Chapter 11a: "Lerina"
Monoghon
Adrian and the anthropomorphized Peacekeepers emerged from the sewers. Order soldiers were running around in a panic, all of them heading towards an area close to the castle. Adrian looked at the sky and saw a massive smoke cloud emerging from the blast site. This was Aperia's doing? He wondered. From what he was told about Aperia, they were a mixture of humans, mamono and angels. The human and angel population all seemed to hate the Order with a burning passion, as well as Druella and the extremists. They did seem like the type of people to cause a massive explosion to disorient their enemies.
Saralyn glanced at the map of the Monoghon High Security prison. It appeared that it was located near the lower-class neighborhoods of the city, south from their position.
Thankfully, the situation had a silver lining. People ran around randomly, some holding buckets of water to put out the fires, others escorting injured citizens to safety. The Peacekeepers could sprint around without looking too suspicious.
Adrian did notice something strange. A hooded woman walking casually past all of the scared citizens.
A couple of Order soldiers pushed past the woman, grumbling something about holes in security and being vulnerable. The woman stopped for a second, mumbling something under her breath, then continued walking.
Disregarding her, Adrian and the Peacekeepers pushed past her and began running towards the prison as fast as they could.
After ten minutes they had arrived at the high security prison. Hiding at a large tree outside of the prison, they surveyed the building. Imposing, high stone walls circled the intimidating looking building. There were no normal windows, only thick steel barred windows in neat rows and columns across the walls. The prison was mostly dark, all of the inhabitants asleep or on guard.
The Peacekeeper's plans had remained the same for the most part. Naira uttered an invisibility spell on herself and Jordan, then reverted back to her wyvern form. The two of them took off, barely visible. Adrian hoped that none of the guards would look too hard at the sky.
Adrian, Saralyn, Ava and Sinclair had decided beforehand that they would need disguises. While studying the map, someone walked over to them.
"You're trying to get into the prison, aren't you?"
The four of them nearly jumped out of their skin. Ava drew her weapon, growling at the outsider. Adrian looked her up and down. She was the person that was following them earlier.
"And you are?"
The woman held her hands together, a scared and sad expression on her face. "My name is Lerina. I'm an elf." Lerina lifted her hood, showing them her pointed ears. "Please, you have to help me! My husband is in that prison, they're going to kill him!" Adrian was sympathetic to her situation, but they were under enough pressure as is.
"Save him yourself, we've got enough on our hands. We really don't need some crybaby light elf dragging us down." Sinclair snapped at the elf.
Lerina looked like she was about to burst into tears. "PLEASE! W-w-we can help each other out! I've been in that prison before! I know that there's a secret entrance! It's on the roof, please let me come with you!"
Sinclair raised an eyebrow. "Well. Maybe having you on our side might be useful after all. But if you're lying…" Sinclair got up in Larine's face. "I'm going to show you why dark elves are feared amongst mamono."
Lerina's eyes widened. She nodded her head. "Thank you! I promise I won't let you down."
Saralyn walked over to Lerina. "Thanks for the information. Do you know where that hole leads to in the prison?"
"It leads to the isolation chambers. It's where people who are about to be executed are kept."
"How convenient…That's probably where Azurith is being kept."
Adrian smiled. All they would need to do is take out the guards, find Azurith, and leave. Then they would wait for the rest of the mamono forces to free the prisoners, send in Lescatie's army and take over Monoghon. He was pleasantly surprised at the turn of events, and helping a fellow mamono out would make up for some of the stress he had been through.
Lerina smiled. "Follow me! I'm pretty sure I saw a ladder leading to the roof. All we need to do is sneak past the guards!"
Adrian, Saralyn, Ava, Sinclair began following Lerina's lead. The elf began climbing the tree, and perched on a thick branch. Bending her knees, she sprinted forward and leaped onto the thick stone walls surrounding the prison.
"Once you get onto the wall, stay on your stomach! We don't want to get spotted yet."
"Of course we don't…" Sinclair scoffed.
The group made it onto the wall. Lerina began to drop down from the wall, and motioned for the rest of the group to follow her. Painstakingly waiting for the guards to switch their patrol, the five of them took the opportunity to get to the ladder. Waiting for the next patrol switch, the five of them climbed the ladder and got onto the roof.
"Where's the entrance, light-elf?" Sinclair growled.
"J-just relax! We have to walk a bit!" Lerina began to search for the hole in the roof. To the group's displeasure, they had to search for a full fifteen minutes to find the hole. Lerina clearly didn't know where the hole was, just that there was a hole in the roof. To make matters worse, Ava seemed rather untrusting of Lerina. Like most kunoichis, she wore a mask, but Adrian could see skepticism in her eyes.
"Ava, why are you acting like this?" Adrian questioned
"I don't trust her." Ava mumbled from underneath her mask, barely audible.
"Like I said, she's been in this prison before. She's probably the one person we can trust."
"How did she know we were breaking in too?" Ava whispered. Adrian could barely hear her.
"..."
"I'm going to stick a knife in her if she tries anything funny." Ava growled.
Saralyn put a hand on Ava's shoulder. "Ava… She just wants to rescue her husband. Don't be so aggressive." Ava didn't say anything else.
Dropping down into the hole, the hallway was mercifully empty. The group ducked into a supply closet nearby, barricading the door. How familiar, Adrian thought to himself, amused.
"Alright, we stick with the plan. Me and Adrian get rid of the mages holding up the cells and find Azurith, Sinclair and Ava will be leading the mamono prisoners once they realize they can break out again. Lerina, you're welcome to join us once you find your husband." Saralyn explained.
"Thank you, but… I want to come with you." Lerina said. "My husband is probably near Azurith."
Adrian and Saralyn nodded. Her husband was in the same situation as Azurith, after all; about to be executed. They would probably be in the same place. Ava, however, was not impressed. She glared at Lerina, prompting her to put her hands up in fear.
"I just want to rescue my husband!" Lerina defended herself.
"Cool it, Ava. As much as I dislike light-elves, she's been pretty helpful so far. The least we can do is help her find her husband." Sinclair reassured Ava. The kunoichi turned away, shaking her head.
"Good luck, you two." Sinclair waved to Adrian and Saralyn.
"Likewise."
Adrian, Saralyn, and Lerina left the closet. Looking at the map of the prison, a symbol of a lightning bolt marked a room. Looking at the key of the map, the lightning bolt was supposed to represent the mage's personal bedrooms. Following the map, they came up to the door to the room they would be in.
"Now's sort of a bad time to ask, but… Do you have a weapon?" Saralyn asked Lerina. The elf pulled out an ornate blue and yellow looking sword in response and grinned.
"Good." Saralyn drew her revolvers, and Adrian took out the Ballista from his back.
"On three, one, two, THREE!" Saralyn kicked the door to the mage's bedroom open. Four mages in silvery robes looked over at them in shock. Adrian immediately pulled the switch on the Ballista, ejecting the mamono realm silver blade. It flew across the room and buried itself into one of the mages.
The other three immediately began drawing on their magic and began barraging the trio with ice, wind and lightning spells. All three of them ducked out of the room and took cover. Immediately, Saralyn noticed that they were firing much stronger spells than any normal mages. Gray incubi, most likely. The wall between the hallway and the room was torn to bits in seconds.
Saralyn rolled under a bolt of ice and began firing on one of the mages, the robed man blocking the bullets with his staff. Lerina sliced through one of the ice bolts with her sword, grunting in exertion.
Adrian pulled out a throwing knife from his belt and threw it as hard as he could at one of the mages. It embedded itself in the mage's leg, causing him to slip slightly. Adrian saw the blade of the Ballista, still stuck in the unconscious mage's chests. He needed to get it back, but it was all the way across the room.
A bolt of lightning struck Saralyn in the chest. The dhampir recoiled in pain and stumbled back to whatever cover they had that wasn't destroyed. Lerina didn't even look over at her, too focused on dodging the mage's attacks.
Adrian held the hilt of the Ballista out, fruitlessly looking for some other way to somehow recover the blade. A wind spell hit him square in the jaw, knocking him into a wall so hard he could feel his body vibrating. The Ballista's hilt landed on the floor, skidding a little bit before coming to a stop, pointing directly at where the blade was. Adrian got up and crawled over to where Saralyn was hiding.
Suddenly, the Ballista began doing something strange. Both the blade and the hilt began shaking. Across the room, the blade began to pull itself out of the unconscious mage. Once it was free, it suddenly rocketed across the room towards the hilt. One of the mages was unfortunately in the blade's path, getting impaled through the stomach, falling unconscious immediately. The remaining two yelled out in shock, staring over their shoulder at where the blade had landed. The blade reattached itself to the hilt with a quiet click.
Both Saralyn and Lerina took advantage of the distraction. Saralyn fired several shots directly at one of the mages, who turned around just in time to get knocked out cold. Adrian scooped up the Ballista, and the three of them advanced on the last mage. He panicked, dropping his staff on the ground and putting his hands up.
"I surrender! D-don't kill me, please!"
Saralyn pointed her revolver to the mage's head. "Where is Azurith being kept?!"
"Down the hall! Take a right and a left!"
"Thanks." Saralyn began pulling the trigger.
"Wai-" The mage dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Lerina seemed unfazed. "We should go. The guards probably heard everything."
The three of them quickly sprinted down the hallways. Sounds of chaos and fighting came from downstairs, the imprisoned mamono figuring out that the cells could no longer hold them. Eventually, they came across a door with a sign saying "Do not enter" on it. Disregarding the warning, they kicked the door open. Two guards began fumbling for their weapons, only for Saralyn to shoot one of them and Adrian to deliver a nonlethal slash through the other one's chest. In the cell behind them, was Azurith.
Azurith quickly woke up, looking around in fear. Saralyn nodded at her, smiling.
"We're here to rescue you."
"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou-" The demon rambled.
"Save it for later, we need to get out of here." The dhampir cut her off. Saralyn opened the cell door and Adrian cut apart the now useless magical chains binding her. The demon stood up with Adrian's assistance.
"He's MINE." Saralyn reminded the demon.
"I know, I know…" Azurith kept on holding onto Adrian.
"Lerina, you think you can do us a favor? Try and link up with the others, and tell them that we've secured Azurith." Saralyn looked over at Lerina. The elf nodded, and began walking back the way they came.
Adrian turned towards Azurith. "Can you walk?" He asked.
"I think so." Azurith took a few steps forwards. Adrian noticed dried up blood on the demon's revealing clothing covering her torso, all around the stomach area.
Azurith seemed to be fine for the most part. From the few demons Adrian knew about, they were tough monsters.
All three of them quickly left the room and began going the way they came. The sounds of fighting from downstairs had quieted down, indicating that Ava and Sinclair had finished up. Jordan and Naira hadn't warned them about any incoming Order forces, but it was likely that they would be coming soon once someone warned them about what was happening at the prison.
Suddenly, Adrian heard footsteps coming from behind them. Turning around, Ballista in hand, he saw a blur of white charge at him, knocking him to the ground. Out of pure instinct, he managed to push Azurith out of the way before whatever attacked him killed her too.
Looking up, Adrian saw Lerina, holding the same sword she had used to assist them in their battle just a few minutes ago. Only, it wasn't Lerina. Her simple traveler's clothing had been replaced by blue, yellow and white light armor, and her eyes had become a darker shade of blue than before. More shocking was the two pairs of wings coming out of her back, and the glowing halo above her head. A Valkyrie.
The valkyrie went in for a killing blow, Adrian managing to roll out of the way and get to his feet, the blade just barely missing his head. Adrian quickly backed up as the valkyrie pulled her blade out of the floor. Saralyn, seeing everything, had backed up into the hallway, Azurith hiding behind her as she aimed her guns at Lerina.
"Let me guess, your name isn't Lerina, and you don't actually have a husband."
"Correct, extremist. My name is Raniel. As much as I despise your type, we can resolve things peacefully. Hand over Azurith, now." Raniel spoke in a hostile and cold tone.
"AZURITH! RUN!" Azurith didn't need to be told twice. She turned heel and began sprinting as fast as she could out into the hallway. Raniel sighed in annoyance.
"What did I expect…?"
Saralyn immediately began firing everything she could at the valkyrie, but the bullets bounced harmlessly off of Raniel's armor. Stopping to look over at Saralyn, Raniel dashed forward and kicked her in the stomach, causing her to fly into the wall and lose her grip on her guns. Adrian tried to attack, but Raniel blocked the attack instantly and threw a fist into Adrian's chest, knocking him to the ground. She raised her sword above her head, preparing to deliver a killing blow.
Suddenly the wall separating the room from the outside shattered into a mess of stone, dust and metal, and a blur of dark red slammed into Raniel, knocking her through the wall. Adrian looked up to see his savior, Naira with Jordan on her back.
"Get Saralyn and Azurith out of here! We'll handle the valkyrie!" Naira pointed towards Saralyn. Adrian scrambled to his feet and helped Saralyn up. In the next room, Raniel got to her feet and began looking for Azurith, but the wyvern and her rider were faster. Naira quickly grabbed Raniel by the wing and threw her out of the prison, a frustrated scream coming from the valkyrie. The three of them began an aerial duel, exchanging blows in the air. Raniel expertly dodged a stab from Jordan's spear and then sidestepped Naira's claws. The valkyrie attempted to disengage, but the two of them wouldn't let her.
Inside the prison, Saralyn and Adrian quickly ran in the direction of where Azurith ran off in. They found her dashing across a hallway. To Saralyn and Adrian's horror, a group of Order soldiers appeared at the other end of the hallway, having discovered their battle with the gray incubus mages. The soldiers began to chase her, shouting curses and threats at the demon.
Azurith immediately turned around, looking at Adrian and Saralyn for a moment, then dashing towards them and hiding behind their backs. Adrian held the Ballista up in a defensive position, and Saralyn pulled out her guns. The soldiers charged at them, but there wasn't much they could do against a person with guns in a narrow hallway, and were quickly shot down as a result.
They could hear the sounds of fighting and shouting getting closer and closer to their position. It was clear that Raniel was trying to kill Azurith. Meryl was right. Aperia was attacking, just not with an army. Why they wanted to kill Azurith, however, was beyond him. All they knew was that she was in danger, and they needed to get her somewhere safe quickly.
The sounds of chaos inside the prison had been replaced with the sounds of chaos outside of the prison, slowly but surely getting closer by the second. Raniel was clearly trying to disengage and go after Azurith, but Naira and Jordan weren't allowing it.
The door at the end of the hallway opened up. Adrian and Saralyn both raised their weapons, preparing for another ambush, only for it to be Sinclair. Behind her was a large group of mamono, holding makeshift weapons like metal bars or wooden planks. Scars and scratches pockmarked their bodies.
Adrian and Saralyn lowered their weapons. "Oh, it's just you."
"I see you've got Azurith safe and sound. But where's the light-elf?" Sinclair asked.
Saralyn shook her head. "Where do I even begin? She's a traitor. Her name isn't Lerina, it's Raniel. She's not even an elf, she's a valkyrie. And she wants Azurith dead."
Sinclair's expression turned to anger. "Damn… Ava was right to suspect her!
Adrian looked around. "Speaking of which… Where is she?"
"I sent her to the rooftops with the flare spell. Reinforcements should be here soon. In the meantime, just get her to the sewers. The sooner Azurith gets out of Monoghon, the better." Sinclair ordered the two of them. Adrian and Saralyn nodded, taking Azurith by the hand and leading her to the hole in the prison they had used to enter. The three of them emerged onto the rooftops.
The sounds of Raniel's fight with Naira and Jordan could be heard even clearer outside. Adrian, Saralyn and Azurith both ducked down. Adrian peeked over a wall, trying to see where the fighting was happening. He spotted the three of them at the west side of the prison, two blurs of dark red and white slamming into each other at crazy speeds.
"Stay low. We can't afford to get spotted." The three of them dropped to their stomachs, slowly crawling across the roof to where the ladder down was. When they finally got to the ladder, they looked down. All three of their hearts dropped simultaneously. Order soldiers were everywhere, covering every exit. Some of them pointed at the sky where Raniel and Naira and Jordan were fighting.
Adrian quickly pulled back. "Fuck, fuck, fuck… How are we going to get out of here?" He cursed.
Something slammed down right next to them, startling the trio. Naira and Jordan had landed right to them, cracking the roof. Jordan waved to Azurith frantically.
"GET ON!" The demon quickly scrambled onto Naira's back without a word. Once she was on, she spread her wings and immediately flew as fast she could away from the prison. Raniel rocketed past Adrian and Saralyn at an equally fast speed, chasing the three of them.
"Link up with Sinclair and Ava! Hold out until reinforcements get here, we'll make sure Azurith is safe!" Jordan yelled as they flew off, his voice barely audible.
Adrian and Saralyn looked at each other, and re-entered the prison.
Chapter 11b: Rapid Deterioration
Raniel was furious beyond belief. At herself, at the Order, and especially at the mamono extremists. Everything had gone to hell. Her plan to disguise herself had worked flawlessly, but the stupid wyvern and her rider had interrupted her at the last moment.
The dark red wyvern stared at the incubus and the human that had broken Azurith out. "Get Azurith out of here! We'll handle the valkyrie!" The wyvern yelled out to them. They turned away and disappeared into the prison. Raniel tried to chase after them, but the wyvern and her rider flew at insane speeds and blocked her way into the prison.
"Don't try it, valkyrie." The rider told Raniel.
"Get out of my way!" Raniel roared charged at the pair, attempting to push them out of the way, but the rider blocked Raniel's sword with his spear. He quickly thrusted it out at Raniel, forcing her back.
"If you want her, you'll have to get past us first. Even so, you'll have to deal with the others if you really want her." The dark red wyvern growled.
"So bet it, then!" Raniel screamed in rage.
The valkyrie flew as fast as she could towards the wyvern and her rider. The man on top thrusted his spear out towards him and the wyvern swung her claws in a wide arc to try and hit her. Raniel changed course, going under their attacks. She jabbed her sword upwards, intent on impaling the wyvern through the stomach. Her blade met nothing but air as the wyvern flew upwards just in time.
Looking up, Raniel threw herself to the side as the wyvern's claws shot through the air where she just was half a second ago. Turning around, the wyvern's claws and her rider's spear began to slice through the air, just barely missing Raniel each time.
Eventually, Raniel blocked the attack instead of dodging. The wyverns claws slammed into her sword with a very loud clang, the two of them pushing against each other, angelic strength matching draconic strength. Raniel looked up just in time and moved her head to the side, as the rider nearly impaled her head on his spear. The valkyrie pushed away from the wyvern, flying several feet back.
Raniel tried to disengage again, but the wyvern wasn't having it. They flew directly in the path of the hole in the prison, blocking her again. The valkyrie decided that she needed to finish the two of them off before going after Azurith, or at least distract them long enough for her to get away.
Raniel gathered her magic in her hand. A swirling mass of holy energy appeared above her hand, quickly forming into a shimmering white bow with an arrow already loaded in. Taking aim, she fired a white arrow at the wyvern, the projectile leaving a trail of sparkling particles behind it. The wyvern easily dodged the arrow, but it curved around, stabbing the wyvern in the leg. The wyvern shouted in pain, its rider briefly looking behind it to see what was wrong.
Raniel took the opportunity and flew straight up towards the wyvern and her rider, sword above her head preparing to cut the wyvern in half. The wyvern just barely managed to swerve out of the way, a small trickle of blood coming from the wyvern's wing. The rider looked at his mount's injury with concern, but the wyvern shook her head to let him know it was okay.
Below them, a massive group of Order soldiers had gathered outside of the prison. Some of them looked up, pointing at the three combatants. Some even fired arrows at the wyvern, but they were too far off the ground for them to hit, the projectiles being more of a threat to the soldiers than their targets.
Raniel began gathering her energy, preparing to finish off the two of them. The wyvern and her rider looked on with concern, the two of them flying back a couple yards. Raniel's body took on a yellow glow, and her eyes shined white. She charged at them, the rider holding his spear in a defensive position to attempt to block the valkyrie's sword. Upon contact, it shattered, leaving the rider defenseless. Raniel unleashed a flurry of powerful attacks, the wyvern just barely able to block them. Two slipped through, slashing across the reptile's chest, another catching their thighs. Raniel began attacking harder, faster. She was close, she could feel it.
The wyvern began looking very worried. Turning around, she spread her wings and began retreating, the rider almost falling off from the sheer speed the wyvern was flying at. Raniel immediately gave chase, mere feet behind them. The rider turned around and threw something at Raniel, catching her in the face. A firebomb. Raniel instinctively held her arms up in defense, blocking the flames from harming her body. The duo sped off, disappearing from sight.
Raniel immediately flew in the direction they went in and found them with the incubus and human, and Azurith. The wyvern was taking Azurith onto her back, trying to get her to safety. The valkyrie grinned, the fools had led her right to them!
"GET ON!" The rider yelled.
She flew towards them at full speed with her sword outstretched, preparing to impale Azurith through the chest and finish the job. The wyvern just barely managed to fly off in time. Raniel sighed, and chased after them, disregarding the startled incubus and human.
"Link up with Sinclair and Ava! Hold out until reinforcements get here, we'll make sure Azurith is safe!" The rider yelled out to his companions on the roof.
Speeding towards her target, Raniel gathered her magic once more, firing off a dozen or so blasts of holy energy towards the wyvern. The rider and Azurith both clung to her body as the wyvern swerved to avoid the projectiles. Taking a turn, the wyvern began flying towards a large tower in the distance. Raniel was gaining on them, slowly getting closer and closer to them when suddenly they turned. Raniel quickly stopped flying to see where they went, her inertia carrying her several more feet before she came to a complete stop. The wyvern, her rider and Azurith were nowhere to be seen in the air.
The sound of rocks crumbling reached the valkyrie's ears. She looked down, and saw a dust cloud emerging from the street, citizens and Order soldiers gathered around it. Raniel inferred that the wyvern and her companions had dived into the street! Flying over to the impact site, she fired several bolts of explosive holy energy at the crater, hoping to finish them off. The blast knocked the onlookers away, injuring most and killing a few. Raniel didn't care. Subtlety be damned, she was going to kill that demon no matter what.
Landing in the expanded crater, she smelled something awful. Looking around her, she must've landed in the sewers. Raniel grimaced as she felt sewage cling to her leggings. Flying above the sewage to avoid getting dirty, she began exploring the sewers to see where Azurith and her saviors had escaped to.
Kovalt pushed past the panicking citizens of Monoghon, cursing like a sailor. News had come up that Lescatie's forces had been storming the prison to free Azurith and the monster prisoners from the failed takeover. To make matters worse, the king and queen of Monoghon had vanished when the city needed them the most. Nobody had seen them since the massive explosion.
Kovalt deeply regretted leaving Azurith alone, but hopefully he could get the situation under control again. He didn't care if he had to fight an entire legion of monsters to regain some semblance of control. Monoghon had lasted through worse. Throughout history, they had withstood the invasions of several mamono lords before Lilith, and each and every time they had come out on top. Monoghon wouldn't fall anytime soon if Kovalt had anything to do with it.
He thought of Kari. If Monoghon was turned into a mamono realm, she would be transformed. A ten year old monster, head full of nothing but lewd thoughts. Kovalt's mind was filled with horrible, depraved scenarios. He imagined her chasing the nearest man that caught her eye, uncaring of the age difference between the two of them. He began to remember what he had read about mamono fully allowing and welcoming incest. It sent a shiver down his spine. He couldn't let his daughter be monsterized. What would his wife think about him if he couldn't protect his daughter from the same fate she suffered? Forcing himself to move faster, he began a full on sprint towards the prison.
Reaching the gates, he simply gathered his energy and jumped over them, not wanting to waste time with opening them. The Order was already launching an attack to reclaim the prison. Pushing and shoving to the front of the small army, he kicked open the main entrance to the prison, not heeding his fellow warrior's complaints. Up above, he caught a brief glimpse of a valkyrie chasing down a wyvern, her rider yelling out to someone on the roof.
Azurith's cell was located in a hard to reach area on the top floor of the prison. They might've lost control of the prisoners of war, but if he could reach her, he could force the mamono forces to stand down. If he was lucky, Azurith wouldn't have been discovered yet.
A group of ghouls and a group of werewolves stood between him and the stairs, all of them clamoring to have sex with their husbands. They looked up, and saw him charging towards them. Kovalt unleashed the most powerful light spell he had on the ghouls, causing them to scream and claw at their faces, some of them even having their skin burned slightly. The werewolves all got up and dashed on all fours towards him, leaping in the air with claws outstretched. Pulling out his sword, he delivered painful slashes to all five of them, causing them to drop to the ground. He didn't bother finishing them off. His top priority was to get to Azurith.
Quickly advancing up the stairs, he saw a trio of kamaitachis on a landing. Deadly Zipangunese monsters with sickles attached to their arms, known for their blindingly fast speeds and always coming in a trio. The three weasel-monsters turned towards him.
"Sisters… he looks so handsome! And a hero too, we're so lucky! I bet he has enough spirit energy to sustain all of us. Come on, cutie. It will feel amazing. Just drop your sword and let us love you…"
The kamaitachi trio sniffed the air, their expression of excitement suddenly turning to that of disappointment.
"Sisters, it appears he is married already. How disappointing."
Kovalt refused to back down. He simply stared at them, eyes full of contempt.
"Regardless, hero, we're going to have to put you to bed for a little bit. We'll search for your wife and give her the transformation she deserves. The two of you can be happy together forever. Sounds good, right hero?"
"And Druella wonders why we fight back…" Kovalt mumbled underneath his breath. "My wife died five years ago. Your attempts to deceive me won't work.." Kovalt shouted back.
"Dead? I'm sorry for your loss." One of the kamaitachis said with genuine sadness in her voice. "Well, that's why necromancy exists. But first, we're going to have to put you in time-out for a bit while we revive your beloved. Ixia?"
The third kamaitachi sister swung her sickle at Kovalt. Kovalt narrowly sidestepped the attack, retaliating by slashing at the weasel-monster's arm. The kamaitachi expertly dodged the attack, backflipping away. The other two moved at ludicrously fast speeds to attempt to flank him. The second one swung her sickle at Kovalt while the first one tried to rub some sort of substance into a cut on his leg.
Kicking at the smallest one, he quickly leapt out of the way, the sickles of the second one slashing through the space that he was just in a quarter of a second ago. They were too fast, and he was barely keeping up. Sweat dripped down his face and he panted in exertion, while the trio still looked energetic as ever. He needed to end the battle as soon as possible. Backing up against a large window, he dropped his sword on the ground and held his hands up.
"I surrender. You win." Kovalt said.
"Yes, that's it. Just relax, it will be over soon." The oldest one said as she charged towards the hero.
Kovalt focused. He had to time this perfectly, or this would be the end. He ducked down, holding out his hands towards the kamaitachi's legs. The weasel-monster came closer and closer until…
"Go to hell!" Kovalt grabbed the kamaitachi's legs and threw her out of the window. She plummeted down to the courtyard below.
"Sister!" The remaining two quickly forgot about Kovalt, fully concerned with the wellbeing of their sibling. They jumped past him, using their sickles to climb down the walls of the prison.
Kovalt retrieved his sword before the kamaitachis could come back and began advancing towards the high security levels of the prison. Kovalt knew he couldn't take much more of this. Fighting off groups of high level monsters would be a massive ordeal even for a hero of his level.
Kovalt had barely moved a step when another monster tried to ambush him. This time, a salamander, holding an oversized glaive in her hands. Seeing the hero, she grinned.
"Finally, someone who looks like they can actually fight! I've gotten so bored with these amateur guards! They barely last ten seconds before going down. I don't even care that you're married, I just want to have some fun!"
Kovalt analyzed his enemy. Salamanders and lizardmen were the one of the few monsters he had a sliver of respect for. They fought with honor and passion, instead of constantly trying to charm their opponents so they could get into their pants. Of course, if he lost, he would be captured. As much as he loved Catalina, he refused to fuck a corpse.
"I'm warning you. Get out of my way. I have somewhere I need to be."
"You'll have to go through me first!"
The salamander raised her massive glaive and charged at Kovalt. He blocked the hit, but the strength of the salamander and the size of her weapon pushed him back a couple feet. Kovalt jumped back and slashed at the salamander's hand, trying to disarm her. The salamander's tail started burning bright as she grinned at Kovalt.
The salamander charged once more at him, swinging her glaive in a sideways arc. Kovalt bent backwards, the glaive just barely missing his chin. The salamander quickly spun in a circle with her tail out, whipping him across the stomach and throwing him into a wall.
Kovalt recovered just in time to block the salamander's glaive from cutting into his shoulder. Putting all his strength into his arms he managed to push the salamander away, causing her to stumble. He followed up with a kick to the stomach, pushing her back even farther. The salamander only smiled more, the reptile's tail ablaze.
"I've never felt so alive! It's a shame you're married, hero." The salamander charged at him with renewed energy.
Meanwhile, Kovalt was already tired. He had to run for several miles and fight through three groups of monsters, and he still wasn't where he needed to be. This cycle of distractions needed to end now.
Diving out of the path of the salamander's oversized weapon once more, he gathered his magic and sent a light spell directly into the salamander's eyes. She shouted in pain and stumbled backwards. Kovalt knew he only had a couple seconds before she would recover. Running over to a window, he opened it and climbed out.
"Hey! Where'd you go?! I was having so much fun!" He heard the salamander yell.
Ignoring her, he carefully jumped to the next floor using the windowsill. Opening the window again, he recognized the hallway as the one that led to Azurith's cell. He was so close. All he had to do was walk a couple yards to Azurith's cell.
"Saralyn, Sinclair, watch out!" A voice came from across the hallway. Kovalt turned towards the voice. A group of three people stood at the end of the hallway; A human man, or more likely an incubus, a human woman, and a dark elf.
"Where's Azurith?" Kovalt yelled towards them.
"Too little, too late hero! Azurith is long gone. These two freed her just now.." The dark elf sneered at him. Kovalt's heart dropped to his stomach. Monoghon's hope and only leverage had been snatched from his hands, and it was his fault. The city was going to become a mamono realm and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.
"Hey, hero. Are you that psychotic valkyrie's partner?" The incubus asked Kovalt.
"I don't know… what you're talking about…" Kovalt responded in a pained voice.
"Hey everyone, looks like our reinforcements are here." The dark elf pointed out a window. Kovalt looked outside, and nearly screamed at the sight.
Huge dragons were carrying hundreds of mamono into the city. On the ground, an army of stealth oriented mamono were tearing through the Order soldiers he had come across. Those who got a man immediately started having sex, while those who remained single entered the prison. It was over. Monoghon was doomed. Kovalt's mind flashed back to Kari. If he couldn't save his city, he could at least save her. The two of them could go to the nearest Order controlled territory and live to fight another day.
Kovalt pointed his blade in the direction of the incubus and the human woman. "You two. Tell me your names."
"Adrian Walker." The incubus said.
"Saralyn." The human woman said.
"Adrian and Saralyn, mark my words, we will see each other again." Kovalt promised.
Without another word, Kovalt jumped out of the building. Using his sword, he stabbed into the wall, slowing his fall. Stopping about three-quarters way down the prison, he leapt down the remaining height and landed on his feet. Sprinting as fast as he could towards the walls of the prison, he tried to push the thoughts of his daughter monsterizing out of his head.
"Kari… Just hang in there for me. Be strong. Remember what daddy told you about the monsters and you'll be okay…" Kovalt whispered to himself as he began running towards his home.
"Please be okay…Chief God, I know I failed you, but please think of her. I can't lose her, she's all I have left now." Kovalt prayed.