The bright flashes of magic being released lit up the darkened sky above the Eastern Island of Ente Isla as hundreds of demons and magicians clashes at once. Screams of the fallen resonated in the night as blood drenched the soil, the smell of iron clung thickly in the air, and bits of both human and demon remains littered the crimson earth.

A tall castle could be seen above the thick canopy of trees, the towers surrounding it burning from the bursts of magic and flaming arrows that sailed through the dark night, silent as the faintest summer breeze.

Below the canopy many soldiers, human and demonic, fought for their lives, one side defending the castle and the other attacking it.

A bright beam of blue light for just a moment lit up the entire area before a devastating crash was heard as a huge crater was blown in the middle of the Holy Army, effectively making the human soldiers scatter to all sides in shock and horror of seeing their mangled comrades on the ground.

"Foul beasts! The Church will defeat all of you hellish spawn!"

Men dressed in shining armor with bloodstains splattered left and right marched forward in straight lines with lifted shields and swords, slowly forcing the demonic warriors further and further back towards their recently claimed stronghold, Eajhekn Jhkonvtolx [1] on the very edge of the large forests surrounding the area.

"Don't let them gain more ground! Get back in your formations and force them back to the bea—ARGH!" one of the demons screamed in a highly pitched voice only seconds before he was felled by a stray arrow.

"The humans are stronger than we expected! There's no way we can win this!" one of the lesser demons cried out as swords clashed throughout the battlefield and resonated with loud pangs of steel against steel.

"Oh Divine Light, guide thy hand and destroy the demons!"

The sound of hundreds of humans Priests resonated in the air, their voices synchronizing with each other as Holy Magic was fired after the demons retreating to the Fortress.

"The demons are retreating! We need to keep the pressure on them!" one of the Generals screamed as loud as his lungs could muster, desperately trying to overpower the screams of battle even though only a handful of the soldiers closest by heard what he said.

"FOOLS! You think that you can defeat my armies? You think that you can defeat me, Satan, the Devil himself?!" a booming voice roared in the midst of battle, effectively making both sides stop momentarily as humans and demons looked up at the dark sky and all turned slack jawed at the sight that met their wide eyes.

Satan Jacob, the Devil, had arrived on the battlefield.

"THIS DOESN'T MATTER, MEN! KEEP FORCING THE DEMONS INTO THE FORTRESS!" the General screamed manically, the roots of fear starting to edge their way into his mind.

The Devil grinned wickedly, his eyes glowing in a rather sinister red color as he looked down upon the screaming masses of humans and demons, finding sick amusement in seeing them scramble around like the ignorant fools they were.

Satan narrowed his eyes, unconsciously moving his head to the right as a sphere of Holy Magic whipped past his horns before disappearing into the atmosphere.

"It's rather rude to attack someone without introducing yourself, is it not?" he asked casually, turning his burning eyes down to the ground where a ground of shivering Priests had gathered a circle of soldiers around themselves to protect them from harm.

"D-damn you, Satan! I, Isaac Gustavus, will destroy you!" one of the Priests shouted as he cupped his hands gently, preparing to send off another sphere of Holy Magic against the Devil.

"You will destroy me, is that so?" the Devil chuckled, revealing two rows of white, shining teeth as he looked down upon the shivering humans, "In that case, please allow me to engage you in a real duel, oh mighty Priest..." Satan drawled, his lips stretching in a wide grin as he slowly floated down to the bloody soil. The second he landed an annoyed frown crossed his features, a grimace forming at the sight of the bloody mud clinging to the edges of his mantle and boots.

"Pheh... so dirty..."

"You will not win this time, Satan! We, the Warriors of the Holy Church, shall defeat you!" Isaac screaming, throwing sphere after sphere at the Devil who easily evaded the feeble attacks.

"If all humans are as pathetic as you, Isaac Gustavus, then Humanity is far more worse off than I first expected." Satan drawled, enjoying the way that the soldiers and Priests were shaking in pure, unadulterated fear. Slowly he walked towards the shivering bunch of humans, briefly ignorant to his surroundings.

"Now, Daniel!" Isaac screamed suddenly, a wicked gleam taking over in his eyes. Before Satan could even turn around a fierce pain erupted in his abdomen, making the demon grunt in shock as he stared down at an eerily white-glowing spear tip that was sticking out of his stomach.

Satan's eyes widened.

The humans lips widened in desperate grins.

And that was when all Hell broke loose.

"WRETCHED HUMAN! DIE!" Satan roared furiously, whipping around to decapitate the soldier who had sneaked up behind him. A human sneaking up on him was a wound to his reputation, a wound to his honor as a demon, and damn it all to Hell and its fiery pits, he would not let his reputation stay tarnished like this. With a swipe of his claws yet another head fell to the ground, the thick and warm blood dripping from the tips of his fingers as he stared coldly down at the now empty eyes of the foolish soldier.

With a grunt Satan grabbed onto the tip of the white spear, hissing furiously when it began burning the palm of his hand, and quickly pulled it out. He frowned as the sensation of Magic flooding out of his body left an uncomfortable feeling within him.

The Devil snarled in pain, clutching his bleeding abdomen tightly as he quickly sought refuge in the sky. He was immediately thrown down to the ground once again a wave of Holy Magic that was flung in his direction, hissing as the magic started scalding his wings. The second he collided with the ground a huge tremor shook the earth, making clouds of dust and bits of debris fly around everywhere. With an angry snarl the Devil tried raising himself from the ground, only to hiss when bursts of pain from the Holy energy that had coated the spear coursed through his system.

"Damn the...these wretched... humans!" Satan groaned, refusing to admit that a mere humane artifact had rendered him temporarily defenseless.

"Kehukn ho ajtej, wilhtc tupanj!" [2] Satan snarled in his native demonic tongue before channeling his remaining magical powers into a swirling orb of raw energy, his eyelids fluttering as the wound he'd received along with the mental strain from all the magic he'd been using in trying to heal the wound finally took its toll on him.

He smirked grimly as he watched the entire forest being lit up by a huge dome of energy that crackled in the atmosphere before he sighed heavily, finally letting the sweet bliss of unconsciousness take him away.

...

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Chapter 1: In The Sky That Night

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...

The pained screams and moans of injured soldiers rang through the small village as the surviving Priests and the healers from the village ran around like headless chickens, desperately trying to ease the wounded of their pain.

"Where in all of Ente Isla are the Head Priests?!"

"They went back to the Capitol just a few hours ago for reinforcements, but never mind that! We're out of herbs against infection again and the Holy Water's almost used up!"

"What?! But Sister Claire just got back with fresh ones half an hour ago!"

"Well send someone out again! We need those herbs!"

The tents were in complete disarray, the healers and priests tripping over limp arms or legs, sliding around in the pools of blood covering the dirt that made out the floors of the tents and just generally trying not to vomit as the scent of rotting flesh, fresh blood and infection penetrated their nostrils.

"That last attack from Satan wiped out almost all of our troops, we need more reinforcements as soon as possible or else the demons will have taken back the ground they lost last night the second that the sun sets!" one of the nurses muttered to her colleague as they tried easing their patients pain even just a bit.

"I know. That dome of Unholy Magic was devastating to say the least. I hope that damn monster pays for what he's done to us human at some point. The sooner that the Church gets a hold of him the safer I can sleep at night." the other nurse muttered back before smiling as she bent down to wipe the sweat off one of the soldier's forehead.

The two nurses hurried to the main tent, trying to avoid looking at the mauled and decimated soldiers lying all over the floor, the beds and all of them moaning in slow, agonizing pain.

As they hurried inside they spotted one of the healers, a young woman, leaning against a table as if attempting to ease her tired feet.

"Hello, Noah. How is it?"

The young woman smiled tiredly, her green eyes almost visibly unloading at the sight of the two women.

"Hi Hollya, Jhosea... It's bad... three children have lost one or more limbs, we have sixteen crippled and more casualties than I can count... Satan really outdid himself this time." the young girl, Noah, said as she rested her forehead against the base of her hand, stress starting to show in her eyes.

Hollya and Jhosea nodded, grim expressions on their faces, before they went over to Noah.

"You should hurry home and get some rest, Noah. You look like you're just about to faint." Hollya said softly, rubbing Noah's shoulder tenderly.

"Hollya's right, Noah. How many hours have you been here at the infirmary now?" Jhosea asked seriously as she looked the younger girl over with critical eyes.

"I've been here since just after dawn..." Noah muttered, rubbing a hand over her face before reaching for a clay cup filled with a green liquid.

"What are you drinking?"

"Mint-tea with some special herbs... helps me stay awake." Noah muttered before grimacing as she poured down the bitter liquid.

The two nurses sighed before Hollya grabbed Noah's cup and Jhosea dragged Noah towards the exit of the tent. "Alright, Missy, it's time to go home and get some rest. We'll fill in instead of you for the next two days so don't you dare come back before that!" Jhosea said determined despite Noah protesting.

"You need to sleep, Noah. You can't keep overworking yourself, you'll get sick!" Hollya declared as she pushed the vaguely struggling Noah out of the large tent.

Noah looked at her two friends, mentally swearing at them for being right, before she sighed and nodded. "You're right, I'll go home."

The two nurses grinned, glad that they had persuaded their friend to take a rest, before they disappeared into the tent once again.

Noah looked at the opening for a few moments before she sighed and left the site, heading towards her cottage.

oOo

Alciel paced the Throne Room, a concerned look shining within his golden, slit eyes.

"Your worrying is rather... annoying, Alciel..." Malacoda hissed, his features hidden underneath his dusty Mage Robe as he watched his comrade pace around like a concerned housewife. Alciel's eyes immediately sought out Malacoda, desperately trying to read him despite not being able to see him properly.

"Your blatant lack of worrying is annoying, Malacoda. For all we know the Overlord could have been killed in that last attack of his! He may have weakened the humans but his own body is weak too and will be for the next many weeks with an attack like that."

"You're worrying too much, Alciel. The humans are crippled for the time being and we can use that to our advantage!" Adramelech grumbled from his place at the foot of the Dark Throne, uttering grunts now and then.

"You don't understand, do you? How are we to prepare properly if the humans decide to attack the Castle instead of trying to liberate one of the Islands?" Alciel groaned, trying his best to foresee every single situation they could find themselves in.

"You really act like a mother hen at times, Alciel. So cute..." a young voice drawled from behind the Dark Throne and immediately Alciel whipped around to glare at the owner of said voice.

"Lucifer... when did you get back here?" Alciel grumbled, shooting the young demon a seething glare.

"Why, I came home a few hours ago, Alciel! I believe that you wanted to ask me something, Malacoda?" Lucifer asked childishly, folding out his dark feathered wings and enveloping himself within them.

"Indeed. Since Alciel seems to worry so much for our Overlord I want you, Lucifer, to prepare a search team. And seeing as you're the fastest one among us the responsibility naturally falls on you." the Necromancer uttered, silently sliding into the shadows and disappeared before anyone could utter a protest.

"I hate it when he does that." Lucifer grumbled, a childish pout coating his lips as he watched the place where Malacoda had disappeared into.

"Well, better get to work, Lucifer. Malacoda can be nasty when he's not pleased." Adramelech grunted, slamming a giant hand down on Lucifer's shoulder as the giant passed by the smaller demon.

"Damn you." Lucifer growled, glaring at the huge demon as if his mere sight could make the Minotaur change into a worthless puddle.

Alciel, however, smiled. He got what he wanted.

"Best of luck, Lucifer," Alciel declared on his way out of the Throne Room, "You'll need it, I'm sure."

[1]: 'Eajhekn Jhkonvtolx' literally means 'Eastern Stronghold'

[2]: 'Kehukn ho ajtej, wilhtc tupanj!' literally means 'Return to ashes, filthy humans!'