NOVEL FROG Chapter 176: Incident
Tyrell eventually returned and we finalised the deal. He would work for us but with the option of quitting at any time. He even had a fancy contract written out. Dwarves really seemed to like those. What we were still missing was the necessary material.
The solution? Delegation! I hired Sandra to deal with it. Problem solved. Well, it would take her some time but I had confidence she would manage. Especially since she could use my name. Buying something for House Delphinium certainly opened some doors.
A day later we got the first version of a contract with Lilith. I had my friends look it over. Personally I thought it seemed fine. Mostly it stated that Lilith would have to behave, but she had the status of visiting royalty. Of course it was all written in fancy legal speak. While there were still some arguments about minor changes we already started preparing the ritual. It would take a total of eight level nine spell slots. We decided that I would provide seven and Lucy would add the last.
I could have done it all myself, but by doing it together we could keep certain details about our power hidden. The ceremony was held where the circle was located, inside the brothel. It did create a bit of a fuss as soldiers secured the area. I wondered what the rumours would say.
Inside the chamber we had Dalroc, Ingrid, Solana and Loriel. All were dressed in regal combat gear, in case of a disturbance. Erin was here to welcome her mistress. Lucy was here with me, as were Lily and Shani. Our court elemental loved ceremonies.
As we started the summoning, the circle lit up. Red flames formed in the centre and took the shape of a succubus. As Lilith emerged she wore black plate armour. It was perfectly moulded to her body and showed off her curves, but it looked rather functional as well. It was clearly made from adamantium. Maybe I should look into getting fancier armour too…
Anyway, her head was uncovered but she wore an ornate silver crown with a giant ruby on the front. The item was obviously magic and I would not be surprised if it could transform into a helmet, or at least provided a magical shield around the head.
“My queen.” Erin said and went down on her knees.
“Ah, the mortal realm. It has been so long…” Lilith looked around. Our mortal allies seemed slightly on edge. I was more relaxed. I did not expect any betrayal. We were weakened after spending so many spell slots, but we were far from defenceless.
“Greetings.” I said. I had not quite thought about a proper way of welcoming her.
“Hi.” Lucy just waved.
“Welcome to our kingdom.” Dalroc said. “We hope your stay is pleasant and our alliance will benefit us all.”
“The Dominion welcomes you, queen of the succubi.” Loriel said.
“This ceremony really needs more blood!” Shani criticised. “You should try manifesting from a pool of it. Would be way better than flames. Every demon does flames.”
We all ignored her, although Lilith seemed thoughtful. But ultimately she did not comment. Instead a pile of clothes appeared in her hand.
“Rise, Erin. You shall now be my personal maid during my stay. I have ordered a new uniform for you.”
Ha! We were setting a trend! Although, our maid knights were clearly superior.
“It is an honour, my queen.” Erin accepted the gift. Then she used a storage device to instantly change her clothing and put the old outfit away. Her new uniform was the classic maid outfit but decorated with a red rune on either shoulder. Presumably it was Lilith’s crest.
The demon lord examined her servant. She looked pleased. Then Lilith turned her attention back to us. “Thank you for summoning me. I am pleased to work with you.”
At that point the door opened and a distressed guard entered. “Sir, the palace is under attack!”
“What? Who is attacking?” Dalroc asked.
“It looks like humans. But strong ones. I was sent as soon as the assault started!” He reported.
Realisation hit me. We had been concerned about someone interrupting the ritual. Some people were concerned about Lilith betraying us. But essentially we had created an opening for our true enemy. With all of us here, who was defending the palace? There were Iris and Minerva. Adhira could fight too, our other recruits were still rather weak. Thessia was there and some palace guards. But the elite was here.
How did they organise this on short notice? Who knew about the summoning? But those were questions for later.
“My family is at the palace!” Lucy exclaimed. Her face showed shock, then anger. She unleashed her aura and transformed. She turned into a large fox and roared, then she ran straight through the wall. Whatever reinforcements they might have been using, they were nothing in front of an enraged kitsune.
I immediately ran after her. If someone touched our people they would pay. Lily and Shani were right behind me. I did not cast my usual defensive spell. I only had two tier nine slots left. But I unleashed my aura. Despite being underground, dark clouds formed on the ceiling of the cave. They blocked the light of the artificial illumination. Thunder and lightning appeared as rain started to fall.
We could see explosions coming from the palace. We heard the sound of fighting. Steel meeting steel. The front gate protecting the estate was destroyed. Bodies were lying on the floor. Lucy charged straight through it towards the courtyard. We were right behind her.
There was fighting going on here but the doors to the actual palace were still intact. It was unclear if they had breached them elsewhere. We saw the palace guards trying to hold off an invading force covered in plate armour. They were not the normal inquisition soldiers we had seen so far. They seemed far better trained and equipped. And there were at least one hundred of them.
“HOLD THE LINE!” We heard Iris shout. It looked like she had taken charge of the defenders covering the door. But their situation looked dire.
Lucy roared, her entire body was covered in lightning. The enemy advance halted as they realised a new threat had emerged behind them. Then Lucy charged.