Stationed inside a camp edging both Dolatia and the cities of Marquis that'd been reclaimed by the emperor's army, Moriyana stood at the head of chaos, orchestrating everything through a parchment map. Every tap of her finger on the page would create a direct portal that connected the otherworld and reality and once one passed through they would be spitted right out whenever she wanted them to be.
"Most of the emperor's stationed guards have retreated, and thankfully, Dominion was seen flying over your base towards the emperor's immediate domain," hearing the news from a female demon general, Moriyana raised her head with a bright grin.
"Great," although she'd been disappointed to learn that the population of Dolatia had been exterminated, now knowing that she was free to turn anyone she wanted into demons with her assigned army, Moriyana couldn't wait to wreak even more havoc. "We're free to do whatever we want now, Greta. Now show me a sea of blood and play a symphony of screams for me."
Feeling a chill down her spine by Moriyana's words, Great, the war general was left blushing like a lovestruck teen. Failing to imagine how it would feel to turn the words of her master into reality, her breaths grew heavier by the second.
"As-As you say, mistress!" She said with a devilish smile.
Turning around, she quickly got out of the tent with her tail swaying about playfully. Growing her wings back, she flew away to carry out Moriyana's orders. Once she was gone, Moriyana shifted her attention to Athena who'd been glaring at her all this time.
"We're supposed to turn humans, not kill them," Athena complained.
"And I'm tired of healing every injured demon, it's like they want to die or something!" Sitting in a corner with an ice bag over her head, Alice wasn't far behind with her rebuttal.
"Well, let them die then, who cares about these idiots?" Even though the demi-cats didn't expect much camaraderie from Moriyana, they didn't expect her to outright voice her indifference to their lives. "About the killing part, we can't control the army we have already, so I think it's best we only turn a select few whilst whittling down the number of enemies."
"Fine," shutting her eyes closed, Athena once again used her ability to see through the eyes of all non-human creatures crittering or flying through the forests. "Another group escaping towards Lamenia to the southernmost river."
Seeing the group of humans through a squirrel's eyes, she kept following them by changing her vision to whichever creature was closest to the escapees.
"Alright," creating an otherworld portal, Moriyana dumped a handful of demons right into their path. "That much should be enough."
'I expect this job to be more hands-on, but I guess this is the safest way of doing this without putting us in harm's way.' Not entirely satisfied by the means, Moriyana wanted to be part of the carnage even though Haruki asked them to only direct the armies.
"Next time, I might borrow some of Mother's pets and release them against these pesky humans," just the thought of the creatures of the dark springing out into the real world was enough to make her beat out in excitement.
"She's talking to herself again?" Athena mumbled, seriously concerned about Moriyana's state of mind.
***
Surrounded by four of his five war generals, the emperor of Atlas, laid resting on a bed of great exquizette. Having arrived just now, Dominion was the most fuming of all, after all, how could the other lagging behind in the castle let the emperor be poisoned by some stupendously potent toxins?
"What the fuck were you all doing?!" He growled, not only to show his rage but also in hopes that the emperor would be woken up by his screams.
While Michael and Nabe had nothing to say, Razor wasn't too fond of Dominion's tone. Opening a realm tear near his mouth, he transferred everything Dominion tried to complain about into another plane of existence. Upon realizing that his voice was gone, Dominion grabbed Razor by the collar, but a single blink of Nabe's eyes enshrouded their vision in darkness.
"Both of you shut up and help us figure out how to wake him!" Yelling out to them, she turned to Michael who'd been standing beside the bed without uttering a single word. "Found anything yet?"
"Just the poison, I can't feel anything else from him," his eyes glowing a golden, Michael was scanning the emperor's body for any trace of elusive magic that could've bound the emperor in a curse.
Grunting in the background, Dominion and Razor both broke Nabe's blinding spell before moving closer to the emperor's bed once more. Being the only ones allowed into the room, finding out how to raise him from slumber fell entirely on the shoulders of the four generals. Entrusting that in the hands of someone else while the emperor was in a vulnerable state wasn't something any of them were willing to do.
"Wait-" Sensing a faint curse binding itself deep in the emperor's heart, Michael brushed his hand over his chest to reveal the sight inside of the emperor's body. "What in the?"
The cosmic sight of the outer skies was peeking right at them, and the lustrous clouds surrounding their world were beating as the emperor's heart. Chained by a translucent dark aura, the sounds of his heart were growing meeker and meeker.
"A curse?" Mumbled Michael, and the others hurriedly peered in.
"This smell…" As Dominion's nose caught a familiar hint, he already knew who was behind this mess. "That bitch, Asmodia."
Feeling an inherent rage bubbling up inside his heart, Dominion, gripped his teeth shut. Turning around without speaking a word more, he headed right towards the exit to deal with the situation in his own way.
"Where are you going?" Traveling before him in the form of dark mist, Nabe held her arms stretched wide to prevent him from leaving before explaining himself. "Don't do anything stupid now."
"I'm going to kill that bitch once and for all," grunting at Nabe, he pushed her to the side.
Right as he was about to open the door, however, he was interrupted once again by another war general.
"If you're going to her casket, then I'm gonna assume you're ready to face him," referring to the last war general under the emperor, Michael waited for Dominion's reply.
But saying not a word, he simply walked out of the room, leaving the others to ponder whether they should attempt to stop him at all.
'The emperor will kill him if he kills her.' Thought Nabe.
'About time, someone does the right thing.' Razor like always, was much keener about the path of righteousness than the others.
Michael on the other hand, had something else entirely to worry about.
'I can feel it, the emperor is dying, and he won't be the only one to fall.' Worried about his own people, he contemplated leaving the emperor's side so he could be with his eleven brethren once more.
And although their minds were wandering in different directions, linked together by the emperor's curse, none of them could truly escape his grasp. That is unless they were never cursed at all.
'Ahaha…' Being the only one free from the curse, Nabe barely managed to hide her smile.
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