[IC] The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location
Havershel Estate

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

“Yes, we were informed of the situation by some of Lady Fiore’s maids further in. Camio is merely an incident, and while I have questions as to why and how a demon lord is blending into society, we have much more pressing concerns.”

Realistically, Lucrecia’s head should be rolling across the ground, now. The sharp, metal bladed wing clashed with her blade, a resounding metallic clank as the wing cut right through her blade, cutting it in half - Madeline’s halberd came down hard, the entire force of the weapon being brought down on Camio’s wing, mere centimeters away from Lucrecia’s neck being turned into a stump.

“Graaah-!”

The demon hissed, a squawking shout as the blessed weapon cut right through his wing, stopping its momentum entirely and slicing it in half as blood poured from the cut.

“Humph-” With a display of strength, Madeline, slammed the butt of the halberd right into Camio’s face, followed by bringing the halberd in an upward arc, carving a deep gash on his front. “On your feet, maid.” Madeline gruffly replied as Camio was now clutching his severed wing, growling in pain.

“Can I ask you to look after this boy? Its his son. He was almost killed by that other demon.” Camio was quickly getting to his feet again. If it was possible for him to actually glare daggers, it was likely going to be him. “Madeline, Camio’s ability deals with metals! Be wary of anything metallic in the room and normal steel and iron likely won’t work!”

“Here.” Madeline tossed a blade towards Lucrecia. “Backup weapon. Blessed. Should be able to resist his magic. I’ll draw his attention.” The demon lord howled, thoroughly enraged and no longer even capable of vocalizing words as the wound on his chest would be sealed, iron feathers taking the place of it.

“Guh-!” Madeline steeled herself, standing between Lucrecia and Camio as the demon lord plucked feathers from his wings, and faster than any of them could barely see, they’d mold themselves into what almost seemed to be thin blades, dozens of tiny thing blades would form from that single piece of metal and launch themselves towards the two of them.

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

“Surrender, ahaha!” The possessed woman laughed, before her visage twisted into a hateful scowl. “Do you have any idea what its like being sealed? Of course you don’t. All you can do is scream into the void, barely aware of anything happening around you! I’m not letting that happen again!” The demon’s composure returned, her eyes flicking between Eliz and Kat. “So instead…just humor me for a moment. What are demons and…a cat thing doing hunting me, huh?” The knife was still pressed to her own throat, a trickle of blood wetting the blade. “Surely you don’t want to save these humans, or what, have the demons gone soft in my imprisonment?”

“Hmm…I dunno about that,” Lyssa replied, flexing her gauntlets, the cogs on the outside turning. “But I think she’s got us.” The pink haired maid frowned. “As long as she has that idol, if we or she kills the lady then there’s a good chance she’ll use her blood to fully break the seal on that thing.”

“Oh look, the dumb looking one is actually smart.”

“H-hey! My head isn’t full of cotton candy all the time!”

[Pyromania99]

"And I'm not a 'cat-thing' I'm a Firbolg!" Katherine complained. "Saving humans... Well, if it's a side-effect. Mostly, I'm concerned with making sure demons don't run around willy-nilly. Personally." The firbolg crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "Though, I do like to go out of my way to save pretty women where I can."

Lyssa was right however. They were in some odd standoff. They couldn't really do anything than aim at her and she could take her hosts life and feed the idol blood. But.... She had a... A really bold idea. There was something fairly similar between the demon that had fought in the town center and the ones they fought to get there. Something of an aquatic nature perhaps? She spoke under her breath to Lyssa. "This may go well or it may go bad... But I think I do have a small bit of a plan." She bit her lip a small bit and reached under her skirt. Out from there, however she was hiding it, was the spherical capsule that held the demon they had captured the other day. As it seemed, she did not turn it in somehow and had done something with it. Not that Lyssa or Eliz would know what was in it of course.

She pulled an arm back and threw the ball forward. "Demon girl, I choose you!" She exclaimed, unsure of why exactly she said such a thing, really. She just hoped this might have a small effect that she wanted.

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

As thankful as Polina was for the unexpected backup, being reduced to an impromptu babysitter grated on her. She was never that good with kids, even if she had a little follower back at the Maison now, but what she wanted most was to help in some way. She was a combat maid at heart, after all. With her injury though, she was still a liability unless Madeline had some more blessed backup swords for her to levitate around.

With a pained sigh, she nodded, taking custody of the small boy from the church lady. “Very well… I’ll keep him out of harm.” She briefly entertained trying to use his son to get Camio to calm down, but that was a risky strategy at the moment…

Maybe later, though?

She glanced over at the boy now in her care. “Are you alright? Let’s get you somewhere safe. Your dad is… very angry right now.”

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location
Havershel Estate

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

“Graziei.” Cassandre responded, offloading the kid onto Polina. “Now if you’ll excuse me-” Cassandre would walk towards the fighting, unflinchingly walking into the fray as the Demon Lord plucked the feathers from his wings. A prayer would follow, a verse from the Orosian scriptures, and all at once the space between the maid and the Paladin would twist and spasm, and then fall still as though time had ceased to exist for the feathers and the space between them.

“Don’t just stand there, maid, it won’t last long!” Madeline shouted and moved swiftly, halbered at her side, the feathers suspended in air-

“krrrr-aw!” Camio screeched, more feathers of metal were plucked and melded in Camio’s hand into long, whip like metal wires. He swung them downwards, Madeline not in any position to deflect or defend as the sharp, fast moving metal weapons moved towards her-

"Nngh..." meanwhile, the boy that Polina was holding onto was slowly rousing back to consciousness. "D-dad...? He's...always angry..." Shaking his head. "Gh...what happened...M-mom she...hurt me...?"

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

It was perhaps an odd choice of strategy, but it wasn’t entirely without merit.

The sphere that had been used to seal the diminutive demon back in cogsfell would be tossed onto the ground.

“Ha?” Understandably, the woman was confused until the sphere itself shook violently from side to side, a large crack running down its middle before shattering entirely. In a violent surge of magical energy, from within came a -

“Puyo?” Neither Eliz or Lyssa had been there for the previous confrontation, so Katherine pulling a demon out of her dress from nowhere was more than a little surprising. The demon took a quick look around, wondering why exactly she had been released from the sealing stone, but ultimately her gaze fell back on Katherine. “NNgh, hey you stuuuupid mortal why the hell and where the hell am I now! You better tell me before I eat you whole!”

“...Xivi?”

“Puya?!” The little demon jumped at hearing the familiar to her voice, turning around, the fronds on top of her head twitching excitedly. “M-mom?!” The two demons stared down each other, tension visible between the two of them, neither seemingly want to make the first move. A few long, tense seconds passed…then Xivi, the small demon, then with the agility and swiftness she had shown back at Cogsfell, leaped towards the possessed woman.

“Xivi?!” The small demon, proceeded to sink her teeth right into what was apparently her mothers wrist, causing her to hiss in pain, blood dripping from the wound - but also causing her to drop the Idol and send it clattering to the ground a few feet away. “Tch-Stupid, Ungrateful-bitch!”

Xivis tail was grabbed, and subsequently Slammed into the ground, then punted back across the room like a ball, landing back in front of Katherine as she’d skid to a halt.

“...consider us even, you dumb mortal.” Xivi huffed.

“Tch…” The idol was now about halfway between the possessed woman and the Maids. “Of course, of all things, you’d somehow manage to bring my worthless daughter here.”

“You’re just seething I’m the one that put you in that Idol, you old hag. Maybe this time I should just eat you whole and make a soup out of your skin and bones. That sounds delicious, mother dearest.” Xivi turned her attention to the gathered maids. “I don’t know what’s going on nor do I care, but if I can beat up that thing over there I’ll help.”

“Weh! We can’t kill the possessed woman! That’d be bad!” Lyssa interjected.

“Cry me a bloody river, pig-face.”

“...I don’t eat that much cake…”

There were still at a standoff, but they were in a much more favorable position, they just had to get their hands on the Idol now and then restrain the possessed woman.

“Don’t get ahead of yourselves.” Xrael responded. “It took that one and a small army to put me under the first time.” The demon started walking, crimson fire burning in her palm. “Like hells I’m gonna let it happen again!”

[AzureKnight]

_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This}

---

Havershel Estate

---

Battle Theme:⚔️

"Gracie, chierica" Lucrecia said to Madeline, catching the blade she tossed her way. A blessed weapon, eh? This certainly would've been useful earlier, she thought to herself. Although, if she had chosen her words more carefully earlier, this situation would've have happened in the first place. Lucrecia looked over at the child that was placed in Polina's care, believing she heard something mentioned about him being the son of Camio. Perhaps Lucrecia should apologize to the child later for upsetting his father so much.

She'd have to think about that later though.

Right now, Camio let loose more of his steel feathers at the pair, Madeline readied herself for the incoming attack. However, Cassandre strolled over and muttered some kind of incantation that caused the space between them and the Demon Lord to contort. The phenomenon caused the blades to stop dead in their tracks. Camio wasn't about to let that stop him, and used more feathers to give his claws long metal blades, swinging them down on Madeline.

Not missing a step, Lucrecia didn't feel as though she had much magic left, so she had to be careful. She cloaked her new blessed blade in a bit of ember and swung to meet Camio's slashing attack to defend the Churchwoman. Lucrecia was always one to return a favor.

[Pyromania99]

The demon girl was much more effective than Katherine had expected. She had managed to get the possessed woman to release the idol which was a great thing. In the madness of the moment, Katherine had ordered two of her dolls to move. One to the side of the conflict, hopefully out of notice and another to the other side empowerer with wind magic. Her plan was a bit reckless perhaps, but she hope it would work. If she could use a wind enhanced bullet to shoot the idol to her other doll, it would be in their hands. She didn't want to preemptively do anything though.

As the little demon, Xivi, came skidding back to her after biting into the possessed woman's wrist, Katherine smirked. "I knew keeping you around was a good idea. Help us out and I don't mind getting you some food when we get back. The good stuff too... Not humanoids or anything though. Beef. Pork." The Firbolg mentioned, thinking it pertinent to mention considering the demon had just said she would eat her whole. "Maybe you like some good bread?" She asked, looking up towards the two mothers in one.

"You're not going to let it happen?" The firbolg asked with a sly smile. "If you ask me, it doesn't matter what you think will happen, you know?" She mentioned. Her teammates had her back right? Katherine, Lyssa, two demons and a squad of gunner dolls against one weakened demon? It should be a piece of cake, really. "Reality has a harsh way of coming down on all of us." She wanted the demon's attention off the idol long enough for the one doll to take the shot and blast the idol to the other doll. With that much in the way, everyone else should have an easy time restraining the possessed woman, right?

[VitaVitaAR]

After angrily shrugging Lyssa off and nearly kicking the other maid in the face for daring to touch her without her permission, Elizstrazia had descended down the hole.

Tch...

This pissed her off.

If it wasn't for the fact that there was a possession, there wouldn't be any issue. She'd have no problem just slaughtering the woman and being done.

But the possessing demon had already pissed her off way too much. There was no way she was going to let it have its way, and that included letting it use the woman as a hostage.

But Elizstrazia didn't know how to deal with this. To put it simply, subtlety wasn't exactly her strongsuit, and that was something she'd been aggravated about the entire mission.

It was all coming to a head here. What did she even do? How did she even deal with this? The more she thought about it, the more she grew frustrated, her tail angrily swishing from side to side.

At least, until the other demon appeared.

Elizstrazia had plenty of questions. Where had she come from? Why was that even one of Katherine's options? How dare she rely on any other demon other than herself when Elizstrazia was right there and plenty able-bodied?

But all of it was pushed to the side when she saw quite clearly that the idol was no longer in the possessed woman's hands, and the idol had fallen to he side.

The small scale demon's lips parted into a grin.

One foot slammed down, shattering the floor beneath her, and her entire body lurched forward, a cloud of debris scattering in the air behind her.

She had to reach her target as quickly as possible, after all.

She lurched at the possessed woman, throwing her small but powerful frame into tackling her to the ground, straddling her and pinning her arms firmly the floor beneath her as quickly as possible.

Provided she found success, her sharp-toothed grin would spread even wider.

"Oh look! I get a front row seat to watching your expression as you fail!"

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Polina was glad that the boy was returning to the land of the living. She regretted using him as a pawn or tool, but if he had insights that would get his dad to stop going psycho, then she’d take it.

“Maybe, but at a very bad time,” she lamented, with a sigh. “Your mom was possessed, I think. Your home is being attacked now, but he’s ignoring them and fighting his allies instead. There’s not much we can do but to fight him and the intruders, now.”

And Polina was injured, with Lulu left alone to fight against him with… the church. Polina shuddered at the scenario.

She probed him for information. “Do you know what we can do to get your dad to calm down? To stop, and help attack the bad people instead?”

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location
Havershel Estate

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

“S-sorry…when dad gets real mad like that he-he…he usually just locks himself in the private vault until he calms down…” The boy replied. “L-last time he didn’t he…w-well he gets really scary…”

The whip-like long metal cords would clang against Lucrecia’s new blessed blade, earning a small squawk of surprise from the demon lord. It was just long enough for Madeline to make a move, slamming the butt of her halberd right into Camio’s chest. A flourish as she’d spin the weapons blade over her head, poised to cleave the demons face right in twain -

“AGH-!”

Madeline screamed in pain, the weapon stopped short from impacting. Metallic spears ripping right through several parts on her body.

“Madeline!”

“Fools, unaware of what I am capable of, I should pity your ignorance.” His voice was deep, rumbling and low. The spell that Cassandre and Madeline had used to temporarily pause the metallic bolts that were his feathers had ceased. He had anchored them into the ground behind them, and instead made them grow back towards him, forming numerous spears which were now impaling Madeline.

“Y-you…bastardo…”

“Haa…looks like I got here just in time - Soul Art: Judgment.” Camio’s eyes widened. Almost imperceptibly to everyone there was a brief image of chains forming around Camio’s body, his body ceasing any movement. “Hmph…lets see…I think this should be appropriate for you, Lord Havershel,” Livia calmly walked past Cassandre and Polina, passing a small wine glass to Lucrecia as she did so. “Soul Art: Conflagrate.”

All at once Camios body erupted into fire - the same colored flame that Lucrecia had seen Livia produce that day her introduction to magic began. He howled, screaming in agony as his entire body burned.

“Now then, Lord Havershel…how about you leave my dates alone-”

“To the…five hells with you, you witch-”

“Hm…why do they always have to be so…masochistic?” Livia raised a single finger, Camio’s body still burning brightly. “Soul art: Fracture.”

Camio’s body exploded. That was the only way to describe it. But not in the literal sense of the word. It was more like all the magic and power in his body simply decided to break all at once, causing the demon lords skin, body, bones and everything to fracture and break.

“D-dad!” The boy in Polina’s arms tried to wiggle free, running over to the now very unconscious demon lord.

“Cassandre, Polina, Lucrecia. You need to get to the infiltration team. If my understanding of the situation is accurate, then Cassandre, they’re going to need you. I’ll stay here and look after the boy and Madeline.”

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

“Eeeeh? None of that tasteless slop! I crave human flesh!” Xivi harrumphed. “It better be some of that super tasty bread though…what’s the word…garlin? Garmin? Whatever, it better be that!” Xivi rebutted, just to watch Eliz go and run towards Xrael. The other demon looking on with mild disbelief. “OI! Stupid! You’re gonna get killed!” She’d shout after Eliz.

In turn, Xrael smirked, and didn’t seem to put up much of a fight when Eliz tackled her, arms pinned to the ground as Eliz would proclaim her victory.

“Oh, I’m being pinned by a pipsqueak. Whatever will I do.” The demon laughed, far too jovial for this turn of events to be anything bad for it.

“Hey you stupid!” Xivi once more shouted after her. “Our family's trick is ‘Corrosion’ Or decay, whatever the hell you wanna call it! Her fire burns you from the inside out if it touches you!” Xrael smirked up at Eliz as Xivi said this, the demons crimson fire slowly starting to cover the entirety of the possessed womans body!

“Lets see how this pretty shell of yours takes to being burned from the inside out, runt-”

“Yoink!” Before the flames could consume the both of them, Eliz would find herself being yanked by Lyssa, pulling her off the other demon. Xivi seemed mildly surprised that Lyssa had moved quite so fast, but the pink haired maid would toss Eliz a few feet away, coming to a halt next to her. “Waaah…this isn’t good, is it?”

“I can put out any fire she makes.” Xivi responded with a huff. “At least stop it from getting out of hand or spreading to ridiculous levels.” As Xivi spoke, Xrael was getting to her feet, crimson flames engulfing her body, a protective barrier around herself as it would start to also spread from where she was standing.

“Kat you know any spells for this? We just need to...restrain her somehow." Lyssa glanced to the side, seemingly considering something.

“How cute.” The possessed womans tone had taken a much more guttural, savage inflection with a deep, rumbling laugh. “What's the matter, daughter of the scale? Are you going to let a little fire stop you? Are you that weak?” Orbs of crimson flame appeared from Xrael's body, multiplying and expanding before all launching themselves towards the group, exploding into fire upon impact.

The only potential good news from this, however, is that the dolls Katherine dispatched to collect the Idol were seemingly able to unimpeded for now, Xrael completely forgetting about it or simply ignoring it for now.

[VitaVitaAR]

... She'd had to be saved.

She had to be pulled away.

The mere fact infuriated her. She'd reached that bitch, only to be dragged away in order to prevent her from being burned.

So the fire caused decay, did it?

So the fire would corrode those in touched from the inside, would it?

Elizstrazia's core was burning already. The fury was practically filling her hollow form, threatening to spill out as she clenched her clawed hands, threatening to dig her razor nails into her own palms.

How dare she speak to her in that way.

How dare she call her a pipsqueak. A runt. Insult her that way. She'd had to deal with far too much. She'd had to contend with far too much to put up with being belittled by a coward hiding in the form of a human and using her as a hostage. A coward he cloaked themselves in fire to avoid being touched.

And yet...

When the small scale demon raised her head, her eyes blazed.

Her razor teeth showed as her lips parted in a vicious grin, and she laughed.

Because no matter how angry she was, it was hilarious. The fact that her opponent fought this way meant it was the height of comedy.

"So that's how it is?!" she cried, taking a step forward even as the fireballs approached, "You spread your corrosive ability through this fire? I see. I get it just fine. You're right, I guess it would have been a bad idea to fight you up close!"

She raised one clawed hand, the wild look in her eyes only growing in its intensity, an inferno-like blaze to match her opponent's flames.

"Your luck ran out the moment you met me!"

Her spread fingers clenched into a fist.

"Time Crush!"

Normally, Time Crush required direct contact with her target. This was no exception, in fact, she couldn't simply destroy anything at will by bringing it into contact with its own past and future no matter where it was located in relation to herself.

But fire, even these demonic flames, was something formed in the air itself. A reaction, even if one motivated by her opponent's demonic capabilities.

It was the rapid destruction of particles in the air. The air itself.

The very air that Elizstrazia was already in contact with from the very beginning.

The resounding bang sounded similar to a gunshot. It was soon followed by a multitude of others, as each fireball collapsed in on itself and burst. She dragged them together, the milliseconds that were their past and future, and the resulting paradox destroyed them.

"Fire is just a reaction, it's gases and heat and light, even when it's created by magic or some other power," commented Elizstrazia idly, her tail waving from side to side, "Normally I have to touch something directly do do this, but I'm always in contact with the air around me. That means it's trivial for me to do this!"

Another clench of her fist heralded another chorus of gunshot bursts. The fireballs were destroyed once again.

"Nothing's changed, you bitch. I still have a front row seat to your failure!"

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

[Pyromania99]

As soon as Eliz distracted the demon, the dolls on reserve hopped into action. One blasted the idol with a low-powered magic shot that softly shot it at the other doll, waiting to catch it. The doll caught it and it pittered on it's feet catching it before hefting it adorably over it's head and running toward the back of the room. "Good." Katherine muttered to herself as she glanced back at the doll.

Now back forward to the speaking tiny demon. "Do you speak of 'Garlic Bread'? Easy. You shall have a belly full of it after we get back. Just promise not to eat any people." The firbolg said, now turning to Lyssa asking her for a spell to tie down the possessed mother. "Hmm? I suppose I could." She could craft a set of spiritual chains with her magic power. It wouldn't necessarily be difficult it might just take a small bit of time... But, well, that wouldn't be too annoying. Eliz had already locked the demon down for... Well, a short time at least. She started to focus her magic as she walked around a small bit. She just needed a small bit of a better angle of the demon as some blue magical chains started to wrap around her right arm.

Eliz was preventing the demon from destroying them with fire. A blessing they had such a woman with them. Well, with that happening... The chain on her arm launched forward, wrapping around the demon's neck first. After, it would quickly wrap around her arms, binding them to her torso, then her hands. From there they took her legs and moved them into quite the uncomfortable and unnatural position as the chains bound her legs to her arms. "Little cutie, think you can help me keep her restrained for a bit?" The firbolg asked the small demon helping them.

[Rune_Alchemist]

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

A multitude of sparks flew. The repeated sound of gunshots and explosions, the orbs of fire being denied existence thanks to Eliz’ time crush. Xrael merely smirked, laughing excitedly as her first assault was rendered ineffective.

“Lets see how well you can keep that up, then you runt!” Instead of directing orbs of fire outwards, instead she’d inhale, and breathe outwards, a demonic howl coming from the still engulfed in flames woman, a vortex of crimson colored fire launched itself quickly towards them.

“Noupe!” It was blocked by a blast of corrosive, sickly green liquid from Xivi’s mouth, the two vortexes crashing against each other and dissipating as Xrael’s was suddenly cut short - Katherines’ chain wrapping around her neck.

“Nngh!? A chain!? Restraining me, ahahah? Sorry I’m not into that sort of play!” She laughed, the crimson colored fire engulfing her body eroding the chain just as it was restraining her. Even as it engulfed her body. The one around her neck was already gone, and the ones on her body were also quickly starting to dissolve. She’d have to keep actively restraining her if she wanted to make it, it seemed.

One of her hands was already free, forming another fire, but instead of forming an orb or another vortex, she’d merely aim it at the ground next to her, sending a blast of the crimson fire outward, covering the immediate floor and area in the crimson flame, intent on not letting Eliz put it out quite so easily.

The dolls playing keep away with the idol were for now still not on the demons radar. She seemed content in the belief that they weren’t going to be able to flee so she could take her time dealing with them.

[AzureKnight]

_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This}

---

Havershel Estate

---

Battle Theme:⚔️

Lucrecia held fast as she clashed with Camio's onslaught of bladed feathers. The blessed steel did it's job and seemingly deflected the attacks, allowing Madeline to follow up with a prompt counter. Until she was suddenly impaled from behind., causing her to yell in pain as her blood splattered on the floor. "Madeline!" Lucrecia exclaimed. The spell that held Camio's blades was no longer in effect, and the lord had shown his cleverness by anchoring his blades behind the pair then letting them loose once they thought they had checkmate.

Lucrecia reflexively attempted to break off the blades and free Madeline, until a familiar voice rang out. Lucrecia's employer had arrived to greet the women who faced the enraged demon lord. Lucrecia looked as Livia ensnared Camio with but a small incantation, holding the wine glass that her boss casually gave to her. With another incantation, Camio erupted in blue flames, much like the ones Livia demonstrated to her during her prior lesson in magic.

The mighty demon lord, albeit a lesser one, that they were just barely managing to survive against was rendered unconscious with just a few spells that didn't even make Livia break a sweat. It further reminded Lucrecia of her place, and where she needed to get to eventually. Magic really is a powerful tool, it seems. Eyeing down the glass given to her, Lucrecia downed the whole drink down in one gulp, after all this she definitely needed a drink. She quickly looked back at the injured Madeline, running over to her.

She had several gashes and stab wounds, and her blood was all over the floor. Lulu turned to her master and Cassandra.

"Per favore, le signore, Madeline needs healing!"

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Polina gritted her teeth, but it wasn’t only because of the pain that was still in her ribs. She’d hoped that the young boy’s presence or even his knowledge of his father would allow the enraged demon to calm down, but it was clear from his words that was an entirely futile effort. She felt impotent. There was truly little that she could do.

“I see…” she sighed. The maid produced a small bag of candy from within her dress—as much of a party dress it had been, she had still put in the effort to put in some small, hidden pockets. Of course, she filled them with small pastilles instead of something useful, but at least it could help calm this boy, too. Why was she being saddled with all the kids at the maison?

She was about to offer them when Madeline was skewered by the demon’s attack in front of her. She winced, flinching back, but she covered the boy’s eyes and turned away. Wordlessly, she placed the sweets in his arms and prepared to stand up—Polina did not like the way this was going.

That was until Livia finally made her entrance, complete with wine glass. The confidence she exuded was palpable. Letting out an almost imperceptible sigh, she kept turning the boy away so that he wouldn’t be able to see the carnage, but it was futile as he ran over as Camio’s body was ravaged by her attack. There was little she could do here. It seemed like that was going to be the theme of the day. Instead, she turned towards Livia and nodded… but there was still something she could do for Madeline, at least.

“I’m injured, but I can still fight at range,” she replied, even as she telekinetically collected scraps of cloth that she manipulated into bandages and tourniquets that she quickly applied to the gravely injured woman. It was a very quick triage job with her abilities, but assuming Livia could get her to a proper healer or surgeon in time –or if she had abilities herself, given her rather impressive performance—then it was possible the church woman would survive.

Polina might greatly dislike the church, but this woman did fight in battle alongside them, even if it was only as allies of convenience.

[VitaVitaAR]

"Tch, I won't lose to you, you bitch...! Time Crush!"

The wave of fire was met by Elizstrazia's micro-manipulation of the fabric of time, suddenly brought together with its past and future selves. This time, with the unearthly, rolling, warping sound came not a gunshot but a noise rather like a cannon being fired, the explosion tearing into the floor and not merely eradicating the flames.

The Scale Demon's breathing had become heavier, but she was far from finished.

"I can do this all day!" she declared, flexing her clawed hand, her crimson eyes having taken on a certain wildness, "As long as I get to see you fail, I won't stop. I'll keep going until you break down, and all you can do is cry and piss yourself because your fate's come knocking!"

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

[Pyromania99]

"Keep at it, Eliz." Katherine mentioned, as she continued her work trying to restrain the demon with her chains. "I'll make you like this kind of play Mama Demon." The firbolg teased as she tried wrapping the creature up again. Her dolls moved in a bit closer and Katherine channeled a bit of magic through their weapons and they used the barrels of their guns as makeshift fire hoses to try and keep the fire out with Eliz, occasionally splashing the possessed woman with the water. "Maybe she'll run out of power if we keep this up." Katherine said, putting on her best show of not seeming tired. "How long do you think she can keep this up?" Katherine asked the small demon with them.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location
Havershel Estate

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@Click This@AzureKnight

Livia’s gaze turned towards Lucrecia, blue eyes seeming to glow lightly with arcane power, a small frown forming on her features.

“And she’ll get healing, Lucrecia.” A curt, no nonsense reply. “Move to assist Eliz, Lyssa, and Katherine. That is an order. I already said I’ll look after things here.” The harsh tone took a slightly softer inflection as she’d sigh. “I know a trick or two about healing. Now move before more people get hurt.”

“...I shall leave this to you then, Lady Fiore.” Cassandre nodded, though she didn’t seem to certain but as things stood, if the others needed her help then lady Fiore was right. It would be better served stopping another demon from getting loose. “For as brief as we work together, I look forward to cooperating. Shall we?” Supposing there was nothing else for Polina or Lucrecia to do here, Cassandre would take point after using some divine spells to patch up Polina’s wounds.

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@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

Eliz’ time crush could make targeted attacks, snuffing out the fire before it spread but unless she wanted to weaken the underground vault, she couldn’t stop all of it. Xivi too, could only help so much. Her acidic, corrosive breath and water had already ate some holes into the floor and the pillars holding up the ceiling. They were on a timer here, and they needed to act faster than not if they wanted to stop this entire place from becoming rubble.

“Fate?! Bwahahaa rich coming from a demon you pathetic mortal loving whelp!” The possessed woman responded with a demonic, howling laughter at hearing Eliz’ declaration. “Or did you forget, whelp!?” The demonic fire was already spreading outwards, the inferno quickly spreading across the floor and the relic room. “Demons don’t have fate to destroy!”

Moving closer to the demon was…a bad idea. The crimson fire it loosed earlier had radiated outwards in front of it. The dolls that had gotten closer were engulfed in fire, their structure seeming to rot and decay from the inside, weakening them.

The possessed woman herself inhaled again as more chains tried to hold her down, but in turn they too started to decay, rust, and become weaker the moment they touched her, not holding her down for too long. The water didn’t help much, turning into steam before it even touched her such was the intensity of the fire. If Katherine wanted to restrain her more than having her be merely hindered, she’d likely have to focus entirely on the demon while also getting assistance from her dolls or get creative with the timing.

“Now rot in hell you whelps! I’ll burn this entire pathetic word to ash!” As the fire continued to spread, the demon raised a hand to the ceiling. A vortex of fire formed in her hand, swirling in the air above her.

Whatever she was doing, it was going to be big.

“Tch, she’s gonna use that….” Xivi replied to Katherine. “I wouldn’t count on outlasting her. Last time we tussled, it was a week-long affair, and back then the humans were effectively immortal…” The small demon huffed. “LISTEN UP YOU WHELPS! She’s gonna do something big, but if you wanna beat her you’re gonna have to get rough with her!”

“Tch, good! I was about tired of just sitting here being super cute!” Lyssa retorted.

….and this would be the scene Polina, Lucrecia, and Cassandre find themselves stumbling in on.

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

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With Livia’s assistance, the battle was over. It reminded Polina of the vast gulf in power between them, which frustrated her, but what could she do? Thankfully, as much as she disliked the church, she did appreciate some of the charity they did. In this instance, it was healing—and within moments, she could feel the cracked ribs and broken bone inside of her mend and quickly fall back into place where it properly belonged. She would probably need to cook up and eat a lot of red meat later to make up for the blood loss, but that was only a minor worry.

“Much appreciated,” she nodded, acknowledging Cassandre’s help.

Standing tall again, she brushed herself off, frowning at the state of her formerly nice dress. Torn as it was, it would take a miracle to salvage it, but that was something to worry about later. There was still a second battle to be fought, and without further hesitation, she shot off to where the rest of her team were –although not before briefly testing her range of motion.

The Farisian maid arrived onto a scene of chaos as her fellow maids battled the demonically possessed wife. She didn’t immediately join the battle, quickly observing the fighting to get the demon’s measure. She eyed it warily as it seemed to decay what touched her, and she decided to remain at range for now, sticking with her original plan even if she was healed.

Seeing that it was evidently powering up for some nasty attack as someone shouted, she finally engaged as she summoned up a quartet of knives from under her dress. With a snap, they shot off towards the woman, intending to ‘get rough with her’ from the start.

[AzureKnight]

_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99}

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Havershel Estate

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Battle Theme:⚔️

"Intesa, Madonna. Forgive my impertinence" Lucrecia responded to her superior, making a bow as a sign of apology. She noted the arcana azure hue that Livia's eyes emitted; They gave her a rather enchanting, supernatural portrayal. She turned to Cassandra and Polina who were ready to assist the others. "Lead the way, Signora." She said to the church official.

Arriving at their destination, Lucrecia entered the scene of Kat and Eliz fighting the demon possessed wife of Camio. Seeing her like this put into perspective what the lord was referring to. No husband would want their wife in such a state. Lucrecia supposed that she could at least understand that, and so she decided it only be right to do something to aid not only her fellow maids, but also honor Camio. After all, the only reason he attacked them and made the operation more hectic was because of Lucrecia's sharp tongue.

Lucrecia saw that the lord's spouse also manipulated fire just like she did, albeit with much more power and finesse. However, Lucrecia had been granted steel from the Church, so she decided to make another gambit. Hoping to use Polina's attack as a distraction, Lucrecia would try to use the flames that the wife had spread around the room to strengthen her own attack. Gathering fire around her holy blade, she would hopefully generate enough force to at least offset the vortex attack and deliver a powerful blow to the possessed woman.

[Pyromania99]

Katherine frowned, the demon was quite the powerful one and the small demon on their side was right. Outlasting her was probably not an option here. And her dolls... Her mouth turned into a scowl. She cancelled her binding magic for a second, concentrating the magic through what remained of her link to her soldiers. Fine. If she could use the guns to cast her elemental magic, of course she'd be able to use the binding chains with them. The magical chains would fire from the dolls' guns, wrapping around the demon in a fashion much as Katherine had done not long before. "I was irritated before, but now I'm just mad at what you've done to my dolls, Demon."

The firbolg herself would raise her hand, controlling the very air itself. Her hand moved as if she were stirring the air as a small wind started to blow through the room, ruffling small bits of clothing. Then, around the vortex of fire, a weird sound could be heard as the the air surrounding the vortex began swirling itself not allowing more to enter it's confines in an attempt to suffocate the fire before it could manage to continue building. Fire needed oxygen to burn, much like a living being. So if there was none to burn, then it would itself die. She wouldn't be able to do this to most of the fires, but she could to this one. She was definitely dependent on Eliz to take care of most of the other things.