005: Scorched Land

Catharina fell asleep inside the fox hole that she made but only to wake due to a loud explosion in the morning. She instinctively tightens her grip unto the baby princess who was strangely sleeping ever so calmly albeit the chaos.

'I need to leave this region," she said to herself.

In order to avoid human's mana detection, Catharina opted to cut her own wings and tail. For demonkind, their horns were a symbol of social status. However, Catharina didn't want to compromise Alice's safety because of her selfish entitlement.

Alice knew that Catharina had sacrificed her dignity so she could survive from this holocaust of demon race as she held Catharina's hand with a meaningful gaze.

'Poor woman, it must be very painful.'

The demoness maid felt the emotion from the gentle hands. She smiled softly at the princess.

"It's okay, your highness. They will grow back once I have enough mana to regenerate them."

The small sacrifice that she made proved to be very effective against the anti-demon cuirass armor. She could even walk through the border just fine like waltzing in the park. However, Catharina was very cautious, and avoided any direct contact.

Wherever she went, destruction followed close. Eons of civilization were burned into ashes in a single night.

For centuries, demonkind lived peacefully in the Diablo, maintaining power balance in the continent so the miasma from hell would not infect the world of the living. But now, without its Master to regulate and control the miasma, Catharina was concerned that the Gates of Hell, Gehenna, would be ripped open by the Hell Devils.

She quickly averted her useless thoughts. Catharina didn't have the luxury to investigate human's reasoning why they would launch a full scale crusade and eradicate the demon race.

She travelled from one mountain to another, witnessing the gruesome nature of war. From her point of view, it's hard to tell which side was more evil than the other. The Holy Church's Legion was still purging the land from any demon in sight. More rubles, more smoke, and death.

Weeks had passed, Catharina's body was on the verge of breaking down. The emergency supplies that she prepared had also run out, there's only a ration for one day. But she kept pushing forward until she reached a high-rising cliff with the snowy valley down below.

Not too far beyond the fog, Catharina saw sparkly forest, trapped in the Eternal Frost. She chuckled happily. Yet Tusa Village has yet to be found.

"I made it! Silverwood Forest!"

Wasting no time, Catharina used her remaining strength to traverse down the mountain and entered the forest.

This region was still under a small human kingdom's territory called Kingdom Of Arlenheim, thousands of miles away from Diablo to the north.

Without exaggeration, this frigid region was basically deserted, no humans or demons would be willing to inhabit this massive land mass filled with monsters and magical beasts.

However, this place was a perfect biome for Succubus to thrive and prosper without being directly affected by the war between human and demon.

Granted, Succubus and Incubus were subraces of Demonkind, but their existence was quite unique, and needed by many kingdoms and factions, including Elf, Dwarfs, Beastkind, and many more. Their Love Nectar, i.e orgasmic fluid, was highly sought after due to potent aphrodisiac attributes and has a high healing factor, and could be synthesized as High-grade Healing Potion.

Therefore, instead of living in the human world and being hunted or becoming a sex slave, the young Succubus and Incubus opted to live here before living independently around the main continent. But of course, powerful Succubus and Incubus were sent outside the region as an agent to keep the tribe connected with the outer world.

Apart from that, their alluring figures made the feudal lords in the Covian Region coveted the succubus, and even willing to marry one.

****

Hours had passed, the dusk had fallen in the western horizon, followed by the twin moons behind the star but Catharina couldn't find the village. She collapsed due to hunger and mana deprivation while still holding the baby princess atop her chest.

Alice cried aloud, if only she could speak, she would have rebuked the maid.

'Catharina, wake up! You'd be hypothermic at this rate! Fuck! Of course she couldn't understand my baby language.'

"I understand, your highness. But, I'm sorry… Would you please let me sleep for a moment? I'm so… tired."

Just when her consciousness almost drifted out, a group of three colorful, alluring women in skimpy outfits emerged from the tree lines. From right to left, the red, yellow, and purple skinned women skipped the snow effortlessly as if they had spring in their legs.

Their voluptuous bosoms bounced and swayed to every direction as they approached the helpless demoness. A pair of little horns protruded out from their forehead. Two bat-like wings flutter rapidly as they glide above the snow.

"Oh my, look, a demoness! And… a high rank one to boot!" The cheerful purple skinned succubus chimed excitedly. "What should we do?"

The yellow skinned succubus quipped, "I mean, she's a demon, her bodily fluids must be very delicious, I think we should bring her to Lady Andariel. But wait, is she bringing a baby with her?"

The yellow skinned succubus was curious with a bundle of blanket on top of the demoness' breast, and only to find her hand being gripped strongly by the demoness.

"Don't you dare…" Catharina hissed fiercely.

The red skinned succubus, however, immediately recognized the demoness' face right away.

"Catharina?!"

She tilted her head slightly upward when the familiar voice resounded in her ears. "Lisha? Is that you?"

"By the mother of hell! It's really you, Catharina! What happened?" Lisha gasped, her breath caught in her throat. "Hold on, if you're here, then the Diablo is…"

"Annihilated." Catharina sighed in exasperation.

"Good grief…" Lisha clenched Catharina's hand, she then glanced at the two succubus siblings. "Violetta, Kaelith… Help her up. We will bring these two to the village."

"Hold on a sec, how did you get acquainted with a High ranking demon like her?" Kaelith, the yellow skinned succubus quipped.

"I will fill you in later. Less chatter, and move your limbs!" Lisha reprimanded.

"You better fill me up to the brim." Kaelith quipped coquettishly.