Casting my hesitation aside, Rio, Thelia, and I flew straight to Ferellis. There was no telling what we would encounter, but one sure thing I knew— my friends were there.

Both of us were flying at a much higher elevation so as to avoid demons along the way that might slow us down. All manner of creatures dotted the landscape, carving a barren swath across wherever they set foot. Rio stared at them like a child whose face was pressed up to the window of a butcher shop.

"Feeling peckish yet?" I asked my familiar.

"Myaaauu!" He nodded. The bottomless pit of a glutton could only become stronger. Whatever demon was waiting for us in Ferellis, I only hoped we could match it with our combined might after rejoining the others.

Thelia came to a full stop and clutched her new lasso tightly. Her eyes were fixed toward the clouds.

"Something approaches from above," she said.

"Raaa!"

"Raa, raaahh!"

The familiar screech of harpies made my ears twitch. Red, Green, and Blue nosedived from the clouds, playfully encircling us as if we were in a game of hide and seek, and I had been found. Blue tackled me in mid-air and rubbed our cheeks together, all the while cooing affectionately.

"What are you three doing here? You should be back home instead," I scolded them.

Red and Green looked at each other, then back at me. They went into an all-fours position and used their fingers to pull their lips back. I quickly gathered that it was in a poor imitation of Zeke.

"Ah. You miss your dragon friend, huh? But this isn't your fight. It'll be dangerous where we're going." As I stroked the vibrant plumes of Blue's hair, her brows furrowed to a defiant expression.

"It doesn't seem as though we can shake them off either. I often find them chasing me down in flight. Speedy little creatures." Thelia, amused by their sudden appearance, scratched Red under the chin and promptly regretted it when the harpy took it as a flirtatious advance. "Hey— Stop! I'm not trying to have sex with you!"

"At any rate, our numbers swelled to six. Once we find Zeke, Mira, and Belle, including their familiars, we'll be a sizable force," I said.

We arrived at the outskirts of Ferellis well into the evening and were shocked to find much of the city in shambles. Wagons along the road had been destroyed and left in disrepair,  roofs of many homes had been caved in and on fire, and the ashen scent was a sign that a battle had recently taken place.

Lesser demons like bone hounds and imps patrolled the streets instead of human guards, knocking on doors and breaking windows. The rowdier demons broke in with force, and what followed were the frightened screams of women that then soon became mindbroken moans of pleasure.

However, no matter which way I looked, the powerful demon I had sensed earlier was nowhere to be seen.

"Any thoughts?" I asked Thelia.

"No doubt in my mind that it was a greater demon you sensed. Why it is no longer here, I haven't a clue," she answered.

"Maybe you can fill in the missing details. Why is it that defeating a greater demon inhibits the entry of more demons into this world?" I pressed further, recalling how the cerberus' defeat heralded the end of additional demonic reinforcements.

The erinyes pointed to the lesser demons below. A wingless limp at the edge of a fountain, face-fucking a peasant woman while a flesh golem screws her from behind.

"We cannot enter from one realm to another without magic in play. I imagine it is similar to your witchcrafted towers, powered by giant magic crystals. Us demons might ourselves be a source of energy that pries open the veil between this and the next. If enough of us fall, then the veil recovers and a much stronger force must arrive to hold it open," she explained.

"That being a greater demon?" I looked to her for confirmation and received a nod in response.

In this town of thousands, there were far too many demons to flush out. We didn't have any army here either like in Lotherain. I could spend days killing demons, but their numbers would return just as quickly.

My attention had been drawn to a group of imps trying to break into a house when the door exploded into shrapnel in their faces. Two witches emerged from the building. One of them fired a massive fireball into the sky which illuminated the entire city. There was only one person I knew who could conjure something as enormous as that.

"It's them!" I shouted with glee.

A raven made a beeline to me and landed on my shoulder. Talos' eyes were glowing. Mira was currently hijacking his vision.

"I'm relieved to see you're okay," I whispered.

In response to my words, the raven rubbed his beak to my cheek. He pointed a wing to the other end of the city and cawed. A horde of demons, alerted by the sight of magic, were on their way to find the source and the spellcaster. They might have been in search of Mira and Belle for days, but now that the tables have turned, my companions finally revealed themselves to lure in the enemy.

"We're going in. Don't wander too far from the group, and Rio— go wild," I ordered.

The six of us intercepted the horde of hundreds. The elixirs I fed to the harpies allowed them to make quick work of demons with their talons and claws. Thelia's status in the hierarchy allowed her to enslave the few demons too weak to resist to serve under her. Meanwhile, Rio tore through dozens, ripping off limbs and heads, swallowing smaller demons whole and chewing to bits the larger ones.

As soon as I landed in a plaza, a pack of bone hounds singled me out and surrounded me on all sides. Their snarls came out as chattering jaws and fangs, ready to draw blood.

"Hmph. I don't need to empower myself with Vessyra's magic," I taunted.

All of them charged in at once, but a single tap of my staff to the ground caused icicles to emerge and impale my aggressors. Giant roots sprung up from beneath my feet to drag the hounds and icicles into the earth.

That second spell was not my magic.

"Well, if it isn't my knight in shining armor." Mira embraced me with a tight squeeze and a kiss that lasted too long for Belle's comfort.

"Ahem! We have a battle going on. You can save all the affection for later," she said.

Luna, Talos, and Rio made circles around each other like children in a schoolyard, then took off into the sky to fight together.

"You're just jealous that knightess isn't here to sweep you off your feet," Mira mocked and released her hold on me.

"I-I wasn't expecting her to come save me at all. She's safer in Lotherain. Besides, we would be home by now if it wasn't for your screw up!" Belle fired back.

The witch of wrath and witch of envy bashed heads, eyes locked and ready to fight each other than the demons all around us. An imp carrying a spear foolishly tried to interrupt their squabble and was incinerated without so much as a glance in his direction.

"I had that greater demon in my sights. We would have slaughtered it if you didn't lose your composure." Mira growled.

"You were going to get yourself and your kid killed if I didn't jump in. A little thanks would go a long way, you witch of bad plans!" Belle complained, jabbing Mira in the chest.

"I see you two have gotten along swimmingly. At what point will you two just kiss and make up?" I glared at both of them, but was particularly angry at Mira after hearing what Belle had to say.

"Not with this bitch!" Both of them said at once.

"If you two are done clawing at each other's throats, someone mind telling me where Zeke is?" I asked.

"The greater demon we fought earlier smacked into the hills. Haven't seen Zeke since," Mira answered.

"It smacked a dragon…?"

Demons were beginning to spawn at random locations, forcing even the bickering witches to turn their fury away from each other. Every single creature we killed, two took its place. It was like the other realm was working overtime to send reinforcements.

"Allow us to help!"

As we were getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of demons, the denizens of Ferellis took up arms and to make their push. Men and women alike poured out of their houses, grabbing any weapon they could, be it pitchforks or discarded weapons from dead demons.

One man, whose chiseled demeanor and unkempt beard from going weeks without shaving, demonstrated martial prowess in cutting down a demon on his own. He led the mob through the thick of the fight to us.

"Princess Lisette would not stand to let demons continue to ransack her lands," he said.

"Your princess is alive? Where is she?" I asked.

The man almost thought against telling us, but considered the alternative option. "We have her safely guarded underneath a cellar, away from the fighting. I am Sir Laran Mowbry, captain of an army long dead, but please use me as you see fit."

Their timely arrival meant I no longer needed to empower myself with Vessyra's vestments. As much as I didn't want to pit civilians into battle against bloodthirsty and horny demons, our choices were unfortunately limited.

"Demon incoming!" Laran exclaimed.

Thelia descended next to me and knelt, startling the human mob who saw her as an enemy rather than an ally. I put a hand up to ease their shock.

"It's alright. She fights for us!" I shouted.

"I can feel it," Thelia began, and as though on cue the harpy sisters cocked their heads into the sky and screeched. "The veil is weakening. Something is beginning to emerge from the northeastern edge of the city."

Mira put a hand on the former captain's shoulder. "Your help is appreciated, but none of you will be a match for what is to come. Evacuate yourselves, along with the princess, from the city and slay as many demons as you can on the way out."

"Rio, Thelia. You two and the harpies escort them out safely from the southwestern side of the city. We'll try to lure whatever greater demon enters this world away from Ferellis." They were hesitant to leave but followed my orders nonetheless. A cerberus nearly caused untold destruction to Lotherain, I couldn't imagine what a demon stronger than that might do here. As long as people and Princess Lisette were as far away from the greater demon, the easier it would be for us to do battle.

With our plans set in motion, Mira, Belle, and I took to the skies, felling demons left and right, protecting who we can, and urging the defenseless to go the other way.

A massive font of energy pulsed within my chest.

Where there was nothing but buildings and the blanket of night before us one moment, there was an impossibly large tree in the next just beyond the city limits. It must be as large as the great tree that served as the priestesses' home in Vessyra.

However, it was no normal tree. It moved on two large trunks. Branches amalgamated to form gnarled arms. There were no leaves upon its crown, but burning branches that shed cinders with each creaking step.

"Now you see why the mob's help was unwarranted." Mira chuckled.

"That's what you guys were fighting?" I asked in terror as the gargantuan, shambling monstrosity took a step forward and destroyed an entire district of Ferellis.

"Don't suppose you can fuck that thing to death?" Belle teased.