I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

A twist of confusion and annoyance etched on Gloria's face as she observed their movement. She had the ability of using her vines as a seventh sense organ, her intuition being her sixth and this let her see with them, hear with them and as much as smell and thirst with them if she so much as wanted it.

Lickily, these devils were rather known on the battlefield and that was especially because of their wicked cunning nature...and their weak constitution.

"They're underground". She said after a moment of contemplation.

She had tried counting the numbers and it definitely didn't add up.

"All of them ?" Aria asked with a raised tone, her ears perking up to her statement.

Gloria shook her head. "No, about five of them….We'll have to hold out until my mother and Patriarch Derick arrive".

A playful smile found its way on Aria's gorgeous face as she turned away. "Easier said than done my dear".

An iridescent purple-pink energy began to exude out of her body, as a small gray subspace appeared next to her.

She reached her hand into it and grabbed something, pulling her hands out when the energy around her had dispersed.

Her tails swayed with momentum, as she pulled out an onyx long hand fan, a meter in length.

"Alright, you'll handle the ones below ? I'll find the devils trying to ambush us". She was about to charge into the miasma when Gloria stopped her abruptly.

"These devils…they're called Gusion Apes. They're manipulative and use illusions. They aren't necessarily strong. but they are Grand Devils, so their strength equals ours".

The rankings of devils and demons in relation to humans was similar to those of the beasts.

Lesser and greater devils proved to be more cunning than the demons, relying on more than just their inhuman strength but their minds as well, when faced off against enemies.

This shrewdness has proven difficult to put them on the same ranking as demons.

But in all, lesser devils were equivalent to 3rd stars/circles to 6th stars/circles.

Greater devils were equivalent to 7th stars/circles to 9th stars/circles.

Grand devils were equivalent to 7th stars/circles to 11th stars/circles.

Monarch devils were equivalent to 10 stars/circles and beyond and finally, Primordial Devils were beyond equivalence to the humans for now, but they were at least of the 15th stars/circles.

Aria winked, her smile never leaving her ethereal face, as she turned away from her, and charged forward through the Miasma, leaving Gloria to face the devils below.

'These creatures….Gusion Apes were cunning, but they were weak. Their main abilities would be burrowing…thank goodness it wasn't anything worse…'. She thought to herself, vivid ideas reeling through her mind.

She slowly looked up at the ceiling, or where the ceiling ought to be. The Miasma had completely sealed their eyesight, making it nearly impossible for ocular vision.

She raised her hand slightly, causing some vines to stretch out from the walls and the ceilings of the room.

Her vines were her second limb, serving as a seventh sense and a funnel that served as a means of conduit….the importance of which will be explained later.

Some vines had shrunk dry from the Miasma's effect, but many more were firmly attached to the walls, and liveliness was basically pulsating with their length.

'I have to get rid of the Miasma….'. Her gaze was fixed on the ceiling as she clenched her grip on the hilt of her great sword, swinging it to her right.

Its length glistened with the luminescent glow of the blade.

It had a length of two meters and its hilt was seventy centimeters, leaving a pristine white blade to take over the rest of the length.

It was rectangular in shape, having a square-shaped tip that curved inwards at the left edge.

The inward curve took the shape of a crescent moon, and its edges glowed within that miasma.

She stomped her foot, her aura swirling within her and out of her body as a blue dragon erupted from the blade of her sword. Its size equivalent to her height.

Her eyes glowed with a blue hue as she swung her blade across the air, a ferocious cry echoing, that caused the air around her to quake.

"Chapter 6 of the Jun Swordsmanship ! unparalleled surge !".

Her voice was low and exuded power, as the ferocious dragon cried out, propelling itself upwards towards the ceiling of the room and smashing it into bits, causing a mild explosion as rocks shot down.

She ignored the falling debris, her gaze fixed on the ground.

"Treacherous Apes !" She swung her blade down, smashing it into the ground.

"Chapter 4 ! Sonic Surge".

The ground vibrated as her aura surged down to her feet in ripples, causing the surface of the ground to undulate in sync with the force.

A sonic explosion occurred and the ground lost all foundation, collapsing into rocks and falling below ground level.

Gloria had quickly retreated upwards, jumping over a large rock debris, and then another as she ascended.

"I asked you to stall them, not rip the foundations apart !".

Aria's voice echoed in her ears as she landed on a large piece of ceiling debris.

Gloria turned to her, her emotions palpable on observing her closely.

She had some scratches and wounds, but not any deep. It seemed like taking five grand devils all at once was difficult. Well, it was expected.

She turned away from Aria, her gaze on the ascending Devils, their cries and maniacal laughter assaulting their ears and drawing their attention.

"Are those the five? Were you able to take care of any?" Gloria asked, her eyes narrowing, and her aura slowly surging out of her body.

Just the mere sight of these creatures were enough to perk her perfectly well kept fury, but the part of rationality in her didn't let her charge forward.

She wouldn't be able to fend off five of them after all, two perhaps? Yes, then three? Of course, yes. She could multitask with her vines.

But any more at the moment would be mind boggling.

Their gaze had been focused on the creatures, forcing them to ascend upwards, while the devils kept on chasing after them.

"Hi Hi Hi ! Humans ! Humans ! Come play with us !".

One cackled madly, its ape mouth widened, as a snake tongue slithered out, its gaze filled with blood and madness.

"Yeah ! Yeah ! I promise we'll go hard !".

Another said, its frantic effort to catch up evident in its long ape limbs, reaching the whole length of their four meters tall build.

They were tall, slender and ridiculously slim, with ape-like fur on their skin.

"Idiot ! You meant soft !"

One devil rebuked the statement of the former, and the former cackled in retaliation.

"That's true ! Wouldn't want them to die like those Demi-humans".

"Hah ! Hah ! I heard the sound of their cries ! So sweet ! So terribly joyous ! Hah !
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How much I want that ! How much we want that !"

Another exclaimed, its voice was a fit of hysteria puzzled with a nefarious glint in its red goat pupil eyes.

"Hah ! Ha ! Don't say that ! If we do, then they'll get scared and run away !".

Their laughter palpable in the air, accompanied by the sound of falling rocks and colliding stones.

"Huh~ Like they aren't scared already, Dumb Humans".

One devil sneered, its voice low and raspy, its malevolence permeated through his words, sending a shiver down the spines of the two ladies.

Its eyes glowed with an evil too grotesque, too sinister, too nefarious, diabolical even, its facial features contorting deeply, and its eyes narrowed into a mischievous line, as they chased after the ladies.

Gloria was aware, she was aware that they were trying to spite her, and it worked. It was more than enough to make her blood boil, and her logic was downplayed by the mix of emotions that assaulted her thoughts but even she wouldn't be able to survive five devils….and what of the remaining five?

As if responding to her thoughts, something stretched out from the abyss below, amidst the colliding rocks, and the falling stones, the floor had completely descended, parting an open and deep abyss, leading further down to nothingness.

How deep was it? What did it lead to? Gloria wasn't sure when she decided they were better off without the ground and ceiling but what she did know were the dangers that lurked within.

They looked up quickly, recognizing the black ape like limbs stretched out towards them, as they quickly changed location, jumping onto another rock.

The ape limbs slammed onto their precious location, smashing it into bits, as more limbs stretched out, accompanied by a mad cackle echoing within the darkness.

Most magical lamps were destroyed, and the cradles were gone, plunging them into eeries darkness.

The limbs were a constant assault, one pair after another, no…more like a pair after the other.

They ascended and descended, five pairs, descending like a guillotine, destroying the rocks and reducing their means of escape.

One had somehow made its way behind Gloria through the falling rocks as she landed on another stone platform, its sharp talons stretched out as it nearly grazed her.

Gloria was startled, taking a step backwards, and losing her footing for just a second, but that second was more than enough for these grand devils.

Its speed increased on noticing this weakness, nearly thirsting the sweet sensation of blood, when a thin line phased through it, followed by successive thin lines that flowed seamlessly through its length, slicing it into tofu-shaped bits of meat.

A thud reached Gloria's ears, and her eyes followed the source of the sound as she regained her footing.

A spark ignited within the depths of her eyes, and a wild smile appeared on her lips.

"Just in time, Mother".