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“Wherever it's going, it sure doesn’t seem to be in any hurry.” The rogue observed.
After the massacre that was the fight in the town, the party had slowed down in order to rest before continuing their chase of the demon that had been summoned by the cult. The fight hadn’t been difficult, it was almost a hundred peasants against two parties of well-trained adventurers, but it had taken a while.
With two healers any injuries they may have gotten were gone almost as soon as the fight was over, and two rogues meant that following the demon was much easier. Or would be, if it cared about hiding its tracks, which it clearly didn’t. Either it didn’t know that it was being followed, or it didn’t care.
The odd treasures that had been found in the possession of some of the villagers were being studied by the mages, who were currently discussing something in low voices.
“If we keep on course, we should catch up in a day or so.” The other party’s rogue commented, to which her party’s rogue nodded.
Aina shivered. Every step they took got them closer to a true demon. Not the kind that had swarmed villages, beating down veteran adventurers with sheer force of numbers, but the kind that organized the fall of the beastkin capital. Defenders had seen larger demons overseeing the siege, and a few mages had been able to get the information of their existence out before the walls of the city imploded and waves of demons drowned everything inside. One defending cleric had been able to muster enough magic to send an illustration of one of them, drawn by a guard with artistic talent and a good eye.
Aina had only seen the drawing once, but the creature in it had haunted her dreams. The six elongated limbs that ended in long-fingered hands, the dark-furred mane that shrouded the demon’s face, and the 5 eyes that glowed from within the darkness.
Aina lowered herself onto the ground as the party prepared for a night of rest.
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Hifumi had spent almost five years in chains.
Of course that wasn’t a lot considering that she had lived far more than that as a god, but five years of a mortal’s life was a decent amount of time. The first four were spent ‘training’ after her capture at the age of 15, and the last year she had been serving as a servant. Her being given as a gift on the day after the end of the demon invasion was already bad enough, and having to follow the orders of a bunch of spoiled royals who had never worked a day in their mortal lives just made it worse.
Easy Hifu. Your vengeance will come. Do not let your rage consume you.
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Words from her orc parents comforted her. Even though at the time that she was angry that another child had knocked her over, the sentiment remained. Plus, her revenge did come in that situation, when the parent of the orc child made them apologize to her, by letting her knock them over. They had become good friends after that.
Hifumi wondered what happened to them. If they had also been gifted to some royal pains, or perhaps died in training.
Orcs did not particularly subscribe to the idea of equal-consequence. Being punched in the face was generally met with a laugh and a punch back, but when it was serious, orcs would make any who messed with them regret it a thousand times over.
Hifumi’s orc father was laid back, but no stranger to fighting adventurers, and would usually make a show of it. But when one tried to hurt her, he used a pair of rocks to turn the adventurer to a pile of crushed metal faster than either of them could blink.
Her orc mother was much more up front, and would end any fight quickly, but when a party of adventurers fired an arrow at her brother, she took her time taking them apart while they were still alive, before feeding adventurer soup to the rest of the tribe.
She would have her revenge. It would be brutal, like her father made it. Painful, like her mother made it.
She was their daughter after all.
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A low tune sounded through the halls of the demon’s castle.
Adachi had picked up some habits during her and Sou’s stay there. She had gotten slightly quieter, namely out of fear of drawing attention from other demons, but also because she was practicing for a stealthy escape.
She was going to escape. She was.
She and Sou had gotten much closer too, and they would spend plenty of time helping each other with small things and would sometimes read to each other before they went to sleep– which apparently their two captors found adorable.
Well, the not-beastkin thought it was adorable. The red-and-white demon just made sounds akin to soft laughter.
Adachi had finally finished re-learning a decent stealth spell, but it would still take weeks of training before she could use it on Sou too, and even then it might not even work long enough to get them out of the castle.
At least it was a start.
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Akira hadn’t been looking at Asyke for months now.
Since Saho’s ascension and the retreat of the demonic forces, Chihiro’s planet had been recovering well, so Akira expanded her view.
The universe that she had made was enormous, and was expanding constantly. It was filled with countless galaxies, and countless species. Some had progressed in technology greatly, casting themselves into the space between stars and creating new homes on other planets. Some planets were filled with only one or two kind of sentient, like Einri, whose forest planet of Laomia was populated by a race of quadrupedal avians, or Rizpah’s planet of Sihiri which had two sentient races: one a lithoid race similar to the golems of Asyke, and the other a small but resilient species of ape, both of which were uniquely adapted for the volcanic surface.
Akira let her attention go free, as she watched the universe of her making thrive. Nakai would sometimes point out a particularly interesting planet or race, and they would engage in excited conversation about them before moving on.
Things couldn’t be better. There was nothing to fear. . .
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