----------------------------------------
It takes one week for Saho to hear about the huge demon that landed in the elven lands and immediately flattened a town.
One week has 168 hours, or 604800 seconds. In that time, a little less than 15.5 thousand years has passed in the terran galaxy. Not all that much when it comes to the galactic scale, and certainly not much when it comes to an immortal.
Avai was originally a shade, an almost mindless shadow that would whisper dark words to bright creatures. Now he had now been designated by the Dark One to watch over the terran galaxy, and given the sentience and abilities to do so. He could teleport, levitate, pass through objects, and would live forever. But the Dark One wanted this galaxy untouched, so brought upon him a terrible curse as well. Avai had all the power one could ask for, but none of the capability to use it.
He could not be seen, heard, detected, and could not influence the galaxy in any way. An external observer for now until forever. But just as cruel as the curse was, it was also kind. Avai could watch and record, observing even the smallest of events without anybody interrupting him. Avai was never bored, although he was lonely.
It’d be nice once sapient life arrived.
----------------------------------------
When Saho and his party heard the news, they immediately began their journey back to the elven forest to face the new threat. Scouts had been watching the enormous demon, keeping a safe distance while it destroyed everything in its path towards the elven capital.
It wasn’t that far away, only a couple days travel, and already they could see the rising smoke in the distance. The ruined landscape left in its wake was sobering, from the blackened grass to the lingering ash that surrounded them. The charred bodies of those who tried to fight or run from it had already risen again, and had started moving ahead of the demon, softening defenses and distracting the brave few who didn’t flee.
Saho was ready to burn this thing like it had burned its victims. They were closing in, and there was nowhere to run.
----------------------------------------
Balta’s specialty was manipulation. She could make her enemies do whatever she wanted both on the battlefield and off it. From making them move into an ambush or back into a trap, to making them attack where she wanted and dragging themselves through fire for a false victory.
She made the invasion her own game, like Kranua did.
Balta had figured out that the war between the Dark One and the Bright One was all Kranua’s game only a few days ago, and after about a day and a half of staving off a mental breakdown she had accepted it with open arms. Krika had given her a look that told her all she needed to know about his own knowledge, to which she almost smacked him for not telling her earlier. She did understand why he didn’t, but it’s the principle of the thing.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Her favorite prisoners had been worried about her apparently– which was sweet, especially considering what her and Krika’s plans for them were– though Krika had. . . dissuaded. . . any effort on their part to leave their cell to look for her.
The excuse she gave when she returned was that she had been overseeing an attack, which they seemed to have mixed feelings about.
Treating prisoners nicely made them so easy to manipulate. She should have done this the first time!
Oh well. At least watching that dwarf try to scream without lungs was pretty funny.
----------------------------------------
The enormous demon– dubbed the demon king by the scouts– had arrived at the outer wall of the Elven capital.
Behind it, only about half a day’s walk, was the summoned hero and his party. The elven army would have to fight it and the horde of charred corpses that surrounded it alone for at least that long.
The general was not optimistic. The army had never fought anything on such a scale. As soon as the battle started, a good portion of the foot soldiers were transformed into piles of ash and melted metal by the demon, and the first barrage of arrows was intercepted by one of the things massive arms. The spellcasters had slightly better luck, having hit it with three consecutive lightning bolts, cracking one of its horns, but otherwise things were not looking good. The remaining foot soldiers were struggling against the undead army, and the cavalry was being torn apart by the demon king.
Some of the citizens had already evacuated, but almost half were left.
The general would not let them die. He vowed on his life.
----------------------------------------
Adachi flexed her new fingers. The not-beastkin had provided a replacement limb made of a beautifully-carved wood, that moved roughly as a limb should, but she was still acclimating to finer movements. Sou had gotten a replacement as well, an excellently crafted metal arm that matched the armor that he had worn.
The demons were evidently not worried about them using the new limbs against them, and she could see why. The white and red demon would regularly move through walls like they weren’t there, the not-beastkin would sometimes melt into shadows, and the rare visit from others showed that demon's abilities exceeded what they were told about in the stories.
Adachi could gather that these demons were more than capable of transforming both her and Sou into fine red mist at a moment's notice, so the idea of fighting them wasn’t very attractive. But just because fighting the demons was suicide, didn’t mean escaping would be too. She had been practicing some minor magic, and although her new limbs made it more difficult, even such a small reassurance was something that she clung to in this environment. It would be a while before she could manage her first stealth spell, much less one that could get both her and Sou out of the castle.
Maybe she could try convincing the demons to let her and Sou help out around the castle? They didn’t know their way around, so getting to know where they were would be very helpful.
She would ask tomorrow.
----------------------------------------
The smell of smoke burned in Fuyuko’s nose as she and the rest of the Hero’s party trekked towards the capital. She had it worse than the others, mainly due to being a beastkin, so her sense of smell was much better.
The party healer, a dwarf named Rio, had been absentmindedly fiddling with his staff, trying to distract himself from the oncoming fight. The other party members weren’t faring much better.
Then they rose over the crest of the hill, and spied the city in the distance.
Even after days of travel through the scorched landscape, they couldn’t help but shiver at the sight of a city burning.
----------------------------------------