Before returning to Willow Hill, I walked around the perimeter, slaughtering any stragglers and storing all corpses and equipment in the item box. I counted over seventy monkeys and thirty goblins. There were almost as many demon corpses, but it does not make me not a bit happier. I got seven levels, but it does not make not a bit calmer.

It was not a raid. It was an extermination force. Not scouts. They came in full force. If it were not for the training and morale of our troops, the casualties would be even bigger.

I also expanded and renewed the sentry ward network. The detection improved after the levels earned tonight.

I was returning when I remembered I'm in a 'borrowed' body. Better give notice. "Shraaizar, I am flying back to Willow Hill, and I am in a prisoner's body. Do not attack the one flying on dragon wings. It is me."

"Yesss, Grendel! I'll let the sentries know."

I flew above the trees but soon regretted my decision. The morning was already a thing when I was done cleaning the battlefield, and I found out why demons work only at night. Their eyes are really sensitive to sunlight. I landed,  donned a hooded cloak over her body and teleported back.

I returned to where Zahariel and Cloude were resting. They seem battered. I bet they got a lot of action on their end too.

"Grendel is that you?" Zahariel asks.

"I got one prisoner. I am throwing her in Jail for interrogation. You two go to bed and get some sleep."

"Damn, Grendel. Did you hook up with another hot chick?" Cloude is with Zahariel and he only saw her silhouette under the cloak.

"Fuck off, Cloude. I don't care about her gender, I just care about what is in her mind. I'll execute her after she has no value to me. And no, it is a filthy demon, a succubus to boot. Any mortal man that lays with this bitch here will be sucked dry."

My stomach is swirling, and I don't even have a stomach right now. The most erotic thing I can think of right now is to shove the horn spear up a demon's ass until it comes out through the mouth and then I'll slaughter a dozen more like that.

Zahariel looks at me with a disgusted face, "Get this filthy demoness away from me. Or I'll finish her off before you can even talk to her."

"See? Do as the angel says. Get some sleep. They might return tonight."

I leave the place before the seraph guts my host with a flaming sword. I have no doubts he would do that had I lingered a few minutes more. First I need to remodel the jail. I'll use [Earthpulse] to lower the mana levels in the jail to the same level as a human road, two steps before zero and one step above town levels. I need to get the power lines of the earth pulse and draw them away and around the jail. It is like pulling and kneading taffy candy. After two hours of rituals, I managed to make a low-mana jail.

Inside, it was like I was breathing high altitude mountain air. Like when you are too high up the Himalayas and need oxygen cylinders to keep going. It is annoying as hell and I feel light-headed. Perfect.

Now I'll gag her with good old sock and bandana and bury the girl's hand and feet in the wall just like I did back in the woods but on the vertical instead of horizontal. The tail was also buried in stone. It is uncomfortable so I'll also make a U-shaped seat for her to lay her thighs over. It is U-shaped for sanitary reasons. Poison tooth? None. She can't even bite her tongue with this sock gag.

I exit my bound, gagged and naked host and leave the prison cell without letting her see me. Of course, I locked it. "Toppa, Botta, guard the jail and do not let anyone but me inside."

The two goblins run to meet me. They look sad. "Yes, boss! We watch prisoner!" They are at level 38... I should make them evolve soon.

I crouch and pat their heads, "Look buddies. I know we all are sad that Strangga died. But many of our friends also died. What we can do now is live our lives for their sake too. Honor the fallen and punish their murderers. And I am going to slaughter so many demons that the earth will darken with their blood. You have a new mission. You are going to be uncles. Your sisters Charmma and Downna are going to have babies. I want you to live on and make them strong warriors that won't lose to no demon."

This pep talk seems to have rekindled their fires. Or their bloodlust. It is hard to know which, but we monsters function better if there is something we really want to kill.

"Go and murder them, boss!" They saluted me as I left the jail.

Next, I need to see Kochurearc. The gorilla leader was in his stone hut at the foot of the hill. When I approached, he prostrated himself.

"I am sorry, master! I have failed to protect the tribe once again!"

I too share his feeling. I've seen the mangled bodies of our friends. I'll have to see them once more when I take them out of the item box. My wish was to take flight right now and find the demon settlement and turn it into a charred wasteland. And then descend in that dungeon and beat the crap of Beelzebub, just because he is the highest ranked demon I know of.

I give him a light knock on his thickest head and change my tone to a bossy one. "Arise, my warrior! For I see no failure in your actions. You held your ground and thanks to that we still have a place to call home. If you think you failed, seize that feeling and train harder to become stronger! We lost many of our brethren this night, and the living must shoulder the burden of the dead. Clear your mind of the thoughts of defeat. Seize your rage and let it burn brighter than the Summer sun the next time we fight demons."

I give him a pause to digest what I just said and completed, "Because it is now our time to raid their home. We are going to attack soon. But first, we honor our dead friends, and strengthen our living allies."

I leave the flame fist patriarch behind and ready to teleport to Mirfield. First turn back into Beowulf. I arrive at the lord's chambers and find two female humans sleeping in a bed. It seems they insisted on staying here to meet me when I returned and Sebastian fetched this bed for them. By the door and windows, the rats are keeping guard. Emory's level is also on the late thirties. Would he be able to evolve?

Before I can tell the rats to keep quiet, Helen was already awake, probably the rats' fault. "You missed your own wedding." She looks at me with concern, "You are looking like the world just ended, Beowulf. What happened? Was it too bad?"

"Not-so-good morning, my love," I tell her and sit on the bed next to her. She smells of herbs and flowers and her nightgown is beautiful. I think the spidersilk goods were delivered finally.

I don't find the strength to talk. I hug her and bury my head in her shoulder. And the emotions welling up inside me just overflow.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

She hugs me back, caresses my hair. Soon I feel Marcy also holding me from the side. We stay there for ten, fifteen minutes until I have no more tears to shed. It took as long for me to be able to speak again.

"The demons attacked. They sent an extermination force at least of at least two hundred. We held them back but lost over a hundred of our own. We managed to kill a lot of the bastards but I think half of them retreated. I think they will return soon with even more power. They have seen Zahariel. I doubt they will leave us alone. I want... I want to find their place and raze it. Burn to the ground."

Marcy pulls my head up and looks me in the eyes, "Your voice is breaking. You are shaking. What I think you need to do right now is to lie down here and rest a little."

"I can't stop. I need to..." Helen pulls me over her and on the middle of the bed. I am impressed with how strong she is now.

She lays an arm over my chest to pin me down and says, "No. I am also worried. But Zahariel, Mittens, Shraaizar, Kochurearc, and Cloude are there. You were playing possession with Cloude again. His HP bar went up just as fast as it went down we can figure out you took his body for a ride and power leveled him just like aunt Mercy. And your eyes just confirmed to me I am right. So close them now and sleep. We are going to stay by your side. I want to go there and check the beehive, Caramel is almost hatching. But we will rest today. Before dusk, we return and then we see what we will do. It was a sleepless night for us too."

I hugged the two girls and sunk my head on the pillows. Its been a long while since I last slept on a proper bed...

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

"Wake up!"

"Beowulf, wake up!"

I open my eyes with my mind a bit fresher, but my body still aches from the tension. My heart is pounding on overtime. The memories of last night flood my head and I let a long sigh out. I could sleep for days. But it is not yet the time.

"Hello. Is it almost dusk?" Marcy and Helen are already geared up.

"Yes. We should get going. It will get dark soon."

"Right. But I need to do one thing before we go." I get off bad and put my boots back on. Outside the bedroom, I call for Sebastian. I just needed to yell and within a minute or less he was there.

"You called, my lord?"

"Yes. Sebastian, send two runners to fetch guild master Mercy and mayor Alvus. It is a matter of dire urgency. Ready a conference room. You, the head maid and the chief of the guard are also participating. I want to start before the sun sets. Time is precious. Please hurry."

"At once, sire!" The butler goes away with a nimble foot. I got a crazy idea to power level him too so I get a combat butler. But it is idiocy.

"I am teleporting to Willow Hill and will bring Cloude and Zahariel here. After the brief meeting, the five of us will go back there. By the way, Helen..."

"Yes, dear?"

"Who is Caramel?"

"The queen bee you gave me to hatch."

"And she is already named?"

"Yes, I tamed her inside the pod so why not?"

"Nothing." I chuckle. The first thing that a queen bee does after hatching is to fly and dance with the drones to get fertilized. So Caramel is going out to do a dance...

Marcy smiles at this exchange, "It is really good to see you laughing but if you are going to bring them here, please do so fast. I want to have a word or two with Cloude."

I teleport to Willow Hill and after a while return with Zahariel, Cloude, Kochurearc, Mittens and Shraaizar in tow.

"Here is he, Marcy."

Marcy emits a pressure that even I find hard to endure. "Cloude, could you please follow me to another room? And Helen, could you come just to set a sound barrier for us?"

The three of them leave the room, I could swear Cloude shrank a few inches.

"How are you doing, big guy?" Zahariel asks.

"I feel like I could exterminate the entire demon race. And then use necromancy to raise them from the dead, so I could kill them once more."

"Necromancy doesn't work anymore. There are no souls to put in the corpses since the gods died."

"What is the point of having the skill then?" I'm glad I didn't waste SP on that sinister magic school then.

"I don't know. Maybe it was left there because nobody is looking after the System."

"Can I try to make a demon skeleton to see if it would work?"

"Erm.."

Helen returns before Zahariel could reply. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No, no. Come here. Is Cloude going to get out alive?"

She gives a mischievous smile, "I don't know. It is up to Marcy now. And even I don't want to be near her when she is that angry."

We talk about what happened last night for a few minutes, but someone knocks on the door. Sebastian's voice can be heard, "My lord, your guests have arrived. They are waiting at the dining hall."

"We are going now. Please get them ready for the meeting and inform them of our special guests. This handsome red-furred guy is Kochurearc of the flame fist, by the way."

"Grook! Pleased to meet you. As servants of the same master, let us cooperate for the glory of the tribe."

"Yes, yes. Indeed, Sir Kochurearc, let us cooperate." The butler's poker face almost broke.

Before we get out of the room the door opens. Out of the room comes Marcy and a dejected Cloude. Marcy walks next to me and grabs my arm like a lady. "Cloude has something to tell you, my dear fianceé."

I bet I won't like it, "What is it Cloude?"

"Beowulf, I am sorry! Sorry! I won't stand on your way anymore. I swear my sword will be yours forever!" He kneels. Damn! "I, Cloude of the Shining Blade, now pledge my eternal loyalty to the Hero Beowulf. Command me and I will see it done. I'll fight by your side against demons, dragons or whatever comes. I'll protect everyone."

With arms locked with me, Marcy has a satisfied smirk on her face. "Marcy, please do me two favors. Never tell me what you did to Cloude, and never do the same to me."

She rubs her nose on my cheek near the ear and whispers, "I promise never to tell."

We relocate to the dining hall. The table was set for dinner. "Sebastian. Please vacate the table. There will be no dinner served at this table today. We might even have to replace it."

"As you wish, Viscount," He gestures to the maids, and they quickly remove the plates.

I address the butler again, "But please do not let the food go to waste. Help yourselves and send my thanks to the chef."

"Absolutely, sir."

I spread my arms and go next to the table, "My friends, my advanced outpost was attacked last night by the demon race. While we are here squabbling over who rules what, our enemies are gathering forces on our doorstep. The signs were read by our friend and demon expert Zahariel. We have witnessed them first hand. I am taking my party and we will journey east to destroy this threat."

After a brief introduction of our non-human friends to the rather scared town leaders, out of the item box comes a demon corpse freshly killed on top of the table. Heck, he is even still bleeding and warm. One of the winged ones. I doubt he can fly with these small wings though.

Some maids faint. The town guard commander shouts, "Are these abominations going to attack the town?"

From the reaction around, I think humans have a instinctual reaction against these demons.

"No. I doubt they will come here. I actually rule two settlements. Mirfield and Willow Hill. You might have not heard of it, but it is a newly founded settlement east of here for my monster friends. They attacked Willow Hill last night. As long as we hold the line there, Mirfield has little chance of being targeted." The humans feel relieved. It is expressed in their faces that they like the idea of monsters and demons killing each other. But I continue, "Willow Hill lost a third of their inhabitants to buy the safety of you humans. Lady Shraaizar, Sir Mittens and Patriarch Kochurearc over there fought there and shed their monster blood to stop the demons on our doorstep. This relief you felt right now was bought with the lives of the monsters you despise, true."

The town guard commander slams the table, "Monsters defending humans? It is preposterous."

I cancel my transformation. It is wasteful to burn it just a few hours after reverting but I don't care.

"Yes. It happened during the orc invasion, it happened during the winter festival, it happened last night. You may call me Beowulf, but Beowulf is just a handle I use when disguised as a human. I am Grendel the Troll, Hero and Lord of Mirfied. If you don't believe me, ask anyone in this room."

The guy looks around and everyone nods to confirm it.

"I am making changes to the town guard. I am appointing the Magic Swordsman Cloude of the Shining Blade as Guard Captain. All town guards including you will report to him. Cloude will report to me and to Mayor Alvus. Also, guild master, adventurers are forbidden to go east near Willow Hill. I will no longer hold the existence of that settlement a secret, but outsider humans are forbidden from visiting without my express consent until second notice."

They begin talking and arguing among themselves and I detach myself from the meeting.

The gears of the world moan and groan as the force of time pushes them into motion once again. I can hear the creaking. The earth pulse talks to me.

The guests at this meeting will spread the word of what transpired here and Mirfield will change. In a few days, the merchants will take the first caravan out with dozens of migrants that will leave town. They will reach Heorot and king Hrothgar will make his move.

By the time they can react, I'll have painted Mirfield in my colors. And then humanity will have at least one place that doesn't literally stink like a latrine.