Blood splattered on the ground and a horned demon fell with a thud. The blood dripped into a puddle of blood. The bodies of several more demons laid dead, blood seeping out of different cuts and ripped of body parts.
Lia was covered in blood, her swords and chains dripped with foul smelling demon blood.
She swung her blade against another demon, cutting him in half. The body landing with a thud against the ask and blood covered ground.
Since leaving the fort. She had walked a bit not that far. But she had still killed over 100 demons, big and small. During the encounters she had gotten trained by Erythos. He told her about the threats and the normal feeder type demons she faces. Right now she had only fought against the feeder type, or as Erythos called them "stinkers" a very good named considering the absolutely awful smell they gave off.
Lia still walked the ashen wasteland, the terrain hadn't changed much.
She finally understood the scale of this. She had already spent a total of 12 hours on I hell, and was still walking on the same ground she had arrived on.
Erythos had given her a mission to kill anything she saw, this was her plan al along, but the god wanted everything dead. Even the harmless things crawling around. This was for two reason, one to grow stronger, and second was to give the domain things to consume.
Every strike with her swords felt cleaner now, more powerful, this was thanks to the gods training her while she was fighting. She wasn't stumbling through the fights now, she was more dancing in them. Deadly dancing.
She looked out over the wasteland, corpses of demons were already being consumed, sucked into the ground.
The ash under her boots was soft, her armored legs sunk deep into it with every step.
"is there no way for me to move faster?" Lia asked as she was getting annoyed by this wasteland.
The god laughed. "There is, but you can't use it yet. Need to kill more."
Lia's frustration grew, but she took a deep breath and continued.
She groups of demons she faced grew in size, both in numbers and difficulty. The big orc she had faced back at the fort was starting to look like normal demons.
She dodged the orcs club, but failed to notice the one who had crept up behind. With a bang she was thrown into the ash. Her whole-body shock as she stood back up. The hit had come from another club to her side.
She focused, breathed and relaxed as much as she could.
Her chains worked as one with her as she sliced the orcs, the chains pierced the orcs flesh, ripped of arms and legs and even heads.
"Fuck you!" she screamed out as she cut of the head of the last big orc of this group. "Ugly fucking stinkers." She spat on the orcs decapitated head.
Her chest lowered and raised as she breathed heavy. The fighting had started to take its effect on her.
She sat on the corpse of the dead orc.
While looking out over the wasteland and surrounding areas she noticed something hiding, and quickly running away as she had spotted it.
'Seems like you have scouts looking at you now.' Erythos said in her mind. 'You have caught the attention of someone'
"Like someone strong or what?" she asked.
'either that, or someone curious, maybe both.' He added.
He told her that the increase in patrols and unit size was not a coincidence. The only responsible probably wanted to wear her out, before making bigger moves.
'get ready for something bigger, maybe even soon'
Lia stood up and got back to walking the wasteland.
As she took step after step, she noticed the ash getting shallower. maybe I will finally be getting out of it.
The scouts kept looking at her, following her. She did manage to kill one of them by throwing a rock into the head of one. It didn't give anything, just a dead goblin.
It kept going for hours upon hours, scout after scout. She was getting frustrated, and the scouts were growing braver as they moved closer, and less hidden.
Lia stopped walking. Her boots sank halfway into the soft ash before she planted her sword into the ground. The air was still, too still.
The sound of skittering claws echoed faintly from behind a ridge. Then silence again.
She gritted her teeth. "You're really testing my patience, you little shits."
"Good," Erythos murmured. "Anger feeds focus. Don't waste it on words, sharpen it into action."
Lia exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing beneath her helmet. Her senses had gotten sharper since entering Hell, every vibration in the ground, every shift in the air, she could feel. She closed her eyes for a moment.
There.
Five… no, six movements. Low to the ground. Closing fast.
She yanked her sword free and turned in one motion. The first scout lunged, shrieking, its small dagger flashing in the dull red light. Lia sidestepped, twisted her wrist, and cleaved through its midsection. The upper half hit the ground with a wet slap.
The others screamed and rushed her all at once.
Chains snapped out from her armor, fast as lightning, impaling two of them mid-air. She spun her body with the motion, dragging the demons through the air before slamming them into the ground hard enough to crack the crusted ash.
The other goblins stopped in their tracks, and soon turned to run away.
"Wtf…" as she said that she felt something else. Vibrations in the ground. Something was running, fast.
She looked towards the vibrations, and saw a minotaur looking demon running full speed. It was going to ram her.
As the bull demon ran close to her she sidestepped, making it miss. The bull stopped a couple meters away from her before turning.
"Finally," Lia muttered. "Something with a face worth breaking."
The bull demon stood up on his two legs. It was towering, and held a battle axe.
"Careful," said Erythos. "That's a Reaver. A domain enforcer. Stronger, faster, smarter than what you've fought before."
The Reaver lifted his weapon and pointed the blade at her. When he spoke, the words were guttural but understandable, like stone grinding against metal.
"You walk in the land of Gorrath. You slaughter his kin. You feed on his blood. You… do not belong."
Lia smirked under her helmet. "Neither do you, apparently."
The demon raised his axe and pointed it towards Lia, she answered by getting into stance with her two swords.
The demon snarled, and in the next instant, it vanished.
Lia barely raised her sword in time, the axe slammed against it with a sound like thunder. The impact threw her backward, boots digging trenches into the ash. She steadied herself, sliding to a stop, arms shaking from the force.
The Reaver lunged again. This time Lia twisted aside, letting the axe carve through empty air. She slashed upward, sparks flew as her blade met the demon's armor. No blood, but it flinched.
"Again" the god said. "Faster"
She moved faster now, spinning, ducking, parrying, her chains whipping out like blades of their own. The air filled with the clash of steel and the growl of fury. Each time she struck, her movements grew sharper, more fluid, her instincts syncing with the rhythm of battle
The Reaver roared, swinging in a wide arc meant to cleave her in half. Lia slid beneath the blow and slammed her sword into its side, letting her chains wrap around its arm and yank.
The sound of tearing flesh echoed through the wasteland.
The Reaver howled, one arm ripped clean off.
"Finish it!" Erythos barked.
Lia didn't hesitate. She ran forward, kicked off the ground, and drove her sword down into the Reaver's neck. It crashed into the ash with a final, heavy thud.
The silence after was deafening, not one sound could be heard except for Lia's heavy breathing.
"Good," Erythos said, almost pleased. "You've just killed the hand of a warlord. Gorrath will not ignore this."
Lia looked at the corpse, "This guy should have something valuable on him, does he?"
The god didn't answer right away. "Well yes, but its not like you will be able to sell anything. Because you know, you are in hell." He was right of course, nothing she would take here she would be able to use for a couple of years.
"You should wait to collect stuff until you have a storage item."
Lia knew that from anime. "Like something to put items in?"
The god just sent a affirmative nod into her mind. "They are pretty rare, but that warlord should have one. Maybe."
She looked at the body of the reaver once more, it was now being consumed by the ground. She picked up the big axe of the ground and swung it onto her shoulder before she started walking the wasteland again. She was now just waiting for the warlord.
"Can't I just go find the warlord instead? He should have some valuable stuff in his little hideout." Lia asked the god.
"You can, go in the direction of where that reaver came from. Maybe you will find it." the god added, it wasn't a certain plan. But Lia didn't have anything else to go on.
Lia looked in the direction where the reaver had charged from, quess what. Only ash and sand. But she started walking. And walking. The axe hung heavy on her shoulder as she kept walking kilometer after kilometer.
'Why did you bring the axe' Erythos asked.
She got a playful smile on her face. "Could be fun to use" she said.
Erythos sighed in her mind.
"You really are just like the first Hell-Knight… always dragging trophies instead of resting."
Lia laughed softly. "Maybe that's what makes me interesting."
The wasteland stretched endlessly ahead, grey dunes of ash and black stone, glowing faintly from veins of molten cracks that pulsed like veins through the land. The air shimmered with heat, yet every breath she took still felt cold, lifeless.
Every few kilometers, she saw bones, massive, ancient ones, some the size of towers, half-buried in the ash. Old battlefields, long before her time. The idea that something once fought here and died made her feel both small and excited.
'You feel that?' Erythos asked suddenly.
Lia slowed her pace. The axe's weight shifted on her shoulder.
"…Pressure?"
'Yes, you are entering the territory of the warlord, and that means you are entering the territory of a demon Duke.' He stopped as if he was observing. 'Don't be reckless'.
Lia's lips curved into a grin. "You mean don't have fun?"
"I mean don't die."
After a bit more walking, the terrain finally changed somewhat. Rocks and smaller hills started appearing, and in the distance, light could be seen. Not lava, but torches.
"Another fort, must be his" Lia said, meaning the warlords fort. It was much bigger than the fort she cleared before. there were more movements, demons patrolling the walls.
The god observed to fort. 'The warlord will be a tough match, and he probably has three or more lieutenants with him."
"Are they stronger than the reaver?"
The reaver was close to lieutenant rank but not yet, so the ones in the fort would be stronger. The warlord himself had the strength of six lieutenants maybe even ten the god explained.
Lia stood on the top of a small hill in front of the fort. The fort was bustling with movements now as they had spotted her.
"any tips before I go in?" Lia asked out to her Erythos.
There was a pause, 'Don't die' he finally said.
'noted' she thought as she launched herself towards the gate of the fort.
She held the big axe from the reaver and threw it at the gate. The gate cracked with a big bang. the door heavy wooden doors fell inwards. The demons who stood behind it died from the impact.
Lia entered the fort and plunged her swords into a confused orc. The orc fell with a heavy thud.
As she stood on the corpse, the demons around the fort looked at her, some with horror and others with a wicked smile.
The chains on her back extended, waving in the air.
From one of the walls a scream could be heard. Lia looked up and saw what could be nothing else than one of the lieutenants, it was a her, she had two horns and had pinkish skin. her long black hair waved.
As the lieutenant screamed the demons charged, Lia began swing her swords, the chains on her back piercing and ripping.
The ground quaked as the horde surged toward her. Goblins shrieked, orcs roared, hounds howled, the noise blended into one monstrous chorus of fury. Lia spun her blades in her hands, her chains slithering like serpents of steel behind her.
They hit her all at once.
The first wave was slaughtered before they even realized what they were charging into. Lia's movements were a blur of blood and steel. One swing split three goblins; a step back and a twist sent her chains lashing through a line of hounds. Their bodies fell apart mid-leap, blood spraying in arcs.
'Keep your focus!' Erythos shouted in her mind. 'Don't get surrounded!'
Lia ducked under a club swing, kicked the demon's knee out, and buried her blade in its chest. "Relax, I'm fine," she growled, yanking the sword free.
'Fine gets you killed in Hell.'
She didn't respond. There was no time. Another demon leapt from the wall, fangs bared. Her chain shot up and caught it midair, yanking it down so hard it shattered on the ground.
Blood and ash rained around her. The stench was unbearable now, burning flesh, molten metal, and demon ichor thick in the air.
But Lia's mind was sharper than ever. The fighting was becoming instinctive, her body moving before she even thought. Erythos had been right; every battle honed her further.
When the last demon of the charge fell, Lia stood alone in the courtyard, chest heaving, blades dripping black. The only sound was the crackle of the torches on the walls.
Then, the lieutenant's voice echoed across the fort.
"Impressive, little mortal."
Lia looked up. The pink-skinned lieutenant stepped gracefully down from the battlements, landing softly on the cracked stone courtyard. Her long black hair shimmered faintly under the infernal light, her horns curving like daggers. She carried no visible weapon, only a pair of glowing claws that flickered to life as she flexed her hands.
"You've made quite the mess," the lieutenant said, voice smooth, almost playful. "Gorrath will be most displeased… but I think I'll enjoy softening you up before he gets here."
Lia tilted her head slightly, smirking under her helmet. "You can try."
Erythos voice turned sharp in her mind, 'Careful, that is a succubus. Dangerous thing, don't let her voices get into your mind.'
'A succubus you say. Aren't they supposed to feed of sexual drive or something' Lia thought as she watched the demon succubus. It did have a certain charm.
Then she vanished.
Lia barely had time to block as the lieutenant reappeared beside her, claws slashing. Sparks flew as steel met crimson energy. Lia spun, slashing upward, but her opponent had already vanished again.
Blood sprayed from a cut across Lia's arm. The demon had reappeared behind her.
"Too slow," the lieutenant whispered in her ear.
Chains whipped backward, but the demon twisted out of reach, dancing through the air with impossible grace. Every movement left red trails, strands of her own blood turned to blades. Lia blocked one, two, three of them, but the fourth sliced through her shoulder plate, sending a shock of pain through her.
'Observer her rhythm, instead of blocking like an idiot.' Erythos barked in her mind.
Lia steadied her breath, ignoring the pain. The demon lunged again, a blur of pink and crimson.
This time Lia didn't block. She stepped into the attack, ducking under the swipe, twisting her body, and slashing across the demon's stomach.
The lieutenant's smile faltered. "You…"
Before she could finish, Lia's chain shot out, wrapping around her leg. She yanked, dragging the demon off balance and slamming her into the ground. The stone cracked beneath the impact.
Lia didn't hesitate. She jumped, both swords raised, and came down like a hammer.
The demon barely managed to block, crimson energy flaring around her hands, but the sheer force of the blow pinned her down. Lia's eyes glowed behind her helmet as she forced the blades down inch by inch.
She succubus hissed, "Gorrath will slaughter you!"
The swords plunged through her chest. The demon screamed, blood erupting like a crimson wave.
Silence.
Erythos spoke softly this time. 'That was one of Gorrath's lieutenants. The others will know she's dead.'
Lia stood, breathing hard, blood dripping from her armor. "Good. Saves me the trouble of hunting them down."
She looked around. The courtyard was covered in bodies, smoke rising from the carnage. The fortress gate lay shattered behind her.
The air shifted, something was coming.
'The warlord is here' Erythos said in her mind. 'His two lieutenants will also come.'
Just then, from above. A demon came crashing down towards Lia, wielding two axes, one in each hand. He laughed like a maniac. As he landed. Lia dodges the attack from above, holding her two swords towards the demon.
And behind her another presence appeared, an archer from the look of it, he looked like and elf with long ears.
'Seems like you will need to take on two at once.' The god said, he didn't sound worried. 'just focus on what I've taught you, don't underestimate them.'
The demon with the axes laughed. "Little human, you are going to taste so good!" he licked his lips with his nasty long tongue.
"Just focus on killing her" the elf behind her said with an annoyed voice.
At once the demon launched toward Lia, she answered by kicking him in the side, sending him into a shack. She could feel the archer launching arrows behind her. One of the arrows deflected of her armor, the other pierced into an opening in her shoulder.
She flinched by this but jumped towards the elf. As she was in the air, the demon with the axes had appeared and jumped into her midair. He waved his axes at Lia, it hitting her armor with sparks.
Her chains grabbed the demon and pounded him into the ground. Lia landed again on her knees, she stood up fast and ran towards the archer.
The demon elf hissed, as he retreated backwards. He shot a few more arrow, but her chains slapped them away in the air.
Lia threw herself towards the elf, she now appeared behind him.
"Foul human…" he said before Lia pierced one of her swords into his sides, he chains wrapped around him. They tightened and tightened, until blood started seeping out of his mouth and eyes. Then a crack could be heard, and his body went limp.
The demon with the axes finally stood again, Lia's chains threw the lifeless body of the elf on the demon. The force made the demon get punched into the stone wall of the fort.
Before the demon could recover she stabbed his head with one of the swords. The demon hung lifeless from her sword. She but her foot on his head and pulled out the sword.
She smiled. "They seemed to underestimate me" Lia said as she looked at the three dead lieutenants.
'Either that, or they were very inexperienced' Erythos said. 'But here comes the real challenge'
She felt it, the pressure. More than the three lieutenants combined.
Lia looked out from the destroyed fort door. The warlord stood there. A giant hammer in his hand. Wearing armor that would put a tank to shame. His armor was detailed with skeletal remains, human bone, goblins and many more.
The warlord lunged, and before Lia could blink. He was in front of her.
"Bo" the demons said as he swung his hammer against Lia. There was no time to react. She was thrown right through the fort wall. Tumbling on the ground.
She could barley stand up before another hit came. This one hammering her down in the ground. She coughed up blood. he whole body felt like it was exploding.
"Little human. No match for Gorrath." He picked her up in with one hand and threw hair into the fort wall.
She coughed more blood. her vision blurry, her legs shaking as she tried to stand.
'Stand up Lia! Fight him!' the god screamed out.
She breathed heavily, "I cant he's too fucking strong."
'No, he isn't, stop fighting him like you are some normal human, you are a Hell-Knight. Fight like one, slaughter him!' He barked.
Lia saw the big warlord walking in again through the hole in the fort.
'I'm a hell knight.' She thought to herself.
The grip around her swords tightened, the chains on her back flared out, waving in the air. She pushed with all her strength into her legs.
And all the sudden she was above him. The demon didn't have time to react before Lia slashed the demons back, her chains piercing into him.
He roared out in a cry of pain and frustration.
"Finally, come little worm. Let's fight until death!" the demon screamed out.
She lunged again, the demon swung his hammer. Lia's chain went head on to the hammer making it bounce back with tremendous force. She ran around him and stabbed his right leg. The demon spun around and kicked with his left leg. She held up her sword to block the blow.
She glided back a couple meters, her feet digging into the ground.
She didn't give any room to breath. He form disappeared from the demons eye sight and appeared right below him. Lia slashed into his throat, it cut deep.
The demon held his hand over the slashed throat, blood spilling out. He roared in pain. He charged her, one hand holding his hammer, the other holding his throat to stop the bleeding.
'cut of his arm holding the wound' Erythos said.
She focused on the arm and meet the demons charge. She jumped on top of his left shoulder, and jumped down. While falling she slashed downwards on the arm.
The arm fell, and the demon cried out in pain.
Gorrath held his hammer at the end of the handle and swung it in a big arch. Lia sidestepped, and once the hammer hand hit the ground she jumped and slashed his remaining arm. The demon tried to withdraw his arm, but doing so made Lia cut of his hand instead.
The demon Gorrath fell to the ground. He bleed heavily.
Lia walked up to him, exhausted.
Gorrath looked at the knight. "You… you fight well." He coughed up blood before speaking again. "Kill me human."
Lia didn't hesitate, she grabbed her two swords and slashed his head clean of.
The head fell with a thud into the blood-soaked ground. Lia soon after fell down, her legs weak.
'Good work, could have been less messy but it got the job done.' The god Erythos said calmly.
She laughed a little while laying on the ground. "Shut the fuck up" she said under her breath.