The Heroes tale act 5
The border between the "Civilized" lands and the Demon Trade Zone was no longer a wall of fire and bone. It was a shimmering curtain of blue mana-fences and a very polite customs booth.
When the "Heroes" arrived, they didn't find an army of darkness. They found a bustling, neon-lit metropolis of obsidian glass and iron. Succubus secretaries carried briefcases; orcish dockworkers operated high-efficiency cranes; and imps scurried about with enchanted tablets, tracking the price of rare earth minerals.
It was a monument to the peace that had made Jessica and Jennifer obsolete. And that was why they had to destroy it.
The central plaza of the Astaroth Trade Hub was crowded with families. A group of low-level fire demons were selling roasted skewers, laughing with human merchants over the latest exchange rates.
"Look at this filth," Jessica hissed. She stood on a balcony overlooking the plaza, her stolen poncho discarded. She wore her full holy armor, but the metal had begun to corrode, turning a bruised, oily purple from the corruption of her own psyche. "They've traded their souls for Golem-cores and silk."
"It's an abomination," Jennifer agreed. Her hands were already smoking, the white fire leaking from her fingernails like acid. "They aren't even fighting back. How can we be Heroes if there is no enemy?"
"We make one," Jessica replied.
She drew the Holy Sword. The blade screamed—a high-pitched, agonizing sound that shattered the glass windows of the nearby 'Abyssal Bank & Trust.'
The first strike didn't hit a soldier. It hit a group of young shadow-demons playing near a fountain. The holy light didn't just cut; it erased. In a flash of violet-white energy, the children were vaporized, leaving nothing but scorched toys on the obsidian pavement.
"FOR DURMOUNT! FOR THE LIGHT!" Jennifer screamed, diving into the crowd.
She became a whirlwind of white flame. She didn't target the armed guards—she went for the 'soft' targets. She incinerated a fruit stand, the demon merchant still screaming as his skin turned to glass. She blasted through a café, turning the patrons into pillars of ash before they could even drop their cups.
The demons didn't roar in battle-lust. They screamed in confusion.
"Why are you doing this?!" a merchant cried, clutching his severed arm. "We have a treaty! The taxes are paid!"
"THERE IS NO TREATY WITH SIN!" Jessica roared, her sword coming down in a vertical arc that split the merchant from head to hoof. "WE ARE THE SAVIORS! FIGHT US! SUMMON YOUR GENERALS! START THE WAR!"
The city's security forces—Orcs in tactical "Peacekeeper" gear—finally arrived, but they didn't charge with axes. They formed a defensive perimeter, holding up translucent riot shields.
"Cease and desist!" the Captain barked through a megaphone. "You are in violation of the Non-Aggression Pact! We are authorized to use non-lethal mana-suppression!"
"Non-lethal?" Jennifer laughed, a jagged, broken sound. She launched a fireball that melted three shields instantly, the orcs behind them collapsing in agony. "WE ARE HEROES! YOU DON'T ARREST HEROES! YOU DIE BY OUR HANDS!"
She was frantic, desperate. She wanted them to call for the Demon King. She wanted a "Final Boss" to justify the blood on her boots. But the demons just kept retreating, filming the massacre on their enchanted devices, their faces filled with a pitying, modern horror.
"Look at them, Jessica," Anna sobbed from the shadows of an alley, watching her friends turn into butchers. "They aren't fighting a war. They're just... dying. We're just murdering civilians in a shopping mall!"
High above the slaughter, a massive holographic screen flickered to life. It didn't show the Demon King's face. It showed the same official with the clipboard from Ashvilliah.
"Attention, Unallocated Assets," Leornars's voice boomed over the city, sounding bored and disappointed. "Your current actions have resulted in a 12% drop in the quarterly trade index. You are currently accruing a 'War-Crime Surcharge' that your deceased King's estate cannot cover."
Jessica looked up, her face splattered with black demon blood. "SEND YOUR ARMIES, COWARD! WE WILL SLAUGHTER THEM ALL UNTIL THE HEAVENS TURN RED!"
"Armies? Dear girl, that's so... pre-restructuring," Leornars sighed. "We don't need an army to deal with a 'bug' in the system. We've simply sold your debt to a third-party collection agency."
The ground began to shake. From the center of the Trade Hub, a massive, sleek Golem—fifty feet tall and plated in "Neutral-Market" silver—emerged. It didn't have eyes; it had a scrolling ticker-tape display that read: LIQUIDATION IN PROGRESS.
"Fight it!" Jessica screamed, her eyes wild with a terrifying, holy madness. "Jennifer, this is it! The Great Evil! If we kill this, we're legends again!"
But as the Golem raised a massive, steam-powered fist, the ticker-tape changed to a new message:
RECOVERY VALUE: 0%. COMMENCING SCRAP PROCESSING.