Come Play (from the series Arcane League of Legends)
The laugh that rang out from her own possessed mouth reminded Elizabeth of a memory long forgotten on those harsh streets she lived on for seven years.
One of the few positive memories she still had with her family - most having been poisoned with the realisation of how toxic her father was. It was them attending a place called a zoo. Where strange and exotic animals & monsters are contained so that people of wealth can watch them safely.
Within that group of animals there was one that stuck out to her as well as many others. Partly because they got to hear their distinct "laughter" before ever actually seeing them in action. Those being some kind of weird spotted dog that hunted in a pack while constantly letting out a strangely melodic laughter.
They even got to witness as the monstrous pack hunters hunted… One of their own kind who stood out due to being seemingly smaller than the rest.
That laughter didn't belong to the ones slowly surrounding that long dog.
No.
It came from the dog who should have been prey.
At least that was the thought until some of those who were previously part of the encirclement turned on their brothers and sisters. Tearing each other apart while the one in the center just laughed. Not even needing to raise a claw as those who targeted her became lost in a world of chaos of her design.
Such a scene caused the children as well as those of a fairer mind to cry if not pass out yet she couldn't look away from the scene. A morbid curiosity in the story of such a monster. How had she convinced those who should have been enemies and why had she been a target in the first place.
Even in the memory she remembered her father called her all sorts of names however that didn't stain the memory for her.
Far too much was already getting stained.
"Your potential; what could be as mine!"
The brutal feeling of another skull collapsing under her fist was so visceral that she couldn't even begin to put words towards it. So unique an experience that she could only watch that the monster turned on the heel of her foot to slam an elbow into the ribcage of another. Another distinctive experience for her.
Those fools had left the gate into their safehouse wide open and demons were not the type to resist such an obvious invitation. Charging in before those watching from the wall could even begin to fathom what happened to those who went out to check on the camp. Practically only seeing a blur of red before chaos broke loose once more.
This time she didn't rely on some fancy demonic magic nor did she need the gifts from the system; her eyes constantly darted about the warzone as she used her senses to take everything in.
Every movement was intentional as she ducked under a ball of fire that hurled towards her before darting forward with her forearms raised in front of her face. A quick body tuck, something the demoness called a demonic dempsey, dodged the arrow hiding in the shadow of the magic. Though the technique didn't merely let her dodge as she carried it's momentum forward as her body blurred.
The silver dyed blood red followed behind like a trail as her hand passed through flesh to directly impact the liver of the mage who fired the first ranged attack. That weak meaty vessel exploding under the kinetic force delivered to it. Sending the mage down with no breath and soon no blood in their veins.
Of course the archer saw every second of that and began to back away while screaming out how his arrows were meant to home. Though he needed to be alive to send them so that didn't matter. Especially when the demoness simply grabbed him by his neck before pulling that and several feet of spine out.
Throwing that up, letting it spin in the air, only to grab the end of the spine before whipping the extracted head around in a wide arc.
Slamming full force into another soldier's head as both instantly exploded on contact.
Those arms came up in front of her face again as she committed to another head roll as a veritable swarm of arrows & gifts came falling down on her.
Somehow (not understanding despite being in the same body) this resulted in the demoness perfectly dodging every attack. Perfectly executing roll after role, sometimes one direction followed by the opposite direction, along with constantly bouncing on the heels of her feet. Weaving through every small gap.
In fact she didn't just dodge but got closer with each and every movement she made. Eyes burning purple as the world in front of Elizabeth slowly began to change as her body slowly took more aspects from the demoness who was running it. The world in front of them is becoming more… Systematic in a sense.
These eyes made the world strange to Elizabeth who was not used to seeing thing from the perspective of the divine demon.
Like there was some invisible grid that only the two of them could see.
Through this everything made sense to them however it also made things that weren't right stick out like a sore thumb. Some details popped while others faded into the background. At first one may think that this is simply what all "human" eyes do but this was different as it wasn't based on focus.
It just always was which made certain things aggravatingly out of place, like the wall of a building slightly askew from those invisible guidelines, guidelines everyone else ignored like fools. What did that all mean in terms of combat? Everything was easy to keep track of as well as judge spatially.
One may think that guessing the distances or the angel of ascent that a weapon made wouldn't be too important nevertheless the demoness used it all the same.
To those outside it almost seemed like she had foresight when really it was just them who was blind.
As for what happened when she arrived at the terrified soldiers?
"Your turn."
At some point a large hammer found its way in her hands as it fit strangely comfortably as she held it's long grip between her two hands. Taking a minute to look at the weapon revealed it to be made out of a similar material as the coffin. Even having a spikey butt at the end for even more damage.
What was particularly strange was the barrel at the back of the hammerhead that would have created confusion if the knowledge of the weapon wasn't forcibly transmitted.
A simple swing was all it took to pop the head of a guard like a melon screams followed however she found herself not caring for the contents. Instead using the butt of that hammer like a spear that she thrust backwards to catch someone at her seemingly unguarded back. A surprised grunt she ignored as she retched her weapon back out.
Swinging the head to come into contact with a raised shield wall as the three who approached her with them raised found themselves falling on their access. Her demonic infused muscles ache as blood leaked from her nostrils. The demon's possession took effect on her body but she ignored it.
"Strauss knights will all die like the cowards you are!"
Not letting those bastards with that heraldry escape as she slammed her hammer down again and again and again and again. At first they used their shields to try to knock her blows away. Yet she could use the eyes of the divine demon to let her hammer flow smoothly from one blow to the next with ease.
Following the structured world she saw could be; attacks at the perfect angle and power to bounce off and be in the right place for another attack to come. Those heavy metal shields slowly break apart. Not that she realised the destruction she wrought with her flurry of blows until finally her hammer just hit dirt due to how scattered their corpses were.
Throwing a sudden wild swing behind her to hear various pings as arrows found themselves battered away by the wind generated. What was more surprising was the effect it had on magic. Causing them to fizzle out into harmless mana without intent.
"HAHAHA!"
Leaning forward she repeated the feeling she had felt many times, letting demonic flow her in an admittedly more sloppy fashion than earlier, to send her jetting forward. The soldier she arrived in front of didn't even have time to react. Hammer over head slamming down to squash him like a bug.
Quickly realising someone was coming up to try to stab her in the side she had her demonic energy flow through the weapon.
An explosion of demonic fire erupted out to give a sudden momentum that she guided to knock the blade aside while accidentally taking the man's hands with her. Letting go of the hammer as it reached its apex resulted in it flying off. Colliding with another who flew into a wall while taking dozens with him.
Making a fine paste against said wall.
Meanwhile she took this chance to use the cursed techniques she had gained to form blades on her fingers that she used to slash the neck of the man in front of her. Blood spewing out on her face as that warm shower seemed to break the trance she was in. A sudden realisation overcame Elizabeth.
Silently looking at her blood covered fingers as crimson hair reminiscent of the demoness fell over her shoulders even as the purple glow in her eyes faded.
The silence not even giving an ounce of the inner turmoil the girl felt.
"How many… Did I kill personally?"
"Not enough; kill till no more who oppose!"
That bell-like voice rang in her ears as she noticed a strangely beautiful butterfly flapping in the bloody field where she found no one but herself.
Taking a moment to appreciate the insect as she judged, as the light in her eyes dimmed, that it was of no consequence to her at the moment. Especially as she felt a rumbling. At first thinking it her imagination born from the adrenaline pumping through her still fairly malnourished form.
But she soon realised it was no illusion as ripples in the blood stained pools could not simply be her imagining things that weren't there.
Closing her eyes for a second as the appetising iron fragrance radiated from every inch of the fort.
A soft clacking she judged as unimportant rang out.
"
So the girl took her first step on becoming something greater than she was a mere day before.
Her steps cautious of the unknown yet fear was not a companion she found herself avoiding; greeting it like an old friend as she reached down. The sticky red liquid clung to her fingers even as it trickled through the gaps as if mocking the impairment nature of its prior host. Such potential sophistry was not for her to comment on at the moment, however.
Knowing her path ahead was one fraught with risk and danger she hesitated naught. Letting the loose life giving flood slip past her inexperienced lips. Its richness was ignored for the invigorating fire that almost instantly began to flow through her once it hit her stomach.
A reminder that she was choosing the right master to follow; well aware that was nothing to fear about becoming a demon.
Even if she had only begun her journey as a mere half demon.
Who knows how long said journey may take?
Either way… She had more urgent (as well as current) matters to pay heed towards.
"