"I knew it… In the end it's always the same. You people play your roles as if you can defeat us with nothing but love and friendship. Unfortunately, the world never sides with anyone. Only the strong rule, and weak creatures like you exist only for our amusement." The demon laughed at Axel and Leona's miserable fate.
"I'll end all of this. Blood sw—"
"Clusius… forgive your father. It seems I won't be able to spend time with you anymore. Please, take care of your mother… Explosion…"
After the spell was spoken, a massive explosion erupted, scorching the deme and seeming to set the sky itself ablaze. For a moment, the beautiful blue sky turned red. The explosion shocked the people inside the evacuation carts, and it clearly shook Marley and Clusius to their core.
"AXEEEL!!" Marley screamed as she tried to jump down from the cart, but the others immediately restrained her. Clusius could only grieve in silence, his face pale as he realized what had happened to his father.
"Father… please… keep your promise. Come back safely… so we can spend time together again like we used to…" Tears streamed down his still-soft cheeks.
Before they could even wipe the tears from their eyes, Clusius and Marley were startled again when a massive red crystal shot through the air and smashed into cart number three, destroying it completely. Fortunately, Marley and Anna were in cart number two, but Clusius, who was in cart number four, was forced to stop.
"What happened?" shouted the driver of cart number four.
He stepped down from his horse and walked toward cart number three, but his steps halted when he saw a red liquid flowing beneath his feet. As the dust began to settle, all that remained were broken chunks of wood and lifeless, mangled bodies. He screamed, causing everyone to rush out of their carts to see what had happened.
"Damn it, why are we stopping here? Shouldn't we leave immediately so we don't end up like th—aghh!"
A sharp red crystal pierced the man. From a distance, Clusius faintly saw the silhouettes of two horned creatures flying toward them.
Realizing the situation was about to become even more chaotic, Clusius quickly crawled into the wreckage of the destroyed cart and covered himself with several scattered items inside it. Meanwhile, the others grabbed whatever weapons they had and prepared to face the approaching threat. They quickly formed a formation and ordered the children, women, and elderly to hide behind them.
The figures they feared finally appeared.
"What a hassle. Why did they assign me to chase these pests?"
"Roxie, you should really get rid of that habit of complaining, or the general might shove something filthy into your mouth."
"That's if he can do it." The demon laughed briefly before chanting a spell.
"Blood Tentacle!"
After the spell was cast, something almost invisible, like smoke, seeped out from the pores of the demon's skin and drifted into the air. From the gathering smoke, blood began to form—more precisely, it was created.
"Stone Wall!" A human woman cast a defensive spell, and the same thing happened as the other humans began chanting their own spells.
A wall of stone emerged from the mysterious smoke flowing from their hands, but the barrier was still unable to withstand the demons' magic. One by one, they began to fall. After the adventurers had been dealt with, the demons then turned their attention to the children, the women, and the elderly.
"Please… let my child go… I… I will give you anything, even my own head…" A mother begged while crying and bowing before the demons.
"Is that so?"
"O-of course… I wouldn't lie…"
"Very well, then I'll grant your wish. Your child and everyone here will be spared. As payment, you must sacrifice three people here."
Several people immediately began accusing one another. They started giving reasons why someone else should be chosen, spreading each other's faults and revealing things that should never have been said, sparking a long and heated argument among them.
"THAT'S ENOUGH! Since no one here is willing to volunteer, I have a 'brilliant' way to solve your problem."
"W-what is it, k-kind demon sir…?"
The demon swung his sword and beheaded the woman instantly, silencing everyone.
"IN THAT CASE, I'LL JUST KILL ALL OF YOU!!"
The demon laughed as he began cutting down the helpless people one by one.
"If this was the end anyway, why did you bother making such a stupid drama?"
"I just wanted to prove something to you—that humans are actually demons wearing angel masks. They're no different from us. When cornered, they often abandon reason and follow their animal instincts, revealing the true nature of humanity."
"And how do you know the true nature of humans?"
"Because I've lived among them for a long time. I've seen every cruel thing they've done. After observing them, I realized they're just like us. But what annoys me is that humans proclaim themselves to be more holy than demons. They call us filthy creatures, yet they forget that they've been wearing angel masks their entire lives. And when those masks are removed… what lies beneath is nothing more than a piece of rotten flesh."
–––
The demon's words pierced Clusius's ears.
"What… what did that demon just say? Humans are the same as demons… Impossible! Demons are cruel beings, and humans aren't like that… I think…"
Clusius recalled a memory from the past, when he was enjoying the night sky with his mother. Back then, Clusius had asked,
"Mother, what is the difference between humans and demons?"
Marley laughed softly.
"Why are you asking something like that?"
"Well… it's nothing. I'm just curious."
Marley was pleased by Clusius's curiosity, so she answered his question.
"Humans are creatures filled with love. We humans love one another, protect one another, and respect one another. We have empathy and compassion for others, things demons do not possess. Demons are cruel and immoral beings. They are selfish creatures who believe they are far superior to others and oppress those weaker than themselves. So don't become an arrogant person, or you will turn into a terrifying demon. Mother doesn't want her beloved child to become something so horrible…"
Marley gently stroked Clusius's head.
"So… does that mean I've been living among demons all this time?"
Clusius's answer made his mother fall silent.
"You said demons are arrogant creatures who believe they are better than others. They also oppress those weaker than themselves. But… doesn't everyone I've met have traits like that? Are they demons?"
"That…" Marley hesitated, unsure how to explain it.
"They're not demons, Clusius. They're just people who have lost their way in the darkness. One day, they will find the light again and return to the right path, because humans often make mistakes." Axel, who had been listening behind the door all along, finally spoke.
"How do you know that, Father?"
"Because I used to be like that too. Long ago, I was a thief. Once, I even killed a merchant just to take his goods. That is a great sin of mine, one I still cannot fully forgive myself for. But I changed when I met your mother. She became the reason for me to change. Since meeting her, I slowly became a better person. Even so… in the end, your father is still a flawed man."
Marley smiled, then slowly walked toward Axel and kissed his cheek.
"You are a good man, Axel. Even if you were a bad person in the past, you have changed now."
The kiss made Axel slightly embarrassed and awkward.
"So, Clusius, that is the difference between humans and demons. Humans often make mistakes, but in the end they will try to repent and atone for their sins. Demons, however, never repent for their mistakes, even until death, because there is not even the slightest bit of light in their hearts."
Marley's long explanation satisfied Clusius's curiosity. He smiled, showing he was content with the answers from his parents.
–––
Clusius's daydream finally came to an end. He sharpened his hearing again, trying to guess what the demons outside the cart were doing.
"Let's go back, Landra. It's time for our feast, to celebrate our eternal victory." The demon laughed lightly.
"Roxie, how many times have I told you not to relax too quickly? We don't know what the humans might do."
"Oh, come on… You're too tense. They're just small creatures. If we were fighting a dragon race or neutral creatures like golems, then you'd have a reason to worry. But today and tomorrow, the ones we're fighting are humans. Just humans. So calm yourself."
Still feeling uneasy, the demon ignored his friend's words and inspected one of the carts—the one where Clusius was hiding.
His head leaned into the broken cart.
Clusius's body trembled uncontrollably. He gripped his shaking right hand with his left, trying to steady his breathing, but his body continued to shake violently.
Feeling something getting closer, Clusius could only surrender himself to fate and close his eyes.
"Come on, Landra. We should go back now. There's no point staying here any longer!" Roxie grabbed the demon's arm and pulled him away from the cart. In the end, they both flew off, returning toward the deme.
–––
After feeling that the situation had become safe, Clusius finally crawled out of the cart, gasping for breath.
"Thank goodness… That was close… It seems luck is still on my side. But even so, I can't stay here for long. I have to leave and catch up with my mother."
Clusius quickly picked up his sword, realizing that wandering without a weapon and proper preparation was no different from suicide.
He also took a black cloak from a corpse lying near the cart and grabbed the man's coin pouch.
Not just one body, he searched several corpses one by one. His stomach churned at the sight of blood, and at one point he vomited because he couldn't bear it anymore. Even so, he forced himself to continue and ran away once he was finished.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… Please forgive me… I had no other choice."
His hands trembled slightly as he held the money pouch he had taken from someone else.
After running quite a distance, he finally realized he had no clear destination. He didn't know where his mother and younger sister were now.
The only choice he had was to keep following the road until he found another deme, hoping his family might be there.
And so he kept walking, crossing the night alone, without anyone by his side.
He cried softly.
"I hope… someone will guide me… toward the right path."