Arpious of the Planes

Wait a minute… What the hell is that?

FWOOP

Suddenly, my mind was sucked back into my body, and when I opened my eyes, I saw that I was kneeling with my head hanging.

"Okay, the commanders should be able to handle the girl itself, but that thing hiding in her backpack..." I mutter through gritted teeth.

A drop of sweat slid down my cheek as I made my way over to the frontlines as fast as possible.

"Your highness, is something wrong?" Zoe asks as she oversees the minor skirmish against what looked to be a little girl.

But judging from her severe demeanor and polished movements, I could only assume she either stopped growing or took something that slowed her growth or possibly aging.

"Tell the army to retreat," I ordered before jumping off the slightly tall building we were on.

Zoe was confused as to why I wanted this but immediately followed my order as she knew I had something planned or knew something was about to happen.

"Owen, tell your army to retreat," I order after landing next to him.

He was practically having a one-on-one with the small girl, and he was dominating the match, but if he ever killed her, he would die instantly. His soldiers that were also helping wouldn't even have a chance to run due to the thing hiding in the girl's backpack.

"What's wrong?" Owen asks but with one glare from me, he immediately followed my orders.

FWOOSH

Before the girl could land a hit on Owens turned back, I sent a burst of blue fire towards her, burning her severely, but it wasn't enough to kill her.

"Who are you?" The girl asks after recovering with a back roll and landing on her feet.

"Why the hell would I tell you?" I respond while glancing at her large tan backpack that was about the size of her torso.

The girl noticed my glances, but before she could reach over her shoulder and lift the flap sealing the monster from this plane, I sent another burst of blue fire towards her.

It didn't land, but I managed to delay her movements, so I dashed in, hoping to close some distance.

Tup Tup Tup

The little girl jumped back quickly and moved towards the building behind her that was burned to ashes due to my blazing azure flames.

Shit!

I lunged forward, hoping to catch up with her but her movements were so agile and flexible that I couldn't even graze her.

"It seems you know what this is," The little girl says.

I raised my eyebrow in confusion as the little girl unstrung her backpack from her back and plopped it in front of her.

tsk

"Oh, you don't know what this is?"

"I don't, but I do know that thing shouldn't exist here," I respond, making one more desperate lunge, but she quickly picks up the bag and creates more space between us.

And the little girl smiled for a quick second before opening the bag.

Shit.

She was sucked in immediately, and a demonic aura similar to Arpious was released from the bag. It seemed like bloodlust, but it was way too thick and heavy for it to be bloodlust.

"What the hell," I mutter as red matter begins to leak out of tiny holes in the bag, forming a small puddle in front of me.

I tried to burn it with my flames, but it just sucked it in. No, rather, it devoured it because once my flames entered the red matter, it turned an azure blue with hints of red in it.

"BACK UP FARTHER!" I shout towards the commanders and army after feeling a creepy feeling clench my spine.

It was strange. As if a ghosts' claw wrapped around my spine. It sent chills through my body, and I couldn't do anything about it… because I saw absolutely nothing.

All there was, was a puddle of azure liquid with a hint of red mixed into it.

Suddenly, I felt a drop of liquid slide down my shoulder and then run down my chest.

When I looked down, my eyes widened in horror as I noticed it was saliva. It had no odor, but the color was an azure blue with hints of red mixed into it.

"Tasty," A raspy voice echoed through the air.

…

(Arpious POV)

(A few minutes ago)

ROOOAAAAAR

A shiver ran down my spine as I looked up towards the canopy of the branches, which intertwined with each other like a puzzle.

"Master, thank you for awakening us," Two voices ring through the air in harmony.

The words were beautiful, and just as I was entranced by the few words spoken, I noticed two figures appear in front of me, but they were floating in mid-air.

One was a handsome young man, about in his early twenties. His black hair flowed to his lower back like a river made of ink. His eyes were completely pitch black, and even though I'd never seen a black hole before, I immediately knew they were similar.

And finally, his golden-brown skin was wrapped in flowing black robes, revealing the cleavage of his slightly muscular and toned chest.

He was on the left but on the right was a beautiful woman, about the same age. Her white hair flowed to her waist like a river made from clouds. Her eyes were completely white, almost like fluffy clouds.

And just like the man next to her, she was wrapped in flowing robes, but hers were a dim shade of white that fit perfectly with her glistening, clear, white skin.

"Master? Are you alright?" The man asks.

"A-ah, yeah. I was just surprised," I respond, still slightly shocked by the sudden events.

"This humble servant's name is White,"

"And this humble servant's name is Black,"

Though I wasn't paying attention, I could already guess who was Black and who was White.

"Okay, well, where did that loud roar come from?" I ask after calming down a bit.

The two… humans? Monsters? In front of me just tilted their heads slightly in confusion.

"Unfortunately, we don't know what you're talking about. But, as soon as we were born, we noticed that an anomaly had appeared… That is not Master, of course," White says.

"Ah, well, maybe it's part of the war occurring. I'll send some of my servants over… Also, may I ask what you two are?"

"You don't need to ask, Master," White says.

"Yes, you don't need to talk to us formally," Black adds.

"Uhhhhh… Okay, well, what are you two? Monsters? Humans?" I ask.

"Mommy, can't you just use [Insepct]," Flora says while reaching over the ledge to try and touch my new servants' flowing robes.

Oh, that's right… [Inspect].

"What the hell," I mutter while glancing at the small two panels in front of me.

…

(Treyni POV)

"What the hell," I mutter after feeling a chill go down my spine.

The chill was similar to when I first saw Arpious. A bone-chilling, creepy feeling. It was as if they were never meant to exist—an anomaly in existence itself.

Glancing towards my left, I saw the place where Homura was supposed to be overseeing and noticed a sizeable azure cloud of mist was behind her.

It took the form of a giant demon with six arms. And each arm had a hand wrapped around a giant scythe that approached Homura's neck very slowly.

My face slowly paled after realizing what had happened.

"A demon," I mutter.

It seemed to be a high-ranking one at that due to its significant appearance and creepy aura.

But how was it summoned? To summon a demon, you need hundreds of sacrifices, but that's not something humans should even know about it. The traitor, maybe?

tsk

"Mistress," A sudden voice appears behind me.

I jumped forward, away from the voice, and summoned hundreds of vines that appeared from the roof below me.

"Mistress, it's me, Yin," The figure that rose from the shadow behind me said.

She's improved. I couldn't even detect her until she talked…

My eyes narrowed towards her as I walked forward.

"I-I'm sorry," Yin apologizes with her head hanging.

"*sigh*... It's fine. It's just I'm a bit suspicious of everybody as there is a traitor that is proficient with demons- wait, demons… Demons… Paimon,"

I chuckled to myself after pretty much confirming who the traitor was. It could only be Paimon.

Nobody in our kingdom was even aware of the world outside the mountain, and that includes Arpious. And even though she seems to be very demonic, there's no way she would be the traitor of her own kingdom.

So the traitor must be aware of the outside world. A world with demons. And they must have tons of knowledge… leaving only Paimon, one of the kings of hell.

"Yin, before you tell me what you are here for, secretly inform Arpious that Paimon is the traitor. Make sure nobody else hears you," I order before glacing back at the large azure demon made of mist that was currently fighting against Homura.