Once upon a time, there was a small girl with bright, scarlet hair that lived on her father's farm in peace and tranquility. The small girl would experience the joys of the sun every day, the joys of looking at snow-white, fluffy clouds on the blue sky, and the joys of playing with all kinds of flowers every day – poppies, daisies, daffodils, even roses. For such a small girl, the flowers and vast, beautiful gardens in the small village she lived in were heaven.

The woes of war, famine, pestilence and disease were completely alien to her, and so were complex emotions like pain. Day after day would go by, and the small girl would live oblivious to the dangers few people knew about. She would be oblivious of the supernatural – the constant, never-ending battle of good and evil – the battle of demonkind and humanity. She knew not a thing about battle.

And yet, despite the peace, the beauty of the gardens and all other joys a girl experienced, she would be very lonely. She would be very close to her father, never leaving his side most of the time. She was very sheltered, had no friends and all the villagers, kind as they were, would be very distant and careful not to associate too much with the girl or her father.

Father, father. Where was the poor girl's mother? No one knew, and her father would refuse to even touch that subject. Most people, out of the kindness of her hearts, would assume that the girl's mother died at childbirth. Others, more suspecting and dare-say sanctimonious ones, would make far more nefarious assumptions – conceived out of wedlock, or – even worse – that the young girl was the daughter of a common whore. Of course, the girl had no knowledge or comprehension of such matters. She simply felt happy with her father, and that was all that mattered to her.

By now you all would assume that this is the story of an ordinary girl with an ordinary childhood, correct?

…Wrong.

Time never stops, and so it did not for the young girl, who now had grown into a maiden of eight years. The people now considered her old enough to help partake in her father's business, grazing the animals in the vast greenery, preparing homemade dairy and other things. Arduous tasks, even so, the girl never let even a whisper of complaint escape her small lips.

Until one day, her paradise would come to an end. The maiden was now old enough to slowly learn of the more nefarious things in the world. One day she wandered alone in the village's marketplace and would notice that people cowered in fear in mention of a certain name: Satan.

"Who is he?" she would ask in child-like naiveté, even though her instincts told her that this name meant nothing good. The villagers, of course, would ignore her, too aghast to burden such a young maiden with the evils humanity faced.

Dismayed by the lack of an answer to sate her naïve curiosity, the young maiden wandered home, only to see her father in distress. She saw him converse with a fellow farmer of his; she could even make out the farmer's name – Yuvic, it was.

"Satan's armies have conquered the Northern and Eastern Isles…" the young maiden heard Yuvic say with great fear and sadness in his voice. Immediately the maiden knew: this was no good.

"Who is he, Satan?" the maiden asked without thinking, hoping she would finally get an answer to her burning question. For the first time in her short life, the maiden's big, emerald eyes would betray fear in them.

Immediately she felt her father's large hands pick her up and place her onto his lap. He locked his eyes, which were the same colour as the maiden's with her and stared intensely at her.

"My daughter…" he whispered, not able to hide his sadness, "Satan… He… he…" His head sunk low, unable to say any more.

"I… I must take my leave now, Nord…" Yuvic whispered faintly, obviously feeling very uncomfortable with this. The young maiden would never forget the pained look in her father's eyes when he mentioned the name of whom she would come to know as the Devil.

Little did the maiden know, nothing could ever prepare her for the pain that would follow shortly after.

One fateful day, the maiden would be woken by extremely loud sounds that resembled those of explosions. Frightened beyond measure, she rushed outside, and what was displayed before her could be described with no words.

Her home, Sloan Village, was burning to the ground.

The young maiden heard the excruciating cries and echoes of pain, she saw the village peoples' terror as they ran away from the flames, misfortunate enough to be caught by them. This was the first time the young maiden would smell the sting of death in her nostrils. The smell of burnt flesh, of wood, of metal – and the maiden stood there as if she were a statue, frozen in place, with big, tearful, terrified eyes. Not a single sound dared to escape her throat.

She could only watch as the fire would soon engulf her father's house and farm as well, finally making her turn around in utmost terror. With every ounce of strength she had in her small body, the young maiden would rush home, frantically searching for her beloved father. She would run everywhere in the village aflame, looking for her father, whilst being terrified of the villagers' screams of pain.

He was nowhere to be found.

Exhausted, the maiden would have nowhere to run anymore, and the flames would show no mercy, inching closer and closer. Her vision became blurry; she felt the life leave her body before she was claimed by darkness.

The Angel of Demons

EMILIA
****

It is as if time has stopped.

The Demon King, the Lord of us all, has chosen me, his once pitiful fledgling, to accompany him on his campaign against the Central Isle where our enemies had their headquarters. My gaze becomes dark the more I think about it. The Church of the Holy Cross. As far as I am aware, they harbor the brightest and most skilled mages and warriors in all of Ente Isla. Even though I would never publicly admit so, it would be delusional to think that someone as powerful as Satan Jacob could waltz in and turn every clergyman to ash.

Alciel, of all demons, would know such a fact even better than me. As Lord Satan's right hand, he, along with Minister Camio, would confer with our Liege for hours in his study. Alciel's prominence reaches so far that he is considered by many to be the leader of the Demon Generals – a 'Grand General', if you will. Of course, Lord Satan never bestowed him such a title. It is not surprising that Alciel has had a rivalry with Lucifer for years now – he is the only of the Generals with the gall to openly oppose Alciel. He knows nothing of tact, or diplomacy, or any semblance of the countenance I would learn under the guidance of Camio. And so, I would scoff at Lucifer's behavior.

I know Alciel – he would have basked in the honor to accompany the Demon Lord on his final campaign against humanity, even though he is not one to declare it out loud. He is the Master Strategist, after all, and it would be foolish to underestimate him. It must have not gone unnoticed to Alciel that Lord Satan chose to give such an honor to me, the half-human, seventeen-year-old maiden, the youngest of the Demon Generals.

"My Lord? Are we sure that we have not… misunderstood your orders?"

I roll my eyes. Right on cue, the bargaining would begin. It always happens when Alciel does not receive the honor to do such important tasks. Snickering I turn towards him, shaking my head.

"I am sure we have all heard Lord Satan's orders loud and clear, General Alciel. Is there a problem?" I could faintly make out Lucifer grinning, regarding me with encouraging stares. I pay them no more mind as I know better than to succumb to juvenile arguments.

Alciel grit his teeth, narrowing his golden eyes in anger at my foolish bravery before he turned to Satan, whipping his arm and pointing his index finger at me, as if to accuse me of something.

"My Lord", he began, his voice firm, yet concerned, "I would highly advise you to rethink your decision regarding having… her… accompany you." I knew too well what he would say. It was obvious.

"General Emilia is very inexperienced. She has never led an army into any battle, but spent many years of her short life sheltered inside your Castle." He took two steps forward, bowing and inclining his head. "I beseech you, Sire. This battle is of utmost importance for your goals. We absolutely cannot afford to have juvenile foolishness leading your vast armies."

I feel my eyebrows furrow slightly. Juvenile Foolishness? Clearly these are not the words befitting of a so-called 'Leader of Demon Generals' – these are words of a foolish, ambitious soldier green with envy.

"You are underestimating her, Alciel. Very clearly so." Lucifer suddenly intones behind Alciel, his voice unusually calm and collected. "Maybe you are forgetting that Emilia is supposed to be the Hero, our Lord's arch-nemesis." He walks forward, now standing before the Demon Lord as well.

"You can accuse her of many things, Alciel, but weakness is not one of them. She is not to be trifled with." the Fallen Angel continues, "Seeing the Hero humanity awaited so long on the Devil's side will greatly demoralize our enemies, making this battle much easier for our forces." He let out a scoff of laughter. "A shame, I thought you of all demons would know this best, Master Strategist."

"Lucifer…" Alciel grunts, his voice deep and frightful. "If you will not hold your tongue", a green lightning ball forms in his open palm, ready to fire at Lucifer, "then I will gladly remove it for you."

Lucifer merely chuckles at his fellow General's threat, amplifying his aura of purple light. "Come and take it, if you can." he responds, his voice betraying an aura of serenity.

Suddenly, the sound of a large fist slamming against the hilt of the Dark Throne makes everyone flinch in fear, including myself.

"Stop this foolish bickering at once." a very dark, chilling voice bellows from the Dark Throne, making those this was aimed at shiver in terror. Immediately, Lucifer and Alciel fall to their knees.

I look at the throne and see the large, muscular, teal-haired, bronze-horned demon, clothed in regal attire slowly walk down and aim his piercing, red-eyed gaze at the two frightened Generals.

"Alciel." he growled, amplifying his aura of blackness around his body, his voice becoming darker and darker. I snicker under my breath. By the darkness, I do not wish to be in this poor soul's skin right now.

"You have the gall to question my orders… and the temerity to insult my ace against the Church."

"M-Mercy.. I beseech your Mercy… I.. I…. did not mean to… insult.. you.." It is interesting how confident the Demon General Alciel would usually sound, but one growl from the Demon Lord, and the Master Strategist, 'Leader of the Demon Generals' is reduced to naught but a harmless fly.

With one growl, the Demon Lord turned to the other poor victim of his wrath. "Lucifer… your rebellious attitude is trying my patience… anvel wool." The Fallen Angel felt his black wings shiver, a testament to the terror he must truly feel.

"Y-Yes… Forgive me… My Lord…" Lucifer could also only stammer.

"LOOK. IN. MY. EYES." The Generals had no choice but to immediately shoot up, glaring into the Devil's wide red pupils. Their fear increased tenfold.

"Since you worry so much about the outcome of this battle, you two are to survey the enemy's forces on the Central Isle and report back immediately. Are we clear?"

The Generals stayed silent.

"Are. We. Clear?"

They flinched immediately. "Y-yes.. Yes, transparently." Alciel answered with a rasping voice.

"As the Aerial Commander and Master Strategist, this responsibility would naturally fall on you two, anyway." I add with indifference in my voice. I smile. Two idiots have been humiliated, and rightfully so; it was only a matter of time.

"You best get to work, Lucifer and Alciel. You know how nasty Lord Satan can be when he is very displeased." the Necromancer, Malacoda, suddenly hissed after having stayed silent for the longest time. He let out a hissing laugh before walking out of the Throne Room.

"I wish you the best of luck, General Lucifer and General Alciel." I declare politely as the displeased Demon Generals are on their way out of the Throne Room, "You'll need it. I'm sure."

Well, that was certainly eventful. I sigh, glad that this painstaking audience finally is over. I almost feel pity for poor Alciel, now being on the receiving end of all humiliations he has bestowed upon me in the past. Almost. What goes around, comes around, after all.

And just as I thought that my annoyances for this day would be over, the next pestilence comes flying my way.

"Laaaadyyyyy Emiiiiliaaaaaaa-!"

I roll my eyes. Not them. I would rather converse with ten, hundred Alciels over them. "Farfarello. Libicocco. Ciriatto." I recognize them, my voice flat and emotionless. I know exactly who they are – part of Malacoda's entourage, also known as the Malebranche. They are also the most annoying demons in the whole castle.

The three Malebranche demons descend to the ground, now standing before me. The Malebranche are an interesting lot; they are the only tribe living inside the Devil's castle, something completely unheard of in the demon world. Because of this, they are either admired in reverence or despised in envy. They all look similar, as well: They share bat-like wings and huge sharp claws extending from their four limbs.

I look into Ciriatto's eye, whereas the other is covered with an eyepatch. His gaze betrays a lust for battle. "Lady Emilia… mayhap you would like to spar with us?"

My brows furrow in annoyance. "Step aside, Malebranche. I have no time for your antics. Lord Satan tasked me with a very important mission."

"Oh come ooonnn, Lady Emilia.." Farfarello coos, "It's been forever since we tested our skills against you. Master Malacoda has been very rigid with our training."

"Mayhap another time." I quickly say, "Now move aside. This is an order." My red eyes flare up, but I already feel the corridor darken and narrow considerably. I grin knowingly; The Malebranche are demons specialized in illusions, deceivery and necromancy. When I was a child, Malacoda would always task Farfarello, Libicocco and Ciriatto to spar with me. Apparently they loved sparring with me so much that they want to do so even now that I am far above them in rank and power.

I conjure my holy sword, known as Better Half into my hand and my hair turns from scarlet red to snow white, slashing right into the fabric of illusory magic that the Malebrance conjured around me. This may look easy, but this is actually Tier Three magic, something that only human mages of great skill could overcome.

Needless to say, the Malebranche are visibly mortified. "One.. slash?" Ciriatto breathes out in complete disbelief, his head sinking low.

"That's.. unheard of…" Farfarello continues, joining his kinsman's gloomy mood.

"We are an utter disgrace.. if Master Malacoda hears of this.." Libicocco declares, aghast at himself.

I smirk victoriously, dispersing my magic. It was a long time ago that the Malebranche would be formidable foes for me – not anymore.

"Hone your skills", I declare sternly, on my way to my chambers, "and come face me again."

A/N: Emilia OP. Super OP. Well, not really. Celestial magic is poison to demon magic, after all. I am surprised that you like this idea.. I was not sure how such a story would be perceived since it distorts Emilia's character. However, I thoroughly enjoyed writing this, especially the interaction between Alciel and Lucifer, my little pet rivalry, haha. Satan is scary. Very scary. I think I nailed his character.

Shitposter-kun: I do not plan making Emi a complete Esdeath clone. She will still have her iconic character, only with some similarities to Esdeath, especially in her Demon General ways. She will also have some nefariousness.

Mysteriousgetexpert: I don't know, I've always been a sucker for such stories. They just seem so interesting, so different, that they draw me in. Glad you like this, and thanks for the fav!

Wantingtoread: Romance will come, but not until later, haha.

Coldwire: Thank you so much! I find my prose still lacking, but I'm trying my best. And don't worry, just because Maou and Emi are on the same side, doesn't mean they won't face challenges. They will face big, scary ones.

I would also like to thank everyone for the favs and the follows! They really motivate me to keep writing this piece, and of course, my main story Demonheart, which I am currently working on.

So if you like this story, check out 'Demonheart!' Also MaouxEmi, starts light-hearted and turns serious very quick.

Until next chapter - Reiuji