Book 5: Chapter 276: The Peaceful Kurus City Before The Attack Of The Abyss Demonic Beings
Book 5: Chapter 276: The Peaceful Kurus City Before The Attack Of The Abyss Demonic Beings
At the catchment area of the Ryder River that runs along the outskirts of Andorra Town, in the region close to Angus City at the central region of the Aldridge Empire, Bella was on high alert as she observed the God Chosen Knight Scott and his band of followers’ every move. To be honest, in her current state, she was in no position to emerge from her hiding place.
Like the other girls, Bella was wearing her own creation, the highly revealing, band-aid style sensual undergarments. As it was still day, she would be at a disadvantage if she were to stop them like this. Furthermore, Scott’s team had included three of her younger sister Lisha’s previous warrior companions.
They were the “Berserker War Demon” Bartus, “The Enchanter” Hayden, and the “Hand of Resurrection” Wolff. Back then, the trio had worked together to wreck the Demon King Coalition when it was still in its early stages and had left a deep impression on Bella.
However, this area was already in a semi-abyss state and enchantment magic would be useless here. Hayden’s exorcism enchantments worked fine against regular demonic beings but were basically ineffective against abyss demonic beings. These abyss demonic beings could not be suppressed by light type or holy type magic and the abyss region was highly restrictive for those from the magical professions. Hayden looked as though he was having a difficult time as he was drenched in sweat.
A giant abyss demonic being suddenly appeared in the skies above the Ryder River. It was the Three Headed Demonic Dragon Kirkadan. This demonic dragon was more than two hundred meters long and had three different looking heads that extended out of its immense body. Each dragon head had a mind of its own and had individual styles of attacks.
When it came to abyss demonic beings, the Demonic Dragon Kirkadan was clearly at the top of the food chain and was one of the most bloodthirsty ones. At the moment, this demonic being was only in its initial form and would eventually reach its final form as a nine headed dragon. The last generation of the Demonic Dragon Kirkadan had managed to evolve into a six headed dragon before being defeated by the Demonic Dragon Emperor Alisha who had been casually roaming the abyss. Some time ago, she had offhandedly mentioned this incident to Bella while they were chatting. Alisha had cut off five of its heads and had left the last one that was feigning its death. This new generation of the Demonic Dragon Kirkadan apparently originated from that head.
When the Demonic Dragon Kirkadan first appeared, Bella was a little nervous. She was worried that it was here to seek revenge on her younger sister Lisha. This altercation might force Lisha into revealing her true identity as the Demonic Dragon Emperor Alisha and this was not the right time to do so at all. Bella realized that the head in the middle was blinded in one eye and had a deep scar on it. That scar must have been a remnant of the fight with the Demonic Dragon Emperor Alisha.
“Boss Scott… that thing noticed our presence. Didn’t you say…”
“Quickly, prepare for battle. This thing just has many heads. I’ll take the lead in the attack and Bartus will help me with the ammunition. Wolff, be on alert for resurrections.”
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Scott’s face. As the Demonic Dragon Kirkadan had instantly found out their location, the method of smearing fresh blood all over their bodies to impersonate the zombie soldiers was clearly ineffective. This slap in the face came much quicker than he had expected.
The Demonic Dragon Kirkadan had initially intended to seek out the Demonic Dragon Emperor Alisha. However, when the mysterious gentleman summoned it, he had assigned a different task to it. In the end, the moment this creature appeared, it forgot its mission. Seeing Scott and his followers triggered Kirkadan’s bloodlust and it instantly launched into battle.
Bella swiftly retreated. She needed to return to camp and inform Lisha and the others to move to a different location as soon as possible. There was no way that they could remain here any longer. The Demonic Dragon Kirkadan was highly volatile and destructive and it could spell trouble if they got caught in the backlash. On the banks of the Ryder River behind Bella, the Demonic Dragon Kirkadan’s three heads were spitting fire, ice, and poison respectively as it was currently engaged in a confrontation with Scott and his team.
On her way back to their hiding place, Bella could see from a distance that Lisha and the other girls were surrounded by enemies. It was a large group of strange vertical shadows. Chief President Angelia and the other girls had their arms around their chests and were shaking in fear as they knelt on the ground. Lisha and Kriss were the only ones left standing as they attempted to block the group from the abyss demonic beings around them.
The Swordsman Kriss had set up a sword barrier around the girls. As the abyss demonic beings feared the barrier, they did not dare to attack them. Kriss gripped her precious sword, the “Dark Requiem” so tightly in her hands that her knuckles turned white. Although she and Lisha were standing, the girls’ snowy white figures were trembling slightly. They must have been terrified.
Bella did not dare to be careless. She put on her invisibility cloak and moved in quietly from the side. When she finally caught sight of the abyss demonic beings, Bella got a shock. They were exact replicas of the cockroaches from her previous world! These standing “roaches” were about two meters tall and were the size of those Demonic Poison Bees that they had encountered earlier. The worst thing was that these “roaches” had a ferocious human face on its heads. Most girls would be absolutely terrified by cockroaches. This meant that Kriss and Lisha might have been trembling out of instinct.
Bella was not that scared. However, it would not be easy trying to get rid of so many “roaches” at the same time. She did not know why Princess Effie’s deceptive magic would lose its effectiveness. They had managed to successfully trick the Crypt Spider and Demonic Poison Bees into thinking that they were dead corpses. Why would it not work against these “roaches”?
The moment Bella caught a glimpse of one of the roaches’ faces, her vision began to blur. Almost immediately, a horrifying sight appeared right in front of her eyes. She found herself in the middle of a swamp region that was filled with the putrid smell of rotting flesh. Countless rotting human hands emerged from the swamp and attempted to drag her down into the murky waters.
Since Bella was a Demon God, she had the ability to move freely within the illusion. Her right hand transformed into her demonic claw, grabbed onto the rotting hand that was tugging on her and snapped it into pieces. In that moment, the illusion shattered as well. By the time she returned to reality, Bella’s right hand was human again as the transformations in the illusion would remain in the illusion.
Ah, it had been a psychological attack. Bella finally recalled the origins of the cockroach-like abyss demonic beings. These abyss crypt insects were one of the lowest in the food chain. For instance, a single Crypt Spider would be able to kill all of them. To the other abyss demonic beings, these roaches were weaklings. However, to humans, they were one of the more tricky demonic beings to fight.
The faces on their heads belonged to the last human they devoured. Since these insects would absorb their prey’s resentment and vengeance, humans who were being psychologically attacked could not look at those faces for too long before being frightened to death. It seemed like the Abyss Crypt Insects had eaten the residents of Angus City. Since they carried human resentment, Princess Effie’s invisibility magic was useless against them.
In a sudden stroke of genius, Bella found a nearby corpse of another abyss demonic being, a Crypt Spider, and dropped a few drops of her blood on it. A Demon King’s blood managed to “resurrect” this corpse and allow it to reanimate for a short while.
This short bout of movement caused the Crypt Insects around Lisha and the others to scuttle away in fright. They were fine when bullying humans but when faced with their own kind, their only course of action would be to run away as a single Crypt Spider would have been enough to kill them all.
“Lisha, it’s been hard on you, I was too late…”
“Older Sister Bella, if you were any later… the one inside would have come out to settle this herself…”
“Same here… Bella, smoke has been coming from the other side of the Ryder River. What’s going on… could it be…”
“There… there’s nothing wrong. It’s just another internal battle between abyss demonic beings. You don’t have to worry about it.”
Once Bella appeared, Lisha and Kriss collapsed onto the ground as though a heavy load had been lifted off them. They had suffered too many bouts of psychological attacks. If Bella came a little later, the Demonic Dragon Emperor Alisha and the Myriad Sword Demon Krysan who were hidden within the girls would have forced their way out. They could not continue to watch as the girls continued to make a fool of themselves by being attacked by such low level abyss demonic beings.
Lisha and Kriss had no choice. As they were with Chief President Angelia, Princess Effie, and the others, they had to conceal part of their true abilities and could not fight back with all their might. However, it had put them in a difficult position. Since they could not harness their full strength, they had trouble dealing with the Crypt Insects.
Lisha and Kriss had said the last sentence in a small voice so that Princess Effie, who had been standing behind them, could not hear anything. Bella reached out and patted their heads in an attempt to comfort them. After that, Bella walked over to Princess Effie and the others.
Princess Effie was kneeling on the ground. Her hands were wrapped around her chest and her legs were clamped as tightly as she could. She stared at the grass at her feet with her face flushed red, unwilling to meet Bella’s eyes. Being highly observant, Bella immediately realized that there was a strange wet patch on the ground next to her.
“Bella… what are you looking at, don’t look at me… stop smiling strangely… I… I’m fine, everything’s fine.”
“Princess Effie, could it be that you were so scared…”
“Shh, don’t say anything. Bella, please, I’m begging you… I didn’t… I would never…”
“How about this, I can help you change into a clean set of undergarment bottoms, but you must be obedient…”
Bella looked down and realized that Princess Effie had been so scared by those Crypt Insects’ psychological attacks that she had lost control of her bladder. Bella always enjoyed profiting from others’ misfortune. Since she had already seen Princess Effie in such an embarrassing state, the princess was so self-conscious that she hoped that a hole would open up in the ground and swallow her whole. Right now, all she wanted to do was to take the attention away from her accident and would agree to anything that Bella wanted her to do.
Princess Effie was not the only one who had an accident. Bella glanced around and saw that other than Lisha and Kriss who had been standing at the fore, everyone else had lost control of their bladders. Every girl had their legs crossed tightly together and were too embarrassed to look up at all.
Close by, Chief President Angelia, President Alephia, and President Gladdis were in the same position as Princess Effie. When Bella turned towards them, all three girls instantly turned away, and kept their legs closed tightly. They did not dare to look Bella in the eyes as they were afraid that she would notice the special patches of water in the grass near them.
Seriously, did these three presidents think that they would be able to hide something like that from her that easily? Bella stood up and walked towards the three of them with a cryptic smile on her face. The look in her eyes as she observed them caused them to tremble in fear.
“Bella, you should check on the other girls first… I’m fine.”
“Exactly… I’m fine too. You should pay some attention to Princess Effie instead.”
“I’m fine here too, don’t worry…”
“My dear seniors, don’t be naughty. I’ll only believe you if you spread open your legs. Otherwise, I will come to you and take a look for myself.”
There was no way that Chief President Angelia and the other girls would dare to spread their legs as they would not be able to hide their incontinence anymore. Although everyone else was in the same position, the three of them were student union presidents after all. They needed to protect their personal reputation and authority.
From that point on, things got interesting. While Kriss and Lisha feigned ignorance, the other girls allowed Bella to remove the last piece of undergarment that protected their modesty under the pretense of “doing laundry”. Right now, they were all completely naked from the waist down and were left with the two band-aids that covered the little nubs on their chests.
“Come with me, it’s not safe here either. Don’t be so self-conscious! There aren’t any outsiders here…”
Bella took out a long piece of red ropes and tied it around each girls’ waist. Other than Lisha and Kriss, the other girls were all connected together by the red ropes as they moved along. From a distance, it looked as though they were three slave traders who were on their way to make a transaction with a batch of slaves.
Princess Effie and the others had no choice but to allow themselves to follow Bella’s lead like this. After all, Bella had already seen everything, including their most humiliating moments. Thus they did not feel too uncomfortable walking around in this manner. Although this was supposed to be a degrading type of training game, it did not feel that bad as they were all in it together as a group.
“Lisha, Kriss, you look a little strange!”
“It’s nothing much, Older Sister Bella. It’s just… nevermind. Since Senior Effie and the others do not have any objections, I shall not say anything.”
“Bella, I’m always on your side. You do not have to be suspicious!”
After spending so much time with Bella, Lisha and Kriss were gradually moving towards being an S. However, their tendencies were not as obvious as the Assassin Noreya and the Puppet Master Elaine. The latter two already had a record of being Bella’s “partners in crime”.
On the other side of the Ryder River, the God Chosen Knight Scott and his followers finally cut off one of the Demonic Dragon Kirkadan’s heads after much difficulty. As it was still in its beginning stages, it was a tough fight against the male Savior’s human exploratory team. After losing one of its dragon heads, the Demonic Dragon Kirkadan had no other choice but to fly away.
By the time the God Chosen Knight Scott and his band of followers crossed over to the other side of the Ryder River, they had already missed their chance to reap their rewards. Other than the strange puddles of water on the grass, there was no one there. Bella had already whisked Chief President Angelia and the other girls away. The only things left waiting for them were frenzied attacks from the hundreds of angry Crypt Insects that returned when they realized that they had been duped.
The fortress Kurus City was the nearest large city to Angus City. Both cities were about the same size. However, Kurus City was on full security lockdown. Not long ago, signs of activity by abyss demonic beings had been found near the city. Earl Kirk the Sixth, the lord of Kurus City, was so frightened that he immediately ordered for the city to go on high alert.
Even though he had the powers of a Mage, he was a coward at heart. After living in peace for so long, Earl Kirk was even more afraid of death. This territory had been passed down in his family from his ancestors and he was now the sixth generation lord of this city.
“Earl Kirk, I wish to make a request to leave the city with my students…”
“Miss Caroline… these are uncertain times. It would be much safer for you and the students of the Frederica Academy to remain inside Kurus City. The students from the other three academies combined were more powerful than your group. Despite that, they have gone missing near Andorra Town…”
“You do not have to worry. My city walls are eight meters tall and are the same height as the ones that helped the Sarnia Duchy defend her capital, Sarni City, against the Beastmen Coalition of more than one million troops for a month. Trust me, there is no way that the abyss demonic beings will be able to climb in.”
Inside the main hall of Earl Kirk’s mansion, President Caroline of the Frederica Academy Student Unions was currently deep in negotiations with the Earl. This scholarly, middle aged earl would only recite the rules of the Imperial Union everytime she tried to say anything. President Caroline was so annoyed that there were a few moments during their conversation when she nearly wanted to punch him. If not for the fact that she was not too powerful, she would have turned hostile a long time ago.
President Caroline had already met the demonic being that Bella had sent to her, seeking her help. She immediately planned to bring the girls whom she had brought from Frederica Academy to support Bella. Those girls were all on the same team. They were the same girls who had been imprisoned by the Ogre Nelson on the New Moon Island and already knew Bella intimately.
“Since that’s the case, Earl Kirk, I shall take my leave. Let’s go…”
“Hey, President Caroline, why don’t you leave after dinner? All sorts of delicacies have already been prepared inside the mansion… Don’t worry too much about the abyss demonic beings. When the Radiant Church’s Judgement of God arrives, everything will be cleaned up within moments.”
“No thank you, Earl Kirk. I appreciate your kindness… However, it is still day and I’m not hungry…”
President Caroline was actually extremely intelligent and shrewd. Other than that time when she lost to Bella and she managed to take advantage of her, under normal circumstances, tricking her was no easy feat. Although there were no obvious signs that Earl Kirk’s reputation had been tainted, President Caroline refused to believe that the family had not gone corrupt after six generations of nepotism.
Before visiting Earl Kirk the Sixth at his mansion, Caroline had specially sent someone to do a secret background check on the Earl. She found out that he had done many bad things over the years that evaded the law of the Aldridge Empire, such as tax evasion, underground recruitment of private soldiers and exceeding the maximum quota for his private army.
However, the semblance of peace in Kurus City was only temporary. As the guards outside the city walls were inexperienced, none of them realized that those abyss demonic beings were Crypt Insects that were similar to cockroaches. This meant that they could enter the city through the underground waterways and his eight meter tall city walls would be completely useless in defending the city.