Dark lines stretched on to outside the castle, traversing through and over walls, streets, and alleys. The expansion of lines continued moving from north to east, following a directionless map that only it knew. Soon, the lines, so thin, expanded, finally drawing attention to the guards and demon residents trapped at home.
Curiosity quickly spread amongst the demons. One after another, approaching from either their homes or streets, the bubbling liquidity lines that oozed a darkness that had never seen.
From outside the castle, one of the captains approached, slowly growing anxious by the second as he kept quiet. He looked down at the black bubbling line, unsure what to make of it.
As he moved to touch it, a black hand suddenly ripped from the line. The air grew tense, and slowly, a being of pure black emerged from the line, followed by another, then another. Each one pulled itself out in varying sizes and with arms reshaped like clubs and deadly curved blades, all the while the ghostly white eyes scanned their surroundings.
The captain, startled, slashed at the first approaching monsters, cutting through with ease. Unexpectedly, the monster quickly recovered, mending its chest back together.
"
"GAaaahhhaaa!!!"
An army of dark monsters attacked, mercilessly slashing and cutting at the guards and painting the streets and homes red. One after another, more of the black monsters rose, like a newly invading army.
"[Good my puppets! Anyone who stands in my way, dispose of them. All of them! ]"
One after another, Zorbian's dark puppets attack the guards. Slashing, cutting, and stabbing without mercy. Guards fled, attacked, and panic all around the castle, sending the city spiraling into a torrent of chaos. Fire magic blazed across the streets, ripping into the growing number of dark puppets as they continued to emerge from the dark lines and the homes of their now dead owners. All, as a new command roared from the castle's gates.
"
A captain within the walls raised his hands to his men, commanding them. "
The guards saluted and quickly departed, carrying out his new orders. Suddenly, a black puppet erupted from the ground, attacking the captain. He blocked and managed to push back the creature. He conjured water in his palm and, without hesitation, sent blades of water into the puppet and its allies, slicing them.
To his surprise, the monsters quickly disintegrated soon after, marking an apparent flaw in the creatures.
The captain sneered. "
"
The captains whipped, only to be met with a knife to the neck. Lyra stabbed deep into his neck, with her eyes lovingly admiring the sight. "
Lyra sliced the knife out from the captain's neck, leaving a trail of blood along the stone walls.
The captain quickly stumbled back with a gasp, al the while Lyra glanced back at the other guards behind, licking her knife with a chuckle. ""
The guards startled, backed away. "
From behind, the two guards were stabbed in the neck and left to falter and flounder around.
Lyra gazed at two of the castle maids proudly. "
The maids bowed before Lyra. "
Cyrus stepped in and looked at the bloodied scene. Ignoring Cyrus, the two maids quickly moved to seal the door.
"
"
Cyrus, staying calm, followed behind. "
"
"
Lyra curled an amused smirk. "
"
"
A loud in-fighting quickly quieted Lyra and Cyrus.
"RRAaahhh!!" From the corner of the hall, a guard pierced and pushed a hooded woman into the wall.
The woman writhed in agony, clutching the spear. The hardened guard quickly glared at Cyrus and Lyra, but just as quickly, the blood splattered on his face, and he felt his body freeze.
"
""
"
"
"
*******
Kalika observed the tiny flame of dark magic in the palm of her hand. She glanced back up in the small prison Cell, inwardly scoffing at the lack of security and size.
"To think, A big castle having a small dinky prison. How sad."
She glanced at the guard who watched on with a stern, yet concerned expression. She flung a tiny magic ball his way, only to see it vaporize before her. Miniature inscriptions on part of the bars glowed before returning to their rusted iron state.
"Still, it's weird. I don't think the other prison had this." Kalika raised her palm, all focus squarely put on her palm. "Grrr…"
Kalika quickly relaxed her shoulder and exhaled. She closed her eyes and slowly manifested a new ball of dark magic. "This is so annoying. But I suppose it's better than nothing. I prefer to be able to use magic, even if this is a stupid dream."
"[Kalika. We're ready.]"
"Took you long enough." Kalika stood and approached the bars of the cell, gripping them. "But how am I supposed to get out-"
The guard's head rolled across to Kalika's feet, surprising her. She gazed back up, catching sight of several liquid-like dark puppets.
"And what are these?" She questioned. "I'm assuming they're with you."
"[They're my puppets born from our magic.]"
Kalika gazed much more deeply at the dark puppets, even more intrigued. "So I can do this too in my dream?"
"[One day maybe.]"
A dark puppet stepped up, unlocking and freeing Kalika from her cell.
With her eyes still focused on the dark puppet, Kalika reached for the liquidity puppet, examining its head and eyes and even its arm that was shaped like a blade.
"[Is something wrong?]"
Kalika ceased and slowly separated from the puppet. "No… I was… Just curious." With an unreadable expression, Kalika pushed past the other puppets entering the prison hall. "Just tell me where to go. The sooner I leave, the better."
********
Sweat flowed from the side of Donovan's face, his eyes focused on the path ahead. He glanced back at Charla, then prepared himself, slowly turning the corner of the alley, entering the vacant street.
"Good, there are no guards here either." He glanced up, seeing the largest tower connected to the blacksmith district. "We're not far now. We just need a bird's eye view of things, A-and hopefully we can find something useful there!"
Becoming more unsure, Donovan glanced back at Charla. "And if not up there, maybe Charla can eavesdrop on the guards or something. There's gotta be. Argh! Damn it! I can't shake this feeling that something bad is going to happen if I don't hurry now!"
Coming to a familiar guard's checkpoint, Donovan quickly scanned the area, seeing no one still around. "This is weird. Something feels wrong." Donovan noted. "Hey Charla-!!?"
To Donovan's shock, Charla suddenly vanished.
"Ch- Charla? Charla!?" Donovan whipped around, still seeing no one in sight. Only himself and the growing tower. "WH… What's going on?
BOOM!!
The tower shatters, rubble scattered and bombarding the building and ground before Donovan. From the tower, a large black ink beast emerged.
"Ah CRAP!!!"
Donovan turned, forced to run. Panicked, He glanced back, watching in terror as the beast followed. "What the hell is that thing!!"
The black ink monster's sharp claws tore through the stone streets and buildings with a tail that devastated the road behind. Its jaws opened with fangs ready to consume anyone in its path. All wrapped in an ugly reptilian mug and wolf-like body that made it look like a creature from a god.
Donovan eyed the pipe in his hand. "Crap, if I don't distance myself from it, I'll be torn to shreds!" His eyes quickly shifted to the alleys to the side. And taking a chance, he dashed into the furthest from the beast.
Hot air blew past Donovan. His adrenaline pumped even more as he saw the beast somehow squirm into the alley like a tidal wave. "Damn! It's now or never!" He turned, pipes aimed and ready. "Go to Hell!!!"
PFFF
Donovan paled, feeling a force but seeing no result. Completely shocked, he stood in a stunned silence as the most horrible black liquid continued to rampage its way to him. "C- Crap!" Donovan turned, forced to run again. He twisted and turned through the alleys, attempting to lose the monster to no avail. "D- damn it! Where the hell are the guards!!?"
Donovan ripped through the alley into another street, unfamiliar to him. He looked around, discovering he reached a dead end. With clenched teeth, he pointed his pipe at the monster again. "Second time's the charm, right!?"
PFFF
"AH, come on!!"Donovan glanced at his pipe in horror. "But the crystals inside and everything. What am I doing wrong!? Did that demon break it!?"
The monster raised its claws and arced them down like a guillotine, crashing and sinking its claws deep in the ground.
Donovan winced, shielding his eyes from the rubble and debris from the monster clawing itself from the alley. He could only watch on as the monsters continued to tower over him. He tried over and over again, channeling the magic into his weapon. All the while, the massive, monstrous beast prepared to smite him.
"Shit!"
BOOM!!
"What the hell are you doing!?"
"Huh?" Donovan opened his eyes, only to find himself tumbling along the side of the roof. His eyes lock with the giant black monster, which turned its white eyes to him, and to his shock, Zelak.
Zelak glanced back with mild annoyance. "Donovan!, Where the hell is Charla!?" He questioned
"Ch…Charla?? I… I don't know." Donovan forced himself to his feet. "She was with me, but then she suddenly disappeared. But why are you out here, and how did you find-"
"That's not important right now! We need Charla if we're going to kill that thing! A number of them have been rampaging through the city, and only the Succubi can calm them down with their eyes."
"I-if that's the case, how are we supposed to find her???"
Zelak whipped out a familiar black parchment, marked with blood. "Since her will succeeds your own, you need to transfer her contract to me."
"W-wait. But why?"
The ground shook, and the monster slowly approached, becoming bigger than it was before.
Zelak quickly passed the parchment to Donovan. "There's no time ot explain! You only need to drop blood on the top corner of the contract! Hurry!"
"R-right I…."
Zelak turned armed and ready with a fired red axe in hand.
A subtle gasp escaped Donovan's mouth. He grimaced and clutched the parchment tight in his hands.
"Hurry! What are you waiting for, Donovan!?"
"You probably don't know this, but… Zelak doesn't call me by my name."
"Huh?" Zelak glanced back, finding Donovan pipe pointing at him, his face serious.
A torrent of fire exploded from the pipe, breaking through the misted illusion of the clouds. Donovan, finding himself alone on the roof with no monster in sight, glanced back at his other hand, finding the contract to be very real.
From behind, the sound of landing drew Donovan's attention. A woman with short black hair pulled her hood back, revealing her scowling face and her alien mix of red and normal human skin.
Curious, Donovan scrutinized the woman's face, seeing the red skin akin to war scars, much like his own.
"By the way, Zelak doesn't own an axe either. He uses a sword."
Unexpectedly, another taller succubus with white ponytailed hair arrived by the friend's side. , speaking in the demon's tongue.
Seeing this, Donovan exhaled sharply. "Succubus, Succubus, Succubus! Why is it always a Succubus's!!?"