Chapter 115: 72 – Devil’s Game, Part 7

“Fluffles…what do you know about dragons?” Amara asked tentatively as she watched the mythical creature that had become a surprise addition to the demonic army on Teyrin.

“Dragons?” Ezme replied thoughtfully as Amara could hear the clinking of a spoon and bowl next to her as the angel was scooping up ice cream. “Dragons are bad.”

Figures. First we had some asshats summoning demons, and now they have summoned a dragon as well! As if things weren’t bad enough! Amara suppressed her anxiety with a long sigh. “How bad are we talking?” 

“Well…dragons are a magical race, which means they require mana in order to survive. But that also means they are pretty knowledgeable and strong in magic. Among the mortal races, I guess dragons could be considered at the very top. They are almost extinct now, and those that remain are all demons-” The sound of the spoon scooping from the bowl suddenly stopped as the angel’s tone grew apprehensive. “Wait, don’t tell me…?”

Amara nodded bitterly. “Yep.”

When Ezme didn’t reply for a while, Amara guessed that she was using Farsight as well to get a look of the dragon. 

The sudden burst of bright laughter that broke the silence made Amara raise an eyebrow. “It’s a pipsqueak! It barely even passes to be called a dragon!”

It’s small? Amara cocked her head as she took another look at the dragon. I guess it’s the size of a van, plus the neck and the tail. “Just how large can dragons get?”

“There’s not really a limit to it I guess? But their growth does slow down a lot as they get older…mostly because their bodies catch up to their magical aptitude. They need more mana to sustain themselves when they get older, so they need to increase their magical talents in order to grow their bodies.” (Ezme)

Huh.

“But I wouldn’t worry! That little lizard is maybe around level five or six hundred at most. The elves should be more than capable of handling it.” Ezme continued before suddenly having a fit of giggles. “I can’t believe you were worried about that one!”

Amara smiled wryly. “Well, it’s not like I’ve seen a dragon before. And I can’t appraise it either.”

“Well, I guess you need more experience.” Ezme said with a smile in her voice.

Amara raised an eyebrow. “Did you just-”

“Pervert.” (Ezme)

Amara smiled wryly as the angel interrupted her before she even finished. “Well, you were the one that said-”

“I only said you lack experience.” Ezme replied innocently. “Which is true, isn’t it?”

Amara cancelled Farsight and blinked her eyes as her living room came back into view before turning her eyes to the angel who had a teasing smile on her face. “Well, I don’t mind getting more experience.”

“Pervert. Tsk.” Ezme clicked her tongue before leaning in towards Amara’s face.

 

 

 

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Waking up several hours later, Amara let out a sigh as she watched how Ezme was snoring peacefully with her arm wrapped around Amara’s waist.

She’s been here a lot ever since we found out that there were demons outside the barrier on Teyrin. Almost the entire time, in fact.

It’s pretty obvious that she’s worried, but…well, I’m not exactly complaining, but doesn’t it mean she’s neglecting her other duties?

I should talk to her about it when she wakes up. I don’t want her to get stressed out because of me. 

Wrapping her arms tighter around the angel, a soft wave carrying the scent of Ezme’s hair came over her. Though…I wouldn’t know what I’d do without her support. Like the dragon…if she hadn’t been here and treated it with such a relaxed attitude, I’d probably think it's much worse than it is.

Ah, crap. I need to let them know they’re up against a dragon too. Make A…right. I should get dressed first.

Glancing at the angel, Amara held her tighter and placed a kiss in the mess of pastel pink hair as she whispered. “Thank you, Fluffles.”

Carefully getting out of bed not to wake the sleeping angel, Amara got dressed and went to the kitchen to brew coffee. Make A Call: Amin.

[Amara. What’s the situation with the demons?] Amin immediately asked once the call connected.

Amara let out a faint sigh as she tossed the old coffee grounds from the last brew through a portal. [Mostly the same. Oh, and they have a dragon.]

[I see. Then…what!? Dragon?!] Amin exclaimed.

[Relax.] Amara smiled wryly as she finished preparing the coffee brewer and pushed the button. [It’s a pipsqueak. The Amaran Guard should be more than capable of handling it. Fluffles said it’s at most level six hundred.]

[Oh, yes. Of course! Only level six hundred!] Amin exclaimed sarcastically. [That’s only the most powerful being seen on Teyrin in recorded history, comparable to the mythical beings from the time of Alarice’s Descent! Even if the elves and dwarves are higher level than us humans, it-...] 

Amara raised an eyebrow as she was pulling out a carton of eggs from the fridge. [Amin?] 

[...Nevermind. You’re right, it’s a pipsqueak.] (Amin)

[What’s with the sudden flip?] (Amara)

Amin was silent for a while before he replied. [Let's just say that I remembered we got a monster of our own. Zenon is over level fifteen hundred.]

Amara, who was just about to crack an egg against the edge of the frying pan, stopped with her hand in the air as she blinked repeatedly. [Seriously?]

[Seriously.] (Amin)

Once Amara received the affirmative response, she fell into thought while cracking the eggs into the frying pan. Fifteen hundred? Just how powerful is that? 

Would I be able to beat him? I mean, all the demons I’ve fought have had a level of two hundred or less…and that’s not merely by choice, but because higher level demons are pretty rare. And when it comes to physical combat, I’m somewhat equal in strength to someone of level two hundred at the moment, because my stats compensate for my lack of skill.

As for magicians…it's hard to say. Divine power spells are ridiculously powerful, so I can more or less oneshot anything I face. 

If I want to. 

And if I can hit them. The last part becomes harder as magicians become higher level, as they have high strength and agility stats because of their level, as well as plenty of experience and-

[-I pray to the honourable lady to remember she was still in a conversation with this lowly mortal.] (Amin)

[Whoops!] Amara smiled faintly. [Sorry!] 

[I’m used to it.] Amin snorted. [Anyway, without divine magic you’d no doubt lose against him. Maybe even with?]

[I guess we’ll never find out-] Amara flinched in surprise and looked down, seeing the two arms that had suddenly appeared and wrapped around her waist.

“Insolent mortal. What have I said about leaving bed before I wake up?” The angel muttered moodily against Amara’s back. 

Amara smiled wryly as she glanced back, seeing the mess of pink hair behind her shoulder. “I had to make a call. I hadn’t told them about the dragon.”

“Hmm.” The arms around Amara’s waist tightened. After several seconds, Amara could feel how Ezme let out a long sigh against her back before she muttered. “I’ll forgive you. This time.”

[...I’ll tell the others that there’s a dragon. I don’t need to know what you two do in-] (Amin)

[Wait.] Amara hesitated as she wasn’t quite sure why she told Amin to wait, but she felt like there was something she had missed. The demons have been retreating from Celene’s army so far, but…now they have a dragon. 

[You mean they intend to go on the offensive?] (Amin)

Amara blinked as she realized her thoughts had been transmitted and nodded to herself. [Yes. And the Amaran Guard are still weeks away from catching up at the current pace, right?]

[...I’ll talk to the others about what we can do to increase our pace.] (Amin)

[That would be a good-] (Amara)

“Amara…the eggs are burning.” Ezme said with a yawn.

 

 

 

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“Dammit…they won’t be there in time for when the demons attack.” Amara squeezed her crossed arms while tensely estimating the distances the demons’ army and the Amaran Guard were from Celne’s army for the fifth time in a couple of minutes. The Amaran Guard had been putting all their efforts on reaching Celene’s army before the battle, but the demons’ army had simply advanced too quickly.

“Celene will have to hold out on her own. The Amaran Guard should arrive within a couple hours after the battle starts.” (Ezme) 

Amara let out a sigh and unfurled her arms. “You’re right.”

They watched how the demons advanced in the darkness. When Amara witnessed how the demons spotted and hunted down someone who had been hiding in a bush, she had a sudden hunch. 

That guy must have been one of Celene’s spies… Amara redirected her vision to the encamped, sleeping army to the south, her suspicions were confirmed. Clenching her fists anxiously, she muttered. “...They don’t know the demons are coming.”

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“Hmm?” Ezme let out a surprised sound and was silent for a moment before she replied. “Looks like it. You should warn them.”

“...Yeah.” But how? Amin is the only one who can contact them through Make A Call, but it has to be someone he knows. And the only people he knows there have all been equipped with artifacts that-

Amara suddenly had an epiphany. Make A Call: Amin.

[Amara? What’s the situation?] (Amin)

[The battle will begin within the hour. Do you know how the artifacts like the one Celene has work?] Amara asked in a tense voice.

[No. I just know it blocks all mental magic, telepathy included.] (Amin)

[Then, is the wearer aware if someone attempts to use mental magic on them?] (Amara)

[No idea. Why?] (Amin)

Amara twisted her lips as she thought. [Give me a moment.]

Redirecting her vision, Amara found the sleeping empresses in her tent and looked at what she was wearing. [Is Celene’s artifact a necklace?]

[I think so, but why-] (Amin)

Ignoring him, Amara activated Mana Sight and looked closely at the distorted mana circle. Squinting her eyes to read the small symbols, she jumped between the sections of the enchantment until she found what she was looking for. 

‘...Ten percent: Cast Heat with the enchantment’s medium as focus point.’ Bingo! [Call Celene!]

Amin seemed to have realized what Amara was up to, as he didn’t argue. [Make A Call: Celene Trawell.]

A few seconds later, Celene shot up from her bed and stared at the dark inside the tent. When she glanced down at the necklace that hung around her neck, Amara was clenching her fists.

Come on. Come on!

“My lady?” (?)

Celene looked at the squire, with clear eyes as if the fact that she had been sleeping a few seconds ago was a lie. “Sound the alarm. And help me with my armor.”

Yes!!

[...I take it that it worked?] (Amin)

[Yeah.] Amara replied with a smile. [I’ll keep an eye on them to ensure they don’t go back to sleep and call you if we need to warn her again. Pick up the pace, will you?]

[...For a goddess, you’re pretty insufferable.] (Amin)

 

 

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“Holy…” (Amara)

“Yes, darling?” Ezme replied innocently. 

“Not you, Zenon!” Amara retorted as a shudder went through her as she watched how the sapling untangled its tendrils from the black dragon’s broken body. “He already brought it down!”

“Didn’t I tell you that it was a pipsqueak?” Ezme said with a bright smile in her voice. “Like I said, there was no reason to worry.”

Amara smiled wryly. “Yeah, you did.”

“Besides, Zenon is a sapling as well as sister’s prophet. Expecting anything less would be a mistake.” Ezme replied nonchalantly. “Focus on the battle. You can think about that kind of stuff later.”

Right. Amara took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to calm her nerves. 

“By the way, did you just say that I’m not holy?” (Ezme)

A wry smile spread on Amara’s face while she redirected her vision to the ongoing battle between the Amaran Guard and the remaining army of demons, undead and rul’magans. “Of course you’re holy, Fluffles.”

“It’s good that you know.” Ezme replied with a grin in her voice.

Scouting the army, Amara searched for opponents that could be considered dangerous even for the Amaran Guard. Although she had gotten somewhat used to judging how strong her opponents were from the demons she had snatched, she couldn’t deny that she had been relying on Appraisal too much. Without appraisal, Amara had a hard time guessing how strong someone was by merely looking at them.

Ezme on the other hand, was an expert. “I found a knight-magician…could be level one hundred, but probably a bit below. It’s on the very edge of the left flank.”

Amara nodded. [Amin, there’s a one hundred-ish knight-magician on the left flank, first platoon. They should have a warden already, right?]

[I think so. We’ll let them know.] Amin replied before Amara could hear how he relayed the information to Aleesha. 

Once he was done, Amara smiled faintly. [Regret not being part of the fight?]

[Certainly, but…I wasn’t taught to fight in large battles. I’m much more useful doing this.] Amin replied.

[I think so too. I’m just glad I can be useful in some way even though-ah.] Amara cocked her head as she spotted a figure walking behind the enemy’s front lines. Walking around shirtless, the demon that looked human had clearly defined muscles. Martial artist? No…it's probably a magic brawler. 

Amara thought back to the magic brawlers she had fought herself. Guessing its level would be impossible for her, but she could tell that it would probably be at least level fifty if those she had faced were in any way representative for magic brawlers of a comparable level. But even that could be an inaccurate guess.

[There’s a magic brawler by the ninth platoon. It’s probably high level.] Amara spoke through the call as she watched how the demon suddenly stopped and cracked its neck. [I’d say no less than level fifty, but probably a lot higher. Seventy or eighty? It’s best to call a warden to assist them to be safe. Our only front line there is golems and an assassin.]

[Got it.] (Amin)

With the dragon dead, the battle had turned completely in their favour. A few of the remaining rul’magans and demons had already started deserting and were running away from the battle.

Hunting them down later will be a pain, but it can’t be helped. Zenon did say that druids can use animals to help out tracking them, though we’ll still need to deploy teams capable of bringing them down-

Amara frowned in confusion when a disturbance went through the demons’ army as the grass suddenly grew higher and began wrapping around the legs of the remaining demons and undead. Following the gazes of the mortals that had paused in the middle of the battle, she realized that Zenon had caught up with the rest of the Amaran Guard.

Watching how Zenon mercilessly led the advance against the immobilized demons, Amara finally let out a sigh that released the tension from her shoulders. We’ve won. 

[Seems like it.] Amin unexpectedly replied.

As they watched how the last enemies were brought down as the Amaran Guard and human army pressed the advantage, a soft blanket of comfortable warmth wrapped around Amara’s back. 

A moment later Amara felt how Ezme stroked her cheek, her fingers leaving a faint, wet trail on Amara’s skin. “You did well. Both you and the mortals.”

Feeling embarrassed when she realized why her cheeks were wet, Amara smiled faintly as she cancelled Farsight. Seeing the angel smiling at her, Amara smiled faintly and wrapped her arms around Ezme’s waist. “I didn’t do much.”

“If that’s what you think, then think about what would have happened if you had done nothing.” Ezme retorted.

Well, I can guess. The Amaran Guard would have arrived too late to help, and they wouldn’t have known about the dragon. But… Amara let out a faint sigh. “I just wish my hands weren’t tied because of the stupid armistice. If I could go there myself, then I could’ve dealt with it on my own.”

Ezme was silent for a moment before she replied with a smile in her voice. “You’d feel that way even if it wasn’t because of the armistice.”

Amara frowned. “Would I?” 

Ezme nodded. “If you care enough about mortals that you want to intervene…there will be no end to what you’ll want to do. Because of the scale of this war, there will always be places where your strength is needed. So rather than feeling like your hands are tied because of the armistice…your hands will be tied because there is only so much you can do.”

Amara knit her brow as she fell into thought when she understood what Ezme was talking about. 

More than once when she had snatched demons for practice, she had at the same time cast spells through the portal to help the mortals who were in trouble. But although she did such things on a fairly consistent basis, she was well aware that her actions were little more than taking a cup of water from the ocean. She would just need to look a little longer and there would be countless other groups of mortals and demons in similar situations. As such, Amara could continue moving from skirmish to skirmish, yet it would do little to change the course of the war. 

But Amara also knew that Ezme hadn’t said the words to discourage her from intervening, since if nobody did it would mean that the demons could advance unchallenged. Rather, it came back to the discussion they had held countless times. 

Ezme is right. To win this war, the mortals need to be strong enough to protect themselves. But while the angels leave the mortals to figure that out on their own, Ezme is the only one who is proactively trying to help them get stronger. 

Well, there’s me helping her now too. It’s likely that when I merge the technological concepts from Earth with enchantments, the war is going to take a turn. Especially if all the mortals are equipped with them.

When Ezme leaned her head against her shoulder, Amara couldn’t help but smile and hug the angel tighter. But her smile soon faded. 

Though…spreading all the new blueprints I come up with might actually be a bad idea. Like Sophelia said, there are angels that want me gone as soon as I’ve served my purpose, even if I’m willing to ally with them. And that’s in the event they don’t find me troublesome merely for distributing new weapons and technology among the mortals. 

If I want to survive past the battle with Ryc’zamul, I’ll need some kind of insurance. A reason for the angels to either want to remain in my good graces…or fear crossing me. But I think I’ll need to be cautious until I get to that level of strength.

A shudder went through Amara at the thought. Ezme tilted her head back as she looked up at her. “Amara?”

Amara smiled wryly as she glanced at the angel. “...Fluffles, do you think I’d be well suited as a supervillain?”

Ezme blinked before lurching forward as she tried to hold back her laughter. “Pfft! No chance!”

…Yeah, I figured as much.

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