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Book III: Purgatory

It has been three months on the mortal world, and Cindy and her sisters â€" along with little Mahihko, of course â€" have led a small contigent of troops and demons across the sea to the nation of Lailland. And even Cherry had been horrified when they'd docked in the Juggernaut Class warship into one of the largest harbors, and stepped out into a place over which a literal dark shroud loomed, the sky itself crackling with the energy released from the demonic warfare going on.

The city had been ripped to shreds, with few survivors clustered here and there in camps amidst the fallen buildings and upturned streets... all of them as scared of the soldiers â€" made up of troops from both Hez'Ranna and Lunis â€" as they were of the demons, or perhaps more. To attempt to suppress the demons, Lailland had been forced to use artillery and bombers against their own cities, killing thousands of civilians and perhaps tens of thousands of demons that were flooding in from everywhere... but more always came. Every day, more always came...

It hadn't changed. They had fought their way through the port city and they were steadily making their way towards what intelligence reported was a massive Black Hole. They had already destroyed two small Black Holes using what Cherry called an ‘inverted version' of the spell that she could now cast, and although Cindy didn't understand, she got the general idea. She didn't care though... all that mattered was that they closed the last portal and halted the invasion of Lailland before they wiped out the last of the troops.

They were working out of a small village that had been completely annihilated, but they used the burnt-out buildings for storage and shelter, and they had erected their own tents and snap-together buildings... and thankfully, they had a few fold-out transports that turned into sleeping areas for soldiers. Artillery cannons and massive tanks stood silent sentinel at the edge of the village, and demons wandered freely around with soldiers, dressed in Hez'Ranna uniform and carrying both conventional and demonic weapons, many of them smoking and awkwardly playing cards with mortals.

The five cities surrounding them were all filled with demons and other monstrosities, and Cherry had come back with several demons from a scouting mission the night before to report their numbers far dwarfed their own pathetic infantry of three hundred and some troops, demons included. Cindy had only grunted quietly, however, as she polished the massive sword she had taken to using: a thinner version of her father's weapon, but this one stained with blood and inscribed with demonic glyphs along the blade to ensure that any blow landed with it would burn like the flames of Hell itself. A nice memory of home for those bastards...

Cindy shook her head slowly, sitting in a chair on the small hilltop that faced out towards the closest city to the north and resting her arms against the flat of the blade. Her features had become stonier over the few months it had been, and every day she waded into battle she could only think of her father. Some of Zerrex's grimness had found its way onto her features, and it made her look almost cruel with the spiked bracelets and collar she wore... not to mention the clawed metal boots she had as well, complete with spikes to better grip the ground... or better hurt whoever she kicked.

Slowly, Cherry walked up behind her, naked but with only the size of her breasts alluding to anything sexual: with how often she changed forms, she saw it as better to just leave her clothes off and make her sexual characteristics vanish while she was walking around in public. Her collar was still tight around her neck, and even though her body was in her demonic form, she had regained most of her muscle through hard training â€" both with magic and with vigorous physical exercise sessions. She only wore a short loincloth and a double-belt around her waist, this latter with Zerrex's twin .52's strapped to it as she murmured softly: "Come on, let's switch off shifts."

Cindy looked over her shoulder to the Dius, then grunted and looked back towards the city, watching as an explosion went up near the top of one building. Either a rocket or a spell... "No, I'm fine... what are Marina and Mahihko doing?"

"Drawing, as usual." Cherry hesitated, then reached out and squeezed Cindy's shoulder gently, speaking quietly: "Look, the Boss is fine... by now he's probably become a demon himself though, and-"

"Shut up." Cindy said coldly, and Cherry winced away as the middle daughter of Zerrex â€" once upon a time a gentle soul â€" looked over her shoulder with a snarl. "Don't talk shit about him like that. Yeah, we get it, Hell is Hell, you became a demon, he probably has, but I don't need to fucking hear it, you got that? We have enough on our plate as it is, and if you need to go and talk yourself through it, do it somewhere else, because I don't have the time for it, Cherry."

Cherry nodded silently and only swallowed, watching as Cindy turned her burning eyes back towards the city, and she laced her fingers in front of her waist as she murmured quietly: "Hatred makes you stronger. I get that. I used to just hate-hate-hate myself, after all... but hatred will kill you, too, Cindy. What do you think is more upsetting to the Boss, Zerrex becoming a demon... or you becoming one?"

Cindy stood up and walked quickly down the hill, her long sword in one hand as she grit her teeth... and then she trembled and dropped her face in one hand, beginning to cry hard as she fell to her knees near the bottom of the short hill. Cherry sighed softly and walked down to her, then hugged her silently around the shoulders as she sobbed: "Why is it so fucking hard..."

"Because God is cruel." Cherry murmured, looking down at the ground as she held Cindy back against her own muscular body, sighing softly and trying not to think about what the Drakkaren â€" her mentor, her master, her father, her... lover â€" must be experiencing in Hell. I just hope he doesn't run into that bitch Se- Cleo. Fuck, I still can't even think her fucking name... it's there in my head, but it never comes out... and goddammit, I know that Francis said Little Arcy is going to watch over him and that he heard a rumor he was going to be sent down there on a mission from God, but even he said it... God is fucking cruel sometimes.

She cradled the other Drakkaren for a little while, and then Cindy finally got up, wiped her eyes and mumbled an apology before dragging her sword down into the field, muttering something about training... and Cherry didn't bother following. She knew that Cindy wanted to be alone at times like this... so instead she just turned and made her way back up to encampment, shaking her head a bit as Mahihko toddled over to her and looked up at her sadly.

The little wolf was dressed not in his usual girly clothes, but instead a plain Hez'Ranna Military uniform adjusted for his size and a flak vest that Cherry made him wear whenever he was wandering outside, out of fear for the little wolf she wouldn't admit she felt. A short-barreled magnetic rifle from Lunis was strapped over his back, complete with a computerized aiming system like that kind that was attached to rocket launchers... but even though this rifle had a seven-shot clip and was semiautomatic, firing it successively would be difficult even for her. The kick from the gun was ridiculous... but a crack shot like Mahihko could take down at least five demons per shot with the piercing qualities of the bullets.

Strapped to his hip was what looked like a large metal hoop... but it split apart into two fair-sized rings that Mahihko could use in melee combat. They sounded ridiculous, but they were made of a solid metal that could break a bone with a direct hit even from the effeminate lupine, and he had already used them to successfully disarm even demons that charged him. And when he shifted upwards, they became deadly even with his awkward strikes, cracking skulls and shoulders like they were nothing more than plastic molds.

Cherry looked around... then sighed as she saw Marina leading a large, dumbly-grinning demon into a private tent. Out of them all, Marina was the one who had become the most chaotic... whereas Cherry was controlling her desires, even on the battlefield Marina was letting loose, strutting around in a miniskirt and a tight exercise top as she used whatever she could get her hands on to rain destruction down on her foes... or just her terrible psychic abilities, which seemed to have trebled in power over the last few months. It never failed to fill her with sorrow when she looked at what Marina was doing â€" even having sex in public, and ignoring almost any reprimand or scolding Cherry could think of â€" and then thought back to the shy little girl she had once been. But I guess even I was sorta like that... goddammit... this isn't just unfair, this is... this is ludicrous...

She shook her head and snorted, then glanced over to a nearby minotaur as he passed and grasped his arm gently, looking up at him and asking in demonic: "Corporal Palvis. How's the training going for your unit?"

Palvis glanced down at her, rubbing a hand slowly over diamond-shaped tattoo around his one eye. "To be honest, not very well. When we first trained using what the mortals call shotguns and machine guns, my platoon handled their weapons fairly well and could deal with the recoil of such weapons even better than many of their mortal counterparts, but it made them cocky. Now, using these things called ‘hand' guns and riffles, it requires steady aim and a good eye... and it's very hard for us to learn to control the aim of such strange guns. They're much-more difficult to use... and we minotaurs are all trained as strikers for the Princess's army, not in any sort of ranged combat. I can't much say I even understand your naming schemes, either"

"Handguns. They're called handguns because you can hold them in one hand..." Cherry wiggled her fingers, smiling a bit as she corrected: "And ‘rifles,' not ‘riffles.' One ‘f.' That one I don't know myself... but fuck, I'm not surprised. I don't want to have you guys rushing the enemy troops until we have to, though, and for once we got a shitload of ammo, so... fire away, and narrow down who the best shots are. I want at least five of your guys trained in long-range shooting, and hopefully they'll at least get the hang of it before we storm Masterton tomorrow."

Palvis bowed to her deeply and strode quickly off, and Cherry sighed a bit before reaching down and quietly wrapping her arm around Mahihko's shoulders, pulling im with her as someone called her name and muttering: "Fuck, kiddo, but this is a cunt of a situation we're in."

"I was Daddy was here." Mahihko said miserably, grasping Cherry's fingers with his two tiny hands and looking down morbidly. "I know he'd make everything better... I know he would..."

"The Boss is great, yeah." Cherry murmured, trying hard to push the thoughts out of her head... but she hated herself for being unable to. More than that, she hated herself for everything she'd done against him over her lifetime... for every time she'd turned her back on him, every time she'd let him down, and she clenched her other hand into a fist as she approached General Cyllos, the massive Dragokkaren who was in command of their platoon along with Commander Meyer of Lunis, the gazelle who had been in charge of operations back when they'd they'd stormed the city-island from Ire, in what seemed like a different life now.

Cyllos was standing with several troops around a large digital touchscreen he was holding in one hand, looking coldly back and forth. His face was covered in crisscrossing scars â€" a keepsake from the last battle against Narrius, when he had stormed the rebel base, Amaterasu, with the full force of his military brigade â€" and his body was just as damaged, but the bastard was tough: an ex-Super Enforcer who'd turned to the side of the rebellion during that last crucial month. He had several robotic fingers, and although normally Cherry would cackle at the fact he currently had a small pen tip sticking out of his index finger that he was using to draw on the screen with, she currently had no laughter left in her body.

He glanced over her and down at Mahihko, then he turned his gaze back to the Dragokkaren troops around him, saying softly: "So remember, wait until the last moment before blowing the terminal, to get as many people to safety as we can. There's a chemical fuel dump nearby, and that should go up in flames as well... and if we do this right, we'll incinerate plenty of demons and take minimal losses, but as always, I'm hoping we pull this off without losing any of our soldiers. Meet back here in one hour, until then you're dismissed. For Hez'Ranna."

"For the World!" the soldiers replied curtly, saluting by pounding their chests with one fist, and then most of the troops left as Cyllos pushed the screen into the black tube it was attached to and snapped it closed. He bounced this quietly in his hand as the pen retracted into his metal finger, and then he knelt in front of Mahihko and quietly reached out to squeeze his shoulder.

"Listen to me, little wolf. I know the pressure's huge, and that you're upset... but I have faith you'll do Lord Zerrex proud when we stage the attack." Cyllos said softly, and Mahihko looked down and mumbled something incoherent, trembling a bit before gazing up with his childish eyes as Cyllos held out the touchscreen map. "Could you do me a big favor and go give this to Commander Meyer?"

Mahihko nodded a few times and held his hands out, and Cyllos gently slapped it down into them before standing as the wolf toddled off down the dirt road towards Meyer's campsite. He stood and gripped his hips, shaking his head with a sigh as he watched the wolf leave, and Cherry crossed her arms as he said mildly: "Your entire family seems to be taking this incredibly hard. I feel horrified myself at what happened... but I'm honestly glad, Lady Cherry, that you're still standing strong with Miss Cindy... but if I have to be fully honest, I want to add that I think Miss Marina should be dealing with her emotions in a different manner."

"You talk to her then." The faintest of smiles bridged onto Cherry's muzzle as Cyllos only grunted, and she nodded a bit, looking sourly amused as she crossed her arms and closed her eyes at the sound of barely-muffled, ecstatic cries from the tent nearby. "She's Zerrex's daughter, it's true... but she's got a crazy personality all her own. I'm trying to let her deal, but at the same time I know it can't go on like this before she does something else violent and insane... but... we need her."

Cyllos nodded, murmuring softly: "We need her indeed. She's more powerful than anyone I've ever met... if the desire ever took her, she could take our entire garrison down and reduce us all to dust, perhaps yourself and your older sister included. And I don't think I've ever met anyone as physically-powerful as Miss Cindy."

Cherry nodded a bit again, then sighed nad rubbed at her forehead slowly. "Fuck me for this, and I'm sorry Cyllos, but can you get to the point? I've still got to do my aerial patrol of the area, I'm getting sick of people staring at my boobs and looking for any sign of my tits, and I really need to just lay down for a while and perhaps masturbate furiously until I explode."

Cyllos rolled his eyes, but didn't look either surprised or offended as he merely nodded. "It's about the upcoming attack we're staging on Masterton... I'm starting to think it's a bit premature. Saint Willows is much closer to the north, and even if this is only to distract the demons while you and your ‘special unit' attack the Black Hole in Faith River, it seems like it would be a much better idea to lay into Saint Willows. We have much more information on that city, and we would be able to reinforce you much faster than we would be able to from Masterton. To be honest, I almost think you and Miss Cindy chose this attack formation simply so you wouldn't be interrupted or have the handicap of a full military unit supporting your backs."

The demoness glanced down, wondering quietly whether or not she could come clean... and when she looked back up into Cyllos's calm blue eyes, she decided the truth was probably the best decision for now, at least with this old compatriot. "Do you remember Paradise?"

The Dragokkaren nodded immediately, frowning a bit as he crossed his arms; that memory was etched into his mind as it was in the minds of all who had witnessed the terrifying floating fortress, a weapon so powerful it put even the mightiest of demons to shame. Cherry smiled a bit, then she looked away as she said quietly: "It's just like that all over again... me and the girls, we went in alone, while Zerrex... my father... attacked from above, separately. We gutted the machine, sure, but he was the one who slew the cancer that created that tumor. No matter how many Paradises or armies we killed or facilities we destroyed, Narrius would have always sent more at us... until maybe one day he came himself for our necks, and I don't think you or I or anyone else could have stood up to that motherfucker.

"This... this is like fucking Paradise all over again. The demons who invaded are your fight, but the fucking bastard who's creating the plague, Az'Iriel, is ours." Cherry pounded her chest firmly, snarling a bit as she turned her gaze to Cyllos. "And this time, while Zerrex is wrestling his way through Hell and cutting out the guts of that bastard's army, the girls and I are going to chop off the head, take out the disease."

The Dragokkaren frowned, leaning forwards and tilting his head slightly as he asked slowly: "Az'Iriel... the Demon Prince who started this war... is here?"

Cherry shook her head slowly, sighing and rubbing at one of her horns as she made a bit of a face. "Well, there's the complicated part. We have no fucking clue where he is... but rumors say that he's focusing entirely on Lailland right now, and that either he or one of his higher-ups has come through the portal and is wandering around, looking for a fight or taking his orders direct from his boss or whatever shit. Either way, we're going to find out Az'Iriel's location, and that'll be our next target... and as soon as the head's been cut off and the portal closed, you shouldn't have too much of a problem killing off the rest of these demons."

Cyllos nodded, not speaking for a few moments, and then he looked off to the west at the setting sun, murmuring quietly: "Well, if I were Az'Iriel, I wouldn't be here... I'd be somewhere in Ire, where all the real havoc is right now."

Cherry looked down with a frown, putting a fist under her muzzle and muttering: "Shit. This is why I hate all this tactical bullshit... I'm no good at it. Sure, I can dodge a bullet and fire sixty times in sixty seconds with a fuckin' revolver... hell, make it a one-shot rifle... but I'm no good at the planning part. Cindy's the brains here, not me."

But it would make more sense, now that she was thinking about it: whereas Lailland had been decimated by Az'Iriel's storm troopers, Ire was currently in the midst of a mix of civil war and demonic invasion. Worse yet, demons were attacking all over the globe, and Cherry was reminded of how massive the demonic world was â€" it only seemed small due to the fact that there were simply so many demons, most of them capable of some weird teleportation shit Cherry had never been taught, since she hadn't left the monastery for so many years.

Even she was smart enough to deduce that Az'Iriel's plans were coming to fruition, though: Ire had elected a new leader in the senate, and the already-dead council had been ‘voted out' and replaced by an emergency ‘War Leader,' who had reformed Ire into a dictatorship and immediately dispatched the army to protect areas that seemed important but were completely pointless to demons, like fuel production factories and munitions depots. Cherry figured that it was actually that blue-eyed demon who she had punched uselessly apart back in that ‘Sanctuary' who was calling the shots, though... Majesty... that was her name. I don't remember how I know it exactly, but... it's there. Majesty, Az'Iriel's favorite concubine...

She finally turned her eyes back to Cyllos, and the two looked at each other before he nodded and murmured softly: "The fuel depot it is, then. It'll cut off the roads and the routes they've been using to travel through the sewers, at least... and that should make the entire cleanup operation a lot simpler. I can't believe I'm saying this but... just make sure you don't fail on your end, huh?"

He smiled a bit, and Cherry rolled her eyes before snorting and flexing, grinning slightly up at him. "Hey, when have I ever failed you, asshole? But thanks... I'm going to perform my last search around the area before I take some personal time. Watch your ass, Cyllos, it's the only good thing attached to your body anymore, from what I hear."

"You're a bitch." Cyllos shook his head and smiled slightly wider, though, then he turned away, likely heading towards Meyer's camp. Cherry glanced around for Mahihko, but upon not seeing him, she figured he'd gotten sidetracked somewhere... and a moment later she flexed and spread her wings from her back, wincing a bit and then taking a slow breath. You can do this fine, Cherry.

She kicked off the ground and flapped her wings hard, flying up into the air... and she soared high into the skies, pushing the limit to go as high as she possibly could before spinning around through the thin air, her lungs burning and the ground covered in small pinpricks she guessed were buildings, skimming the surface of the dark cloud that lingered over the city... but the darkness up here didn't bother her. Instead, she closed her eyes and tilted her body upside down, pushing both feet into the cloud and concentrating... and a moment later she was standing upside down on the cloud of demonic energy.

She walked slowly along it, folding her wings in against her body as dark lighting pulsed against her and her eyes roved back and forth, scouting for any other aerial demons: she had seen a few gargoyles and Daius throughout the city, but there had also been terrible flying undead that she didn't have a name for, and several other nasty-looking creatures that liked to float around. Not to mention this terrible haze... if I didn't know better, I'd say it was forming into some sort of demonic rift...

Cherry shook her head slowly: either way, whether it was supplying the demons with more power or turning into a massive Black Hole high above the world, it would be destroyed when they cut out the last Black Hole here in Lailland and its power source was vanquished. She turned her eyes back and forth, then frowned a bit as she saw something push its way firmly out of the dark ‘ground' ahead of her, anchoring herself against the dark energy and saying clearly in demonic: "Identify yourself and your master!"

A Wentaku emerged a moment later from the rift, wearing a long, flowing red robe, and it looked back and forth before meeting her eyes with its own three, the central one opening and closing slowly before it rose a hand and said softly: "Retreat, Dius. You are nowhere near strong enough to fight me. I am an ambassador of High Prince Memnon, sent here to discuss a peace treaty with Prince Az'Iriel."

"What?" Cherry frowned, leaning forwards and asking coldly: "If Prince Raithe and Prince Memnon turn to Az'Iriel-"

"The Eastern Province has been absorbed by the Southern Province, under the false rule of Master Scribe Vine." The Wentaku replied, and it lowered its hand slightly, tilting its head as Cherry looked shocked. "How long have you been out of Hell? Are you a servant of the Princess?"

"Dude, I don't give a fuck about anything but kicking Az'Iriel's ass. And I was under the impression the Princess was the ‘good guy' in Hell, so to speak. The fuck has been going on in Hell?" Cherry asked, frowning deeply, and the Wentaku hestitated a long moment before she snarled: "Tell me, motherfucker, or I'll break your face!"

Cherry rose a hand threateningly, and the Wentaku made a face, looking a bit more hostile but saying grudgingly: "Prince Raithe was slain by an emissary of the Princess, Lord Zerrex. Fearing an attack on himself, Prince Memnon has-"

"What the fuck? Zerrex, working for someone? Whoa, whoa, no fuckin' way." Cherry shook her head quickly, looking disgusted as she waved her hands back and forth a bit, and the Wentaku now looked puzzled. "Unless the bastard's gone all whitey-knighty on me, there's gotta be another explanation or reason. But shit, Zerrex is that strong?"

The demoness felt a swell of pride in herself as she grinned widely, but her excitement wasn't taken positively by the Wentaku, who only glowered and backed slowly away, saying coldly: "This Crack belongs to Prince Az'Iriel, who has currently agreed to spare Prince Memnon. I'm going to have to ask you to leave immediately, while I..."

The Wentaku ran out of steam as it looked ‘up,' and realized that the ground was far beneath it, before it staggered and knelt against the dark ‘ground,' shaking his head in disbelief. "What... where are we? How is this possible, this isn't a Crack at all... I..."

"Hey, watch your ass on your twelve!" Cherry shouted, pointing over the Wentaku's shoulder as her eyes settled on a cloaked figure with swirling wings of darkness holding a white blade, and before the Wentaku could turn it swung once and cleaved the demon cleanly in half, the Wentaku immediately bursting into flames as its body fell in two pieces towards the earth. A moment later, the creature continued to shoot towards Cherry, who immediately leapt off the ground and twisted her body to the side, grinning as the sword narrowly missed her and she landed back on the dark energy, her feet slamming into it as she shouted: "You gotta do better than that, bitch!"

The dark thing twisted around in midair and shot towards her again, and Cherry pulled out both her magnum handguns, backpedalling as she fired a few shots into the being as it shot towards her. The cloaked being weaved back and forth, swinging its broadsword out and deflecting the bullets before stabbing viciously forwards, and Cherry's eyes blazed as she fired several precise shots into the very tip of the sword and sent the pommel crashing back into the creature's own chest.

It twitched backwards and half-fell, and the demoness immediately fired both clips into the creature's wings, watching as burst of not darkness but instead white splattered forth... and her eyes narrowed before she leapt backwards as the cloaked figure threw its sword at her, at the same time tossing one of the guns hard ‘down' towards her feet and sending it through the dark cloud with a puff, before she caught the spinning blade by the handle and let her arm snap behind her back to shove the sword into her belt just above her tail.

The cloaked figure stared in shock, and then Cherry caught the magnum handgun as it fell back through the dark cloud of energy and fired a single shot just over its face, tearing back the hood of the cloak and dispelling the illusion of darkness it was surrounded in, and she stared in shock at the angel wings and the snarling face of a palimino horse.

It paused to glance down at its own hands in shock, then it cursed and slammed its palms together, shouting: "You'll perish like all the rest, demon-whore! Az'Iriel will rule this world, and you and no one else shall stop him!"

The angel began to chant rapidly, and Cherry snarled, holding up her hands and beginning a protective spell, but the angel was speaking too fast for her to understand what was going on... and then it laughed and threw its arms wide before its body exploded in a burst of white light, sending Cherry flying backwards with a loud curse as she fell from the dark cloud, which sizzled with white lightning like a massive beacon in the sky. She fell as blood and feathers rained down around her body, a few pieces of angel falling past her before she spread her leathery wings and and shot down in a steep dive, slowly pulling out of it and breathing hard as she checked to ensure she hadn't dropped either of the handguns or the sword.

She shook her head slowly, looking up at that blaze of white light as she hovered above the camp, murmuring softly: "What the fuck is Heaven doing here? And worse, he said Az'Iriel will rule... what does that mean, that even some angels have been corrupted by the son of a bitch? Or is there something even bigger at play..."

She clenched her hands into fists, then slowly descended, breathing hard. Although the fight had been little more than exercise for her, it had just added more frustrations on top of the ones she already had... but on the bright â€" well, bright-ish, I guess... â€" side, at least she had learned that Zerrex was still alive... and still strong, to say the least. She shook her head slowly, smiling a bit at this and landing at the edge of the village as Cindy ran over to her, but she held up a hand before she could say anything, murmuring quietly: "Not here, not right now. Let's head to my tent... you might want to get Cyllos and that gazelle, too... what's his name, uh.... Meyer, yeah."

"Alright." Cindy looked over her slowly, and the two walked in separate directions, Cherry heading around the side of the camp to slip into her own private tent, which was littered with gun magazines and all sorts of strange weapons she had taken from demons. It was a bitch to pack up, but she thought it was worth it... and she sat down on her plain sleeping bag with a grunt, crossing her legs and tossing the angel's golden broadsword aside. Ain't nothing going to beat that fiery-knife thing I took from Francis, though.

She glanced up as Cindy pushed through the flap with Marina, who looked more pissed-off than anything else and was still doing up her bra, her miniskirt hiked up a bit too high on her waist and exposing her panties as Mahihko shuffled awkwardly in afterwards. A moment later, Cyllos and Meyer entered as well, making the quarters extremely cramped as Cherry announced blatently: "Shitty news time. An alliance may be forming between the Warlord and the other Prince who's still alive, since the other one is dead, and worst of all, a fuckin' Angel just chopped the demon I was chatting with in half and then attacked me before exploding himself. And he mentioned something about Az'Iriel, and-"

"Daddy, Daddy's become a demon, he's in Hell but he's strong..." Marina murmured softly, and Cherry winced a bit. Fuck, I hate it when she does that. "Daddy's in Hell, but he's strong, he killed the Prince..."

"Marina..." Cindy said softly, but the youngest daughter of Zerrex only smiled strangely before turning and leaving, shoving her way past Mahihko and Cyllos as the others watched her and then looked at each other uneasily. A moment later, Cindy sighed and nodded slowly, murmuring: "Thank you, Cherry. I'll leave you to talk it out with the others. Mahihko, can you help me find her before anything bad happens? I'm really worried about her state of mind right now."

Mahihko nodded, and he followed her almost dreamily out, smiling stupidly to himself as he swayed slowly back and forth. Cherry watched him leave, wondering if the wolf had clung to Marina's words more than her own, then she looked down as Cyllos and Meyer gazed at her, apparently waiting for her to speak. "Nothing else I got for you, boys. I was trying to get more information out of the fucker, but then the other fucker jetted in and chopped him in half. But he was wearing a dark cloak that hid his appearance completely in shadows... I don't remember that being your typical angel wear, so I'm just hoping that the fallen angels are rallying to Az'Iriel." She paused, then added grimly: "Which would make for a pretty shitty bright side, but what the hell are you gonna do, right?"

"That's a kick in the crotch." Meyer muttered, shaking his head slowly and looking down at the wearable computer on his arm, tapping a few buttons before looking at Cherry mildly. "So I guess what it comes down to is that we mortals are on our own, fighting both Heaven and Hell not even for supremacy, but just for survival until we can manage to close those rifts?"

"It's starting to seem that way." Cherry nodded agreeably, then she grinned stupidly and spread her arms wide. "Hey, at least you dickheads got me and a handful of other demons on your side, there's uh... that's... good, right? I think it's good."

"We'll give you your private time now." Cyllos said dryly, and Cherry muttered something under her breath as the two slipped out, before she sighed and glanced down at the sleeping bag as she was left alone. Shit. How can things get any more complicated? Oh, I know, someone'll turn out to be possessed who I really like and I'll have to kill them in order to save the life of my sisters, only one of them will turn out to be the real evil demon who I then fight to avenge the death of my friend. You know what? Fuck that.

Cherry looked sulkily back and forth, already beginning to get bored and looking for a distraction, but as usual these days, she was feeling sexual but not like actually having sex. She touched herself in both male and female form â€" and sometimes a mix-match of both for kicks â€" but that was for stress relief... and what she wanted right now wasn't just relief but relaxation. Sex was great, sure, but it was never lovemaking... even when she masturbated, that had nothing to do with loving herself: what she needed now was something that didn't have anything to do with battle or death.

The demoness crossed her legs and sighed, then held up her hands, knowing there was only one thing that she could do if she wanted such relaxation, and knowing at the same time that the chances of it working were slim-to-none... but she decided it was better than nothing as she concentrated, a glassy sphere appearing between her hands as dark lightning began to dance back and forth inside it almost immediately, and she absently hoped Cindy could catch up to Marina before anything bad could happen.

Meanwhile, Marina herself had vanished from the encampment to a nearby field, and she glanced back and forth before slipping through a small copse of trees and stepping out into a smaller, prettier area, with a scenic little pond and a small cliff of rock overlooking this. But currently the beauty of the place was damaged by the blood and rotten bodies that covered it, and the rusted weapons stabbed here and there into the cold earth. Marina slowly stepped towards the other unnerving thing about this meadow, the glowing circle of runes she had burnt into the ground with her psychic powers, and the demonic soldiers she had caught inside it trembled at her approach. She looked over them slowly, then said softly in demonic: "Let's not have a repeat of last time, alright? I'm going to break the circle and choose one of you. Then I'm going to complete it again, and you're all going to wait quietly until it's your turn to be chosen. If you run... you all suffer. Understood?"

The two minotaurs and the huge, draconic demon inside nodded, all of them shuddering as they backed away as far as they could from the tall female... and she smiled slowly as she whispered: "Good, good. I want you, the one with the broken horn..."

Her powers flowed through their minds as she stepped on the circle and dragged some dirt over the edge of a rune, blotting it and causing the light to fade out from the demon trap... and the ten foot tall, one-horned minotaur slowly stepped forwards towards her meekly, bowing is head. Marina completed the circle with a glance, her eyes flashing as the part she had blotted out immediately fixed itself, and then she turned her gaze to the minotaur as she stepped up to it, saying up to him almost-tenderly as she stroked over his huge, masculine chest gently: "Today it's your turn to please me. We're going to play some games, and I'm going to call you my Daddy, and you will call me your daughter and tell me how much you love me... is this all understood?"

"Yes... daughter." The minotaur murmured, nodding hesitantly, and Marina looked at him for a few moments... and he winced before hesitantly hugging her, knowing to squeeze her close but not try to hurt her as her powers twisted and danced through his mind: he had seen what she had done to those who had defied her, and how they had suffered...

But now she was smiling up at him brightly, stroking down his thickly-muscled chest as she said lovingly: "First, I want to dance, Daddy! Let's play and wrestle and dance and frolick... won't that be fun?"

"Anything for my daughter." the minotaur whimpered in a stuttering voice, and Marina positively beamed before dragging him around in a circle, and the minotaur began to shudder violently even as Marina laughed and dragged him around the meadow. After twenty minutes, however, she began to grow distant... and when the minotaur finally broke down, she looked at him with disgust before flicking her wrist dismissively and walking away.

The minotaur grasped his skull, screaming in agony and jerking back and forth as blood ran from his eyes, his worst memories, fears, torments driving him insane as he staggered back and forth, before he collapsed under his own mental pressure as his mind simply snapped, and he lay, gurgling, upon his back as Marina broke the circle once more and looked over them sadly. "You've all been so disappointing... all you need to do is smile, and be strong..."

Her eyes roved to the draconic demon, who she had captured outside the encampment and dragged here instead of killing because of his green scales, and thick body, and mayhaps even because of the feral, wild look about him as she smiled slowly and glanced over to the minotaur, saying softly: "Kill your friend there and then run away. Your life will be spared... and I'm going to make you my Daddy."

The draconic demon staggered backwards in fear as Marina jerked a rusted sword out of the ground and grinned cruelly... and then his body froze as the minotaur ran around behind her. He picked up a battle axe, watching as Marina approached his friend, and the draconic demon looked over at him pleadingly... and the minotaur ran towards her with a scream, the axe raised.

He chopped hard down towards her, and Marina slid to the side almost effortlessly, her eyes burning as she stabbed through the minotaur's stomach with her sword. He gurgled and moaned, and then screamed as Marina twisted the sword and ripped to the side, disemboweling him before she slashed viciously back and forth with the sword, laughing cruelly as she tore open his chest and ripped her sword through the loincloth he wore. His genitals and several of his ribs fell to the ground as he gargled and dropped the axe, and Marina kicked this up to her other hand and roared as she chopped it straight down into his skull, splitting it in half and sending the minotaur down in a heap as his body began to rot almost immediately, the axe falling free with a sick squelch.

She turned towards the draconic demon as he staggered backwards, his hands raised pleadingly; and now she even looked far more like a demon, her muscles bulging out and her eyes burning violet with her terrible psychic abilities, one hand clenching tight into her sword and a maniacal grin on her features even as she panted through her teeth. She stepped towards him, her entire body heaving and her eyes alight not only with power but lust as she said roughly: "Oh... oh, Daddy, let me fix you up... and then you're gonna be my Daddy, and either you fuck me or I'll fuck you... come on, just stay still for a moment..."

For the next ten minutes, the demon screamed in such agony that it eventually attracted Cindy's attention as she searched the outskirts of the camp... and she walked slowly down into the field towards the copse of trees before halting and staring in horror as Marina walked out with one of the draconic demons that were usually in the front lines with the minotaurs. He was bleeding from countless slashes, and his head hung slightly to one side as tears leaked down only half his face, the other half covered in a terrible burn. Marina was all-but-bouncing, and she halted as she said up to Cindy lovingly: "Daddy's back."

"Marina, let him go." Cindy said quietly, and Marina glared at her, beginning to walk past... but Cindy grabbed her shoulder and held her firmly in place, even as the younger girl â€" her sister, her daughter â€" snarled at her like a monster, and she spoke in a sorrowful, firm voice: "Zerrex would never approve of this."

Marina slumped: it was the only thing that ever got through to her. She shook her head slowly, then let go of the draconic demon... who immediately slumped to the ground, and Cindy didn't even have to check his body to know he was dying. She sighed quietly as she knelt, taking Marina's hands and gazing up into her eyes as she whispered: "Look at me... look at me, daughter... my little girl..."

Marina slowly did so, and she murmured: "Mommy... I... you're my mommy, that's right... but I need my Daddy... Daddy saved us all..."

"Yes, Daddy did..." Cindy said quietly, and she squeezed her child's hands gently as the life seemed to drain out of the girl in front of him. She sighed softly, looking back and forth before gazing up at her with a weak smile. "And Daddy will return. We all know it... we know how unstoppable he is. But you can't do things like this, because he'd... he'd be very upset if he found out, and he'd feel hurt, because it's almost... almost like you don't believe in him, do you understand? Listen to me... listen to me..."

Cindy looked down, hesitating and not wanting to speak for Cherry, but at the same time she thought it would be okay as she looked up at him, murmuring gently: "Whenever it gets too much, go to Cherry. Tell her, talk to your big sister, our big sister... and say you need to spend some time with Zerrex, and I'm sure she'll be glad to give you an image of your father... to hold you in the form of your father... and anything else you need." she added, not wanting to get into Marina's lusts as of late. "Talk to your family, Marina. We need to stand by each other and stay strong, even without Zerrex to bind us all together. I know we're all very different people... but goddammit, I love both you and Cherry and I love little Mahihko, too. If we want to get through this, we have to stay together."

"We'll kill Az'Iriel... and Daddy will return. Zerrex holds us tight together... without him we are all incomplete. We are his girls... all who stand between him and us will die." Marina murmured, swaying slowly on the spot and echoing Cindy's thoughts, not her words, and Cindy shivered at how cold her voice was. Have I... become this? "Yes... but all will be better when Father returns..."

Cindy shook her head quickly, almost terrified by that answer, but Marina shook her head quickly and glanced at her with a faint smile, before dropping down to her knees and hugging her tightly. She pressed close, murmuring a soft thanks... and then Cindy twitched a bit as one of her hands slid to a breast, and Marina's breath was hot on her neck as she murmured softly: "We all have our needs, Cindy... you've never told Zerrex how scared you are of the power inside you, the darkness, the lusts you rarely get... but the floodgates have opened, haven't they?"

"Marina, get off me." Cindy's voice was husky as she tried to shrug her daughter off, but Marina clung to her tightly, and Cindy felt weak... and it wasn't just because of the ache in her loins, or the feeling of Marina's fingers crawling through her head, or the stress on her body... God, no, this is... this is not arousing, I... "Marina... please get off..."

"I could get you off." Marina said in an almost-musing voice, as if considering whether to buy apples or oranges at the supermarket. "You have so many suppressed urges... you're stronger than Daddy in some ways, but you're also filled with uncertainty, no matter how intelligent you are... I love how you love me... do you remember that night we slept together, Mother? Do you remember when we dressed up for Daddy's birthday, when we were his little whores, and how right it felt in your mind?"

"Marina!" Cindy finally shook herself free, but at the entertained, lustful look on Marina's face, she knew that Marina had let her get loose, just to tease her. She quickly stood up, and then Marina grabbed her leg and licked slowly over her crotch, and Cindy shuddered, freezing in shock before groaning and arching her back, shoving at Marina's head and trying to shake her loose as Marina nuzzled into her crotch with a hot groan. "Stop it! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Her daughter laughed quietly, and then slowly stood... and she smiled as she grasped Cindy's waist, gazing into her eyes and slowly leaning forwards to kiss her gently... and Cindy didn't know what to do, only staring as Marina's tongue invaded her muzzle, twisted around hers and searched along her teeth before slowly retreating as her mouth pulled away, and she murmured softly: "Don't you know what I am? I'm chaos without a leash. Daddy is the only one I bow to, and without him..."

Marina looked into Cindy's eyes, and the female saw an image of Marina cradling the entire planet in her arms against her stomach, her breasts pressing gently against it... but the whole world was cracked and ashen black, with red lava instead of blue oceans... and the giant, omnipotent Marina looked slowly up, and Cindy could only stare and tremble as that image became her reality for a moment, staring as she floated in space and Marina opened her muzzle, a long, black snake twisting out of her muzzle instead of a tongue and encircling the world... before it shattered into two pieces, and Cindy fell over as she was brought back to reality.

Trembles rolled up and down her entire body, and she stared up in terror at Marina as she looked coldly back down at her, tilting her muzzle slowly upwards, and for a moment Cindy saw not Zerrex, but Narrius in that cruel look. "I'll make the whole world my playtoy. I will kill whoever I want. I will love whoever I want. I will annihilate whatever I wish if it so pleases me... I am chaos. The world is filled with sickness and evil, and it deserves nothing more than destruction, anyway... so I will rip it apart, piece-by-piece, and otherwise live for the one person who saved me from the world..."

"That was Narrius, and you're becoming just like him!" Cindy shouted, and Marina's eyes widened in shock... and then Cindy was being crushed slowly back into the hill, the ground twisting and tearing like living flesh beneath her as she tried to scream in agony, but her muzzle was sealed shut, and all she could do was give a muffled groan as her arms and legs spasmed weakly, her entire body slowly being squished by a lethal psychic grip.

"I am nothing like him!" Marina snarled furiously, and then she made a quick jerking motion, and Cindy flew bonelessly free from the hill to crash onto her face and roll several times, slumping against the ground as Marina walked over to her and then kicked her hard in the stomach, knocking her flat as she let out a gasp of pain, clenching her eyes shut as tears leaked from them: but worse than the pain was her broken heart as she looked up at Marina despairingly. "He was a false god! He didn't have the power to rule... I have the power to bring destruction wherever I desire, and to build for my father a beautiful world all his own to rule, to play with, and he will love me above all!"

Marina's voice rose in a shout as she raised her arms to the sky, her hands clenched into fists and her eyes burning as she gazed up into the twilight... and then she smiled coldly and lowered her arms, saying softly: "You live on because Daddy loves you, Cindy. And if Daddy loves you, I love you. But don't forget that he loves you the least..." Marina's smile bridged into a cruel grin at the pain in Cindy's eyes. "You're just some smart bitch who doesn't even get to suck his cock unless it's a special occasion... even Mahihko gets more than you..."

"Sex isn't love..." Cindy whispered, and she forced herself to her feet as Marina snorted and looked away, before the female grasped her side and grunted, then said quietly: "The world is cruel, and God is cruel, and Hell is cruel... but Marina, the world isn't Narrius... it was Narrius who hurt you, who-"

"No one ever helped me other than Daddy... you and Cherry failed to help me, despite all your promises. I'll only put my faith in Daddy..." Marina said angrily, turning away and walking quickly up the hill, before she halted and looked over her shoulder, saying coldly: "But I think I'll make you my toy for the next while, Cindy. I'll show you what ‘love' and ‘hate' really are. I'll make you act out all your fantasies... but it will be for my amusement. Get your ugly ass up, it's almost time for the meeting, you stupid wannabe whore."

Marina turned away and walked into the camp, scowling and looking back and forth, before she spotted Mahihko and immediately walked over to him. Mahihko shrank back with a whimper at the darkness in Marina's eyes, before she paused and stroked his face gently. "Aren't you a cute little boy?"

With that, she turned and made her way down towards her tent, leaving Mahihko staring after her in puzzlement. She paused as she halted at the entrance, then opened it and stared at two minotaurs, both of them grinning and naked as one of them said: "Hey, we've still got some spare time before the meeting, so we thought we'd surprise you, since last time you enjoyed us... bitch."

Marina smiled as her eyes narrowed coldly... and a moment later both minotaurs staggered outside, still naked, before one of them fell over and vomited blood and the other bowled over several tents and fell in an unconscious heap, causing a minor uproar in the encampment. Meanwhile, Marina was busily packing up her things to load into the transport and sorting out the other gear she wanted to wear and carry on her person.

She gripped her head for a moment with a grunt as her powers flickered over her body, and something inside her tormented soul seemed to recede, allowing her to take a slow breath. The female shook her head quietly and murmured: "Gods, I'm so out of it lately... what was I just doing..."

She shook her head again, then made a face and carefully began to sort through things. She attributed it to stress, and the nightmares she'd been having... nightmares she wouldn't tell anyone about, mostly because they scared her... and because she honestly hoped it wasn't yet another manifestation of her psychic abilities. Despite everything she'd shown in battle over the last few months, she could feel new things unlocking and awakening in her all the time, and it terrified even her.

Marina had never told anyone but her father about everything that Narrius had put her through, about the training, the servitude, the humiliations, and the experimentations. And after being bathed in the dark energy so long ago now in the Northlands, she knew that something strange had begun to happen, but had never spoken of it; she'd thought all of them were experiencing it, after all.

But now look where they were: Zerrex had died, Cherry had become a demon while still mortal, Mahihko sometimes became bloodthirsty and Cindy seemed barely affected at all... while she knew what she was becoming: a monster. She shivered a bit at the thought of what she had just done, thought about apologizing, but then only hung her head in shame. No... no, they all hate me enough as it is... and they should, I hurt them all, I'm useless, I'm weak, I'm nothing like my Daddy... I need Daddy to punish me, hurt me, beat me, kill me... but none of them ever could, because only Daddy can overpower me... the darkness in me only listens to Zerrex...

Marina shook her head slowly, and then she shook her head again, breathing softly and murmuring: "Those with great power are destined to a terrible fate... those who abuse great power are destined to a torment far worse." She paused, then closed her eyes, looking into a mental mirror at herself, and hating what she saw... both inside and out. "I'm ugly... I don't have the muscular power of Cherry or the slim physique of Cindy... look at me..."

She rubbed her hands slowly over her taunt abdominals, then slowly over her fair-sized breasts and finally down her smooth, toned arms... and then she made a face of disgust and trembled a bit, slamming her hands down into the small wooden table she'd dragged into here from one of the huts, cracking it apart and sending up a puff of dust over the duffel bag she was packing with her clothes and gear. She cursed under her breath, then turned away and hugged herself tightly, murmuring softly: "I am incomplete..."

She moved on autopilot as she thought of all the times she had been looked at with disgust, with fear, with hatred... for her lusts, her power, and the body she had which she found hideous. The only good thing about it was the long scar that her father had inflicted on her during training, because she'd leaned into his blade... nothing was ever her father's fault, in her opinion, but she had been reckless and careless. She was as foolish as she was ugly... and the female closed her eyes as she clenched her hands into fists, before they opened slowly and slid towards Cherry's tent, licking her muzzle slowly. "I wonder if I could become like her as a demon... and hide my real body with a much more beautiful one... damn Cherry, she has everything and I'm only an unchained monster..."

The female shook her head after a moment, before she could wander into that dark fog inside her soul, and she checked over her body: a gun holstered just above her tail, a pair of straight katanas like her father had used to use on her hips, and a pack on one leg with various tools for tasks she couldn't perform with her psychic abilities alone.

Most of her stuff had been packed up, and she quickly cleared the rest away and stuffed it wherever it would fit, muttering under her breath to herself without even realizing it before tossing the bags outside of the tent, where they would later be picked up by a squad of soldiers that was already going around. Marina was on watch duty, meaning she at least didn't have to fold up her own tent... but it also meant a long, boring job sitting beside a gunner inside an enlarged turret in the ‘Ogre,' the war vehicle that headed the pack.

Marina walked down the path towards a square that had already been cleared out, most of the troops lined up: just under three hundred troops had never looked so small with those cities in the distance, but they had done well so far. As long as they stayed at range, they could blow away most of the soldier demons that were used to close combat... and even the mages fell quickly to only a few bullets. Cherry was surprised by how fast the demons fell, but she had never realized one important difference between most demons and herself: she was a mortal who'd become a demon without going through the nasty path of dying, and that had made an enormous difference in her strength and abilities. This had been explained to her by one of the Sisters before they'd left Hez'Ranna... and they had continued to call her their "Eldest Sister" for some reason.

Marina hated it. She hated that she was just a tool to the army, put in the front lines to keep everyone safe, while Cindy worked on planning and organization with the other Commanders, and Cherry had an entire demonic family that she was just beginning to find out about. Even Mahihko was adored by Cindy and grudgingly-loved by Cherry... and all she had, on the other hand, was her father, who was currently down in Hell, alone for... too many years now, but she was terrified to do the math. And he's probably forgotten about me... he doesn't need me... I need my Daddy... I need to be loved...

She shook her head violently, trying to clear those thoughts away, and instead tried to focus on the present, walking towards the back of the open square as Cyllos nodded to Meyer, who tapped a button on the visor he wore and then spoke in an amplified voice through the speakers on the Lunis light battle tank behind him: "Soldiers, gather up and fall in... don't be formal, but listen close!"

Cherry, standing off to the side with the demons, immediately translated, and Marina envied how she had been put in charge of the demons... and even little Mahihko had a place of importance and belonging, sitting over there with the special sniper unit and outfitted with the best gear available. Meanwhile, here she was... floating around at the back of the group, because she was ‘too dangerous,' and ‘too unpredictable,' and ‘too cruel...' What do they know... I'll show them cruel...

She grinned to herself, and a soldier glanced over his shoulder before moving away, unsettled, and Marina's eyes flashed. Before she could do anything, however, her attention was drawn back to the gazelle's voice, and she bitterly decided to just listen for now as she crossed her arms and wished for her father. All the things I have to tell him... goddamn you, Cherry, learn that fucking dimensional portal... how hard can it be... "I only want to say a few words to you all. Good luck, godspeed, and let's kick some demon ass, people. You all know what to do, and now's the time to do it."

Cyllos muttered something to the gazelle as soldiers saluted and let out various sounds of approval and worry, and then the Dragokkaren sighed as Meyer merely shrugged and smiled slightly, climbing up into his tank and slipping into the hatch, followed by several members of the crew who had been sitting on top of it. The tank's hatch slid smoothly closed as it began to gear up, and the Dragokkaren rolled his eyes and shouted something in Hez'Rannan, motioning for the soldiers to get moving in his usual fastidious manner.

Marina sighed, then sulkily moved along with them towards the Ogre, her arms crossed as most of the soldiers gave her a wide berth, and she glared angrily at the ground as she murmured to herself: "Give me a reason. Give me one fucking reason, and I'll do it... I'll kill them all and dive into the bowels of Hell myself for you, Zerrex..."

She glanced over the massive vehicle as she approached it, but it never impressed her despite being a fusion of demonic and mortal technologies: not exactly a tank but instead what they called a ‘Heavy Forwards Assault Vehicle,' it was composed of a front section on two massive tracks, and then a wider rear section with a total of eight spiked steel wheels on each side. It gave it a very-distinct T-shape, the front of which was protected by massive, bladed plows that could churn up cement as easily as they could shove cars or any other debris out of the way, and the machine was so heavy and thickly-armored that most mines wouldn't cause more than a dull thud on the bottom of the vehicle. Furthermore, the tracks could be replaced at any time or pulled off and the vehicle moved on just wheels, and the forwards section could be pulled back under the massive rear section if necessary for added protection. Because of this, Marina had suggested calling it the turtle, but everyone had just looked at her like she was stupid, and she gave a sulky look at the top of the machine. This is dumb.

She walked around the back of the vehicle, then pulled herself quickly up the ladder and stepped out onto the flat top of the huge war machine, walking over to one of the five heavy-machinegun-armed turrets and sitting down in it, looking morbidly back and forth as she rested her butt on the small seat in the side of the turret. Now some bulky soldier would be placed here with her, and if a fight started up, her job was to protect the black-and-silver armored machine from taking too many hits by creating a one-way psychic shield around the vehicle. As if that was an easy task to do for a war machine that was over seventy feet long and probably thirty-five feet high at the tallest section in the back.

The rest of the cordon was already falling into line behind them as soldiers rushed back and forth through the camp, tearing down tents and either rolling them up or discarding them: either way, this would be their last major effort in this area, and if they failed, they would be forced to retreat more than a hundred miles to the east, across the border and into Palan. But not us... we break up with the pack after we reach State Highway 73, and then we'll take our own transport to Faith River. And if the soldiers fail before we can reach the Black Hole, then we have no exit strategy... this idea is stupid... we shouldn't close the rift, we should go through it and rip out the insides of Az'Iriel's troops...

She dropped her head on one hand, then glanced to the side irritably as the soldier manning the turrent stepped down into the shallow well in the top of the vehicle... and she blinked after a moment in surprise. "Cindy? I thought..." She paused, glancing through the female's mind with her powers, and she sensed defiance and concern before she looked moodily over the female. "I'm not a moron. You don't have to keep me on such a tight leash."

"There's lots of things you don't have to do, either, that you end up doing anyway." Cindy replied calmly, as she flicked on the manual control systems for the gun and steered it carefully back and forth. The aiming system just above the gun's twin handles spat static at her, and Cindy hammered it with the side of her hand; it sparked, then turned green and began to spit out all sorts of information while displaying the area in front of her and a simple aiming cursor. "I thought you'd still prefer me over a grunt, either way."

Marina didn't answer, looking down sulkily instead, and after a moment Cindy looked over to her and sighed, sitting down on the other small side-seat quietly and gazing at her softly as she adjusted the massive blade on her back. "Marina, don't be like this. We need to work together to properly pull off the fight ahead... so let's strive forwards and fight together, not with each other, huh? I hate it when we argue, I do... and I know you're just trying to help, much as you say and act otherwise sometimes. But we have to do this... Zerrex has his own battles wherever he is, just as we have our own here."

Marina only looked at the floor quietly, and Cindy sighed after a few moments, realizing it was useless for now and instead deciding to let her words sink in over just reiterating herself uselessly until Marina snapped at her. She brought up the technical data for the aiming system, then gave it a glance over to check the weapon's accuracy, absently adjusting the screen at the same time so she could better see it â€" she had learned the hard way not to try peering over the metal half-dome surrounding the machinegun â€" then blinked and looked up when Marina hugged her quietly from the back.

She touched her hand gently, closing her eyes as Marina clung on to her for a few moments before stepping silently back and sitting back down, and Cindy sat down herself after a moment as other soldiers began to climb up to their own turrets on the top of the enormous war machine. The two looked at each other quietly as soldiers took their places and a cordon of transports lined up behind the gargantuan war machine, and eventually Marina looked down, but despite the rumble of the machines and vehicles, everything was silent.

Their journey was uneventful, but they were put slightly-behind schedule by a wide, deep trench the demons had torn through the highway, and they'd wasted half an hour trying to guide the Ogre safely around this, but it had meant going down a steep embankment impossible for any of the other vehicles. With the Ogre's weight, spiked wheels, and tow system, however, they'd managed to do it without crashing the gigantic supertank.

The others had been able to cross the gap using extending bridges set up by the engineering crews, but the Ogre was simply too heavy and bulky for the few narrow bridges they had. Afterwards, these had been refolded, and the Ogre had taken the first ramp it could back up to rejoin their highway and retake its position as the forwards guard, allowing their two Lunis tanks to withdraw back to the rear of the pack.

The highway was mostly empty: there were no car pileups and only a few wrecks on the sides of the road, but this was because the demons had either dragged the vehicles off to put them to other uses, or the people in the cluster of cities ahead simply hadn't had enough time to evacuate. Either way, it didn't really matter: it meant there were more wrecks in the cities, which often made for all sorts of traps and barricades built up by the demons in preparation of their arrival. They weren't exactly moving inconspicuously, after all... and even with Cherry doing routine flying patrols every hour, she couldn't take down every aerial spy that Az'Iriel sent in to see what they were doing.

Marina glanced up as they halted at a large intersection, looking back and forth before pausing as she noted the bridge to their side: just a small, one-way thing leading to another highway overtop a narrower road and a burbling river... but it was their staging point. Someone â€" likely Cyllos â€" called for a full halt, and the Ogre's rear cargo door opened up, the Dragokkaren and several of his war-painted Enforcers walking out as he looked back and forth, saying briskly into his headset: "Everyone, take five. Soldiers, exchange your positions with the combat-trained drivers and wake up everyone who's taking a last nap. Finish your meals and shake off your dicks, we're two hours away from the strike point. Cindy, I need to see you and your attack team immediately."

Cindy motioned for Marina to follow, and the two quickly made their way down the ladder to the Dragokkaren as Cherry and Mahihko approached from one of the medium-armored transports near the front. The four clustered around Cyllos as he waved away the Enforcers, and he held a small, cloth-wrapped plastic tube up, saying mildly: "These are the latest satellite images of Faith River, composed onto a digital map readout. Everything neatly sectored and sectioned for you, in other words, with areas of active interest marked on the map. Since most of the demons have a ten-degree higher body temperature than mortals, we've also been able to mark out which are which camps, although your information on where the survivors were likely entrenched was surprisingly-accurate, Lieutenant-Commander."

"Call it a lucky guess." Cindy smiled faintly as Cyllos tucked this into a black backpack he held in his other hand, and she handed this over to Marina, who looked sour at being used as the team mule before Cindy asked quietly: "Can you spare me a DE450?"

"Nope." A slight smile twitched at Cyllos muzzle before he half bowed and motioned to the right as a heavily-armored transport with spiked wheels and a large plow-blade-slash-protective-shield of clear metal pulled up, all the windows of the monstrous-looking machine looking much the same. "You'll have to make due with the equipment I've provided for you on this remnant of the old war."

"Cyllos, that's a Grim Hearse!" Cindy argued with a wince, although Cherry was grinning stupidly at the prospect of driving this as a Dragokkaren Enforcer jumped down from the terrible machine and saluted to them before running off. "It's your strongest transport, I can't-"

"It's powered by the Stage II Energy Cells with a reserve of chemical fuel, and the armor's been specially-reinforced so that it'll resist anything but a five-one rail." Cyllos said mildly, ignoring her completely as Cherry whistled loudly at this. Anything but a rail travelling at a velocity of five hundred kilometers over a single second. Yeah, I'm keeping this. "The armament's not as good as it could have been, but it should prove serviceable nonetheless... you've got a gatling gun on either side with five thousand rounds each and a grenade launcher on the right with twenty rounds, but we replaced the other one with a flamethrower. You might want to think twice about using it, though, since it runs off the same chemical fuel as the Hearse... so you could just as easily pull off the fuel tank and pour it into your reserve. And there's a few surprises for you in the back. Just remember the damn thing is heavy."

Cherry snorted at this, grinning slightly and patting Cyllos firmly on the bicep. "You rock. Remind me to thank you personally when we get back." She leered at him, then waltzed over to the cabin, pulling Mahihko behind her and giving the little wolf a boost up through the open driver's door so he could scramble over to the passenger's seat. "Dude, it's got a radio! Finally I can listen to some fuckin' tunes!"

Cindy sighed and slumped as Marina walked quickly around to the back of the transport, and she finally gave a faint smile up to Cyllos and exchanged a quick hug with him, muttering: "You're a good friend. Take care of yourself and watch your back out there, I don't want to see you dying on me."

"Wimps like me end up staying at the back of the lines. Just take care of yourself." Cyllos replied gently, patting her cheek lightly, before he added quietly: "Thank you for everything, Miss Cindy. I realize this couldn't have been hard for you, walking around constantly reminded of your uncle by the Dragokkaren clones still in service, me included... and with your father..."

He broke off, and she only nodded a bit before stepping back, and the two half-bowed before she made her way around the back of the transport, where Marina was sorting through the gear Cyllos had left for them. Guns, grenades, other explosives both inert and unstable... it was a war chest designed to work in every possible situation. Cindy shook her head with a faint smile as she hopped up into the open back of the vehicle, before pulling up the gate and locking it in place, then jerking down the security shutter behind this to snap it down and lock it into the floor. And enough armor to withstand anything the demons can throw at us... it's terrifying...

She shook her head slowly as she sat down on one of the metal benches: it was comfortably-large enough to seat at least sixteen people on top of everything else, even with a lot of space taken up by the gear they'd been supplied with as Cherry twisted away and roared along the bridge... and she glanced back through the small window in the wall between compartments, asking in a much-more serious voice: "Hey, Cindy, we good to go? I mean, it looks like we have enough shit there to fight a war... but on the other hand, we actually are fighting a war, and although we can like, just plow through the demons... eventually they'll drown us in numbers, even in this baby. Plus, you know, if we run into a Gigataur..."

Cindy nodded, then she glanced over to the rocket launcher strapped into a weapons rack. "I think we'll be able to take it down, for some reason... but what about up there? Is there a GPS or do you need me to pass up the digital map?"

"Nah, it looks like the same damn thing is built into here, although I'm seeing what look like demon tollbooths stationed just outside the city." Cherry replied, frowning a bit and pressing a button under the small monitor built into the center console, only taking the occasional glance at the empty road ahead of them. "Yeah. I don't like it, in any case. It looks like bad news... although this safehouse place ain't too far into the city, either, so maybe mortals took it over..."

The demoness made a face before shaking her head slowly. "You know, to be honest, all these demonic warfare shit is getting retarded. I dunno who's on what side anymore, I don't even know if we're really fighting the good fight, I just know that like... the Boss is downstairs and we're in the middle floor apartment in a fight with our neighbors. This shit is just... ridiculous." She looked lame for a moment, then mumbled and lowered her head a bit as she looked out the front window. "I can't believe I'm the one saying this, but maybe we should pull out of this war... I mean, complete this mission, stop Az'Iriel from invading Lailland... then put all our efforts into opening a portal to Hell. For some reason, I'm real worried about Zerrex... I just... I just got this bad feeling, you get it?"

"Yeah..." Cindy murmured quietly, shaking her head slowly and glancing over to Marina, who was silently staring at the floor. "Either way we have to go back to Ire after this... the entire place is in turmoil, and if Az'Iriel isn't here, he's there."

"Yeah..." Cherry looked down a bit, then glanced back up with a sigh, frowning a bit. But... I don't know. You didn't see that son of a bitch, or the way Zerrex fought him... they were evenly-matched, but only because the Warlord was leading him into a trap. And what if that crazy Se- Cleo bitch is working for him? Goddammit, there it goes again. "Alright, well... we'll have the boat ride home to figure things out, either way."

She shook her head slowly as they drove onwards in silence for almost an hour, Mahihko staring out the side window and looking dejected, Cindy forcing herself to try and think on what would be best for her father and the group, not just her own desires, and Marina silent and unknowable. It wouldn't be a surprise to the others to know she was thinking about her father... but it might have disturbed them if they had known what she was thinking of.

Not sex, not memories, not even bringing him out of Hell... but what if she went down to Hell to join him? They would be together, and she would show her total devotion by dying for him... and by taking down as many others to Hell as possible, of course. If Cherry had survived and changed, if Zerrex was actually growing stronger and prospering... what was to stop the same from happening with her? I am my father's daughter too... I am strong, and I am tough, and I am just as cruel when I want to be...

Before she could get too deep into these thoughts, however, Cherry was slowing the Grim Hearse and pulling to the side of the road, before she leaned back through the window and asked her youngest sister: "Hey, Marina, you got a pair of binoculars or whatever back there? Even one of those visor thingies would do, I guess."

Marina glanced back and forth, then rose her hand as she spotted a rucksack marked simply ‘Miscellanious' in the far corner, and it floated over to her hand. She dug in this, and was rewarded with an old-fashioned pair of black binoculars, and Cherry gave a sigh of relief. "Awesome, cause technology tends to fart around me a lot now. Thanks. And wake Cindy up, will you? I might need her to get ready to do the grenade thing in a moment."

Cindy touched the battle-worn grenade-shotgun on her hip, making a face as she looked up at Cherry and began: "I'm awake..." A pause as she stood up and walked over to the window, but the demoness had already slipped out the passenger door, and she sighed before rubbing at her forehead slowly. "She never changes..."

Cherry, meanwhile, was shifting the colors of her body as she ran in a low crouch, compressing her form down as small as she could at the same time to leave her looking like some weird, gangly, androgynous chameleon. She was almost invisible on the side of the road as she charged forwards, holding the binoculars against her stomach before checking the angle of the sun to do her best to avoid a flash off the binoculars, and she rose these a moment later to check what was ahead.

Metal golems rustily patrolled back and forth, their bodies made from car parts and everything else the demons could get their hands on, and both of them had long, deadly blades in the place of their hands and brightly-glowing demonic crystals on their chests â€" their power source and their only vulnerability. The demons had also set up a gate made out of bones, and likely covered in fortification runes... and Cherry grinned mischeviously, wondering if it would stand up to the Grim Hearse.

She couldn't see too many actual demons, however: there was some sort of ugly-looking, quickly-set up guard hut, but it was windowless and didn't look like it could hold a lot, even if magically-enlarged... and on the other side, the draconic demon standing guard looked utterly miserable. He had a rifle on his shoulder, but he was holding it by the barrel... and otherwise he had on some rusty armor where only Az'Iriel's coat of arms was left clearly visible. Nothing like the other cities... Az'Iriel must be concentrating his troops around the Black Hole here instead of trying to spread them out to bar off the city. I guess he must have finally realized after we ripped through so many that mortal cities aren't as well-structured as the metropolises in Hell... which makes ‘em real big vulnerabilities when you got a bird's eye view.

Cherry tossed the binoculars aside, then turned and headed quickly back for the Grim Hearse, her body returning to its normal demonic form before she leapt back into the driver's seat and slammed the door, grinning over her shoulder to Cindy and Marina, who both paled at that homicidal look. "Buckle up, kids!"

"Cherry, wait, what are you doing?" Cindy asked sharply, but Cherry only cackled and gunned the engine, making it roar before she shot out onto the road, and Cindy and Marina both fell backwards as weapons skidded around them, Cindy shouting miserably: "Cherry, there's cases of Blue-5 back here, if one of those glass balls crack-"

"Just don't open the metal cases they're in, you'll be fine!" Cherry replied gleefully, for a moment back to her old self as the golems both stalked out into the road, and the draconic guard ducked behind his metal booth, covering his head as the bone gate began to glow white... and then she crashed through both of the golems, one of them flying off to the side to smash into the hut in chunks of steel, and the other rolling over the metal plow to hurl up straight above them. A moment later, they rammed into the gate, and there was a grinding screech before white lighting shot around the Hearse as bones turned to dust at the power of their impact, and the Grim Hearse slowed but continued to roll forwards as the rear of the heavy vehicle skidded back and forth, knocking broken down cars and the few curious demons that had wandered out of their patrols to see what was approaching aside like dominoes.

"Yeehaw, motherfuckers!" Cherry shouted, pumping a fist in the air as they twisted around a bend and proceeded to ram through a crowd of zombies, dead bodies hammering against the plow blade and body parts flying in all directions like a rotten hail as Cherry cackled and the other members of the family hid, Cindy expecting to be blown to pieces at any moment. "Come and get some!"

She twisted around another corner, then her eyes bulged as she spun the wheel around and stared in horror at a dead end straight ahead of them as the Grim Hearse screeched to a halt a moment before ramming into the wall of cars, dead bodies, and fallen buildings, howling: "Cindy, rocket launcher! Now would be a great time for the fucking rocket launcher!"

Cindy looked up dazedly, then pushed up the shutter before staring in horror at the Gigataur storming towards them, surrounded by a herd of armored minotaurs. She cursed, attempting to wrestle the rocket launcher free of its locks as Marina jackknifed over the short gate to land on the cracked, narrow road of the city, walking forwards a few steps before taking a deep breath.

She leaned forwards and opened her maw, and intese cold hissed out in a white and blue smoke, freezing everying it touched as she strafed it back and forth, minotaurs screaming and howling as the Gigataur stomped heedlessly forwards into the mist before Marina coughed and fell forwards, her muzzle covered in flakes of snow, grasping at her throat with a hiss of pain.

The Gigataur, however, was halted as one of its legs froze in the fog, wrestling at it before stepping forwards... and its frozen leg simply tore off, the huge creature howling in agony and dropping the hammer it was carrying, crushing countless frozen minotaurs beneath it before it fell heavily into the vanishing mist and screamed as its other leg was now ripped off, leaving only two bare stumps. It stared in horror at Marina as she looked back into its eyes, and then she rasped in demonic: "Where is Az'Iriel?"

Mental hooks tore into the Gigataur's mind, and it screamed again in agony, hands hammering into the cement as tears of blood leaked down its face, Cindy slowly walking to the edge of the transport to stare in horrified amazement as Cherry and Mahihko leaned out their doors, also staring in shock as the Gigataur slowly slumped and whispered: "The Warlord isn't here... he's... he's somewhere in Ire... I... I don't know where, please don't hurt me anymore..."

Marina snarled, and then she asked roughly: "Then tell me who heads this city and the troop count, and the defenses around the Black Hole!"

"I don't know!" the Gigataur said miserably, and then it shrieked in pain and grasped its head, jittering violently as several of the minotaurs who had only been partially-frozen stared in terror. "Please, no, no! It hurts, it hurts! Ezekiel, Lieutenant Ezekiel, he's in charge of the city, I don't know anything else, I was just stationed here to provde support for the main gates, I... please stop, stop!"

It screamed a final time, and then it spasmed once before crashing silently to the ground as its eyes rolled slowly up in its head, and Marina grinned callously, whispering: "Sleep for now. When you awaken, I promise everything will be worse..." She paused, looking back at Cindy and adding coldly: "Let's move out of here."

"Mahihko, kill it." Cherry said quietly, and Marina snarled a bit as she heard these words before holding her hand out as she heard Mahihko cock his gun, and a moment the wolf's bullet halted in midair, Marina reaching up and catching it before it fell even as the bang of the weapon filled the air. She tossed it to the ground, and Cherry said loudly around the transport: "Marina, he'll compromise us. And he deserves to be put out of his misery."

"He deserves nothing." Marina said hatefully, and she leapt quickly up into the transport, almost knocking Cindy over as Mahihko and Cherry exchanged a look in the front compartment, and Cherry sighed softly and shook her head slowly, sliding back into the driver's seat and slamming her door. Mahihko quietly climbed back inside himself, slipping his rifle back into place on his back before he closed his door tight as well. We're screwed either way... Marina always gets what she wants, no matter what it takes...

They carefully backed up, then Cherry drove in a careful U-turn in the cramped road and she headed past the Gigataur, giving it a sorrowful look as they passed and heading quickly along the street, swaying back and forth around the debris and mostly-ignoring the demons they passed. The demons didn't know what to do about the massive vehicle that passed them, only a few trying to attack but letting up after only one or two useless strikes against the machine.

As Cherry looked back and forth, she realized what was confusing them: both her own appearance and the fact there were so few of them and not a standard military attack team. They had been prepped on what to do if they saw a military unit... but these demons, these outlayers in their miserable gear, apparently provided with little information, had no desire to fight and kill what they probably thought was just a band of survivors attempting to wend their way towards a rumored shelter in the city. They must be conscripts or drafted soldiers... given no choice but to serve Az'Iriel, or perhaps ‘won over' in that sick game of ‘war' they play in Hell...

She shook her head slowly as they rolled onwards, driving a bit more carefully now and turning down a side street as she followed the map a bit more closely... and the only incident occurred a street away from the shelter. She frowned as they came to a line of metal golems in the street, with a gnarled, ancient-looking demon standing in front of the lineup in a long green robe, one hand behind his back as he rose the other. He had round black eyes, but no mouth and an otherwise featureless face... but Cherry and the others heard his voice clearly in their heads, Marina's expression darkening at the feeling of another psychic as he asked quietly: State your name and intent. And you there, Dius, what are you doing, travelling with mortals? This goes strictly against the orders of Prince Az'Iriel.

"I'm just helping out... call me Satan's Little Helper." Cherry smiled slightly, tilting her head as she shrugged a bit and noted the demons standing with bows on the rooftops. Wonderful. "I'm an escapee from Hell. Not sure I should be saying that, but hey, what are you gonna do, right? I mean, shit, I was sick of all this nonsense... so I just wanna bring these poor chumps to that rumored refuge."

The demon looked over them slowly, then snapped his fingers, and eight portals appeared, a golem stepping through each of these to completely surround their vehicle as he said softly: I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that, Dius. I need to bring you before Lord Ezekiel so you can pledge fealty to Az'Iriel or be slain... and I'm confiscating this vehicle and taking these mortals prisoner. I recommend you comply.

Marina smiled slowly, and then she murmured softly: "Only a fool takes his enemy at face value; the wise warrior will look beneath his enemy's mask."

The demon tilted his head, his black eyes narrowing a bit... and then he grasped his head as Cherry winced and cursed under her breath at the psychic static that filled the air. The golems all stuttered at the same time as their master fell to his knees in agony, and Cherry took the moment to kick the door open and leap out as she snapped her chain whip off her waist, immediately lashing it into the glowing gemstone on the chest of the nearest.

It shattered, and the golem crumbled away into chunks of worthless steel as she snapped a .52 handgun free from a holster to blast apart two more crystals, sending golems crashing down into worthless piles of scrap before they charged towards her. She cackled and led them away from the heavy transport as the rear door opened, and Cindy pulled her enormous sword off her back before she simply chopped one of the golems in half with a single slice, cutting through steel as easy as she would butter.

Cherry paused for a moment to admire her prodigious strength, and then an arrow shot into her arm and she let out a shout of frustration and embarrassment more than anything else. With Marina's psychic interference running, her precognition was jammed, making her feel horribly vulnerable... and she cursed as soldiers began to storm down the street towards her, including another pair of golems. "Marina, hurry the hell up!"

Marina strode almost idly around the Death Hearse, glancing at a golem that was pounding on Mahihko's door and causing its power crystal to simply fall off its chest, and the beast crumbled away to broken chunks of metal. As she passed, she picked up the metal blade it had possessed for one arm, looking up as another golem clanked towards her, and she stabbed it into the power crystal as it rose an arm before her eyes flicked to the side, using her mind to brush the creature aside in pieces as easily as she would rake aside a pile of leaves.

The psychic demon was attempting to drag himself away, his powers no match for Marina's abilities, and Marina kicked him in the side, her eyes glinting cruelly before she knelt down beside him, ignoring the archers training their arrows on her: she knew they wouldn't fire. With a single look, she had noted they were conscripts as well... and self-preservation ranked high above saving their boss and master. "Turn off the golems."

The demon tried to say something mentally, and Marina punched him hard across the face, knocking him flat with a look of disgust as she let the psychic static lift. Immediately, the creature glared at her and sent her sliding backwards with a telekinetic blast, but Marina threw her head back and laughed, her back arched and her hands hanging loose before she slowly straightened and grinned coldly at the psychic, asking teasingly: "Did you mean to do this?"

Her eyes glowed purple, and the demon shot backwards and crashed into a wall, the archers fleeing with screams of terror before Marina glanced over her shoulder with irritation at the yells and roars of other demons, many of them holding long leashes with red and black Plasmids on the ends. Those are either the exploding ones or the magic-repressing ones, unless they've been crossbred together...

She paused, then frowned at the sight of Mahihko peeking out the window of the Grim Hearse and said directly into his mind. Get out. Deal with the Plasmids. Or I'll rip out every one of your piercings.

Mahihko jumped, then flushed deeply and nodded rapidly as he kicked open the door of the vehicle and pulled out his rifle, dropping to a kneel as his body flexed and bulged, increasing in size and muscle so he could better handle the recoil of the gun. Then Marina turned her attention back to the demon crawling out of the wreckage, and she said coldly: "Turn off the golems and order the troops to halt."

I can't... his voice whispered raggedly in her mind, and Marina smiled darkly at this, narrowing her eyes as they glowed with her power. "Then I have no use for you."

She glanced up at a metal post hanging off the building, and it jerked out of place before stabbing viciously downwards and through the chest of the demon just as he began to turn, and his entire body spasmed as his mental agony tore through the air, and Marina grinned even as she winced in pain before he fell and died. Ahead, Cherry winced, and the fight halted as several of the golems collapsed on their faces and the conscripts stared, before they turned and fled with howls of terror.

The other line of demons also turned, releasing their Plasmids... but most of these had already been killed off by Mahihko. The wolf shot another piercing round into a strangely-bulging, glowing-orange Plasmid, and it exploded, killing off several of the remaining bug-demons and a few of the soldiers who had been too long in fleeing, and the rest of the bugs fled with squeals and clicks into nearby buildings as Mahihko sighed and lowered his rifle, rubbing slowly at his sore shoulder.

Cherry and Cindy walked back towards the Grim Hearse as Marina closed her eyes and lowered her head, concentrating... and a moment later her eyes flicked open as she said softly: "An actual combat unit has been alerted, and they're travelling here now, by the feel of it. We need to get to the refuge up ahead."

The demoness nodded, not bothering to argue or question: Cindy could do that while they moved. She climbed back into the front as Mahihko joined the other two girls in the back, rubbing at his now-masculine body as he looked back and forth with a wince, murmuring: "I have a really bad feeling about this whole thing..."

"Me too." Cindy said quietly, and the two quietly rested together, the wolf exchanging his heavy rifle for one of the assault rifles, keeping careful aim out the back of the transport. With the way the demons were behaving, it was making everything far more complicated... these short melees would drain their energy far faster than a single long fight with Az'Iriel's troops, and nothing was more uncomfortable than travelling down a road filled with demons and not knowing which ones were really your enemies.

Worse, it actually made Cindy feel bad: half these demons weren't their real enemy... they were simply slaves of Az'Iriel, threatened with death or worse if they refused to aid in the invasion on the planet. Even while she'd been fighting, she'd seen how badly-trained and equipped they were, how they had been so hesitant to fight... and she guessed that was the real reason for all the golems they had been coming across... except the disadvantage to them is that they require a Controller demon to give them constant instructions only a short distance away... and when he falls, so do those toys...