The Demon Lord Is An Angel-Chapter 467: Running With The Devil

The moment Brigit finished her announcement, a weight settled on the proceedings.

Not just an emotional one, but a manifestation of mana from above that was more than sufficient to slam the door shut behind them.

Kordia was not impressed by such a cheap trick, though she felt Lapins startle and saw a few of the refugees jump.

"Now, now... I let you two leave to handle your ’monster’ situation, and the first thing you do is run for help?" Maledict’s voice filled the area, its source moving about in a circle. "I’d be insulted if I thought that all of you combined would stand a chance against me. So let’s continue where we left off upstairs, and you can even bring your friends." His voice was dark and serious, tinged with a dangerous edge to the humor he’d injected into it.

Amarena turned to the three Kordia recognized as Kaeya, Ann, and Ann’s brother. "Keep everyone here unless a fight starts." She turned, "Where does this door lead?" she asked, pointing at the door Brigit and Darlae had entered through.

"It lets out in the Second Ward," Lumin answered. "Maledict sounds like a talker. I doubt he’d bother letting us have such a warning otherwise."

After a few more moments of reactions and quick decisions, Kordia, Lapins, and Sin followed behind Amarena, Lumin, and Kir’s moms as they ascended the stairwell, with Stella bringing up the rear.

They found Maledict seated on a chaise as one of Stella’s lovers finished filling the goblet in his hand with wine, a look of strained terror on the succubus’ face.

"You’ve done well for yourself, Stella," Maledict noted as the group finished forming an arc around the Devil of Heresy. "A far cry from where you came from... and to be a matriarch at your age! Not even a century old. Truly, staying by my son’s side has benefitted you greatly." He sipped, the very image of comfortable power.

Kordia looked over at Stella, whose smile was a rictus. "I-I’m glad you approve, old boss."

"Enough small talk. Why are you in my city?" Lumin snapped.

Though Kordia didn’t think provoking a demon known for his mastery of magic was the right move, she could feel Lapins approved of Lumin making a strong showing, and sent a bit of a querying feeling along their bond.

"If Maledict is bluffing, Lumin stands a better chance of uncovering it if she can put him on the backfoot."

Through the bond, she felt Sin’s uncertainty but also a sense of guilt at how out of her depth she felt about the political games Sin associated with her mother. Kordia and Lapins both sent her reassuring feelings.

"I am here to ensure my clients make good on the contract I established with my son."

"Our son," Darlae interjected.

"Very well, our son," Maledict shot back with a clever-eyed sip. "Our son, who has somehow become... obscured to me. This could mean that he has suffered some strange harm, or it could be that he has fulfilled the bounds of the Oath he swore, and discovered his mother. In either case, it could be that he is no longer under the protection of the Forbidding I wrought, and thus, more vulnerable than usual. So what I want is simple. I will send you to someone who might know where he is, and you will arrange for him to seek me out." He opened his other hand and an illusion of a demonic girl with four arms, grey skin, and pink hair appeared.

"Why don’t you do it?" Brigit challenged.

"I have better things to do," Maledict said. "Building an empire requires my attention far more than chasing after my errant boy."

"Wait," Stella raised her voice, "You lost him?! You. Maledict. Lost track of an Oath?!" She burst out in a cackle, and Maledict’s good humor descended into a dark glare. "Oh Heaven, this is so..." Maledict’s glare intensified, along with a sense that the pressure was specifically increasing around Stella. "... bad. So bad. Not hilarious at all..."

A twitch flickered on Maledict’s temple. "This is not a negotiation. You will go, or I will dedicate a considerable amount of effort to destroying everything and everyone he loves until I am the only one he can turn to."

In a blink, Amarena flickered, appearing next to Maledict and punching him in the face, only for her impact to do nothing but bounce back, the gust from her strike ruffling everything in the room.

"For one who has taken the power of Leviathan, you lack much of what made your mother strong," he sneered at Amarena, who drew one of her swords in a flash, only for it to impact Maledict the same way as her fist. Distressed by the sight of the combat, Stella’s cubi began to flee. "Perhaps if you had a century to settle into your power, you might be able to cut me," Maledict snarled. "I saved your life for her sake, but do not think my generosity is infinite."

While Maledict was talking, Amarena flickered back to where she’d been standing, drawing her second blade.

In manasight, Kordia beheld a dense formation of mana cratered in a line by the blow, already restoring itself even as Maledict flexed his mana into hovering himself above them.

"If you insist on being tedious, then I will take my leave-"

"Wait!" Brigit shouted. "I will go."

"Not without me," Darlae said, standing next to her wife.

"You want to go too, don’t you?" Sin asked Kordia, jealousy tingeing her voice through the bond.

"Yes," Kordia admitted. "I understand if you don’t-"

"Nonsense," Lapins replied. "We’re not about to let you have all the fun, isn’t that right, Sin?"

Kordia smiled and took their hands as she stepped forward. "We’re going too," she said.

"I as well," Amarena stepped up, still glaring at Maledict.

Maledict regarded them all. "Such inspiring loyalty." He clapped his hands together, and a portal opened up in the middle of the floor, causing the furniture there to collapse onto a street of grey-blue stone. "I look forward to hearing from you soon."

Amarena and Kir’s mothers were the first to leap in, and for a moment Kordia suspected Maledict would close the portal, but he held it open, staring at the silver orb that followed Amarena into the hole between places. A moment after it passed, the unknown blonde followed them down.

"Ah, fuck it," Stella suddenly said, ripping her skirt free. "Lumes, can you hold down the fort without me? Make sure the kids don’t cause trouble."

"I’m not a babysitter, succubus," Lumin scowled.

Kordia signalled Lapins and Sin to go first, before regarding Maledict as she stood at the edge. "Kir deserves a better father than you," she said, seeing the look on his face become a frown before she hopped down and landed in Amarena’s arms.

The portal closed above them, and Kordia looked about to find they’d arrived at a city under siege.

Spells flew as mages dueled in the heavens and on the ground. They were standing in a large street, but the buildings all around them made the area feel like an alley for how tall they were, wall-like in their configuration, with citizens sticking themselves out of the windows to fire crossbows before ducking back in.

A crossbow bolt almost found Kordia before it bounced off a shield cast by Sin. She sent a flare of thanks along their bond.

"Where the Heaven are we?" Stella looked around in disgust. "I didn’t think Maledict would send us into the middle of a fucking war."

"I don’t think our comfort was on his mind," Kordia said. "It’s good to see you again, by the way."

"You too, Foxy," Stella winked.

"We need to find Maledict’s agent," Brigit raised her voice, taking charge. "I’d suggest not splitting up until we know what’s happening here. Or until we know where ’here’ is."

"Why didn’t he tell us more about who we were looking for?" Lapins asked.

"Probably because someone pissed him off," Darlae gave Amarena a Look.

"I’m not apologizing," Amarena told her. "If Kir is here, I’ll find him."

"We don’t even know if that’s the case-" The conversation was quickly rising into an argument.

"Girls!" Brigit snapped. "We are sticking together. Save the fighting for after." She turned and looked at Kordia. "You’re Kordia, right? The girl Darlae kidnapped?"

Lapins and Sin both furrowed their brows and sent queries into Kordia’s mind, but she pushed them aside. "Yes," she confirmed. You were there too!

"What can you do?" Brigit asked.

"I can get us up on the roofs, that should help us search, yes?"

"Good idea." Brigit turned. "Stella?"

"Uhh... I can’t actually, uh, feel my bond with Kir right now..." the succubus grimaced.

"Okay, that might just mean he’s not here," Brigit said. "But if even Maledict can’t find him, then we should still be on the lookout. Rena," she turned. "You’re still fast?"

"Of course I am. What kind of question is that?" Amarena huffed.

"Then you’re one of our scouts. While we move together, you can range out and come back quickly. We need to avoid fighting as much as possible while searching."

"Who’s the other scout?" Amarena asked.

Brigit gestured, and the blonde girl from before stepped forward. "Everyone, this is Cassiel. She’s an angel but has a very, uh, particular set of circumstances. That means she’s on our side."

In short order, the woman organized and climbed up Kordia’s barriers to the rooftops, where the fighting proved to be even more chaotic as mages and angels did combat with the city’s defenders. Off in the distance, a massive molten circle had been carved through a mountain, and through that mouth poured an army that clashed at a gap in the city wall. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

And when Kordia turned her head, she saw the ocean for the first time in her life, and upon it was a fleet from which endless cascades of spells and fire came arcing towards the city.