Moonlight Demon

Ash

With the fighting underway in the nearby streets, Ash and Kaori stopped in an alley to take stock of what they'd brought on what would hopefully be a short trip. Admittedly, Ash was nervous. Mostly because it felt like the demons were a little bit stronger this time around, but also because she wondered if Niven had any more enemies like that one level 80 creature around. Still, with Kaori next to her, who was enhanced dramatically at this point by her  Mark of Love ability, Ash felt like they were a force to be reckoned with themselves. 

Last time they fought, Ash leveled up 2 times, and put all 4 of her points into her Strength, which left her at this status:

Level 44

MP: 230/230

EXP: 30/440

---

STR: 35

DEX: 21

CON: 18

INT: 20

WIS: 23

L: 100

"Okay," Ash said. "We've got those Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution potions, the last Haste potion, and... a couple of healing potions. We can probably use those to save up a little on mana if we end up taking a lot of injuries or whatever. Besides that, we have..." Ash trailed off though when she saw that Kaori seemed spaced out. "Kaori?" 

"Hm?" She blinked. 

"Are you listening?" 

"Y-Yeah," Kaori nodded quickly. "You were talking about... the potions?" She basically asked. Ash raised a brow at that. 

She knew that Kaori likely had a lot on her mind, she'd picked up on that before after all, but now, Kaori looked like half the time she was in her own world. Ash hoped that wouldn't get in the way of this task of theirs. 

"Mhm," Ash replied. "I was saying we have some water too that we can drink if this takes too long. We don't have any food though, so, we definitely want to be at least a little bit fast."  I mean, I could always just eat the bodies of the demons we kill, thanks to my Iron Stomach trait, but Kaori can't do that. Also, the thought of eating those fucking things grosses me the hell out. So, I'd like to avoid having to do that if I can. 

"Okay," Kaori responded. "How much water?" 

"Six bottles. Three for me, three for you. I'll carry the potions, and you carry the water," Ash said, pulling some of those bottles out and handing them over. 

With that done, the two of them started to move down the city, striding through the now-empty streets as the sounds of battle raged in the distance. Their plan was simple, make their way through the fight as it happened, and force their way to the portal. The soldiers had all been told about what the two of them were going to do, and that they were to help protect them and create space throughout their efforts. The reason they were heading straight through the demons, as opposed to going around, was because there was no telling how quickly the demons would cease fighting. If all they wanted was to kill a couple hundred soldiers and leave, they could do so before the two of them arrived at the portal, and Ash and Kaori ran the risk of ending up charging straight into an army on the other side of it. Even now, that was a possibility, but less so, as hopefully, most of the demons would be out fighting. 

Eventually, they came across the scene of the fight and Ash stood there for a moment, watching it all. People had already started to be ripped apart. Ash nodded to herself, narrowing her eyes at the enemies. She turned to look at Kaori and found her with her eyes wide. 

"Kaori?" Ash asked. 

"Huh?" 

"Are you good?" 

Kaori looked back at the demons in the distance. 

"Yeah... Just a bit nervous, is all." 

"Take a deep breath then," Ash told her. "Come on, we've been through more dangerous shit than this. We'll be fine." 

At that, Kaori looked back at her, and Ash was almost hurt at the amount of doubt in her eyes. 

"Yeah," she replied though. "Yeah..." 

Ash sighed.  I need to talk to her after this. Something just doesn't feel right with her. 

And so, the two of them walked forwards, with Ash transforming her Lust into her gauntlets and Kaori switching her hand into her shield form. It took all of two seconds for the first enemy to appear.

Level 30

MP: 30/30

A demon ran up to them and Ash ducked under a swipe pushing it out of the way. The demon tripped over a wooden box and when it came back up, it found another soldier to attack and instead focused on that unlucky individual. Ash kept going. 

Another demon came up and Ash blocked a strike from it before shoving the blades of her gauntlets into its eyes. The demon squealed and Ash kicked it back, violet blood spurting out into the air. 

EXP Gained: 100

EXP: 130/440

Damn. Without those EXP buffs, leveling up would probably take ages at this point.

Another one came and Ash gritted her teeth as she tackled it to the ground, sticking her gauntlets into its stomach. The demon slashed at her face and managed to cut her, earning a yelp from Ash before she raised a gauntlet up and stabbed its neck. 

EXP Gained: 100

EXP: 230/440

Ash took steady breaths and looked around.  Okay... Doesn't look like any others are... 

And then, she saw Kaori. Kaori was holding back a demon that was trying to bite her neck, but she wasn't killing it. She was just looking at the creature, a terrified look on her face.  What the hell? 

Ash got off the demon's body and ran towards this one, slashing it from behind and earning another EXP message. Kaori watched it fall before her eyes then went to Ash. 

"Kaori, what are you doing?" 

"I-I, sorry, I just got a little..." 

Now, Ash was really starting to get worried. 

"Stay behind me. Okay?" Ash told her. "Just keep your eyes on me." 

"R-Right." 

And with that, they went through a small clearing that had naturally appeared during the battle. As the soldiers fought the demons back, Ash and Kaori walked between both forces, making their way to the gap in the wall that had been created last night. 

It ended up being easier to get out than they had thought it would be, as no more demons were coming from the portal. 

"Okay, there it is, we go in, we close it, we're done," Ash said, looking back. Kaori nodded. Since Ash had told her to keep her eyes on her, Kaori looked like she'd focused a little.  Good.  Ash thought, and the two of them walked down the field of grass bathed in moonlight that led up to the portal. 

And, without hesitation, they walked into it. 

---

Kaori

As strong as Kaori was, she didn't feel strong. There was just something about these enemies, the way they looked at her with no remorse or humanity that deeply unsettled Kaori. Her skin turned cold every time one of them walked up to her. 

However, that feeling from before was nothing compared to the one she had now as she and Ash walked into the portal. Before, when she and the half-demon had done this, they'd ended up in a distorted version of Jade. Now, however, they were in what looked like a snowy mountain. 

"Sapphire..." Ash muttered. She shivered and the girl hissed. "Yep, fuck it's cold. Out of all the fucking places..." 

Kaori agreed. Although Sapphire was a unique looking place, this temperature was something she could very much do without. 

Ash looked around and eventually, she pointed at something. Kaori turned towards it and she saw two violet beams surging into the sky. 

"That's where we're headed. Come on." 

"Right." 

Although this place was meant to mimic Sapphire, there were a few notable differences that made themselves apparent soon enough. For one, the sky above them, as it had been in all the other mirror realms, was a deep violet, but in addition to that, there was a lake in the distance that Kaori could tell, even from here, was made of blood. 

How far away are those... things we're looking for? Kaori asked herself as she hugged her own body, a cold wind passing over her.  Once we find them, what is Ash going to do? What's going to be waiting for us?

At that moment, the two of them heard some growling coming from the north and they stopped. There were too many dead, thin trees in the way to see what was ahead. Kaori and Ash gave each other a look before moving towards them. 

When they reached the source, Kaori felt her breath get caught in her throat. 

Ahead, there were three demons. Two Wrath and one Lust. The Wrath demons were tearing apart the body of a young soldier, the Lust one was moaning to itself as it pushed its tail in and out of another. Neither of them was alive. 

"Well, that's gross," Ash muttered as she started walking towards them, but Kaori couldn't will her legs to move. The sight was too disturbing. "They aren't too high-level so this should be..." 

And, before Ash could finish her sentence, a screech sounded off from the left. Both girls looked over and quickly found that, from the trees, a group of demons, maybe twelve in total, had been waiting and were now charging at them. 

"Shit, run!" Ash yelled. Kaori tried to, but she still couldn't move. She felt like she had in that dream, where she was watching Ash and Keiko die in front of her while she was simply frozen. 

Ash ran a few steps but noticed Kaori wasn't behind her and looked back. 

"Come on!" Ash yelled, but she had to run back to grab Kaori by her wrist and drag her along. 

All while the demons were now chasing from behind. 

Kaori's eyes teared up as Ash pulled her away from them. 

What is wrong with me?