The Grand Catastrophe

…

Yuri was feeling rather ashamed of herself. In fact, she was rather embarrassed. The adventurers had pushed her to the ropes, to her knees some would say. Of course, she was mostly fine. She was mostly taken aback by the fact that Evil Eye could infuse negative energy into her blows, which meant that she was undead.

The more pressing matter was that she was having a tricky time of fighting them. She had been hurt enough that she was mostly just thinking about how to leave without making it seem like they beat her. If she just said that she had places to be, then they might follow her.

If she pretended to lose to them, then their egos would over inflate and the plan that Lord Demiurge’s plan would be derailed partially. It was a balance that she had to strike, and she wasn’t all that eager to try and strike it. What really ground her gears was that they had the gall to try and kill her now.

As she sat on her rear end, mostly pretending to have been knocked down, she heard them speak to each other. The one known as Evil Eye was probably the most powerful of the group, her small stature notwithstanding. She would have actually liked to speak with them not in combat, she would have thought.

Yet, she felt the air shift. Her face turned up to look in front of herself. There he stood. There stood Lord Demiurge, in the guise of Yaldabaoth.

…

Evil Eye looked at the monster in front of herself. He stood with his back straight, his form covering the maid’s. He wore a blue mask, much like the maid. His suit was a simple thing that she had seen a couple times before. Red with purple accents.

His tail peeked out from his waist, and his gaze made her spine shiver in fear. So much so that she felt her emotional suppression nearly go off, not that it ever had done much for her. After all, she was fairly certain that her race had been partially influenced by wild magic.

Yet, she would share that story another time. Right now, it was time to run. She knew, she knew that they would die here if she failed to draw its attention. Then it spoke, its voice Smooth like silk, soaked in despair.

“If you would stop right there,” it said, its hand coming up to block the advance of her comrades.

Then, it leaned down and spoke in a low voice to the maid, her interest was peaked. She tried to listen in. Yet, her ears failed to pick up what was being said between the two of them. She prepped for her spells. She knew that there was going to be a fight here, whether they liked the idea or not.

It was then that their foe stood. He and his maid stood and faced the members of Blue Roses. The demon, as that was all he could be, spoke once more.

“I am Yaldabaoth. I am the Demon Lord of those that deserve dispar. This, is one of my many subordinates,” he said, indicating with one hand to the maid besides himself, then pointed to the three of them, “you have stopped her from doing as she was ordered. For that, you shall be punished for this sin.”

As he said so, she could spot the maid jumping backwards, and into the deeper parts of the city. Evil Eye ground her teeth in frustration. Yet now was not the time to fight her emotions, to fight with herself. She had a foe in front of herself.

Granted, he was a foe that she couldn’t beat. Even with her old party from a hundred years ago, she would fall short. At least, that was the power level that she felt from him. It was truly disheartening to see such powerful entities come back once more.

“You two,” she said to Tia and Gagarin, “make sure to run when I run in to fight him. He is far too powerful to face as you two are now. I will by you two time,” she explained, and the two of them glanced at her.

“We can take him,” Gagarin said with a smirk, “after all, we’ve faced some demons in the past that claimed to be demon lords.”

Evil Eye shook her head, and was about to speak when Tia spoke for her. Her tone was full of fear. Yet she kept it down, somehow.

“She’s right. We have to run and warn the others of such a beast,” she said, and Gagarin acquiesced.

The two of them turned around, as quickly as they could, and Evil Eye ran forth, a spell blazing in her hand. Yet, just as she felt her hopes to rise slightly, they were dashed. The demon raised a hand and cast a spell as he spoke.

“I can’t have you three leave now. Not after we’ve just met,” he said, his hands rearing up and casting a spell that blanketed everyone in a bubble.

Then, he flared his arms up, as if batting away a fly. Flames came forth from his fingers. They extended all the way past herself, and to up to her friends. She glanced back, only to see them engulfed in hell flame.

She stopped right there. Her feet lost all momentum. She eyes locked onto the dead forms of two of her best friends. It was then that rage filled her. Rage that was unparalleled by any she had felt for the longest time.

Yet, her rage was seemingly tamped down by her pitiful emotional suppression. Her mind stilled reeling from the fact that two of her best friends now lay dead. Yet, that rage was tamped down even more by genuine words grief.

“I am so sorry. I did not think that that level of fire could kill them. I based my attack on your power level. Why would you side with such weaklings, I do ponder?” he said, his tone curious.

“Don’t call them that!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, rage bellowing out.

Yet I was not meant to be her that fought him. She could feel it in the air, in the pressure. There was something there. She stopped, and dashed back, Yaldabaoth doing same. Her mind reeled as she saw something fall from the sky.

It was a woman. A woman in full plate, carrying two intricate blades in her hands. Evil Eye looked on, her mind stuttering at the massive form before her. Her heart, which she had been certain could never beat again, started to thump.

“I have arrived!” the knightly woman said, “now, which of you is my foe!”

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