Chapter 126

**In an unknown location somewhere in Aetheria**

The being with the old male voice let out a sigh as he looked out a window, the moonlight pouring in and casting a serene glow. The night was tranquil, the moon beautiful. 

"What are you contemplating?" he heard a feminine voice ask from beside him.

"If you're responsible for this mess or not," he replied, turning to the being with the feminine voice.

"Why would you think I'm responsible?" she responded with a small smile, stepping closer to him and gazing out the window as well, her heart-shaped tail swishing back and forth.

"Oh, I wonder why. It's not like you'd have a reason or anything," the being with the old male voice retorted, sounding a bit exasperated. He turned back to the window. If someone were to walk in now, they would find this scene romantic—the moonlight, the closeness between the two, and the general atmosphere fitting despite their words.

The being with the feminine voice let out a soft chuckle. "If you're so suspicious of me, why are you letting me get so close?" she asked, giving him a sideways glance.

"To kill you if you're actually responsible, what else?" he replied with a scoff. Shadows flew past the window, as they watched.

"And what can I do to prove my innocence?" she inquired, twirling a lock of her long hair with her fingers. 

A crash echoed outside. He turned to her once more. "You know what, you little she-devil," he said, lifting his left hand and pointing his palm towards the window. An imp hovered outside, screeching before being blasted by a jet of fire from his palm, shattering the window in the process. "Kill these things," he commanded.

She smiled, her eyes glinting with excitement. "Gladly," she said, leaping out of the window. Her fingers transformed into sharp claws mid-air as she rent another imp apart, landing gracefully on the castle roof.

The succubus looked up and around, taking in the chaotic scene. A multitude of demons flew about, roaring and screeching, clawing at the castle walls, smashing the rooftop, and wreaking havoc on the environment. "Feels like I'm back home, though it needs more screams of the damned and being hunted down," she remarked with a smile. Leathery wings sprouted from her back, and she launched herself towards another demon, a Veinblood Cherub. With a swift slash of her claws, she shattered its small, white porcelain body. "Too bad I can't keep one of you cute little things," she mused, glancing at her hand where shards of its porcelain body clung.

A reptilian humanoid demon with black leathery wings, a dragon-like skull, and metal blades protruding from above its wrists roared as it reared back to stab her. She didn't even turn around. Four star-shaped beams blasted large chunks of the demon's body, killing it instantly. Its corpse crashed onto the roof next to the sage, who had his right arm outstretched, eyes locked on the succubus.

"Maybe focus on killing the demons rather than zoning out, bird?" he yelled in annoyance as another imp swooped towards him, claws extended. The sage smashed its head with his staff in one swift motion.

"Aw, giving me nicknames now?" the succubus called out, disemboweling another imp in mid-air.

"It isn't a nickname!" the sage exclaimed, swinging his staff into the chest of a cherub, shattering it. He unleashed another blast of fire, incinerating one of the reptilian demons. "It's just what we call girls!" he shouted again, his voice tinged with frustration.

"It also mostly refers to one's girlfriend," the succubus retorted, deftly dodging the swing of a blade from another reptilian demon. She counterattacked with a vicious kick, decapitating it in one fluid motion.

"Look at you doing your research!" the sage exclaimed, keeping two imps at bay with his staff, preventing their claws from reaching his face.

"Since we're on this topic, I've always wondered something," said the succubus, holding two imps by their heads.

"And what's that?" the sage replied, rearing his head back and headbutting one of the imps, killing it instantly. He then pulled his staff back and impaled the other imp with the bottom end of his staff.

"Why are you so insistent on going back?" she asked, before smashing the heads of the imps together, killing them both. "You've got a whole new world to colonize. Shouldn't you be doing your ancestors proud?" she continued with a smile, dodging an attack from another demon and counterattacking with a lethal strike that severed its head from its body.

The sage laughed bitterly. "Ha, ha, ha! It's not like I haven't heard that joke about fifty times every day back home!" he exclaimed in annoyance, blasting away four more demons with a wave of lightning. "What next? You gonna make a joke about me having jacked-up teeth!?" he yelled as the succubus chuckled.

"I was, but now I think I'll make a joke about the bo'ohw'o'wo'er," she teased, gutting and smashing another few demons with brutal efficiency. She skewered one with her claws, flinging its twitching body into another group, causing them to scatter. Then, she vaulted into the air, her wings propelling her forward as she slashed through the throat of another reptilian demon, its blood spraying in a wide arc.

"Shut up, you mangy cu—" the sage's sentence was cut short as he dodged the blades of a reptilian demon smashing into the tiles where he had stood moments before.

"Come on, keep it PG," the succubus quipped as she appeared behind the demon, ripping its jugular out with her claws, watching it collapse in a heap at her feet.

"Yeah, PG. Like any of the killing you do is PG," the sage said with a sigh as he walked next to her, raising his staff to incinerate another imp with a bolt of fire. The succubus shrugged, wiping demon blood off her claws.

She looked up at the sky. More demons were descending upon them, but she wasn't focused on them. Instead, she watched as the demons were torn to pieces mid-air. "Took you long enough to get here," she said as a figure landed beside her and the sage.

"I was here long ago. I just wanted to see you lovebirds hang in and kill demons together," the vampire with the adolescent voice said with a shrug of their shoulders.

"First of all, it's hang out, and second of all, we ain't lovebirds!" the sage exclaimed angrily, causing the succubus and vampire to laugh.

Their laughter was cut short as another wave of demons appeared. "Once this is over, I'm burning both of you," the sage said, pointing his staff towards the oncoming horde.

"Don't threaten me with a good time," the succubus replied, flexing her claws and glaring at the demons.

"Keep your sex lives private, please, and don't drag me into it. I'll actually die if you blast me with fire," the vampire interjected, licking their lips, fangs ready to pierce flesh.

The sage let out another rage-fueled sigh before all three launched themselves at the demons once again. The succubus flew ahead, her claws slashing through demon flesh with surgical precision, while the sage unleashed a torrent of magical energy, incinerating anything in his path. The vampire darted between enemies, their movements a blur as they drained the life from their foes.

Blood tainted the tranquil night that had only just begun.