The Demon Lord Is An Angel-Chapter 465: The Displaced

Kordia returned to a Norneau in chaos. After stopping at Mora Lake to tell her parents her tale and send word to the Korabodurs, she left for Norneau with Sin, Lapins, and Akane on her back. Filled with Silver’s power, the land flew beneath her with every stride in her vulpine form, and she felt as if she could do anything she set her mind to, even fly.

At her side, Crimson kept up with her. Not deigning to let himself be ridden yet complaining the loudest when he felt they’d gone far beyond his domain of worship.

"You’re welcome to go back to Mother if you want," Sin chastised the fox spirit. "I’m perfectly safe now."

"Young lady, you do not know your mother. Or rather you do, and you want me to suffer for it." Crimson complained. "But here’s a better idea, why don’t you come back with me?"

"No," Sin replied instantly.

Kordia laughed as she ran, a slightly chuffy sound coming from a fox.

"You’re incorrigible," Crimson complained. "Not even a proper nine-tails and yet so disrespectful of your elders."

"I would be more inclined to respect if you didn’t act like a child," Kordia replied.

"I can act however I want. That’s the benefit of being ancient... You should try it sometime, Lady Onmyoji." Crimson’s words came laced with mischief. "I could show you a thing or two..."

The thoughts sent over by Crimson made Kordia snap her jaws at him.

Akane, confused, kept looking between Sin and Crimson. "Are... are they talking? I can’t really hear anything..."

"Trust me, you don’t want to," Lapins said. Since Kordia, Lapins, and Sin were deeply linked, that meant Crimson talking to one of them in thought meant he was talking to all of them.

They had yet to reform Reiko, or even convey their experience as her to anyone but Kordia’s parents, but since there was no need, they could enjoy being themselves.

Until they arrived to find Norneau in chaos.

Norneau was not in flames, but a tension permeated the city at every level. As with the wilds of the Mora lands, the dungeon of the city had become a massive crystal tower that dominated the skyline.

Outside the city, a large refugee camp had come to exist, occupying a small edge of the lake and barricaded with wood from the ships that had clearly been disassembled for those purposes.

But it was not the camp itself that distressed the city, but rather its occupants.

Outside the camp, angry citizens, myriadfolk refugees, and Elevated shouted vitriol at the demons from across the no-man’s land established by elements of the Norneau Guard.

The situation was an unstable manacrystal, waiting for the slightest impact...

Kordia arrived in the middle of a brewing riot, still in her fox form since she was still outside the city. The guards stirred at her appearance, but the moment her friends dismounted and she resumed humanoid form, they relaxed. Crimson elected to transform into a small fox well before they were seen, and took up a rest around Sin’s shoulders as the four women approached.

One of the guards, an otter beastkin woman, made the choice to approach, breaking formation with her fellow Guards.

"Lady mage, um. Are you perhaps here to enter the city?" she asked.

"I am a student of the Academy," Kordia said. "We all are," she lied on Akane’s behalf.

"Oh, good. Would you be able to request some aid from the Chancellor? We’re getting a little overwhelmed down here."

"I haven’t been in the city for some time... What’s the situation?" Kordia asked.

The guard’s nervousness only increased. "Well..."

"The situation is that we have arrived," a firm, familiar voice spoke from behind the guard as a woman left the barricade.

"Char!" Kordia called out.

"You two know each other?" the guard asked.

"We’re associates. I can assure you Char and her demons are not here to harm the city," Kordia explained.

"But the city, clearly, is here to harm us," Char scoffed. "This is not the welcome I expected."

"How long have you been here?" Kordia asked.

"Long enough to establish a basic truce. And long enough to be considered a threat."

Kordia pursed her lips.

"Four days," Char clarified. "In that time we have done only the basics to defend ourselves without angering our hosts. I have done my best to ensure my demons refrain from external violence, but with our position like this, I can only do so much..."

The crowd, having noticed Kordia’s arrival and her conversation with Char, assumed the worst as they began to yell vitriol at her, calling her a traitor and a demon lover. Seeing the angelic elements amongst them, Elevated with limbs of white, she felt she knew exactly who was behind the unrest.

"Akane," Kordia turned and called to her friend, who pointed at herself questioningly.

"Y-Yes, Lady Kordia?" the woman of Sahin asked.

"Can you put up a wall? From, hmm... around there to just past the lake shore?" She pointed to indicate exactly where she wanted.

"Are you sure that’s allowed?" Akane asked.

"It most certainly is not!" The guard protested.

"You need assistance, and this is how I choose to give it. Don’t worry, I’ll take the blame," Kordia said. What’s important is that we stop a fight before it happens. "Char, please take your people away from the barricades."

Char grinned and withdrew to begin.

"Mages..." the otterkin swore under her breath. She ran off to warn her fellow guards.

Two minutes later, Akane planted her hands on the ground and a wall of compacted clay rose between the angry mob and the demons, the former of whom backed off in surprise.

To make good on her word, Kordia leaped to the top of the measure-thick wall and set off a simple noise spell.

"People of Norneau, go home. These demons are refugees, they are not a threat to you." Kordia enhanced her voice to reach everyone, fanning her tails out to show them the magical might at her disposal. The beastkin showed more trepidation at that, but the rest of the crowd began to target her with rocks and detritus as they shouted at her.

She hardened her shields but kept her face unmoved as Akane continued to build out the rest of the wall, even adding watchtowers at the corners and ends before the fortifications squeezed themselves dry under the influence of Akane’s bizarrely efficient magic.

"I don’t think they’re going to listen," Lapins communicated over their bond. Though all of them felt that getting involved might cause trouble, none of the three regretted it.

"Lapins, Sin, could you talk to Char about what’s happening? I’d like to find out what happened to Amarena, Azalee, and Bowbo."

They never got the chance. A moment later, there was a crack of sound from within the crowd and something impacted Kordia’s shield hard enough to break through some of its hexagonal sections. A searing pain crossed her arm and blossomed in her stomach as something struck her.

On instinct, Kordia reached out through her bonds, and Reiko brought her three bodies together with a shield strong enough and wide enough to push the entire crowd back, bowling the front line over onto their backs.

"If you will not keep the peace, then you do not deserve it!" Reiko threatened.

"Princess Kordia, stand down!" a new voice bellowed over hers as Lumin appeared, standing in the open door of an air carriage. Lumin hopped down, alighting on the new wall without a hint of discomfort. Her eyes narrowed as Reiko looked at her with three sets of eyes. "And here I thought you were the most normal one," Lumin huffed as the air carriage came to hover just behind the wall. Reiko caught a brief glimpse of the Chancellor’s butler.

"Chancellor Lumin, I have a lot to tell you," Reiko said.

Lumin quirked her eye at the word ’I,’ but otherwise did not react. "Oh, no doubt, but you’ve already caused enough trouble here. Get in the carriage, all of you."

Reiko heard Crimson snickering in her mind, but ignored the fox. "We would like to bring our friend with us," she gestured at Akane. "And Char." ƒreewebɳovel.com

"Lady Char will remain here," Lumin said. "I cannot allow her into the city without starting a riot. But I will not restrict you from informing her later." She turned and regarded Akane. "You. I take it this wall is your doing? Get up here before I make you walk."

Akane hurried to obey, panicking for a moment until Reiko lifted her with magic and deposited her on the wall.

As soon as they were all inside, they were flown towards the Academy.

Lumin, however, didn’t wait to unleash her venom on them. "What the Hell were you two thinking, disappearing like that?" She addressed Kordia and Sin. "I’ve had Fruhe breathing down my neck and her airships flying closer to my city for weeks now."

Letting go of Reiko, Sin answered her as Lapins checked the small wound on Kordia’s stomach.

"We spoke to my mother," Sin said. "I’m sure she’ll withdraw once she knows I’m back at the Academy."

Lumin looked Sin up and down. "Is this a disguise or are you a girl?"

"I’m a girl," Sin said, her ears tilting back as she blushed a bit.

"Well, young princess, forgive me for wanting to see it in writing first. But I’ll settle for a speech if you two are willing to give one. I need every win I can to get the idio- the citizens to calm the Hell down and see we’re all in this together before the next disaster."

"Is something about to happen?" Kordia winced as Lapins used magic to pull out a tiny ball of metal from her stomach. It hadn’t gone in deep, but it still hurt quite a bit, especially when Lumin waved a hand and sent a minor healing spell her way.

"Not if I have anything to do about it," Lumin answered. "I have some people to introduce you three t-"

At that very moment, a loud crack like thunder washed over the air carriage, rocking it as a concussion of wind followed.

"Terry, what the Hell was that?" Lumin shouted.

In answer, the air carriage turned, and everyone looked out the window to find a giant, demonic-looking monster standing outside the gates of the city.