We made our way towards the ruined castle where our bounty, Scalander was holed up. We made our way past the crumbled entrance and I halted the group. Right now, we consisted of a level 24, a level 13, two level 12’s, a level 11, and Aeryn at level 10. Jade had summoned 4 skeletons, and Aeryn had 5 demon warriors and 1 dark priestess.

“Let’s go over my battle plan. My army will basically be the wall between the enemies and us. Aeryn and Jade will have their army just behind them. Bray and Scythe will watch behind us, while Aeryn and myself will watch our fronts and command our armies as needed. Jade and Emelia will cast spells accordingly, but only if the need calls for it. Most of these enemies won’t be a challenge for me. My master may be a brutal raping piece of shit, but he did give me some amazing equipment that has made my stats far higher than they normally would be. If we stick together, we can do this… Alright guys… let’s do this!”

We rushed forward, and a small group of yellow skinned demons shouted and charged ahead. Six of my Demon warriors moved to intercept them, and they acted as one, each drawing their blades and cutting down the unarmored demons as they ran forward. We moved slowly through the courtyard and I kept a careful eye on the high rises above us.

“There!”

With my night vision, I could clearly see the entire area, and pointed to a demon with a large crossbow taking aim at our group. My mages turned, and blasted him with spikes of ice, and his body slumped and fell. His weapon lay on the ground next to where he had been before, and I halted the group for a moment. I spread my wings, and quickly flew over to the fallen weapon. It was in good condition and would probably sell for a good bit of coin. I flew back and tossed it to Bray, who I had been told was our clan’s quartermaster. I realized that flying was effortless, and I quite enjoyed it. I would definitely have to use my wings more often after this. I was about to say something when two more demons with crossbows popped up from their hiding place.

“There!”

My mages took one down quickly, while the other fired a shot at Jade. I moved quickly, but I didn’t think I’d make it in time. Forgetting about my demonic reflexes, I leapt a much greater distance than I realized I could and moved my shield to deflect the bolt. It made a loud CLANG against the metal, and I barely felt the impact. My MP shot up to 70%, so I could only imagine what it would have done to the level 12 standing behind me.

“Thanks, Allexus.”

I nodded to her and sent one of my warriors to retrieve the crossbows. We made our way forward but didn’t encounter any more enemies. Once we made it past the courtyard, we entered a large hall filled with crumbled columns and the remains of what was most likely banquet tables. I heard the scraping of armor against stone, and I held up a gauntleted fist to stop the group. We turned as one as a raspy voice started shouting to us from our left.

“We have you surrounded! Throw down your weapons and we’ll kill you quickly! Otherwise we’ll make each of you suffer a slow agonizing torture before we allow you to die.”

I snorted a laugh as Bray shouted back at them.

“Counter-offer; you throw down your weapons and then you can suck my dick before you die. How’s that sound you slimy yellow bastard?!

“RAWR! KILL THEM!”

I heard the TWANG of crossbow bolts being loosed, and I shouted to my group.

“DOWN! NOW!”

Bray, Scythe, and Aeryn dropped to the ground, but Jade and Emelia stood side by side casting a spell. A wall of bone and ice surrounded us, and shards of it flew off as the bolts impacted against the shield. I nodded to my mages, and they reinforced the barrier with more ice. Even through the barrier I could hear the sound of more crossbow bolts being fired, and I ordered my demons to surround our group and form a shield wall.

“We can’t hold out like this forever, Allexus. Jade and I are almost out of MP, and even with your mages our wall won’t hold up against many more volleys like that.”

I nodded and closed my eyes. There was no way to get my army in range before they were mowed down by crossbow bolts. Moving them away from us to attack would also leave my low-level party vulnerable to attack. Suddenly an idea occurred to me.

“Jade, can you cast that bone spell on me? Basically… give me an extra layer of armor made of bone?”

“Hmmm… I’ve never done that before… but I don’t see why not? Em could also reinforce it with Ice to make it even stronger.”

I nodded, and the two mages moved to me and started casting the spell. White bones and ice surrounded me before forming a layer over my body. Emelia placed her hand on my arm and looked at me with concern.

“What are you going to do, Allexus, fight them all by yourself? That’s suicide…”

I reached over and held her chin in my gauntleted hand. I kissed her on the lips, and then moved out from underneath the shield wall. I spread my wings, ignited my sword in [Demonfire], and mentally prepared myself.

“On the count of 3, drop the barrier.

“One

“Two

“Three!”

The barrier dropped and I burst into the air. Crossbow bolts rained onto my warriors’ shields, and I hurled myself onto the closest enemy. As I plummeted towards him, he let out a shriek and attempted to flee. My legs hit the demon in the back and I landed atop him with a loud crunching sound. I cut down his companions with my flaming sword and deflected several bolts with my shield as others opened fire on me. My MP jumped up quite a bit, and I flew towards the next group of enemies. I made short work of all but one, and right as I was about to lop his head off with my blade, I cast a spell instead. Despite the level difference between us, my [Charm Enemy] spell went off my wisdom stat. It apparently added bonuses if the target was scared for his life as well, and the shrieking demon stopped and stood calmly.

“What can I do for you, pretty lady?”

I pointed to the group of demons still raining lethal crossbow bolts on my friends.

“Kill as many of them as you can. Try to avoid getting hit as long as you can but take as many of them out as you can.”

He nodded and picked up his crossbow. I cast [Demonfire] and touched his weapon.

“That should help.”

“Oooo! Thank you, pretty lady! Can I have a kiss before you go?”

I scoffed through my nose in irritation but figured he may fight harder if I obliged him, so I bent down and kissed his scaly yellow forehead. His cheeks turned slightly pink, and he ran towards his former allies to attack them. I watched as he shot down 3 of them quickly before they saw him as a threat and returned fire. As another flaming bolt tore through one of the demons attacking my group, they stopped firing on the shield wall, and started firing back at him. I felt bad for the little guy, so I flew towards the group with my shield forward. Several bolts impacted against my shield, but a few managed to strike the bone and ice armor. The makeshift armor managed to soften the blow enough to allow my own plate armor to completely stop the attack. I took no damage, but my MP did shoot up. I swung my blade and cleaved two of the yellow demons in half. I bashed a third with my shield and recoiled slightly as two of them swung swords and hit me in the back. The icy bone armor shattered, and I felt the blows through the thick metal. My HP dropped, but I smiled as my circlet began to glow. Two lances of fire engulfed my attackers and they screamed in agony as they were burned alive. The final member of the group dropped his crossbow and fell to his knees. He clung to my leg and looked up at me with pleading eyes.

“Please, scary lady… don’t kill me. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll even join your side… just… don’t kill me.”

I nodded to him and removed my gauntlet. I touched his scaly head, and a black spot remained where my hand had been. It spread over his body and his skin changed to the same sooty black color. As small wings sprouted from his back, he looked down at his body at first in confusion, then with happiness as he smiled up at me.

“Does this mean you’re my new boss, lady? My old boss was mean and terrible, and he beat us a lot for no reason. You are really pretty… Did I already tell you that?”

“Go gather up all the crossbows, but make sure to keep yourself safe. I’m going to send you a friend in a moment to help you.”

He hugged my leg and scampered off. Even though they had tried killing us, being only 3 feet tall made them awfully cute; especially with those stubby little wings. I walked back over to the charmed demon and noticed he had already changed to the same black color as the other. I remembered the kiss I had given him on the forehead and realized that caused him to change.  I gave him the same instructions and flew straight up in the air. There was only one large group left, and they spotted me before I spotted them. They rained crossbow bolts down on me, and I hurled myself behind a fallen pillar. Now that they were no longer targeting my group, I put the final stage of my plan into action.

I sheathed my sword and put my shield on my back. I flew straight at them and landed in the middle of them. In the middle of my flight I had dismissed all of my summoned army except my priestesses. As my feet touched the ground, I finished casting the spell I had started right after dismissing my army, and I placed my palms on the stone floor. All twelve of my demon warriors appeared in front of me and the six mages stood behind them. I drew my sword and we moved like a well-oiled machine. We hacked and sliced any demon who stood before us, and the mages casted spell after spell at the ones who were out of our reach. Columns of fire returned damage to any who attacked me, and before long, only one incredibly short, stout demon stood before us. I studied his stat screen and sneered at him.

“Scalander… You’re a Demon lord? Shit... you’re pretty pathetic for a regular demon… let alone one who would call themselves a demon lord.”

I reached forward and grabbed him by the throat.

“Put me down mortal! I am the great demon strategist Scalander! You will hear my name and fear me! Unhand me you filthy Demonspawn! You are not worthy enough to even touch-“

He stopped speaking as I held him close to my face. He saw my long horns and my wings, and his eyes went wide.

“You’re-You’re Demonkin! A full demon… not some mewling Demonspawn but a full blooded totally corrupted Demon! I knew I could never have been bested by a lowly half-human mongrel. I-“

“Shut. Up.”

I carried him back to my group with him indirectly complimenting me the entire time. They gave me confused looks until they saw his name.

“Ugh. Demonspawn… I thought I smelled their stink. Kill them quickly, Demonkin, lest they pollute the room with their filth.”

“Bray. Would you like to do the honors?”

The group laughed and he raised his axe.

“With pleasure, Lady Allexus.”

WHUMP!