Chapter 24: Chapter 63 – Into the Fray!

Alright, this is awkward.

I managed to convince Ange to speak with Irapesha, but all we've been doing was sitting awkwardly in the kitchen. Neither of them spoke a word beyond greeting each other and were now eating dinner while the TV ran the National Geographics channel. Ines, Tamara, and Remmy peeked in from the living room entryway, curious about how this meeting would turn out.

Irapesha suddenly stood up and bowed at a 45 degree angle, casting her eyes to the ground. 

"For what I did to you that night, I am terribly sorry. We live under the same roof now, and if possible, I would like to make reprimands for my mistake. You were trying to help me, yet I turned around and hurt you instead." She stayed in that uncomfortable position even as the other person was trying to come up with something to say.

"You… have nothing to apologize for," Ange began, restlessly rubbing the side of her arm. "Were your mind not in disarray, I'm sure you wouldn't have done that."

The dragonewt furrowed her brows and returned to her seat. She threw a look to the succubus, then grew ashamed when it caused her to tense up for a moment.

"So… Have you two ever met in Weyera?" I chimed in to clear the air.

Both of them turned my way and squinted.

"Do you think the Bloodtalon would have let me live if she did?" Ange asked.

"Wait, what I meant was—"

"What a clumsy thing to ask, Akira. You should know we were on opposite factions during the war," Irapesha reprimanded me.

"Speaking of, I haven't thanked you for saving Akira. He is very dear to me— to all of us. I hope he didn't cause you any trouble," the succubus said.

"It was no trouble at all. Although, I was pleasantly surprised to see him foolishly try to lay down his life to protect me. A surprise one after another despite being merely human."

"Foolish is right. He had done the same thing for me when assassins came to the dorm for my life."

They burst into laughter at my expense.

I buried my head into my hands.

It sounded like the two got along swimmingly, but did they have to bridge that gap by teasing me?

"I'm glad you two are enjoying yourselves." I sighed. Though the truth was, I was genuinely happy it turned out well.

"Angeline, I would like to ask of you something I do not deserve," Irapesha said.

"My answer is yes; I will help. You wish for me to delve into your mind, isn't that right?" Ange asked.

Surprised and touched, the dragonewt simply smiled with relief.

We waited until Cresta came home and explained to her what the plan was.

"Take me with you!" she declared. "I want to help."

Ange shook her head. "It is too dangerous for you. Bringing a person familiar to the dreamer's heart will put you directly into the most impactful moment of their lives. For you two, that's a flip of a coin."

"When Cresta was captured and when they were reunited," I said.

Cresta shuddered at the thought of being captured again. It had undoubtedly been a traumatizing time for her.

"Besides, you must stay awake in case something goes awry." Ange smiled.

"I feel so helpless and useless again. Just like that time." She frowned, until Irapesha put a hand on the former assassin's head.

"You are the least helpless and useless person I've ever met. Help me by protecting Ange in case I lose my mind again. That's an order," Irapesha grinned, flashing her sharpened dragonewt teeth.

Cresta pulled Irapesha's hand off her head and nodded.

I took Ange aside and asked, "So… about that whole magic thing?"

"Oh, I have no idea what you're talking about. As far as the official records go, I'm powerless." Ange never looked so smug, having pulled a fast one over the government.

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We sat around Irapesha in her scorching room as Ange put her into a magical sleep.. Ten fingers crowned the dragonewt's head. As soon as she closed her eyes, the succubus gasped.

Cresta and I gave each other a worried look. Almost as soon as Irapesha went to sleep, she began to struggle. Ange, too. Her face caked in sweat, struggling against an unknown force.

"Should I go in with you?" I asked.

"I'm fine… I just… never knew the demon lord could be so cruel…" she remarked shamefully.

Since Ange didn't trust me to stay with her like last time, she refused to bring me in and vowed to do it herself. But this was beginning to look like more trouble than she thought.

"Now I understand why the demon lord had gathered his strongest and most trusted for this battle. Irapesha was a peerless tactician. He created the perfect bait, knowing she would see through it but take it nonetheless. So Irapesha made the calculated decision no one else could— sacrifice herself to save Cresta, so that she would finish the war in her place," Ange explained.

Cresta pursed her lips, staring at her friend and colleague. Irapesha had gone into it believing her death was inevitable. Courageous didn't even begin to describe her.

"Nngh!" Ange groaned in pain, and Irapesha was thrashing in her sleep again. Cresta was prepared this time, climbing on top and holding her down.

I thought to comfort Ange by putting a hand on top of hers, but a strange force sucked me into darkness. My blurry vision slowly cleared up to a furious blue harpy in my face.

"Why?" she screamed at me. "I figured not telling either of you would be safer. That you wouldn't at some point touch my hands. You did it anyway!"

"What? I don't even know who you are!" I argued back.

The harpy's face briefly morphed into the succubus I knew and loved, then turned back.

"Wait… You can change forms in a dream? Does that mean you can turn into anything I want to have sex with?" I asked.

"Oh, you— Now isn't that time for that!" Ange cried in the harpy's body.

An explosion rocked the blackened ground next to me, and I quickly realized we were back in the hellscape of Weyera. But this time, in the middle of a battle at its peak.

"Commander! A mass horde of demon giants have broken the rear flank. Our escape route has been cut!" a human soldier behind me shouted.

Irapesha flew into view in all her glory, donning heavy plate armor much like the one from her statue. A gigantic slab of steel in one hand that was her sword was propped onto her shoulder.

She glanced behind her forces and cursed under her breath. Destruction rained down around us. Many humans and netherfolks alike were badly injured. Before us, much further down the jagged obsidian canyons, was a castle made of black stones and floating towers surrounded by demons. 

"Then we have no other choice but to press on," the dragonewt declared. "Forward!"

It was then that I realized my casual clothing was replaced with military fatigues of the camo variety. In my hands was an assault rifle and embedded into the ammunition chamber was a crystal.

"I'M IN THE CALAMITOUS WAR?!" I screamed.

"Yes!" Ange yelled back, confirming my fears.

"H-How come I'm still next to you even though I'm not holding your hand?"

"It must be because this memory is extremely vivid. Unlike Remmy, Irapesha has incredible mental fortitude. More so than I had expected. Which makes our being here very dangerous," she explained.

I swallowed hard. "Dangerous… how?"

"Pain, exhaustion, smell. All your senses are real to life. To make things worse… I cannot release my spell. A foreign magic is keeping us here. It feels demonic in nature."

Something landed hard next to us. It was Irapesha, more imposing than in real life.

"What are you two waiting for? Our position here has been compromised. We have to leave before we're overrun. I'll keep the skies cleared for you to fly. Let's go!" she urged.

Without warning, Ange picked me up and flew high into the sky. Behind me, giants shook clubs as large as trees at us. A group of flying monsters making a beeline for us were set aflame by Irapesha's breath.

"We're going to that castle that's swarming with demons?" I asked Ange.

"That's no ordinary castle— It is the demon lord's fortress."

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