The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 424: Strangers At The Gate

Chapter 424: Strangers At The Gate

Amarena sped to the source of the light, halting as she saw that the portal was forming high above the ground - higher than she could reach with her abilities. Through it, waves of blue-green motes fluttered downward from along the edges, in dense enough clusters to be nearly unavoidable.

A crawling sound behind her alerted her to the movement of the trees. Their roots rose and intertwined as if to block off any potential retreat. Perhaps they’d meant to block her path, but she’d been too swift.

Guess this isn’t going to be as easy as I hoped, Rena thought as she sighed. Her recent evolution had granted her no wings with which to fly, and she hadn’t fully recovered her mana from the "battle" with Orby.

And what kind of name was "Orby"? Kiryu had struck her as the irreverent type, but naming his own creation something so infantile hinted that he was either childishly uncreative, at least with names, or he had no self-respect. At least it made ordering the little construct easier.

"Orby, make a, uh, ladder."

The orb did not respond.

Ten seconds later it went bee-beep.

Great, so it can make frying pans and hammers and bread and bricks but not a damn ladder.

As she walked towards the portal her suspicions were confirmed. The largest part of it was over a clearing in the middle of the island - no, not a clearing, a tiny lake filled with shallow water, which only resembled a clearing thanks to some trick of the reflecting green-blue motes in her manasight. At the center of the lake, beyond the descending curtain of motes, was an island where shrouded figures waited.

Those figures noticed her well before she reached the falling curtain of motes, shuddering a bit from the strange flashes that messed with her sense of orientation and place as she stepped through.

An elf and two humans waited within, standing in front of a large blue-white mound. They all had their backs to her, but the moment Amarena stepped onto the island they turned. The mound rose as well, and Amarena found herself staring into the eyes of a giant spirit that took the form of a mink.

"Who are you?" one of the humans, a male, asked in a demanding tone. He was dressed in armor and had a familiar symbol on the clasp of his cape, and he brandished a hand-and-a-half sword with practiced ease.

Amarena could tell by his aura that he was most likely focused on enhancement magic, which only confirmed what she suspected. The other two were easier to read, the elf wore plain clothes with enough stains to shout that she was an alchemist, while the human was wearing a uniform Amarena recognized all too well from Kir’s wardrobe.

"You’re an Arcane Knight from Norneau. What are you doing with Academy students this far from the city?"

"You still didn’t answer my question. But seeing as you recognize what we are, that can only mean you’re one of Maledict’s demons." The human male assumed a fighting stance and Amarena felt the mana surge in the mages behind him.

Only a few years ago, Maledict the Duke of Heresy - Kir’s father - besieged Norneau, as a ploy to steal the Academy of Magic. He succeeded, partially, at great cost to the city.

She’d barely opened her mouth to respond when the knight darted forward, swinging for her head.

Amarena didn’t need to accelerate to dodge his strikes. He was definitely a gifted enhancer, but she was beyond his league in speed and training. Being much larger than him, however, there was only so much she could do without using her mavenry. But the moment he slipped into her guard, Amarena grabbed his arm and forced his stab into Orby.

The orb did not respond. All the same, it ate the sword down to the hilt as the runes crackled and died as their forms were destroyed.

A light shined in her peripheral vision and Amarena started to dodge as she pushed the human away, only to find her feet held down by a surge of still water. A quick look confirmed that it was the elf controlling it, and the blue, otter-like spirit on her shoulder shared her glowing blue-white eyes as she focused on her spell.

The light was from a bolt of mana being cast by the human girl, and Amarena accelerated herself just enough to twist her body out of the way, letting the next three bolts pass close to her body.

"I’m not with Maledict, dammit! I’m a Valrian Knight Justiciam!" she shouted as she decelerated.

"The Valrians fight demons. You could have just killed a Knight and stolen their armor!" The male human struck out at her with a fist, producing a blast of wind in Amarena’s face. She almost missed the Plunk of a bottle falling into the liquid between her feet. She expected the water to start freezing, but instead as soon as water leaked into the open lid, the contents of the bottle exploded in yellow-green smoke.

The foulness of its smell was accompanied by a slight burn in her nostrils and throat, but Amarena was not about to stand idle and let the alchemy take effect. Though it wasted precious mana, Amarena teleported herself behind the two girls, shouting "Cease!"

The male knight, who had been backing away from the spreading cloud, turned to find Amarena with her blades out, the tips pressing against the two women’s spines.

"I’m not-" Though the battle paused, Amarena coughed as the tiny amount of whatever it was she’d inhaled took effect. She was still careful not to let her swords slip into the girl’s backs, but they did not miss their chance to dart away from her, turning with spells raised.

"Calm yourselves," a firm, feminine voice flowed into everyone’s minds as the mink spirit asserted herself. It bore with it an image of stilling waters in separate puddles. A moment later it leaned in and sniffed Amarena heavily. "This one smells of the Abomination... and the child of Silver. Ah yes... you were atop the mountain then."

Amarena recognized the spirit now. It was the one that had stripped the mana from the bones of the great serpent hidden in Mt. Morens.

"What is she talking about?" the human knight asked.

"Silver... you mean Kordia’s spirit?" Rena coughed. Demons were pretty resilient against most poisons, so whatever had been inside that bottle had to be something truly vile to mess with her.

"You know Kordia?" the elf asked.

"We’re... friends," Rena replied, turning a bit towards the spirit behind her. "And I assume by ’Abomination’ you meant Kir." She managed a chuckle. This was too fortuitous to be a coincidence.

"Kir’s alive?" the knight asked, eliciting a guilty blush from the two women he was with. As soon as he saw this, he shook his head. "Of course he is. How long have you two known?"

"Well, I found out when I completed my bond with Nimfi... and then Ann sort of figured it out because I told her Professor Kiryu saved me and he’s really tall..."

"Suspiciously tall," the girl who was probably Ann added.

"Let’s put away our swords and talk," Rena proposed, pushing her swords back into storage. "My name is Amarena, Daughter of Leviathan, Knight Justiciam of the Valrian Order." Though she felt uncertain about the last, she hid her worries as she drew forth her sigil and held it before her.

"I’m Lugh... Arcane Knight Apprentice," the human male said. "I’d put away my sword, but it seems I don’t have one anymore."

"I’m Ann, Lugh’s sister, and this is Keiya."

"Don’t tell her that!" Lugh hissed.

"If she’s with Kir, then I trust her," Keiya said. The blue otter spirit squeaked, and Keiya added, "This is Nimfi."

Nimfi squeaked a few times.

"I know she’s tough," Keiya replied, "and fast. I think she could have killed us if she wanted to."

Amarena shrugged. They weren’t wrong.

"Your teamwork was fairly good," Amarena said, hoping to spare their dignity a bit. "Formidable for students and apprentices."

"This is the first time we’ve fought together," Ann admitted, before mumbling. "I don’t duel all that much..."

"When confronted with an unknown, you didn’t freeze. That alone is worth a lot," Rena said, coughing. "What was that thing you threw in the water?"

"Oh. That was purified pot ash, fire-aspected mana crystal, and a mix of dehydrated gezhol, phosphophyllite, and-"

Amarena raised a hand to halt the alchemist. "I understand almost none of that. Does it have a name?"

"Ann’s Murderous Fart," Lugh put forth as he finished his approach, only to receive a punch in the arm from his sister.

"I haven’t thought of a name for it," Ann scowled. "But it’s not going to be that."

"What’s that?" Keiya asked, pointing.

"That’s Orby." Orby beeped once. "She makes things," Rena finished.

"Can it make a sword?" Lugh scowled.

A sword began to form in front of the orb, a plain-looking short sword that was largely featureless except for the texture of its metal handle, which featured a single guard on the sharp side of the single-edged blade.

Rena found it artful, in its own way. A distillation of the idea of a sword into something effective and unembellished.

Catching the sword, she held it by the blade and reached out to offer it to Lugh. It was duller than it looked, but nothing a few hours with a whetstone wouldn’t fix.

As Lugh inspected the blade, Keiya cleared her throat.

"So... now that we’re talking instead of fighting, why are you here Amarena?"

Amarena pointed up. "I need a fast trip to Hell to stop the shards of Heaven from destroying everything when they fall upon Ayther. It’s Kiry- Kir’s plan."

Concern filled their eyes, and Ann paled.