Two days passed, and there was nothing else I could do further to prepare us for the journey to investigate the disturbances. My wounds had miraculously recovered fully by now. I am amazed by the effects of the cooling gel. I bought a couple of healing creams and cooling gels, which I distributed to everyone. I also gave them some agility and strength potions, along with a secret weapon the local alchemist taught me. It will be invaluable in the upcoming battle with the demons.
Kronk did not sit idly by for the past two days as well. He figured out the direction from which the great demon came and pointed us to the location on the map. He also explained to us about the different types of demons and their ranks.
Lesser Demon > Great Demon > Greater Demon > Demon King
Lesser demons in general are pretty weak. They do not have healing factors that other higher forms of demons have. If we were to encounter a group of lesser demon, we can easily take them out. Greater Demon, on the other hand, are powerful beings. Powerful enough to be on par with a blue or red dragon. Some even surpass the strength of dragons but are not quite strong enough to be a Demon King yet. There had only ever been one Demon King that ever existed, and it almost caused the entire destruction of this world. Humans, elves, and reptilians all fought together in the war just to bring him down.
I asked Kronk whether he knew about the strange roaring spell that the Great Demon used on us. All of us lost control of ourselves and rushed in blindly to attack it. He explained that the roaring spell was one of their signature moves. It is something like a taunt that makes you lose control of yourself. Stronger demons can even cause their opponents to enter a frenzy state with their bloodlust. Should we encounter such a demon, we better pray that our minds are disciplined enough to block it. Otherwise, all of us will be dead without realising it.
We proceeded towards the location pointed to us on the map. Kronk was bringing along a—staff? A walking stick? All I know is that he uses it for walking and never lets it go even once. The location brought us south of the continent. The town where we first arrived was located southwest.
Truth be told, I am really glad we have Kronk to guide us. Without him, chances are we'll be dead by now. He was always the first to predict the weather or any sort of incoming attacks. So far, we had not encountered any death-storm, thankfully. Most of the time, it was burning rainstorms where we were able to shade ourselves by hiding in caves. There were certainly a lot of caves in this continent, most of them made by the reptilians as temporary shelter. Demons are capable of withstanding all the weathers here, but sadly, reptilians were not resistant to it. I asked Kronk why they used mud for their houses when burning rainstorms occurred more frequently. He said that reptilians in general are able to expel their heat much easier than humans. By using mud, they can retain the heat in the building while their cold-blooded bodies expel it naturally. No wonder they can live in this continent and survive.
The enemies that we encountered so far were stray lesser demons, which we disposed of easily. There was no need for us to aim for the brain like the Great Demon that we fought. These demons were small and weak in nature but still had the tenacity to attack anything on sight.
Ah, I completely forgot to mention that the flora here were extremely dangerous as well. Giant sundews and Venus flytraps exist on this continent, waiting to turn some unexpected humans or animals into plant poop. Like I said, Kronk saved us more time than I could count. Pietro nearly became plant food when he almost stepped on a giant sundew's hidden leaves.
Two days after we departed from town, we only made it halfway to our destination. We camped in another cave that we stumbled upon when night approached. We are certainly encountering more demons as we approach closer to our destination. We are on the right path, but I am getting worried that there might really be a demon that is capable of rallying the other demons together.
Tonight was my turn, along with John, to take point for lookout. I saw Pietro sleeping in one corner while Rose slept in another. I guess it should be safe for me to bring up a conversation with John.
"Do you still think Pietro is hiding something?" I whispered to John.
"Can't say. I can't shake the feeling that he's up to something. But we have not made any detour elsewhere, nor did he give any unreasonable orders thus far. Maybe we should cut him a little slack," he replied.
"Perhaps. He is stern, but that doesn't warrant suspicion. I'll continue to keep an eye on him, just to be safe," I said.
Silence engulfed us momentarily. Was John always so distant with me? I don't remember this happening before. While it did seem like Lily was the one holding us together, I had plenty of talks with John before, not to mention we ate often together and spoke just about anything. Did something happen? I tried to strike up more conversation with him as this is just awkward.
"John, you met with Lily, right? How is she? I hadn't seen her in ages," I said to him.
"Hm? Oh, she's doing great. She's a total babe now. You won't recognise her for sure," he chuckled.
"Haha. I'm sure I can recognise her signature glasses. Not many elves wear those anyway," I told him.
"You'll be surprised. She's changed a lot now. Who knew that elves would only hit their growth spurt and start looking more mature after a century? But one thing still remains though—" John stopped and looked downwards.
"She's still into you. You should meet up with her for old times' sake," he continued. What? Lily is still into me? On what basis?
"You're just messing with me, aren't you? There's no way she's still interested in me after such a long time. I'm certain that she's met with many other dudes for the past five years. Did you even hear her say it directly?" I questioned John.
"Oh, I'm fairly certain. When I asked her about you, she feigned ignorance and asked who you were. 'Who?Oh, that Zen', then she began talking nonsense while being flustered. It's quite obvious she's still into you," said John. Why do I get the feeling that John is disappointed or feeling down?
"John—are you—perhaps?" I stopped at the end.
"What are you boys talking about?" asked a voice behind us. Both of us turned our heads quickly to see who it was and saw Rose. Was it time for our shifts?
"Is it time already? I felt like we only sat not too long ago," I asked her.
"No, it's not time yet. I just woke up and saw the both of you chatting, so I thought I should join in," she said. I hope she had not overheard our conversation about Lily. She can get overly jealous when I talk about other girls. Like some overprotective little sister that is hung up on her brother.
"Hey John, I am so—sorry," I apologised to him.
"Hm? Oh— it's nothing. It's not your fault, anyway. I blame myself for feeling this way. It's probably due to the fact that we hadn't met in such a long time that I was stunned by her drastic changes. You don't have to worry, I'll get over it," said John.
This deep conversation is really affecting the mood. I didn't know that John had feelings for Lily. Had she changed so much that even John fell for her? I must steady myself if I do meet with her, since I know very well that I am a sucker for female elves. I felt sorry for John though. Surprised he did not try to woo her or something when he's feeling this way.
"Who are you guys talking about?" asked Rose.
"Um, we were talking about John's elder sister! That's right— John hadn't met his sister for such a long time and was surprised by her changes. Ha ha ha," I tried to talk my way out of it.
"Yes, we were talking about my wonderful and genuine elder sister that most certainly exists. I certainly met her recently and was surprised by her. Har har har" muttered John. Brother, you suck at lying.
Rose squinted at both of us, but we avoided her gaze. She then proceeded to sit on the log beside me and rested her head on my shoulder.
"Are you sure the two of you are siblings? From what I'm seeing, you two look like lovers more than anything. Hahaha!" John laughed.
"Oh, please, she's just an overly attached little sister," I said bluntly.
"As long as I am on Onii-chan's side, I don't care what he says," retaliated Rose.
"You can't stick with me forever, Rose. You and I, we'll be getting our own partner one day. But you can come over to visit anytime," I explained to her.
"Until then, I'm going to stick with you. So bear with me," she said as she held my arm tightly.
"Rose will be a beauty when she's older. I'm certain there will be plenty of guys gunning for her. Haha," chuckled John.
"John—I would rather you went for Lily than my little sister. Let me warn you right now," I warned him.
"Who's Lily?" asked Rose.
"Er—John's elder sister. That's right," I said without thinking.
"That doesn't make any sense!" shouted Rose.
Both John and I started laughing while Rose pouted as she waited for us to answer. Pietro awoke from his slumber due to the commotion, and it was about time for us to change shift. John and I headed into the cave to rest when he decided to whisper in my ear.
"I won't touch Rose or Lily, don't worry. I owe you that much. But you, on the other hand, would have to decide," he whispered to me.
"What are you talking about? I'm not choosing my little sister as I don't even see her in a romantic way," I explained to him.
"Dude, seriously? Even a dense guy like me can see that Rose and Lily are into you. Even if Rose is not aware of it now, when you start dating other girls, she is going to get jealous for sure. You are her hero, Zen. Are you going to be okay if Rose starts dating other guys? Think about it," he said as he lay down on his sleeping bag.
Will I be okay if Rose starts dating other guys? I mean—sure? I guess? I don't even know what to feel right now. I still see her as nothing more than my little sister. As for Lily, I had a crush on her, but after this long, I have no idea what to feel when I see her again, honestly.
I just rested on the sleeping bag and closed my eyes. Now is not the time to think about romance. Tomorrow is going to be a dangerous day. I should focus on getting more sleep and preparing myself. I pray to the above that Kirin doesn't disturb me tonight and talk about girls. Please don't.
***
Dawn embraced us, and we prepared ourselves for the inevitable journey. Kronk had already scouted ahead, and from what he discovered, we should be able to find the reason for what is causing all these disturbances after we climbed up that hill in question. Great, once we find out what it is, we can call for reinforcements and head back to the Western continent.
After a quick breakfast, we packed up and proceeded towards the hill in question. We thought that we'd be needing climbing gear, but Kronk had already prepared a rope for us to climb to the top. How did he even climb up there in the first place? Is our guide not afraid of being ambushed or attacked by demons? I mean, sure, he can predict the weather and foresee incoming attacks; but still, what if he met another Great Demon? He literally ran at the sight of it the last time.
We took turns climbing up. It wasn't easy, but there were footholds on the rocks that we used to ease our climbing experience. Good thing the hill was not too steep, or our arms would be too sore to move once we reached the top. John and Pietro climbed first, then I followed suit. I asked Rose to head up before me, but she insisted that I would be staring at her butt, so she pushed me to climb ahead first.
Upon reaching the peak, we were greeted by a vista with a huge clearing for miles. Staring into the distance from where we stood, we saw what we were looking for. There were numerous demons flying around the central area. And smack dab in the middle of it all was a menacing-looking demon. Is that a Great or a Greater demon, I wondered?
Kronk was the last to make the climb. He joined in to see what we were staring at. He pointed out that the demon in the middle is definitely a Greater Demon. But from the looks of it, he is not capable of controlling many demons just yet. Its demonic influence is not at the level of a Demon King who can control all the demons in the entire Northern continent. But it does seem like he is preparing for war. While not exactly a huge army, I counted an estimated number of a few hundred demons under his control.
The Greater Demon raised his arm while holding something. Is that—a katana? Huh? Why would a demon be wielding a human weapon? That's—weird.
Inazuma started rattling on my hips. Is Kirin feeling excited or something? Never did Inazuma rattle this way before. The greater demon unsheathed the katana and pointed towards a direction. Wait, that direction is—the town where we came from! Is it planning to wage war with the reptilians? Would the reptilians even stand a chance?
I turned my gaze towards Kronk and he was definitely panicking. It looked as though he wanted to run away or perhaps head back to town to help out. What are our options then? Technically, we are sort of done with our quest and can fall back to call for reinforcements. But will they reach in time to help in protecting the town? I highly doubt they can make it in time.
Another option is to leave the reptilians to their fate. But I am not so cruel when they showed me such great hospitality thus far, even though we are not the same species. I continued to rack my head to find other alternatives when Pietro raised a question.
"Kronk, if we defeat the Greater Demon, would the demons disperse upon its death?" he asked.
"All the demons will break free from his influence for sure. But if they were to reach town before that, it would be for naught. The demons will still wreak havoc in the town while fighting with one another," said Kronk.
"So our only option is to defeat it quickly before those demons reach the town," said Pietro.
"I do not agree. We should hurry back and help out the reptilians instead," said John.
"We wouldn't make it in time. Even though there were more demons that couldn't fly, there was still a considerable amount that could. We just won't make it in time to save the town," said Pietro.
"You do remember the four of us nearly died fighting with a Great Demon. If it were not for Zen's quick thinking, the four of us would have been dead," answered John with a raised tone.
"But now we are all well equipped, aren't we? We found their weakness, so we are more than capable now. As the leader of this group, I say we fight the Greater Demon," said Pietro.
"This is madness. Our deaths wouldn't serve a purpose in protecting the town whatsoever. We stand a better chance in helping the town instead of throwing our lives for nothing," John retaliated.
Both of them raised some good points. It is certainly better to eliminate the Greater Demon quickly to wreak havoc on the demon groups. But if we were to fail, it would be for nothing. The town would be destroyed along with our deaths. From that perspective, it would certainly be better to just help the town directly. The four of us had fought with a Great Demon, and we were almost beaten by just one of them. Who knows what the power of a Greater Demon is?
Both of them continued to argue as I pulled Rose away from them to have a discussion of our own.
"Any idea on what we should be doing? We are running out of time," I asked her.
"I think we should—" Rose paused as both of us heard a loud 'shuu' noise that sounded awfully familiar.
A moment later, a huge bang erupted. Was that—a firework? I turned around to see what had just happened and saw Pietro holding a circular container with smoke trails from the top. He must have pulled the rope to fire the firework.
"W—why did you do that? You just doomed us all!" shouted John.
Some sort of wind pressure slammed between us and John's side. Something had sliced the hill that we were standing on. I quickly turned my gaze towards the clearing and saw another one heading straight for us. This one sliced the hill behind us instead, causing the side where Rose and I were standing up to crumble. The hill is falling apart!
John's side seems to be stable, but ours was crumbling. We are losing our foothold here. I thought of jumping to the other side where John, Pietro, and Kronk were, until I heard Rose screaming. I quickly turned to look behind and saw her falling towards the ravine. Without thinking, I ran and jumped after her on instinct.
Both of us were on a free fall now. I was able to reach Rose, which I instinctively hugged her. Shit, shit—I got no parachute here! How am I going to break the fall and land safely?!
Should I stab Inazuma into one of the tree trunks to stop the fall? What if it breaks? Kirin is going to kill me before I even reach the ground. Wait— what is that coming at us? Are those— giant Venus traps?!
A few of the leaves were homing directly at us with their mouths open. These plants must have thought we were easy prey that would fall directly into their mouths. But this is a good opportunity for me. I shouted at Rose to hang tight, and she responded by hugging me tightly. I spun our bodies to avoid the leaves aiming directly at us. A couple of them knocked onto each other to our advantage. I avoided the last one attempting to trap us and quickly unsheathed Inazuma with my right hand. I jammed the blade into the soft stem of the leaf that was aiming at us, making sure the blunt part was facing the bottom. My right arm was burning with pain as I gripped Inazuma one-handed while holding Rose with my other. We were slowing our descent with the help of the soft stems, thankfully. We came to a stop just short of touching the ground. Phew, we somehow made it safely. The leaf split apart and fell sideways. Sorry about that, but you did try to eat us.
Damn it. What the hell just happened? Where did the wind pressure even come from? Was there someone strong enough to slice a chunk of a hill apart?
It took me a moment to realise that Rose was still hugging me tightly. I held her shoulders to see if she's alright but only then did I notice that she was shaking. Was she afraid of something? Is that why she didn't react much when the hill was crumbling apart?
I thought we could finally have a breather, but a loud crash suddenly erupted behind us. It would seem that something large had landed nearby. I braced myself and prayed that it was just a huge rock from the hill. Unfortunately, it was the Greater Demon that we saw earlier. It had two horns, a large blue-coloured body but slimmer as compared to the Great Demon we fought. Those elongated arms and claws of theirs are gruesome to look at, but at least this one has giant wings that are more logically tucked behind its back. And that signature katana; a shiny purple katana that looked like some legendary item. This is bad, really bad.
Rose recollected herself after the sudden loud crash, and I told her that now is not the time to be scared. She needed to prepare her spells and, if opportunity arose, drink our stats-enhancing potions. We will certainly need everything at our disposal, including my secret weapon, if we wish to stand a chance at beating it.
"You," the greater demon pointed at me.
Huh? They can speak the human tongue? Since when? I was expecting it to say something like "Ahhh, fresh meat."
"You—know of me?" I answered.
Perhaps an opportunity did arise. I hid Inazuma behind my back. Rose caught on immediately and quickly rustled through her bag.
"Your features looked—familiar. Just like the human that fought the Demon King. I recognised those features," said the greater demon.
Did I look like my father so much that anyone could recognise our similarities? I should try to drag this conversation longer for Rose to prepare.
"You are mistaken, I am only fifteen years old. It's not possible that I fought the Demon King," I said to the demon.
"No—you did not. But perhaps your ancestor did. Yes—you are probably related to him. The resemblance is uncanny. I shall kill you and become the next Demon King. I will succeed where he had failed," said the demon as he raised his tone.
"Who are you? Do you serve the Demon King?" I asked the demon.
"Served him, I did. No longer. I was the first lieutenant of the Demon King. The sole survivor of the great demon era! I will reunite the demons and become the next Demon King!" shouted the demon as he raised both his arms.
"Really? Seems to me that you are just a remnant of the past clinging on to a glimmer of hope. You can barely even control a hundred demons yourself. I doubt you're able to succeed where he failed," I insulted the demon.
Rose tugged my cloak from behind to signal me that all was ready. Good, it might be tempted to attack us soon after I insulted him so.
"I do not like your words, human. I am a Greater Demon from the great era. You will cling onto life while I deliver your body to the other demons. They will acknowledge my strength while we devour your warm, lifeless corpse," said the demon.
Ugh, I doubt I even taste that nice. But play time is over. Time is of the essence if I wish to save the town from utter destruction.
I checked Inazuma's blade to make sure. Alright, Rose did an excellent job coating it. Talk No Jutsu is over, time to roll.
I made the first move and rushed towards the demon while Rose stayed closely behind. The demon had already prepared himself for our attacks. I was expecting it to take a swipe at us with the katana or its claws, but it suddenly roared. Shit, is he using taunt technique already?
Both Rose and I were being pushed back by the roar and braced for the inevitable. Huh? Seems to me that it was just some normal roar. That's odd. I made a small nod to Rose, to which she understood and hung back. I ran up to the demon and prepared to defend myself. Odd, it's not attacking me at all. I came up to its right where it was holding the katana. I took a gamble and decided to attack the demon since it barely even moved. I used Shadow Strike on the demon's right arm. I managed to cut through the meat but not through the bone. I pulled Inazuma back to further the cut on the wound. Steam arises from the wound. Can't heal, can ya?
The reptilians had managed to discover the perfect recipe to prevent demons from healing quickly for a short period of time. It is a sort of wax coating that you need to coat across your blade. Limited effect and uses, but better than nothing. But—why is this demon not attacking? Things are getting really sus right now. Should I hang back to see what its next move is?
Just as I finish that thought, the demon started attacking—albeit slowly. It is trying to swing the katana, but it seemed as though the demon was having difficulty wielding it. I only just noticed that the katana's bladed tip was always touching the ground. It took some time and great difficulty, but the demon eventually finished the swing.
BOOM!!!!
Yikes! I'm glad I dodged it! It sliced the entire landscape at the side of me! Holy shit, I must never get caught by any of the swings, or I'll be decimated to smithereens. As I was still in disbelief from the extent of the attack, Rose rushed in to attack the demon on her own. She took a few stabs at the demon's torso and used her signature Holy Strike, which pierced through the demon's body. Rose is really good at finding the opponent's weak points. I also noticed that demon's are generally more vulnerable to piercing attacks rather than slicing.
The demon swung his left hand towards Rose. Much quicker than his katana attack, but nothing Rose couldn't handle. She dodged low, pulled out her rapier from her torso, and stabbed at the demon's foot. She leaped back to regain her bearings. Steam was also appearing from where she stabbed. Good, she coated her rapier with the wax too. My attack earlier was starting to heal now, albeit really slowly. Now it's my turn to push the attack.
I went in close to the demon. It noticed me, but once again, didn't react much. I decided to attack behind the demon to slice both knees. Even though I couldn't slice through the bones, I could still cut through the flesh. The demon grunted and tried to swing the katana again. I did an uppercut and somehow managed to slice off the demon's right wing.
"You'll pay for that, human!!" shouted the demon.
The demon once again wanted to swing the katana towards me. I had to dodge it. Just as the demon almost managed to complete his slow swing, Rose came in to stab the demon's arm. The demon grunted in pain and released the katana, which fell to the ground with a massive, loud thud. Holy shit, how much does that thing even weigh?! The demon looked pissed off now. It swung its left arm at Rose again, which felt faster than before. Shit, is Rose going to get pulverised?
"Accelerate!" chanted Rose.
She managed to dodge it at the last moment. The demon rushed towards her in an attempt to punch her. It was moving much faster now compared to the sluggish movements that it had been doing earlier. Was the katana weakening the demon? I threw my dagger at the demon to gain its attention.
Thung!
It hit the back of the demon's head, but it did not pierce through the skull. The demon turned its attention to me, wanting to strike back. Rose quickly reacted by grabbing the falling dagger and pierced the demon's throat. Nice, quick thinking, Rose!
The demon roared in anger, which caused a huge shock wave. Rose and I flew some distance away due to the waves. It tossed my dagger aside and rushed to grab its katana. Can we win this? Can Rose and I beat this demon together? The demon reached for the katana and attempted to lift it. It seemed to be struggling to lift it with one hand. Now is our chance.
Both of us rushed in and pierced through the demon's torso, forming an X with both of our weapons. The demon roared in pain but seemed dead set on lifting his katana. Realising that it couldn't lift it one-handed, it decided to grab it with the other hand. I'm not going to let you lift your katana. I quickly reached into my back pocket to grab my strength potion. I can hear Rose already chanting her other spell.
"Light Blessing!" shouted Rose just as I finished drinking my potion.
Time to slice this moron. I pushed Inazuma forward from where I pierced. I roared as I used all my strength to push my blade forward and thankfully managed to slice it all the way through the demon's left arm. Rose instead aimed for the demon's head in an attempt to pierce through the skull. Hopefully, we can kill it if we destroy the brain.
The demon dodged Rose's attack with a spin and hit her with its left wing. I leapt back to regain my bearings and see what the demon will do next. Seems like Rose managed to block the wing attack earlier. We can do this, both of us can defeat this demon.
The demon roared even louder this time. What? It's healing all of its wounds. Even the wing and arm that was sliced off are regrowing now. Not good, all that hard work is going to be for naught. And it seems like our wax coating is getting less on our blades with each strike. If it attacks us without the katana's debuff, both of us are not going to make it out alive.
Rose quickly took out a potion and drank it. The demon rushed to attack her and she somehow managed to barely dodge it. It must have been the agility potion she drank as the Accelerate spell should have worn off by now. The demon really hates Rose as she did many things that angered the demon. I rushed to help her while picking up my dagger from the ground. The demon moves nimbly and fast. Rose is getting cornered by its attack. I might not make it in time to help her.
What? Why did Rose stop moving all of a sudden? Is that—her foot is stuck on a giant sundew?? Shit, the demon is going in for the kill with its claws.
"ROSE!!" I shouted as I tried to run even faster after the demon.
A small axe and spear pierced through the demon's torso and face. This made the demon stop its attack and leap back. Rose quickly sliced at the sundew's sticky tentacle coils before it grabbed her in. Oh, thank the above. Just the thought of seeing Rose die in front of my eyes made me realise that this is not some fun and games. This is a life-or-death situation.
John and Pietro appeared out of the trees to join us in battle. About fucking time you two showed up. Kronk was nowhere to be seen, though. Perhaps he went back to the town to help out with its defences. I quickly took out the cloth that had the wax coating and wiped it across Inazuma. You want a fight, then I'll give you one. Time for you to face the four of us in round two.