How I became the Empress of Hell

“The 2nd round of the 1 vs 1 Elimination tournament will be the Paladin Commander, Demon Lord Allexus versus the Demon Knight, Tesrif. Good luck to both competitors!”

Tesrif and I walked towards each other and I extended my hand. She grabbed my arm just above my wrist and I did the same on her arm.

“Prove to me that I made the right decision making you my general; hold nothing back. I will honor you and do the same. Good luck, Tesrif.”

“To you as well, Lady Allexus.”

We moved a ways away from each other and I nodded to her to signal to begin. Tesrif moved into a defensive stance and I quickly formulated a plan of attack. Tesrif excelled in close range combat, so ideally it would be smart to focus on long range. I summoned my mages and healers and ordered them to stay on the offense. Tesrif’s exceedingly high defenses, both physical and arcane, meant that the majority of the attacks were absorbed by her armor. While my demon casters focused on keeping the swordswoman on the defensive, I flew upwards and cast a spell with each hand. As I dove towards Tesrif, I hurled a ball of Demonfire at her and used her dodging as an opportunity to land and cast the summoning spell that I had prepared.

My demon warriors appeared in front of me and Tesrif didn’t hesitate to charge forward and swing her massive weapon at the closest ones. Even with their shields raised she was able to cleave through two of them easily, and the rest of my warriors moved into a defensive formation. I watched as Tesrif maneuvered herself into position so that my warriors were obstructing my caster’s view to her, and I nodded in acknowledgement of her wise tactical sense. I motioned to my warriors and flew upwards above Tesrif while my demons rushed at her from the front. I drew both blades and dove straight at her. I activated my [Stoneskin] ability just before I crashed into her at full speed. 

Don’t relent for a second. Slash with left blade at full strength. Thrust with right blade as she moves to parry first attack. Speed. Find an opening. Blocks from her left require more effort for her to move her claymore in time. Feign attack from the right before focusing on speed to attack with both swords from her left. Two demon warriors attacking from behind will force her to either move to avoid my attack and be struck by them, or take my attack at full force in order to counter their attacks. Smart choice Tesrif… warriors deal far less damage than I do. Use regular strength and speed to swing at her left side while other warriors surround her and attack. Attack blocked, one warrior killed instantly with counter-attack. Wait for it… Use her momentum as she attacks another warrior to dismiss all summons and get her off balance. Attack with both blades in an all out offensive.

My flurry of attacks combined with her already being off balance cut and tore chunks out of her armor. Blood seeped from various wounds all over her body, but she had given almost as good as she had got. One of my arms hung limp at my side from a deep wound on my bicep, and blood had poured into my vision as the edge of her blade had grazed my forehead. As she started to slump to her knees in front of me, I reached down and grabbed her. I helped her to her feet and pulled her close to me.

“I made the right choice, Tesrif. Your tactical sense is only rivaled by your prowess in combat. Thank you for not holding back. I am honored to have you as my general, and even more honored to call you my friend.”

“Thank you… Lady Allexus… for choosing me… and for not… holding back. The honor… is all mine.”

I embraced the tall warrior and wrapped one of my arms around her and pulled her into a hug. I used the other hand to plunge my sword into her stomach and drive it upwards into her heart. I eased her body back onto the ground and dropped my blade next to her as I stood up. The voluptuous demon appeared and grabbed my hand to hold it high in the air.

“This round’s winner is the Demon Lord Allexus! Congratulations!”

She turned back to me and pushed her nude body into mine.

“There was never any doubt you were going to be the victor… I really hope you take me up on my offer once you win the tournament, Allexus.”

---

Emelia
    vs.   ----- Emelia Wins      
  Null                 Emelia 
======                 vs      ---- Emelia Wins
Braylon         Braylon
    vs.    ----- Braylon Wins
Raize
======
Ikelos
  vs.   -----Ikelos Wins
 

Ra                Ikelos
======             vs     ----- Tarrah Wins
  Jade             Tarrah
    vs.  ----- Tarrah Wins
Tarrah
======
Allexus
    vs.   ----- Allexus Wins
  17                 Allexus
======              vs     ----- Allexus Wins
  Tesrif            Tesrif
      vs.  ----- Tesrif Wins
Gwendolyn
======
  Ghost
    vs.  ----- Reaper Wins
Reaper           Reaper
======               vs     ----- Judas Wins
Judas                Judas
  vs.  ------- Judas Wins
Sin
========================================

Congratulations on making it to the Semi-Finals!  You have received an enchanted jewel set with specific enchantments for your class and 10,000 Gold Pieces. The next round will commence shortly.

While I was pleased that three of the four competitors in the semi-finals were from my clan, it also meant I would have to fight against others who knew my abilities. My next match against Judas; who had been with me from the first night I became a demon and probably had a better gauge on my strength than I did; would be especially challenging. Because my match against Tesrif had been the last of the round to end,  I only had a few seconds to look at the standings before I was teleported back to the arena. 

Just like my match against Tesrif I walked to the center of the arena to greet my opponent. Judas bowed respectfully before grasping my arm in the same way I had with my blue-haired general.

“Lady Allexus, I humbly request your permission to hold nothing back in our match and would also request that you do the same.”

“Judas… It would dishonor you and our friendship if we did anything less. Just know that I will not relent for a second just because you are my dear friend.”

He nodded and bowed again. I, in turn, bowed my head slightly and grinned at him before spreading my wings and jumping backwards. I spun in midair as a pair of daggers flew at me, and I was forced to land as it became obvious that Judas had no intention of letting me stay in the air. I had to draw one of my swords and defend myself as he threw an endless stream of daggers at me with laser precision. As I swung my blade back and forth to deflect each projectile I quickly cast a summoning spell with my free hand.

“Warriors! Shields up; stay on the defensive! Buy me just a few seconds so I can cast a few more spells.”

Each of the armored demons grunted their acknowledgement and hunkered down with their shields raised high. Judas never let up for a second and took any opening he could see to attack. I summoned my mages and my enchanter a few seconds before Judas finished off the warriors I had summoned.

“Mages, defensive spells! Don’t stop casting for a second!”

I turned to the enchanter and spoke directly into his ear the improvised plan I had just thought of. Several of the mages didn’t even get the chance to finish casting their first spell as a dagger struck them in the forehead. The rest cast wave after wave of ice and earth magic to block Judas’s assault. I wrapped one of my chains around the enchanter and yanked as hard as I could to toss him over the walls of defensive magic. The enchantments he had cast on himself had made him taller and caused his voice to boom across the arena in an impressive imitation of the real Mellic.

“You are nothing, worm! You served me for thousands of years as an absolutely worthless servant, and I’m surprised that Allexus has the stomach to tolerate your presence. What can you hope to accomplish against my greatest creation?”

The fraction of a second hesitation I saw on Judas’s face was all I needed before I focused all my energy on my speed and burst forward with both swords drawn. My enchanter was busy casting flashy spells to draw the demon retainer’s attention, but I braced myself as Judas turned towards me knowingly. Jolts of pain tore down my arm and up my neck as a dagger penetrated my armor and sank deep into my shoulder. As I swung the blade of my good arm Judas nimbly dodged out of the way; right into the spell I had prepared. A chain shot out of my hand and arced in mid-air to wrap around his right arm. I pulled it taut and drew my arm back as hard as I could to yank Judas towards me.

Even to this day I believe that the demon retainer that swears his undying fealty to me holds some deep dark secret about being an all-powerful demon lord. Judas always carries himself with respect and propriety, but the way he fights is even more savage and brutal than the way I do. As the chain wrapped around his wrist pulled him closer to me, he completely surprised me by swiftly using one of his daggers to slice through his own arm before jumping safely out of my reach. Despite having only one arm he continued to hurl daggers at me with astonishing speed and accuracy.

I activated my Stoneskin ability and fought through the pain in my shoulder as I held both hands in front of me and cast a spell with each. Bluish white fire sparked from my fists and wreathed my swords in scorching Demonfire. A flurry of daggers struck me in the chest, but my armor and the damage-reducing abilities of Stoneskin prevented them from doing more than a few points of damage to my HP. I drew back both of my blades and swung both of them in a downward diagonal slash crossing in front of my body. A wave of fire in the shape of an X blazed through the air and flew towards Judas. Each line of fire was at least fifteen feet long and over three feet wide. The sheer size of the attack meant the nimble rogue wouldn’t be able to completely dodge it, and I channeled the rest of my MP into casting my Demonfire spell as I swung my swords again and again.

When the flames flickered out and the smoke and dust cleared, Judas staggered a few steps and collapsed to the ground. His body was covered in burns, but the shallow rise and fall of his chest showed me he was still alive. I rushed over and knelt down beside him. I cradled him in my arms and used the miniscule amount of MP I had left to cast my healing spell on him. 

“It’s not much… but it should at least help ease the pain.”

“Too… kind… ‘lexus.”

“Judas… you are a formidable foe. I am fortunate to have you in my clan and be able to call you my friend. One of these days you’ll have to tell me about who you were before you were bound to the castle; I saw a side of you in this fight that showed me that you are so much more than just a simple retainer.”

He barely moved his head in a nod and I saw the charred muscles in his face tighten into a smile.

“Finish… it.”

I clenched my teeth and pulled the dagger out of my shoulder with my left hand. I let out a small gasp from the intense pain, but I never once took my eyes off Judas’s face. I pressed the point of the dagger against his chest and moved my head inches from his. I placed a kiss on his forehead gently as the blade pierced his heart. Instead of standing, I remained by his side and just allowed my body to relax on the ground.

“Round Complete! The winner is the Demon Lord Allexus! Congratulations!”

The sexy demoness took the hint of me staying by my comrade’s side to leave me be, and the environment shimmered and the plain white waiting room appeared around me.