Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

41. Secret Mission II

"I see," the White Witch replies, "I will return her to you."

The White Witch rises from her seat, only to be intercepted by two of her colleagues.

"Oh, White Witch," Lady Jessica smiles thinly, "you're here, too?" The Princess of Terror, combing her short hair, raises an eyebrow at her, but is ignored.

"Not for long," she sharply replies, "you're in charge of the prisoners, aren't you?"

The White Witch shows her the photo she acquired from the old barkeep. "I want to take her," she demands.

"Hmm? I have no problem with that," Lady Jessica signs her autograph on the photo.

"Why would you want this person? Oh, she's an officer, huh?" The Princess of Terror mutters.

"I have a debt to be paid," the White Witch replies while taking leave.

The Princess of Terror and Lady Jessica sit on the wooden chairs, the watchful eyes of the barkeep overshadowing them. "Shadow Paralysis!" The Princess of Terror roughly taps the barkeep's forehead, sending him into a deep sleep.

Oh, come on! First the White Witch, now the Princess of Terror and Lady Jessica?

"So, how severe was the battle?" the Princess of Terror asks while pouring herself a glass of alcohol.

Lady Jessica sighs. "Terrible," she replies as she gulps down her glass of beer, "we lost at least one million men. Specifically, the Brotherhood of the Stars lost almost all their troops."

"As expected of the skirmishers. We have to attack Fort Bard immediately, then," the Princess of Terror says.

"That's my plan; we'll begin marching in three days. I'll announce it to the soldiers next morning," Lady Jessica replies, "aah, how am I supposed to explain things to the King of the Brotherhood of the Stars?" She pinches her forehead.

"Honestly, I thought you and your army have captured Fort Bard since eons ago," the Princess of Terror makes a catty remark, "what's holding you back?"

"Ammunition is getting scarce," Lady Jessica mutters, "mermaids have been harassing our convoys–thank Lady Sakurako for fighting the Alliance's best water mage above the sea while exhausted. We could've extracted the necessary mana from our slaves, but we haven't captured enough."

"To make it worse, morale of the army has almost collapsed. You know, seeing so many of their family and friends dead ...." A tear escapes Lady Jessica's left eye before she wipes it off.

"Still, their reinforcements have been destroyed, right?" the Princess of Terror points out, "and the Djinn king is dead."

"About the only thing that works well for us." Lady Jessica frowns. "Both Agusman and Arctus have arrived on Fort Bard and the Pompon siblings are catching up."

The Princess of Terror begins chewing some ginger candy that she grabs from her pocket. Lady Jessica's necklace begins to glow eeriely.

"Lord Abel? What's the matter?" Lady Jessica asks confusedly. The necklace begins to emit Lord Abel's voice.

"I just received news from our spies. Apparently, there are six infiltrators in our camp right now: the Twelfth and the Thirteenth Imperial Guard Division."

"Hmph ... they just sent baby eagles to fight dragons. Lady Jessica and I are on it," the Princess of Terror mocks, raising from her seat.

"Hey, you two," Lady Jessica orders us coldly, "time to work."

"Y-yes, Lady Jessica!" Remi replies with her most coarse voice. Both the Princess of Terror and Lady Jessica leave the bar.

I reach for a parchment of paper in my pocket, writing, "The march on Fort Bard begins in three days." I roll the parchment and latch it onto a summoned bat's leg.

"We have to go," Remi grabs my hand, "it's not safe anymore."

"It's not safe at the first place," I correct her, "but you're right. We must rendezvous with the others and get the heck out of here."

Outside, the Lords and their trusted allies are floating above the sky. "Celestial Barrier!" Lady Jessica claps her hands, forming a gigantic shield around the camp; my bat has luckily escaped.

"Edelweiss, you're the best sensory mage we have here," Lord Luke points out.

"Very well," the White Witch replies, "might as well test out my newly awakened Third Eye."

A scar forms on her forehead, enlarging into a black hole with a big red dot at the middle. "Two of them nearby our barrier at four o'clock. Another pair is also nearby our barrier at eleven o'clock. The final two ... are just behind us."

"We're fucked!" Remi hisses at me.

The Princess of Terror replies, "I'll take on the nearest two." She brandishes her longsword.

"Blood Bone Serpent!" I unleash my creature on them, hoping to utilize it as a distraction. 

"That bastard!" Lady Caitlyn's voice curses.

"Let's get the heck out of here!" Remi's hand trembles when I grab it and so is mine.

"Barrage of Shadow Swords."

Thousands of black swords are thrown at us. "Blood Shield!" Thick blood slows down and stops the swords.

"I'll handle them alone," the Princess of Terror declares coldly, "although it might be a clever idea not to hold back too much."

"Remi, get the hell out of here," I mutter as Remi generates lightning on her hand.

"What? What about you?" Remi asks.

"I'll buy time for you to escape," I reply quietly as I draw my sword from its sheath.

"Are you-"

"Remi, there is no way all six of us can run being hunted by five demon Lords and two vampires. Our only hope is to get one of us out and alert everyone else."

"Ah, yes. The arrogance of Imperial Guards truly has no match; talking as if I am not here to stop them. Four Devils Formation: Wyrm Guardians!"

Giant serpents strike from the underground, their jaws wide open. "Remi, go! Blood Maelstrom!"

The sheer volume of blood drown two of those snakes, but one of the serpents appear on my back. "Damn it!" I mutter as I turn my body and raise my sword, "Blood Shield!"

"Blood Vortex! Blood Salvo!" A rain of giant blood arrows and a wave of sweeping blood finally destroy the remaining serpent.

"Then, what about the remaining one?" The Princess of Terror asks coldly. Another serpent comes from the underground, slamming itself onto Remi, who is on the process of blasting the barrier apart.

"Remi!" I shriek.

"You cannot afford to be inattentive!" The Princess of Terror draws her sword, thrusting it upon my back.

I draw my own blade, locking hers in combat. "Blood Sword!" I parry a wide sweep with an additional sword, then thrusts the other one onto the Princess of Terror's neck.

"Do you really think your friend can pierce through the shield?" the Princess of Terror mocks as she ducks, avoiding my attack, "when Lady Jessica activates her Celestial Barrier, nineteen year old kids tend to not be able to penetrate it."

"I have faith in her!" I scream, jumping backwards to avoid her sweep. I take a small glance at Remi, who has dodged the snake slam and has destroyed it with her lightning.

"You'll soon find that it is not enough," the Princess of Terror says. "Shadow Paralysis!"

One rough touch knocks me out cold and Remi is hit by the same spell shortly.

We have failed.