"What the fuck happened?!"

Semilia shouted while guardsmen and people threw buckets of water into the flames. Buildings were engulfed with bright flames that smelled off and unnatural while Mages began to cast Water Spells to put out the fire.

"Shit! It's blackpowder!"

Stefan immediately covered his nose and he looked at the burning castle at the center of the city. A section of its walls have fallen but he could see a large, unnatural cloud as it doused the fires of the castle and the library.

The adventurers rushed to the aid of the people, but a sudden explosion in one of the buildings made everyone duck close to the ground as large pieces of melted brick and burning beams of wood flew everywhere. There was the sickening smell of rotting eggs as the flames grew in intensity, and Stefan knew that there was something wrong with the flames.

He snapped at the nearby guardsman, his voice thick with rage as he demanded to know where is the Watch Captain. The adventurers looked at him as he glanced at the burning pile of stones that was the blacksmith he frequented. He gulped and wiped away the dust and sweat that mixed together on his forehead as he finally answered the furious Stefan.

"S-She's been missing since yesterday..."

"D-Damn it! Azalia! Tell Lho'thrain or whoever is in charge of this damn city that it's under attack!"

"Tch, there's something wrong with the air here, Stefan! It's obscuring my magic."

"M-Mine too!"

Riel and Azalia felt suffocated by the lack of mana in their surroundings. In fact, the Mages that tried to help quell the flames found that their spells were ineffective or outright failed. But as the fires around them roared loudly, Katherine leapt into action as she pulled up the guardsman by the collar.

"Stefan, Semilia, go to the barracks and investigate what happened. Jared, Eric, come with me to the Guild and the rest of you bring the mages and the people to the library!"

The guardsman fixed his collar immediately after Katherine released her grip on him.

"What are you standing around for? Go!"

Semilia dashed through the burning streets of Arenhein while Stefan and Riel followed closely behind her. Her legs carried her through the rubble and through the broken paths that led to the smoldering barracks. The place was empty of people, save for the occasional few that crawled their way out of the buildings carrying precious belongings saved from the fires that ravaged their homes.

She turned the sharp corner that led to the large courtyard in the barracks, and she saw death as it gorged itself on the body of an unfortunate guardsman. The red creature took chunks out of a disembowelled body while men clad in leather armor tied up the unconscious and badly beaten guardsmen at the center of the barracks.

"Semilia-"

"Shut it!"

Heads snapped towards them as Stefan and Riel walked into view. The red creature stood up quickly, a giant eye opened at the base of its neck as it did so.

"Fuck! Adventurers!"

"Kill 'em quick!"

"K' lo tamo et ika liroka mi eta."

The three of them watched as the red creature turned to face them while a dozen men brandished their weapons.

Semilia backed away as she looked at the creature's hideous visage. Its head was like that of a bull, yet its mouth was filled with crooked teeth stained with fresh blood. Its eyes were midnight black and its body as wide as a barrel with thick fur and cancerous growths growing all over its body. They have never seen one before, but they all knew at that moment what they were looking at as its long arms cracked and bent with grotesque snaps.

"It's... a Demon."

Stefan drew his sword while Semilia immediately shot an arrow at the Demon.

"G-Guys! I can't cast magic! Something's wrong with the mana!"

"Of course you can't! If there's a Demon, that means the mana in this place is getting sucked up and corrupted by it!"

Semilia shot arrow after arrow at the Demon as it simply stood still and watched as the arrows bounced off its thick skin. After a moment, the Demon pointed a finger at Semilia and its wide mouth contorted into a disgusting grin.

"Bring."

At the Demon's words, the men surged forwards with a deranged look in their eyes while Stefan rushed forward to protect them.

The Demon laughed as the three of them fought off the crazy mob of thugs and escaped criminals. It was a laugh that made Semilia quiver as she threw down a man to the ground while Stefan knocked out a man as he dodged the man's axe. Stefan slashed at a man as the lunatic tried to jump onto him with a dagger while Riel and Semilia fought off a man twice their size as he wielded a large pitchfork.

"AaaAAAAaaaarggh!!!"

The large man bellowed out as he trusted the pitchfork at Semilia. RIel blocked it with her staff, and Semilia slashed at the man's wrists with a sharp arrow.

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The man groaned and ignored the deep wounds on his wrists as he tried to wrap his hands around their necks. But as he reached out for them, Stefan slashed open his back and kicked him to the ground. As the man lay sprawled on the ground and bled, the Demon laughed at his suffering and more growths grew on the Demon's skin.

"S-Stefa-"

"I should've known... They're not humans anymore."

Stefan threw off the blood on his blade as Semilia and Riel looked at the bodies that lay around Stefan.

Their eyes lay open in death, but they were like those of the Demon. Black as chunks of coal while spots on their skin resembled cancerous growths similar to that of the Demon's own body. In fact, upon taking a closer look at the man's body, they saw that his skin has blistered and began to ooze yellow pus. They stepped away from the body as they looked at the bound guardsmen beside the Demon.

They squirmed in the tight ropes that held them together, their eyes wide with fear as the Demon stood up from its spot. Semilia could see that none of the guardsmen displayed the horrible deformities or boils that appeared on the dead around them. The remaining thugs gathered around the Demon as it drew a large club from its back.

It stood still like a statue, then it turned its back to them and walked away. The eye on the back of its neck closed as it dragged the club behind it. It laughed as it walked towards the direction of the castle, its black eyes locked onto it like moths to an open flame. The thugs stayed behind as they looked at the three adventurers, their bloodshot eyes now jet-black as their bodies slowly deteriorated.

"Call... He calls. Kill them all. Offer them to the Dark Gods."

The Demon walked away as the thugs looked at everyone in the courtyard. One of them raised his arm, the sword in his hand now fused to it as thick veins of red grew over the base of the blade. But before he could swing it down on one of the guardsmen's neck, an arrow pierced his chest and he stumbled backwards in pain.

"Semilia! I'll cut them free, you take care of my back. Riel, watch out for Sem."

The two girls nodded and Semilia shot another arrow at one of the corrupted thugs. The thugs let out an inhuman roar as they ran towards Stefan.

Stefan clicked his tongue and weaved between the attacks of the Lesser Demons as he made a dash towards the guardsmen. He let out a cry as he swung his sword in an arc around him, and a few of the thugs screamed as he cut off their arms. But moments later, he watched as three of the thugs became joined together as their flesh melted into each other's bodies. They groaned in pain as the stumps that were once their arms grew vile growths that looked like thorny, fleshy branches.

With a swift slash, he threw back the creature and dashed towards the guardsmen. They struggled as he cut off the thick ropes made from hair. After a moment, he finally cut off the ropes that bound their mouths and all of them immediately scrambled to their feet. They had been stripped of their weapons, and Stefan saw a weird brand on the back of their wrists as they looked around for weapons.

"Are you all alri-"

Stefan jumped away just as one of the guardsmen swiped at him with deformed hands.

"Fuck... Get back!"

He saw the twisted mass of flesh that held the guardsmen together and he gagged as he watched the guardsmen's flesh began to morph.

Their faces were contorted into a permanent state of fear and pain as their skulls and faces merged with one another. The other thugs were nothing more but walking piles of flesh that brandished blackened blades while the guardsmen Stefan walked towards him with their misshapen legs. They groaned loudly as they reached at him with their arms, their eyes bleeding as he slashed at one of the hands that reached towards him.

Semilia shot another arrow, but one of the thugs blocked it with its chest. It stared at her with the massive eye that sat at the center of its blank face. It slashed at her with its two arms that ended with two blades that were once daggers, but Riel managed to deflect the strikes with her staff. Still, the blow was enough to send them flying towards a stack of hay. The creatures rushed towards them, only to be met by a hail of arrows that came from the walls that loomed over the barracks.

"W-Wha-"

"Get yer asses off the ground and fight!"

The creature only had a moment to look at the source of the booming voice before its head was split open by a massive axe. It was still able to move, and its frantic thrashing cut off a large chunk of a Dwarf's beard before it was ultimately brought down by an axe to the chest.

"Oi! Alric! Tell yer boys to start shooting properly!"

Semilia looked up at the walls and saw a handful of guardsmen as they rained down arrows at the Lesser Demons that rampaged through the streets.

"Good evening, Miss Semilia! It's a lovely night here in Arenhein, isn't it?"

Druven smiled at the Low-Elf as more guardsmen rushed to aide Stefan as he slashed at the large mass of flesh that lashed around in the center of the courtyard.

"W-What's happening to Arenhein?"

"We'll explain what's happening later. For now, we need everyone to gather at the guild to take back the castle."

The Dwarf grunted as he pulled out his battleaxe from the body of the Lesser Demon.

"Stefan! Duck!"

The Swordsman glanced at the Dwarf as he held up his axe over his head. Moments later, he lunged out of the way as the large chunk of steel flew through the air lodged itself deep into the creature's flesh.

"Bedric! Holy Water!"

The wound around the axe began to close quickly, but before it could close completely, a Guardsman splashed a vial of Holy Water into it.

The creature screamed and lashed around with its grotesque limbs. Bones snapped and flesh ripped open as bones were forcibly pushed and bent while its many legs fused together to look more like an insect's yet It could not save itself from its fate. Blood burst out of its many orifices as the Holy Water seeped into its wound, and it began to wither like a dying plant.

The mass of heads on top of it let out an anguished scream that was clearly inhuman, but Stefan quickly silenced it as he sliced off its many heads with a clean stroke of his blade. Another vial of Holy Water was thrown at the Lesser Demon's body, and it finally ended the creature's pained thrashing as it began to melt.

"May the Goddess have mercy upon your souls..."

Druven picked up his axe as he stared at the skeletal remains of his fellow guardsmen.

It was their first time seeing something like this. It was truly a hellish sight, fit for something that came out of that damned place. Druven sneered as the guardsmen splashed Holy Water at the corpses of the many Lesser Demons around them. Druven and Stefan looked at Semilia and Riel as they watched the fires of the city rage around them.

"Thanks for the help."

"Bah, don't mention it. We were already planning an ambush when you three fucked it up. Alric and I were fuckin' worried about what that thing will do to you guys but I guess it had bigger fish to fry at the castle."

The Dwarf shook his head as he waved for the guardsmen to leave the barracks. It was already lost, and whatever they'll savage here will be undoubtedly tainted by bad energy. With a final word, the three adventurers watched Alric as he and a few other guardsmen notched flaming arrows into their bows. The Dwarven guardsmen led them away as the buildings behind them were set alight by the flames.

"The night is young, everyone. There are people to save, fires to put out... And Demons to kill."

Stefan could see the angry expressions of the guardsmen as they left the burning wreck that was once their barrack and the dead corpses of their friends. Stefan uttered a silent prayer to the dead as Druven walked away from them in silence.

"Stefan, we need to go."

"Y-Yeah... sure."

Stefan took one last look at the skeletons of what was once people. He uttered a silent prayer for them, then he followed the guardsmen as they walked in silence towards the guild.