Book 2 Chapter 45 End of Book 2
Guudnash gnashed his teeth as he lost more and more troops. His Conquest Meter had been severely depleted, and he was getting ready to forfeit the battle and run away. There was no way he was going to end up like the last Demon Lord, he valued his life too much. Plus, the majority of his elites were with him, it was only a matter of time before he would rebuild his army. If he couldn’t take Riwa now, then he would retreat to the west and take over the barbarian lands.
But what really was really vexing him was the king of Geonar. Guudnash had no idea how he had created such a terrifying force. Even if he had found willing participants, there was only so much a Demon Lord could do, and the king shouldn’t have been such a high ranking demon. It was truly a confusing situation for Guudnash.
The command tent was being taken down behind Guudnash as he looked out from the hillside towards the city. The rushing demons were going back and forth across the hill making the necessary preparations to evacuate. They flowed around Guudnash like a rock in a river, yet none managed to get close enough to actually touch him.
At least I had burned Geonar down, Guudnash thought to himself with a smile. It would take a long time for the king to rebuild. Especially with the new pressure from the east caused by the drakes. In the time it would take for the king to rebuild, Guudnash will have accumulated an even larger force. Concurring Riwa was only a matter of time. Plus, that odd energy surge came from the east as well. If a drake somehow managed to evolve into a true dragon, then the king would really be in trouble.
The sun was beginning to rise behind the great city of Geonar. It would have been a beautiful sunrise had it not been for the clouds of smoke rising out of the burned wreckage of the city. Guudnash, however, found it very pleasing to see. This was his work of art after all.
But what he didn’t see was the shadow that streaked across that sky.
“Sir, the preparations are complete,” a demon came up to Guudnash and announced.
“Very good, then let us depart,” Guudnash ordered.
Guudnash turned away from the smoking city, setting his eyes to the west. But before he could make more than a few steps, a large object impacted behind him. It landed with an explosion and trembled the ground like an earthquake. Many demons lost their footing and fell to the ground, but Guudnash stood firm and slowly turned around.
As the dust cleared, he first saw the sprawled bodies of several of his elites that could not even last one hit from the thing that fell. A fear crept into Guudnash’s heart; this was something beyond all of his expectations.
Finally, the view cleared for Guudnash to see perfectly and what he saw stunned him. Standing on the now cracked ground was the three-meter-tall king in all his demon glory. The most dazzling of it all were the six horn crown that grew out of the king’s head.
Now Guudnash realized that the king had become a demon even greater than a Demon Lord. It was an instinctual feeling that a demon would get when meeting a higher level demon. He had felt this between himself and the previous Demon Lord before he himself turned into a Demon Lord. That meant that the king had undergone another transformation, placing himself above Demon Lords. But what was it? Guudnash still wasn’t sure.
“Don’t leave just yet, Guudnash,” the king said with a smile. “We still have much to talk about. Not to mention the compensation you owe me for destroying my city.”
“Have you not been compensated? You look like you have been more than compensated for one city, if not more.” Guudnash knew that making the king a demon was still the original cause for the king to become this powerful. Now he was using it as a shot in the dark to see if he could live through the situation.
The king laughed, “I suppose you are correct. However, you still have one debt left.”
“Oh, what is that?” Guudnash asked nervously.
“You tried to control me,” an evil smile spread across the king’s face.
Guudnash’s eye twitched, “You are right, had I known that you were a higher level of demon, I would not have tried such a thing. I offer my most sincere apology.”
The king’s smile faded, and he raised his eyebrow in surprise, “You seem to know when to attack and when to retreat. Good. Good. Perhaps I can still use you. You were once a subject of Riwa, and in a way, you still are. How about this, Guudnash, join me as one of my Demon Lords and we will conquer the entire world.”
Guudnash bowed with a hand on his chest, “I pledge to serve the king. But I’m guessing this won’t be enough. I happen to have a Demon Contract that can make this official.”
“A demon contract? Very well, let me take a look.”
***
Anthea took Jude out of the Inner City and most of the way out of the Outer City, healing his injuries the best she could. The number of demons in the outer city was far fewer than it had been in the inner city. She wasn’t currently strong enough to handle more than one demon at a time, so by using her fairies, she was able to sneak around them or hide when they came to her direction.
However, doing so had cost her a lot of energy, and with Jude’s status, as injured, she wouldn’t be able to stay summoned for much longer.
“I can walk now,” Jude said as they were making their way out of a hiding spot.
Anthea sighed. She was glad, but also sad. Her forte was nature magic, but it was more of the offensive side rather than the healing side. Jude was relatively healed, but the horrific burn scars still covered half of his body. But what surprised Anthea the most was the fact that he had scars at all.
Most attacks would cause superficial damage that healing magic or even some non-magical medical attention could cure. But whatever attacks that the demons caused, would wound more than just the HP. It disfigured as well.
But Anthea should have seen this coming. If only she had paid more attention to the people after the Demon Invasion of Longdale, she would have been more prepared. However, she was not one to pay attention to mortals.
After putting Jude down, she looked at him with a serious expression, “Master, my time is almost up. This time, if the situation arises, I will sacrifice myself so that you can get away.”
“Anthea…” Jude didn’t know how to respond. But he suspected that she felt guilty over how things turned out.
“No master. You need to be prepared for this; I will protect you properly this time. Besides, it’s not like I will die anyway.”
“Alright, I will have to rely on your protection.”
They continued on their way, heading south out of the city. The structures quickly went from two, and three-story tall to one and Jude knew that they were almost out.
“Master,” Anthea said all the sudden, “There are demons attempting to enter a shop up ahead. We should go around that way.”
Jude looked around to see barely a building intact. He wondered just what could have caused these demons to keep trying to enter some shop. As they began to make their way around, the sounds of bashing became clearer.
“Can you tell why they are trying to get into that building?” Jude asked.
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“There are people inside,” Anthea didn’t want to answer this, she was afraid that Jude would want to help. To her, the only person who was important was Jude. No one else mattered, and the world could burn as long as Jude was okay.
“How many demons are there?” Jude asked.
It was just as she feared, “There are two.”
“If it is only two, then we can take them,” Jude said solemnly. He didn’t want to go out of his way to help people, especially now. But he had already seen plenty of examples of what demons did to people. There was no way he would sleep at night if he didn’t help those who he could.
Actually, just from what he saw, he might not be able to sleep at night. The horrors of Geonar this day were tremendous.
***
John Sanderson looked at his wife and children with tears in his eyes. There wasn’t much left that they could do. Somehow, the majority of the horde had already swept past his house and shop, but two had remained behind in a stubborn determination to root them out.
John was lucky to have had the foresight have fortified his house to this extent. Otherwise, they would have been dead long ago like all their neighbors. But was it really foresight? The outer city didn’t have a wall and if Geonar was ever attacked, then it would them that would suffer the most. This was why he had spent so much effort on fortifying his home and shop.
His neighbors, however, had scoffed at the idea that anyone would ever attack Geonar. But who was laughing now? Actually, John wasn’t laughing at all. Even if the demons gave up, he wouldn’t laugh. He would mourn the loss of his friends and neighbors.
But even with all his preparations, it didn’t seem to be enough. He and his family were in the last room of the house. All other defenses had been crushed and this was their last safe haven. And it didn’t seem like it would be for much longer.
“Son, I’m sorry,” John said.
“Dad, I don’t blame you,” Jr. said in reply.
“But if I had let you become an NPC, you would still have some hope,” John said.
John Jr. didn’t reply, but in his heart, he didn’t think the NPC’s would make it out of this one, his family would probably die here with him. These horrifying beasts that attacked Geonar seemed to be without end. If Geonar was lost, then even they would die a permanent death.
“I thought that if you were not an NPC, your future would be limitless,” John said with a sorrowful voice. “You are so skilled at forging that a position in the army would not have been hard for you. Even entering the Inner City was a possibility for you. Son, you are a genius.”
“I thought so too,” John Jr. said, “But then I met Ellie and I found out what a real genius is like.”
John Sr. nodded, “Yes she was, wasn’t she? I had hoped that the two of you…”
“Me too.”
It was at this point that the banging on the door stopped. The family of four looked to the door as they felt all the follicles on their skin rise.
Did they dare to hope?
Yes, they did. The sound of battle began outside. Everyone’s complexion soon turned bright.
“Do you think it is the army or the king’s men?” Jr. asked.
“Who cares as long as we are saved!” said the young girl, John Jr.’s sister.
Everyone held their breath, not daring to even peak out the door until the battle was over.
A knock came at the door along with a voice that sounded deathly tired and gruff. But even so, the sound was clearly that of a human and not one of those monsters, “Anyone in there? You guys okay?”
John cautiously opened the door to see the profile of a young man. He was surprised that such a voice came from someone so young. Until that young man turned his face towards John. He nearly slammed the door closed from the sight of the ghastly burn scars across the other side of his face. But John held on to a bit of his will and remained steadfast in front of the one who saved him and his family.
***
Jude entered the room while Anthea stayed back to keep watch. Upon coming here, he noticed the place was called Sanderson’s Smithy and he vaguely remembered Ellie mention the place.
The family quickly introduced themselves and then John Sr. asked, “How are things out there?”
“Very bad. You need to leave the city with all haste. I recommend that you head south,” Jude said. He helped them out of a tight situation, but he didn’t have the energy to also protect them along the way.
“Leave Geonar?” John asked surprised.
“Yes, while the demons from the outside are being defeated, it is only because the king and all those from the Core City have turned into demons as well,” Jude said.
John had a sickly expression on his face while his wife and daughter both burst into tears. “Is there no hope then?”
“There is always hope, but you must flee,” Jude said. “I don’t have much time. I need to leave as well.”
“Take my son with you!” Pleaded John as tears formed in the corner of his eyes.
“Father no!” Jr. yelled, “I would rather stay with you!”
“All of you need to leave. Staying here will be worse than death,” Jude warned.
“You don’t understand,” John Sr. said. “All of us are NPC’s except for my son. We can’t leave, but he can. Please take him with you.”
Jude didn’t have time to waste and perhaps another hand would be helpful, “Fine, but I’m not waiting. You come now, as you are, or not at all.”
“Gaaaah!” Mrs. Sanderson yelled.
But she wasn’t alone as the young girl also started yelling as gargling sounds also started to erupt out of them. The father was close behind, falling on his knees and clutching his hair which he soon started to pull out.
Jude and John Jr. were startled. John Jr. rushed to his father then his mother and sister. But there was nothing he could do.
Jude used Area Analyze and quickly started to piece things together. “John, we need to go now!”
“No, this is my family! Please help them!” John Jr. begged helplessly.
“There’s nothing I can do. They are turning into demons.” Jude tried to pull John away.
“No! That can’t be! They can’t GAH-“
John’s sister’s hand exploded out of John’s back as the girl started laughing like a maniac with tears trailing down her face. She was only half transformed, but the demonic impulses had already taken control of her.
Anthea rushed into the room, “Master, we must go now!”
Jude’s heart was torn; didn’t he just save these people? Why did they have to die?! But he only paused for a moment as he quickly rushed out with Anthea.
They didn’t get far as three demons burst out. One brutish looking demon was that of John Sanderson. The two women turned into banshee looking demons with elongated mouths. Their large mouths were like sirens, calling other demons to their location.
“Master, you escape. I will draw the attention of any incoming demons,” Anthea said to Jude.
Jude wanted to say something but Anthea stopped him, “You know that I can’t survive much longer here with you. Now go. This isn’t my true body after all.”
Jude paused, then he nodded and left Anthea behind.
A distance away he could hear the battle between her and the demons. The battle didn’t last long and through his connection with Anthea, he knew that her avatar died. It would be some time before he could summon her again.
***
The sun rose into the sky as the Day of Change came into being for all of Riwa for the first time. The citizenry just didn’t know it yet.
Jude escaped the city to the south and made his way east to find Ellie. It was already mid-day by the time he reached the cottage they had agreed upon. It had taken Jude longer to get here than he expected. There were many airborne demons flying through the skies, heading east as well. But they didn’t seem to be focusing on the area’s near Geonar, but rather heading towards the areas of the drakes.
“Ellie…” Jude said quietly to himself as he reached the doorstep of the beat up old place.
The events so far had been sickening but now the thought of Ellie brought a bit of light and hope to Jude.
They would have to run for sure, but it was comforting to know that Ellie would be by his side. She had been a stable support throughout his adventures, especially recently. If it hadn’t been for her crafting skills he would never have been able to make his staff.
The more he thought about it, the more precious he realized that she was to him. Life would have taken many different turns if it had not been for her. He was really lucky to have her here.
He lightly tapped a coded knock on the door that they had previously worked out. It had been Ellie’s idea; she was so meticulous. But perhaps that is what made her such a great crafter.
Opening the door, Jude could barely hold back a smile. Yes, today had been awful, but now he felt like he was coming home. How could he not smile after coming home from such an event?
But what greeted his eyes wasn’t that of Ellie. It wasn’t the beautiful and strong girl that he knew. But that of a pale weak body on the floor in a pool of blood.
“Nooo!” Jude screamed rushing to her. He no longer cared if there were any nearby demons that could hear him. His only focus now was Ellie herself.
He picked her up and wiped the blood away from her face. Using all of his abilities he focused on her to find that she was still alive, but something didn’t make sense. It felt like she was disconnected from the world and beyond that, he didn’t know.
Jude quickly regained his bearings and first started with some first aid. He moved her to a nearby bed after which he began to use Internal and Area Analyze to determine what was going on. But what he saw didn’t make sense. It wasn’t until he used Skill Link to link both of his Analyze abilities, did he see what was happening.
Ellie’s Modicuit was fusing with her body.
***
It was already dusk by the time Jude finished his operation. He didn’t know why Ellie’s Modicuit would fuse with her body, but she was dying because the process hadn’t completed. Attempting to reverse the process would only kill her so his only option was to complete it. By using his skills as a Spell Analyst, he just barely able to complete the process. However, Ellie remained unconscious.
Jude was tired and hurt in all the wrong ways. But he was determined to leave the vicinity of Geonar. It was only a matter of time before the demons swept this area and Jude was in no condition to fight.
Picking Ellie up and putting her on his back, Jude looked through the room for the first time. He hadn’t noticed anything but Ellie when he first entered but now he was surprised to find many destroyed and ruined mage lights. The one working mage light sat on the table and before he left, Jude picked it up, turned off the light, and took it with him.
With Ellie on his back and the sun behind him, Jude headed south-east. The smoking city of Geonar still billowing up in clouds creating, even more, reds in the sky from the setting sun.
Jude couldn’t move fast, but he didn’t dare be to slow. He was headed to the only pass in the Spineback mountains, where the dwarves lived.