Hundreds of demons marched in the direction of Vampirneck and all of them were currently right over Ryzen and Enancia.

Ryzen gave Enancia a questioning look but she was obviously distracted. He simply shook his head and used the shadows of the marching demons to move out of their way. He continued moving but the army was vast and seemingly endless. Finally, after a long period of time, he was able to get a fair distance from the army. Ryzen could only hope that it was far enough but he couldn’t afford to waste any more MP.

“Enancia, what the hell was that?” Ryzen asked.

“I had nearly forgotten” Enancia murmured without answering his question.

“What?” Ryzen asked in a panic. He wasn’t used to Enancia acting so seriously.

“The demons have been preparing for war for decades and just recently we have started openly attacking different nations. I, along with a few others was sent to clear out various smaller cities nearing the border of the demon country, Zemina. I failed but it is unlikely the others did. My father's patience must have taken a turn for the worse after my failure. He likely plans on wiping out the vampires first.”

“Wait, the demons are inciting war? They are going to wipe out the vampires? Your father? Enancia, what aren’t you telling me?”

“Ryzen, I… just want you to know that I was going to tell you regardless but it seems I must now… I know it sounds stupid but please…”

Ryzen shook his head slowly. He wasn’t angry with Enancia for not telling him every single thing about her in the short time they had been together. It could have been an even longer amount of time and he still wouldn’t have been mad. Doing so wouldn’t solve anything anyway.

“I’m not upset, Enancia. If you feel you can trust me then feel free to share. If not then don’t. I won’t be bothered either way. Although, it would be nice if you did… trust me.”

“Of course, I trust you idiot. That’s not even a question. Like I said, I was going to tell you, I just didn’t get the chance… and that’s really it! Anyways, yes my father is the archdemon, Xenomir Desperhope. It’s really not that special though since I have like a hundred or so siblings! Okay, maybe it's a little special but that’s why I’m super strong… or was super strong.”

Ryzen paused for a moment to fully process what he had just heard. Enancia was basically royalty then.

He openly expressed this thought to her by asking, “So, you’re like a princess then?”

“Yes and no. My status got me much better military training which allowed me to get to where I am today. Or was. Ugh, Ryzen, I want my skills and stats back!” Enancia complained.

Ryzen was wondering if there was a way to heal her. Obviously, being new to the world meant he had essentially no knowledge of the topic.

“Is there a way to get them back?” he asked.

“Yes, but it’s not realistic. Level ten curse can be broken by a tier A clerk or priest or anything that uses light skills really. The problem there is that the only known tier A being in existence that has such an ability is Lilith Marx, the succubus queen. As you can guess, getting her to help me would probably end up with me being turned to ash.” Enancia said with a sigh.

“Yeah, I can only imagine,” Ryzen said.

“Those A-tier monsters are unbelievable Ryzen. This world is a tight situation of each country desperately holding on to the ones they have because they create a balance that prevents any of them from doing anything too crazy. That’s why the demons are such a threat.”

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“All this training… they have more than the other countries don’t they?” Ryzen asked based on Enancia’s hints.

She nodded her head with a somber expression. “Each country likely has one A tier. I say likely because sometimes they are hidden from public view so that the country can maintain a secret weapon. This is kind of what the demons did. Two of my siblings along with my father are A tiers at this very moment. Only tier B Desperhopes know of this”

Ryzen nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. The demons were going to try to take over everything.

“So, basically… your race is fucking insane,” Ryzen said bluntly.

Enancia stuck her tongue out at Ryzen and said, “Yeah, I guess dumbass.”

A shuffling noise from behind them caused them to both turn around as a demon in a soldier uniform appeared. Upon seeing them, the demon growled and pulled out his sword.

“You two will be coming with me! Do not try to resist as it will result in your death!” He pulled his body into a stance and was clearly prepared for any move Ryzen or Enancia made.

Ryzen gave a quick look to Enancia and she whispered, “That uniform indicates he is either a d or low c tier. We can take him.”

That confirmation was all Ryzen needed to hear to send a shadow dagger at the demon’s back. The demon turned to deflect the dagger allowing Ryzen to send another one at the demon.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t deflect both sides at the same time and the dagger clearly sank into the demon’s heart. The demon gagged but managed to stay on his feet, shocking Ryzen.

“Fuck.” he muttered as the demon glared at him with a vengeance.

“Demons are like vampires in that you have to pierce their hearts to kill them. The only problem is that they have more than one located in different places. Each tier a demon gains means another heart to keep them alive. Still, we don’t have quick regeneration like the vampires do. That demon’s injury isn’t going away anytime soon.” Enancia said.

Ryzen dodged a red wave of fire from the demon and muttered, “So does that mean you have three hearts?”

Enancia rolled her eyes and said, “That’s what you’re worried about right now?”

Ryzen chuckled to himself as he disappeared into his shadow. Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly as effective as the demon could clearly see where he was. Still, the demon was a melee fighter so he wouldn’t be able to damage Ryzen.

A couple of shadow daggers were sent at the demon who swiftly blocked them. Ryzen jumped out of his shadow and stabbed his dagger into the demon's neck. The demon clutched his throat in agony and fell to the ground. It was clear Ryzen was doing heavy damage but the demon still wasn’t dead.

“Enancia, is there any common place the other heart could be?” Ryzen asked in annoyance.

“Not really… although there’s a chance it could be in his feet. Many of the royalty keep it there.”

Ryzen nodded and stabbed the demon’s right foot to no effect. He moved to the other one and the demon jumped backwards, terrified. Blood was pouring out of his neck and he was clearly in horrible shape. Still, the demon stood back up.

Ryzen sped towards him but not before the demon sent a beam of fire into the sky. Not even a second later, Ryzen stabbed his dagger into the demon’s foot. The demon gasped and fell over, the color draining from his eyes.

Although they had won the battle, Enancia was clearly freaked out. She grabbed Ryzen and pulled him to face her.

“Ryzen, we need to get out of here, now! That demon was a scout. He just called for reinforcements with that fire beam. With my skill, I can probably take any c tiers that come but if a b tier shows up, it’s over.”

Ryzen nodded and grabbed Enancia. He jumped into his shadow and started moving as fast as he could away from the scene. Seconds later, a mass of demons pushed toward the scene from behind. Thankfully, Ryzen’s shadow guard skill kept him from being caught otherwise he would likely be dead.

Ryzen sped away, not taking even a single second to look behind him. He also made sure to strictly stick to shadows to stay hidden. He would not risk being seen by some superdemon that could summon a nuclear blast on command.

Suddenly, the earth started shaking and Ryzen was nearly thrown out of his shadow from the movement. A monumental explosion took place farther away in the direction of Vampirneck. In fact, Ryzen was pretty sure it was Vampirneck.