Crashing through the roof, Morgan fell on top of a dinner table, destroying the lavish decorations on it as the table collapsed under her weight. Barely a moan escaped her lip. This level of damage was not a problem for her body, supplemented by eldritch magic, but that poison was spreading further through her body, making it hard for her move. But Morgan was confident there was no human poison that could kill a demon so all she had to do was wait for it to wear off. Until then, all she could do was lie on her side and command her troops to defend her until she recovered.
"MORGAN!"
Brian's horrid screeching was full of hate and anguish. As if HE was the one whose trust Morgan had betrayed. Perhaps he was right but only by technicality. She didn't know him all that well beyond the sketchy man that Olivia always complained about. But maybe he was mad that she was making him fight his fellow demons.
"HOW DARE YOU BETRAY OLIVIA! MORGAN!"
Okay, scratch that. Man's still a simp.
"D-Dad? There's a woman lying in our living room."
"Shh! Don't go near her!"
Glancing downward, Morgan could just barely see a small child being held back by his father as they glared both fearfully and curiously at her. An insignificant distraction among the events happening on the roof but perhaps they can still be useful. Just use a little bit of demonic hypnotic magic and…
As the demon's magic seized the minds of the poor human inhabitants, the father's body grew slack as his gaze grew empty, his fear slowly being replaced by lust.
"Dad...she's beautiful..."
The kid was already farther along than his father. Children were more vulnerable to this kind of manipulation anyway. His father tried to stop him from coming closer but once he too was under the spell, he was right there approaching the demon in their room with his son. And once they got close enough, Morgan sent out eldritch parasites from the shadows of her body to sneak up and take over the poor duo. A wonderful weapon for later should it come to it. And as the fighting on the roof died down, it seemed like it soon would.
"Morgan..."
Looking up, Morgan could see Brian standing over the hole on the roof he had punched her through. He didn't look too mad by now. Mostly looking disappointed down at her.
"You look pathetic, Morgan."
"Congrats on the divorce, Brian."
"Wow, immediately rubbing salt on the wound?" Kaguya said as she poked her head over the hole as well, "Are you two acquainted?"
"Not at all." both demons replied at the same time.
"Aight. Well, I'll just leave you to get acquainted then." Kaguya smirked as she walked away from the hole.
"Please don't leave me alone with him or else he'll start talking about-"
"Why did you betray Olivia?" Brian growled.
"And there it is." Morgan moaned, "Do you have a stronger poison that you can use to kill me so I don't have to talk to this man?"
"Answer me, Morgan!"
"I literally JUST went through this with Smith." Morgan scowled, "If I'm not going to tell him why I betrayed demonkind, why would I tell YOU why I betrayed ONE girl?"
"Because she's your best friend!"
"I know what I am but what are you?!"
"Oh, real mature!"
"No seriously, what exactly even are you to Olivia?! Because you ain't her pretend husband anymore!"
"At least I care about her!"
"Not enough to pick up how uncomfortable you were making her!"
"Oh so NOW you care about her!"
"Oh that's rich coming from you! Who exactly knew Olivia first here, you or me?!"
"Mom, dad, please stop fighting."
"Shut up, Kaguya!" the two demons snapped, "Stay outta this!"
"I see who is the favorite child here." Kaguya giggled.
Morgan's hand twitched. The paralysis that had taken it's sweet time spreading through her body was finally starting to fade, bit by bit. A few more minutes and she'll be able to completely move again. She didn't know what happened to Smith and his platoon who should be fighting for her but she's bought enough time with all this inane chatter to get through the worst of it. A little bit more and-
A loud thud alerted Morgan to Brian landing into the room with her. His full demon form on full display. Hooked sharp claws drawing most people's attention away from the long curved horns protruding outward from Brian's forehead, looking ready to gore even as he glared pityingly down at Morgan.
"Are you ready to die, Morgan?" Brian growled.
"You're gonna kill me?" Morgan smirked, "What about the grimoire then? The one you and especially Olivia are looking for?"
"We can find it later." Brian scowled, "We don't need to keep the execution of a traitor like you waiting."
"Keep WHO waiting, Brian?" Morgan sneered, "God? The gods that the humans made up? The gods that left? Please. You and Olivia would be perfect for each other with how deeply you two fall into your own masks. Except where Olivia was changed by her mask, you used it to live a life that didn't belong to you. Thank god Olivia finally rejected you like she wanted. Olivia might be stupid but you? You're just a coward."
Brian took a deep breath before lunging at Morgan with his claws. But before he could connect with the fallen demon, he felt a stab into his back. Surprised, Brian turned his head to find a small human child. Freshly taken by the parasite, nary a thought left in his head stabbing a knife into his flank.
"You...you call me a coward while you do this?!" Brian roared, "He's just a child!"
"Brian please." Morgan sighed, "We're demons."
"And what's that supposed to mean?!"
"It means we were doomed from the start."
Slowly, Morgan began to push herself back up. On shaky arms upon shaky legs, the poison slowly started to lose its effect. Recognizing her recovery, Brian quickly stepped forward to try and stab her with his claws only for another possessed man to suddenly jump in from the shadows and impale himself onto his attack. The instant of surprise was enough as Morgan suddenly jumped, her goat legs shot out and smashing into Brian's chin so hard that the large demon was launched straight up and back through the ceiling before landing back on the roof again.
"She recovered?" Kaguya asked the demon as she stood over him.
"Yeah." Brian rubbed his chin, "She hits surprisingly hard for someone who never fought before."
"You really know nothing about me do you?"
Morgan jumped back up though the hole she had made to confront this unlikely alliance once more, "I may not fight that much but I am a demon. We're built to destroy."
"Hmmm...You sure like talking about what demons are and are not." Kaguya noted, "Have a lot of thoughts about your race?"
"...Forget it." Morgan sighed, "You won't be able to surprise me again, poison woman. Now that I've recovered, I can destroy you at full strength."
"Hm. Shame we don't have a distraction for me to use."
"What?"
And once more from behind, a blade slashed across Morgan's back. Not quite a strong enough attack to cripple her but it did hurt a lot. Turning her head around, she recognized the knight that had appeared with Kaguya but had actually forgotten. Gritting her teeth, Morgan pushed one leg forward, digging one animal leg into the roof's dirt and launched herself back at tremendous speeds, readying her other leg for a powerful kick that Mikado blocked with a shield only to still get kicked so far back that he smashed into the neighboring roof in a shuddering impact.
"Ha...ha..." Morgan gasped, clutching her shoulder where the wound started down her back, "You just don't play fair do you?"
"We're fairly normal humans up against a demon." Kaguya replied, "One with the power of monsters at her side while we're at it. But not all of us are are sneaky like that. That's just my style."
"Tch."
"Look at you." Brian sneered, "Complaining about getting sneaked attacked after sneaking attacking me. You want to talk about how demons don't stand for anything truly honorable or humane?"
"You're right." Morgan sighed, "That would make me sound like a hypocrite. Thankfully I'm a demon. Contradiction is one of the evils that makes me up."
And from her shadows, a blob of flesh emerged and jumped onto her back. Not forming into a hood but covering her wound before blending right in, healing the attack to the point that Morgan seemed to stand back up perfectly fine.
"Got any more surprises?" Morgan scowled.
"Just one." Kaguya smiled.
"Huh?"
This time a whizzing sound was enough for Morgan to try and jump off to the side only in time to lose a single arm as a saw of impossibly sharp ice sliced it from the rest of her body.
"Augh!"
"Good shot, Helena." Kaguya clapped.
"Honestly, I'm surprised I managed to take an entire limb." Helena's drone said as it poked out from under the roof, "Your paralysis must still be numbing her at least a little."
"Ha...ha..." Morgan gasped, the shock from losing her arm seizing her mind for a moment.
"Morgan..."
"DON'T YOU PITY ME, BRIAN!" Morgan's enraged roar came out like a guttural quake, "Don't you dare pretend like you are well and truly human! That mask is a disguise I designed for you! Why! Why are all of you so stupid!"
"Huh?"
"Why are you even here?!" Morgan cried, "You were supposed to still be at the inn!"
"I...I uhhh..."
"Some heroes from Driftwood arrived to help. Once they showed up, he ran off with us." Kaguya replied with a smile, "He was very worried about Lydia you see."
"SIMP! INCEL! WHITE KNIGHT!"
"Man, she's really angry." Helena noted.
"And what's wrong with white knights?" Roland asked as he emerged from the army of monsters unscathed, "I happen to like being chivalrous and stuff."
"Well you certainly are stuff." Helena rolled her drone's eyes.
"You!" Morgan cried, "But if you're here then..."
"What's up, Morgan?" The demon leader sneered as he emerged from the army of monsters as well, "Good to see you again."
"..."
"Traitor."
"..." Morgan sighed, "Sorry Olivia. I don't think I'll make it til I see you again. But..."
Morgan stood up before she turned to her leader, "I...will not explain myself."
"You don't need to." Their leader shook his head, "Hand over the grimoire or die. It's that simple."
"Heh. You'll just have to wait for little Olivia to find it first. But I guess you can try killing me first."
"No need to ask. Hey, human!"
And with a single word from her former boss, Momo soared out over everyone's heads, a sparking sphere of lightning in her hands as she blasted Morgan from above. As the demon cried out in pain, the entire coalition of humans and demons charged in to fight her. And in response, Morgan charged out and kicked the first person she could see into a wall.
What did it mean to be a demon? That was the question that Morgan had struggled with. Not because of any existential crisis on her part. Watching Olivia's turn into a human sympathizer was the issue. First at the mansion then seemingly full on with this recent contract. Morgan wasn't even particularly mad about it. If she wanted to work with instead of against humans, then Morgan was perfectly willing to support her like she always did. The problem was the Demon King. He would never allow her to switch sides. And she would never choose to change sides. They were born on this side. And betrayal was not something Olivia would ever consider. And she would never have the ambition to change their side. Until the day she dies, she will have that stupid forlorn wistful look on her face. And that was something Morgan could never stand.
Olivia was too...normal. Too nice. The fact that she was even able to feel sympathy for humans proved she was on the wrong side. Why did she have to be so stupid? Was...was it because of her? Was it because of Morgan's disguises that she met and interacted with humans like Roko and changed her mind on how humans should be treated? Surely not...right? I mean, even if it was, Morgan didn't feel obligated to correct anything. It wasn't that she felt particularly responsible. Morgan wasn't even particularly attached to the Demon King's side. Staying with Olivia was enough. Would've been enough. If she wouldn't be so sad all the time! Why won't she be true to herself?! Why would she choose to be unhappy?! No reason, no logic just blind loyalty and no ambition! It drove Morgan crazy!
Morgan stumbled back. She had just been blasted with lightning again but she couldn't even register pain anymore. She wasn't even thinking about the fight, just letting her legs shoot out at any and every enemy around her. She couldn't defeat them. Not all of them. It was only a matter of time. What was she even fighting for? Why even go so far?
…
"Olivia..." She mumbled to herself.
"She looks pretty battered already." Helena noted, "We might be able to finish her off."
"Don't underestimate her." Kaguya warned, "I don't think she's even conscious of us anymore. She's in like a trance."
"We'll just have to take out all the stops." Momo scowled as she charged up as much lightning as she could, "Stand back."
"Are you using amp?" Helena asked.
"I...I'll think about it." Momo scowled.
"What's there to think about?" Brian scowled, "Just kill her! She's already missing an arm!"
"You haven't noticed her slowly growing it back then?" Kaguya scoffed, "Those flesh monsters have been keeping her alive very efficiently."
"Which is why we need to vaporize her in one shot!" Momo shouted, "I'm almost ready! Stand back!"
Taking heed of the sheer amount of electricity crackling around her, the rest of the group stepped back and Momo aimed what felt like an enourmous lightning spell at Morgan. Morgan continued to look unphased and even began to crouch as if to lunge at Momo next. The only thing that stopped her was the very loud and frightening sound of the earth itself spiking out of the ground.
Turning around, the entire group, enemies and allies all witness as several kilometers away, spikes of earth shot out one after another in a line. Two lines actually that ran across the ground like a series of unnatural mountains. And then the earth itself started to bend. The spires moving to rise out of the earth and circle back into itself in midair. And along the way, ripping something out of the ground. A very long something and something very much seeming to be alive as a loud screech could begin to be heard even from as far away as they were. And in the clutches of the spires, they could begin to see the earth itself change as dirt became flesh. Water splashed out from between the teeth of the spires. With one swift motion, an entire hidden river was ripped out from the earth, collapsed in on itself and slowly crushed in a black hole. And in the silence of the clean destruction of such a large landmark that had thus far been unknown, a single winged shadow could be seen floating in front of the beautiful full moon. In her hands, where the entire false river had been collapsed was a single large and glittering sphere. And not long afterwards, the shadow lunged forward, rocketing forward at blinding speeds until Olivia was right there, floating in front of them in seconds. The large sphere she was holding still in her hands, now close enough to see that it was a sphere of pure sapphire.
"Stand down." Olivia said to everyone, a total and complete order given in grim solemnity.
The alliance took an involuntary step back as Olivia floated down to face Morgan.
"...Been a while." Olivia sighed.
"...Been a while." Morgan sighed.
"You seem pretty beat up."
"I'll recover."
"Am I supposed to be happy about that?"
"Only if you still see me as a friend."
"If we are friends, was I supposed to be happy about anything you've done tonight?"
"..." Morgan looked down.
"Here." Olivia offered the sapphire orb to her, "You already know what this is right?"
"...I didn't think you'd go and find it. And especially so quickly."
"You can thank Roko for that."
"I didn't think it was possible even for Roko. This was supposed to be broken into pieces, scattered across the river. It would've taken days to find all the pieces myself."
"Just take it."
"Wait, what's in it?" the demon leader asked.
"The grimoire." Morgan replied.
"The grim- and you're just giving it to her?!" the leader cried, "Have you gone mad, Oli-"
"Calm down." Morgan sighed, "This sapphire orb can only be broken by my touch. I made my precautions especially strong."
"So you will be at full power at least for a few seconds." Olivia replied, "And then..."
"And then?"
"..."
"..." Morgan scoffed softly as she fully regrew her other arm and reached out. And like she claimed, the sphere of sapphire began to crack and break apart. And inside, at last...was the grimoire they had all been seeking.