Arpious of the Planes

"*sigh*... Another one…" I mutter after feeling another powerful presence, but this time it was eerie.

FWOOSH

A chilling wind brushed past me, and a semi-clear ghost appeared behind me when I turned around.

It was as big as me and bobbed up and down in the air.

"Oh, you're not scared," A chilling woman's voice asks.

It wasn't far in the distance or right behind me… It was sent directly into my mind.

"[Telepathy] huh?" I mutter.

Turning around, I see a ghostly woman floating in the air. Her purple hair was fluttering with an invisible breeze, and the dark eye bags under her eyes gave her a creepy vibe.

But just as I was about to attack the ghost in front of me, a splashing sound came from behind me.

"*sigh*... I see," I mutter, understanding the message without the assassin even coming out of the shadow.

"What do you see?" The woman asks, her robes revealing a thin, pale, and frail body.

"Nothing," I respond, my eyes growing cold and the warm aura around me sucking back into my chest.

FWOOSH

Suddenly, the sun had been blocked out, and when I stared up, I saw two large rocks barreling towards the kingdom.

"You guys are insane," I mutter.

Two meteors, each the kingdom's size, barreled towards the kingdom at a pretty slow size.

And just as I was about to make a move, Kumo jumped up and punched the meteor, surprising me due to her quick attack that held no hesitation.

I initially thought what her punch was supposed to do, but once the first meteor split apart like a blooming flower, I just nodded my head in approval.

The only problem now is the second meteor which was now quickly approaching our kingdom and even smashed the first meteor to pieces.

"Hmmmmm… That bastard. He doesn't care about the outcome of this war," The ghostly woman mutters under her breath as if she was cursing the summoner of these giant rocks.

"[Forbidden Magic: Chloris]," I mutter while raising my hands into the air as if I was praising a spirit.

One massive flower erupted from the center of the kingdom, and upon blooming, it began to glow a bright white light.

I took in a sharp breath and then, in an instant, closed my hands, causing the white light to erupt from the center of the flower, disintegrating the meteor into dust, leaving absolutely nothing.

"*gag* *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough*,"

My arms lowered to my side, and I coughed up a mouthful of blood. I even took a knee, trying to support myself from collapsing as the ghostly woman was right beside me.

A few more seconds.

"Well, this makes my job easier," The woman says after snapping out of the shock of seeing me summon a massive flower that destroyed a huge flaming rock in an instant.

The ghostly woman flew over to me and summoned a few purple wisps of fire that were sent flying towards me.

"ARGHHHHHHH!"

"Finally," I mutter before passing out.

…

(Homura POV)

Fwoosh Fwoosh

SHING SHING

"I can't damage this guy at all," I mutter.

My mana was almost completely exhausted, but I hadn't even managed to damage the massive demon in front of me.

Not a skid mark. Not a burn mark. Not even a scratch.

"KEHAHAHAHA!"

It seemed to be unable to communicate, but its overwhelming power probably allowed it to get its way in Infernum.

"I'm grateful Arpious told us about planes; otherwise, I'd be questioning my existence right now," I chuckle to myself while taking a knee.

My stamina was quickly draining as fast as my mana because I had been running around, dodging the demon's massive scythe that looked a bit similar to Arpious's own scythe.

tch

Splash

"Oh, what do you want?" I muttered, but I felt myself get suddenly sucked into darkness and then reappear right next to Aika.

"We have to ignore that thing for now. Arpious is probably the only one who can lay a hand on that demon so let's conserve our energy," Aika says as one of her Slaves of Death begin to replenish my mana and stamina slowly.

I was surprised a skill as this existed but focused on the more important task at hand… which was breaking past the strong wall of humans who kept us from progressing any further.

"The armies are slowing down, but that also includes ours… And it seems Treyni is past her limit after summoning that massive flower that broke the other flaming rock," Aika informs me once again.

"*sigh*... I need food…." I sigh before glancing at what seemed to be two newly acquired slaves that Aika managed to capture.

I also noticed that the one sitting on the left was very powerful. So powerful that I don't think I could beat her on my own.

"P-please don't eat me," The smaller human sitting on the left stutters in fear.

I snicker slightly at her plea and suddenly shift my body to see another assassin come out of the shadows, bringing Treyni's unconscious body.

"Let her rest-"

ROAAAAAAAAAR

"Let's move now. Also, you don't have to worry about the demon… It can't move from that place anyway,"

And as soon as Aika said that, I heard the slave sitting on the left click her tongue, causing me and Aika to smile.

"Seems you were spot on," I reply before fist-bumping her fist.

…

(Kumo POV)

Soon, I sliced the skinny man's head off with one swipe of my arm after extracting all the information I could get from him.

Some of it was useful for later, but right now, I had to focus on regrouping with the other wives; otherwise, our armies would get wiped out.

We are being continuously pressed back, and our armies are slowly losing energy. The casualties are very low, but soon they will exponentially increase.

Even with Aika's undead supporting we are struggling, so our best bet was to retreat. We've done enough damage, and retreating won't do much harm.

"Mistress Aika suggested we shouldn't retreat," A familiar voice says.

"What is her reason?" I ask Yin, who rose from the shadow beside me.

Thankfully the kingdom is full of shadows because it is mid-afternoon, so the assassins weren't struggling to deliver and receive information.

"She said they've gained a new ally that is stronger than her…."

"What is that ally? An elf? Beastman?"

"It is her newly acquired slave… And its a human,"

"Ah, well, if she's strong, that's nice, but there are most likely going to be others that are strong, so she won't make a difference,"

"Mistress Aika said she can create a dense blizzard in this kingdom, allowing us to slip past… Allow me to elaborate,"

Yin began to explain the rest of the plan, and it was honestly quite a good plan. There were some things I'd switch for a better success rate, but the overall quality of the plan was outstanding.

"Okay, we'll go with that… RETREAT!" I shout to the two armies in front of me while Yin nods her head, slipping into the shadows below her.

…

(Aika POV)

"What'd she say?" I ask Yin.

"She has already begun the retreat," Yin responds, kneeling on one knee in front of me.

"Alright… RETREAT!" My voice echoed through the kingdom.

The commanders didn't question my decision in the slightest as they immediately followed my orders, leading the chargeback towards the wall.

"Okay, set up the blizzard and make sure it covers the entire place. Including partly outside the wall and in each and every buildings," I order Alba, who once again clicked her tongue as she hoped I would allow a loophole.

Within five minutes, we had all retreated to the very edge of the kingdom where the wall is but never left the walls.

We wanted the enemy to think we were leaving, but it was inevitable this would eventually be discovered, so we, of course, knew we had to try our hardest.

If we didn't, we would be pincered from both sides, so we had to take the main palace where I felt multiple strong presences stay.

The blizzard coating the kingdom was extremely thick. So thick that I could barely see the people around me, and I knew Alba did this on purpose… but this just made it better.

Our order for the armies was to charge towards the direction of the main palace while slaughtering any human they found. Not group together to attack…

Confusion between soldiers won't be possible, though, as every single one of our soldiers is charging towards the main palace… And any monsters who try to flee… Well, I guess they'll die.

"Okay, everybody has been informed of the orders, and we should've lost most of the humans. The higher-tiered warriors, though, are sitting back near the palace, hoping to catch us off guard," Yin informs, sweat dripping from her forehead.

It seems she encountered one of these high-tiered warriors.

"Uh, why is it so cold?" I suddenly heard Treyni's voice, and when I turned around, I saw her get up with the help of Homura.