Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

53. Irvine in Confusion III

"Is it just me or has the barrage stopped since some time ago?" Agatha asks.

"I know, it's concerning." 

A split second later, a flash of purple lightning explosion occurs, followed by a rabid throwing of glass blades and white energy blasts.

"Vio! Agatha!" Remi shrieks as soon as we arrive. She is locking blades with a masked assailant, while Archduke Windwood is floored on the grassy ground.

"Blood Flood!" I bellow. Remi jumps into a nearby abandoned tower. Agatha carries off the Archduke.

"Glass Barrier!" A large wall of surprisingly hard glass fend off the flood, protecting the assailant.

"Cat O' Nine Tails!" A multi-tailed glass flail falls on her hand. She swings it at the tower with such force that the ancient tower collapses immediately.

"Lightning Bomb!" Remi leaps from the destroyed building and gathers a large lightning ball on her hand.

"Cursed Mirrors: Reflection!"

A stack of mirrors appear, blocking Remi's attack. And then, to our horror, the purple thunderball rebounds, blasting Remi's upper torso. Part of her neck and chest is burned.

"Remi!" Agatha screams. She summons wind to halt Remi's fall.

"Glass Shuriken!"

"Rotating Wind Blades!"

Agatha and the assailant duel, their blades fighting each other quickly in the air to the point that the ground is soon covered with their missile weapons.

"Cursed Mirrors: Difraction!"

"Wind Prison!"

A laser blast, powered by her hand, enters a small hole on her mirror. The laser blast disperses into multiple smaller ones, devastating the ground and creating wide craters. Agatha's wind shield blocks off one of the smaller blast.

"Blood Salvo!" I wave, and the blood arrows pass through the air.

"Cursed Mirrors: Reflection!"

Stacks of mirrors, about six of them in the stack, form from the thin air, reflecting my assault.

"Blood Lightning!"

"Lightning Crescent!"

A wave of thunderous attacks rain down on the assailant, who spreads out her mirrors in defense. John fires his Divine Judgement, forcing the assailant to lunge upwards.

"Remi! Agatha! She can only conjure twelve mirrors at best! Press on!"

"No!" Archduke Windwood cries. "Get me on that conference first!"

"Okay, Remi, get him and get the hell out of–"

"Glass Shuriken!"

"Wall of Anguish! Now!"

The bony wall blocks off the waves of blade assault. Remi once again disappears in a flash. The assailant attempts to give chase.

"Blood Chains!"

My sensory powers indicate that she's human, but what on earth is she doing, attempting to kill an Archduke? And who is she, who is powerful enough to last this long against us?

Agatha leaps forward, her air-powered blade drawing blood from the foe's cheek. My fingers grab Agatha's blade softly. I taste the sweet blood.

"She's a demon," I confirm. "Her blood's sweet."

"That's the worst way to know," Agatha, disgusted, scorns.

"Black Chupacabra!" I raise my fist, a gigantic undead dog striking at the disoriented demon.

But she recovers quickly enough, her twelve mirrors stacked to block my attack. The canine rebounds.

My mouth couldn't even make a moan. That chupacabra obliterates my upper torso almost completely, shredding my lungs and tearing apart my kidney.

A Divine Judgement is easily avoided by the demon, who lunges at me once again. With the little strength I have, I mutter a spell. "Blood Shockwave!"

The demon flings to the sky. "Wind Feline Annihilation!" A massive cat-like creature of wind repels her tens of kilometers, enough to put her out of the fight for sure.

"Vio! You okay?"

I shake my head very weakly. Fifteen seconds later, Aelita and John arrive.

"Bloody hell!" Aelita screams. A stream of healing energy enters my body.

But it's useless. And Aelita knows it too.

"Damn it. Only two percent of her lungs are active. Her heart is barely beating. At this rate–"

I cut off Aelita's murmur. "Aelita ... tell ...."

And suddenly a fresh source of energy surges. My lungs regrow, the beat of my heart returns to normal, and my kidney restores itself.

"It's you, demon."

"I have a name, you know," the demon says. "It's Merango."

"You saved me again, Merango," I murmur.

"Good lord, Vio, how, how did this happen?" Aelita asks.

"That demon could repulse and reflect our attacks. She's tough," I say. "The demon–"

WOULD YOU MIND CALLING ME BY MY NAME, PLEASE?

"Oh, yeah, I mean, Merango the demon inside me helped me," I continue.

"Well, that does explain the healing," John points out.

I nod. "It's not important now. We have to get to the conference quickly."

"Who do you reckon that was?" Aelita asks.

"She's stronger than one of us but not two of us," Agatha notes. "I'd be hard-pressed to call her a Lord."

"No, she's definitely a Lord," I reply. "She can't use full power because of her human disguise, remember?"

"Oh, right. But which one?" Agatha murmurs.

"A new one, dreadfully," Aelita claims. I nod, agreeing.

"Lady Jessica uses light and dark magic, Lord Luke fire, wind, water, and lightning, Lord Abel necromancy, Lady Caitlyn dark magic, Lord Eugene iron magic, and Lady Sakurako some bullshit teleportation and fire magic. None of them fits the profile," I explain. "Now let us hurry."

The Grand Hall. Usually, Irvinian kings or queens are smart, experienced politicians who surround themselves with skilled mages and shrewd experts. Unfortunately, Queen Seira is not. Luckily, for such a great matter as war, the monarch still needs support from key people–the nobility, the heads of ministries, the generalship, the admiralty, and the Imperial Guards.

And for that purpose the Grand Hall was built a couple hundred years ago. Lavishly crafted with the finest pinewood and materials, it has served its purpose well.

The guards posted don't even bother checking us, perhaps due to our familiar faces.

The round room is chock-full of thousands of nobles. A large screen is present at the center.

ARTICLE IV: WAR ON ERWING
SUPPORT: 15840 VOTES
OPPOSE: 15640 VOTES

Archduke Windwood and Archduke Luxor falls to their chairs, lumping. Their eyes stare at the horror.

War.