Cain waited until later that evening when the Blood Dancers were safely tucked into bed, sharing a large spare room upstairs, to begin the process of summoning his final Commander. Unlike Cixelcid, who was a transfer, and Svetlana, who was summoned alone because Transfers weren't cloned by the system, leaving the second half of the spell to be completed on its own, this Commander would come as a pair.
That made it even more important to Cain that he got this right the first time. Each of the Commanders would get to summon two Lieutenants of their own, and it would likely take all of them to keep the kids in line. At least until they settled down and got into a routine it would.
Almost all of the Companions, save for Nila who was out at sea, had gathered around, along with King Aggramor and Svetlana, who was carrying a small wolf pup for some reason. The system showed that it had a name, so it was likely either a werewolf or a Wolfkin with a more bestial form, but that didn't explain why she had it so late at night.
Cain focused on the need for a Commander that would be good with Demonic children, strong enough to keep them contained, and lively enough to keep them from getting bored and trying to run away.
He could feel a sense of amusement building from something in his mind as he focused, but he couldn't tell if it was the thoughts of his Companions, someone he was Merged with, or something else. When the amusement turned to a sense of revelation, Cain knew it was time, and he activated the [Commander] spell for what might be the last time.
The forms that were slowly coalescing from the gathering of black mist weren't particularly large, only about 170cm tall, and seemed rather slender. As they coalesced, the bodies started to turn pale violet, but the mist at the back was staying a deep black, as if there was an important portion of the summon, more than just a cloak, behind the main body. Perhaps it had wings?
Cain watched intently, along with everyone else, as the bodies formed into an identical pair of violet-skinned demon girls in truly scandalous outfits consisting of a spiderweb pattern bodysuit and gloves that Cain suspected were actually made from their own silk. Their hair was as white as the Dark Elves, and their eyes were strikingly green. Eight jet black spider legs adorned their backs, ending in glowing pink spikes that seemed to have a hollow tube that ran back to the chitin that covered their backs and wrapped across their breasts to cover what the skimpy bodysuit did not.
It also extended up the back of their necks, ending in a pair of large black horns above long pointed ears, giving a demonic feel to the twins.
[Name] Tasha
[Species] Spider Acolyte (Demon)
[Level] 436
[Class] Void Mage
[Cain's Commander]
Cain looked over their stats with a smile. Demonic Mages that specialize in webbing and spatial magic? They just might be perfect for keeping rambunctious little demons under control. If nothing else, they should be able to slow them down.
As they activated the blessing that the Spider Goddess gave Cain some time ago began to glow, matching the runes carved into their horns. The two Demons gained an even more powerful presence and Cain noticed that they got two new status lines.
[Quality] Mythic
[Blessed of the Spider Goddess]
"Greetings Master. The Dark Goddess sends her best wishes to you." They greeted Cain in unison, making him smile.
"I do hope she is well. I will introduce you to everyone in just a moment, but I hear ten sets of small footsteps trying to escape the building. Would you kindly bring them back here, unharmed?" Cain gave them an order, and both Commanders vanished, coming back seconds later with ten Blood Dancers dangling from webbing cocoons and giggling.
"Excellent work. Demon King Aggramor here has been having trouble keeping these lively young ladies entertained, so I thought that I might ask you if you were interested." Cain informed them, and the girls gave the new arrival an interesting look.
"How did they just appear out of nowhere? It's like we're flying without wings, and the cocoons are actually really comfortable. Are there snacks?" The girls said all at once.
"We are void mages, and I'm sure there are snacks somewhere, but shouldn't you all be sleeping, so that you're not tired for tomorrow?" Tasha asked in unison, making the girls laugh again.
"Probably, but we have a lot of extra energy you see." They explained to their new Commanders.
"We can fix that in the morning. Or we could go burn some off now, but I think that Master Cain has more to talk about." Tasha informed them, still not letting them down from where they were being suspended at the end of the spider leg appendages.
"Just one last thing. You will each be able to call a matched pair of Lieutenants. They might be the same or they might be different, but they will all be what the System decides that you need to help you complete your duties. It will usually be something related to yourself, though not always." Cain explained, then waited for them to summon their helpers.
The clones of Tasha looked at each other with great interest and then nodded, before summoning their Lieutenants.
Four identical Demons appeared, and at first, Cain thought they were smaller versions of the Spider Acolytes. But then the mist formed into white and pink dresses and long white hair, with no back appendages. Long white ears extended from the frizzy mass of hair a moment after it became defined, and then short bronze horns, forked like a deer's appeared in front of them. Four gentle-looking tanned faces, with glowing red eyes, looked around the room with great curiosity, before landing on the girls in the cocoons and stopping, as huge smiles formed.
[Name] Tamii
[Species] Devil Jackalope
[Level] 436
[Class] Vorpal Berserker
[Quality] Mythic
[Tasha's Lieutenant]
"Greetings ladies. As you can see, we brought you a number of playthings today, and they insist they simply have far too much energy to sleep." The Spider Acolytes greeted their Lieutenants who beamed at them as if they had just found out that today was both their birthday and Christmas.
"Oh, yes, we can take care of that. There is nothing like a good spot of training to settle down energetic children." The antler-bearing bunny girls declared.
"Ack, it's those things again, but outside the Tower." En, the large black Bear Kin bounty hunter declared when she saw the new Lieutenants.
"You know this species?" Cain asked.
"They're the devil bunnies, the same species as the ones that eliminated me from the tower trial the first time I went in. Are you sure it's safe to send the girls with them?" She asked, always concerned for those around her.
"Of course, they're my new Commanders' Lieutenants. They won't hurt them, just help them wear off some energy before bedtime with a vigorous training session." Cain explained and the big Bear Kin suddenly looked smug.
"Well, if that's the case, we should see just how far the girls have come along in their training shouldn't we?" En asked, pointing toward the back of the house where the path outside led to a large training area with a stone floor.
Tasha carried all the Blood Dancers outside before dissolving the webbing and setting them all on the ground with gentle grace and straightening their hair a little before deciding they were presentable enough.
The girls all looked excited to see that the clones of Tamii were all in pink fancy dresses, though they were slit up the leg for a greater range of movement and ended mid-calf so they wouldn't get stepped on.
"We will try it this way for today. Pick four of you at a time to go up against Tamii and they will spar with you in waves while we school the others on more combat techniques that you will need to know to fight mages and other nonwarrior classes." Tasha decided to usher the girls into groups.
Four Blood Dancers separated off, all in outfits closest to pink, matching their opponents as well as they could. As far as methods go, it wasn't a bad way to decide who went first, and the two demon species looked equally excited to be fighting.
The Mages started the majority of the girls on training for a charging slice to close the distance with spell casters while the other four took combat stances with wooden training blades in their hands. The wood was from the Eastern Continent, and wouldn't easily shatter, but the weapons were blunt, so they wouldn't leave more than bruises unless someone went truly overboard.
"Ready and Go" all the clones of Tamii called at once, rushing the Blood Dancers with a frenzy of bloodlust in their eyes.
Wooden blades collided at ever-increasing speeds, and Cain could see that the Berserkers were holding back to slowly work on their opponents' skills. The rattle of wooden blades was almost constant as the two groups fought, with the Lieutenants pushing the girls back constantly as they desperately tried to get a hit in.
That went on for fifteen straight minutes until the girls started to slow down, then Tamii put one blade away, giving the girls false hope that they could land a blow, but only leading them to eventually collapse in exhaustion as the others practiced a new skill.
"Next group, you are up. Girls in the first group, you have five minutes rest, then you're on to skills training." Tasha called out, and the first sign of panic crossed the Blood Dancers' faces. They had finally found a group of opponents with as much energy as they had, and the Summons were Cain's level, not something that the girls could defeat in a fight and earn themselves a break.
They were happy to get more fight training though, so they weren't going to argue, but they began to suspect that their days of running wild around the castle were coming to an end. Especially with the teleporting mages chasing them with spider webs. That was going to take some serious planning to overcome.
Not that they were giving up, far from it, they would overcome these new caretakers sooner or later and prove that the Blood Dancers were the superior Demon species.
What they didn't know was that Cain could read their minds, and through him, Tasha and Tamii knew exactly what escape tactics they were planning to try the moment they got back to the Demon King's castle and were prepared for their antics already.
