The temporary office in Halaima was bustling as usual, even with the duke gone.
But only until Gabrielle froze the moment for everyone but her.
"Somebody opened a portal," she announced. "Lilith, can you feel it, too?"
And now that she pointed it out—
"Hmm, yeah, sorry," the little ginger mumbled. "I was a bit too busy trying to reach my Konny boy, and it flew under my radar. I'm trying to pinpoint him, but—"
She was out of luck, in more ways than one.
"You'll find him later," Gabby barked, grabbing her shoulders. "This is urgent. Pinpoint this first."
Because, despite using a relay through the heavens and focusing everything she had—
"Lilith," the angel yelled. "The open portal. Now."
"Right. Right. Sorry." She had to pay at least some attention to the present, too. "Where is it?"
She had to ask, since her senses were a little slow to adjust.
Gabrielle scoffed.
"It's your job to figure it out," she said. "I felt the initial surge, but by the time I paused the world, it faded away. Now there might be another army on their way here, or—"
"Lucifer," the demoness nodded, slapping her face with both hands to snap out of it. "I'm ready."
"Finally," the angel sighed. "If you found them, go, delay. I'll grab Maou. Unfreezing now."
And life continued like normal, except she had already known about the urgent threat.
"Hmm, something fifty miles north-east," Lilith mumbled. She poked Stella's shoulder, working at Eyna's desk. "What can your dead squirrels see there?! At the foot of the mountains."
"Wha—why?" the tall blonde stuttered before snapping. "I can't see with their eyes like you."
Of course.
"Okay, okay, don't go full on necromancer on me, Blondie," she smirked, reaching out for her wyverns. Well, Maple's wyverns. But since she was her, she took over once she found them.
Seeing her face, the former Church girl might have caught on to the situation, too.
"Is this it?" she muttered. "Has the invasion begun?"
"Not if I can close the gate fast," Lilith claimed, her head finally in the game now. "My wyrms are on their way, but it might take a minute."
Right as she said that, Gabrielle returned with the young Demon Lord.
She yanked him along by his elbow, demanding an update.
"Still nothing?!"
That earned the ginger's glare.
"I'd rather find the exact location than teleport into nothing, sweetheart," she snapped. "Unlike you, I don't have all day to stroll around and stuff. I need a clear landing spot, close by."
And thank the spirits, those beasts were fast, their eyes seeing very, very far.
Well, it was a huge portal, too, easy to spot from even a great distance.
"Okay, gottem," Lilith yelled.
And without waiting for a response—or anyone's consent—she opened a portal of her own.
All four of them traveled along, whether they liked it or not.
"Oh, thank God, it's only another army," Gabrielle sighed as they landed. The moment froze solid around them once more. "Would've been a pain to duel my brother again. Even like this."
Yeah. But Lucifer must have thought the same about them.
It was the third army this week, and who knew how many more they prevented from entering. The fallen angel sent dozens of agents from different worlds, but they were easy to detect.
When, um, you know, her head wasn't in the clouds or in the gutter.
"Meow-kun, if you would," Lilith waved at the alien sorcerer trying to stabilise the gate.
The Demon Lord needed no further instructions.
He grabbed his new magical staff and performed a textbook example of his banishment.
"Ready to release," he grumbled at the archangel who dragged him along. "On your mark."
And like a well-oiled machine, Gabby dispelled her time bubble.
As soon as she did, Maou Midori triggered his banishment, too.
And the man was gone in an instant.
Well, not his gate.
Unstable as it was, it remained open, taking another flick of Lilith's finger to get rid of it.
"W-what should we do with these, um—"
Stella summoned her skull-topped staff as well, pointing it at the monsters she failed to name.
A few dozen got through before she dealt with the portal, but—
"Hey, resident archangel," she asked, glancing at Gabrielle. "Do these count as human?"
Because as much as she'd enjoy murdering them fast or slow, she knew it would piss Konrad off.
Gabby took a moment to analyze the bloodthirsty creatures.
"Monsters. But they have a soul. Unfortunately, none of them has a tether to my brother."
Lilith sighed. It was the worst combination.
"Do as you wish with them," she said, waving to the Church girl. "I don't want to dirty my hands with these, or Konny could get mad at me. Release their souls, or whatever."
"Ugh. I'll tell him you were bullying me, Lady Liliana," Stella scoffed, but didn't hesitate.
Before the creatures could organize a shieldwall or cast a spell on their own—
The skull-topped staff glowed up, and they all collapsed.
She even turned their mortal vessels into dust.
No matter how strong Lilith had gotten or had to deal with Stella's kind, this still sent a chill down her spine. She hated necromancers, even if this one was a good girl. But man—
"I miss having that staff," the Demon Lord mumbled, using his own to cast a searching spell.
"Any stragglers?" Gabrielle asked, tapping his shoulders.
It was an odd sight, seeing her work with her sworn enemy like that.
But things have changed a lot since their lover left.
"Some trackers hidden in their gear," Midori-kun noted. "They could open another portal through them, so we should destroy them fast. Or—trigger them? Send a message to Lucifer?!"
Lilith couldn't help but smirk.
"Someone's bloodthirsty," she noted, reaching out with telekinesis to grab those trackers.
"Better than being lazy like you," the angel argued to defend him.
Or to piss her off?
Either way, it worked.
Lilith was about to snap back, explaining how restless she was trying to contact Konrad, but—
"It's not bloodthirsty," the Demon Lord claimed first. "I was thinking of a way to train Zoltan, and, um. These monsters could be the right fodder to force him into taking risks, you know?"
She raised an eyebrow, but as her gaze met Gabby's—
Yeah, she wasn't the only one.
"That is," she said, pausing to search for the right word. "Very thoughtful of you."
The former Green Mage who worked with Lucifer out of necessity.
Who took in that hopeless—his words—bastard, and abandoned him without regret, too.
Now, he was thinking about ways to teach him more than the basic illusions?!
The angel shrugged, turning her back on the corpses.
"Do as you like. But don't make a mess. And keep Stella around in case something goes wrong."
"M-me?!" the necromancer protested. "I'm the worst person to handle emergencies here."
Lilith grinned. For once, she agreed with her angelic archnemesis.
"Not true. You did pretty well while I left you in charge. Improved by leaps and bounds, too. It's actually a great idea. Konny boy's doing his best, so we should hold a training session as well."
Not that she calmed down about him at all.
She still couldn't reach her husband and wanted to evacuate him from Earth.
But she knew she had to trust him more. She had to be patient. To wait for him.
And then she might as well have done something useful in the meantime.