Amaya

  I felt something strange from our link, it was different in some way. Was that my fault? I had simply unleashed my power against Abaddon, or was my aura the cause? I looked down at Shani, who was slaughtering her way through the demons, and contemplated the issue. Then I looked around in the distance. Lightning flashed from our towers and I could not see anything too troubling.

  I decided it might be worth it to take a few moments to investigate the link and concentrate on it. I could still feel Lucy and all of our maids, that was good. But there was something new… It was an additional connection to an elemental plane! Water, it mingled with wind and created something new, a true storm. It was kind of exciting, even though I had no idea how that had happened. Was that where some of my spell slots went?

  I scratched my head. Anyway, it seemed beneficial to us. Hopefully I would not need a 9th tier spell before my next rest. Not being able to use devour magic right now was concerning, but I still had a lot of powers. Speaking of power, I really should secure Abaddon's weapon and help our troops.

  I landed next to the smoking corpse and stored it in my inventory. Maybe I could give it to Haruka as fertiliser, or something. Then I collected his glaive. It looked ominous and felt wrong on many levels but devouring would have to wait, so I stored it for now.

  I rose to the sky once more looking around. I had a decision to make, help Lilith, help Lucy or defend the centre. My links felt fine but I lacked a true connection to Lilith, however Lily was with her and seemed to be doing ok. Still, she was not too far away and it was important that we won against the ancient lords.

  I flew towards her fight and my storm was slowly following me and expanding around me. Shani was still somewhere inside the enemy lines but I was not very concerned about the elemental. If anything she felt stronger than ever, I guess the new link really helped her.

  As I arrived at Lilith's battle I could see that she had won. The demon lord looked a bit battered, Erin was bleeding beside her but Lily looked unharmed. And even Erin's wounds had started to close.

  "Everything alright?" I asked as I landed. The enemy soldiers had evacuated the area, or maybe I should have said they had fled screaming after their lord had fallen.

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  "His mind was weak." Lilith replied.

  "Ok, I will take that as a yes. In that case I will continue towards Lucy. Actually, to get to her I will have to cross the centre. You want to join?" I asked.

  "My lady, the link… What happened? It feels so much more alive. There is a new power flowing through it." Lily asked.

  "Oh, yeah… I don't know what happened there. I was blasting Abaddon with some spells and my aura…" I shrugged.

  "I see." Lily replied.

  "Yes, I shall join you. It's time to end this." Lilith announced.

  Together we flew towards the centre. Some of the enemy commanders kept their troops in line, others had already given up. I had no idea if they had felt their lord die. Maybe it was time to tell them.

  "Abaddon has fallen, Focalor has fallen. Lay down your weapons and go home, or face the consequences. If you decide to fight, there will be no mercy, only slaughter." I used my aura to amplify my voice and created a bit of thunder for a proper intimidation. There was lightning behind me, illuminating my flowering figure. My eyes glowed brightly as I tried to look impressive under the dark clouds.

  Lilith was floating beside me, her burning wings were glowing in the darkness of the storm. On my other side was Lily with her lightning wings shining brightly. It certainly had the desired effect.

  Some demons threw down their weapons and surrendered, most of them simply ran away. It was not an orderly retreat, it looked like a panicked mob. I also saw something approaching in the sky. Kira's dragon form was easily identifiable and next to her floated a grinning fox.

  "I see you won as well." Lucy said, as a greeting.

  I nodded. "I guess we all did." Then something occurred to me. "Wait, where is Meluza?"

  Lucy shrugged. "No idea."

  "Wasn't she holding the centre?" Lilith inquired.

  "Ah, that would make sense. Let's go and have a look at the command post." I replied.

  We landed near Haruka and I inspected her tree carefully. It was rather sparkly, thanks to the improved bond. I could not see any real damage, so maybe I did not have to go on a vengeful killing spree, good. Wait, there were a few burn marks. I narrowed my eyes. Should I have hunted down the fleeing army?

  "Lady Amaya, thank you for the gift of an enhanced bond." Haruka said.

  I turned around and inspected her humanoid body. "Are you alright?" She looked alright at first glance but I had to be sure.

  She nodded. "I mostly used my tree to fight and attack with the root network. This body has not seen much battle. Ash heroically led the other dryads on the front lines."

  "Good." I gave her a friendly pat while I totally did not check her for further injuries but she really seemed fine. "I might have a nice nutritious demon lord corpse for you!"

  "You are too kind." She replied.

  "Nonsense! Anyway, how are the other maids?" I asked.

  "None have fallen but assassins struck our headquarters and tried to kill Iris." Haruka replied.

  "What?" That sounded bad. "Let's go there immediately."