I pushed aside all thoughts of my bizarre encounter with my author as I stepped through the other side of the portal. True to her word, I came through at the exact same time as Gehenna and Hana as if we had all used the same portal. As I looked at the area where we had arrived, I saw a nearby half-collapsed building that appeared to be a series of colossal interconnected warehouses. I quickly spread my wings, and turned to see Hana do the same, while Gehenna’s wings of fire sprouted from her back. I nodded to both of them and we all jetted forward.

It didn’t take us long to arrive at the entrance to the large building, but instead of landing, the three of us swooped lower and entered through the large double doors in the front. We flew rapidly above massive metal shelves filled with the remains of unidentifiable broken-down machinery until we heard the sounds of fighting up ahead. After taking a sharp right, we found ourselves in a wide open area four times the size of a football stadium, which seemed mostly free of the shelving that seemed to fill the other rooms. Crouched behind the ruined and currently smoking remains of what appeared to be an enormous conveyer belt, Ghost and Ash were fighting twenty or so Angelspawn of various classes. Blood covered the right half of Ash’s face, while Ghost’s robes were torn and bloody in several spots. Ahead of the others and to the left I saw Aeryn and Judas, along with six dog-sized spiders. In front of them in a semi-circle was close to fifty Angelspawn, pushing closer and closer with weapons and spells at the ready.

“Hana, you and I will take the Angelspawn on the left. Gehenna, you take the ones in front of Ghost and Ash.”

“Allexus, would you mind if I attacked the ones currently engaging Ghost and Ash? I am eager to try out this form and some of the new enchantments I’ve recently developed.”

“If you think you can handle it, go for it. But if you need help, don’t hesitate to call for it… clear?”

“Clear.”

Hana broke off from our small group and I watched as she bowled into a trio of Angelspawn that were standing close together. Huge double bladed axes appeared in each of her hands, and she let out a roar as she cleaved two Angelspawn in half. The last thing I saw before we flew past was Hana throwing the pair of axes in a horizontal arc, swiftly decapitating five more enemies before the weapons reappeared in her hands. I looked over at Gehenna and saw a huge grin on her face, reminiscent of the one I saw in the arena before I fought Varanix. 

“Just remember to save some for me, Gehenna… can’t let you have all the fun.”

“No promises, my love! Killing those who harm my friends is almost as pleasurable as making love to you!”

I gave her a strange look and she smiled at me mirthfully.

“OK… it’s not even close… but I am always down for a good bloodletting.”

With that, she shot forward as a bubble of black fire surrounded her body. I watched as she flew above the group of Angelspawn and then plummeted downwards like a flaming meteor. As she struck the ground, she landed in what could only be described as “the superhero landing.” Nearly a dozen Angelspawn were instantly incinerated by the blast of fiery energy that exploded from her body, and just as the rest were turning to face the new threat, I figured it was time to make a flashy entrance of my own.

When I was about a hundred feet away, I stopped in midair and began charging up my [Blastburn] spell. I let the energy build more and more until it felt like it was about to explode in my hand. I flew so that I was above the group and looked down at the enemies below me. Using my free hand to stabilize the one channeling the massively overcharged spell, I aimed downwards and let the power flow out of me. A beam so hot that it instantly burned away the flesh on my hand shot forward and widened out until it became a column of coruscating purple energy roughly 8 feet in diameter. Arcane power continued to pour out of my mostly skeletonized hand, and I watched as over a dozen of the Angelspawn were instantly atomized as the giant beam of death blasted the ground around them. Using a great deal of strength, I forced my arm to move so that the beam’s devastating path of destruction would obliterate more and more enemies.

As my MP dropped down to roughly 50%, the spell’s power began to wane and the beam became smaller and smaller, until it stopped all at once. I flapped my wings hard to descend to the ground slowly, and landed next to the brightly glowing crater I had made in the stone floor of the building. Seeing me land, Gehenna dropped the charred corpse of an Angelspawn and began walking towards me. I looked down at the ruined mess of my right arm and used my left to cast [Corruption’s Caress] a few times, hissing in pain as my muscles and tendons began to quickly regrow. I was about to make a snarky comment to the blonde demon until I saw the look of anger written on her face. At first, I thought the anger was directed at the enemies we had just killed, until I saw her eyes focusing on my destroyed hand. When she was within arm’s reach, she glared at me and looked like she was about to strike me with one of her balled fists. Instead, she stuck her finger in my face and spoke in a tone that showed just how upset she was.

“What in every hell are you thinking, Allie? Not only was that a complete waste of MP, but the damage you inflicted upon yourself could easily be exploited if more enemies were around. I know you have a penchant for reckless over-the-top attacks, but you can’t be so casual about inflicting such a grievous injury on yourself.”

As she stepped closer to me, I thought for sure she was going to hit me, but instead she merely pulled me tightly against her into a crushing hug.

“You have to be careful, my love. People are counting on you to lead them and be an example they can aspire to. They need you to be at your best at all times…  I need you to be at your best.”

Gehenna let out a long sigh and looked around at the devastation I had caused before turning back to me and smirking.

“Don’t take this as acceptance of what you did… but… I will admit… that was incredibly awesome. You certainly made my own dramatic entrance seem pathetic in comparison.”

Before I could reply, I heard the sounds of my other clan members moving towards us. Gehenna released me and we both turned to face everyone. Aeryn was supporting the majority of Judas’s weight as the pair stepped forward. I saw that my demon retainer’s leg currently ended in a bloody stump, and I instantly shot to my knees and began to heal him. I was halfway through casting the spell when I saw Ghost kneel down next to me.

“I got this Allie. There’s a lot more Angelspawn up ahead. Probably close to 200, if not more… Four huge demons ran in as we were falling back to this room.”

“Gehenna’s generals. They’ll make short work of those Angelspawn… But I’ll go with Gehenna and Hana just in case.”

He nodded at me and I stood up. Judas gave me a grateful nod, but the exhaustion on his face showed he was moments away from collapsing. Aeryn didn’t look like he was faring any better. A long gash ran down from his brow and ended just below his collar bone. A line of greenish black blood seeped from the freshly healed wound, and Aeryn gave me a weary smile.

“You arrived just in time, Allie. I’m assuming Tesrif and the demon soldiers died and respawned then?”

“Only Tesrif. Apparently only those with a Bond of Corruption are able to respawn. Not to seem morbid, but I’m glad one of you respawned… We would have no idea what happened had she not returned to the castle.”

“We tried sending messages for help, but it seems something is blocking us from doing so.”

I turned back to Gehenna, who’s brow was furrowed.

“Is there some type of magic that can prevent communications like that?”

She let out a sigh and gave a small shrug.

“If there is, I have never heard of such a thing. That isn’t a good sign, Allie.”

I looked back at my battered clan members and let out a long sigh as I considered my options. After a moment, I formulated a half-decent plan and turned back to Gehenna.

“Gehenna, I need you to open a portal so that Aeryn, Ash, Judas, and Ghost can return to the castle. Then, you, Hana, and I will go meet up with your generals to get a better idea of what’s going on. Once the rest of you are healed up and restored, wait for the others to get online and then come find us if you haven’t heard from us in the next hour or so.”

Everyone nodded, and I watched as Gehenna waved her hand to summon a portal. After a few seconds of nothing happening, her eyebrows went up as she tried again and again. Although it was faint, I could hear the sounds of her breathing increase ever so slightly as she started to worry. Her eyes flicked to mine and I could see concern painted on her face.

“Allie… I have never encountered magic strong enough to be able to block me from creating a portal. We need to-”

Her voice cut off as everyone with enhanced demon hearing was able to make out the sounds of dozens of armored boots scraping on the stone floor. Ash and Ghost looked momentarily confused until the sounds of the approaching enemies became loud enough for them to hear. Gehenna took a step towards me and spoke in a much quieter voice.

“We need to retreat, Allie. There is more at play than just a random encounter with some Angelspawn.”

No sooner had the words come from her mouth when the sound of heavy boots approaching from the opposite side filled the air. The enemy was now closing in on us from both sides, and we were standing in the middle of a giant open area with hardly any cover to speak of. I wracked my brain for a few seconds, running through my quickly dwindling list of options.

“I need everyone except Gehenna to find as much cover as they can behind that stack of machinery over there. Ghost, use the rest of your MP to heal Aeryn as much as you can. Hana, I want you to do your best to keep the enemies away from the others while Gehenna and I try to draw everyone’s attention. Don’t attack anyone outside of having to defend yourself or the others, OK?”

Hana gave me a grim look before nodding slowly. After a second, she cocked her head to the side and gave me a genuine smile.

“Allexus… since I am not going to be doing much fighting, do you mind if I try one of the new enchantment spells I’ve been working on?”

I nodded to her and she stepped closer to me.

“I’m going to cast it on you and Gehenna. It’s going to sort of… link you to each other. The only effect I know for sure is that you will be able to know what the other is going to do a second before you do it, but there may be other effects as well. This will be a sort of... field test. I call it [Synergized Efficiency].”

As she moved very close to me, she began to stare intently and gave me a slight frown.

“I need to know what level you both are so I can take into account the power difference between you two.”

I started to question her until I remembered that due to my much higher level, most people couldn’t see anything besides a few question marks.

“I’m level 213.”

Hana nodded and turned towards Gehenna, who quickly opened her character menu and then closed it again.

“Sorry, I don’t generally keep track… I’m level 666.”

I could help but let out a laugh at hearing her level. The others let out quiet chuckles as well, while Hana merely nodded and motioned for Gehenna and me to stand side by side. The blonde demoness spoke quietly as Hana started casting her spell.

“Is there something amusing about my level?”

“Do you know the significance of the number 666?”

“I do not.”

“In my world, that number is used to represent the devil. Or… the total incarnation of all evil. So… it’s sort of fitting that the Empress of all demons is level 666.”

“Hmmm. It does sound fitting. I like the sound of ‘total incarnation of all evil.’ Should I add that to my list of titles?”

I snorted and Hana scowled at me briefly as she finished channeling and placed a hand on Gehenna’s and my chest. A sudden disorientating wave filled my vision for a few seconds, and I had to close my eyes briefly until it cleared. In that moment, I instantly knew that Gehenna was going to turn to look at the sounds of the enemies that were just now coming around the corner, and she instantly knew that I was going to turn to look as well.

We both turned in unison, knowing what the other was going to do before we did it. I knew that we had seconds to spare before the enemy was upon us, so I looked up to ensure the others had made it to cover while Gehenna had already started casting her buff spells on both of us. As I saw Hana running over to where the others were crouched, I began to cast my own enchantment spell on myself and then on Gehenna.

*Conserve your MP for as long as you can, from the sounds of it, this will be a protracted fight.*

I heard Gehenna’s voice in my mind before I heard her speak the words aloud. In that moment, we both realized that we no longer needed to actually speak to know what the other was thinking.

*Stay close, Allie. We will fight as one.*

*I won’t leave your side for a moment, my love.*

I drew my swords and watched as a gleaming black halberd appeared in Gehenna’s hands. As the enemy drew closer and closer, we both instantly formulated a plan, and without a second’s hesitation we sprung into action. Using my newfound movement ability to move across the battlefield in the blink of an eye, I found myself standing next to a large male angel who was around 7 or 8 feet tall holding a massive bow. He shouted in surprise at my sudden appearance, and I used his momentary distraction to remove his head from his shoulders. I knew that Gehenna was flying at top speed towards the closest mage, so I turned in that direction, planted my feet as I coiled all my muscles, and then moved at a breakneck speed towards the next closest target. I heard the sound of Gehenna slamming feet first into a female caster as I buried my sword up to the hilt in the chest of a male archer with a shaved head. I kicked out with my foot as I yanked my weapon free, and then ducked to avoid a blast of lightning from a mage behind me. Gehenna had seen the Angel mage preparing to cast the spell at my back, which meant that I instantly knew the second she did. I stood up just as Gehenna’s halberd soared through the air, a fraction of an inch away from my face. I had already known where she had planned to throw the weapon, but I still had to avoid flinching at the proximity of it.

Gehenna mentally apologized and I forgave less than a second later as I ran towards the next closest ranged enemy. I sheathed the sword in my right hand and summoned a spear that I quickly tossed at Gehenna. She caught it in mid-flight and redirected it quickly towards a mage who was channeling some sort of wind spell. The point of the spear blasted out of the back of her skull, and the weapon disappeared after a few seconds. I released the [Corrupting Fire] spell I had been channeling and hurled the mote of fire at a group of four archers. A fiery explosion completely engulfed them, and I moved to find my next kill. 

*Ranged fighters have backed off. Melee fighters closing in from all sides. You ready, Allie?*

*Do you even need to ask?*

*No, but I can tell how much you like hearing me say your name.*

*Seriously, flirting with me in the middle of battle? You are incorrigible.*

*I make no apologies. I am just as aroused by battle as I am your presence. Fighting next to you is nearly as satisfactory as feeling your body against mine. Were we not amidst hundreds of enemies, I would let you take me here and now.*

*From anyone else that declaration would be a major red flag… but coming from you, Gehenna… That’s hot as fuck.*

I moved my head to the side to avoid a javelin and saw an angel preparing to throw a handaxe at Gehenna from behind her. As the weapon hurtled towards her head, she turned to the side and let it pass harmlessly in front of her face. As she turned to deal with the one who had thrown the axe, I focused on my speed again, and used whatever unnamed ability I had to instantly close the distance between me and my blonde demon wife. I drew my sword and positioned myself so that I was now back-to-back with Gehenna. I dismissed the set of medium armor I had been wearing and summoned the heaviest set I could manage. As I looked at the hundreds of enemies circling around us, I knew I was going to need every bit of defense I could manage.