Dimensional Descent

Mordred hesitated, a slight air of guilt hanging around her. 

She knew, almost better than the man himself, how much Leonel cared about Aina. She felt like she should tell Leonel about Aina's current condition. But, at the same time, she knew that Leonel was about to do something foolish again. If he was distracted by other thoughts, his life would definitely be in more danger. 

Unfortunately, due to the fact Mordred hesitated, Leonel had already disconnected before she could make a final decision, leaving her at a loss. 

"Empress!"

Meralda's call woke Mordred from her stupor. 

At that moment, Noah and Arthur were already about to clash with the frontline of White City's army. 

Mordred's lost expression became steely, a baleful aura swirling around her. Vast amounts of Dark Elemental Force surged, her black dress fluttering in the wind. 

Her slender fingers wrapped around a wand as her figure rose into the air. 

She walked toward the clouds as though the shadows were her stairway to heaven. If Leonel had been here, he would have recognized this ability as being near identical to Little Blackstar's own! Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that the Demon Empress had become Shadow Sovereign… 

Whether or not she was a true Shadow Sovereign or not remained to be seen. But, what was most definitely true was that she had tapped into the same magic system as the little mink. 

Still, if the outside world knew that Earth had potentially produced two Shadow Sovereigns in the same generation… Who knew how they'd react?

"Those that can fly, with me." 

Mordred's voice wasn't as booming as her father's. In fact, it carried the delicate touch of a woman. Yet, it felt no less imposing and grand. It felt as though her commands were irrefutable. 

At that moment, several demons with bat-like wings shot into the skies under the behest of their queen, tearing a path toward White City's aerial units. 

Though fatigue was clear in their demeanors, the strength their Empress displayed gave them a second wind. They were prepared to follow her to the death. 

Meralda took several deep breaths on the ground, squeezing her long legs together tightly. Her expression seemed completely inappropriate for the occasion, but what else could you expect from a succubus. 

She licked her lips, watching Mordred's bottom sway as she stepped into the skies. 

'The Empress is truly too enticing. These damned White City warriors…'

Meralda felt frustrated. She wanted nothing more than to ravage the Empress right then and there. But, with this battle underway, she had no ability to do so. 

It seemed that her only choice would be to wipe this army and their City Lord out first. 

"Demonic Heralds of Darkness, charge!"

Meralda's half excited voice caused the blood of the male demons to surge, her hypnotic suggestion being several times more powerful now than they would be in any other situation. 

As though maddened beasts, the demons roared into the skies, their savage bearings clashing against White City's momentum. 

And then, the armies met. 

**

"… Are you sure that you can battle?" 

Crakos' deep and oddly intellectual voice drifted to Leonel's ears. 

"Huh?" Leonel's head snapped up as though he had just woken from a nap. But, his reaction only made the #1 Demon Lord even more anxious. 

Unlike what his confident voice had projected out before, the current Leonel was in a sorry state. 

He wasn't injured at all. In fact, his body didn't have a scratch on it. But, other than that… he looked terrible. 

Not only did he smell awful, something that was quite surprising to someone like Crakos who had grown up around demons all his life, the bags beneath his eyes were so heavy that they almost formed new layers of skin all to their own. 

Rivaling even the worse demons in poor hygiene was one matter, but the young man couldn't even keep his eyes open. How exactly was he going to battle?

It even seemed like he had sapped up all his remaining energy projecting that confident air to Mordred. After that, he had nothing left to give. 

"Oh, yes, yes." Leonel nodded almost too slowly. "Everything will be fine."

Crakos' brow furrowed. 

At the moment, the demons had only one advantage: the terrain. 

Whereas Camelot, The Empire and Mordred's troops were currently fighting on endless plains, Crakos had made the decision to retreat to the first line of mountains between no-man's land and the Demon Empire. 

But, even with this advantage, it might not be enough. According to the scouts, there were more aerial units coming. And, whereas the army led by City Lord White was only made of 500, this one numbered 2000. They simply weren't properly equipped to deal with such a thing. 

Leonel's head nodded and he almost fell over before he caught himself, shaking his head awake again. 

"Here." Leonel shoved a spatial ring at Crakos' chest. But, due to their difference in height, Leonel's hand landed on Crakos' abdomen instead. "Take these and distribute one of each to the army."

"This…?" Crakos' expression changed after his Internal Sight swept throughout the ring. 

He was initially going to say something, but he was once again distracted by the state of Leonel's hands. If it wasn't for the fact he was sure Leonel was human, he would have thought that he was actually a zombie demon. Were these really the hands a healthy teenage boy should have?

Crakos cleared his throat and peeled Leonel's hand off of his abdomen by pinching two of his fingers around Leonel's wrist. 

"… I know that you're a growing boy, but you should really take it easy on the … extra curricular activities. Her Majesty has plenty of willing demonesses you can choose from that have quite a favorable impression of you."

Leonel didn't even hear Crakos' words, his head nodding to sleep again before snapping awake. 

"Huh?... Yes, yes, you're right, whatever…" Leonel mumbled. 

Crakos sighed and walked away. 

"Youths these days…"