Chapter 22: Heroes' Party
Author: Geraint
Four travelers wearing cloaks descended from the foot of the mountains.
"Finally!"
The one in front took off his hood while looking at the beautiful horizon. He was a blonde young man with a dashing face, fair skin, and blue eyes. He looked gallant in his armor, with a sword at his waist, a shield strapped to his back, and a small buckler on his left arm.
"Are we really going, Leon-niisama? The Zendaria Empire has already occupied the Elven Kingdom. I don't think talking will convince them," a young lady in a blue mage's robe asked. She had long, bright silver hair. On her back was her luggage filled with potions and herbs, and a magic staff strapped to it.
"What have we done to deserve this? You humans are truly despicable!"
Their archer was revealed to be an elf after taking off her hood. She had short, greenish hair tied in a braid, a longbow in her hand, and a quiver strapped to her back. Tears fell from her green eyes as she mourned the horrors that had befallen her kingdom.
The priestess, with shoulder-length red hair and red eyes, patted her on the shoulder.
"It's okay, Elaris. We'll try to talk with the Empire."
"What is the Empire thinking? Do they know the consequences of their actions? Sea monsters are already attacking fishing ships. If this continues, many people will starve to death in a food crisis!" Leon was furious.
"Your Sacred Relic is still being maintained in the Dwarven Kingdom. Isn't it better if we wait first?" the mage said.
"I just can't abandon our elf friend in distress, Elise. I can't call myself a hero if I can't even help my friend," Leon spoke with determination.
"Leon-niisama..."
Her little sister, the mage, looked at him with admiration.
"Just a little more. We'll arrive soon at the general's camp, and I'll try my best to convince him."
After walking for an hour along the path, they came across a group of people: a dispirited, bulky man walking in front, followed by a young man and two ladies who seemed to be enjoying their conversation.
"Ugh. Boss, this form makes me feel really uncomfortable," Hannya complained.
She had taken on a human form—her reddish skin now peach-white, her horns gone. Her black sclera had turned white, just like a human's.
Hecate, on the other hand, had simply retracted her wings and hidden them with magic.
"Oh my. You look so cute in your human form, Hannya," she giggled.
"Hey, stop it! I don't like being called cute!" Hannya looked embarrassed.
"No wonder you refused to take a human form." – Hecate
"I feel humiliated." – Hannya
Seir patted Wilton on the back, startling him.
"WAAH!"
Wilton nearly had a heart attack and began sweating profusely.
"Hey, are we there yet?" Seir asked.
"Yes! We just took a longer path to avoid the army!" Wilton responded nervously.
"You know, Wilton, you don't have to be considerate with us. We can deal with an entire army. More corpses mean more flesh to collect. Their lives will be more useful once I turn them into my pawns." Seir chuckled.
Hearing that, Wilton's face grew even paler.
"Do you understand what I'm saying, Wilton?"
He saw Seir's menacing smile, and his breathing grew ragged. He regretted ever joining the mercenaries and ending up in this situation.
"Yes!"
"Boss Seir is messing with him again."
Hannya pouted while Hecate giggled.
"Ufufu~"
Wilton then spotted a group of travelers and noticed their weapons. Based on their outfits, he knew they were adventurers. His eyes lit up with hope when he saw the silver plates hanging from their necks—signs of high-ranking adventurers capable of facing demons.
"HELP ME!"
He immediately ran toward them, panicking.
"Huh?"
Leon and his party looked confused.
"Demons!" Wilton pointed at Seir's group.
They didn't sense any demonic presence from them—until the elf in their party turned pale. Her keen senses detected something very dangerous, not in Seir himself, but in his shadow. A deep abyss emanated a red miasma, suppressing a vast amount of demonic power.
"Be careful, everyone! That man in front is a demonic being!" Elaris warned.
"What? I can't sense anything." Leon was confused.
"He's hiding his demonic power. For some reason, it's separated from his body, but there's no mistake—he's a real demon!"
Leon immediately drew his weapon to protect the bulky man and faced Seir and his companions.
Seir sighed, scratching the back of his head.
"Can you guys not get in my way? I still have to go back to camp before noon, or I'll get scolded hard."
Leon and his party hesitated, unsure if they should attack first or wait. Seir showed no hostility despite being a demon.
"What are you guys planning?"
"We're here to talk with the leaders of the Zendaria Empire and make their army retreat," Seir answered.
"What?"
Leon and his party were surprised.
"Do you really think a demon can convince them? You're a demon—they'll kill you on sight!"
"Nah. We'll be fine. I can convince them." Seir spoke with confidence.
"DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! THEY WIPED OUT MY SQUAD AND MASSACRED A WHOLE ARMY! IF YOU LET THEM ROAM FREE, THEY'LL KILL MORE!" Wilton yelled desperately.
Leon and his party were shocked.
Now, they had a reason to fight.
"Ah. He blurted it out," Hannya said in disappointment.
"I don't think that was worth it. All he did was increase the number of victims. Seir would've spared him, but too bad—his dumb decision led him to his death." Hecate grinned.
Leon imbued his blade with light magic and was about to attack, but his elf companion immediately stopped him by grabbing his wrist.
"Leon, don't!"
"Why?"
"Wait a bit. I'll talk with them first. I have a bad feeling about this."
Approaching Seir's group, the elf introduced herself.
"My name is Elaris, and I'm an elf archer from the Elven Kingdom. These are my traveling companions: the swordsman and our party leader, Leon, the mage Elise, and our priestess, Silica." She tried to be polite despite knowing the man in front of her was a demon.
Leon was displeased with what she was doing—talking with a demon, the enemy of humanity.
"Elaris, what are you doing—"
"Just shut up for now, Leon! I'm talking with them." Elaris glared and scolded him.
He was taken aback and unable to argue with her.
Seeing this, Seir gave them a wry smile, understanding the situation.
"Ahem!"
He cleared his throat, interrupting the two, then introduced himself.
"My name is Seir, the 13th prince of the Demon Kingdom." He smiled.
Elaris froze and her face went pale.
"Don't tell me..." she trembled.
"A demon prince? This will be a tough fight." Leon became tense.
"Leon, don't."
"Huh? Why?"
"He is someone we shouldn't fight right now!"
"I can't call myself a hero if I run away from here!"
"Leon, listen to me! The demon in front of us is not an ordinary demon! His strength is on par with the current Demon King! If you fight him right now, you'll just get slaughtered!" Elaris warned.
"No, Elaris. We won't know until I try. Don't just assume I'll be defeated. Also, I'll have to face him someday anyway, so why not now?"
"Leon!"
Elaris grew anxious.
"If he's really as strong as you said, I want to see it—the power of the Demon Lord." Leon grinned excitedly, though he was a bit nervous.
Seir smiled at him.
"I admire your courage, Leon, but there's a thin line between bravery and recklessness."
"Prepare yourself, Demon Prince Seir!"
Leon tried to cut him with his sword, but before he knew it, he was already upside down, flipping through the air.
"Huh?"
A loud thud echoed as his back hit the ground.
"Ugh! What was that?"
He immediately stood up and took his stance against Seir.
Imbuing his sword with light magic, he unleashed a powerful attack.
"Divine Blade—Huh?"
The same thing happened—he flipped forward and hit his back on the ground again.
"Are you done? How about trying something else? I've already seen those techniques from heroes I fought in the past. They're just doing the same thing over and over with no improvements at all. I guess you're the same as them." Seir yawned, already getting bored.
Leon rolled away and put some distance between them.
"I'm not done yet!"
He raised his hand, calling for something from above.
"Return to me and destroy all evil!"
A bright light descended, and he caught it, revealing a sword that carried an enormous amount of divine power.
Hannya and Hecate grinned as they witnessed his true power.
"Well, after seeing Boss Seir's little sister's weapon, this one looks pretty dull now," Hannya said.
"I couldn't agree more," Hecate nodded.
Leon pointed his new weapon at Seir and smiled confidently.
"Let's see if you can survive this. This is my Sacred Relic, Divine Sword: Aetherion."
"Okay," Seir responded without paying much attention.
This irritated Leon. He immediately jumped high, raising his sword as it emitted a blinding light.
"Holy Severance!"
Seir sidestepped, avoiding the slash, then grabbed his opponent's wrist and flipped him into the air several times.
Leon was so shocked as he fell, the back of his head slamming into the ground first.
"Ugh!"
He remained motionless, unconscious from the fall.
"That should be it. You can't even wield your weapon properly. This is what they call a Skill Issue. You rely too much on your Sacred Relic's power." Seir spoke with a disappointed tone.
"Leon!"
Elaris and the two girls rushed to check his condition.
Seir glanced toward a certain direction and muttered.
"Looks like we were late. Zendaria Empire has already executed the remaining elven soldiers they captured and extracted the spirit stones from their bodies. There's no point in going there anymore."
Elaris was shocked by what she heard.
"Huh?"
"Well, you guys did a good job stopping us from slaughtering the army of Zendaria Empire. You are real heroes, choosing the lives of many over the lives of a few elves. Very heroic indeed. Now, the Elven Kingdom has completely fallen with the death of its king."
Despair and agony overtook Elaris, and she broke down in tears.
"No... WAAAAAH! Father!"
Hannya and Hecate were both confused.
"Boss Seir, how did you find out?" Hannya asked.
"I can sense many deaths, but I don't know who exactly died," Hecate added.
"It's here."
Seir glanced to the side, and they sensed something large rustling through the trees, approaching their direction.
A massive mutant hound appeared before them with ferocious teeth and grotesque human parts embedded on its body.
The mage and priest from Leon's party were completely terrified, while Wilton pissed his pants in fear and passed out.
Seir immediately moved under the creature's belly as a slit opened in its stomach, and two women came out.
"Mom! Himiko-san!"
It was his adoptive mother and their housemaid, both covered in slime.
Mia weakly opened her eyes and glanced at him.
"Huh? Yuki-kun?"
"Yeah, it's me, Mom. What happened?"
"They took Fuyumi... please, save her." She sounded so weak.
Seir smiled at her.
"Don't worry, Mom. I already got her back. She's safe now."
Her eyes widened, then she felt relief.
"I'm glad... thank you, Yuki-kun." She smiled faintly before closing her eyes, drifting back to sleep. "Sorry, but I think I'm gonna sleep for now."
"Just leave it to me, Mom. Rest well."
Seir turned toward Hannya and Hecate when he suddenly sensed killing intent.
"Hannya, Hecate! Help me bring them back to camp—"
His right arm was sliced off, flying into the air as he used it to block the attack and protect his mom and Himiko.
"Boss!" Hannya shouted.
"Seir!" Hecate cried.
Seir didn't show much reaction as he glanced back, following the whip-like segmented blade retracting into the hands of its wielder.
A tall man in a white coat with long white hair and glasses walked toward them with a grin, accompanied by a young lady with platinum blonde hair tied in curly twin-tails. Both wore the same military uniform of the church.
"As expected, that heretic woman is conspiring with demons. She must be executed for attempting an assassination on His Holiness."
The tall man touched his glasses, slightly adjusting their position.
"I thought I already got her, but what do we have here? A demon pretending to be human? I must execute you too, in the name of our goddess Celes."
His young lady companion frowned at Seir.
"Noctis, I don't think that's an ordinary demon. If we can't sense his demonic aura, it means he has good control over it."
"That just means I don't need to hold back against him, right, Sera?"
Seir tapped the mutated hound's leg, and several disgusting tentacles emerged from its body. They gently took Mia and Himiko from him, putting them back inside the creature's stomach. The terrified hero's party and Wilton were also pulled inside one by one as they screamed.
"WAAAH!"
"Help me!" Wilton cried.
Hannya grinned in excitement, cracking her fists.
"Let me assist you, Boss—"
Tentacles wrapped around her waist, and the same happened to Hecate.
"Eh?"
"Seir, why me too?" Hecate went pale, feeling unpleasant.
"They tried to hurt my family. Killing them isn't enough, so I won't hold back. Also, I want to try my newly acquired power."
Hecate and Hannya smiled when they heard that.
"KYAAH!"
They both screamed as they were dragged into the stomach of the mutated hound.
Seir controlled the creature, making it run back toward their camp.
Facing his two opponents in front of him with an indifferent look, he muttered:
"We'll just kill them later after we're done with you."
The tall man, Noctis, rushed forward and swung his blade as it turned into a long whip, slicing everything it touched.
"Hahaha! Entertain me, Demon!"
Seir avoided the attacks, though he still received cut wounds on his body despite not being touched by the blade.
"Got you!"
The tip of the whip pierced his side.
He backed away as his body bled severely.
"I see... not a bad weapon, despite being just an imitation of Sacred Relics."
"This weapon is blessed by our goddess herself. It's not an imitation!" Noctis frowned, swinging his arm faster and slicing off Seir's left arm in an instant.
Seir looked at his missing arm while keeping the same expression.
"Listen here, Demon. Stop acting tough. All I need now is the final blow and you're as good as dead. At least show some interesting reactions before I kill you. This is so boring." Noctis complained.
"Nope, I'm just buying some time for them to reach a safe distance before I make a move." Seir responded with a smile.
Noctis lost his temper and tried to finish him with a single swing—when he saw Seir instantly regenerate his arms and wounds as if nothing had happened.
"Huh?"
Seir pulled out his demon sword from his dimensional storage and parried the whip-sword.
Noctis frowned as he swung more, attacking from different directions, but every strike was parried with ease.
"Strange... You're a demon, but why are you fighting like a Hero?" he asked.
Seir took a kendo stance, dodging all the attacks until he approached close.
Noctis retracted his whip, using it as a sword for close combat to block Seir's strike.
"Sorry, but I'm pretty dull right now. It's been four years since I fought seriously," Seir said as he backed away.
He crouched, touching the ground with his bare hand.
"Demonic Manifestation."
(To be continued.)