Moonlight Demon

Half an Hour Earlier

Yumi

After Ash and Kaori departed the Grey Chamber, it soon came time for Yumi to do the same. The masked woman stood just ahead of the gates, with Eliza by her side. The Lord of Onyx was watching ahead, looking out to the streets impatiently, almost like she genuinely believed that any moment now, she'd see demons. 

"Where do you want me to go?" Yumi asked. 

"... You're a shrine maiden, are you not?" Eliza suddenly asked her. 

"Hm? Yes." Yumi replied. 

"And yet, you speak to the lord of this city as though she were just another soldier," Eliza said with a raised brow. "You've done so since you arrived here." 

"I apologize," Yumi bowed slightly. "I... I simply have no knowledge of how I am supposed to speak to someone like you." 

"Is that so?" Eliza paused. "Do not get too nervous, I was merely just curious about it. Go to the northern side of the city. With the Saviors tackling the demon to the west, our northern sectors will need you." 

"Understood." 

With that, Yumi bowed and, taking her naginata with her, began to walk the streets of Onyx. She'd barely done so, since arriving at this city, so in all honesty, she didn't know where she was going. However, she heard the sounds of battle coming from ahead and figured that likely meant there were enemies in that direction. 

The smell of fire permeated her mask. Yumi could faintly hear people crying out for help and wished she could tell them that she was on her way. However, her memories of her fight with that abnormal Lust demon were still fresh in her mind. 

Why wouldn't they be? She hadn't suffered a defeat like that in well over a decade. She hoped she wouldn't have the same thing happen to her now. 

Finally, as she walked in front of a building with a sign on it that said  Meager's Grey Glass,  she spotted two demons devouring the corpse of a freshly deceased soldier. They turned towards her, the warrior's meat dripping from their teeth and falling onto the ground. 

"Time to get started then,  Iridos." She said, and she ran forwards, beginning her time in battle. 

Thankfully, the shrine maiden didn't encounter anything too abnormal. Even after she quickly disposed of those two opponents and moved on to find a far more active battlefield, filled with hordes of demons and soldiers trying to hold them back, nothing she fought was as strong as what she found that day. 

Currently, Yumi was dancing in the bloody street, fighting one enemy at a time and swinging her naginata with the precision and speed that her training had allowed her to hone. 

To her left, a pair of soldiers were watching her move. One was injured and the other was in the process of healing him. 

"W-Who is that?" The injured one asked as Yumi sidestepped a Gluttony demon's tongue and then quickly disemboweled it. 

"I... I don't know, but I've seen her walking around the palace. Didn't know she could fight like this." 

"She's amazing..." 

Their words brought her no joy though. The one time she needed her skills, they failed her. 

Several minutes passed and, thanks to her arrival, the demons were finally halted. They were still coming in from the streets ahead, where they'd broken in from the open portal beyond the city's walls, but Yumi's presence allowed the human forces to keep them from passing any further. 

However, soon, the strangest thing occurred. 

As Yumi was dealing with one enemy, she turned around and saw what looked like a civilian. There was a young girl, dressed in only an oversized white shirt, walking through the streets with a petrified look on her face. 

Raising a brow behind her mask, Yumi ripped her naginata out of the demon's body and turned towards her. 

"Are you lost?" Yumi asked. "These streets are not safe, you should..." And then, a Lust demon descended between them. 

Yumi flinched, instantly tightening the grip on her naginata as the Lust demon bared its teeth at her, but then the civilian reached for the demon's left wrist. 

"Uh, c-come!" The civilian said. 

As in, she said this to the demon. And, most shocking of all, the demon appeared to listen. It didn't attack Yumi, instead, as the girl dragged it along, the demon simply hissed at her, but followed the civilian. Almost like a damned pet. 

Yumi watched this, frozen. 

What?  She thought, blinking twice. I... I must have been stuck inside for too long. Surely, I've turned delusional. 

---

Ash

At one of the palace's showers, Ash stood naked, allowing the cold water to hit her body. Though it did a good job of wiping the blood, dirt, and sweat off of her skin, it couldn't wipe away the worry. 

She could still see it perfectly in her mind. Kaori's eyes, purely feral, turned on her with evil intent. It was a look she hadn't expected to ever come out from her, and one she didn't want to see again. 

"... Fuck." 

Ash sat down on the floor, stretching her legs. She noticed that there was still violet blood sinking down the drain and then she realized her sight was blurry. She thought it was due to the water, but when she reached up and felt her right eye, she hissed. 

"Agh, shit." 

Right. Kaori had hurt her. Ash quickly healed the wound away and scoffed. 

"... Please, be alright," she whispered to herself. "I... Agh!" She punched the floor beside her thighs, a crack appearing in it. "If that thing fucking lived... I swear I'm going to hunt that shit down." 

As her anger subsided though, she looked down at her own hands. 

"... I wasn't enough." She sighed. "Maybe if I'd been a little stronger... Worked a little harder I..." 

After a while, once her hair was no longer stained with two different kinds of blood, she figured she was done. She had some clothes sitting on the lid of a nearby sink, and she dried herself off with a towel she'd brought in, getting dressed in a white shirt and short black pants. 

She exited the bathroom and walked back to her room, where she found Satsuhiro, Luvine, Opah, and Metsumi outside. Keiko, presumably, was still in there with Kaori. Opah was looking up at Ash with worried eyes, while Luvine was just confused. 

"... What happened?" Satsuhiro asked, with crossed arms. 

"I..." Ash took a deep breath. "The Nightmare tried to turn Kaori into a demon. Kaori activated her ability, the one she got from Lumina, and... I don't know, I think it just half-worked or something." 

"What do you mean?" 

"When I went over to her, Kaori... She attacked me," Ash explained. "I held her down, and... Then she went back to normal. For a little bit, anyway, until she started... Like, flashing a bunch of colors and then, she just fell asleep or something. She hasn't woken up since." 

Satsuhiro nodded. 

"Look, aren't there any mages we can ask about this!?" Ash asked. "Someone has to have gone through some shit like this before." 

"Come on, Ash," Satsuhiro shook his head. "By now, you should know that stuff like this doesn't happen to anyone but you and Kaori," Satsuhiro told her. "No one else has your connections to the deities." 

"Then... What do we do?" Ash asked. "I... Maybe I could take her to the shrine then!" Ash said. "Bring her to the site of power, talk to Magia about it." 

"That could work," Satsuhiro agreed, "but how are you gonna get there? The shrine is locked right between the two remaining portals. That whole area is probably going to be infested with demons." 

"I don't care!" Ash practically yelled, and a silence fell over them as Satsuhiro seemed surprised. Luvine actually flinched. "This... This happened because of me. I have to make things right. Maybe I could close one of them," Ash muttered. "And then, I'll head for the shrine. See what Magia has to say." 

"..." Satsuhiro sighed. "I know you want to help her, and it makes sense that this could work, but don't let your desperation pull you into doing anything stupid." 

"... I'll be fine," Ash replied. "I just... I just need to try to fix this. It'll be fine." 

Satsuhiro nodded, and that was that. 

"Listen, it looks like the city's going to see the next day. Rest, and tackle this tomorrow. You should probably stay in there with her, for the night," Satsuhiro added, changing the subject. "If she wakes up and she's not... herself, then you're probably the only one strong enough to actually stop her." 

Nodding, Ash sighed. 

"Gotcha..." She muttered as she ignored everyone's worried eyes and walked into the room. 

---

Eliza

She had been in this exact spot for almost two hours now. 

Eliza's eyes remained on the distant street, hoping she wouldn't see anything monstrous come out of there. Instead, what she saw were soldiers dressed in a different kind of armor than the one Onyx's warriors wore. No, this armor was gold and white, exuding an aura of holiness, almost. 

"Jade's reinforcements," Eliza mumbled with some relief as she stood up to welcome them. She walked over to what looked like the general of the squadron. 

Each of the soldiers looked to be around level 25, the mark of true veterans. Even that might not be enough though. Still, she put on a smile for them. 

"Thank you for your assistance, I hope your journey here was without trouble." 

"Just tell us where you need us, milady. We know things are desperate," the general replied after bowing. 

Eliza smiled and told them exactly where they'd need to go. Once they left, she felt like she could breathe a little easier. However, there was still no guarantee the soldiers would win. 

"Well... It is time I take my leave then," Eliza said to one of her knights. "Guard the gates, alert me should they be in danger of being breached." 

"Understood, milady." 

Eliza walked back into the Grey Chamber, feeling marginally less worried, but she couldn't help it. By now, she could see it in the eyes of the civilians as they watched her. The eyes of the soldiers themselves. Tensions were as high as ever and for good reason. Especially after Ash, the half-demon had come into the palace with her Savior friend in her arms like she had. That didn't do anything good for the morale of the city's people. 

Eliza's thoughts weren't on them though. No, her mind was on the half-demon. The way she'd come in, soaked in the blood that denoted a job well-done for a warrior, her strong arms as she carried her friend. To others, Ash looked like just another demon, but to her, she looked like a genuine symbol of a reliable guardian.

Just the sort of thing Eliza needed right now. But, as Ash didn't appear to care about her that much, the question remained, where could Eliza find something like that? Something more than human that could guard her when her enemies, be they demonic or not, came for her. 

The only answer she could think of was resting in this palace's dungeons, just a few halls, and a few discreet steps away. 

"... No," Eliza muttered to herself. "What are you even thinking?" 

She said that, and yet, the instant that seed appeared in her mind, it was already growing.