Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

As Raven and his party arrived at the camp through teleportation, a portal to hell opened behind Linkle. With the party taking a few steps forward, the devils came pouring in with the unnamed devil woman leading the armored imps. Surrounding the witch as she stood up from the log, the floating imps directed their spears at the approaching group.

"What's happening? Why are you devils here?" Looking around, baffled, Linkle had no clue why she was suddenly being surrounded by the devils.

Glancing back at her from over her shoulder, the nude devil woman lifted her tail and gestured to her with it to sit back down on the log. Giving in answer, she quickly turned her head back to Raven and the others.

"That's as close as you're gonna get to her, you're not bringing that liability any closer to my master's property…" Resting her hands on the hips and leaning to the side, the devil glanced over to Erika's troubled state before lifting her gaze back up to Raven.

"He's handling this situation of yours, wait a minute or two and both of them will be fine. Till then…" Wearing a heavily furrowed frown, the devil glanced sideways at her soldiers, making them quickly step up front. "Till then you're gonna stand there and do nothing."

"And why should we believe you?" Slowly lifting Erika to her feet, Raven helped the priestess stand while his eyes remained glued to the devil. Staring at her as she stared back in silence, he took a step further to test how serious she was about the situation. "How would your master even know what's happening to Maine, much less cure her?"

As he spoke, two of the armored imps rushed towards Raven. However, through sheer urgency of the matter alone, the mage swung his fist and shattered their spines while cracking one of the bones in his forearm. Watching the dainty imps falling to the ground, their bodies twisted at an awkward angle as they shrieked to the hurt, the nameless devil lifted her head and faced Raven head-on by taking a step forward as well.

"Stand where you are and give me a minute…" Scrunching her nose and baring fangs, she lowered her head slightly and growled at him in a hushed tone. "For both our sakes, do as he demands!"

"Trust a devil, yeah…there has never been a greater plan in history, I bet!" Yet step and Raven was face to face with the she-devil.

Taking Erika off his hand, Mel moved her away from the ruckus that was about to take place. Moving beside Raven with his shield Amedith too was ready to force a path to Linkle and the same went for Aria who'd just conjured a handful of clones around the remaining imps.

"You're not gonna win this fight, I assure you of that you devil," Amedith said, summoning the storm of swords behind him.

Walking beside Raven, as well, Aria smashed her fists together as a threat as well. Meanwhile, ready to heal, even boost the party's ability, Liliyana stayed behind the trio with her hand outstretched.

"Just let us through and you won't get hurt!" Declared the Fae-devil with Mino and Regalia standing beside her.

Their eyes wandering for a while they tried to find the rest of the group, but thankfully, didn't there were no signs of Moxy, Maria or even Reina anywhere near the camp. Looking at each other, they nodded knowing full well that the trio were probably inside the church.

"He's right you know, you're not escaping nor defeating us all," digging into her palm again, Regalia conjured long swords in both hands. Staying with Liliyana, Mino decided to defend the current healer with her spirit summons in case it was ever needed.

"Just a few seconds now, wait for the sake of nine hells. Why the heavens are you so impatient!" Clenching her fists to the side, the devil knew that she couldn't handle the coordinated effort of the hero's party, but still hoping to complete her task, she took a step away and reluctantly tried to negotiate. "One minute, not even that–just wait for my master to talk that idiot devil out of your friend's body."

"A devil?" Surprised to hear another devil entering the mix, Raven stared at the she-devil before demanding further explanation. "What devil? And how do you know exactly?"

Shaking her head, the devil took a deep breath and heaved out a heavy sigh. Then with a determined look, she looked at Raven and revealed the truth about the matter.

"That girl you met on that ship was supposed to draw you out, mind control you to stay inside the ship's hull and then get rid of you all by blowing the ship with the gunpowder," turning around, the devil stretched her hand towards Linkle. "That was no harm would come to the witch and this bloodthirsty devil that's after you, would've gotten her wish."

"What devil?" Amedith demanded, doubt still reflected in his eyes.

Turning back around feeling slightly defeated, the devil held her tongue in naming the woman.

"I don't know, but she wants all of you dead," shifting her attention to Raven again, she clicked her tongue from annoyance. "Those scrolls you had on that ship, I told master they weren't worth enough to let that woman do whatever she wanted, and now look at the mess she'd created!"

"So you stole the scrolls?" A flicker of rage sparked in Raven's eyes once again, but it didn't last long after hearing the devil's next few words.

"Consider it payment for saving your fine ass," rolling her eyes, she snapped her fingers and opened a portal to hell right next to her. "It was supposed to be that woman's way of paying my master for allowing her to kill you, but that viper has a knack for fucking things over, doesn't she?"

'Viper?'

That word flashed a terrifying image inside Raven's head. The image of the Lamia queen's eyes staring at him through the darkness with a bright smile.

"Libyan?" Lifting his head to look at the devil, Raven noticed a flash of a smile on the devil's face right before she turned around to move into the portal. "But how? She's supposed to be dead!"

Instead of an answer, the devil casually waved before leaving with at least one piece of good news.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"It is done, your friend should be fine for a while. Look after her, will you?" Cackling her way into the portal with the imps following right behind, she mocked Raven and his party through the many levels of the nine hells.

Needless to say, Raven checked on Maine first before trying to decipher her words, and to his surprise, although unconscious, Maine–at least for now, was finally stable. However, considering the devil's parting words, he knew it was only a matter of time before Libyan tried something yet again.