As soon as I land on the city wall the guards come charging at me from either side. The first to reach me die easily, but more and more are coming at me. This is exactly what I was hoping for, they are all rank one and are basically just free exp!
Eventually I get bored of standing still and picking a direction at random, I start moving that way. Shadow demons still keep coming from behind me but a single swing backwards deals with them. It is still nothing but rank one demons, I can sense stronger ones but they are not coming closer.
The naginata just keeps getting stronger and stronger as I continue along the wall. I was expecting it to stop at some point, or at least for the rank ones to stop counting. However, it is still gaining power from every single demon I kill, it is basically cheating.
At this point I barely have to touch a rank one demon with it and the demon dies. This continues for almost an hour before suddenly the demons stop coming. Looking around I can't see any demons left on the city walls or outside them.
172 Rank 1 Shadow Demons defeated! 172,000 Exp gained!
Congratulations! You have gained a level!
Level 13: HP +200, DP +100, Stat Points +5!
Spells: Holy Word Level 6, Holy Light Level 6, Bless Weapon Level 6, Repel Undead Level 5, Holy Armor Level 4, Cure Poison Level 4, Holy Shock Level 2!
New Spell: Mass Bless Level 1!
Abilities: Aura of Health Level 3!
'Yes! Leveling up feels so good!!'
While I could level up again if I killed enough, the shadow demons are all hiding now. Then as I look around I notice the first hints of dawn in the sky, maybe that's why they fled. In that case I will just come back and hunt them some more tonight.
Taking out the map Mercy gave me I look for the closest noble estate and see how far it is. If the map is accurate I should be able to get there and back before the feast. So I jump off the wall and start flying towards the noble's estate.
The flight takes me a few hours and I have to stop a few times to navigate. Eventually, I find the right place and land in front of a large mansion. As soon as they see me the guards start yelling but I ignore them and walk up to the doors.
One punch smashes the doors and the guards try attacking me but they can't do much. Most of their attacks bounce off my armor and those that get through barely leave a scratch. More guards come rushing at me from within the mansion but they have the same issues.
Continuing to ignore the guards I walk inside the mansion and start looking around for whoever is in charge. There are servants inside but after one look at me they quickly flee the mansion. Some of the guards after realizing they can't hurt me also flee.
Finally I hear a male voice yelling to find out what is going on, that should be the noble. Following the voice I head upstairs and arrive in a lavish office with a fat man sitting behind a huge desk. From what he is wearing I can tell he is a noble and from his dark aura I can tell he is guilty of many crimes.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Dark Mark!"
As soon as I activate the ability a glowing purple mark appears on the fat noble's forehead. I instantly recognize the mark, it is Krenocia's symbol. For a few seconds nothing happens and I figure it is somehow judging him.
Then the noble suddenly grabs his forehead and after a few more seconds he begins to scream. He tries begging me to spare him between the screams but I pay no attention to him. As his screams grow louder I smile, I am not pleased by his pain but by the fact that he is getting what he deserves.
It takes about five minutes before his screams finally stop and he dies. Then I actually see his soul leave his body and dark arms appear from nowhere and grab it. His soul is dragged down through the floor and I can hear its screams slowly grow faint.
Taking out the map I cross off his name and look at where the other estates are. There is one that is a little out of the way but if I fly fast I can hit it and make it back just in time. As I walk back out of the mansion I see not a single person, everyone has fled.
His family probably escaped but that is fine, as long as they don't turn out like him I have no reason to go after them. Throwing myself into the air I flap my wings hard and take off towards the next estate at top speed. When I arrive and land the guards take one look at me and take off running.
Thanks to that I am chuckling as I smash down the door to the mansion and walk in. As soon as I am inside I notice this place is a lot more rundown than the last one. As I am looking around an old man comes out from a door in the back holding a sword in his hand.
He is almost skeletally thin but he is wearing silk robes and has ample jewelry on. The sword he is holding catches my eye, it has an aura of magic around it. His aura is really dark, almost black, so this must be the guy I am looking for.
"Dark Mark!"
As the mark appears on his forehead he charges at me and take a swing with the sword. As he swings it the sword is covered in flames but that doesn't stop me from stopping it with my hand. The sword manages to cut the palm of my hand and my fingers when I grab it.
Now even more interested in the sword I wrench it out of the man's hand and take a better look at it. As I am examining the sword the old man falls to his knees and starts screaming. Ignoring him I walk over to the door he came from and taking a look inside I find a bedroom.
In the bedroom is the scabbard for the sword, which I grab, and a young girl on the bed. She does not look healthy and she is looking at me with terrified eyes. Trying not to scare her anymore than I already have, I walk over to the bed and gently touch her shoulder as I cast Holy Word.
All of her injuries vanish instantly and even some of the signs of malnutrition disappear. She watches her arms in shock as all the bruises fade away to nothing. While she is distracted I pull out the cleaning stone and touch her with it.
Now that all the dirt is gone I would say she looks to be around fourteen or fifteen. If the old man wasn't already screaming himself to death I would probably rip him to pieces. Spotting some clothes on the floor I use the cleaning stone on them and toss them to her before turning my back.
"Get dressed, I will take you away from here. What's your name?"
Naomi says "Naomi, Lord. What are you going to do to me?"
"Hm, good question. Do you have any family to go back to?"
Naomi says "No, Lord. The noble killed them when they refused to hand me over."
"In that case, what would you say to becoming the maid of a princess?"
Naomi says "I think I would like that Lord. May I ask the Lord's name?"
"My name is Ash. Are you scared of heights Naomi?"
Naomi says "No, Lord Ash."
"Good, come with me then."
Leading her outside we walk past the corpse of the old man, which she stops to kick several times. Since I can't blame her in the least I wait until she is done before continuing. Before picking her up I explain what I am going to do, she probably wouldn't handle sudden contact well.
After getting her permission I pick her up in a princess carry and take off. She screams at first but after a minute she seems to be enjoying flying. I fly as fast as I can, I still hope to make it back in time for the start of the feast.