Somewhere in the Fourth Tier of the Borderlands

Year 820 | Month 5 | Day 13

Vedra Mar of the Thirtieth Demonic Core grits his teeth as he slams his blade into the tough hands of an ape of rage. Finding the creature to be incredibly tough even with the numerous wounds covering its body. But his situation only grows worse when three more apes of rage jump into the clearing he is currently in with the other core members with him.

“More apes attacking!” Vedra shouts while glancing back at the others, each of whom are all locked in combat with an ape of their own already. Which doesn’t bode well for their expedition into the Borderlands.

Can we even handle these newcomers?!

He grits his teeth so hard he feels some of his fangs cracking, but he doesn’t pay them any mind as he lets out a roar and coats his body in Wrath energy. Raising his own physical strength enough to push back the ape in front of him, even if it fills his mind with Wrath while doing it.

But the other apes all rush in at the same time, with two of them attacking Vedra and sending him flying straight into a tree while the other one attacks two of his allies at once. Meanwhile the three apes he’s facing all move in on him as he’s still trying to get back up from the tree he was slammed into.

I’m not going to make it…

His fangs crack a little from the sheer force he’s gritting them. He feels his own claws digging into the palms of his crimson hands. Through the scales there.

Yet, even with all of the pain filling his mind right now, all he can think of is the regret he’s feeling right now. Not for his comrades that are likely going to die after he dies. Not for his family that will likely die without his protection.

No. His regret is for his own life that’s being cut short.

All because of a reckless decision he made to begin an expedition to grow stronger.

Right when the apes are about to reach him though, he feels a powerful surge of Wrath energy in the area, followed immediately by bolts of crimson and black Wrath lightning that strike each one of the apes. And not just the three attacking him, but the apes all of his unit members are facing as well.

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Every last ape is struck by the Wrath lightning. And when the lightning fades again, all that’s left of the apes are piles of crimson ash.

Silence fills the forest around them for a few seconds before they hear the crackling of lightning above them. But what they see when they look up isn’t the sight of the usual emotionless archdemon Vedra expects to see.

Instead he sees a woman with the energy of an archdemon but not the power silently floating over their head on a cloud of Wrath energy. A woman with skin on her head, the appearance of an angel except without the wings, and with Wrath energy and glowing crimson eyes instead at Tier 4.

The same Tier that they’re at.

Vedra openly gapes at the woman as she flies by without so much as a glance at them. As if they’re nothing to her and don’t even exist in her eyes.

Then he immediately kneels down when his situation finally clicks in his mind. Because even if she’s the same Tier as them, she’s still an archdemon based on her Wrath energy.

That much is obvious to him just from how easily she killed all of the apes attack them. Apes that they struggled to defeat on their own yet are now blowing in the wind as nothing more than crimson ash.

And shortly after all of the other greater and high demons amongst his comrades also kneel down to show their respects.

But something tells Vedra that the archdemon still doesn’t look in their direction, even as he’s looking down at the ground while she passes. Not being able to see her in the process.

The unit continues kneeling without getting up from the ground or even looking around. All the way until the woman leaves the area completely, moving on to another island after firing off multiple bolts of Wrath lightning and no doubt killing more apes.

Vedra waits for a few more minutes before finally climbing to his feet and looking off in the direction that the woman left. Then he bows a little in that direction, showing his respect for the archdemon even after her departure.

Unusual appearance aside, she saved my life. And for that I am grateful.

He rises back to his usual height and turns to the others, only to find one of them mumbling something about the woman. So he walks up and asks what they’ve heard.

And what he’s told surprises him at first, but quickly seems reasonable in his mind.

He turns back to look in the direction the female archdemon left in.

I never would’ve expected there would be a demon who would ignore the Demon King’s call. Archdemon status or no archdemon status.

From what he’s heard, the Demon King has been searching for the woman for days. Yet despite that, he hasn’t put in a kill order on her. Nor has he put out an order to capture her.

Merely to talk to her and try to convince her to come see him.

It’s like he’s treating her as a VIP. Or even an equal.

He continues staring after her for several seconds before shaking his head and giving the order to his unit to begin their withdrawal from the Borderlands.

I can understand the treatment. Because she may represent a new way to ascend.

A grin forms on the demon’s face, showing off his cracked fangs as he flexes his hands a little, letting his wounds heal at a slow yet visible pace.

A new way to power. And to freedom from this hell.