Chapter 56: War in Warsaw
Warsaw, Poland
Both Druella and Alice felt each other's presence before they actually saw each other.
The valkyrie had made her way over the city, eventually encountering the CRISPR clinic and the ruckus around it. She sneered in disgust at the handful of mamono at the scene as she observed the authorities of the city run around like chickens. From what she had caught with her enhanced hearing, mamono had broken into the building and stolen some things. Alice wasn't sure what but it seemed important, important enough to gain her attention at least.
Here it was, a golden opportunity to turn the populus more against the mamono! Alice swooped down, giving everyone a clear view of their brief stalker. The ruckus of the scene quickly devolved into absolute chaos; mamono walked or ran away, husbands in tow. The humans looked upon the heavenly being, shock and awe upon their faces. The older ones quickly looked away and broke out in prayer.
Alice nodded in approval at these humans as the police recuperated themselves. Some of them placed their hands upon their weapons as one reached for a megaphone.
"Stop where you are! Who are you?!"
Alice's magic had already translated the man's word, as well as her ability to communicate back.
"People of Warsaw, people of Poland, rejoice! For this humble servant of Ilias, the chief goddess of my world, am here to save you from the menace that is the mamono! Look around you, how much have they changed your lives for the worse! They degrade your morals, your societies, your people! They take your men and women and leave nothing but broken families behind! They flat out steal from you now! How long before they commit even more heinous crimes?!"
As she spoke, Alice noticed that a considerable minority of the younger crowd left in disgust at her words. But most of the crowd stayed to listen, many agreeing with her. Some didn't but that was fine, Alice didn't expect her message to reach everyone's hearts and souls on the first go. But she couldn't, wouldn't stop. Not until the people of not only this nation, but all nations, were safely and warmly wrapped in the loving bosom of her goddess.
But then this train of thought ended when she felt a presence. The presence of an EXTREMELY powerful mamono. Few mamono could be as powerful as the presence Alice felt. High ranking demons, baphomets or lilims could have such a magical presence. In any case this was a HUGE threat. Without any magical protection, Warsaw was no match against them if the city was caught unaware.
Alice abandoned the scene at almost supersonic speeds and made her way to the presence. She had to deal with this NOW if this city was to remain, mostly, uncorrupted.
Little did she know what she was getting into.
Druella's warehouse
The fourth born of Lilith was monitoring Svetlana's progress in setting up the newly taken equipment and materials from the clinic. She scowled, how could I be so sloppy?! I must be losing my edge with this lack of challenge.
Indeed, since she and her allies had arrived on Earth, there had been little combat or action. The lack of resources and allies, combined with the human's technology, had prevented any large scale maneuvers so far. And now what could she do? Wait for Svetlana to finish, to regain her strength and plan.
Simply put, Druella was bored, she wanted something to do other than staying put and twiddling her thumbs. Maybe I can disguise myself again and hit the town? She thought to herself as she turned towards the doorway.
"I'm going out, making sure our tracks are covered. You three remain here. I'll be back soon." Druella ordered as she headed to the doorway, the three other mamono nodded their heads as they went about their respective business. Svetlana continued to work in her lab, while Hannah assisted Tara as began to prepare food for their "guests." While they may not have responded to demonic energy, the men did respond to Tara's healthy and delicious meals.
Druella stepped into the open air of Warsaw and cloaked herself in magic. Her appearance shifted to that of a typical succubus. Her clothes shifted in appearance as well to something more modern. With a skip in her step and a flap of her wings the disguised lilim took off towards the more entertaining parts of town.
The flight there was unremarkable, Druella encountered a few other mamono in the skies but nothing beyond that. Earth nations were only just starting to "regulate" mamono flight. As if they could or should be allowed to do that!
But as she was making her way downtown, a presence made itself known to her. First she felt it, the magical holy aura of a servant of the Chief Goddess! And not just any aura, the aura of a valkyrie! A very powerful valkyrie at that! This almost caused Druella to pause mid flight, how in the world had a valkyrie made her way to Earth?! the lilim thought. Sure Earth had reached out to the Order first, but they hadn't just allowed themselves to be rolled over by the anti-mamono organization. Or had they? Druella pondered.
She hadn't reported or reached out to her allies back home yet. For all she knew the Earth humans and the Order had already launched an assault upon mamonokind in order to "defend themselves."
This line of thought suddenly ended when the aforementioned presence made itself known physically. When a powerful body slammed into Druella's side, a holy blade piercing her wing!
The lilim screeched out in pain and surprised as she and her assailant flew back towards the ground! Tossing and turning through the air Druella was able to force her attacker beneath her as the two collided with the street below!
Eryk let out a frustrated growl as the engine of his car still refused to start. He was an older man, almost near pensioner age, and had owned this car for nearly 20 years. It had held out, through thick and thin. Yet as his retirement was coming up, it seemed as if his luck was finally giving out.
Then an angel and a devil fell from the sky.
Just as Eryk had stepped out of the car to check under the hood, the cabin was flattened as if a wrecking ball had been dropped on it. Only, it wasn't a wrecking ball, but instead what appeared to be two mamono. Had he been a second or two slower, he would have been crushed to death.
But this didn't seem to catch the attention of the two apparent combatants. The one on top of the other was struggling to get out of the lower one's grip, a shiny sword lodged into her white, bat-like wing.
Alice felt the crushed metal under her as she attacked the lilim, and not just any lilim, but the most infamous among their ilk. Druella, the fourth born, the conqueror of Lescatie, one of the vilest and most vicious of mamono stood just above her attempting to wrest Alice's sword from her albino wing.
Alice roared with fury as she kicked the monster in the stomach. The lilim groaned as she stumbled backwards, the sword popping out of the thin membrane of her wing as blood spurted out.
The blood was a strange mixture of colors. Human red mixed with the deep, almost black, purple of the mamono. Lilims stood out for many reasons, but one that few talk about is just how human they really were. Them being born of the most powerful monster and the most powerful human left them to be seemingly the best of both worlds. The magical and physical power of mamono and the independence, spirit and will of humans could be found in all of them.
But it seems that humanity didn't just end in psychology and philosophy for lilims.
Alice gripped her sword as she swung it at the lilim, a golden energy seemingly emanating from her blade as she did so. However, she was seemingly too slow, as Drulla recovered fast enough to just barely miss the strike. Black and purple magics emanated from her hand as she sent a beam of demonic energy as the valkyrie!
Alice brought her sword in front of her just to barely block the blast! She quickly stood up and held her sword in a blocking form. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a human staring at the two in utter shock. She couldn't allow him to get hurt, or worse, bewitched by the dreaded Druella.
Alice used a soft force spell to launch the human back and away from the two. However, this good deed wouldn't go unpunished as Druella launched another blast! This one smashed into the valkyrie's chest, launching her off the ruined car and far down the street!
Alice tumbled and skidded down the road, Druella already in hot pursuit. Alice drove her sword into the asphalt, easily slicing through the material. The resistance was enough to halt the valkyrie as she took the sword and made a wide slice. Holy energy launched from the blade towards Druella!
The lilim's eyes widened in surprise as she quickly adjusted her flightpath. She avoided the blast mostly, the tips of her boots being disintegrated by the energy. She scowled as she cocked her arm back, intending on launching a blast of demonic energy straight into the valkyrie's stone cold heart!
Alice was just slightly faster, avoiding her fist as Druella collided with the ground. A massive chunk of asphalt was blasted away like an artillery shell had landed!
Alice wasn't fast enough to miss the second punch, as Druella turned around and launched her into the path of a lamppost. The metal groaned and buckled under the pressure of Alice's landing as Druella launched herself at her opponent, black and purple magics writhing about her fist.
Alice was ready for it this time though, as she sidestepped with milliseconds to spare as Druella finished off the lamppost. As the metal pole tumbled to the ground Alice reached out and grabbed it like a child would a stick. She then effortlessly smacked the fourth born like a baseball! The lilim smacked into the crumbling brick building, imprinting her form into the worn building material.
Druella felt a stabbing pain in her shoulder as the valkyrie lodged her blade into it! She gasped out in pain as she launched another magical blast into Alice's gut, causing her to be launched back long enough for Druella to dislodge the blade.
More blood spilled out onto the ground as she stared up at her attacker. It took Alice slightly longer to stand up once more. As the two stared at each other, Druella broke the silence.
"And just who are you?!"
The valkyrie smirked as she stood up and confidently posed before the lilim. She eyed the sword in the mamono's hand for a moment.
"I suppose you should at least know who your vanquisher is, it wouldn't be sporting otherwise. My name is Saint Alice, anointed so by Ilias herself to drive your ilk from this purely human world! And now I'm here to rid this city of you, you monster! "
What Alice was expecting to see was fear, or even anger. But that's not what she saw upon Druella's face.
Instead, the lilim broke out laughing.
Druella giggled at the foolish valkyrie. Did she really think this world was somehow pure?! Surely she was joking, perhaps being just literal as opposed to moralistic. Either way it both humored her and infuriated her. So see such a hypocritical brat standing before her.
She would make a perfect test subject for Svetlana's experiments, that was for certain.
Warsaw Police Station
Policing on Earth had changed significantly since the arrival of the mamono. Suddenly police were being faced with criminals that could literally tear them apart if they so choose. Most mamono could easily break out of cells designed for humans. Rape against both human men and women in prisons skyrocketed. Construction on "mamono-proof" prisons was already being done.
But mamono did have a positive effect on policing as well. Many mamono officers joined because they saw the sheer lack of compassion and empathy within police forces, especially in countries like the United States. Crime went down and police approval ratings went up.
In Poland fewer mamono were adopting the mantle of police officer compared to other countries. Both because of the smaller mamono population and national reluctance to have them in the force. But a few had proven themselves worthy enough. Including Page, a mind flayer and the station's premiere interrogator.
She had been on the force for a few months but had already become one of the most respected members due to her abilities. She easily was able to find out the truth from less than forthcoming suspects and had helped solve many crimes already.
Today she was getting ready to head out for the evening when she ran into a man, literally. He collided with her and fell promptly on his ass whilst the mind flayer simply toppled over instead.
She quickly stood up again as the man did so as well. He was older for sure, near or at retiring age. It seemed he had worn himself out just by running here, panic was written all over his face as she looked her up and down.
"Yes sir? Is everything alright?"
The man seemed to calm down a little at the sound of her melodic voice.
"I need to report a crime."
Downtown Warsaw
Druella took up Alice's blade and launched it back at the empowered valkyrie. She quickly dodged the blade but caught her surprised look in the reflection of the blade. Had the lilim just tried to kill her?
Her next thought was interrupted by a flurry of punches from Druella. Blows to the gut, kidneys and sternum brought a wave of nausea over the valkyrie as she was launched back by an uppercut to the jaw. Alice landed on the opposite side of the street, next to her blade, which had lodged itself into the wall. She plucked it out of it as Druella sent out more blasts of magic.
Druella growled out in frustration as Alice dodged the blasts while building up magical energy in her blade. In time she launched a golden blast of holy energy at Druella! Druella dodged, but the end of her already wounded wing was caught in the blast. Holy energy burned the wing into a charred black as she groaned out in pain.
Alice tried to rush Druella, only to be caught in a bear hug with the lilim. Druella then took off! The flew for a short distance as Alice struggled in her grip before Druella nosedived toward the earth, valkyrie in tow.
Warsaw Police Station
"I'm sorry sir, can you describe the second one again please." Page asked as confusion flashed over her face.
"I'm telling you mam, it was a mamono. Big white wings and tail, long white hair, horns and all! I've never seen a mamono that looked quite like her before."
Page "furrowed her brow" so to speak. She had heard of that description before, back home. She knew exactly what kind of mamono it was. But what is a lilim doing in Warsaw of all places?
It didn't make sense, she almost didn't want to believe Eryk's story. But shortly after he ran into her, calls and reports came in of two mamono fighting and causing property damage. Some officers had already been sent out while Page took the man's statement.
She couldn't be certain, not until the officers returned. But if a lilim was on Earth, that had huge ramifications. Especially what was going on the day after.
The next day, King Arthur of the Royal Makai was to give a speech in Brussels to not just the European Parliament, but the world at large. If news spread of one of his own children causing trouble, things could easily spiral into a huge scandal.
"Well thank you Eryk for your time. If you need a moment please, relax. Would you like some water?"
"Why yes I would like that I think. Thank y-"
He never got to finish his sentence as a massive BOOM rumbled the building! Windows cracked and shattered as Page and Eryk were shaken violently. As quickly as it came, the shaking ended and with it came silence. For about a second before more crashes and noises could be heard from outside.
Officers, including Page, rapidly made their way to the front doors. Shouting and the pounding of footsteps unable to drown out the noises from outside. Finally, Page made it past the front doors only to witness a horrific sight.
The road before the police station was torn up and destroyed. It was if a bomb had gone off, a large crater stood out in the middle of the once street.
And within that crater sat a valkyrie, a rare "mamono," a servant of the Chief Goddess. But sitting on top of the valkyrie was just what Page both suspected and feared, a lilim. And not just any lilim, but the most dangerous one of all, Druella. She could recognize the tattoos anywhere, she also recognized how much of a clusterfuck the situation had become. Not just for her, or Warsaw, but both Earth and her home.
Brussels, Belgium
Arthur was looking over his speech once more as he relaxed in his hotel room. He felt confident that the next day would be successful. But it doesn't hurt to keep going over the speech. Don't want to screw it up tomorrow after all! He thought as he prepared himself for bed.
Arthur was already impressed with much of what Earth had to offer, but the toiletries held a special place in his heart! Gremlins had already invented flush toilets back in the Makai, but they were primitive compared to the ones he had seen on Earth. Not to mention the showers, already better than the baths back home.
But as he was getting ready to take a shower, an urgent knocking could be heard on his hotel room door. He quickly placed a bathrobe over himself as he answered the door. It was one of his mamono attendants, nervousness present on her face as she straightened up in front of him.
"Is something the matter?"
"W-well my king, it's the French ambassador. Apparently, something is going on in the place known as Poland. He says it's serious and needs to speak with you immediately!"
Arthur frowned but nodded as he closed the door. As he got his clothes back on, he wondered what exactly was the problem out in Poland. Especially if it required his attention.
Hopefully it was nothing.
Warsaw, Poland
Druella looked down at her opponent with wild abandon. She grinned like a maniac as she started to wail on the valkyrie with punch after punch! Each one infused with a little demonic energy to try and wear down Alice faster.
It was working. Alice felt more and more exhausted, but also hot and bothered. She couldn't let this keep going! So she channeled some holy energy into her skin just as the lilim punched down again. Druella gasped in pain as her knuckles came back red and irritated like they were suffering a sunburn.
It was just enough for Alice to take up her sword again and slice into Druella's side. The lilim screeched out as she grabbed the blade herself, blood leaking out of both the cut to her side and her hands. Druella wrenches the blade away but that was all it took for Alice to lift her up and toss her down the road.
Druella skidded across the ground before being stopped when she collided with a car. She groaned as she stood up. Never before had she fought an opponent that could not only hurt her, but perhaps even had a chance of winning…
No! Druella yelled in her head. I can't, I won't lose to that chief bitch's tool! Druella had to end this fight, and quickly.
Alice had picked up her blade and began to stalk back to the lilim. She didn't get far before being stopped, not by Druella, but a human. Several humans in fact, the local authorities had finally come to meet the two forces of nature.
"Halt!" One yelled in their native tongue as more police poured out from the police station. Weapons in hand as they raised them at Alice. Others ran down the street to confront Druella.
Alice snorted at this display. They couldn't hurt her even if she let them try. Thanks to her magic, she replied back in perfect Polish.
"Man. I wish not to hurt you, but if you don't stand aside, I will force you to!" Alice let out a little holy magic to try to scare them off. It certainly unsettled them but the humans stood their ground.
Very well. She thought as she charged them faster then they could ever hope to react. Men were tossed aside, bones broken and knocked out. The few mamono they had with them quickly found themselves an audience with Hel. But the humans were spared from death. She didn't want to kill the innocent, only the monsters. Monsters like Druella.
Druella half smirked as the men who tried to stop her found themselves twitching and moaning on the ground. A shame the mamono tried to stop Alice, a greater shame she killed them. She would stop Alice, she had to.
Alice gently pushed one of the knocked out police out of the way and retrieved her blade from under him. She twisted around to face her real opponent as Druella came marching down the road. The two face each other for a moment, scowls plastered over both women's faces.
The two then launched themselves towards each other. Blade and magic ready to strike out at each other as the titanic battle continued.
Brussels, Belgium
Arthur couldn't read the expression on the ambassador's face as he marched over to the human. It seemed to be some mixture of anger, fright, curiosity, nervousness. Nothing happy could be found upon his face.
"You wished to see me?" Arthur asked as he sat down at the, comparatively, small table. The ambassador pulled out his phone and opened up one of the apps.
"Yes I did, you care to explain this?" The phone was slid over to the king of the mamono.
Playing on it was a video with a news crawl below it. The video, while a bit blurry and shaky, was still clear enough to show Arthur what was happening. Two mamono, or more accurately one mamono and one valkyrie, were in the midst of a bloody fight. The pair were tearing up the roads, damaging buildings and putting civilians in danger!
It was then Arthur took a little more notice of the mamono engaging the valkyrie. The white hair, wings and tail were a dead giveaway. A lilim, one of his own daughters, was seemingly fighting for her life! He couldn't tell which one, the footage wasn't clear enough, but it was without a doubt one of his kin.
What was she doing here! Which one is she? Why is she doing this..? MY DAUGHTER IS IN DANGER!
"I'm sorry I have to go now! Where is this happening?!" Arthur demanded as he shot up from his seat, nearly flipping the table over!
"I'm sorry your majesty, but you can't just leave! We already have people who are doing everything they can to stop this! YOU need to answer as to why a lilim of all people is on Earth!"
Arthur scowls before turning on his heels to face the ambassador. For a moment, a spark of fear is seen in the man's eyes as the incubus king towers over him.
"My family comes before all else ambassador. If an agent of the Chief Goddess is trying to harm one of my children, then I cannot just stand by and watch! Surely you would do the same if you knew something terrible was happening to your child and you could stop it. Inform your parlament that I will be unable to make it tomorrow, I'm sure they will understand."
The ambassador makes a face like a fish out of water. Never in his life had he felt such an imposing presence from someone merely a few feet away. Arthur irradiated such authority and power. Was it because of his status as an incubus?
These thoughts prevented the man from calling back to Arthur as he made his way out of the room and upstairs. He had to reach the mages quickly if he was going to get to Warsaw in time.
Warsaw, Poland
Druella moaned, in pain.
The clash had left both mamono weaker. Druella had fresh cuts all across her body. Alice's skin was turning purple in places, and not because of bruising. Both combatants were slowing down. If either wanted a decisive win over the other, they had to do it now.
Druella smirked as she slowly stood up, popping her joints as she did so. She could see her demonic energy working its magic. Soon, very soon, Alice would turn. She just had to survive her blade until then.
Alice, for her part, also smirked as she herself rose. The cuts and wounds on the lilim's body still weren't healing. Lilims, alongside all their other abilities, had a healing factor. It was fairly slow but still visible to the eye,
But Druella's wounds still hadn't healed, the holy energy was keeping her from restoring herself. Only a couple of more hits and the daughter of Lilith would fall. Alice just needed to hold out long enough to land the final blow and put an end to the Fourth Born.
The valkyrie lifted her blade once more and charged the lilim. Druella sluggishly dodged the blade before taking Alice by the waist and tossing her up and towards a building. She slammed into the side of it, smashing through a window and into the building itself. Druella flexed her wings before gasping in pain. The injuries, which had slowly stopped bleeding, opened once again.
Druella bit her lip before taking off to reach the building's second story. Making her way through the hole in the wall Alice made, she lit up some balls of demonic energy. The valkyrie was nowhere to be seen. The room was empty, the only sounds she could hear were the screams of humans and the sirens of their vehicles.
The door into the room was ajar. The lilim inched her way over to it, putting out a ball of energy, she gently reached for the handle…
The door was ripped off its hinges and tossed backwards and out of the hole in the wall. Druella held up the other ball of demonic energy and stared down the hallway. Nothing.
There were numerous other doorways down the hall. Most of the doors were shut save a few. Druella reignited the other ball of demonic energy as she slowly made her way down the hall. She cursed her choice of shoes, the clack of her heels making it a struggle to stay silent. As she made her way past a pair of doors on both sides of her she looked into the right door while preparing to cast a silencing spell on her shoes.
She didn't notice the blade coming down from the left door until it was too late.
Druella didn't even feel the weapon's strike at first. It was only after her left wing came crashing to the ground and the blood pouring forth from her wound did the pain overcome her adrenaline.
Alice leered even as the lilim's scream shattered the windows and nearly burst the valkyrie's eardrums. A shame Druella moved her head to cast the spell, but her left wing was good enough for now.
Alice tried to follow up with a decapitation, but Druella moved out of the way. Just barely. Instead the lilim lunged at Alice.
What Alice saw in her eyes was something she had yet to see in her mamono opponents. In many cases, between humans, valkyries, and the occasional elf or dwarf. True anger or rage was very rare. Usually mamono either had a sense of cockiness or superiority in themselves if they were winning. If they were losing, it was usually fear. Fear that they would fail to spread their parasitic ways onto another innocent knight or civilian.
But the anger, hurt, and rage in Druella's eyes was something Alice had never seen before in a mamono. That sense of superiority was still there as well, but amplified in ways Alice had never seen before.
The two balls of demonic energy were practically shoved into her face! Alice screamed in pleasure as the balls of magic went into her eyes! She tried to rub it out but Druella's attacks continued. More magical balls of purple energy were thrown at her as she stumbled back further into the room she had been hiding in.
As Druella's anger and rage peaked however, those balls of demonic energy slowly turned into balls of fire. The red-purple flames began their work upon Alice. Burning her skin and causing her to cry out in pain instead.
Eventually, Druella forced Alice up towards the window on the far wall. The fire doing more and more damage to her. She had to do something before Druella really tried to kill her!
Narrowly avoiding another fireball, Alice grabbed Druella's arm and tossed her behind herself. The lilim smashed into the window and fell out of sight. Alice briefly rushed back to grab her sword before trying to use her holy energy to heal her wounds. The burns left charred marks all over her skin.
The wounds slowly began to heal as she did so, but the heat in her core, her lust, flared. In siphoning away holy energy combating the demonic energy, she left herself more vulnerable to it. The purple splotches grew all over her body. She quickly decided to end her healing as she turned and peered out of the broken window and down into the alleyway below.
Below sat Druella, desperately trying to heal her now stump of a wing. Tears streaked down the lilim's cheeks as the wound did heal, but the wing hadn't grown back. Simply too much was lost.
Alice leapt out of the window and towards the ground below, sword drawn. She made her way over to the sitting lilim, a limp in her step. Druella let out a slight gasp before standing and turning towards Alice. Magic poured into the lilim's hands again, though noticeably weaker.
"Enough lilim," Alice boasted. "My goddess gave me unmatched power, power that even your ilk cannot defeat. Surrender now and I'll give you a quick death. You deserve that much at least."
Druella merely scowled at this. I may be down, but I'm certainly not out! She thought as she tried to draw in more magical power.
But Alice made the first move, thrusting out with her blade. Druella tried to dodge but took a deep cut to her right side. At that she finally collapsed, the magic disappearing from her hands. Alice towered over her, sword in hand as she stepped around Druella's broken body.
"You refused my offer lilim," she said. "And now you'll pay the price. I'll be sure to make this as painful as possible."
Alice kicked Druella in the side, causing her to cry out in pain and turn onto her back. Druella stared up at the burnt and partially corrupted valkyrie.
"Hmm, you do have pretty eyes. But of course everything about you is pretty, better at being an unholy parasite that way. I think I'll take those eyes first, what do you think?"
Alice didn't give Druella a chance to reply before raising her blade. Intending to kill a lilim for the first time in the "species'" history.
But she never got the chance, for before she could bring down a blade, a different one pierced her chest!
Both lilim and valkyrie stared at the demon realm silver sword. It was a huge blade, one only a huge mamono or incubus could realistically carry. Upon the blade were detailed carvings that, while serving no real tactical purpose, did help to identify the weapon's owner. Not that said owner wasn't hard to spot. For behind Alice stood a mountain of a man, a man Druella knew very well. It was her father after all.
Arthur, king of the Royal Makai, had arrived.
Brussels, Belgium
Magic was the biggest equalizer Arthur's world had with Earth. With it you could do almost anything. From summoning great powers to traveling great distances in an instant. Magic was something to be respected.
But it was the latter example that brought Arthur before the mages of his group. After showing them the video he made his request known. After assembling the group in one of the hotel's private conference rooms; Mitha, the dark mage who had accompanied her king's group, stepped forward.
"Your highness, transporting you to this, Warsaw, is very much possible. However, given the distance, we won't be able to send all of us at once."
"That is of no concern to me, only I and some of you need to go. Some to transport us there, some to transport us all back."
Mitha nods at this before she and a handful of others move to stand by Arthur as the rest of his magical entourage begin to wave their various magical focuses. Staffs, wands, even hands glow brightly with magical essence as a purple halo appears on the conference room floor.
Within moments the environment within the halo begins to shift. The warmth of the hotel is replaced with a cold gust as if outside. The ground beneath the group's feet shifts from carpet to asphalt. The hotel itself soon completely disappears as the city of Warsaw appears in view. A few moments later the purple halo disappears. Arthur and his entourage arrived in Warsaw.
The king looks around for a moment, taking in a deep breath, before he holds out his own hand. He reaches out with his own magic to try and find his daughter. He closes his eyes and blocks out the sound of the city around him.
Then he feels it. A heartbeat, a soul, a body, and a mind. All belonging to a lilim, all belonging to his daughter, all belonging to Druella. His eyes snap open and he races towards her.
While mamono are considered stronger and faster compared to their incubus husbands and especially humans. Arthur is on another level, he quickly fades from his group's view as he races towards his daughter. Being mindful of not running into any people or vehicles.
Eventually he made it past what looked to be a damaged police station. Officers were either wounded, making out with each other, or dead. All around him the physical damage of his daughter's fight was evident. He merely had to follow the trail of destruction.
Eventually he arrived at a small alleyway. Down which he saw a truly horrific display. His daughter was lying on the ground, clearly hurt. And above her stood a valkyrie, sword as the ready, poised to kill his daughter.
He acted without really thinking.
Warsaw, Poland
Alice's jaw hung slack. Her eyes bulged as the blade drove further and further through her. Already the last of her energy was being sapped, her holy power being extinguished, the corruption of the demonic energy was already spreading once more at a horrifically rapid pace..
She had failed.
Arthur dislodged the blade from the valkyrie's torso. She gasped and sputtered and she keeled over. Arthur had transferred over a significant amount of demonic energy into the holy warrior with his blade. Soon enough she'd turn. But for now his daughter's health was far more important.
"Daddy?" Druella asked as she gasped in pain. The sheer amount of bleeding would have killed a human, would have brought most mamono to unconsciousness. But his daughter was a trooper. He gently smiled as he began to tear up. He began to apply healing magics to her as he took note of her more serious wounds. The missing wing couldn't be replaced unless healed directly by her mother or one of the goddesses.
Eventually the bleeding stopped but the scars remained, the bigger wounds only had a very thin layer of skin and muscle over them. But Druella was stable enough. She reached for her father, to hold her up. He did so readily as she began to cry over his shoulder. He too began to cry.
"M-my baby girl. I'm so, so sorry."