How I became the Empress of Hell
3.79: Allexus vs The Lost and the Damned Clan: Round 1 (Part 2)

As the massive red demon prepared to cleave me in half and the enchanted spiders raced towards me in a headlong charge, I dropped both of my arms to my sides and relaxed my entire body. Instead of turning to face either of the looming threats, I focused all my attention on listening for a particular sound. I forced my expression to remain passive as I picked up the smallest hint of what I was searching for, and I waited for the exact moment to put my plan into motion. 

I heard the telltale sounds of the hulking demon on my left, and the skittering of chitinous legs on stone directly to my right. I shifted my hands just the smallest amount so that my palms were facing behind me. I counted three beats of my heart and sprang into action. Every muscle in my body tensed at once as chains shot out from both of my palms. As soon as I felt them strike my target and dig deep into his unarmored chest, I focused every ounce of strength I could muster and yanked the person towards me. At the same moment, I retracted the chains back into my hands, spread my wings, and pushed off the ground with my feet. 

Several things happened at once. The person I had dragged forward moved into the exact position I had been standing only a fraction of a second prior. The enormous axe completed its overhead arc and slammed full force into the person standing in front of him. And finally, the trio of spiders lifted their legs in preparation to attack me as the orange light on their bellies began to pulse at a rapid pace, before each of them struck the new target hard with their fangs. Once each of the creatures had a firm grip on their target, the pulsing light crescendoed and the three of them suddenly exploded in a massive plume of orange fire.

As I surveyed the result of the devastation that should have been inflicted upon me, I couldn't help but grin widely at the horrified expressions I saw on my remaining opponents. The half-mangled half-charred form of Scythe was laying on the ground in a growing pool of luminescent blue blood. Instead of waiting to see if he was still alive or not, I unleashed a small barrage of spells upon my downed enemy and the huge red demon standing next to him. As a small flurry of daggers flew at me from behind, I angled my body to the side before spinning in place and focusing my attention on the demon in the black trench coat. 

I flew at top speed towards my target but had to slightly alter my course as he began to throw what seemed to be an endless stream of razor sharp projectiles directly at me. I folded my wings around myself to give me a small bit of protection as I landed hard on the ground. I rolled a couple of times before using the momentum to spring to my feet and dart towards Judas. He was standing behind over a dozen spiders easily as large as a minivan, and I smiled widely at him, baring my fangs.

Just as I finished summoning a suit of heavy armor, my left shoulder exploded in pain as something struck me hard enough to shatter the joint. I summoned a large round shield with my right hand and turned to my left, just in time to block a blow aimed for my head. A fist covered in segmented black chitinous armor punched through the enchanted metal and roughly tore it out of my grasp.

“[Thorns of Corruption].”

No sooner had I finished casting my buff spell did Aeryn begin to rain a series of unarmed strikes aimed for various vital spots on my body. I nimbly dodged out of the way of the first three before the fourth and fifth struck me directly in the chest. A split second before the blows struck me, however, I was able to cast my [Stoneskin] spell to greatly mitigate the damage. Aeryn didn't relent for a second, pummeling me over and over in a flurry of attacks that moved at blinding speeds. Although the damage from each hit was drastically reduced, my HP was still rapidly dwindling faster than I had anticipated. It was only when his seemingly unending series of blows began to slow did I move out of my defensive stance and began my own assault. 

As I quickly summoned a sword into my right hand, I began to swing savagely at Aeryn as his reflexes began to falter. I gave him absolutely no chance to recover as I began to circle around him, pressing the attack. While Aeryn was focused on avoiding my attacks as best he could, I used his momentary distraction to cast a spell with the arm that was dangling uselessly at my side. My HP dropped dangerously low as I cast my blood magic healing spell and then allowed the magic to absorb into my body. My HP rose to just over 50% as I began to channel another spell. Just as I heard the scrape of boots on stone and a white aura began to envelop Aeryn's body, I stopped channeling my [Blastburn] spell, lifted my open palm, and discharged the massive purple beam without looking away from the opponent in front of me. As the white aura quickly dissipated, I couldn't stop a grin from forming at the look of desperation written on Aeryn's face.

The sudden loss of two of his allies seemed to reinvigorate the spider demon, and he began to attack me without any sense of control or caution. I exploited a massive opening he left with a wild haymaker and stabbed him five times in the chest in quick succession. Dark green blood bubbled out of each of the wounds, and as he staggered I thrust the point of the sword into his throat and pushed with a massive surge of strength. I released my grip on the blade as the crossguard of the sword struck him in the chin and let out a long deep sigh as his lifeless body fell to the ground. I used Spoken Word to cast [Corrupting Fire] and ignited his corpse in brilliant red flames to prevent him from switching bodies. 

I turned slowly towards my remaining opponent who was now absent his retinue of giant spiders. His dark crimson eyes studied me carefully as I moved closer to him. I dismissed my mostly destroyed heavy platemail, and replaced it with a suit of much lighter leather armor. After summoning a dagger into each hand, I nodded to my demon retainer to signal I was ready. I shifted my head to the side as a pair of daggers flew at my face, while I released my own weapons and threw them with as much strength and accuracy as I could manage. I quickly summoned another pair of daggers as I moved at the last second to avoid a volley of four projectiles. I took three long strides forward to close some of the distance between us, but had to drop to the ground and roll on my shoulder to narrowly dodge out of the way of three more thrown daggers. I used the momentum of my roll to propel me into a full-on sprint. Just before I was struck in the neck by another pair of blades, I teleported across the room and thrust both of my own weapons at my target's chest. I nearly staggered forward as my blades connected with nothing but empty air, and I suddenly felt twin stabs of pain in my lower back. I quickly spun on my heel to face the nimble rogue, and saw him standing with his weapons at the ready. Instead of making a move to attack, he merely stared at me with smoldering intensity.

“I was wondering when you were finally going to reveal that skill, Judas. For the longest time I couldn't figure out where I got the teleport ability from. But then I thought about something Gehenna said to me about how my corruption likely caused your own code to change into what you are now. So… in essence… you are the first person I corrupted. The only thing I couldn’t figure out is why I can use it, but it neither has a name nor does it even show up in my skill list.”

He nodded his head slowly but otherwise remained still.

“Hmmmm… quite the enigma.”

I focused on my demonic speed and threw both daggers at him at the same time I lunged forward with my claws outstretched. Just before my hands could make contact with him, however, he teleported again and I felt another pair of stabs in different spots in my back. Just as before, I turned slowly around to face him, and he was back in that aggravatingly stoic stance.

“So, after using a few context clues from things you said and things Gehenna mentioned, I came to a conclusion.”

“Oh? Please m’lady, do tell.”

“You used to be a powerful demon lord, powerful enough to challenge Gehenna. But she beat you. Likely so badly you had to take refuge somewhere to avoid her retaliation. That’s where you had the unfortunate luck to encounter Mellic. In your weakened state, you were unable to fight him off, and he quickly subdued you and forced you into some sort of servitude.”

He nodded thoughtfully and shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s certainly an interesting theory, m’lady. But it wouldn’t explain why I was only level 22 when you encountered me.”

Instead of responding, I lunged at him at full speed and swung both of my daggers in wide horizontal arcs. Just as before, he teleported away, only this time I spread my wings and leapt upwards. The points of both daggers just barely missed me as I quickly took aim at his back and released my own projectiles with a great deal of strength. He moved fluidly to dodge out of the way of one, but the other struck him in the shoulder and made him take a step backwards. I used a play out of his book to rapidfire dagger after dagger, using Spoken Word each time to cast [Summon Mythic Dagger] over and over. He avoided most of the weapons that shot towards him like bladed cannonballs, but after one caught him in the shin he stumbled and fell backwards. I capitalized on the opening, folded my wings, and plummeted towards the ground. The crunch of metal on bone was followed by a shout of extreme pain. I stood up slowly and looked at the limp form of my dearest companion. He was wheezing from a punctured lung and a mostly shattered rib cage, but he was otherwise still alive. I took a step to the side of him and knelt down. I gingerly picked up his head and cradled it in my lap.

“You were only level 22 because of me. When my corruption caused a helper AI to merge with your code, it made you what you are. But the teleportation skill I inherited from your original form still remained. It never became more than anything but a ghost of skill, a hidden remnant of who you were before.”

“If that’s… true… m’lady… I owe you… a debt… far… greater than… I can ever… pay.”

I looked at him with confusion while I silently cast a healing spell to ease his breathing. He exhaled loudly and I saw both of his arms twitch like he was going to attack me again, but instead he relaxed and gave me a small smile.

“You took away a life that was full of nothing but pain and suffering, and gave me this one. Who I was doesn’t matter, only who I am now, m’lady. And I am honored to be able to serve you in every way possible, and to have you as my closest friend. You will make an amazing Empress, Allexus. Of that I have no doubt.”

He reached into his coat and pulled out a single dagger. He used his other hand to grab mine and he pressed the handle of his weapon into my palm.

“Finish this… and then show the rest of our clan how sorely outmatched they are.”

I bent down and pressed my lips to his forehead just as I had done during the tournament, and slid the blade between his ribs, piercing his heart and ending the fight.

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