Seventeen.
A total of seventeen commanders were sent out by Akilith into the capital city. The seventeen commanders watched with curious gazes as their army fought against the adventurers. Never had they imagined that the elite of Balam's legions would be pushed back by such wild, demon-like humans. Even their own species seemed more scared of them than the demons.
"Should we go and wreak some havoc?" Said one of the demons. Her skin was gray and horns black, she featured a wide smile while holding her daggers in one hand.
A demon with long robes stroked his beard while holding a staff in his hands.
"Have some patience, " he said, his eyes frozen on a tiny sorcerer that was turning their army into frogs. It was a very peculiar spell for a scholar like him. The demons were each absorbed with a different aspect of the realm, not even getting a chance to notice when more than half of their other group was wiped away in a punch.
Before the demons could make a move. A peculiar stench filled their noses.
"Oh, my..."
The demons smiled.
One of their greatest enemies had come to them.
With white wings flapping in the air, the purple hair of the newcomer fluttered. An angel had come walking straight toward them. The demons' eyes glowed as the angel struck a few of their goons around and came rushing at them.
"You bastards! What do you think you're doing in the mortal realm?"
The dagger-wielding demon growled and leaned ahead. "Angel! It's a fucking angel!"
"Can you not shout? All of us can see."
"Would you not shout if fried chicken came flying to you?"
The interjecting demon was forced to back down. The angel pulled her sword back and charged toward the demons when a new presence appeared on the battlefield.
All seventeen of them leaped back through the skies and looked at the newcomer at full alert.
Sitting atop a broom, the woman clad in a red dress held her pointed wizard hat with one hand while she held the angel with another.
"Y-you... Death Queen?" the angel said.
Death Queen's red hair brushed her cheeks as she showed the angel a bright smile.
"It seems an angel fell into my arms. I must have used up all my luck right away."
The angel's cheeks flushed red.
"Well, darling angel. Are these the rats bullying you?" The Death Queen glared at the demons.
All seventeen of the legion commanders trembled.
This was the presence that a Mythic-Ranked adventurer held. Without a single drop of energy oozing out of her, just awareness of her existence was enough to drive fear into even people who didn't know of her.
"J-just a human!" the dagger-wielding demon screamed. "How dare a human intervene?!"
The demon was about to charge ahead when a sound leaked out.
"HAH!?" it was the angel, snugly fit in Death Queen's arms, that spoke out loud. "Are you like, a fucking idiot? Aren't you the one who got scared? And now you're angry at her?"
The Death Queen and the Demon both stared at the angel with surprise in their eyes. She was the weakest one here, to the point she could be sent away with a few hits at best, her speaking out was more than just strange.
"How do bumbling fools like you rise in the ranks? Are you sure you're supposed to be a leader of all these demons or something? Just scurry off, dumb bitch!"
"W-what... what did you say?!"
"Fuck, are you deaf too?" The angel clicked her tongue. "You third-rate villain, go practice some new lines."
"YOU!" The demon charged.
The angel gently tugged at the Death Queen's sleeves and pointed at them. "Miss. It was those guys that bothered me!"
The Death Queen wanted to laugh but decided to play along for now.
She smiled and turned to the demons.
"You heard her. I am taking care of this angel for now, so fuck off."
The demons ignored her voice. Following behind their companion, they all suppressed their hesitation and charged at the Death Queen.
Like a true Queen, the mythic ranked adventurer crossed her legs and gracefully waved her hands around.
When it came to physical prowess, the Death Queen couldn't be ranked in the same range as the other two Mythic Ranked adventurers.
But as far as pure destruction went.
Not even the other two combined could stand up against the Death Queen.
"Come, voices of the forgotten."
Pale green specters appeared all around them. The translucent specters numbered in the thousands as they started phasing through the row of demons not just against her, but all over the capital.
With each specter that passed them through, the demons felt their energy leaving their bodies.
Before the demons could move, the next attack came.
The Death Queen snapped her fingers.
"Appear, oh souls of the reaped. Take along your companions."
The demons raised their energy to attack when they were blown away. Hundreds, no, thousands of undead appeared from the ground. The bone knights and wizards moved around and started slaughtering the demons, each of them the soul of once a great being.
With a single gesture, she transferred the strength that the specters had collected into her undead.
A crushing sound rang as a group of them killed one of the commanders.
A terrifying battle broke out not just here, but all over the capital. The adventurers were left stumped at the sudden arrival of undead fighting on their side while the demon commanders engaged with their own little group.
Death Queen gently lifted the angel higher and sat her on her lap. Smiling, the Death Queen pushed her hair back.
The angel, Dawn, had no choice but to blush at the gentle coolness of the woman. "Are you alright, miss?"
"Uh, ah... yes..."
The Death Queen smiled and turned. "Let's enjoy the show then."
She turned to watch the demons fight her soldiers with a relaxed gaze. The Death Queen snapped her fingers and a bone knight approached her with popcorn in his hands. The two ladies munched on the popcorn and continued watching the struggle of the demons.
It was when the other adventurers started to express some dissatisfaction at the mass kill-steal, that a low voice reached all their ears. All of them, including the Death Quee, turned to their side to see the head receptionist of the Deep Down Town branch walking toward them.
"Bastards..." she growled.
The adventurers shuddered.
"Did you forget the Continental Law?" she said.
The adventurers tilted their heads in confusion. They were certain that causing trouble here wasn't much of a problem. Then why in the world was the head receptionist angry?
"You will be paid a reward depending on the level of danger you face!"
The adventurers were stunned.
"How can you guys handle this so easily!? Go and destroy some buildings!"
The adventurers' eyes glowed.
"Go wild!"
The owner had let the dogs out of their leash.
The adventurers continued again, this time making as much of a mess as they could to make it seem as dangerous as they could.
Enjoying it all, the Death Queen used her magic and floated the head receptionist up into the skies as well.
"Miss Receptionist," she said as another broom appeared next to her and the Receptionist gently sat on it.
"Death Queen with Adventurer Dawn," she said. "Nice cosplay, by the way."
"Miss angel was an adventurer too? This must be fate."
"Is it? I am starting to think you guys are not very normal."
At Dawn's words, the other two simply shrugged their shoulders.
The three ladies enjoyed the popcorn while watching the battle below rage on.
***
Balam was left limp on the ground of Hell.
His people had gone ahead to destroy things. Everything would be fine.
That's what he had thought, but right after, a crack formed in the ground that stretched over his entire kingdom. The path of the crack just narrowly missed his head. Unable to stay low anymore, the demon king yanked his body ahead and tried his best to get away from the place. He had to go back to the castle and ensure everything was still going okay.
It was the worst decision he could have made.
After just a few steps, a shockwave akin to an heavy artillery missile dropping on the ground spread out. The area around his castle was razed to the ground and a burst of air hit his face, knocking him back.
The demon had recently dug deep enough with a punch to reach water over a few meters.
A hole dozens of times deeper and hundreds of times larger was created at the center of his kingdom in the blink of an eye.
Balam was left with an open jaw.
Focusing all his remaining strength into his eyes, he saw.
He saw a wretched face wearing a refreshing smile.
Even over this distance, he could sense that person looking at him and smiling.
The previous bastard had gone. But now, a true monster had entered his kingdom.
"K-Kaiser..." Balam yelped.
The strongest adventurer in history raised his sword high up.
'Goodbye...'
The adventurer mouthed.
"KAISER!!!!!!"
The sword came down.
And the surface of hell changed forever.
A country was swallowed up by the ocean.
