The Devils Layer

**Date Started:** Nov 26 2019
**Date Completed:** Ongoing
**Users Involved:** User:PuddingCups
* Diablo Alma: Karnilla
* Crow Feet: Amaya Forbris
* Hydra Head: Dionysus Iolanthe

Diablo Alma was at it's weakest point. The guild's goal, to unite all dark guilds and rule over them, hadn't gone as expected and they were met with heavy resistance. Over the past weeks, the mages along with the master had gone head to head with some of the more prominent villains Fiore had to offer, coming out victorious time after time again but because of their constant fight, they had left room for the light to seep in and illuminate the darkness. Seeing that Diablo Alma was busy and recovering, the light guilds chose to strike strategically, while it was down.

The castle stood tall, held up from the dead forest by chains of magic, but what seemed like an impenetrable fortress was rather easy to access for many of the members, who mostly all had some sort of flying item or magic and apparently, they had been called to action. Hundreds of what, from a distance, could appear as demons flying through the sky returned to the castle, entering its comforting walls. Among them was the elite group of the guild, the ones equal to other groups S-Class Mages. A man sat upon a throne in an empty room, four people standing before him, his face hidden by shadow. "The Hydra is coming... and its head will be severed." His rough hand gripped the arm of his throne in anger. "But sir, we've been fighting with other guilds for weeks! We need to rest to take them on! Pl-" One of the four had chosen to speak up but were quickly interrupted. "You dare question my judgment?" The man prepared to stand, causing his minion to quiver in fear. "N-n-no sir!" He shouted, receiving nothing in return.

"We have fought for long and we are weak, but we will not roll over and die! Now go, man your stations." The group of four left, each going in a separate direction, to one of the four corners of the castle where they would defend. Meanwhile, the man lifted a book from his lap. "We'll live to fight another die.." He mumbled, creating a replica of himself before vanishing out of seemingly thin air.

Having followed orders, Karnilla went to the west corner of the castle looking over the chain and just as the master had predicted within an hour they were coming. Members bearing the Hydra's emblem. She watched from her broom as they struggled to get up due to their lack of mobility. Once they laid eyes on the Fire Witch they immediately began to sling spells her way, which she swiftly dodged thanks to her broom. "She's dodging everything." "What do we do?" "Get her!" Various mages shouted, Karnilla only smirked, waggling her finger "Uh uh uh, my turn." She said, a red magic circle appearing briefly, conjuring a small dragon that perched itself on her shoulder. "▂▂▂▂▃▃▃▃▅▅ !" The creature roared. "Aw, he's hungry." Karnilla laughed, the dragon launched itself at the group and with one flaming breath, charred them alive. "For battle." The witch patted her dragon on the head as it returned to her. "Good Salamander."

Wave after wave of mage came and each one ended up just like the last. When her portion had finally given up, she decided to take a break. Sitting on the castle wall and watching the other battlefields around her, this was what they thought of as a threat? Laughable.

Deep within the wave of hydra mages was a small figure, shrouded in a green hoodie, weaving their way through the crowd avoiding any and all combat, seemingly they had a separate agenda to the rest of the crowd. Upon further inspection a forest green talon like crest could be seen on her arm, her dark skin aiding in keeping her hidden as she pulled down her sleeve and kept on her way.

“North, South, East or West? Where do they keep the good stuff?” The girl mumbled to herself, scratching her head as she looked off in all directions before taking off in what seemed like a random fashion.

“West it is!” The girl took off westward, her hood flying back for just a moment revealing an ebony skinned girl, her hair braided on the side and going down the back of her head and into her shirt. She yanked her hood back forward as she hop, skipped and jumped around every obstacle before reaching what seemed like a storeroom, smashing her knee into the lock, opening the door and revealing its riches to her. “Jackpot...” she muttered, stepping off into the room, leaving it cracked just a bit, who knows what could seep through.

Most of the intruders at the west had been dealt with, though there was always stragglers who made it through the defense and therefore, Karnilla chose to check inside. With the castle's interior resembling a maze of sorts, they couldn't get far and she could snuff them out. Using her broom she was easily able to make her way through and that was when she spotted a young girl. Tailing her for quite some time, as if to add suspense and dramatic effect it was only when the girl entered a room that Karnilla spoke up. "Well well, I guess what they say about Hydra's is true. You cut off one head and it grows two more." Karnilla smirked, her dragon smiling with glee, his nostrils flaring at the sight of another victim.

“Shit!” Amaya yelled under her breath as her ears caught onto another voice entering the room of treasures. She swiftly gathered a few riches, shoving them all into a bag before running deeper into the dungeon, coated in a veil of shadows thanks to the dark room, weaving through the large piles of stolen items and riches before reaching a dead end. “Ughhh! Looks like I’m fighting my way out.” Amaya muttered annoyed, turning around slowly expecting to be met with a enemy, her arm on her bag of stolen riches.

"A child? Aren't you a little young for such harsh words." Karnilla brought a red nail to her lips, biting on the very tip as she sat on her broom, side straddled, legs crossed, a wicked smile on her pretty face. Still, something worried her, magical energy. After handling wave after wave, sending out spells, blocking theirs, she was running low, she'd have to make quick work of this twerp...

## The Fight before the Feast

“Yoo-hoo!” A womanly and seductive voice broke through the crowd, causing a large chunk of their guild members both dark and legal to look off into its direction, the members of Hydra Head parting as a voluptuous and chocolate figure broke through the crowd.

“Which one of you degenerates is this guilds master? Can you even call this a guild?!” The woman said laughing, followed by a large yawn as she began to walk deeper into the fray. A single mage ran at the woman, armed with magic and bravery which would swiftly be snatched away as the woman snatched him by his neck and threw him across the room into a wall, his body creating a large crater in the building as he collided with it, the rest of the dark guilds members shuddering as they moved out of her path, leading her deeper into the maze of fighting, hopefully leading her to the Guild Master.

Luckily the real master had gotten away and what was left behind was a much weaker duplicate, a shadow of his former self created by one of his many minions. This was set up to trick the light guilds that they had truly won the battle, giving the illusion of the guilds defeat. As the doppelganger sat in the king's throne, a telepathic message was sent to all people possessing the Diablo Alma guild emblem. Having been together for a long time, the guild was something of a twisted family and their leader's final message reflected that it spoke of his departure and a carefully calculated plan that would need to be followed to a T if, after this, they wished to return.

The message, unfortunately, was interrupted by a woman the man didn't recognize. Despite the one on the throne being merely a copy, it was still him after all. "So you're the one they sent for me? I should be offended. A nameless wizard who yells foolish remarks and frolics like a child. You should be glad you are fighting me at my weakest." The man's face showed hardly any emotion, but his words were true. After having fought for weeks on end with other guilds, they were severely weakened, which was the only reason it wasn't the real him sitting in that throne.

“You talk very high and mighty for a man on a weak throne, they didn’t even need to bother sending an S class mage, you’re not worth the time.” The woman said, her arms crossed as she awaited the man’s next move.

"That is one way to look at it, and if I'm not worth it... I'm so glad I've wasted yours." An evil cackle escaped the man's laugh. Men emerged from the shadows while he remained seated, refusing to move. He, himself, had no need to fight. This was not his body, but if this woman standing before him wanted the satisfaction, then so be it. His minions came running with various weapons and spells, none of any impressive scale, for the real man had to conserve his magic, and by now he was already out of the perimeter and even this was pushing it.