Almost as soon as she finished speaking, another wave of nausea assaulted Eliza. Her vision began to swim, and she would’ve fallen over if she wasn’t already leaning against the wall. A sharp pinging sound painfully echoed within her ears. She could barely see Leo say something to Demitrus, but she heard nothing.

Waves of painful agony crawled across her scalp culminating in a pounding headache that wasn’t localized to a particular part of her head. Grimacing, Eliza tightly closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall. She massaged her temple, but it was to no avail. The ringing only increased in intensity, followed by what sounded like something popping within her head.

Eliza had no idea what was going on, and her heart began to palpitate wildly as her forehead became hot beneath her hands. The ringing continued the climb in intensity, and Eliza blocked her ears to mitigate some of the sounds. It didn’t work. Higher, the ringing climbed until finally, it reached a crescendo, and Eliza felt her ears pop one final time. Then it was silent.

The headache subsided, and Eliza felt her head rapidly cool down.

At this moment, Eliza felt a hand touch her upper arm.

“What's going on?” Eliza heard Demitrus’s voice. Eliza flinched at how loud and clear he sounded.

She covered the entirety of her ears “ I’m fine. No need to yell.” she grumbled. However, as soon as she touched her ears, she noticed they were different. Namely, they were sharper, not quite like an elf’s but definitely not like her ears were before.

Eliza slowly opened her eyes and was glad to find that the room was no longer spinning. She slowly lowered her hands as she looked over blearily at Demitrus. His trademark smile was gone, and his brows were slightly furrowed. Was he…concerned about her?

At her response Demitrus turned a questioning gaze toward Isradine,” I spoke normally though?” he said.

“What? I did say that she was going to go through some changes. Though it is happening quite faster than I expected, most likely, her hearing just improved quite significantly,” Isradine added quietly.

“I-I’m fine. It was just a minor headache,” Eliza stumbled over her words and slowly straightened out, taking her hands off her ears.

“If that’s a minor headache, then I'm not sure if I want to find out what a major one is,” Demitrus said with a raised eyebrow.

“We need to get a move on. If we take too long, we’ll be down an Eliza when we need her.” Isradine said.

“May I propose an option?” Eliza heard a deep voice that she didn’t recognize.

Confused, Eliza looked around, “Who said that,” She asked and only got weird stares.

“What are you talking about?” Leah asked, looking at Eliza in concern.

“She was crazy enough to make a contract with a demon. It shouldn’t be surprising that she’s started to go crazy.” Leo said with an edge to his voice.

“Stop it,” Leah said, lightly punching his arm.

“Whatever.” He grumbled, turning his head away from Leah.

A moment later, an image of the Warrior Rakna pushed its way into her mind, and then she heard, “come see me.”

“I regret to inform you, but she’s not going crazy. I take it you can hear the Rakna speaking?” Isradine said.

“I think so. He’s saying to come see him. Something about having a proposition for us.” Eliza said with a bit of hesitation.

“A proposition from the warrior Rakna you say?” Demitrus asked, “We’ll I, for one, am interested in what he has to say. What say you two?” Demitrus said, looking back at Leo and Leah.

“The one that tried to kill us at every opportunity it got? I’ll pass.” Leo said.

“Tell him that he's making quite the presumptuous conclusion for an invader.” The deep voice said.

Eliza hesitated, wondering if she should relay its message, but Isradine beat her to it. Isradine relayed the news, and one of Leo’s eyebrows twitched.

“Funny, I didn’t think a bug could lecture me,” Leo said.

“I could say the same.” The Warrior Rakna said, and Isradine relayed the message with a hint of a laugh in her voice.

“Is he picking a fight?” Leo snarled.

“I’m picking up what's being thrown down.” The warrior Rakna said, and Isradine relayed the message.

Leo’s eyebrow twitched again, and he went to say something but was stopped by Leah.

“What’s gotten into you? You've been awfully mean since we’ve all met up again,” Leah said, standing in front of him with hands on her hips.

Leo looked like he wanted to say something but ultimately decided against it and, with a sigh, said, “Sorry, you almost were eaten by a group of Demons-”

“technically Half-Demons, most of Abernach's followers are from the Bestial fabricators, who take wild animals and mix them with Demonic magic as experiments before selling them to other clans.” Isradine corrected, interrupting Leo.

“Half-Demons,” Leo said, correcting himself with the edge coming back to his voice, “a friend is turning into a half-demon-”

“Demon. She made a contract, so she's turning into a Demon,” Isradine corrected again, and Leo’s eyebrow twitched.

“Do you really need to antagonize him that much?” Eliza asked.

“Can’t help it. He’s being disrespectful by comparing the rest of us to the likes of the SteelBloods and the BeastialFabricator’s pets. Besides, it's fun messing with him,” Isradine said, raising two shadowy tentacles as if to shrug.

“And I have that to deal with. Forgive me for being on edge,” Leo said with a huff.

Leah gave Leo a sweet smile, “ Thanks for worrying so much, but let's save it for later when we’re out of this mess. I wanna hear what the big Rakna has to say.”

“I’ll take that at three votes for and one undecided. Seems like we’re hearing him out. Where’s he at?” Demitrus said, turning to Eliza.

“Xalefore want to vote against seeing Rakna, Rakna big, scary, and spit burns, yes! Stay away, yes!” Xalefore said, looking up from what he was doing,

He had a pile of miscellaneous bones, metal fragments, and various other objects that he had scavenged from around the room. He had been closely examining each piece before placing it in a leather drawstring bag at his waist.

Demitrus smiled while looking down at the imp and patted Xalefore on the head, compressing Xalefore's top hat in the process, “Sorry little guy, but you don’t have any representation yet. So your vote doesn’t count, unfortunately.” Demitrus then looked at Eliza, leaving the imp blinking in confusion.

“Just out the door. In one of the cages. “ Eliza said, pointing to the door.

“Wonderful, shall we get a move on? We have been reminded several times that we don’t have all day. You coming, Leo?” Demitrus asked as he started walking backward toward the door.

Leo sighed while pinching his nose. “Like I have much of a choice. Let's go.” As he started towards the door.

“Finally.” The warrior Rakna said as everyone started towards the door. Eliza didn’t relay what the Rakna said, and, to Eliza’s relief, neither did Isradine.

The group made it out the door, and it didn’t take long for them to find the Warrior Rakna sitting in its cage down the row. He had appeared wounded the last time Eliza had seen him, but now that she was closer, she realized how bad it was. He had several holes in his carapace that slowly leaked a greenish ooze, as well as several parts of his body that had been caved in, including a part of his head. Finally, one of his legs looked to be mangled beyond repair.

However, all that didn’t bother the warrior Rakna as he spoke, looking down at Eliza.

“Welcome, young warrior. It is an honor to speak to one such as you,” it said, dipping its head. A few pieces of broken chitin fell off from the movement.

“The Honor is mine. What is the proposal you have?” Eliza said, lightly bowing and giving her typical response to someone saying that. She felt a little awkward because fellow soldiers usually said it and not… some giant bug demon.

“Simple, free us, and I will give you directions to a tunnel we Rakna constructed when we first arrived at this fortress.” The Warrior Rakna said, indicating with one of his good claws towards the rest of the demons locked in cages around the room.

If Eliza had to guess how it spoke, it would be the tentacles moving around in the air that extended from its head. At first, she thought they were moving randomly, but Eliza felt something in the air that the tentacles were interacting with, she didn’t know what it was, but now that she was aware of it, it seemed to be everywhere.

Filing her observations away for future consideration, Eliza refocused on the Rakna's offer.

“If we free all of you, you’ll show us a tunnel that you Rakna built out of the keep?” Eliza asked with a raised eyebrow, repeating more for the rest of the group's sake than her own. “How would we know if Abernach had this tunnel trapped or collapsed?”

“Abernach wasn’t aware of it when we first constructed it. I can’t guarantee that he doesn’t know about it now, but it is safer than whatever blockade he set up at the front gate. Besides, he’ll be too distracted by our attack on said blockade to bother with you.” The Warrior Rakna said with a light chuckle in his voice.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“You intend to attack Abernach’s blockade in that condition? Are you suicidal?” Eliza asked in disbelief.

The tentacles moved in another pattern, and Eliza could feel that the Rakna was…laughing?

It took a few moments before Eliza heard words again, “It isn’t a question of whether we want to die. Abernach already made that decision for us. Rather it is a question of how we die. He left us to live out the final moments of our lives in these cells because he knows that dying like this is a disgrace to us. And he takes a perverse kind of pleasure inflicting that upon us.

“As for the question of how we want to die? I’m sure a warrior like yourself understands. It is in battle, whereby an honorable death can be achieved. And so I ask again, free us.”

Slowly, Eliza looked around the room at the rest of the half-demons, who had their eyes on her. She couldn’t see all of them clearly, but all that she could see were clearly badly wounded.

Eliza clenched one of her fists before unclenching it, and she looked back at the rest of the group. “His offer is that if we free him and his compatriots, he’ll show us a safer way out of the fortress while they assault Abernach’s forces at the main gate. What are your thoughts? I’ll say that I want to accept.”

“Issues of trusting them aside, why do you want to accept?” Leo asked with his arms folded.

Eliza was silent for a few moments before she responded in as steady a voice as she could muster, “Because of me” she choked a little before clearing her throat and continuing, “Because of a mistake I made. My parents were forced into an early grave, dishonored and disgraced by the country they had devoted themselves to protect.”

A somber mood had fallen over the room.

“The Rakna says he and the rest of the demons here wish to die in battle rather than in a cage. I can’t give my parents the same opportunity, but I can give it to them. So I wish to is all.” Eliza finished evenly, meeting the gazes of the rest of the group.

Demitrus chuckled, “If you say it like that, how’re we supposed to refuse? Let's do it.”

“I don’t see why not. We’ve done crazier things at this point.” Leah said with a little shrug.

Leo silently looked at her for a bit, “do you trust them?” he finally asked.

“When I made the contract, even though I was basically forced into it. I had decided to place trust in Isradine's promise, and I want to place trust in the Rakna’s promise. It's up to them to prove whether my decision was good.” Eliza said

“I see.” Leo said with a sigh, “Go for it then.”

Eliza gave him a nod and then looked at Demitrus, “ Can you pick the locks on the cages?”

“As fun as picking all the locks would be, I’d rather use the key,” he said, twirling the key in his hand.

“When and where did you get the key?” Eliza asked.

“From the wall over there.” he said, tilting his head toward the wall, “I picked it up just a bit ago. I was already planning on letting the prisoners free because they would be a good distraction. But then you and the warrior Rakna got pretty dramatic from the sounds of it, and I thought I'd enjoy the show.” He said with a grin.

“How nice of you,” Eliza said flatly.

“What? What's the point of being dramatic if no ones going to watch it? I only did what any respectful person would do.” He said with a shrug.

“Just start unlocking the cages,” Eliza said.

“Ay ay, captain,” Demitrus said, giving Eliza an exaggerated salute before moving to unlock the cages.

It didn’t take him long to unlock the Rakna’s cage; a moment later, he was down the line opening the next one. As he was doing that, The warrior Rakna slowly stood up and stepped out of his cage.

Once out, he gave Eliza a little bow of his head. “Thank you, it's a shame we never got to finish one of our fights.”

“If we had, one of us wouldn’t be here today,” Eliza said, watching the group of half-demons gathering in the center of the room.

Just in the group that had already gathered, Eliza could see a horned boar, a wolfhound with wings, and a Horselike creature with the head of a basilisk. And several more varieties that Eliza didn’t recognize were making their way out of their cells, and Demitrus hadn’t even released half of them yet.

The warrior Rakna seemed to laugh at what she said, “Right you are, young one. Imagine the shock I received when a human as small as you took one of my legs in our first battle. But let us not digress. A deal is a deal.” The warrior Rakna said

A moment later, an image formed in Eliza’s mind of a small tunnel deep in the fortress, and soon after came directions on how to get there.

“How do you do that? Better yet, How can I even speak to you right now?” Eliza asked the warrior Rakna

“Many of those who live beneath the ground are sensitive to the mana dispersed throughout the air, something I’m sure you’ve begun to realize as you, too, can sense it. We Rakna are particularly sensitive and can manipulate it to see and speak once old enough. Much in a similar manner to your friend over there.” The warrior Rakna said, indicating to Leo with a slimy tentacle.

“He’d be able to understand me if he was familiar with how we fluctuate the mana in the air. Though he must be commended for the progress he’s made once. If he hadn’t lost his sight, he probably wouldn’t be aware of the mana to the degree that he is.” The warrior Rakna said as he began to make his way towards the group that was almost done gathering.

“...I see,” Eliza said, turning her gaze from Leo to watch The warrior Rakna go. The warrior Rakna then began to address the crowd of half-demons.

“Brethren, we are brethren, not of species but of sorrow, pain, and hatred. Abernach, in his arrogance and insidious craftiness, has consigned our friends, family, and finally, ourselves to death. He thought his victory was assured when he inflicted these wounds upon us and locked us up to die. And today, that arrogance will be his downfall.”

The half-demons around him gave out roars of approval.

Demitrus walked up to Eliza, “What's going on?” he asked.

“Dramatic speech. Unexpectedly it's quite inspiring.” Eliza said.

“Really, what's he saying?” Demitrus asked curiosity piqued.

“Shush, I’m watching, as any respectable person would do,” Eliza said, holding up a finger over Demitrus’s mouth and pushing him back.

“No fair-.” Demitrus began to say, grabbing her wrist to remove her finger, but Eliza silenced him with a look.

“...I'll make you tell me later,” Demitrus said, retreating a step and letting go of her wrist.

“Make no mistake, Brethren.” The warrior Rakna continued, “In our current state, we would stand no chance against Abernach, but that does not apply to his servants, and we shall do the same as he has done to us and deprive him of all that is important to him. And tonight,” he paused dramatically, “tonight we shall all dine in Hell.”

His words elicited another roar of approval from the group, and he turned towards Isradine and bowed his head. “Please grant us your blessing, dark Mistress, and we shall dedicate every kill to your name.”

“I’ve recently escaped myself and am low in power, so at most, I can dull the pain you feel,” Isradine said.

“That will be more than enough.” The warrior Rakna said, lifting his head.

“What do you say? If I give them the blessing, we’ll probably only have enough to get out of here.” Isradine said to Eliza

“Go for it. I’ll figure something out.” Eliza said.

“Very well,” Isradine said. A moment later, Eliza felt most of the magic in her disappear as it flowed out into the environment before splitting into smaller streams and flooding into each Demon. It was all done in an instant.

“Thank you.” The warrior Rakna said reverently, dipping its head again into a bow towards Isradine before turning towards Eliza.

“I have one more favor I must ask of you.” He said as one of his tentacles reached inside his mouth and pulled out a small circular orb. He removed the spit from it and lowered it towards Eliza, who hesitantly took it.

“What is this?” She asked.

“An egg, the last of my family's nest. I have imbued it with as much of my power as I could spare, so she is sure to grow powerful. Please take care of her,” he asked while bowing his head.

“Are you sure? I took no small part in the death of many of your family members. Why would you entrust me with the last egg?” Eliza asked while looking at the egg in concern.

“Though that may be, you were a victim of Abernach’s machinations just as I was. But most importantly, I have faced you in battle. Promise me that you’ll get this out of here, and I’ll trust you. Of course, as you aptly said before, it is up to you to prove if that trust is misguided or not.”

“I understand. I’ll make sure he gets out of here safe, at the very least.” Eliza promised. No sooner had the words left her mouth before she felt the magic within her and in the air around her shift.

“Thank you.” The Warrior Rakna dipped his head in gratitude before turning around.

However, Demitrus suddenly spoke up, “Hey Rakna, before you go. Could I get one of your spit sacs before you go? I doubt you’ll need it in a little bit.” he asked while walking in front of it.

The warrior Rakna looked down at Demitrus with a little bit of confusion.

“Why does he want one of my spit sacs?” The warrior Rakna asked, looking at Eliza

Eliza herself didn’t know the answer, and she relayed the Rakna’s question to Demitrus.

“Let’s just say I have a feeling that we’ll need it more than he does,” Demitrus said

The Warrior Rakna tilted its head for a moment before it reached, using one of its tentacles, into one of the holes in its chitin carapace and, with a quick tug, dislodged and pulled out a relatively small spit sac. He placed it in Demitrus’s outstretched hand.

Demitrus stepped to the side and waved as the Warrior Rakna moved past, “Thanks! Have fun dying!” he said with a bright wave while tucking the spit sac away.

“To battle!” The Warrior Rakna cried, and the group of half-demons charged up the stairs leaving Eliza and her group alone to look down at the egg.

“I’ll just remind you that you must take good care of the egg. Otherwise, there’ll be consequences that your body can't afford to take right now.” Isradine said seriously. “Promises are very dangerous to make as a Demon.”

“I understand. Let's get out of here.” Eliza said as she started toward the stairs, carefully holding the egg closer. The group followed behind her.

***

A little later, the group found themselves deep within the keep by following the directions the warrior Rakna had given Eliza. The directions led to a large room that looked like it hadn't been used in months, other than the obvious movement of The Rakna through it. On the other side of the room was a large tunnel surrounded by debris. It was large enough that the Warrior Rakna would’ve been able to move through it if it crouched down. Or, in other words, pretty big.

Eliza and the rest of the group started across the room towards the tunnel. They had made it most of the way to the tunnel when the door behind them slammed open. Everyone spun around to see Abernach breathing heavily as he stomped into the room.

“Lucky you, having not gone through the tunnel yet,” Abernach said with a sneer growing across his face, but it was obvious that he was in great pain, and the cause was readily apparent. His right arm was plastered with a layer of Rakna spit that stuck his arm to his side. Burn marks, cuts, and various other wounds coated his exposed skin, a testament to how many he had to fight through to get here. Pain glittered in his eyes as he began to laugh.

“What do you mean?” Eliza asked.

A sneer spread across his face, “ Did you really believe that I wouldn’t be aware of a tunnel into my fortress like this? Once I encountered the Rakna free from his cell, I knew exactly where you were going. Naturally, I recently trapped the tunnel to collapse in case the Rakna tried to use it to escape.

“Why’d you run here then and not just let us die in the tunnel? Seems counterproductive, doesn’t it?” Demitrus said.

“It's because he was worried that I would sense it, which I just did, and that I can suppress the magic trigger long enough for us to get through, which I can,” Isradine said.

“Why don’t we just run through now, then?” Leo asked slowly, backing up towards the tunnel.”

“Hence why he ran here. He can manually set it off once we’re inside,” Isradine said

“Isradine, suppress it. You guys go through the tunnel while I hold him off. If Leah and Leo both get out, then we win.” Eliza quickly said.

“You think I’ll let you!?” Abernach snarled and started to charge at the group

Eliza felt the last bit of her magic begin the drain away as Isradine began to suppress the magical trigger. Everyone started moving, but before Leo moved more than a few steps, Eliza stopped him and held out the Rakna egg.

“Wha-?” he began to say, but Eliza cut him off.

“At least I can keep my promise, don’t complain and go.” She ordered.

Leo clenched his teeth but carefully grabbed the Rakna egg and followed Leah and Xalefore into the tunnel. Hand free, she started running to meet Abernach, and she had just enough time to summon her Naginata before Abernach was right in front of her.

Immediately she stabbed the naginata as hard as she could into Abernach's right foot. It only sunk in a little bit, but it was enough to do the job.

Eliza kicked the ground, propelling herself to the left as Abernach tripped, his momentum carrying him forward, and he fell towards the ground.

In a feat of acrobatics that Eliza didn’t think was possible, Abernach tucked both his heads in, fell into a forward roll, and landed on his feet.

Meanwhile, Eliza, having put too much force into her jump, flew several feet and landed on the ground hard. She came to a rolling stop and looked to see Abernach begin to run toward the tunnel again.

Crap, crap, crap, Eliza panicked as she scrambled to her feet. If she didn’t stop Abernach, all of them were done for.

Just then, Eliza saw Demitrus, who had apparently stayed behind, dodge a backhanded swing from Abernach's free hand, then latch onto a protruding crevice on the armor that covered Abernach’s ribcage. Purchase found Demitrus scrambled up Abernach's back with a dagger between his teeth.

Abernach tried to throw Demitrus off, but Demitrus easily dodged Abernach’s grasping hand and, latching onto the wolf head and spitting the dagger into his free hand, he yanked the head to the side and plunged the blade into one of Abernach's eyes.

The dagger didn’t sink all the way in, but it was enough that Eliza could see a jolt of pain run through Abernach's body. He came to a stop just in time to receive Eliza’s next attack, Demitrus’s stunt having bought enough time for Eliza to recover.

Eliza slammed her Naginata into the back of Abernach's knees with all the force she could muster, the direct hit causing them to buckle.

Leaping back, Eliza dodged Abernach as he once again fell and slammed into the ground. Demitrus landed beside her and flashed her a brilliant smile as he pulled The Warrior Raknas spit sack out of the bag on his belt.

Abernach rolled over and, using his one good arm, started to push himself to his feet.

“You think this is enough to stop me? I’ll kill all of you!” Abernach howled in rage as he put one leg forward to push himself off the ground. However, this is what Demitrus was waiting for as he threw the Rakna spit sack as hard as he could at Abernach's bent knee.

The sac struck true and burst, coating the knee in a thick layer of Rakna spit. It quickly hardened right in the middle of Abernach standing up. Causing his knee to lock up and sending him crashing back onto the ground.

With a grin, Demitrus sauntered up to Abernach and looked him in one of his set of eyes. He twirled his dagger once before sheathing it, “You managed to deceive me earlier when I wanted to make a deal with you, and I’d be a fool to allow you to get one over me again. So I made sure to be prepared this time, and what do you know, It looks like I won.”

“I’ll kill you!” Abernach snarled as he once again began to try to get up. A feat remarkably harder without the use of both an arm and a leg.

“Get in line,” Demitrus said as he started to walk backward, bouncing on the balls of his feet in preparation to run.

“There’ll be no line if you both don’t get a move on! I can’t hold it from going off much longer!” Isradine yelled, the strain clearly heard in her voice. Her shadowy form dissipated into almost nothing, and what was left Eliza felt latch onto her arm, and it sank into her skin.

Hearing Isradine, Eliza felt the mana inside of her, and she could easily tell that it was borderline gone.

“Move it, Demitrus!” she yelled as she booked it towards the tunnel.

“No need to tell me!” Demitrus yelled as he sprinted with her.

“Clearly, I do because I already told you to leave with the others earlier!” Eliza yelled as they both entered the tunnel.

“And leave you alone? Fat chance of that!” He called back. His voice barely drowned out the howls of rage from Abernach that followed them into the tunnel.

The end of the tunnel came into sight, where they could see the rest of the group anxiously waiting for them. They made it half the distance before Eliza felt the last bit of power dissipate.

The next step with her broken leg Eliza took she felt it snap once again, and she fell onto the ground hard. At the same moment, she heard a loud explosion sound out behind her, followed by the sound of collapsing rock.

Ahead of her, Demitrus slid to a stop and, without a second of hesitation, ran back to her.

“Get out of here! Don’t throw your life away for me!” Eliza yelled at the approaching Demitrus as she pushed herself to her hands and feet and started to crawl forwards.

Demitrus came to a stop next to her, grabbed one of her arms, flung it over his shoulder, and quickly began to drag Eliza forward, allowing her to hop on one leg.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Demitrus said, grunting.

Another explosion occurred, followed quickly by another accompanied by the sound of falling rock. They made it another half of the distance before another explosion occurred, this one right behind them. Dust and pebbles pelted them from above as the tunnel collapsed behind them. They were so close, but judging by the time between explosions, Eliza could already tell they wouldn’t make it.

Bracing herself, she waited for the explosion to happen, only it never did. Eliza and Demitrus collapsed at the end of the tunnel gasping for breath. Heart pounding in her ears, body trembling from the excess adrenaline running through her body. She looked around, wondering why she wasn’t dead yet.

Ahead, near the tunnel exit, Xalefore was jumping up and down in joy next to a quickly dimming red sigil on the side of the cave wall.

“It work, it work Yes! Xalefore disarm bomb! Xalefore hero, yes!” he cheered.

Eliza closed her eyes and took a deep breath of relief as the stress from the last several hours seemed to drain away.

Just then, a cracking sound broke through the air from the egg that Leo held. Everyone looked over to see a baby Rakna barely the size of Leo’s hand, pushing its way out of the egg. It turned its head to look directly at Leo and tilted it to the side.

“Ma..ma?” it said.

“What?” Leo responded, looking at it in shock.