The Red Rose and The Black Rose

He had no name.

He did not need one, for he had but a simple way to refer to himself.

Infernal Archaeologist.

Usually, a mere level 34 summoning that served to summon Minor Demons in good quantity such as Imps and basically serve as a flesh shield for its summoner. While useful for low or mid levels, it was trash for high levels.

However, this Infernal Archaeologist was special. For he had received an order from 'Her'. From the Demon Queen. His summoner and mistress.

The mere memory of her order strengthened his determination.

"Her wisdom knows no bounds..." He murmured with a resonant and almost ethereal, hoarse voice, echoing before launching a [Fire Arrow] towards the Barghest that interrupted its path.

Unfortunately, even for him, a level 20 beast could kill him, so he had to summon Imps to distract it while he finished it off.

He hummed with satisfaction as his fire arrow pierced through and definitively killed the Barghest, with the underlying tiny explosion ending a couple of the 5 Imps he summoned.

These were the most injured in the battle at least, although it was a pity to lose 2 of the limited summons he had per day.

However, all were temporary, so there wasn't much to regret.

But now...

"[Summon Lesser Demon: Hellhound]" He pointed his gloved finger of red leather towards the corpse of the Barghest.

A red pentagram appeared beneath the dead animal, and it burst into flames as it consumed the Barghest.

After a few seconds, the magical creature once native to the Forest of Tob, became a great black wolf with markings like magma rivers on its fur, and fire swirling in its paws and mouth, with bright orange eyes and jaws like fire.

The Hellhound howled powerfully before looking at his summoner.

"Hm, good, good." He nodded satisfactorily, hearing the sound of heavy footsteps.

He looked back, seeing his fellow servant of the Demon Queen. One who was delegated the same task as him.

"Did you find anything interesting, companion?" He asked the Demon.

The latter shook his head with an annoyed groan.

Such a Demon was nothing more than an Infernal Protector, one whose task was to protect him if anything got out of control, and also 'gain experience' by order of Her Majesty.

An Infernal Protector did not need to think. It did not need to be intelligent. It only needed to keep its shield up, protect its lady, and kill its enemies.

Thus, he was more brutish than the Archaeologist, who was much more intelligent as a magic user respectively.

An appropriate combination that efficiently blended strength and brain in a team of two.

The Imps laughed as they teased the Hellhound, adding to the 'permanent' lines of summons.

The infernal birds watched from the branches, ready to follow the Archaeologist and the Protector.

Dont wouldn't know it if she didn't pay attention, but slowly, the threads that bound her to her summon, the Infernal Archaeologist, were diversifying and expanding at a slow pace as he summoned more creatures.

The Archaeologist pulled something from his dusty blue robes. A map.

"Hm... It would be problematic to pass near the Theocracy... We could take advantage of their forests, but they could also have much security on their borders... But Her Majesty and Her Shield have plans with the Kingdom and in this... Zone." He murmured as he looked at that area marked with a circle at a point that separated the 'Kingdom' from the 'Empire', the Katze Plains. However, he was not given information about why it was there, and the Archaeologist had no idea what it meant. He wouldn't pay attention to it for the moment, of course. It wouldn't be that it was a forbidden zone. Sure, that left uncertainty about where to go. And considering the unfamiliarity between the Kingdom and the Katze Plains, he decided to go for the one that wasn't marked. "Hm... So it's better to risk intervening with Her plans." The Archaeologist concluded with a nod.

The Protector only groaned in understanding as he waited for the Archaeologist to lead the way.

He was just a soldier, one who shouldn't think, only act as ordered, so he had no reason to have orientation skills.

"Let us advance then, companion." He decreed as he began to walk in a direction.

The summoned infernal animals followed him, along with the Imps and the Protector.

…

Olasird'Arc Haylilyal. The mighty Frost Dragon who was considered the White Dragon Lord inhabiting the once Dwarven Kingdom castle, had his roar of pain stifled by his sealed mouth and the spells upon him.

"Move 20% of the scales to the Treasury. The Supreme Ladies seek to maintain quality resources relatively unlimited to equip the soldiers." One of his prison overseers, a sort of Dryad, commanded to the nightmarish and unpleasantly powerful creatures that were tearing him apart without pause.

Second after second.

Healing him once he had nothing left to give. He wasn't even granted with the relief of death.

Nor could he rally the forces of the proud Dragon race to try to free himself from his chains. For they deprived him of any strength. Of any magic.

The humiliation of how that woman broke every bone in his body and crushed every organ until he submitted to her instantly weighed at the back of his mind, only surpassed by the endless pain of having his scales, organs, bones, and flesh torn away again in the few hours he had been captive in this vast dungeon.

He could hear the stifled roars of a couple more Frost Dragons... Surely they were his children... Those who opposed that woman at least...

"We are also having an increase in demand for Frost Dragon Meat lately despite its recent introduction to the market. Mariana managed to make a delicious recipe along with Manjar with its meat in no time, as expected of course. So I want a 40% increase in the production of the meat of these creatures." The Dryad ordered again, crossing something off a list, before turning her back on the Dragon, as if he were nothing. Exiting the cell without looking back, and humming as she seemed to celebrate while ticking off another item on the list.

Olasird'Arc Haylilyal had another stifled roar as he felt his flesh being sliced again.

The only relief he would receive would be healing. For it would be a waste to just kill him and have no more source of Dragon materials...

...

"... So, do we have to go to the Forest of Tob to talk to that lizard?" The 2nd Seat asked.

"Yes. The cardinals ordered it." The captain responded.

"Why do we have to ally ourselves with that heretic? We can just take the extra seat with us and kill him once he lets his guard down!" The new addition, the 9th Seat, questioned.

"... The Platinum Dragon Lord is not hostile to humanity, so there's no need to pick a fight with him. The Komodo Demon, on the other hand, is a threat to all species. And if the cardinals are willing to forge an alliance with the Dragon Lords, then this is a serious threat." The captain replied again.

"Tch. Fine. When will we depart?" The 2nd Seat asked.

"Immediately."

"... Ugh..."

The rest of the Seats sighed or fell silent, with the 7th and 10th Seats focused on their food competition.

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Name: Powerful Bill

Creators: 4V3RS0Y777, Heh 𓁹‿𓁹, ♡Peronin♡, NoobMaster99

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