Chapter 198 - Vol. 3 - 71

Eliza

"... Why did I do that?" The Lord asked herself as she sat down in her chamber's bed, having just walked out of the showers she and Ash had been in earlier. 

Regret was starting to hit her, of course, as what she'd done wasn't befitting a Lord at all. At the same time, however, the mere thought of what she'd been feeling earlier made her skin heat up. 

The taste of the half-demon's tongue was still fresh in her mouth. Her body could still remember her touch as it had happened so recently. And of course, her entire lower body was still aflame with the remnants of an intense orgasm still coursing through her. 

Before, it had been a simple attraction, but now, she couldn't even picture Ash's face without her hand beginning to roam. Something inside of her had fundamentally changed thanks to this. 

A knock on her door interrupted these thoughts, though. 

"Milady," a man's voice called. She recognized him as one of her commanding officers. "May I have a moment?" 

"Of course," she replied from inside. "It's not locked. Come in." She welcomed the distraction. 

A man dressed in black armor entered and he bowed in front of her, as Eliza remained on her bed. 

"I had wanted to deliver to you a report of our army's performance," he stated. 

"Oh? Anything of note?" 

"Well, yes... About our," he coughed, "special forces if you will." 

Right,  Eliza thought.  She hadn't heard too much about the Lust demons she'd "employed". She had half-assumed they'd simply perished in their entirety. Well, aside from the ones she still had in the dungeons. 

"What about them?" 

"Well," he said, "there's a lot to say. Firstly, although most of them died, the few who didn't vastly outperformed our soldiers. One Lust demon recorded a total of 17 kills in one night. Another recorded 10." 

"Seems good," Eliza responded. "I am glad the experiment was..." 

"With all due respect," he said, "I wasn't completely finished, milady. See... Most of them also registered some of our own forces as threats and killed Onyx soldiers. It is because of this that I must ask that the 'program' be terminated. I believe these demons are too dangerous to continue being used in this manner." 

"..." Eliza looked away. "The battle rages on. Maybe we should have this discussion once the fighting ends." 

"I believe that time may come closer than we think, milady. The half-demon Savior made sure of that." 

"Really?" 

"Yes, I believe she'll talk about it in the meeting later. But, if you wish, we can save this discussion for later. I understand." 

"Very well," Eliza nodded. "Thank you for your report." 

---

Ash

"What the fuck is wrong with me?" 

As soon as Ash pushed her Lust Demon Form away with the aid of her two trusty fingers, that shame she knew would arrive crashed down onto her like a giant boulder. Currently, she was sitting in her bedroom, sitting next to Kaori's sleeping body with her head in her hands. 

"Why did I do that? Why did I... Ugh," she groaned as shivers went up her spine at the thought of Eliza's tongue in her mouth, as it had been just a couple of dozen minutes ago. 

Just...  She sighed.  Just move on. Just ignore it, and move on. The important thing is that you took down another portal. Now, you just need to think about how you're gonna take down the next one. 

As she sat on the edge of the bed, she glanced back at Kaori and wondered if the blonde could see her right now, in what she considered to be... not one of her finest moments. 

"Well... At least we'll have a lot to talk about when you get back," she said, standing up. "Sleep well." 

So, putting on a fresh change of clothes that consisted of a long-sleeved black shirt and brown leggings, she walked out into the palace's halls. Although she'd cured the poison from earlier, she felt the hint of a headache starting up. Taking a deep breath though, she forced herself to focus. 

At least, for long enough to get through the next part of her day. 

---

A Few Minutes Later

Keiko, Eliza, a few commanding officers, a general, and Ash were all sitting around a grey table, in that same meeting room that they'd used a few times by now. The only difference, of course, was that Kaori wasn't here. 

Currently, Ash was reporting what had happened to them. 

"So, yeah," Ash sighed as she kept her right elbow on the table and her hand under her chin, "we went in, a few soldiers got killed, nothing we could do about it, and we took the portal down." 

"Do you believe they have enough forces to attack again tonight?" An officer asked. 

"I don't know, I mean, I'd say they don't, but Niven could always pull a few more demons out of his ass so..." She shrugged. 

There weren't as many demons as I thought there'd be when we went in. So, yeah, maybe this fight's been taking a toll on him.

"Well," the general cleared his throat. "Our Savior here made sure we wouldn't have to worry about that. Go ahead, continue your report." 

At that, Ash raised her brow. 

"Uh, no, dude, I'm done," Ash replied. "That's all I have to say." 

"Ah, going the humble route then, I see. I'll announce it then," the general said, nodding. "Tonight, the Savior didn't just close one portal, she closed the second as well."

Ash blinked.  What? 

"The demons have no other nearby portals, so, congratulations, everyone. The fight is over." 

Wait, wait, hold on, what? 

"What do you mean the portal got closed?" Ash asked. 

"You need not continue to be modest, we should show recognition for this accomplishment. Good work, Savior." 

But... I didn't do that. 

"I-Is that so?" Eliza asked. She seemed just as surprised as Ash herself was. "You... You clearly did a better job than I had thought you did."

As looks of praise began to surround her, even from Keiko, who was looking at her proudly from the side, Ash sighed. 

"Sure, sure, I did it. Yay me." 

With that revelation though, it meant that the war preparation could officially conclude, and that, at least, for now, Onyx had been saved. It took a few more skirmishes to clean up the leftover demons, but before the next day even arrived, that job was done, as the demons no longer had Niven's Blessing on them. 

The announcement for the citizens of Onyx came just a while later, with the same general that had informed Ash earlier standing in between two groups of clumped-up civilians, all eagerly waiting to hear what he had to say. As for Ash, she stood behind him with Eliza by her side. 

"Proud citizens of Onyx, these past weeks have been tough, but as resilient as we are, we have triumphed..." He started. 

As Ash stood with her arms crossed, she could just barely see her group watching from ahead.  So, now what?  Ash wondered. With this battle done, it meant that she was now free to continue her training. Which, of course, also meant she could keep accumulating power to help Kaori in the near future. 

"Savior," Eliza said lowly, as the man kept going, "I cannot thank you enough for what you've done for us." 

"I can definitely think of a few ways," Ash muttered in response. "You never gave me that armor upgrade, for one." 

"Yes, and you will receive all of that and more," Eliza made clear. "I simply wished to let you know how much I appreciated your efforts." 

... Ash couldn't help herself. Shame aside, Eliza made it too easy. 

She smirked and said:

"You already let me know a little while ago." 

"... I see," Eliza replied and the two went silent. 

"However," the man continued as Ash focused back on him, "it was not I nor any of my soldiers who are to be praised for this outcome. One person's efforts far surpassed any contributions we could make. Therefore, I believe it may be best for our Savior to speak." 

And with that, he turned towards her and all eyes fell on Ash. From the nobles to the homeless men and women who'd been taken in by the Grey Chamber, each one looked at her with wonder and awe. 

"Do I have to?" Ash muttered. 

"No, but I'm sure they would appreciate hearing from you. A speech here would likely cement your position as one of Onyx's heroes for centuries to come." Eliza told her. 

Yeah? Well... I can think of something. 

Ash walked up. 

Moving past the man who'd been speaking, she took a deep breath. 

"I'll be leaving soon. I really need money. If you want to thank me, pay me. That is all." 

...

That was all she said. 

---

Eliza

With that "speech" out of the way, the citizens were allowed to return to their homes. Of course, those whose homes were destroyed would need to wait until they were rebuilt, but already, the Grey Chamber was far emptier than it had been just a day ago. It felt surreal. 

There was a lot of work Eliza would need to do now, but before that, she had to sort one last thing out. Now, she had multiple cells filled with Lust demons, who all would need to be dealt with somehow. 

Currently, she was in the dungeon, pacing through it, looking at each of the creatures and wondering what she'd do. She couldn't release them into the wilderness, of course. They'd simply attack innocents on the roads. She couldn't keep them either though, as now criminals would soon take these cells back. 

However, she didn't want to get rid of absolutely  all  of them. She could spare one or two. 

So, she made a mental note of writing an order to have most of them executed, but she stopped in front of the cell of one particular Lust demon. The one she'd had a tryst with earlier. 

Here, she stood for a moment, and Ash came to her mind. 

She'd probably never experience her touch again, as she said it herself, she'd soon leave. With that thought in her mind, Eliza made sure that the door leading to the dungeon had been locked and she opened the Lust demon's cell. 

The monster looked up at her and grinned, and Eliza took a deep breath. 

"... I... I'll only do this every now and then. A woman has her needs, after all," She muttered as she walked up to it. The Lust demon watched her walk towards it.. It extended a hand towards her and Eliza hated how her skin tingled as soon as she felt it.