yes," he replied as Eliza watched the city burn in front of her. 

None of the reports had given her any good news so far. Every skirmish ended the exact same way. For every demon the humans killed, 3 soldiers would die.  It may be considered a miracle that we've held out this far, considering how unprepared we were. 

"Milady!" A scout arrived at her location, taking long, heaving breaths. She coughed twice before standing straight. 

"Speak." 

"The reinforcements, from Jade," the scout said. "I saw them coming down the road. They're close." 

"How close?" 

"Maybe half an hour away, milady," the scout replied. 

Hm... Is that good enough? Half an hour is more than enough time to defeat a wounded, unprepared army. Unless... Unless they receive assistance.

With that, Eliza nodded to herself.  It is very likely that tonight, everything will be decided for us. In that case, nothing must be held back. 

She turned towards her trusted general. 

"Organize a small squad, take the restrained Lust demons and their hosts, and send them out into the streets. It's time to put our special forces to work," Eliza stated. 

"A-Aye..." He bowed. 

"Lust demons?" The scout asked. Of course, not many knew about this plan. 

Eliza smirked at her. 

"Tonight will be remembered for a long time to come, in a few possible ways, but I would prefer it if it is remembered as the night the Lord of Onyx did everything she could to win." 

---

Ash

It had taken all of two swings of the demon's giant sword for Ash to understand how in over her own head she'd been. Simply put, even with the stats Kaori gave her, her fears had been confirmed. 

The demon was just too fast. 

"Watch out!" Kaori yelled as Ash dodged under a swing that would have ripped her torso off, and then tried to run in and stab the thing. She succeeded, actually, but her gauntlet didn't penetrate far into the creature at all. In fact, it barely appeared hurt.  Just like Yumi said... I can barely touch this thing. 

Ash's eyes widened when the creature raised its sword and, narrowly, she dodged out of the way of a vertical slash that would have split her down the middle. That was how this fight had gone so far. Ash's attacks tickled this thing, while on the other hand, even with her 90 Con, Ash feared that taking a hit from this creature meant her death. 

She did notice something though, as the creature continued to fight. 

Level 90

MP: 800/900

It hasn't used any spells,  Ash thought.  But its mana is going down... Why? 

Ash put some distance between the two of them, hopping back several times. She was breathing heavily. 

"Ash!" 

"Yeah?" She replied. 

"My spell... I think you've only got another minute before I need to recast it!" 

Yeah, Ash thought.  And then there's that. There's a pretty big fucking chance that as soon as the stats go away, this thing is going to crush me. 

It was strange. Ash gulped down some saliva that was building up in her mouth, and at the same time, her mouth felt dry. She hadn't noticed it yet, but her hands were shaking. 

Maybe... Maybe when the stats go away, that's when I should-

The demon flipped high up into the air. Ash watched it with awe as it turned its blade down, intent on slamming its tip straight through her. Ash rolled forwards and looked back. 

"Corruption spread, corruption launch!" She cast a Dark Sphere at it, but her spell had no effect at all. Instead, the demon spun around and outstretched its arms, looking to decapitate her with this swing. Ash ducked and ran up again. This time, she aimed her gauntlets at its legs. 

Once more, she pretty much only scratched it before she had to back off again. 

Level 90

MP: 750/900

As its mana went down, the demon stood still, taking up its stance again as it held its blade close to its waist. Ash breathed in. 

What do I do? What do I do??? 

And then, her body flashed white. 

Shit. 

She looked over at Kaori. 

"D-Don't worry, I'll-"

Before Kaori could finish her sentence the demon had spun and, in an instant, swung its sword at her. 

"KAORI!" Ash screamed as she saw its blade strike her in the gut. The blonde was propelled back, landing on a building's wall. The force of the hit was so much that Kaori was pushed straight through it, stone crumbling around her. Ash was frozen. 

Casually, the demon turned back towards her. 

It raised its sword up and Ash ran forwards, but she didn't move to attack. Instead, as she dodged out of the way of a slash, she went into the building Kaori had fallen through. 

The blonde was laying there, her armor shattered, and blood spilled out onto the ground. 

Instinctively, Ash quickly cast the basic  Heal  spell on her. 

"Guard my soul against the dark's reach,"  she spoke and her hands glowed white as they hovered over Kaori. Soon, Kaori coughed out some blood but her wound began repairing. "Kaori, are you okay?" 

"T-That..." She coughed out more blood. "It nearly killed me. M-My armor... It's broken..." 

Ash hugged her tightly. 

I fucked up. I fucked up, I fucked up, I fucked up! She thought.  I can't let her get hurt. 

Massive footsteps were drawing closer to the building, and Ash looked towards the hole in the wall with furious eyes. 

"Kaori, cast your stats spell, I'm going back in," she told her.

"R-Right..." As Kaori's wound healed, she closed her eyes and Ash's body glowed. Then, Ash leaned down and kissed the girl gently. "I'm sorry, I'm not fighting well enough out here. I need to do better." 

With that, as her healing spell finished, she stood back up and ran out of the building. 

The demon was right there to greet her. It raised its sword, but Ash didn't dodge. Instead, she ran straight in and went for a stab at its gut. She managed to pierce its body, just as she had before, but her back was caught by the demon's blade, forcing her to her knees. 

She wasn't crushed though. She wasn't maimed to the point of not being able to fight, she was only hurt, which earned a cry from her, but she remained standing. And that was one thing she'd discovered with Kaori's injury just now. 

When Kaori got hit,  Ash noted as she looked up at the demon, who appeared confused as to how Ash hadn't been reduced to dust, with a smirk.  Her Con was only at like 50, and she didn't die in one hit. If I have almost double that, I can sure as fuck take a hit from you. 

This meant that, although she still had to avoid being struck, she wasn't quite as scared as before. At least, during the 2 minutes that she had Kaori's stats in her. So, Ash ran away, trying to draw the creature to follow her. 

"Come on!" She spread her arms out as she nearly tripped over the bodies of a few fallen creatures. Demons or soldiers, she didn't know which. "I'm right here!" 

The demon watched her for a moment before slowly following, taking the bait. 

Level 90

MP: 600/900

It keeps going down, why?  Ash thought briefly before it raised its sword again and, faster than she could react, slammed it into her side. 

Ash spat out some blood as she was launched to the left, but she quickly got back up to her feet. 

"Guard my soul against the Dark's reach," she muttered, healing herself.  Okay... I'm starting to get pretty pissed, but... I need to stay focused. 

However, by now, her body was beginning to glow violet, which meant that her Demon Form was coming. On one hand, this was good, as her physical stats being increased by 5 meant her Con would nearly be maxed out, but it also meant that Ash's decision-making was about to take a serious hit, and she knew it. 

Still, she couldn't stop it. She deactivated her Savior's Weapon, as her hands became real claws, and her legs turned demonic as well. Fangs grew in her mouth and Ash narrowed her eyes at the creature. 

Finally, she charged at it again. This time, with her small boost in speed from her Demon Form, Ash managed to reach it and used her claws to tear its chest. She only scratched it, but the wound she inflicted was deeper than what her gauntlets could do. 

The demon swung its sword quickly, almost too quickly for Ash to dodge, but she managed to duck before running in and slashing it again. 

She managed to get three more good hits in before her body glowed white and Kaori's stats faded. Before the Nightmare could attack her though, Kaori, who was standing by, cast her spell and Ash had her stats again soon enough. 

She didn't say anything. Instead, Ash ran right up to the Nightmare again. 

This little song and dance continued until Ash lost her stats a third time, and nearly got killed for it. Her Con disappeared just as the demon had been about to strike. Ash jumped back and the demon's swing left a ripple in the air, as she quickly gained her stats back. 

Behind her though, demons were beginning to swarm the area as they gradually overtook the soldiers. Ash nearly gasped.

"Kaori, hide! I've got this!" 

"B-But..."

"Trust me, I'm going to do my thing out here. Trust me!"

"R-Right!" Kaori ran back into the building. With the demons pouring into the streets, Ash smirked. 

Okay, fuck this. Ash thought.  It's time. 

With that thought, she decided to use her Champion of Magia ability. 

One minute of that ability, two more minutes of Kaori's stats. I need to get this done in that time. That's all I've got left... If I can't do it, then all we can do is run.

And, with a thought, the ability activated. 

Instantly, Ash felt a wave of heat run over her body, but now that she'd done this two times already, she was prepared for it. It also helped that the only creature nearby she had any desire to fuck was Kaori, who was out of sight right now. 

As the minute began, Ash's creations started. Over her head, there was a glint in the sky. That glint became a falling sword that landed straight on the Nightmare's body. 

"AAGH!" The demon roared as its left arm was ripped off. 

Ash's eyes widened. 

YES!  Ash thought.

So, seeing that the attack had succeeded, Ash allowed another sword to fall. This time though, the demon was looking up, anticipating the attack. It dodged out of the way of the next one, and Ash growled. 

Stand still, asshole! 

She created ten more in an instant as the demons approached from behind her. Each one larger than the last, the swords all fell one after another on top of it and its incoming friends. The lesser creatures exploded as the swords crushed them, but, the Nightmare showed an impressive speed, moving out of the way of most. Only the last one caught it, slashing its right shoulder. Still, it didn't rip its arm off the way it had with its left, maybe because it had braced itself for the hit. 

How many of these can you dodge though, huh? 

Ash asked with a smirk as she created forty different blades and dropped them all at once. The demons who had been interrupting the fight had just about died, along with a few unfortunate soldiers who'd been caught in the crossfire. 

However, then, she noticed something. 

Level 90

MP: 50/900

Its mana... It all went down out of nowhere.  Ash thought as, suddenly, the demon moved faster than she could see. 

What!? 

It dodged one, then another, and eventually, all Ash saw were swords falling onto the battlefield, crushing corpses that had been spread out across the area, but never striking the Nightmare itself.

It dodged most of the forty swords, but a few of them found their mark. Still, none of them killed the creature. One pieced its back, stabbing through its torso. Another stabbed through its left thigh. But, none had the dramatic effect of the first. 

Ash finally understood what the mana reduction was. 

Is... Is it buffing itself somehow?  Ash wondered.  Is it using some spell to make itself stronger? Is that why its mana keeps going down? 

As Ash looked at it though, she noticed the sheer amount of blood pouring from its open wounds. 

I need to finish this thing off. 

Ash ran up and in her right hand, as her time was coming up, she created one golden spear. It hovered over her palm, floating in the air. It was giant, larger than the demon's own body. 

And with it, Ash launched it at the creature. Her attack ripped through the demon's gut.

Even then, it was still alive. 

Ash's Champion of Magia spell ran out then, the swords dissipating into the air, but she could taste victory. She was close. It was all she could think about. Just one more clean hit and Ash had this thing! 

So, she ran up, her claws out and ready to kill this thing. 

Level 90

MP: 1/900

In an instant, the creature leaped towards Ash. 

What?  Ash couldn't react in time. She hadn't expected this. The creature lunched at her, ignoring its wounds, and grabbed Ash by her waist with its massive right hand, raising her up into the air. 

"Wah!?" Ash exclaimed as the demon threw her across the street. 

Ash rolled to a stop, just a few meters away, and tried to stand up. 

The demon was already on top of her. It had its hand raised up, ready to slam it down on top of her. 

Ash couldn't react in time, but she didn't need to.

Kaori appeared, running between them. She used her shield and stopped the Nightmare's attack in its tracks. She was dropped to one knee under the force of its hit, but Kaori stayed strong. 

Ash was relieved when she saw her but was still concerned.

She noticed her stats had faded, as Kaori had taken them back, and without them, exhaustion fell over her. I... Shit, I'm so tired,  she thought as Kaori held the demon back. Without its sword, it was pushing down on Kaori with nothing but its raw strength. 

Ash looked up. Kaori was looking down at her with the corner of her eyes. 

"I..." Kaori muttered through gritted teeth. "I won't let you down!" 

As Kaori fought back, Ash thought about this. 

I used mine... But Kaori hasn't used hers... She's been hiding in that building for a while...

"... Use..." Ash coughed. "Use your..." 

Before she could finish her sentence though, the demon stopped pushing Kaori's shield and instead, grabbed her by the head. 

It raised Kaori up into the air. 

"KAORI!" Ash screamed. "USE YOUR ABILITY!" 

Then, Ash watched as a violet aura began to surge into Kaori from the demon.  What?  Kaori began to scream, as the aura siphoned into her from the demon's body. 

"KAORI!" Ash cried out and finally, Kaori's body flashed with white. But, the violet from the demon was still entering her. 

Find some strength, Ash, find some. She needs you,  Ash thought to herself as Kaori wouldn't stop screaming. Whatever was happening to her, it wasn't good. Ash stood up. She was still in her Demon Form, so her claws were still out. She walked up and moved over to the demon. 

Her eyes located one of the wounds that the swords she created had caused, and Ash pulled an arm back. With a grunt, she thrust her hand into the creature's body. 

It groaned, and Ash tried to locate its heart to rip it out. But, before Ash could do that, the creature dropped Kaori, and suddenly turned around. 

What? 

Then, desperately, it started running away. 

"H-Hey, get back here!" Ash yelled at it, but the demon seemed intent on escaping. Walking over its own allies, crushing anyone in its path, the Nightmare simply ran away. 

With how hurt it was... There's no way it makes it to wherever it's trying to go, right?  Ash thought.

Then, out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Kaori, laying on the ground next to her. 

"Heh, it was close, but we got it to run away, at least," Ash said as she crouched down, next to Kaori. "I think... I think we just head back to the palace at this point." Ash knelt down beside her and turned her face up. 

Her brows narrowed with confusion at what she saw. 

Kaori had two small horns growing out of her forehead.  What the...?  Her lips had turned black, and her hair was still blonde, but several shades whiter. Ash looked down and saw that one of her hands had grown claws. Ash's confusion escalated as Kaori's eyes slowly blinked open and Ash saw that one of them was violet. 

Then, Kaori growled and attacked her. 

Snarling like an animal, Kaori pinned Ash down to the stone and started swiping at her with her clawed hand, hissing and glaring at her. Ash couldn't even think. She was too stunned. 

Kaori nearly slashed off Ash's left eye before Ash finally did something. 

"K-Kaori, stop!" Ash yelled as she spun Kaori around and mounted her, pulling the blonde to the ground. She was still snarling. 

Every now and then, her body would flicker with white, but that flicker would be countered by a violet light. 

Kaori tried desperately to get Ash off of her so she could get back to slashing her, but Ash held her down. 

"... Kaori..." Ash muttered as the blonde continued to snarl at her from below like an animal. 

Then, as Ash realized what had happened, her eyes began to tear up. One drop fell on Kaori's cheeks, then another. 

Kaori...  Ash thought as Kaori tried to bite her wrists with a pair of fangs that hadn't been there before.  I... What do I...? She looked away. 

More tears fell from Ash's eyes before suddenly, Kaori stopped. 

...

"... Ash." 

Kaori spoke. Ash looked back down.

"W-What's happening to me?" Kaori asked with a trembling voice. 

Ash could barely breathe, let alone speak. 

"I-I'm scared... Ash... Please..." Kaori continued. "Help me." 

"I..." Ash tried to speak but she had no words to say. 

"I can feel something..." Kaori was crying now. "I... I don't know what... What's HAPPENING TO ME!?" Kaori screamed and her body flashed with intense violet, and white.

Both colors clashed, flickering back and forth, nearly blinding Ash, but the half-demon couldn't look away. 

It intensified to the point of burning her eyes before finally, it ceased. 

And Kaori's eyes closed, and she went limp under Ash's touch. 

"K-Kaori, Kaori!?" Ash yelled. The first thing she did was check her pulse. 

Kaori's heart was still beating. Ash pressed her hands against Kaori's chest. She was still breathing.. But, her eyes had closed and Kaori wasn't moving.