The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 147: Siege Transition

Chapter 147: Siege Transition

"That’s not going to fool anyone," Amarena said as soon as Kir presented the situation to her, after explaining the plan to everyone.

Kir sighed. "We don’t have a lot of time. My other plan was to see if you could fit in my dimensional storage. There should be enough air in there to get you into the city."

"Is there air? You don’t know?" Amarena challenged.

"It’s not like I can bend backward and stick my head in there..." Suddenly Kir had an idea. "Wait. Maybe I can..."

He hadn’t tested out his new storage, so he retrieved Kangetsu from the cart and rooted around in his awareness until he felt the odd sense of spatial depth that indicated that pocket of dimensional space. With an internal flex of magic, he was able to open up a small hole in front of him, enough to slide Kangetsu in, and part of his hand. Then with another mental flex, he opened up the space, held his breath, and stuck his head in.

Everywhere around him was just white. Featureless, utter grey.

He didn’t even see Kangetsu, but as soon as he thought of his sword, it appeared, just within reach. So far it felt normal. He recalled reading about space travel in his past life. The vacuum of space would have boiled his blood. Committing to his exploration, he let out his breath and started sniffing around.

It was a bit stale, but not unbreathable. He wondered if his wings would smell like this-

As soon as he thought about his wings, he saw them in front of him, along with the portion of his back that was covered for by the illusion magic worked into his spell tattoo. It was a disorienting sight, especially when he flexed his back and saw them respond. He wondered if-

Nope. Trying to pull more of his back into the storage space didn’t work, instead producing a weird feeling like he was resting against a wall.

"Weird," he chuckled, then pulled his head out.

He jumped when he saw Amarena’s face hovering mere centimeters from his nose.

"What are you doing?" he asked, then he saw everyone had gathered near the demon woman.

"Your head disappeared," Stella said. "We could see the inside of your neck." She made a disgusted face.

"Just wanted to see if you were dead," Amarena poked him. "It seems oddly fitting for you to die sticking your head in holes they don’t belong in."

"Glad to see you too," Kir snarked. "There’s air in there, and I think I can make you fit," he said. "But I have no idea how much goes in and at what rate."

"Let me see," Amarena stepped forward and Kir flexed the same idea as when he’d tried putting Kangetsu away, only instead of opening for an object, he just opened the storage, widening it enough to let Amarena poke her head in.

From Kir’s point of view, it looked like her head just disappeared, ending just above her shoulders. He could see her insides pulsing, red and alive...

She pulled her head out. "Did you hear anything I said?" she asked.

"No."

"I said this could work."

They got in one more test, this time with Amarena climbing in but leaving her tail out.

As soon as she was bodily inside, Kir felt the drain on his mana grow. Based on what he felt, it would be quite a while before his mana drained, not including his reserves, but it made a certain sort of sense. He’d never tested out his dimensional storage with significant mass before, and Amarena was significantly massive beyond her appearance.

Kir tried walking a few steps. As agreed, Amarena would try to get out from her side. After a count of fifty, Kir opened his storage around her tail and as soon as he reached in-

"Gah!" he started as his wrist was suddenly grabbed. Amarena was not gentle as she climbed out.

"Fuck, I hate that," she said.

"Were you able to breathe?" Kir asked.

"Yeah. But I couldn’t get out," she shivered a bit. "I could move, but I didn’t want to risk pulling my tail in. Couldn’t tell how long I was in there."

"You were in there for about a minute, just like we agreed."

"Felt like longer," she grunted. "But alright. It’s not a bad plan."

"We could still go with the cloak," Noir offered, passing the item up to her.

"I’ll wear it for when I come out," she replied, taking it from him and donning it.

Almost as soon as she finished, General Sreev arrived, along with Litty. After clearing his throat, he spoke.

"Pardon my interruption." Something about his look told Kir he hadn’t rested at all last night, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it. "We are ready to conduct the release. I just wanted to give my farewells to Maledict’s only child." He bowed deeply to Kir, and Kir bowed lightly back. "Is everyone ready?"

Kir looked to everyone. Hearing no protest, he said, "Let’s do this."

The better part of an hour later, the Black Sheep sat in the back of their own cart as Noir steered the strider toward the gate. Theirs was one of three carts, and the people filling them all seemed to be tough individuals, and none of them were mages.

Kir tried not to pull on his newly acquired shirts. It had taken two to keep his internal glow hidden, and the first felt quite scratchy.

As soon as they arrived, there were shouts to open the gates, and they were allowed entry into a semicircle of guards who warily watched from behind drawn weapons and shields. He saw the mavens amongst them as stronger colored in magic - though none above white or pink. Curiously, he didn’t see any Arcane Knights. Perhaps they were on the walls or in reserve. A half-dozen mages whom Kir could see glowed with magic, though none gave him a sense beyond an orange level of power.

Everyone was urged out of the carts, separated, and made to stand in one of five lines, with demonkin at the back.

Then Kir heard a shout that made his tail twitch in anxiety.

"Truthtellers! Forward!"

The soldiers that had organized everyone stood off to the sides as two people stepped out, accompanied by guards. One was a weathered human with a starkly cut beard and no-nonsense eyes. The other was a shorter elf with vibrant green hair and lightly brown skin. Both glowed orange and gave him the sense of mavenry.

Kir had expected some sort of inspection and interrogation, and he forced himself to calm and take a breath as he readied himself.

The truthtellers started at the front, each interrogating a prisoner from opposite sides of the line and moving toward the center. Kir felt a sense of relief when the first line was allowed to enter the city, which included Stella and Sam. Stella, for her disguise, had taken the form of a hulking male ’human with roguishly good looks’ - in her words - and had laid on a bit of charm that set the woman interrogating her blushing.

After the third line, Noir got in, and Kir noticed him almost turn to regard him before mastering himself.

The fourth line went as well. Kir knew they would, because every actual prisoner were exactly what they seemed to be.

Kir suppressed his anxiety as the truthtellers finally started on the demonkin. And all too soon, one stood before him.

"Name," the older human grunted, his voice sounding a bit worn.

"I’m called Gale," he said.

The man paused, scratching it into his sheet. "Occupation?"

"I am a mage and something of an unwilling adventurer, lately."

He didn’t show any emotion towards the attempt at humor as he scratched that in. "Do you now serve, or have you ever served, demons in any capacity?"

Having heard this question asked multiple times, Kir was ready.

"I do not serve any demons, and stand opposed to any that would inflict violence without just cause."

A scowl rose on the man’s face. "Answer all of my questions. Have you ever served any demons?"

"No," Kir replied.

"Do you plan to harm or bring harm upon any persons, organizations, or the city itself?"

Kir flinched in his tail, and almost immediately the man seemed to grow more alert. His mind raced, trying to remember the exact wording he’d come up with for this question after hearing it asked many times to the prisoners before him.

"I may have enemies in this city, who, if encountered, I would harm on the grounds that they attempted my murder some months back."

The human clicked his tongue behind his lips. "That is a serious accusation. Do you have names for these individuals?"

Kir felt little relief at the man’s assumptive reasoning, but his next answer would be the most dangerous.

"One is a warrior and the other a mage. I would know them on sight and they would know, and likely attempt to harm, me on sight as well."

"Names," the truthteller asked.

"One is named Fay... something..." He remained silent, pretending to think as if he couldn’t recall the other as he wasted time to let the man assume. By the look on his face, he was getting grumpy at asking the same questions over and over.

The man grumbled as he took notes. "It’s martial law in the city. Whatever your grievances are, take it before a judge when it’s not curfew. Otherwise, the soldiers and guards are authorized to put down incidents however they see fit, and your kind aren’t exactly in good standing right now."

"I appreciate the warning," Kir said.

The man was already turning to leave.

Kir felt relief well up inside of him. His ploy had worked, giving them something to find but not enough that they would care. At long last, his group was released and allowed into the city.

As he passed beyond the soldiers, he hurried to the Black Sheep, ignoring the calls for fighters to join up.

"This place looks packed," Noir said as soon as Kir arrived. "What do we do now?"

Looking up the streets, Kir saw that there were many refugees simply sitting around.

Kir frowned with concern, wondering if the entire city was like this, or just the poorest ring.

"I think I have a place that we could go to."

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