Moonlight Demon

Ash

Ash woke up the next morning with her arms wrapped around a certain blonde. She yawned, looking down and finding Kaori nestled into her embrace.  Right, she shook her head a little as she sat up. She came to bed later. Well, hope she had fun. 

Keiko was already awake, judging by the empty spot next to the half-demon. Ash stood up and walked out of the room, getting ready to start her day. After a quick bath, she walked downstairs and found her group having breakfast at a table close to the entrance of the inn. Metsumi was sitting next to Opah and Satsuhiro, while Keiko was silently enjoying some eggs opposite them. 

Ash sat down next to her and leaned back in her chair. 

"So, what are we doing today? Just training again?" 

"I'd recommend that," Satsuhiro nodded. "You need to work on those proficiencies after all. But, maybe after that, you could..." 

At that moment, someone opened the door to the inn wildly. Ash raised a brow and looked to her left. It was a man who worked here, judging by that strange revealing outfit, with a desperate look and a pair of frightened eyes. 

"What the...?" Ash muttered. 

"What's going on?" Caroline asked, quickly walking over to the guy. 

He gulped, looked over at Ash's table, looked back at Caroline, and said:

"A portal opened up outside the city!" 

As soon as Ash heard that, she sighed. 

Fuck. 

---

Later, at the Grey Chamber

"How long do we have?" Eliza asked. Satsuhiro, a tired-looking Kaori, a silent Keiko, and an annoyed Ash were sitting with her in a roundtable. A few military officers were standing by, keeping their ears perked up for what the Savior's had to say. 

"A week, a week and a half, maybe two weeks," Satsuhiro answered, "depends on the size of the portal." 

"Hm..." Eliza nodded. "Not much time, but it should be enough to come up with something suitable." 

"Should we evacuate the citizens, milady?" One of the knights asked. 

"No," Eliza quickly replied. 

"But, what if the city...?" 

"Sapphire held out against them," Eliza pointed out as the knight looked at her with apprehension. "Victory is possible against the demon army. We will not concede the city before the fighting even begins. Prepare an escape route, but make no mistake, we  will  fight them." 

"... I see. I will assemble a group to do so, at once," he replied, bowing. Then, he walked out of the room, his boots thudding against the ground. Eliza sighed and looked over at Ash's group. 

"What do you recommend we do, Saviors?" Eliza asked. "Preparations were being made for this since before even Sapphire's battle, and yet... I cannot help but feel as though they are not enough." 

"Nothing is," Ash quickly informed her.

"Is that so?" Eliza asked. 

Now, everyone in the room had their eyes set on the half-demon. Ash sighed and tapped a finger against the wooden table. She narrowed her eyes down at the map that laid at its center, depicting the city of Onyx in its entirety. 

"Listen," Ash started, "there are a few things you have to accept from the start. Or not, I don't really give a shit, but I'm just saying." 

"I'm listening," Eliza said and Ash nodded. 

"You're going to lose half of your soldiers," she nonchalantly said and a few of the knights gasped, paling with fear. "At the very least. Aside from that, a pretty big part of the city is going to be in pieces by the time those things are done with it. Basically, what I'm saying is there's no way you're getting through this without a lot of people dying." 

Ash stated and crossed her legs, putting her hands behind her head. 

"But, if you can come up with something, yeah, those things can be beaten because they aren't infinite or whatever. At some point, Niven will just decide to cut his losses and dip." 

"... You're speaking fairly casually about the deaths of thousands, Savior..." One knight said with some clear anger in his tone. Ash glared at him. 

"As far as I know, dumbass, my only job is to fight for you. Not to care  about you." 

"You vile piece of..." 

"Enough," Eliza stood up and half-yelled. Ash shrugged and the man turned away. "The Savior is right. All she can do is tell us what she knows and what she recommends. The rest is up to us. That said," she looked over at Ash, "I do hope your feelings towards others will not come to play when you fight for the city." 

"As long as the reward is nice enough,"  and doing this keeps Kaori, Keiko, and the others safe, she added in her mind, "I promise it won't." 

"Good," Eliza nodded. "Now, as far as what we can do to heighten our chances of success, there are a few different ways to approach this situation. For one," she told some officer, "we will need to distribute more in the form of ranged weaponry to our soldiers. These demons will be stronger than our forces, correct?" 

"Mhm," Ash replied. 

"Then, fighting up-close is the last thing we want. I want to see every soldier in the city with a silver crossbow on their backs, got it?" 

"Yes, milady." 

"You, uh," Kaori raised a hand, "you should probably make sure the civilians have a safe place to be in, while the fighting is happening. Just so no one gets hurt." 

"That will be taken care of as well, thank you," Eliza responded. 

"A week and a half being the most likely time for the fighting to start," Keiko added, "gives plenty of time for aid to come. You should send word to Jade, specifically to our clan as well," Keiko took a deep breath. "I'd like to think that at least a little bit of help would be sent for me." 

"Our clan?" Eliza asked with a raised brow. 

Ash's group was confused. 

"Uh, yes," Keiko replied. "The Zayamas." 

"... Dear," Eliza chuckled. "I'm not a Zayama."

What?  Ash narrowed her eyes. 

"But," Keiko started, "your eyes..." 

Eliza shook her head. 

"We need to focus. If you wish to discuss that, I will, after the planning is done, but no. I am not actually a Zayama." 

The rest of the meeting was fairly boring. Ash didn't have to speak again, which she was partly happy about. They discussed things like possible escape routes, the best areas in the city to fight in, and the kind of formations the soldiers would use. None of which Ash gave a crap about. 

All she knew was that her blades would need to stab as many demons as possible. That was the only "plan" she had and cared about. 

They walked out of that room and Eliza went up to Ash. 

"Savior," she started, "before you begin training, could you please come with me to see the demon? I would like to continue the tests." 

"How long are you gonna hold that thing for?" Ash asked. 

"It's not every day that a powerful demon is held captive like this, I would like to take advantage of the situation. Is that not understandable?" 

"I guess, but what are you even getting out of this at this point?" 

"Well," she smirked, "if what I'm thinking ends up being true, then you will see. For now, let's just go and give it a visit." 

The two of them walked through the halls to where the demon was being held. Ash walked into its room and she was surprised. There were no cups or plates nearby, so she assumed they hadn't been feeding this thing at all, but as Ash's eyes went up its feminine figure, she found that the demon's body had barely changed. 

The only noticeable difference was that it seemed calm. A calmness that continued when its eyes met Ash's, and a smile bloomed on its face. 

"What do you want me to do?" Ash asked. 

"... Interact with it?" Eliza replied. "It seems to be treating you differently. I would like to know why that is." 

Oh, I can tell you why,  Ash thought. That's definitely easy to answer. 

"How?" Ash asked. 

"For now, maybe... Release it from its restraints. See what it does. If it goes crazy then, well, you can fight it, right?" 

Ash sighed. 

"Sure." 

"I will be outside then, just in case it tries to attack me. Good luck," Eliza said and with that, she left the room, closing the door. Ash's violet eyes met with the demon's own again and the creature smirked. 

Ash took a deep breath, which was a mistake because another difference that Ash had only just now noticed was that the demon was emitting a strange, alluring scent. She could only compare it to the heavy perfume she'd sometimes pick up from traveling nobles as they walked in front of her. 

The demon casually spread its legs. 

"Really?" Ash asked lowly, walking up to it with her arms crossed. The demon, which had been sitting down, stood up. 

It laughed a little, licking its lips as Ash got closer. 

"Stop that," Ash told it. "What? You think I'm just gonna start fucking you here because you're hot and you smell nice? Is that it?" 

Wait... What the fuck did I just say? 

And, as Ash caught herself, and that scent intensified, she took a step back. 

Okay, getting closer was a bad idea. Actually, being in this fucking room to begin with was a bad idea. 

She almost ran out. 

Eliza was standing there, waiting. She was surprised when she saw Ash emerge from the room so quickly. 

"Hm? How did it go?" Eliza asked. 

"Uh," Ash cleared her throat. "Yeah, it went well. Whatever. Listen, I need to get to work." And with that, Ash had been about to leave the area, but a knight ran up and stopped in front of her. 

"What is it?" Eliza asked, from behind Ash. 

"I... Milady, Savior," he said, "I think you need to see this." 

What? 

They were taken to a strange tower at the back of the Grey Chamber. There was a room behind an iron gate, about as small as a kitchen, and Eliza walked into it. 

"Come in," she told Ash and the half-demon walked in as well. 

"Kind of cramped, isn't it?" Ash asked. 

"It's an elevator, of course, it's cramped." 

"A wh-" Suddenly, the room they were in began to ascend. "WHAT!?" Ash pressed her back against a wall, trying to keep herself from falling. "What the fuck?" 

"Calm down," Eliza rolled her eyes, "now," she turned to the soldier who had interrupted them, "what was it?" 

The "elevator" stopped moving when they reached some sort of rooftop. But, as Ash took a step out, she gasped. 

She could see the entire city from here, and most of the land surrounding it. 

Holy shit.  Ash thought as Eliza walked towards the center. 

"Well?" 

"Uhm, those... Milady." 

"What do you-.... Oh. Crap," Eliza said and Ash followed her line of sight. 

And, upon doing so, saw that two other portals had opened up at the city's sides. 

"Is this normal?" Eliza asked Ash. 

Calming herself down, Ash shook her head. 

"Usually it's just one." 

Niven's changing his strategy.  Ash thought as she saw those violet diamond-like shapes crackling in the distance.