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  The Fey's intelligence assured the demon horde of a successful human roundup, with dozens already captured from the forest. However, the Ice Sect required a high-ranking noble to decre the endeavor a true victory. The Winter Court revealed that a group of humans, including Lady Yvne and her two heirs, had relocated from her barony to the forest. The Ice Sect's objective was to seize enough humans and rulers, then transport them to the frozen nds. There, they could cultivate ice and fulfill their contract simultaneously.

  Failure to capture humans in an area suitable for ice cultivation would render the mission unsuccessful for the sect. In such a case, they should have remained and risked confronting the Temple of Catalina.

  Varkoz had no choice and ordered the demons to attack the humans who were fleeing down the river in boats. “Kill the combat cssers, subdue the rest and find me the nobles.”

  Of the thousands of imps that were joining, they started attacking in waves trying to overwhelm the smaller force with numbers. However, something unexpected happened. A knight wielding a soot covered giant sword, covered in soot attacked demons, red-bck teeth appeared from the ground, water, ship deck, or whatever and groups of imps that attacked him were torn asunder by the foul magic.

  “Tsk, it is that cursed skeleton.” The tier 3 demon pointed. “Destroy it, and we can route the rest.”

  Under pressure from the Tier 2 demons, the imps continued their relentless assault. Despite the danger of the monster's cultivation-crippling attacks, the imps showed no fear, understanding that weakness at their level meant certain death.

  "What are you fools doing? They are getting away," Varkroz barked when it appeared the humans were escaping via the water.

  The tier 2 demons summoned projectiles and unched the lesser imps at the boats. However their attacks were countered by the human group’s ranged attacks and the knight’s shielding abilities.

  The horde’s reluctance to have any demons that were actually capable of overpowering the undying foe bought them enough time to reach the edge of the forest, the swamp. They were getting led into the nds cimed by the kingdom of Jass. The one thing that Varkoz wanted to avoid.

  “Do something!” He commanded of the Yuki-onna that stayed behind near the back of the formation.

  “I am.” She smirked. “Can’t you see I’m channeling a storm?”

  There was, in fact, a snowy wind blowing, but it was blowing downstream.

  “You are helping them.” The ice demon grit his teeth. “The storm should be blowing against the current. It is aiding their flight.”

  “That was not our deal.” She simply said.

  “Fey trickery.” The demon stomped. “I want my prize. And you are helping it elude the horde.”

  “I said I’d help you drive them from the forest.” She smirked. “If your demons are too cowardly to do more than harass them, that is not my fault.”

  Varkoz wanted to strike down the Yuki-onna, but knew his ice cultivation abilities were a bad match up. If he couldn’t finish her off quickly then the tier 2 demons might get ideas and help her against him, seeking to kill him and use his defeat as a way to increase their own cultivation.

  “None of you are brave enough to face that skeleton?” The tier 3 demon tried to shame the tier 2s who were keeping their distance into action. “He’s been defeated many times before.”

  “Yes, and he came right back.” One demon snapped what was on its mind. Then corrected, “I heard he’s come back even from behind ground to dust and scattered into the sea. Master Varkoz, it would be wise to avoid that one.”

  The second-tier demons subtly questioned Master Varkoz’s orders. As their arguments faltered and tempers fred, they all implied that the highest-ranking demon should lead the charge. This was especially critical as they neared the kingdom of Jass, where the window of opportunity to prevent human escape was closing. The loss of hundreds of imps to small projectiles only exacerbated the situation.

  Their prior encounters with the "dead one" were typically one-on-one battles. It was well-known that he could only be defeated by a demon of a tier greater in power, and that swarming him with imps only pyed to his strengths. Furthermore, the undead were vulnerable to fire, and strong against ice.

  Ultimately, despite valid criticisms and hesitations, they found themselves in the awkward position of being at the doorstep of Yvne’s barony without the hundreds of humans and the noble they needed to establish a human ranch in the frostnds.

  “What do we do now Master Varkoz?” One of the non-so-helpful tier 2 ice demons asked.

  “We will have to defeat the fire cn and steal their humans.” Varkoz pointed towards the barony. “If we are quick then we can capture a noble, their charges and march them back to the frostnds.”

  But the pn didn’t go as expected.

  “There is nothing here but an abandoned town.” A tier 2 compined.

  Another demon added. “Rumors were the demi-god of the pnes struck down one of the baronies. Perhaps this is one. How quickly can we capture enough humans and retreat without the fire cn coming at us in force?”

  That got all the demons looking towards the skies. A certain magical girl was like the boogie man to the demons. It also made trying to evolve into a high flying demon extremely unpopur. An old wives tale stated that flying too high would invoke her wrath and she could strike with impunity because the accords did not bind her in the sky.

  “It doesn’t matter, we will march north along the border and capture the humans there.” Varkoz gathered the horde and they prepared to march north.

  The Yuki-onna of that had accompanied them abandoned them at the swamp. She simply stated that their deal was done and hoped to never see them again in the forest.

  When they attacked the next barony it was a rough battle. Fire cshed against ice in open combat along the borders of the settlement. A fire cn sect controlled the majority of the barony but it was small.

  Varkoz froze the sect’s leader, a tier 2 demon with a chilling storm of ice shards until he vanished into mist from being defeated.

  It took a couple days but they were on the march again, with hundreds of humans in tow.

  But the fire cn harried them.

  That was the thing about demons. They were relentless.

  The hoard went from thousands to hundreds over the course of a week. At first this didn’t bother Varkoz because if they didn’t have a big group of humans then they couldn’t keep a big group of demons in this realm. The ice cn attracted refugees that couldn’t find a pce in the fire cn. So they had swelled much too rge to begin with.

  Demon summoners across the realm would summon new imps whenever they could and set them loose on the realm after transferring the pact to the demon queen’s contract. But they could not find pces for all of them. That is why desperate imps would show up demanding to be a disciple in the ice sect. The only way he could keep his cn together was to provide them a target.

  “Master Varkoz,” Another tier 2 compiner compined. “We can’t keep going like this, we have to retreat into the bog.”

  They had crossed several baronies, ever heading north but many more y ahead. And they had gotten whittled down. Eventually, a higher tier or a big enough group of tier 2s from the fire cn would come and finish them off.

  “I don’t want to deal with those fey again.” Varkoz grumbled. “But we’ll have to test their hospitality.”

  But that was his big mistake.

  After a day’s travel into the bog, traveling upon demon-magic frozen paths they encountered the Yuki-onna with a rge host of ice fairies.

  “Honored mistress,” Varkoz swallowed the anger. “We humbly ask for safe passage back to the frostnds of the north.”

  “You ask for safe passage.” She gestured at the captive humans. “But you are bringing even more humans back into the woods than when you left.”

  “We request patience,” The demon politely bowed. “It will only take the time to pass through and they will be out of the boundary of the woods.”

  “I think not.” She crossed her arms. “You are harried by your kin. Allowing your passage will only bring the fire cn down on the sleeping forest.”

  “What would you have us do then?” The demon tried to control his rage. “We cannot out pace the demons, not when we have frail non-combat humans as prisoners.”

  “You have gotten greedy.” She gave him a cold look. “If your reach is greater than your grasp then you’ll have to let go.”

  “Let go of the humans?” He gaped. “Do you propose that we just leave them here. Then they will be your problem.”

  “They need not remain human.” She gave him a wicked smile.

  Fast forward a few days and the ice sect neighbors of the barony of Ki was no more.

  The winter court would not let them pass. The demons wouldn't give up their captives.

  A final battle took pce on the edge of the bog.

  Only a handful of demons survived. Over the course of the conflict, thousands of demons were defeated by other demons’ cws, most of them imps.

  There never was a true battle where Varkoz faced off against a tier 3 of the fire cn. Hundreds of imps swarmed him and dozens of tier 2 fire sect demons ganged up on him. When they seemed trapped, his tier 2 demons stole a human or two and fled in a random direction.

  After the dust settled, a certain Yuki-onna came to pick up the scattered humans that got left behind in the mess.

  She gave them two options. “You can either join the winter court, or take a boat of ice out to sail to a new settlement of humans.”

  melchi