"So that is the situation in Eostia now? How are our forces?"
"Unfortunately, we generals were the only ones to respond to your return. Our soldiers either didn't hear, too far away to arrive, or didn't care at all."
"You assume some of our men don't care?"
"500 years has not been kind to us my lord. The Hell Knights of today pales in comparison to what we were in the past. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure most of them have allied with the Black Dogs."
"I see...Qree, Minerva, and Thornton. Spread out and bring together what loyal soldiers you can find. Jonah, you stay here with me to formulate a plan."
"Yes, my lord!"
"And if you find those traitors, announce my return, and show no mercy to them."
Chapter 2: Value of Blood
Jonah watched as his fellow comrade's teleported out of the cave in 3 separate bright flashes of light. Leaving just him and his lord alone in what he originally thought was another run of the mill dark and dreary tomb at the entrance. However, it seemed that his lord had done some decorating in the years he had been stuck in here. There was a finely decorated bed off to the side that looked to be made of silk, a dining area in the center of the room with expensive cutlery, and soft chair in the corner with large stacks of books surrounding it. Jonah didn't find any of this strange, except for the fact that he recognized some of the books to be VERY recent.
"You're probably wondering where I got this stuff, aren't you Jonah?"
The voice of his lord snapped him out of thoughts, and he immediately got down on one knee. "I'm sorry my lord, I know that my attention should always be on yo-" Jonah was then immediately cut off.
"Please Jonah, we both know you don't have to do that." Jonah felt a hand cup his chin and angled his head upwards, his golden eyes meeting his master's red. "I know I said that we would come up with a plan for our war on the humans, but let us catch up right now. I want to know everything that you and the others have been doing these past 500 years."
Jonah could only stare as his lord made his way to the dining table and set up cups for some tea. When he finally got it all settled, he looked back at Jonah and motioned for him to join. Shaking his head, Jonah stood up and walked over to the table, taking in the sweet aroma emanating from the tea with a smile on his face.
The fallen angel missed this...
"Hmph. It pains me greatly that Minerva has been suffering in recent times." Jonah nodded in agreement. "No one deserves to starve..."
"Indeed my lord, Not only that-"
"Jonah..."
He flinched. "Sorry...Dorma. Not only that, Qree's main source of humans she usually stalks has been kidnapped by the Black Dogs, and Thornton's main haunting grounds has been destroyed in the crossfire when the Black Dogs invaded the fortress of the eastern priestess. His powers have been severely weakened because of this."
The demon lord, Dorma, remained silent as he listened to his friend's every word. While he didn't show it on his face, Jonah could tell from his shaking hand that he was getting even more furious as he heard more about how the humans actions were treating his comrades.
'Even after 500 years, your loyalty to us continues to surprise me...' Jonah thought. Unlike most monsters, demons, and other kinds of unholy creatures, Dorma's value of bonds is truly a special case among his kind. Sure, there are groups out there that form up, but the leadership is usually dictated by feats of strength and only strength. Loyalties practically die in a heartbeat when it comes to those, the most prime example being the dark elf Olga and the orcs. He knew that alliance wouldn't last at all.
But when it comes to Dorma, he just has this way with the other creatures that convince them to join his side not out of strength or power (though it did actually help in some cases), but of true belief in his goals. He, for lack of a better term, appealed to their humanity.
*CRACK!*
A sudden noise snapped Jonah out of his thoughts, and he glanced down to see that Dorma had accidentally damaged the teacup in his attempt to keep his rage inside. Fortunately, Dorma noticed it as well, and he took a deep breath to calm himself and set his tea on the table.
"I...apologize Jonah. I was the one who said this was going to be a fun catch-up for the both of us, but it appears that seems to be impossible for our current situation." Dorma sighed as he took a cloth and wiped away the tea that spilled onto the table.
Jonah watched as his lord did work that was fit for a servant. He would've done the cleaning himself, but he knew that Dorma would rather die than have someone clean up his messes...and in this case rather literally. He also agreed that he hoped for a more light hearted conversation with him, but worldly events were too intertwined with their personal lives to be separated. Jonah decided he would try to change the subject to something more pleasant.
"I noticed that some of those books you have are pretty recent..." Jonah said. "...and by recent, I mean that one book series I see on your table came out last year."
Dorma chuckled. "I can understand your confusion Jonah." After chucking the wet cloth into a trash can Jonah swore wasn't there before, Dorma walked over to the reading material.
"To be perfectly honest, I had no idea how these books were getting in here. During my early years of imprisonment, I woke up one day to find a couple of books had materialized in my humble abode. Considering I had nothing else better to do, I gave all of them a read." Dorma took a separate pile of books and started putting them in a nearby bookshelf.
"From then on, new material would spawn in here regularly. Sometimes it would be one book, sometimes it would be complete series with word counts in the hundred thousands."
Jonah gave him a look. "How would you know that?"
"Like I said, nothing better to do."
"Ah, right...hold on. You said you had no idea where the books came from. Past tense. So you eventually figured it out?" Jonah asked.
Dorma sighed, putting in the final book in the slot. "Oh, I most certainly did. In fact, I didn't figure it out until you four gave me a history lesson on what's been going on in Eostia." Jonah raised his eyebrow at that, but didn't want to interrupt him. Dorma then took his reading chair, promptly sat on it, and made direct eye contact with Jonah.
"Six months ago..." he started. "...the books just abruptly stopped appearing in here. There was no sign, no note, no message from the gods themselves. They just stopped. The magic I felt whenever the books appeared simply vanished." It took Jonah a good few seconds to see where Dorma's thought process was going before his eyes widened. Dorma continued on.
"Now six months later, you four come in and tell me that some famous mercenary has fucked over the entire Shield Alliance...and what did you say happened six months ago?"
Jonah gulped. He really had no reason to be nervous, but he just WAS for some reason. "Six months ago, at 6 pm sharp, Celestine Lucross officially declared the formation of Vult's Sex Empire." He then shook his head.
"My lord, I know where you are going with this, but the evidence is not enough! Besides, why would she waste 500 years keeping you entertained?" At that moment, three flashes of light signaled the return of the others, he heard Minerva saying something about a certain traitor they found (she sounded incredibly pissed as well), but his attention was still entirely on Dorma.
Dorma chuckled, and while he stood to greet the returning demons, he answered his question. "Why? It is because she is too kind for her own good. It's because of her I survived our battle. She sealed me away, but let me stay conscious throughout it to give me some inklings about what is going on in the outside world. Because of that, I will give her a peaceful death." In an instant, the kind man he knew was covered head to toe in his signature black armor, cape bellowing behind him, and the only thing visible through the visor of his helmet was one crimson light where his right eye would be.
"Now my loyal generals...tell me more about this traitor. I wish to pay him a visit..."
-Mogmore Village, north of Feoh-
Screams of fear and moans of pleasure emanated from the once peaceful village of Mogmore. All of the men from the village who dared defied the Black Dogs were either tied up somewhere, or butchered for all to see, while all the women were of course being used for nothing more than sex for the raiders. Such was the life for one who lived in Eostia, including a certain Imp who led the raid in the first place.
"You bastards! I'll kill you if you touch my daughter!" The Imp looked at the human man it was dragging away with a grin.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Imp laughed as he slashed the humans throat with his sword. "And how do you suppose you'll do that when you're choking on your own blood, huh!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He then tossed him onto a currently growing pile of bodies of the men from the village. The man twitched a couple of times before ceasing all movement forever.
"DADDY!" A young girl screamed, but any further protests were cut off as the Imp's sights returned back to her. He made a hand motion, and two human men held her down. Ripping off her dress and spreading her legs, she could only watch in horror as the Imp walked over to her, his penis now full erect.
"Hehehehehe...when I'm done with you, you're gonna be calling me daddy from now on!" With his penis now in position to penetrate her, she made to scream only to be cut off when one of the men forced himself inside her mouth and started thrusting. The Imp reeled back his lower half and was about to fully commit to the thrust until he heard a voice echo throughout Mogmore...a voice he thought he would never hear again.
"My, oh, my! You certainly seem to be having fun there, Ohrn~!"
The Imp, Ohrn, suddenly backed away from the human girl in fear and looked around the burning village. The rest of the humans and imps under his command ceased their activities to also survey the village for the source of the voice, but only in confusion.
"Who the hell was that!?"
"Did we miss a bitch somewhere!?"
"Whoever it is, find that slut!"
"Who the hell is Ohrn anyway?"
While his men were ecstatic with the idea of finding another girl to break, Ohrn knew immediately that he had to get the hell out of there. He heard the voice, but fortunately the source wasn't anywhere near him at the moment when he heard it. Unfortunately, that was in the moment, and he could feel her presence now, and it was getting closer.
'Hold on...' Ohrn thought. '...I can feel her...but what are those other...no...IT CAN'T BE!' Immdiately, he picked up his sword from the ground and booked it into the nearby forest, leaving his men to stare at his dust trail in confusion.
"...What the hell is his deal?" one of the humans asked some of the imps, to which their only response was to shrug. Some were even about to follow their leader until they heard the screams of one of the soldiers. All of the Black Dogs turned to find one of their comrades in the middle of being torn in half. The last few screams of life he had was cut off by the culprit as it immediately set it's jaws upon his head and tore off. Throwing the headless torso aside, it finished off the head in a timely manner, which allowed them all a good look to the monster in front them was. Fear immediately gripped them.
"It's...It's The Heartless Wendigo!" One man screamed in terror, sending the Black Dogs, and even the girls they were raping, into a panic. An imp in response tried desperately to calm the situation.
"W-We don't know that! It's never been seen this far north! It could just be a normal wendigo! And we killed those things before!"
"No!" All heads turned to the woman their leader was going to rape. At this point, her fear of being raped was overwritten by the infamous cannibalistic monster standing a few feet away. "My father told me stories. Normal wendigos are pale, practically naked humans with elongated arms and legs that act like animals. The Heartless One is the only one that decorates itself and acts with intelligence. The skull of a deer covering its head, the necklace adorned with the bones of its most powerful victims, and-" The sound of a weapon being drawn brought their attention back to the monster to see it wielding a pair of long metal claws on both of its hands.
"...the claws that are said to tear through even the goddesses' barriers..."
The Heartless Wendigo looked as if it was smiling in response to being this famous before it suddenly dashed towards the crowd, and the grounds of Mogmore became drenched in blood.
Ohrn could hear the screams coming from Mogmore behind him, but he didn't stop to see which one showed up to kill his men as he ran for his life through the dense forest. Deep down, he knew running away was pointless, but there was no way in hell he could fight them head on and this was the only logical decision his brain came to when fear consumed him. If anything, warning Vult of what was to come became a priority. Because of his one track mind, tunnel vision set in, and he didn't notice the spear of light coming toward him until it already pinned his left arm to a nearby tree.
"Huh...? GAAAAAAHH!" Ohrn was confused that he stopped moving until he felt the effects of the holy object burning throughout his arm. He immediately went to try and pull it out with his right hand, but he only got it up a couple of inches before another spear pinned his remaining hand onto the tree. His head swiveled back and forth in a panic looking at his arms multiple times.
"Damn it damn it damn it damn it!" He attempted to forcefully pull his arms out, but the only progress was more searing pain. "I got to-"
"You have to what...Ohrn?" A sweetly voice called out.
Ohrn's head, unwillingly, jerked back to its original place to see in full view of what is basically his death right in front of them. There stood three individuals he immediately recognized: A fallen angel, a specter, and...a succubus.
"Ma-Madame Minerva, why, it's so great to see you again." He said through the pain. The succubus' eyes lit up when he said her name and she gave a seemingly innocent smile.
"Awww..even after all these years, you still remember me! If only we were able reunite under better circumstances." Ohrn could tell from her tone that she didn't mean any of the words she just said. He wasn't stupid. Ohrn glanced at the other two demons to see what they would do, but they seemed perfectly fine to let Minerva's attention be all on him.
He couldn't handle it anymore.
"I very much apologize for-"
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT!?" All three demons took a step back in the surprise at the imp's sudden outburst, clearly not expecting him to snap so quickly.
"IS IT BECAUSE I LEFT!?" Ohrn screamed through pained tears. "IS IT THAT!? IF SO, I'M SORRY! I KNOW I PLEDGED MY VOW TO OUR LORD, BUT HE WAS EVERYTHING TO ME! WHEN HE WAS KILLED, I LOST MY PURPOSE!" The screaming took every last bit of strength from the imp, and he let himself hang from the tree with his arms still held high. The spears of light still burned, but he didn't care.
"I had nothing...what was I supposed to do...?"
...
"pftHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Huh?" Ohrn looked up in confusion to see his former superior officers busting their gut laughing. Even the fallen angel, Jonah, was laughing up a storm. "What?"
"HAHAHAHAhahaha...*sigh*" Minerva wiped a tear from her eye. "5 centuries has really made you THIS stupid! I can't believe it!" Ohrn was about to ask what was going on until he felt her foot kick his gut. He didn't even get a chance to cry out in pain before his mouth was covered by Minerva's hand. Yellow eyes met a glare of blue.
"We were already pissed that you abandoned us Ohrn, but we were happy to give you another chance." She whispered. "However, it was what you were about to do and what you have done that sealed your fate." At that point, the two other demons entered the conversation.
"500 years ago, the Hell Knights were formed under the leadership of the Demon Lord to fight mankind." Jonah said. "Not to conquer, not for peace, but to survive. Humans, elves, half-lings? They must be eliminated for the sake of all demons." A look of disgust then formed on his face.
"...and after all this time, what have you been doing?"
"Conversing and fighting alongside human men, raping human women simply for pleasure and not for your survival, tarnishing your bloodline by having them impregnated." Thornton listed off his crimes in a calm manner, but Ohrn could tell he was holding back his anger. "Everything we stood for, everything we fought for...and you just threw it on the ground and spat on it."
Minerva took her hand off his mouth and walked a fair bit away from him. "I saw when you and your forces took Feoh, and I saw what you did to those nuns to get Alicia to surrender. I have never been so disgusted in my life." Ohrn's eyes widened. He thought he felt a presence nearby when he was torturing those nuns in front of the princess back then, but he was so focused on fucking them he didn't notice.
"I...I...can explain...GAH!" Minerva kicked once again, except it was his head instead of his gut this time.
"WHAT IS THERE TO EXPLAIN!?" Minerva yelled in front of his face. "AFTER EVERYTHING HE DID FOR US, THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY HIS KINDNESS!? YOU TRAITORS DON'T HAVE ANYTHING WORTH LISTENING TO!" The succubus held up her hand and conjured a fireball. Ohrn closed his eyes knowing what was to come, this was the fate of traitors.
"Minerva...you must calm yourself." The imp's eyes immediately shot open in response to the voice. Minerva clicked her tongue, but of course obeyed without question. Extinguishing the fireball in her hand, she just looked at the imp with her arms crossed.
"WHAT!? HE'S ALIVE!?" He exclaimed, somehow forgetting the current situation he was in. Ohrn swiveled his head into every possible angle to find the Demon Lord, but to no avail.
"Yes...I am quite alive Ohrn." The deep, multi-layered voice he recognized so well echoed throughout the forest. "I never once left this realm of existence."
'This could be my chance!' He thought.
"My lord!" Ohrn pathetically called out. "Please! I know the crimes I have committed! But please believe me that I didn't enjoy a single sec-"
"SILENCE!" The imp immediately shut up.
"I'm disappointed Ohrn...you were there for the Hell Knights during the worst times of the war. You brought laughter to the children when we visited the safe havens, consoled our soldiers, and you found out even more of their reasons to fight then I ever did..."
"...Time has changed you for the worst...IMP." The demon flinched when he heard the Demon Lord spat his species name with such venom. He now knew he had no hope for survival. Sharing your name with other demons was a sign of trust. When one refuses to use it, it's because all respect has been lost to them. "You're fate was sealed the moment you found pleasure in human women..." Thunder boomed, and the imp looked up to see that the once clear sunny sky was now covered in dark storm clouds. Off the corner of his eye, he noticed the three generals had backed away from him, giving a wide empty space between him and them. Except in the wide empty space now was a tall figure covered in black armor, a piercing red glow coming out of the helm, and an axe in his right hand that crackled with electricity.
"...Your punishment will go beyond your death, imp." The Demon Lord slowly walked towards the pinned imp readying the axe. While the imp knew that he was going to die no matter what, survival instincts didn't care, and he found his body struggling even more with his restraints to no avail.
"500 years worth of a dirtied bloodline will be wiped as well." When he got close enough, he raised the axe high above his head.
"Please! Please don't kill me! Give me another chance!"
"MAY YOU AND YOUR DESCENDANTS BURN IN HELL FOR YOUR BETRAYAL!" And the Demon Lord brought his weapon down.
~Some time later~
"Dorma...are you alright?" Jonah set his hand on the demon lord's shoulder in hopes to console him. The demon lord had sent Minerva and Thornton to assist Qree to finish off any survivors that could possibly be in Mogma Village. Couldn't have any witnesses, not yet at least. 30 minutes has passed, and he was still staring at the corpse pinned to the tree. The fallen angel made a quick glance at the body of the imp, who was now just a skeleton with a huge gap in its skull.
"I'm fine Jonah." Dorma said. "It's just...surprising. Seeing a close comrade change this much just hasn't registered in my mind yet. You understand?" Jonah could, but he felt that his experience most likely wasn't to the same level as Dorma. He had been sealed away for an ungodly amount of time. This much change all at once can overwhelm just about anyone...even demon lords.
"How many Jonah? How many of our soldiers did the humans corrupt?" The fallen angel wanted so desperately to lie, but telling the cold, hard truth was the reason why he fell, and Dorma wasn't looking for kind words.
"Too many my lord...too many..."
A/N:
I apologize for any mistakes you see. As I said, this story is practice for me. The pacing of my writing in particular is something I hope to tweak more. Hopefully I managed to convey that the demons are more than bloodthirsty creatures.