The atmosphere in the hall was thick, charged with anticipation.
Lilith sat at the head of a massive oak table, her silhouette in human form emanating a calm, almost regal confidence. Beside her, resting a hand against her chin, sat Lysandra in her human form, whose skin seemed almost sickly pale in the candlelight.
Kala sat comfortably in a deep armchair, with Mina nestling on her lap. The green-haired girl clung to the succubus's chest, closing her eyes while Kala combed through her short hair with extraordinary gentleness.
Although all four looked like ordinary, beautiful women now, a serious atmosphere hung in the air.
The rabbit maids flitted through the hall noiselessly, bringing platters of fresh fruit. Mina reached for a succulent bite from time to time, trying not to disturb the gravity of the moment, though a wild zeal for battle flashed in her eyes.
"They have drawn conclusions from Verial's defeat," Lilith began, tracing a finger across the map. "They think they can outsmart us by bypassing the Canyon. They're planning an aerial descent and breaking through the mountains via smaller passes. They want to strike straight at the heart of our nest."
Lysandra lifted the corner of her mouth in a cold, predatory smile.
"Since they despise the canyon, we can set a trap for them unlike anything they've ever dreamed of. This move of theirs is suicidal; they just don't know it yet."
Seeing the questioning looks from the others, Lysandra straightened up and pointed to the vials from Morana standing on the table.
"Since we now have access to regeneration potions, the rules of the game have changed. Until now, we had to conserve every drop of mana in case of a prolonged fight. But now..."
She looked at Mina, who suddenly stopped eating and perked up her ears.
"Now, Mina and I can perform gargantuan area-of-effect attacks."
Mina perked up, and small, thorny vines bloomed in her hands.
"We will consume 400 mana points each for a single strike," the ice succubus continued. "My ice manipulation combined with her nature's wrath will create an impassable barrier. We will reduce their numbers, wiping out all these 'small fry' before they even have a chance to draw their weapons. And when they fall into chaos, we will drink the potions and regain our strength before clashing with the true heroes."
Kala nodded in approval, her eyes blazing as she imagined the battlefield.
"Perfect. In the meantime, I'll jump right into the center of that chaos. By killing the weakened remnants, I'll charge my Talent and sow even greater panic."
"We still have some time before they gather," Lilith added, rising from the table. "We'll reposition the Skeleton Commanders and our skeletal mages to the area where the heroes are currently grouping. They will provide long-range suppressive fire and cover your positions."
Lysandra looked at Mina with a seriousness she rarely used.
"We are not splitting up this time. Mina, you will be responsible for covering Kala. If any of the heroes try to flank her, you are to immobilize them with your roots. Once Kala is charged, you will enter close combat with their strongest warriors as a destructive duo."
Finally, the ice succubus shifted her gaze to Lilith.
"In the meantime, we will draw the attention of the majority of the heroes. If they want to see the Demon King, we'll give them a show they won't survive."
Mina swallowed the last bite of fruit and smiled widely, revealing her fangs. "This is going to be the best fun of my life!"
The atmosphere in the castle became icy and razor-sharp. The strategy was ready, supplies replenished, and the trap set.
The Red Blood Hero Association thought they were going on a conquest, but in reality, they were heading straight into the embrace of a slaughter that Lilith and her Succubi had planned in cold blood.
***
24 hours later, the night at the Red Blood Hero Association camp began unexpectedly peacefully.
Hundreds of elite warriors sat by massive campfires - werewolves with powerful shoulders, agile weretigers, and mighty bears. Laughter rang out, the clinking of sharpened swords could be heard, along with tales of the future loot they would seize after killing the Demon King.
"Did you hear? They say this demon has a vault full of gold and souls!" cackled one of the wolf-warriors, biting into roasted meat.
"After tomorrow's descent, every one of us will be drinking from gilded chalices!" his companion shouted back, the echo of their laughter carrying deep into the gloom of the forest.
The atmosphere was casual, almost joyful.
However, a Hero with leopard traits, whose senses were sharpened to their limits, suddenly froze. He set down his mug and looked around suspiciously, his feline pupil narrowing into a vertical slit.
"What's happening?" the Tiger leader asked, noticing his companion's unease.
"Did you feel that?" whispered the Leopard, placing a hand on the ground. "Just now... like an earthquake?"
The other Heroes fell silent for a fraction of a second, listening to the night.
Before anyone could issue an order to scout the area, the silence was torn by inhuman screams coming from the edge of the forest.
The camp immediately erupted.
The wolf-guards stationed around them, the pride of their scouting unit, were dying one by one in total darkness. Constant howling followed by suddenly cut-off yelps meant only one thing: their defensive ring had been broken.
"Dammit! It's an enemy attack!" roared the Tiger, springing to his feet and grabbing his gigantic axe. "Prepare for battle! Everyone up! To arms!"
Over a dozen Heroes and several hundred elite warriors scrambled from their spots, trying to form a line, but before their hands could tighten around their hilts, the sky above them changed color.
The clouds parted, and instead of rain, death poured down from above in pure, icy form.
Hundreds of razor-sharp icicles, saturated with destructive mana, fell upon the camp.
One of the bear-warriors didn't even have time to raise his shield; an ice spear pierced his shoulder, pinning him to the ground, only for another to strike him straight in the chest, freezing his blood in a split second.
Beside him, a young weretiger screamed in pain as an ice spike pierced his foot, and cold magic began to spread through his body, turning his skin into blue ice.
The Heroes defended themselves desperately, parrying the projectiles with swords and creating magic shields, but their subordinates were not so lucky. The groans of the wounded and the sounds of bodies hitting the forest floor filled the air.
When the first wave of the ice barrage ceased, those who survived breathed a moment of relief.
That was a mistake.
"What was that?! Where did it come from?!" one of the commanders shouted.
Before he received an answer, the ground beneath his feet exploded.
From the soil, like famished beasts, shot gigantic plant spikes covered in thorns sharp as daggers. These were no ordinary roots; they pulsed with heavy green energy.
Dozens of people were impaled on these stakes in a single second.
One of the wolf-warriors, who was just trying to raise his shield, was hit directly from below. A plant spike, sharp and hard as tempered steel, pierced him through and through, entering between his legs and exiting through the top of his skull.
His body was hoisted five meters into the air, frozen in a macabre dance atop the pulse-green stalk.
A group of three weretigers, standing near a campfire, didn't even have time to scream.
The ground beneath them gave way, and dozens of smaller, writhing shoots shot from the rift. They entwined their ankles and torsos, and then, like gigantic vises, began to tighten, breaking ribs and spines with a loud crack that momentarily cut through the chaos.
A young scout tried to flee, climbing a nearby tree.
He didn't know that Mina's magic had taken control of all vegetation. The branches of the tree he climbed suddenly bent unnaturally, grabbing him by the throat and limbs, then tore him in two in mid-air, dropping the remains directly onto the impaled corpses below.
The chaos was total.
The air became thick with the scent of freshly cut grass mixed with the sickly smell of blood and entrails. The beasts trampled each other, trying to escape the area where the ground itself had become the enemy.
"This isn't a forest! It's a living trap!" screamed one of the survivors, before a loop of vines tightened over his mouth, dragging him underground.
The Heroes, standing in the center of this slaughter, waded through mud that had turned into a red quagmire in seconds.
Every step they took caused more spikes to erupt. They were the elite, powerful warriors, but now they looked like helpless ants on a burning anthill.
They watched as their six-hundred-man unit melted away before their eyes, torn apart by a nature that had gone mad under the influence of the opponent's magic.