Demoness 2 - Chapter 84 - Silence, mortal! (Patreon)

Elania scanned the besieged district as she considered what to do next. The monks’ siege weapons pounded relentlessly against her newly formed barrier. It didn’t stop the troops on the ground, though.

But it looked like the defenders had rallied and surged forward to push them back with her reformation of the defenses.

“What are we going to do?” Yolani asked.

“I’m not sure,” Elania replied. She glanced at her partner. “I can’t bring you with me, though.”

Yolani’s lips turned into a frown. “Why not?”

“I’m not sure how strong the seraph is, and I feel like I’ll need to focus on the fight,” Elania replied.

Beside her, Yolani tensed. “I’m not—”

“—helpless. I know that! You’re amazing, and wonderful, and brilliant, and beautiful, and I wouldn’t want anyone else in the world to have my back!” Elania’s exuberance silenced the complaint.

Yolani blinked, her cheeks heating in the chaotic flickering of the light stones.

“But right now, there is something inside of me, and it’s burning me up. I’m not sure I can control it, and I don’t want to hurt you by accident,” Elania said. She looked away, out toward the Conclave fortress. “Besides, you need to pack our things and pick what we are taking with us. I’m not sure there will be much time after the fight.”

Yolani turned toward her and pressed a kiss against her lips. Elania responded, her arm pulling the other girl in close.

“Okay,” Yolani breathed. “Are you sure the tower isn’t going to collapse if you put me running around in it?”

Elania glanced to the floating piece of roof they were standing on. “As long as I’m alive, the tower and barrier will hold. Just don’t go outside of it.”

Yolani stared into her eyes and Elania gazed back for several more seconds. Finally the artificer nodded. “Okay! Let’s get this over with so you can come back to me, and we can go find some sandwiches and drink large amounts of sugar-milk and frujuice.”

Elania blinked rapidly, surprised by the outburst. But… it wasn’t something she’d object to.

[Further reinforcement is advised, Godling. The divine remnants are yours to manipulate and control. You should do so while they remain.]

Elania looked back down at the Magistry district. He was right. Her power was amplified by the release of energies from the engine bursting, and her will was supreme in its realm—Neftasu and the surrounding depths. Stronger and more potent the closer to the engine’s center.

It wouldn’t last forever. As much as the [Divinity] essence running through her wanted to pretend, she wasn’t a goddess.

Just… half of one?

Elania reached out toward the outer walls. Stones that had been shattered by the monks’ weapons reformed across the entire circle of fortifications. They floated up into the air and then replaced themselves, melting into the remaining stonework like they had never been damaged at all.

Every guard inside the dome began to glow with golden light as [Divine Mending] took hold of their flesh and bodies, removing wounds and restoring their stamina. Exhaustion reversed course, and everyone affected would be sharper.

The district was still far from pristine, but it was no longer on the brink of collapse.

Elania’s wings erupted from her back, the golden feathers nearly solid. Yolani reached out and grabbed one, running her fingers through it. “They’re soft.”

“Not as soft as you,” Elania quipped, a grin appearing on the edge of her lips. She scooped Yolani up, eliciting a yelp, and then they moved back toward a more solid section of the tower.

“Elania! That’s not fair!” Yolani protested.

Elania let out a giggle, like the world around them wasn’t a fucked up place and falling apart in real-time. Eziel floated around them both protectively, like a ward.

There was a sturdy balcony near to where their workshop and quarters were located and Elania picked that as their destination. She set Yolani down and her expression turned serious. “You should get our things packed up.”

Yolani nodded, her emerald eyes flickering. “Uh…Uhm. If you are leaving, are you sure there is a way down?”

Elania glanced down at the ground far below. “If the elevator isn’t working, and all the stairs are taken out… are you going to let that stop you?”

Yolani closed her mouth. The resolve Elania knew was there, appearing.

“I can figure something out,” Yolani said.

Elania nodded. “I’ll be back soon.”

She started to turn away, but then Yolani grabbed her and kissed her greedily. Elania’s wings curled around them and glittered even more brilliantly on their own.

“Just so you remember to come back for me,” Yolani breathed, when they finally came apart.

“My wings didn’t flicker out…” Elania said without thinking.

Yolani raised an eyebrow.

[Emotional disruption is a trait of seraphs, Godling. You are no longer transformed into one.]

“Gosh. Can’t even focus on our goodbye?” Yolani asked in a playful, mocking tone. She reached up and flicked Elania’s forehead. “Go on. Hurry. Don’t keep me waiting too long.”

“Right,” Elania said. “Love you.”

She spread her wings out and floated upward and then turned to flash out into the air.

A “Love you!” floated on the wind after her.

Eziel kept pace with her, the golden blade making a lazy orbit around her. They would reach the other side of the city in just a minute or two at the ridiculous speed they had reached.

She pulled up her [Status] which flickered into place obediently. The static and noise that had been present when she had been transformed into a seraph was gone.

The panel was a deep purple, with lines running through it like a circuit. That was new.

She scanned the information.

[Status: Elania Reyes]

She was still, her. That was good.

[Level 231 Lesser Demon (Demi-Divine)]

Keswick had boosted her levels a good bit, and the ascendant part had been replaced.

[Karma: 1391]

That wasn’t the best. She’d nearly lost all of her ridiculous starting stash of karma. Actually, it was a miracle that she had any at all left, but she supposed that most of the people she had killed didn’t actually reduce or add to it much.

[Perks: (Divine Mending) (Soul Siphon - Visible) (Summoned from Another World!) (Regeneration) (Demonic Transformation)]

That looked right.

[Class: Celestial Warrior]

Elania grunted. She didn’t like how classes worked, basically just turning to whatever the person thought of themselves. She remembered someone mentioning that it was also governed by one of the Celestial Engines. Would the [System] still work the same now that one had been destroyed?

A frown crossed Elania’s lips as she realized something was missing.

Something important.

She tried to pull up her normal HUD menu, but it didn’t work.

Alarm pulsed through her. “Where’s my power gauge?”

[Power is a mortal concept, Godling. You are no longer mortal, at least not while the concept seed lives within you.]

Elania blinked. Did that mean she had unlimited [Power] or that she couldn’t use it?

The Conclave Fortress grew in size as they approached. There wasn’t much time.

“What about the captured Seraph? How are we going to deal with it?” she asked.

[My brother was chained by the Conclave during the founding of the city as a punishment for a failure. He has served as their source of divinity and power, allowing them to hunt demons and others with abilities beyond their due. I am afraid his madness will not relent. There is no reason to attempt negotiations.]

Elania nodded grimly.

Elania flared her wings as she reached the chasm in front of the fortress. Below, she spotted two hastily reconstructed bridges spanning the abyss, connecting the fortress to the Conclave and Syndicate districts.

Monks moved across them, although nothing like the numbers she remembered seeing during her escape. Most had likely already entered the city.

Her eyes narrowed. There was no reason to leave the connections.

Without a word, Eziel floated into her hand, the blade shimmering with golden energy. She swung it toward the bridge below her gently, a casual warm up swing.

The air pressure turned into a shockwave and sliced into the structure, severing its spine and sending it tumbling into the abyss below along with the monks still crossing it.

Oh. It had been easier than she had thought.

She turned her attention to the second bridge, which was much further away.

[The other is too far away.]

Elania grunted, then slipped her hand into her pouch. A handful of shock crystals glittered between her fingers. [Throwing] rank S+ right?

The crystals streaked through the air like blazing comets, leaving trails of light in their wake. They slammed into the bridge at even intervals, their impacts sending shockwaves rippling through the structure.

Then they exploded.

There were no screams or reactions from the people on the bridge. They simply ceased to exist in an instant, their bodies, and the bridge disintegrating into ash.

Elania turned her attention to the Conclave Fortress itself.

The stone face was battered and deformed from her previous attack with the strategic laser. The hardened lava had cooled, forming a new floor, and the main gates she landed in front of had burst out of their hinges, now permanently ajar.

A crowd of monks hurried inside, seeking refuge from her wrath. She remained unhurried as she landed lightly and then stepped forward.

Halfway to the entrance, a white circle appeared on the lava stone in front of her and enemies began to materialize from within its bounds.

Arch Paladin Anton emerged first, his armor gleaming in the fading light. Elder Holt followed close behind, his face twisted into a scowl.

An entire platoon of Lightbringer paladins followed, their weapons drawn and ready for battle. A dozen senior monks filled out the rank behind them, their robes fluttering in a gentle cave wind.

Elania surveyed them all, her golden eyes taking in the numbers.

Eziel floated around her, then moved to her hand when she held out her palm.

“You have caused enough suffering and destruction,” Elania declared, her voice ringing out across the battered stone. “It ends here.”

Anton stepped forward. “You—”

“Silence. I don’t need to hear it,” Elania said, cutting him off.

The paladin’s hand went to his throat, alarm filling his face.

The monks looked at each other in confusion, trying to speak, but their voices lost.

A smirk appeared on the edge of Elania’s lips.

It was time to take out the trash.