Purply spread its wings and rose, extending a limb to point the way. "Over there, to the east, lies the kingdom of Heden, where all our comrades have been imprisoned. Sadly, we've had no word from Isabel.”
"Isabel?" Arturo stammered.
“Are you kidding, my lord?” Purply said. “I’m talking about your beloved. She cried so much for your death that when the cavalry surrounded her, she didn't even have the strength to resist. We don't know if she's alive or dead.”
Arturo focused on just one word: "His beloved." A demon girl all for himself, the idea thrilled him so much he started to get a nosebleed.
“They didn’t kill her, did they?!”
“We really can’t say, my lord.”
Arturo picked up the pace and ran like a track star.
“Hey, what are you doing? Hurry up!”
I absolutely can't let them kill this Isabel, just when I have the chance to lose my virginity. I won't let the knights snatch this opportunity from me!
The two demons tried to keep up with Arturo, who was frantically descending the hill.
“Our master is more fired up than ever!” Dan said excitedly.
“Yeah, it’s like the underworld gave him a power-up!” Don replied.
“Our king, what he must have endured!” Dan added.
As Arturo ran, he reflected on something. In his world too, humans weren't all that great. He didn't believe in them, though it was different from wanting to kill them. He couldn't hurt a fly, let alone wipe out an entire race with his own hands.
Suddenly, Arturo stopped dead in his tracks.
“Hold up!”
They turned towards Arturo, curious and a bit scared.
“The bush, it's moving!”
Arturo pointed at a bush straight ahead. The demons also started to get edgy.
“There’s no wind, what could it be!”
The bush was rustling, and though they had no clue what was hiding behind it, they all jumped back when a tail popped out.
A fluffy tail swinging left and right. It rustled the bush and then came fully into the sunlight.
It was a medium-sized creature, kind of like a rabbit but far from just a pet. It was a real beast, advancing with fury frothing from its mouth.
The little creature snarled fiercely at them, not caring who was in front, ready to bite the first unfortunate soul.
Arturo checked the creature's level and saw it was level 2.
“Guys…” Arturo's legs trembled. “W-we have to face-“
The demons breathed a sigh of relief.
“Phew, it's just a robbit!” “We got scared over nothing!”
The demons walked past the little creature, continuing on the path. Arturo was the only one out of the loop.
“Robbit?”
Purply turned around, giving the master a sarcastic look.
“My lord, they are low-tier creatures. Their attacks barely harm living beings, and they're easily taken down.”
“Right! Good job, just testing you. Wanted to see if you, Purply, could tell a beta creature from an alpha creature. You passed the test!”
Arturo thought this was his chance. He had to take down at least one low-level monster; he couldn't stay a newbie forever, especially now that he had an important role to play.
He stepped forward with determination.
“How dare this little creature block our path, inferior or not, it needs to learn it messed with the wrong guy.”
Purply, Dan, and Don watched Arturo with admiration.
With a leap, the robbit lunged forward, biting onto Arturo's finger.
Arturo waved his hand, trying every way to shake it off, but the robbit clung on.
The grip on his finger tightened as the robbit pressed its teeth in.
A moan of pain escaped Arturo, an inner scream growing more intense.
Purply watched the scene disinterestedly.
“My lord, let's get moving. Why waste time with a lowly beast? Come on, free yourself, the whole realm awaits you.”
“Y-yes!”
Arturo shook his hand even more violently, but the rabbit wouldn't let go, almost about to rip his finger off.
He jerked his head around and glared at the bat, making his distress quite evident.
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The bat flinched.
“M-my lord, what's happening? Are those tears?”
“N-no, just got something in my eye.”
He wanted to cry. His HP kept dropping, now down to 20%. Quite the sight, the king, the most feared among demons, enduring pain from a robbit's bite. Arturo felt a swelling in his chest, knowing what he really wanted to do was scream and cry, but he couldn't.
Arturo forced a smile again and again.
“Ha ha, it's just a bite, this little creature is really low-level!”
“I could beat it in a heartbeat!”
He jerked his head towards the robbit again, which stuck to him like a stubborn flea.
Arturo's mind went foggy. His thoughts merged into one loud cry:
“HHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
HP:5%
He bolted, arm flailing with the robbit swinging in the wind.
“I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!!!”
The demons didn't even have time to think before Arturo vanished like magic.
Feeling the rabbit's bite tightening, he ran straight to the nearest tree. Like a drumroll, he banged the robbit against the trunk repeatedly until it bled and squealed.
“LET GO!!!”
HP:1%
Arturo slammed it against the tree so brutally the robbit's skull cracked open, a flicker of blood spraying from its head.
Breathing heavily, he looked at the robbit lying motionless on the ground.
An aura enveloped the robbit's corpse then expanded towards Arturo.
YOU GAINED 100 EXPERIENCE POINTS.
YOU'VE REACHED LEVEL 2.
“A hundred points? For such a lowly creature, it almost killed me!”
His HP restored to full, and even his finger seemed rejuvenated.
“Master!!!”
Arturo turned to see Purply flying towards him. He tossed the robbit down the hill.
“W-what happened! W-we were so scared!”
Arturo grinned, scratching his horn.
“Eh, just taking a leak!”
Purply sighed in relief.
“Phew… thought you'd spotted a kingdom knight, they roam around here often.”
As they trekked through the forest path, Arturo lagged behind, munching on berries he found along the way.
After satisfying his hunger, Arturo felt more at ease, but the presence of those demons didn't exactly calm him. Adding to the pressure was Purply, whose mere sight, with those giant limbs, terrified Arturo to the point of wanting to run away immediately. If Purply hadn't recognized the scent and appearance of Master Artoris, they would have wrapped him up like a cocoon in its web and devoured him. Revealing that a human being was actually inside Artoris's body could have devastating consequences for him and his followers.
Arturo inspected his finger, noticing the wound had healed thanks to leveling up.
If I had used dark invulnerability, I could've spared myself that scene! Just gotta figure out how to activate these skills.
The soothing sound of flowing water led them to a long river snaking beside the path.
Arturo jumped for joy, rushing to the river's edge. He scooped up water and gulped it down.
“Water!”
“Ha! Haven't touched water since I got reincarnated!”
Dan and Don drank by plunging their torsos in.
Purply rinsed its limbs in the river, carefully feeling them. Its limbs were so broad and spread out they seemed to span the river's width.
Arturo dunked his head in, wetting his curly hair.
When he emerged, he noticed his reflection in the water.
He saw the horns protruding from his hair, sharp and fairly short. Then he touched his pale, smooth face. His eyes were a vivid red.
“Not bad for an avatar!”
He opened his mouth and felt his fangs with his tongue.
After that brief stop, they continued on their way.
The full moon had just emerged from the clouds, reflecting off the river source. The only sounds were the chirping of crickets and other wild animals hiding in the dark forest.
Purply sat in the cold grass, its limbs hidden by its wings, its eyes admiring the splendid glow.
“This view should be ours alone, not for humans.”
“You're right!” said Dan. “When Master Artoris becomes the new king, he'll wipe out the entire realm!”
Don listened eagerly to those words and joined in:
“Exactly. We just need to have faith in him, then we can take over the surface world too.”
Suddenly, the deathly silence was shattered by Don's scream.
“HAAAAAAAA!”
They all sprang into action and saw Don had collapsed to his knees.
“What happened?!”
Don coughed up blood, an arrow lodged in his chest.
“Don!” Dan repeated. “Who did this to you?!”
Don bled out, lying flat on the ground.
“How should I know?!”
Dan's eyes widened at the sight of the arrow's protruding tip.
“It was the knights!”
The rustling wind began to stir the leaves, the treetops swaying. The knights were out there somewhere, ready to strike.
Purply, with its great view of the surroundings, spotted something on the other side of the river.
Pointing with its limb, a figure emerged from behind the trees on the opposite riverbank, a knight readying another arrow.
Dan stepped forward, and Purply too.
“Master Artoris, I'll handle this. You see to Don's healing.”
“How?!”
“Master Artoris, hurry, heal him before it's too late!”
Don was on the verge of closing his eyes for good. But he still tried to utter shaky words.
“Master, your healing spell has always supported us in tough times. I believe in you, I'm entirely in your hands!”
Arturo had no clue what to do; he didn't have any healing spells. So, he followed his instinct, circling Don to examine the arrow that had pierced straight through to his back.
“Don, the arrow went through your back to your chest. How are you still alive?”
“My lord, please help me!”
And now what? How do you heal a wounded demon?
Without any healing spells, Arturo pressed on the arrow, trying to remove it from the back.
“Don, does this hurt?”
“HAAAAAAAAAAA!”
“S-sorry, maybe I shouldn't have pressed there.”
The arrow embedded in the back pressed even harder against the flesh. From Don's wound, streams of blood gushed like a fountain.
“It hurts! Master Artoris, please, use the spell!”
“Hey, don't think I'm not doing anything, I'm doing my best here!”
Arturo planted his feet firmly on the ground, extended his hands, and pressed even harder on the arrow. As if pulling a sword from a stone, he yanked the weapon from his back. Finally, the arrowhead came free from the wound.
“Done!”
Arturo held the blood-stained arrow in his hands, a look of triumph crossing his face as he held his trophy.
“Don, look, I did it!”
A round of applause for Arturo, for extracting that arrow without any healing spells, without any medical knowledge. Just the sheer skill of an unappreciated genius.
Don would have congratulated his master for such an incredible feat, yes, exactly that, Don would have reacted that way if he hadn't died instantly.