Part 2

A week passed.
The two blacksmiths came over to the Great Garden, where Welma awaited. The path to the main gate of the Demon Lord’s Castle rolled out before them in golden tiles. No matter how long they lived there, seeing the sheer size of the biggest castle in the world was always a disorienting experience. It had stood as a monument to the strength of monsters since the time of the Third Demon Lord. Since then, all manners of creatures had inhabited it, both big and small. For each new reign, the castle had been adopted to suit the needs of those who resided within. It was more an amalgamation of many castles joined together to serve the purposes of their respective master.

“Right on time, ladies!” Welma said with a smirk, leaning against the large fountain at the center of the garden, “You’re as psyched up as I am?”
“Yes!” Cried Maldia.
“No…” Greeley whimpered.
“Can you believe it? A whole week has gone by without any weapon in my hand? I feel positively naked like this!”
Greeley and Maldia shared glances. Considering she wore a heavy full plate armour complete with skulls and spikes, ‘naked’ would be the last word they’d use to describe her.

Welma rubbed her palms together, “Now, let’s see what we have!”
“Oh oh!” Maldia jumped up and down, waving her hand, “I’ll go first!”
With a flick on the corner, she pulled off the tarp on the wagon she pulled. Underneath it was a sword easily the size of a horse, made from reflective metal.
Welma picked it up and admired its length with a grin, the way a mamono admire the man who became her prey.
“Made from my own secret alloy, this baby weighs a measly 90 stones! Feel that grip? The moment you touched it, you became just as familiar with it as your own panties! Ladies and ladies, I give to you… The Exacerbator™ ”

Welma tried out some guards, both high and low, and how it handled between them. Went smooth as a whistle. The hilt was complex composition of spindly tentacles of metal. They looked alive. Nonetheless, at no point did they get in the way of her own arm.
She made a test swing. It struck the air like lightning. The drag sent a gale off into the garden strong enough to rustle amber grass and the green and blue leaves hanging off black trees, even towards the horizon.

“Nicely done there! Can’t imagine a better sword anywhere!”
“Yeah! Isn’t it just?” Maldia laughed boisterously, “How about we wrap the contest up right here?”
“Heh… I like your guts. But fair is fair. We must give Greeley her fighting chance. So… What do you have for us? Impress us.”

Greeley stepped forward, reaching her closed fist towards Welma. Her arm trembled, but she opened up her hand. On her palm rested a teeny tiny mechanical bow and stock, where an arrow the size of a toothpick was suspended.
“...That’s it?” Welma asked as she picked it up between her fingers, ”You spent the whole week on this toy crossbow?”
“...It’s actually a tiny ballista.” Greeley corrected.
“Pffft, same difference!” Maldia stated.
…It was not the same at all. Even if they shared superficial similarities, a crossbow and a ballista operated under fundamentally different mechanical principles.
Maldia definitely knew that.

“Seriously? Were you even trying?” Welma went on.
Greeley shifted backwards awkwardly, “I… I… It was actually really very hard to make it that small…”
“Yeah, but… What good will that do me? Tell you what, if I ever go hunting fleas then I'll come right to you first thing! I mean, come on! Imagine if I just pressed the button…” She pressed it for emphasis.
Thunk.

“And the enemy flee en masse for the charge of the devastating toothpick! And besides…”
BOOM!

A massive explosion detonated on the walls of the Demon Lord’s Castle. Right where Welma had aimed the bow. Enough to obscure a good part of it in smoke and dust. Once the cloud had settled, a good few scratchmarks had been inflicted on the black stone.
Welma’s eyes shifted between the castle and the tiny bow. And to Greeley. The ballista had been drawn and rearmed with another armature.
“...Well, then. This just got a whole lot more interesting.”

Maldia and Greeley both closed in, their faces glowing with anticipation.
“Well…?” Greeley said, her single eye shimmering with hope.
“Did I win?” Maldia smiled hopefully with clenched teeth.

Welma looked between the bow in her hand, and the giant sword. Then to Greeley, then to Maldia.
“You know what? Both of these are good!” Welma stated, “There really is no single weapon that works perfectly for every situation. I think I will choose both.”
Greeley’s eyes glowed with joy as a smile sharpened on her face, “Does… Does that mean…?”
Welma nodded with a smile, “Yes. You both get the Devil Bug pit. Guards!”

The armoured succubi grabbed the two blacksmiths and led them away into the castle as they groaned and protested.
“But… but…” Greeley stuttered.
“Oh, this is such a horseshit! You can got ahead and bite me in the…”
SLAM!

Unfortunately, Maldia did not get to finish that sentence, as the gates to the Demon Lord’s Castle slammed behind them.
Welma sighed in triumph, ”Another victory for the Demon Lord’s Army.”
“AHEM!”

The minotaur turned around. Slowly. That voice… No doubt it meant bad news.
Sure enough, a terrifying succubus with long white hair rode a sphere of black mana, purple eyes bulginig from all over.
“Ah… My lady Druella…” Welma bowed, “How may I be of service?”
“My~ Was it by chance you who bombed the castle~?”
“Uh… No?”
But the Fourth Daughter of the Demon Lord saw the bow in her hand, and smirk of pure viscousness appeared on her face, “Allow me to show what happens to any who raise arms against the demon lord!”
With the snap of a finger, Welma found shadows encroaching from every direction. They converged at her very spot as they slithered forward, forming an enclosed orb of pure dark mana, where tentacles slithered under the minotaur’s armour and all over her body.
They were in for a long and intimate night together.