…
Elsewhere, on the road between cities, in the middle of nowhere…
Straf and Cycelia walk side by side on the road across the vast, grassy plains. The sun is high in the sky, and scorching the land. A few birds rest and hide in the shade of the few trees scattered here and there, sparsely growing in the fields.
「Say, Lia… How did you survive until now? How did you manage to get money?」
Straf asks, as he observes the figure in the distance on the road.
「Ah… I just bought what I needed with the money I had on me when I left. I had a decent amount, but it evaporated quick…」
Straf rubs his chin as he looks at her.
「You did buy goods for the travel, right? You had to cook something, eat something, sleep somewhere, right?」
「Yes, I got a cheap frying pan and some tools… I mostly slept in the wilderness.」
「And I can't help but notice… You are traveling, but you have no backpack!」
He points at Cycelia accusatorily, as if he just discovered a plot.
「The manhunters caught up with me, so I had to leave it behind or I'd risk getting captured. It had all of my stuff, too…」
She sighs with slumped shoulders.
「I… See…」
Straf looks away, puzzled, rubbing his chin.
《Huh. I thought for sure she'd stumble over words to explain her lack of backpack. This girl defies all the shitty logic of this world.》
They walk onward in quiet for a few minutes, Cycelia casts a shade on her eyes with her hand, and looks at the man in the distance walking towards them.
「Straf… Do you see him? That man?」
She looks at the armored man in the distance with narrowed eyes.
「Huh? You mean on the road? Yeah, I saw him like half an hour ago.」
「What? But he would have been- Nevermind. I have a bad feeling about him, Straf…」
「I mean, he's obviously going to attack us.」
「What? How do you know for sure?」
Cycelia is shocked as Straf declares the man's possible intentions as a fact.
「Look at him. Do you not see how edgy and evil his armor set is? Granted, he could be just a really high level adventurer passing by, but what are the chances?」
He comments as he looks at the black-red spiky knight drawing closer with each minute.
「Then… Then shouldn't we turn back? He looks really scary-」
「Come on Lia, do you want to keep running forever? Do I look scared?」
Ba-dump.
《If it goes well, I get to beat up this loser and take his fancy armor while Lia cheers me on.》
「N-no…」
Lia stutters as she blushes slightly, and looks away.
「Besides, he's not going to attack us without saying something first.」
「How can you be so sure?」
「It's just how it is. He's just going to say something along the lines of none shall pass, or at last we finally meet… Or something like that.」
They keep walking along the road. The man stops in the center and waits for them to reach him.
「Knew it. Let's see what's his line.」
Straf says and shrugs. Cycelia slows down a little, hiding behind Straf. They walk within speaking distance of the man and stop.
「So what's the deal with you? Are you going to attack us, if we try to bypass you?」
Straf shouts a question at the man in front of him. The man starts laughing and his voice echoes. It is uncertain whether it's because of his helmet, or it's the inherent property of his voice.
「…I will attack you if you don't, as well.」
The man stops laughing and says with a low and gravelly voice, still echoing ominously. Straf looks him over head to toe. He holds both of his hands on top of the pommel of his sword leisurely. The man has a completely carefree and unbothered stance, contrasting heavily against his threatening aura.
Spines jut out of edges of the armor, such as on the shoulderpads and bracers, generating a very menacing presence. His armor is so charcoal-black, it looks like a rip in space. It is also covered in red lines, as if a trim or an ornate, decorative finish. They seem to follow no pattern, aside from being left-right symmetrical across his armor.
「Huuuh…」
Straf humms with his fists on his hips as he looks at the man. Cycelia peeks over Straf to take a better look. She can't see his face, but the dark knight seems to take notice she's looking at him.
「Fancy meeting you here, princess…」
The knight says, stressing the last word with a mocking tone. Cycelia's eyes widen and she becomes visibly unnerved.
「Wha-!? How did you know who I am!? Who are you!?」
「Perhaps this will answer your question…」
He says as he brings his hand up to a palm-sized cube emerging out of his chest. Black and covered in red lines just like his armor, glowing faintly. He grasps it as it fully emerges, and holds it up to show it to Cycelia.
「Wha-?」
「Do you recognize this, princess? You should be able to. Hahaha!」
The man in armor disdainfully cackles, each single cackle echoing unnaturally.
「What are you, some sort of sado-maso demon?」
Straf asks unfazed, while Cycelia behind him stares at the black cube in the knight's hand in abject terror.
「N-no… The contract lockbox… That means-」
「That's right. How do you feel about that, princess? Were you having fun running around the countryside?」
「Lia, what is this guy? Some sort of pain dimension pervert? What is the cube?」
「It's…」
Cycelia's eyes dart all over the knight as she starts to hyperventilate.
「Come on, spit it out.」
「That's right princess. Tell him. Tell him everything. I can wait! Hahaha…」
The knight once again cackles, and pushes the box into his chest. The box slowly disappears into it, just like it emerged. Straf looks at Cycelia, who is staring off into space and rapidly breathing.
「Lia? Lia. Hey.」
Straf snaps his fingers in front of her face. She blinks, still terrified.
「W- What?」
「Who is this guy? Why are you so spooked?」
「You're not meant- No. You of all people deserve to know…」
「Know what?」
Straf asks, eyebrows furrowed as he looks over his shoulder at Cycelia. She takes a deep breath.
「Straf… This land wasn't always ours. A few hundred years ago, it was a part of another kingdom. My family was at war… And we were losing. Richard Redwing, the grand-grandfather of my father had a small kingdom and was vying for more land, power and control…」
She takes another deep breath, and looks at the ground as she tells the story.
「He was a capable mage, but most importantly… He knew how to contract demons. He prepared a battlefield ahead of time. He was badly losing, and he needed to turn the war around. The enemy king's army was pursuing his, much smaller and weaker force. He only had a large and untrained levy force, and a small elite unit with him.」
Cycelia looks up into Straf's eyes, full of worry and uncertainty.
「The battle started, his levymen were badly outmatched against the mercenaries and career soldiers. While the enemy took some casualties, it was a one-sided slaughter… It seemed like the battle was lost.」
She uneasily points to the armored man, staring quietly at them as she talks.
「Then something like him appeared. He prepared a ritual spell over the battlefield before it even began. It was a contract spell. He ordered the demon to kill his enemy, and anyone standing in his way. The demon took the souls of those slain in battle as a reward, from both sides.」
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
She lowers her arm and looks at Straf again, her face slowly growing more and more sullen.
「It's an open secret that our kingdom was formed using evil magic, but over time, we shifted everyone's perception to think it was a necessary evil. We swore to never use that spell again, and we were guarding the secrets to it ever since. That cube is a soul lockbox.」
「So, he unlocks it and gets to crunch on souls?」
Straf asks, once again unbothered by anything.
「Yes… The contract binds him to do as he was told, or he won't receive the souls… But… Since he's here… That means at least a thousand people, if not more have been killed…」
Cycelia puts her hand on her face as she begins to despair again.
「That's right, princess. I kill you, and I get to devour a whole thousand of your loyal subjects, how do you feel about that, princess? Were you enjoying your time out, while they were being slaughtered? Some just and rightful ruler you are, ha ha ha!」
The demonic knight laughs and mocks Cycelia once more. She hyperventilates again on verge of tears.
「All those innocent people… Just because I ran…」
She suddenly stops and calms down. Taking her hand off her face, she looks at Straf, sad but otherwise devoid of emotions or expression.
「Straf… Thank you for everything you did for me. I can't run anymore, it brought too many innocent people harm. And all of it because I was selfish…」
「Huh? Why are you saying it like that? Are you leaving somewhere? I can just kick this guy's ass-」
「Straf! You can't! Nobody has ever beaten this thing! There isn't a single historical record of it happening! He's been sent to kill me, but he's bound by a contract… He can't harm you if you don't get in his way…」
Her unemotional facade begins to crumble as she clenches her teeth, and her eyes water.
「I wish I could spend more time with you like yesterday, but I can't… You already risked your life for me multiple times, I don't want you to die for me…」
She meekly tugs on Straf's shirt with her thumb and finger as she pleads.
「Huh? And who said anything about dying?」
Straf looks back at the armored man, and extends his arm to the side, blocking his way to Cycelia.
「And what will you do, brave hero? Will you let me butcher your helpless lady as you watch? Heheheh…」
「Straf, don't. Don't let him taunt you. Just let me die…」
She pulls on Straf's shirt, begging quietly.
「Just let me verify something, tin can. You are a demon, right? Do you have a soul, yourself?」
「No, of course not. I am not like a lowly being of this pathetic and weak dimension. I don't need a soul. You are simply a treat for me. I await for opportunity to be freed, and prey on you.」
The man lifts his hand off the sword as he explains his perceived hierarchy. Straf smirks, and opens his [Portable Storage].
「Lia, if he has no soul, there should be no problem with me using this, right?」
Straf asks as he pulls out his『Demonblade Soul Devourer』with a horrible noise impossible to describe out of the hole. It closes right after the tip of the sword emerges.
《Kill. Kill. Kill!KillkillkillkillKillKill!》
Thousands of voices whisper into Straf's ear as he takes his stance.
「Straf! Please listen to me! Don't! Even someone as strong as you can't win!」
「Hmmm… I recognize that sword. I will have fun teaching it its place. Hahaha…」
The knight tilts his head slightly as he looks at Straf's living weapon. The eye on the sword snaps open and locks onto the man. The blade growls continuously like an angry dog.
「Thanks for trusting in me I guess, Lia. I'm going to win regardless of what you think. What kind of a harem protagonist lets his harem die?」
Straf shrugs as he asks a rhetorical question. The armored man shifts in place.
「…Does this mean you will interfere?」
「If you won't turn around and fuck off, yeah.」
「Straf! Please! Don't!」
Cycelia's pleas get more urgent and desperate as tension mounts.
「So, you will fight me if I attack her?」
The knight looks down on the ground, his booming gravelly voice echoing still.
「Yeah, are you defective or something? Obviously.」
「…And you're ready to die for her?」
「I think you have the wrong idea who will be doing the dying, but I guess.」
Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
Straf sneers, completely immune to the pressure crushing Cycelia. The armored man takes his hands off the pommel, leaving only one hand holding onto the grip.
「Straf! No!」
Cycelia desperately begs Straf. The knight lifts his head, his full helmet doesn't permit anyone to catch even a glimpse of his face, with only darkness visible through the eyeslit.
「…Then die.」
A red glint flashes through the demon's eyeslit, and a huge cloud of dust kicks up behind him as he lunges forward at Straf, drawing his sword in one smooth motion and pulling it behind himself for a slash, as he flies through the air at inhuman speed, many times faster than any human can see.
《Huh. This guy is real quick.》
Straf thinks to himself as the demonic knight is sailing through the air at a snail's pace towards him. He looks at the buffs in the corner of his vision…
[Contextual Time Perception]
[Active]
Perception acceleration factor: 7600%
[Freedom of Movement]
[Active]
Comfortable speed (Time) factor: 5877.84%
《Well. Time to take him down a notch.》
Straf walks up to the flying knight and grabs onto the piece of armor making his pants. He pulls downwards, but they won't budge.
《What the hell? You mean it's not armor? He's literally made of this shit? It's his body? Lame!》
Disappointed he cannot pull the demon's pants down, he takes a few steps back towards Cycelia, who appears frozen in time, saying something with teary eyes.
《Well, whatever. I'll just get in between them and hack him in half, so she doesn't get accidentally hit with a piece of his guts. Wait, does he even have any? I guess I'll find out.》
Straf takes a step forward and off to the side, he cocks his arm back, and slashes the demon at a slightly upward angle with his『Demonblade Soul Devourer』and a red glint flashes on the sword's blade just before impact.
A horrible, deafening blast of metal on metal and the unmistakable noise of a supersonic crack ring out across the vast plains. The knight is gone. Completely. Straf looks up and away towards something blurry in the sky, and sees a warped and mangled demonic set of armor soaring through the vast blue horizon with an accompanying vapor cone. The dust starts to settle.
《Level up. Attribute points gained.》
《Oh fuck, not again…》
Cycelia flinches and blinks. Her ears ring painfully. She realizes she's no longer holding onto Straf, and he's standing in a completely different spot… And the demon after her life is missing.
「…What…?」
She asks quietly, completely and utterly confused as to what happened.
《Level up. Attribute points gained.》
《Ah, shit. Well, I should have seen this one coming.》
Straf thinks as he looks at his sword, now a shattered stump of a blade.
『Demonblade Soul Devourer』
[Broken] [Living Blade] [Cursed] [Shapeshifter weapon]
Durability
0/1200000
[-----------------]
「Hm?」
《Level up. Attribute points gained.》
「…What happened?」
Straf and Cycelia notice a peculiar anomaly together at the same time. It is now winter.
「Time sure flies when you're having fun, but that's a little excessive-」
Straf looks around, he notices that it is winter all around them, except in a circle centered around him, where the grass and the road is still clear of snow.
「Straf, what happened? What is this?」
「Hmmm…」
《Level up. Attribute points gained.》
As Straf thinks, the snow outside the summer-bubble begins to fall upward, revealing wet yellow-golden leaves below. The leaves jiggle then slide sideways, take flight, and fall onto tree branches. The autumn leaves turn green while shaking violently on the trees. Meanwhile, the sky turns from gray to cozy summer blue again.
「I don't understand… I have never heard of something like this before.」
Cycelia says and looks around in awe as she witnesses the summer return in seconds.
《Level up. Attribute points gained. Skill points gained.》
《I see… Now that is what I call a relativistic stinky.》