“Sana!”

Ryoga pushed her to the ground at the last second, as the demon grabbed nothing but air. Almost in slow-motion, Sana, who was now pinned between the ground and Ryoga hovering over her protectively, watched the demon’s eyes swivel to look directly at her. Malice seeped through the thin grin it gave her, as it crawled forward, its body huge enough that its head nearly filled the small cavern.

Sana found herself shaking. She had nearly died. But before she could even scream, Sana suddenly found herself being carried by Ryoga, bridal style. Though giving the length of her body, her tail awkwardly dragged itself on the ground as he ran away

“Retreat!” he shouted to Jean and Vere. “The three of us are not powerful enough to take on a demon here! We’ll bring the others tomorrow!”

“W-Wait!” Sana stammered, grabbing his collar. “What about the treasure?”

“Sorry,” Ryoga apologized. “But with you here, there’s no way we can fight at our full strength. Our team will come back here tomorrow and complete the dungeon.”

Sana flinched. Just another way to say I’m useless, she couldn’t help but bitterly think. Looking over Ryoga’s shoulder she could still see the demon there, grinning maliciously at her.

----------------------------------------

It wasn’t the same one.

Sana followed the small group of security, around the Eldridge XIII, towards where the bulk of the fighting was occurring. Even Lekha and Lili joined them, though Sana had a suspicion that Lili was only following them for her amusement.

As they turned the corner, Sana halted, staring at the demon currently fighting against security. It was the same kind as back then. A dark maroon colored face with sharp fangs for teeth and large curled black horns growing out of the top of its head. The rest of its skin was the same brighter red than its face and the rest of its body…

Sana blinked. At the demon’s waist, there was a cutoff point. It looked like it had been sliced in half, with the demon’s legs vanishing. Now, all it could do was crawl on the floor, pulling itself along with its hands.

Lili tilted her head innocently to the side. “Where are its legs?” she asked.

“Well…” Sana thought about it. “The teleportation room… it’s not super big. Maybe when the demon pressed the button as we all did, it only teleported… well whatever could fit into that room. But…” She frowned. “The hallways of the ship aren’t that big. How did it even get outside…?” Sana blinked, finally noticing the large hole in the side of the Eldridge XIII.

“O-Our ship!” Charlotte cried.

Lekha raised a brow. “Your ship?” she muttered. "I thought you just found it..."

“Nooo!” Sana felt tears forming in her eyes. Sure they hadn’t been on it for long, but to see it destroyed like this was heartbreaking.

Charlotte drew her sword. “You’ll pay for this!” With a yell, she charged into the fight.

Lili stared. “You people are weird,” she noted.

Tomoe chuckled. “Forgive them,” she said. “Those two are somewhat idiots.”

“It’s been cut in half,” Lekha asked. “How is it still moving?!”

“I suppose you don’t have demons here,” Tomoe muttered, before answering with, “A demon is a creature that is fueled by dark magic. They aren’t living creatures like you and I with any sort of actual will. They only exist for the sorcerer, dungeon, or entity that created them. As such the only way to defeat is to destroy the demon’s heart.” She watched as the pellets that the security guards were firing from their guns just bounced off the demon’s skin.

“Heart?” Lekha frowned. “Like a weak point?”

Tomoe shrugged. “I guess you could call it that.”

“What kind of video game world…” Lekha sighed and coughed into her hand. “And where would we find such a weak point?”

“Oh, I don’t know.”

Lekha stared. “You don’t?!”

Tomoe rolled her eyes. “Where the heart is will be different for each demon,” she explained. “It’s possible that its heart is in its ass. Which isn’t even here.”

“Is it possible that there isn’t any way to defeat it then?” Lekha asked.

“Maybe, if the heart isn't in this part of its body.”

“No, that’s wrong.” Sana pushed herself from the ground and wiped away some of her tears. “Demons are formed around their heart. If this half of it didn’t have its heart then it’d surely be dead. The heart is located somewhere in this half.”

Lekha glanced at Tomoe for confirmation, but Tomoe just shrugged. Whatever she had said was just common knowledge, she wasn’t aware of anything else past that. “How do you know that?” Tomoe asked.

“Uh…” Sana couldn’t meet her eyes. “I’ve seen it before.”

Tomoe stared for a moment before sighing. “In that case, we just have to locate its heart. We’re lucky in this instance. We only have to poke open half of its body.”

“I-I’ll go inform the Lieutenant,” Lekha said, rushing off to be closer to the fighting where Hayder was. Lili jogged after her, looking only mildly interested in the situation. Tomoe gave Sana a frown, before scuttling over to join them.

Tanya placed a hand on Sana’s shoulder. “You alright?” she asked.

“Y-Yeah.” Sana nodded. “I’m fine.” Truthfully she wasn’t. Seeing the demon only brought back chilling memories for her. “I’m fine,” she repeated, trying to convince herself.

Tanya frowned. “Er…” She fished out a small pistol from her pocket and held it out to Sana. “Here.”

Sana blinked. “What is this for?”

“A weapon. You don’t have a sword or a weapon like those two.” She pointed to Charlotte and Lili. “And I’m sure the spider lady over there could probably stab people with those legs of her. You’re the only one without a way to defend themselves from that monster.” She gave her a half-smile. “Unless you’re telling me you can use magic.”

Sana took the gun, gingerly holding it in her hands. “I’ve…” she hesitated. “I’ve never held a weapon before. What if I do something wrong?”

“Just keep it on safety,” Tanya said, showing her where the switch was. “I’m just giving it to you as a precaution. You may not be human but I’m going to trust you on this.”

Sana nodded, holding the small pistol like how she had seen the other members of security do so.

Meanwhile, Lekha and Lili had just reached Hayder and Lekha leaned into Hayder’s ear to relay all the relevant information, as Lili watched passively. When she was finished, Hayder looked only more troubled. His subordinates were holding the demon back and, luckily, no one had died. Hayder suspected that the only reason the situation wasn’t worse was that the demon was missing half of its body.

He couldn’t help but let out a sigh. “It’s far too big to see where the weak point is exactly,” he said to himself. “If only I could get to a higher vantage…”

“You want to go up?” Hayder blinked and looked down only to meet the eyes of a blasé Lili.

“You’re…” Hayder frowned. “Sorry?”

“You said I wanted a better vantage,” Lili pointed out.

“Yes, but-!”

“Ok. Just don’t be a wuss.” Lili tossed her lance aside and, with a flap of her wings, took to the air. Both Lekha and Hayder froze and, using her talons, Lili grabbed Hayder by the shoulders. She flapped her wings a second time and she lifted him into the air.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Ah-!” Hayder gasped and immediately began to flail his arms and legs in a panic, as Lili flew him over the demon’s body and towards the top of the Eldridge XIII.

“I thought I said no struggling,” grumbled Lili, finally letting him go once they landed on the top of the ship. Hayder stumbled, almost losing his balance for a moment, before catching himself.

“Why did you bring me here?” he snapped, as Lili landed next to him.

She raised an eyebrow. “You said you wanted a higher vantage,” she pointed out simply.

Hayder dusted himself. “Yes I did, but…” He sighed deciding to let it go. He wasn’t hurt and Lili did get him to higher ground. But as he studied the demon from another angle, looking for anything that might stand out, he could feel Lili staring at him expectantly.

“What?” he asked, forcing himself to tear his eyes from the battle for a second.

“I want a reward.” Lili pouted.

“A reward?” Hayder thought about it for a second and reached his hand out to Lili to pat her on the head.

Lili immediately recoiled from his touch. “What are you doing?”

He paused. “…You just look to be the same age as my niece. I thought you were asking for a pat on the head.”

“I want an actual reward,” Lili said.

Hayder sighed. She certainly had the mindset of a child. “After this is over, I’ll find you something that’ll you’ll like.”

Lili beamed. “Right!”

----------------------------------------

Charlotte jumped away from another swing from the demon’s hand. It had grown more desperate, while she was fighting it, despite any injury it got healing almost immediately. “Urgh!” she grunted, swinging her sword into its flesh again. “Where is it?!” She was already exhausted from the fight between her and Lili.

“The Lieutenant is ordering us to fall back!” One of the humans shouted at her.

Charlotte gritted her teeth. “Fine,” she snapped, retreating with the others. The demon surprised it wasn’t being attacked anymore, began to finally crawl forward, using its arms to drag itself across the floor.

“You did well.” Charlotte was surprised to see Tomoe just behind her. She scuttled forward so that she was in front of Charlotte. “But I think I’ll reveal my hand here.”

Charlotte blinked. “What?”

Tomoe raised her hand and snapped her fingers. “Fire.”

The ground beneath the demon began to glow and a large spurt of flame suddenly erupted from the ground. The demon let out a scream of pain, as its flesh was burned away.

Charlotte’s eyes widened. “You can use magic?!” she exclaimed.

Tomoe smirked. “It’s nothing special.”

The fire quickly faded away, but before the demon could fully regenerate. Tomoe snapped her fingers again, a small amount of sweat forming just below her hairline. “Fire!” Again, fire suddenly erupted below the demon.

“He sees it!” someone shouted. “The Lieutenant sees something in its neck!”

“All units aim for the neck!” Lekha ordered with a wave of her hand.

“Fire!” With the last of her energy, Tomoe used another spell to light the demon on fire. After that, she collapsed onto the ground.

Meanwhile, Sana raised her gun and pointed it at the demon. “I hold it like this?” she asked Tanya nervously.

“Yes, but what are you planning on doing?” Tanya asked, using a hand to carefully lower Sana’s arms so that she wasn’t recklessly pointing a weapon at the demon.

Sana frowned. “I wanted to help,” she admitted. “I don’t want to stay on the side like this when my friends are fighting.” She held the gun in her hand a little tighter. “I don’t want to remain useless.” Sana pushed Tanya off her and slithered closer to the demon until she could see its nape.

There was a small bulge visible on the nape as the gunfire tore through its skin. Sana raised her gun and aimed it at the bulge, her arms shaking. But before, she could even fire her gun, Sana heard a cry from above her.

Looking up, she saw Lili divebombing the demon, her lance gripped tightly within her talons and a crazed grin plastered on her face. She pierced the demon’s neck, where the heart was supposed to be. However, her ecstatic expression suddenly switched to one of surprise. “You tricked-Gah!” The demon swatted her away with its right hand.

“Stop! Ceasefire!” Lekha shouted as the gunfire died down, but this proved to be a mistake as the demon suddenly pulled itself forward, nearly crushing people with its own body.

Sana’s eyes widened. So it had tricked them? Then where was the heart? She racked her brain trying to think of a solution.

----------------------------------------

“What are you doing?” Sana asked. After they had escaped from the dungeon, the small group had taken refuge in a nearby small inn. Sana had wanted to return to her village, but Ryoga had persuaded her to stay. But, while taking a nap, she had woken up to shouting from the floor below, so, after wrapping a blanket around herself, Sana went to check on the situation.

Jean, Ryoga, and Vere we’re gathered around a small table with piles of papers on books stacked atop it. Both Ryoga and Jean looked extremely frustrated, while Vere just looked worried.

“It’s nothing,” Ryoga said, his expression softening. “Just go back to sleep, Sana.”

“No.” Jean gritted his teeth. “She stays. She should know about how fucked we are because she failed to warn us about the demon.”

Vere nudged her. “Don’t let Jean get to you,” she whispered. “He’s just… frustrated.”

“Because of her!” Jean snapped. “Because of her, we had to retreat. If it was the three of us, we could’ve killed that demon, while we were in that small ass cave! But now it’s bound to have returned to its lair! We’re going to need a full party to best it on its turf!”

“We’ve already sent a letter to the others,” Ryoga said. “They’re bound to come within the month.”

Jean slammed his fist on the table. “That’s far too long!” he roared. “A month?! You realize that the guild already knows we’re here. They have eyes and ears everywhere!”

“I don’t understand,” Sana piped up, undeterred. “I’ve seen you fight. Why are you so scared of a demon?”

“It’s not that we’re scared,” Vere said. “It’s just that it’s hard to defeat one without some sort of advantage.” She began her explanation. “You see a demon is a product of the dark magic inherent within a dungeon. As such they have a core called the demon’s heart. To defeat a demon, we need to strike and destroy that core. The problem is finding that core. It’s only more complicated if it’s a high demon. They have the frustrating ability to move their core throughout their body.”

“Oh,” Sana said shortly, picking up a paper by her fingertips, her eyes scanning the information on it. “But then how would having more of you help?”

“Easy,” Ryoga said. “The more of us there are, then the faster we find the core. All we need…” He held up a finger. “One good hit.”

----------------------------------------

“One good hit,” Sana recalled. “Tanya, what kind of magic is that lady using to talk to everyone?”

“Magic?” Tanya blinked. “Wait you mean these?” She pulled out her radio. “You press the button on the side to communicate to other-Hey!” Before she could react, Sana snatched the radio from her hands.

“Hello!” Sana raised her voice while talking into the radio as if that would improve her chance of someone hearing her. “Is anyone listening?!”

“…Get off the frequency. Now,” hissed Lekha from the other end.

“But, I know of a way to defeat the demon!” Sana cried.

“Haven’t you helped enough?” Lekha spat.

“Enough.” Hayder sounded a lot more calm, as he interrupted Lekha from his radio. “If you have an idea, snake, you’re welcome to explain it. We’ll decide afterward if it’s worth anything.”

Sana swallowed. No pressure or anything. “I think it’d be best to surround the demon and attack from all sides all at once,” she said, her voice a little shaky. “I was wrong in my assumption. It’s a high demon, a demon that can manipulate their bodies to shift its heart throughout its body. The only reason it hasn’t regenerated itself is that it’s occupied with us. But if we were to all attack, it at the same time, it’ll be forced to protect its one weak spot. We observe the place it’s protecting the most and attack at that spot.”

“Oh?” Hayder sounded interested. “And who will be the one to kill the demon of your world?”

Sana hesitated, before steeling herself. “I will.”

Edger, who was listening in on the conversation in a room close to the action, smiled.

“…Fine. Orders to all of security! I assume that you’ve been listening to the conversation! In that case, you know what to do!”

“Yes, sir!” Almost as if a single wave, security surrounded the demon, while still keeping enough distance so that they wouldn’t get crushed by its hands. Before the demon could do anything, they all raised their guns and unloaded whatever little ammo they had left into the monster.

The demon let out a cry of pain, but Sana didn’t focus on that. Rather, she kept her attention on how the demon and what part of its body it was protecting. But, at first, she couldn’t find anything suspicious. Where is it? The heart must be somewhere so, what is it protecting the most? Her eyes narrowed. Think, Sana! Its movements the entire time… is there anything suspicious about the way it was fighting?

It was as if a torch had been lit within her head. “Charlotte!” she shouted, hoping her voice would reach the centaur. “The left arm! Cut it off!” During the fighting, Sana realized that she had never seen the demon move its left arm away from its body, keeping it close to its side.

Charlotte, who had been hanging back, looked startled by the sudden order, but she bit her tongue and charged into the fray. The gunfire stopped momentarily, as Charlotte ran in, her sword glowing slightly. She stopped in front of the demon’s left arm and, with a swing, cut through its shoulder blade. Sana could hear the blade clang against bone but with another yell, Charlotte managed to slice through the entirety of its arm.

There! Where its armpit was, was a small bump. But by this point, most of security had already run out of ammo. As Sana promised Hayder, she raised Tanya’s gun with both her hands and aimed it at the demon’s heart. She took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

Sana wasn’t sure what had happened next. She felt her arms get thrown forcefully back from the recoil of the gun and a loud pop. When she recovered, she found that her plan had worked. A dark-colored liquid pooled out from the demon’s armpit, as it collapsed, its tongue hanging out of its mouth while the magic drained out of its body.

For a second, Sana could’ve sworn that the demon’s eyes met her own. There was a look of absolute loathing before its eyes rolled back in its head and its body began to dissolve into black mana, fading into the air.

“Is it still dangerous?” Sana heard Lekha ask, urgently, through the radio.

“Huh?” Sana frowned and replied, “N-No, it’s not.”

“Is the body going to disappear?” Sana didn’t understand why Lekha sounded so disappointed.

“Yeah,” Sana answered. “But whatever’s left of the heart should remain.”

“…Interesting.”

Before Sana could ponder Lekha’s words, she heard footsteps from behind her. She whirled around to see Edger walking towards her, his suit crisp and neat. “Sir!” Tanya cried, immediately snapping into a salute.

Edger ignored her and smiled at Sana. “So,” he said, holding his hand out to her. “Have you made your decision?”

Sana didn’t answer immediately and instead looked back behind her, towards Tomoe and Charlotte. Both of them didn’t exactly meet her eyes, but Tomoe made a small gesture with her hand and mouthed, “Just go for it.”

Still, Sana kept Edger waiting for an answer for a few more seconds as she looked down at the gun in her hand. She swallowed. If she accepted, then it’d be like finally accepting Ryoga’s offer a few years ago. She’d finally become an adventurer.

Sana took a deep breath before taking Edger's hand and firmly shaking it.

“Yes. My answer is yes.”