Crashing the Party

The daunting, alabaster walls of the Facidian capital had withstood the test of time for millennia. Even in the dark of night, the pristine stone and immaculate masonry seemed to shimmer like moonlight. Utter unassailable, raised by the Goddess Lini herself to defend the first Facidians from the Corrupted of the land, it was the symbol of eternal, absolute protection.

“And this wall’s the reason we can’t just teleport directly to the castle?” Geist asked as he and his two companions stood at the base of an ungaurded west-facing section of the wall.

“Correct. The wall is not merely a physical defense. It serves as the focus that blocks all dimensional travel under Divine rank.” The purple-skinned woman to his left said, reaching out and caressing the wall. “We will have to fly to the castle from here.” She added, sprouting wings with a sleek, black frame that supported satin-soft, durable purple webbing that connected them from her lower back.

“Seriously? That’ll still take forever…” The shorter of the two women said, manifesting two similar-looking wings, only with a blood-red, leathery webbing between lithe, sturdy ribbings from her shoulder blades.

“Just a moment, you two,” Geist said, hopping up and landing on top of the towering wall with ease. Walking to the center of the thick structure, he looked at the sprawling city that stretched up to the castle in the distance.

“Geisty? What are you doing?”

“If you want to take in the view, there are better vantages.”

As his two companions flew up to meet him, the armored figure turned and shook his head. “No, I was just thinking how this wall is just another example of your Goddess’ overbearing affection, coddling the Pure into complicity.” He said, raising a fist and dropping into a low stance. The minimal light present began to warp and bend around his dark-metal gauntlet as utter darkness enveloped his hand. A void from which no light could escape condensed into a perfect sphere that extended from his knuckles, and with a swift, powerful thrust, he slammed it and his fist into the stonework below his feet. “Skoto Thrash.” Despite Legendary-ranked spells and techniques not needing to be invoked aloud, something about the situation made him feel it was appropriate to do so now.

The weight and force of the orb of utter blackness and his fist crumbled the stone mercilessly, and with perfect control, he spread the surface area of his blow to extend to the entire section of the wall between the nearest two towers. In an instant, the air trembled as the whole length of wall vanished, proceeded by an unnatural silence despite such a heavy blow. The excess energy from the devastatingly potent attack shook the land far beyond the horizon, though there was no visible damage done to the surroundings. All the damage had been localized to just the part of the wall he destroyed.

“There, that should take care of the teleportation issue.” He said pridefully, as if he had just fixed something that was a minor inconvenience. Reaching out to the two women, his featureless face smiled warmly at them. “Shall we? It would be rude to keep everyone waiting.”

“Lia?” The shorter, grey-skinned woman with stark white hair asked, dumbfounded by the feat of power and control.

“Yes, Essa?” The lavender-skinned woman replied, doing a much better job at finding her shock as she took one of Geist’s hands.

“Was Geisty always this strong?”

“I thought I had not underestimated the Demon Monarch posed to society, but even this is beyond my estimations.”

“Hey, I am technically a bit stronger now.” He said as they vanished.

*****

With the might wall fallen, the teleportation-blocking protection broken, and their entrance flawlessly executed, Geist now sat on a throne he formed from the marble staircase, awaiting the king’s reply.

“I-Inessa?” However, the first to speak wasn’t one of the adults, but a young boy barely able to remain conscious under the pressure of Geist’s imposing presence. “Inessa, is that you? Wh-What happened to you?” Liamion asked, looking at the white-haired woman with ashen skin next to the terrifyingly nonaggressive armored greater demon.

Even dressed in clothing unlike any he had seen before, a matching purple top and tight shorts that barely reached her thighs over some dark, skin-tight leg coverings, all under an open, black, long-sleeved, hooded coat with a blood-red liner that hung to her mid-thighs, he would never mistake her face. The freckles on her cheeks, the shape of her eyes despite the swirling red irises set in voids of black, the slight curl at the corners of her lips; they were all unmistakably Inessa’s features.

However, despite the clear evidence that she had been Corrupted, she lacked the two other most iconic features of a demon: horns and a tail.

“Hm? Liam? Oh, it is you! Geisty, stop being mean to Liam.” The former Champion said, her voice still just as cheerful and warm as ever, as she lightly slapped the Demon Monarch’s shoulder pauldron.

“Oh, right. My apologies again, everyone.” Geist said, eerily courteous as the pressure in the air evaporated instantly. “I am not used to engaging with such delicate creatures. Once more, I would like to express that I have no intention to harm any of you. Simply hand over the Divine Artifacts, and I shall leave you in peace.”

“Hear that, Liam? We’ll talk later.” The grey-skinned woman assured playfully, winking at the young boy.

“Geist, it would appear they have the Champion’s Divine Artifacts here already.” The other Corrupted woman said, gesturing to the rack displaying the golden equipment prominently near the bottom of the staircase.

“Y-Y-You! N-No, i-i-it can’t be!” An older, rotund man with light brown hair exclaimed, his eyes locked on the scantily dressed, raven-haired demoness.

Unlike the more reserved clothing that complemented the figure of the Corrupted Champion, the voluptuous demoness shamelessly displayed as much of her flawless, lavender flesh as she could. What could barely even be called lingerie under a generous interpretation was little more than ebony patches of fabric held in place with cords of deep violet and hoops of dark metal under a long black overcoat that she unashamedly kept open. Two long, sleek, dark horns extended up from the sides of her head, curling once out around themselves, and the long, hairless, heart-tipped tail that swung in the air behind her was pointing at the aforementioned Divine Artifacts.

“L-L-Lilith?!”

“Oh my! You remember this form of mine, Lord Galafern? I am honored.” The ebony-haired woman said seductively, playfully winking at the terrified, blushing man. “I will have to treat you with extra care once my Lord concludes his business here.”

“The only business that will be concluding here is the slaying of you, foul Corrupted! Knights, strike them down this instant!” The king ordered, regaining his composure now that the Demon Monarch had lifted his aura.

Of the dozens of knights meant to maintain security during the banquet in the hall, only six were able to force themselves to comply with their king’s command. Rushing forward, they drew their weapons, readied their shields, and raised their voices, as if a desperate battle cry would compensate for the difference in their strength.

Neither the former Champion nor the former Saintess moved to defend the Demon Monarch. There was no need. Before the assailants could even get within reach of their weapons, Geist rose from his throne and moved to strike each one, sending them flying back, and sat back down so quickly, it didn’t even look like he moved.

As each of the knights lay in heaps of heavily armored agony, a large, fist-shaped dent caving the center of their breastplate in, they yet still drew breath, even if to only groan from the pain.

“Once more, I will say, I shall take my leave without harming any of you once the other nine Divine Treasures are presented before me. There will be no further warnings.” He said, maintaining his calm as the grey-skinned woman grabbed the Champion’s golden equipment.

“Lia’s Artifacts are probably still in the Royal Treasury, Geisty.” She said as she dragged the entire rack up the stairs.

However, before she could get all the way back to his side, a hulking, muscular man with bronzed skin and red hair that was greying at the roots, but darkened to a dark black at the tips, appeared behind her. He had appeared in an instant, with his greatsword already swinging with the aim to cleave her head from her torso. “Don’t get cocky, you Corrupted bitch! I’ve been slaying Demon Monarch since before you were–!?”

Before he could finish, Geist swung the broad side of his greatsword at the man, swatting him away like one would an insect. The man vanished as the force of the Demon Monarch’s swing opened a hole in the south-west-facing wall, tearing through a large chunk of the castle.

“Geisty! Stop destroying Liam’s home.” The ivory-haired woman chastised, unbothered that she had been attacked and unsurprised by the devastation his attack caused.

“I didn’t–!” His imposing persona slipping for a moment, Geist caught himself and cleared his throat. “I failed to measure my strength properly.”

“U-Uncle Iskacles?” A young man with tanned skin and bright red hair breathed in disbelief, looking at the collapsed section of the castle.

Looking at the youth, Geist didn’t see much of a resemblance to the man he had just knocked aside, but he looked strikingly familiar. “Ah! A relative of the two women from earlier.”

“Mother and Maxine?! What did you do to them, you fiend!?” He asked at the mention of his family members, glaring at Geist.

“They yet live. However, it was rather difficult to control my strength not to kill them.”

The admission that the subjugation force had not failed to reach the Demon Monarch’s castle in time, but to pose a threat to the greater demon was the final factor to snuff out any resistance left in the guests gathered in the grand hall. While they had celebrated their victory, they had already lost.

“Right, then that’s our cue to leave,” Mars said, pulling out a rolled-up parchment from his robes. “Use: Teleport.” A circle of magic runes and formula formed under his feet, expanding to cover half the banquet hall, reaching all the most important and high-ranking attendees. However, before the spell could whisk them all away, and without the Demon Monarch doing anything, the circle shattered, and the scroll harmlessly immolated in an instant. “H-Huh? What happened?” He asked, thoroughly confused.

“I am disappointed in you, Mars. Has being the Court Magician made you forget the fundamentals? There is no running in the presence of the Demon Monarch.” The former Saintess said, looking at all the faces of hopeless disbelief, looking at her. “Not going to resist any longer? Good.” The lavender-skinned demoness said, striding forward to Baron Galafern and winking seductively at him, activating the magic in her eyes. “Be a dear and go fetch the other Divine Artifacts from the Treasury, pretty please?”

His mental and magical defenses were no match for her Charm, and the trembling, blubbering man stopped shaking and knelt before her. “As you wish, Miss Lilith.” As he got up, he pointed to several guards. “You, follow me. Do not keep Miss Lilith waiting!” He barked, marching off.

The guards hesitated to follow, looking to the man with the second most authority in the room, the king. And not being a fool willing to risk the lives of the influential people who held the nation together, the regal man could only nod and motion for some of the other knights to escort them. “Be quick about it.”

A long, awkward tension hung in the atmosphere as it would take a while for the Divine Artifacts to be retrieved. Anyone who dared to try and leave felt the pressure that the Demon Monarch was so graciously reining in settle on them, lifting when they abandoned such silly notions. Several small groups of nobles were muttering amongst themselves, with conversations ranging from concern for their lives and the future of the kingdom to throwing around blame.