Rebirth of the Nephilim

The bright half-moon shone in the night sky, illuminating the ravaged landscape enough so that Jadis could see clearly without any need for artificial assistance. Not that there was much to see. Dead trees, barren fields, and muddy water made up the majority of the sights around Kastoria. The Demons had not left much to look at it in their zeal for destruction.

Not that Jadis and Alex were there for the sights.

“Simulacrum spotted,” Jay told Alex as she adjusted her flight to aim for the enemy Demon. “Ready?”

“Yes…” Alex said with deadly certainty.

“Going for the drop in three… two… one…”

Diving low, Jay carried Alex towards the lone stone-bodied Demon that was trudging across an open field. Like all the other Demons they had spotted that night thus far, the simulacrum was marching towards Kastoria, ignoring everything else around it in its single-minded intent to reach the city. Careful not to go too fast, Jay approach from behind the Demon, not wanting to give it any warning. While Sorcha’s wands helped with her stealth, Jadis’ wings still glowed even when partially translucent, so she couldn’t expect her enemies not to notice her when she got close.

As soon as she was within range, Jay released her hold on Alex, letting the Demon fall through the air like a living missile. With armored arms and tentacles outstretched, Alex impacted the simulacrum with a loud crash of metal on stone, knocking the sturdy creature forward.

Then the carnage began.

Alex was not subtle when it came to her attack strategy. She hit the enemy Demon with everything she had at once, tearing the pitiable stone monster to pieces in a matter of moments. The blue light of her smiting blows faded quickly as rock and rubble were strewn across the ground. Alex had shredded the unfortunate Demon in seconds, having transformed into a whirlwind of death and destruction the moment she had left Jay’s arms.

Then, swooping in from the side, Dys caught hold of Alex and lifted her up into the sky, and her gentle lover was back where she belonged, like she had never left.

“I wish we could see how many more we need for you to reach your next level,” Dys said as she carried Alex in her arms. “I feel like we have to be getting close.”

“I will… Level… When I… Level…” Alex replied with a comforting pat. “I am not… Worried…”

“How very Zen of you,” Dys chuckled.

“Zen…?”

“Wise,” Dys amended her wording. “You’re a very wise woman, Alex.”

“I am…” Alex agreed readily. “I bonded… With you…”

The sincerity with which the words were spoken made Jadis want to turn around and carry Alex back to their bed onboard the Leviathan. However, they were flying around Kastoria with a purpose. Alex would be getting her tertiary class by the end of the night, no matter what.

Even if Jadis really, really, really wanted to make love to Alex instead.

Jadis ruminated on the progress that had been made that day thus far, or the lack thereof. Really, that statement wasn’t fair. Sorcha had gained her final level and unlocked her tertiary class, which was absolutely stupendous, but the rest of the team hadn’t been so fortunate. No one else had gained a single level for the rest of the day, though not for lack of trying. Jadis had escorted Sabina, Maeve, and Noct for hours, all the way until camp had been made, and nothing had come of the effort. There just hadn’t been enough enemies to fight.

It hadn’t been until after they had all gathered in the Leviathan, reviewed Sorcha’s cool new Enchantress class, and Jadis had taken Alex into the sky so that she could get her turn at power leveling, that the reason for the lack of combat had become apparent. The Demons were gathering in Kastoria. All of them.

Well, it was hard to say if it was truly all of them. There were probably pockets of Demons further out in the corrupted territory that had not received whatever signal was being sent out. But it was obvious that the majority of the demonic forces in Volto had been recalled from their unchecked expansion and were being gathered in Kastoria. How the message was being conveyed, Jadis didn’t have a clue. But the reason was pretty easy to figure out. Twisted Desire was preparing for arrival of Jadis and the army, and she was calling for reinforcements.

“Another group spotted,” Dys told Alex as she slowed her flight and adjusted her path. “Small group of mire hounds.”

“Ready…”

Once more swooping low, Dys delivered Alex onto the unsuspecting mud Demons. Giving her impressively efficient lover a few moments to finish off the gaggle of eight or so mire hounds, Syd flew in and collected Alex for the next round. Over the past couple of hours, Alex had slain fifty or more Demons of various types and sizes, all of which had been traveling towards Kastoria. They had seen many more than that paltry number, but thanks to how they were all spread out, the number of enemies killed wasn’t as many as Jadis would have preferred. Still, they were having more luck than the leveling expedition earlier in the day.

Were the Demons purposefully moving at night to avoid being spotted by scouts? Possible, Jadis supposed. The scouts had not seen as many as Jadis and Alex had, but they also hadn’t flown as close to Kastoria as they had, so they might not have had the same view.

Alex had gained one more level, though, so there was only one more left before she reached CLR sixty. How many more Demons it would take, Jadis wasn’t sure, but she figured if they focused on big groups of mire hounds, or the more powerful Demons like simulacrum and dead heads, then the leveling would go much faster. It also helped that Jadis was purposefully keeping her bodies at a distance while Alex fought on her own, so she wasn’t siphoning off any of the bonus experience for herself.

The two levels Alex had gained during the ambush had been one each in her primary and secondary classes. Both had been odd-numbered levels, so she had gained two new skill slots. Neither were the sorts of skills that would light a class researcher’s world on fire, but her selections were still strong and useful. One was even something Jadis wished she had herself.

Paladin’s Unwavering Will

Passive Skill. When your magic reserves are full, any excess magic generated by your Will attribute is applied to your stamina recovery at a rate of 0.1 of your total Will. Prayer and meditation techniques that increase the rate of your magic regeneration do not apply to this skill.

Greater Demon’s Adapted Carapace

Passive Skill. Select a piece of equipment or armor that covers at least fifty percent of your body. So long as you are wearing the selected equipment, any damage done to the armor will be regenerated as though it were a part of your flesh at a rate of 0.2 of your normal regeneration. Armor pieces that are completely missing will not regenerate. You must have worn this armor for a minimum of seven total days for it to be affected by this skill.

Jadis didn’t think her Will was high enough for Paladin’s Unwavering Will to make a difference for her, but Greater Demon’s Adapted Carapace would make it so much easier to fix the constant damage being done to her armor. All of the scratches and dents would just… magically go away all on their own, no maintenance required. Of course, Jadis would need a regenerative property for the skill to work on her, and she already had Paladin of Jadis’ Boldness replicated anyway, but still. A girl could dream.

Sabina was, of course, even more interested in the skill than Jadis and Alex were and had already come up with a place to see if the skill could be used to repair other armor if Alex wore pieces for the requisite timeframe.

The most recent level Alex had gained had come near the start of their night, and it had bene in her Bonded Alex class. The level was only worth two attribute points, both of which had gone into Alex’s Strength, but it was one step closer to her tertiary class unlock. Jadis wasn’t sure which class would give her the final level she needed, but her money was on Paladin of Jadis, considering all the fighting Alex was doing involved lots of smites.

The real question in Jadis’ mind was what kind of classes Alex would have offered to her. Jadis had not seen either Bridget or Sorcha’s classes coming, and they didn’t have the added wrinkle of being Demons to complicate predictions. Jadis assumed some version of Demon Prince might be offered, but she wasn’t sure if that was reasonable or not. The progression of Demon classes was still uncertain, and the fact that Alex’s first class wasn’t a typical Demon-type class at all would probably make a difference. There was no guarantee that Alex would be offered any kind of Demon class.

Aila had speculated that Alex would be offered at least one progenitor class, since she was half of the equation when it came to the creation of Succubi. Jadis agreed with that logic, but she doubted that Alex would be offered the exact same class as her; probably it would have some type of variation to it that made it more uniquely Alex. Sabina was convinced that one of the options would be some kind of uber-powered magic replenishment class that could give both people and enchantments more magic, possibly in an area-of-effect way. The idea was funny, but Jadis hoped that wasn’t a class on offer, since she didn’t want Alex to feel obligated to become a battery for everyone around her. Eir had her hopes on some form of priesthood, what with Alex’s paladin class dedicated to Jadis. It was an interesting thought, but Jadis wasn’t sure if Alex would make a good cleric or priest. Paladin suited her better, in her opinion.

All of Kerr’s guesses revolved around sex, to no one’s surprise, and Jadis couldn’t deny that they were all definitely possible.

And more than a little appealing, too.

“Another simulacrum spotted,” Syd told Alex as she adjusted her flight to intersect with the path of the enemy. “Two of them, actually.”

Their path had led them further north, so that they were very nearly true north of Kastoria by that point in the night. The two simulacrums that Jay had spotted were lumbering through a small creek bed that had overflown its banks thanks to the torrential rainfall of the past week. While the dark skies over the southern borders of Volto were clear, and had been for the past three days, rainclouds continued to drift over the mountains which fed the rivers and streams that flowed towards the Siren Sea. The two simulacrums were unbothered by the rapidly moving floodwater and were trudging through the stream without any care for their surroundings. Their path had likely kept them in the water for miles, which was part of the reason why Jadis had not spotted them before that moment, but the stream had diverged from the direction that would take them to Kastoria, so the two were stomping their way out.

“Aiming for the one on the right,” Syd informed Alex as she flew into position, banking around so that she would hit the Demons from behind. “When they reach the shore.”

“Ready…” Alex acknowledged Jadis’ words, her armored tentacles already primed to attack.

Rolling into the dive, Syd timed her flight so that the moment the two stone-bodied Demons walked fully onto the shore, Alex was launched from her arms and onto the back of the rightmost simulacrum.

Pulling up immediately, Syd put distance between herself and Alex so that her lover would get all of the experience as she tore the lesser Demon to rubble. As Jay and Dys circled overhead, watching the carnage, she saw that once again their enemies were no match for Alex in a one-on-one fight. Or two-on-one, as it were. Alex hit too hard, her smites burning the Simulacrum from the inside out, and they were not able land any significant blows on her in return. Her Sabina-crafted armor was too strong, and her movements too fast for the slow Demons. Before Syd had fully risen to the height of her other selves and Jay had rotated around to dive down for a pickup, Alex had torn the first simulacrum apart and had already partially disarmed the second.

Then a leech the size of a train engine burst out the water and slammed its full bulk on top of Alex and the simulacrum, crushing both under its bulk.