Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

A trickster, that was Tariyaan's true identity. He played foul games better than anyone. Thus, as his head was sliced off of his body, he'd put up a fight unlike any other. Even in death, he rose, for his soul was near untouchable. It lingered around his flesh even after his body had perished. Reviving itself again and again, the simple spell carved into his very soul helped him get back again and again without a scratch left on his flesh.

Tearing through the living walls of the castle, he emerged as a giant with broad arms and broad shoulders. Having taken the form most suitable for a battle, he glanced down at the ants that were his rivals.

"After all that I have done for you, witch…this is how you repay me?" As he spoke those words, his body split in three–each side the same as the original with one-third of the strength as the original.

"I'VE ALREADY PAID MY DEBT! NOW LET ME BE!" Linkle screamed right back, however, still bothered by her ungratefulness, the devil lifted his feet and brought it crashing against the entire party.

To his surprise, something held his feet from crushing them into bits. And that something was Raven in his dark fae form, along with Arche, who was forcing her body to grow larger as well. With absolute control of her metabolism, the arachne sped up the lasting effect of the potion that had shrunk her, and then in just a matter of seconds, she pushed Tariyaan back with her body just as large as him.

Wide-eyed, the devil stared at the monster. Clicking his tongue at not having the opportunity to recruit her, he cursed under his breath before holding his hand forward.

"Seems as though you even have a servant of the demon lord at your disposal well…you won't for long!" Gathering his mana into his palm, Tariyaan expelled a bubbling outpour of magma right at Arche's face. Getting hit by it, she grunted and took a few steps away from the devil, but quickly moving in, one of the clones punched her in the face while the other kicked her leg in sideways.

"GUAGH!" Screaming in agony, she tried to get a look at the devil, but the moment her head turned to him, the clones punched her in the face again. Pinning Arche, the clones grabbed her body and dragged her through the living castle before throwing the colossal as far as they possibly could.

Left in tatters, the castle was no more, and with Helga and Libyan fighting still, the place was falling further apart.

"HOW DO WE KILL HIM?!" Noticing the true body's feet coming down on them again, Raven held it up on his own while looking at the witch for an answer.

Troubled and confused, Linkle couldn't think straight in the moment. Biting her nail as Tariyaan began to whisper a spell of deception, she rummaged through her memories, trying to find an answer. Seconds away from being crushed to death or being forever trapped in a spell of insanity, the world around her froze still, but then she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.

"One of you won't make it back," she turned her head to the voice, but there was no one there, just the lingering feeling of a warm touch persisting on her shoulder.

One of you won't make it back, what could it mean? She wondered. Looking around at everyone, her memories flashing in front of her eyes, she saw her first-ever interaction with them surfacing in her mind. They had hopes, they had dreams, and yet they'd come down to the depths of hell to free her body from the clutches of a devil.

'Why did I do this? What is wrong with me?' Seeing no out, she was ready to give up. Ready to surrender her body to Tariyaan completely. Hope was gone, and so were her dreams, but then a mischievous devil's smile flashed in her eyes. Out in the distance, Asmodia was waving at the witch with the crystalline head of a colossal creature kept underground sticking out of the castle's torn surface.

"Was that hand…" She pondered, but she was certain the hand wasn't a devilish occurrence. Instead, it felt divine–as divine as…

'Kara, that bitch?' Just as the thought crossed her mind, the world did, in fact, freeze in an instant. Painted a greyish white, it was stripped of all color, and only the priestess of Aphrodite, emerging from her sides, held any vibrance.

"One of you will die," smiling, she looked not at Linkle but at Raven, who was trapped under Tariyaan's feet. Giving a touch to Maine's shoulder, Kara returned time to the lamia and began guiding her forward.

Looking around, Maine appeared to be confused. She had no clue as to what was happening, and even when she tried to voice her concern, not a word left her mouth. Standing under the feet of the devil, Kara turned around to face the witch.

"H-how are you even–"

Before Linkle could finish a sentence, Kara brought out a stopwatch that belonged to Razor.

"Just borrowing a little trinket from an old friend." Smiling a mischievous smile, she moved a thumb on the stopwatch's button. "You've cheated death long enough. Being rescued by the devil while you'd died in the mermaid pond in the cave. You've escaped the witch hunter's rifle in that inn and survived numerous other battles that you shouldn't have."

Pressing the button halfway in with a smirk, Kara whispered and clicked the button all the way through.

"One of you will die; don't make it be them…" The colors returned to the world, and so did time. And the moment it happened, the ground under Raven cracked, and so did his spine. Just a second away from eternally trapping the aggressors in a prison of their own demented imagination, Tariyaan began breathing the final incantation of the spell.

'Make a decision, Witch. You or them?' The voice of the devil of seduction trailed into Linkle's ears, giving her one final chance at making her decision. Looking between the head of her body sticking out of the ground and the leader of their party screaming in utter agony, she finally came to a decision.

"STOPP!" And to her voice, Tariyaan's assault halted in an instant.

Everyone turned to the scream and knew it was over. With tears in her eyes, the witch held a fist clenched close to her chest. She had obviously given up, and thus, there was no longer any reason for them to continue this fight. Or so they thought, until a smirk crept up the primordial's face, and he crushed both Raven and Maine…

"NOOO!"
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"RAVENNN!"

"GET YOUR FEET OFF OF THEM YOU BASTARD!!" Pained screams flooded the fallen halls, from Linkle to Mel and even the monster girls and Helga, none of them could help but charge recklessly at the primordial to get his feet off of their companions.

Death was certain, but whose would it be? In the eyes of the crazed mother, it could've been them all, but for now, her anger was directed at Tariyaan.

"M-my daughter…my daughter…MY DAUGHTER!!" Screamed the undying spirit of the raging Lamian queen. Her voice rattled the hells to the very core, and for once, even Tariyaan felt terrified, for he'd realized his mistake…