Civilization

Ignoring the woman's comment, Devel, dashes toward her slashing the air in between them and sending out a bolt of lightning. Nonchalantly, the woman stops the bolt of lightning with her palm, dispersing the lightning into the surroundings. Her seductive gaze falls on Devel's approaching figure, and a smirk can be seen.

Furrowing his brows, Devel's previous excited and happy-go-lucky expressions disappeared, and a bead of sweat could be seen trailing down the side of his cheek as he sends several more bolts of lightning toward the woman. However, each one was blocked with just a slight change of movement dealing no damage to the woman.

Reaching her, Devel starts off with a quick stab at her heart but to his dismay, the woman merely turns her body to the side to dodge it. Knowing it wouldn't have worked, Devel proceeds to follow her movement, slicing to the left. Stepping back, with a playful expression, the woman moves away from the attack. Without stopping, Devel proceeds to slash at the woman numerous times, attacking from different directions and even shooting bolts of lightning at point-blank range.

In spite of that, the woman dodges each attack with minimal movement. Dancing outside Devel's attack range and only putting out a hand to block the lightning bolts. Mind you, it wasn't slow strikes Devel was doing, but lightning-fast attacks. Faster than any attack he was doing on us and yet, this woman didn't even look like she was worried about the incoming assault.

Making the most out of this situation, I move toward everyone else. Making sure Stellar, Gopopo and Gibing were okay after the recent beating. Having them take a potion each, I bring them back to a healthy level. Glancing back to the bigger battlefield, I see Kumi commanding the Zivotinjas and eliminating the last of the players with only Travys, Song, and Tsugi left defending with their backs against a wall.

Howard on the other hand was still busy on the stairs, but I could see him glancing over to us every so often to observe the situation. Looking at him, I see that he had the upper hand despite attacking them by himself, meaning the archers and the mages weren't able to do much damage to Howard. Gripping my shoulder tightly, Kingston looks at me with a worried expression.

"Ian… Belial, he, he knows who that is." - Kingston

"WHAT!? How? Isn't this a woman just a general for the Reaper? She has the same colors as the purple cracks and came from above us. Maybe she is the Heart? How can Belial know her now but not before?" - Ian

"Well, he says he didn't know before, and he can't do much about it, but he definitely knows who this woman is." - Kingston

"Uhh… Well, does he want to give us the details?" - Ian

"Okay, this is going to sound absolutely insane, but she is Belial's daughter, Fierna." - Kingston

"What…? WHAT!" - Ian

"Yea, pretty insane. I didn't expect that either, he just told me now while Devel was fighting her. Due to this, he is asking me to contract with her, so I can gain more power. The only problem with this is Fierna, while she looks like she is just playing around right now, the moment she snaps her frustration level skyrockets. Killing things would just be a simple way to put it, but she would absolutely murder all of us if she gets angry." - Kingston

"So, what does that mean? You can't make a contract with her or is it just going to be difficult? Don't you just need to say that you are contracted to Belial?" - Ian

"Possibly but Belial is telling me that her attachment to the purple flames is weird as her flames are meant to be the same color as his, a deep crimson or scarlet. He believes something happened to her and maybe the Heart that was above this floor was like a cocoon. I also think she might be connected to the Abyss itself and that this Fierna is being manipulated in some shape or form." - Kingston

"You are not suggesting we need to defeat her right…? We couldn't even force Devel to reveal his strongest attacks nor did he go all out on us at any point. Look at him now, even he is having trouble with Fierna. What can we do? In all honesty, and I say this with a heavy heart, I think we need to retreat. Stellar, Gopopo, and Gibing almost died." - Ian

"If you don't mind me cutting into this conversation, but if Kingston has a way to contract with Fierna then I think he should. It will be one way to get stronger and with the additional strength maybe he will be able to fight Fierna." -David

"Thank you, David. See, someone is thinking just like me." - Kingston

"Yes, I would like that too, but the problem is you don't know how to contract with her. Right now, she is currently just dodging Devel's attack. Each attack looks faster than my spider legs stabbing a still target, but she is dancing around them as if it is just a game. I'm sorry, but I don't have a strategy or tactic… Wait. Kingston, Belial can come out of your body without using the skill right?" - Ian

"Yea, why… OHHH! We just need them to meet. Rightttt, how could I forget that I could do that? Belial, come out for a bit." - Kingston

Emerging above Kingston's shoulder a miniature Belial appears with a small wisp of smoke surrounding his lower body. With his arms crossed, he glances around and turns to me.

"Fierna will not think much of me at the moment. We haven't seen each other for tens of years after her sudden disappearance. I assumed she was just going around lava pit to lava pit and playing with her Spinagon troops, but I never expected to meet her again like this." - Belial

"Firstly, what do you suggest we do in order for Kingston to form a contract with her? And secondly what is a Spinagon and is there a chance this monster will attack us as well?" - Ian

"I would recommend for you to defeat her, however, it might also be the start of your downfall because her outbursts have been known to massacre entire races before. She is extremely intelligent but also hot-headed, her temper is her downfall. With Kingston and your strength, both of you will die extremely quickly. So the next method I can think of is to outsmart her.

Find a way to negotiate with her. Even if she is transformed into something different or connected to something else, she is still a Demon and Demons need followers, just like Gods. We want contracts, but we only contract those we deem worthy. Kingston, you need to prove your worth, and Ian you need to distract her and Devel. David, I suggest you stay out of this, unless you want to perish." - Belial

"Understood, Master. Ian, my lord, I would like to suggest that I take Gibing and the others away from this fight, or else they may suffer dire consequences." - David

"There is no need to speak so politely David… Just talk like normal and yes, take them away. Help Howard and Kumi." - Ian

Nodding his head toward me, David motions to the others to move along with him. Stellar takes a look at me, showing her worried expression, but I smile at her, nudging my head in the direction David was traveling. With a slight pout, Stellar runs after David and the rest, following closely behind Gibing and Gopopo who had already started to run after David.

"Well, then Ian. Just you and me again but this time fighting my Demon contract's daughter. What an adventure this is turning out to be." - Kingston

"Don't get your hopes up too early Kingston. We have no way of knowing what will happen when we enter that fight. Nevertheless, it is just us left. Need me to debrief you and the basic strategy for this fight?" - Ian

"Hit me." - Kingston

"You go right. I go left. Belial stays on your shoulder and I will get between the both of them, pushing Devel away if possible while you converse with Fierna. I can't guarantee how long I can hold Devel off with his new sword, Zeus's Lightning Bolt. However, I will do my best, so please form a contract with her as fast as you can because I feel like I might die with just a single stab from that weapon." - Ian

"Will do boss! No guarantees she listens to me though." - Kingston

"I know, that's my biggest worry." - Ian

Turning toward the dance between Devel and Fierna, I could only gulp down my saliva nervously. Devel's forehead showed his veins almost popping out as he clenches his teeth, attacking with all his might while Fierna is merely stepping around him. Giving a wink and blowing a kiss in between dodges and even glancing at us a few times.

"Let's do this!" - Ian