"
It was a good thing she intelligently decided to refresh her demonic energy by feasting on the blood of the foolish mortals.
The ripples in the pools of blood, glittering with the sun faintly casting a blessing over the half-cast clouds of discontent, only grew stronger with time. She realised she didn't have much time however she did not panic as faith in the demoness remained strong. If the demoness was convinced in her own potential…
Why shouldn't she have the same conviction?
Part of her (of course) was concerned with how big or powerful the approaching monstrosity could be to elicit such a reaction from the world. However it could hardly be more frightening than the divine demon hidden within her own mind. So there was no need to cower.
Fortunately the dastardly creator of the trembling ground did not take too long to show up; though not before it got so bad that it felt like the stone walls may collapse. She was even forced to take a wider stance to prevent herself from slipping in the pool of her own making. Then he arrived.
At first it was just an abrupt halt to the shaking after the violent tremors had reached their apex.
Although she was far too smart to be affected by such an obvious trap - the saying "calm before the storm" likely comes to one's mind in instances like these.
Soon a soft, almost slithering, noise reached her ears while guiding her attention towards one of the fortress' various towers. This one is facing toward the Baset republic. The crunching of bones had become a noise she was all too familiar with and it was that very noise that caused her eyes to narrow.
Slowly but surely a scaled hide slid up the tower. It's long body feebly trying to remain out of sight yet such a task was impossible to perform perfectly. Her expertly catching the slight protruding greenish red glimmers that occasionally jutted out. Its feeble attempt at stealth not phasing her a tiny bit.
Still she felt her hands - previously holding her hammer with newfound confidence - growing clammy as nerves she had forgotten about slowly returned. Such a reaction was not nature but one which was nurtured in her from a young age. Those scales are all too familiar to the abandoned girl.
Her anxiety, something she thought long forgotten, hollowed out her heart.
Over the top of the tower the head of the beast finally crested and it was safe to say that it was no common variety snake.
A mouth more akin to a tumble dryer with thousands of teeth crunched the latest victims of the monstrous impure lesser dragon. No doubt some unfortunate beast-kin who were previously watching their own border before being attacked abruptly. Justice only existed for the strong in this world, after all.
Draconic eyes peered below as they looked on the scene in front of itself with an intense hunger. Four sets of tendrils hung from around its mouth - whether they were feelers or literally just tentacles only that beast actually knew. That… As well as the man who stood atop its head with crossed eyes.
Every bit a monster as the beast he stood atop, that much Elizabeth was sure of, as he looked down with no sign of sadness.
Only disgust that they would all seemingly die to one little girl leaving him to fix their fuck ups.
As well as anger that someone dared to kill his soldiers.
Reasons didn't matter to the man as he turned his gaze towards the girl with a flicker of confusion coming across his features for a brief moment. Such expressions being mirrored by the girl he looked down upon caused him to massage his chin. Faint stubble tickling his pudgy but strong fingers.
His figure cut for the perfect representation of the overindulgence that comes with strength - clearly possessing a lot of muscle. Even if said muscle was sealed in a layer of portly flesh. Quite the contrast to the small clearly malnourished girl who managed to keep a somewhat slim muscular frame.
For a moment he thought he saw the silver haired seven year old disappointment standing there in the mood looking at him as his carriage raced off into the distance.
Only for flicker away to show the crimson haired menace surrounded by dismembered corpses & blood.
"If only that girl could do half of what this one has managed." He snorted to himself without much fear of the one far below him - sure she was strong for her age but he had no need to worry since the truth had already been stated. She was far below him.
So he took the moment to muse about if it were his daught- no, she didn't deserve that title, his offspring then there was no way she would have been tossed aside. Though a woman is still a woman and so he spoke as slowly as he could so she could understand. "What do you think you're doing here, brat?"
Elizabeth didn't reply so the grin on his face slowly grew.
"Did you think you could just wipe out this fortress then get away; did you not notice the sigil of Strauss proudly upon the knight's armour?" His smug expression grew as he savoured the reaction of the girl who seemed fearful of him. Of course he would never believe it was for a very different reason.
Her eyes narrowed as she built up her credence in her own strength enough to reply. "They were dead before I really had a chance to focus on what they were wearing."
Hearing that made his brow furrow as he glared for a second nevertheless he was more angry at those dead useless bastards than the girl. He did somewhat respect strength even if it was from someone clearly inferior to him. As such he just shook his head reluctantly.
"I suppose there is no need to pay attention to weaklings however I can hardly let you get away with making a mockery of our fine nation. Though I can lighten your sentence to virtually nothing if you agree to become my concubine." A smile that could only be described as detestable formed on his face.
She didn't know what she expected to feel when she first met him again nor did she know how he may react upon seeing her for the first time after throwing her out of a moving vehicle…
This certainly was not what she expected.
Seeing that smile caused her to shiver as bile formed in her throat. Her hands clamping around the shaft of the weapon the divine demon had graciously made for her. At first she felt like running away but the memory of what her body could do when truly pushed to the extreme made her still.
So what if he was a big strong creepy man when she could somehow (even if she didn't exactly understand the details) make entire armies into mulch.
Clearly he didn't even recognise her, which may have something to do with the copious amounts of blood that dyed every inch of her, so why should she remember him? Why live her life in his shadow when she can stand on the shoulders of someone far greater. What is a duke to the divine?
The thought of caving in the head of that gigantic overgrown worm brought a smile to her lips as she hefted the weapon up in some kind of stance. She hadn't exactly fought with a warhammer before so it would take some getting used to. Though she'd readily accept how satisfying her earlier attempt was.
Her emotional breakthrough was just in time as a familiar magic circle spawned next to her and - with a flash of sickly green - a familiar figure stepped out. The archdemon of crooked rebirth took one glance at the scene with one hand on his staff and the other on his chin. Nodding at the chaos he witnessed.
"Congratulations on the impressive slaughter but we should probably continue moving on before her absolute self gets bored again." Commenting much to the fearful tremble of the half-demon. It also caused the furrow on Duke Strauss' brow to return in full force as he had no idea what happened.
Soon a full blown frown formed on his face as he glared towards the newcomer as if he was trying to steal a prize he'd already won. "Do you think I'll just let you both escape?"
She took a moment to take in the scene around her when…
"
Her hand began to move on its own.
Golden threads fell from Elizabeth's right arm as it slowly curled up till two fingers and a thumb hovered right in front of her eye. Fear filled her for a second as those fingers peeled back her eyelid only for the thumb to jam right under her organ. Strangely it was her throat that hurt the most.
She wasn't sure when but apparently she was screaming as the duke looked on in disgust while the archdemon was confusedly looking around for a moment.
The thumb was merely the start, however, as those two fingers slipped in as well only to yank the eye right out of its socket to throw it into the blood lake below. Control returned back to her body as she hurried to clutch her bleeding socket while looking down in shock. Shock that quickly grew as the eye was strange.
No longer could she even recognise it as her own as it looked back at her with a crimson slit-pupil that almost seemed like a bloody open wound in the violet glow of the iris. Blood below began to swirl around the eye as it floated to stand in front of the human girl. A horrifying transformation taking place.
Literal raw nerves sprouted out from the eye to form something similar enough to a human's nervous system to be recognisable. Next thing that was produced was the brain that quickly took shape as strangely horns began to sprout out. A very familiar crown of horns at that.
Organs, muscles, flesh and many things she simply didn't recognise were created in front of her till a depiction of the divine demon herself stood in front of the three.
Her presence was palpable as she slowly turned her one existing eye to study the scene.
Only thing she wore was the four bells she had summoned earlier when using that truly brutal curse to wipe out those outside the walls of the fortress.
A soft *dling* echoed out as she stretched out her arms; blood began to form a typhoon around her body before settling into the finest red satin to hide most of her body. Her gaze turned curious as she stretched out her hands towards the gigantic wyrm. They all strangely felt both heat and cold wash over.
Holding her hands out towards the warmongering noble as her fingers visibly began to get coated in an overcharging mix of cooling or burning wind. That wind made even the archdemon step back in fear as he mumbled something about tribulations. A term that Elizabeth had heard of before.
Apparently powerful elemental variants used to enforce balance in the realms they belonged to.
Something with that much weight surely couldn't just be summoned up for a party trick… Right?
"Do you know what happens when put a supercooled and hot beside?"
She asked with faint amusement while somehow even her words carried a weight but Strauss refused to believe he could be outdone.
"Doesn't matt-"
Violent arcs of crimson began to cross between the cold fingers towards the heated ones only for her hands to suddenly all become colder. Thrusting her hands forward as two bridges of demonic tribulation lightning roared force. It's thunder less like a boom and more like reality itself screaming in fear.
"[ABSOLUTE POWER]!"
The duke couldn't even react as his summon didn't even get to roar out in pain, making something more akin to a screech as it's body fried, falling down from the tower. Of course the man himself fell off his mount onto the other side of the wall to them all. Yet even then the wyrm didn't escape.
Those streaks of bloody lightning kept the thing in place despite it having lost its grip on the tower; kept mid air by the demonic arcane might of the divine demoness.
"Blessed you are not my prey."
One hand let go of the power while the other swatted the air to throw that draconic creature far off into the distance without a single chance to resist.
"... Well then…"
She mumbled as she felt the pain from her missing eye was no longer that bad.