Arpious of the Planes

"Hey, I won't die that easily," I muttered, and Ysal looked a bit shocked as she turned towards me.

Well, a little bit would be an understatement as she quickly turned into her humanoid form and dove into my stomach.

"I-I thought you died," She muttered while crying into my shoulder.

"Don't ruin our moment," I muttered as I stabbed my katana into the lurking fallen drake behind her and killed him instantly.

The only problem now was the massive demon trying to pull me and only me under the shadows continuously.

Though unlucky for him, I have complete reign over the shadows, and if need be, I could just teleport away.

"Alright… Let's see where you are… [Heavenly War Flag of the True Hero]," I muttered, and all of a sudden, a massive golden flag waved in the room, disintegrating all the shadows and burning the remaining fallen drakes.

Each scream of pain was like music to my ears, and Ysal finished them off with a blast of light that completely disintegrated them into nothing.

"Oh man, that's scary," I muttered to myself once again before watching for any sign of movements from the demon.

'Seems he isn't from the demon army… So it's probably a rouge one, trying to obtain influence and power. He isn't that strong, so you should be able to take care of him quickly,' My inner demon explained.

Well, aren't I such a lucky woman…

"AHHHHHHH!"

All of a sudden, a blood-curdling screech came from the empress's direction as I saw both of her legs had been cut off by a completely pitch black being.

He was shrouded with shadows despite standing in the heavenly light of my flag.

But first, I had to quickly regenerate the empress' legs with white flames, and then I used [Forbidden Magic: Skadi] to completely finish the job… or so I thought.

I had frozen over the entire room beside the panicking empress and the impressed Ysal, so the demon had, of course, been covered in the same ice.

But, my ice was only able to freeze over the top layer of shadows as he slowly unveiled the shadows surrounding him, revealing a large beast-like creature.

Two large demonic wings, dark red fur, the body and head of a very muscular lion, and a large scorpion tail protruding from its behind.

[Manticore]

[You have run into a very dangerous species of demons that can only be found in the very deepest planes. With its strong and nimble body and its amazing magic, it is the perfect all-rounder that will give you some trouble. Plus, its wings are made of an indestructible material, so shooting it down from the sky would be impossible.]

Not that strong my ass… This guy is practically exuding the same power as the succubus queen… goddamn.

'No, that's just for show. Your flag is weakening it right now, and I assume it will probably try and break it, so protect it, and you'll have an easy win,' My inner demon suggested and placed pretty much all my trust in her as I activated a skill I hadn't touched in a while.

[Divinity Domain has been activated]

[Please select the Forbidden Magic of your choice]

[Forbidden Magic: Skadi]

I smiled faintly as the manticore opened its mouth and unleashed a myriad of blue magic blasts that Ysal had blocked with ease.

Surprised by its weakened state, it charged towards the flag, hoping to get rid of it, but just as it was even about to graze it, I kicked it… hard.

BAM

He was sent flying through the wall, but my flames continued to hold up the room… but I wasn't done yet.

I created a whip of pure ice with thorns protruding from each side and sent it flying towards the manticore who was trying to fly away.

It felt the pressure being exuded from not only myself but Ysal, who was angry at how he mercilessly tore off the empress' legs.

She had made a full recovery, but the mental damage and pain that she went through would take a while to get over.

As I pulled the manticore back, two large halberds made of bright light stabbed straight through it, and a final third one pierced through the head and down the body, revealing itself from the tip of the scorpion tail.

"Oh yeah… I forgot the empress isn't just a political figure," I muttered as I saw the empress completely recovered.

Her rage was overflowing as she continued to pierce the manticore, which was somehow alive, continuously until the manticore drew its last breath.

I breathed out a frosty breath as my white hair traveled back into the roots of my black hair and the respective white theme that I had disappeared with the deactivation of my skill.

"So that's your divinity… That is quite amazing," Ysal said as she gave me a pat on the back.

BOOM

But it seems the manticore left a large departing gift for us as its body suddenly exploded with dark and malicious winds.

They cut straight through my limbs, and the presence of another demon could be felt, but it slowly faded away with the blast of winds.

I had lost half of my left arm and pretty much my entire right arm while Ysal was still standing strong without any injuries.

"Motherfucker!" I shouted as even though I was able to regenerate right away, it still hurt, and having your limbs cut off isn't the best feeling in the world.

"Arpious, are you alright?" Ysal asked as she saw my limbs grow back from out of a coating of white flames.

"Yeah… Check on the empress," I suggested as her wounds were healing slower than usual.

"AHHHHHHH!"

All of a sudden, the empress let out yet another blood-curdling scream, and my bad premonition had come to life as I saw blackthorns wrap around her delicate white skin.

"Shit! It's a curse!" Ysal shouted as she quickly ran over to the empress, who writhed in pain on the ground.

I was wondering why a warrior like her had screamed so badly earlier… but I guess it was a curse, so it makes sense.

Ysal began to purify the curse, and the blackthorns slowly began to fade away, but in the end, a singular black mark right in the middle of her chest continued to persist.

Huh… The rest of the guards in here died… Well, at least the nobles and elves made it out safe.

"May I ask if there are any other royals, or did we just kill the entire royal family?" I asked the empress, who was trying to regain her breath.

"You underestimate how large the royal family is… There is the highest degree, and then there are the branches, and these branches are also called royals. The ones that came after me were the highest degree though I'm sure the remaining branches are scheming something else," The empress said and then suddenly clenched her chest once again.

She cried out in pain, and Ysal, having enough of seeing her suffer so much, put her to sleep with a skill that engulfed her head.

It was a warm yellow light that immediately knocked her unconscious, and I was a bit jealous of her face as she looked like she was enjoying herself.

"We'll reschedule the ceremony to later. Take care of things on your end," Ysal said, and I immediately nodded before gathering the remaining guards and storming the noble's mansion that held the elf who was marked.

Oh yeah, I placed on the sun drake illusion as well.

I also saw the same beautiful elf pleasing the handsome man with her mouth… so we quickly got rid of the pest and left the rest of the family alive.

Everybody here was of royal blood, so remarrying wouldn't be a problem.

The elf, on the other hand, was to be Ysal's meal, so I decided to watch over her for a second and made her my servant for a bit.

She was a tough nut to crack, but with enough illusion magic, she eventually broke and became slightly more obedient.

Her will as an elf was stupidly strong, so I was only able to make her just barely listen to my orders when needed.

We then continued with the cleaning process, and I stormed the houses of all the royals but didn't kill these ones as there was no evidence of their betrayal.

We just forcefully searched their mansions, and thankfully, it seems only the main branch had been corrupted while the others stayed sane.

This process took about a week, and the entire time I hadn't slept, so Ysal came to check up on me once in a while.

Each time she saw my dark eye bags, she grew more worried, but I just comforted her before leaving to finish the job.

And just like I had anticipated, the accomplished twenty-four-hour nap that I had was all worth it.

Kind of… There were some other things I had found that needed to be looked at, but that could be saved for another time.

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