The road to our destination is uneventful. Aside from a few monsters here and there--naturally occurring monsters not part of the Demon Army--that we dispatch easily (and allowing me to assess Eleanore's fighting prowess, which is quite good since she's able to dispose of the monsters in one hit, albeit they're on the lower side on the level charts), nothing is really impeding our journey, thus we're able to reach the place at dawn.

"We've made it. There's the town of Cledia." Eleanore says as we stand upon the hills overlooking the town.

Well, not so much a town than a ruined remains of one.

Indeed, even from this distance, I can already see all the burned down houses and the broken walls. Comparing that to where Cledia was like in the game where it's still pristine, it's truly a pitiful sight to behold.

"So, how do you propose we do it? Sneaking inside is already hard enough as it is, even more so if you're going to the center where the demon princess should be, that is, if she's not already going off somewhere, delegating it to her subordinate."

"Well, I'd say we just ride straight in with our houses while Princess Lilia stays back and casts her magic to cause disorder to the demons."

"Hmph, straight on assault, huh? You're really itching to get revenge for your defeat, aren't you, Lea-chan?"

"...Yes. As much as it shames me to admit it, this is about my personal quest of repaying my humiliation as it's about saving the kingdom."

I notice the determined look on her face. Yep, she's going to this one way or the other.

"Very well then. Let's do it your way. It's not like I have any other better ideas. Lilia-chan, you know what to do right?"

"Y-yes, o-of course, H-Hero-sama. The meteor attack back then, right?"

"Correct. I think you're getting the hang of this magic stuff, Lilia-chan."

"O-oh, you're too kind," she responds while blushing a little.

"Now that's settled, let's go."

We ride at full gallop towards the town below. Lilia begins chanting her spell while Eleanore and I draw our swords.

Slowly but surely, the town is creeping closer and closer to us. I now can see figures standing guards around the still broken gate. As we get even closer, I notice that they are monsters. There are a couple of manticores with gargoyles perched atop the ruined walls.

"Lilia, hold your spell until we get inside! We can take on these guys!"

"R-right!"

The monsters approach, finally noticing the three humans riding towards them. The gargoyles up above let out a loud shriek, most likely for notifying his friends of the oncoming attack.

The manticores shoot out their stingers from their tails. Eleanore quickly use her shield skill to protect us both from them.

"Nice one, Lea-chan!"

"No time to chit chat! We're approaching the gate now!" she responds before cutting through the manticores with a wide slash of her blade.

The gargoyles sweep down, some of them chucking their spears from range while others go into melee by diving with their spears on front.

"SUPREME SWORD SPIN!"

I twirl my sword above my head. Its rotational power magically extends to a decently wide radius, shredding anything that gets close to me. Doesn't matter if it's the gargoyles' spears or the gargoyles themselves.

So only the gargoyles attacking from range remain. And they decide to retreat for the time being.

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"Good! We made it! Now let's aim straight to the center of the town, where the castle is! With any luck, she should be there right now!" Eleanore shouts.

She really is a natural leader, I think to myself.

As we enter the town, I see that the place is absolutely crawling with many, many different types of monsters. Skeletons, orcs, trolls, goblins, and many others. They all try to stop us of course, but we manage to cut them down with ease.

However, the more we approach the castle, the thicker their army becomes, since they're getting more organized and they're pouring out their forces to get us.

"Lilia, now!"

"Reduce everything to dust! Meteor Rain!"

Lilia's spell strikes true. The monsters panic as giant flaming rocks of doom are raining upon their heads. Their formation fall into chaos, thus allowing us to slip through relatively easily, emphasis on relative since we still need to dodge the flaming rocks ourselves.

"Good! Now, to the castle!"

As we enter the castle's courtyard however, we notice a suspicious lack of presence around us. No demons at all in sight.

We descend from our horses. Looking at Eleanore's worried face, I see that she has noticed this fact too.

"This... this might be a trap. I think she's waiting for us."

"Should we go back then?" I ask.

"After all this way? Of course not."

She opens the door. The place inside is just as empty.

"The throne room," she mutters.

We enter the castle, Eleanore taking the lead while Lilia and I guard the rear. Our footsteps echo through the building as we go down its corridors and up its stairs. The silence is so oppressive I can hear my own heartbeat.

Then, when we enter the throne room, someone is already there waiting for us.

One is a little girl with a long and wavy blood red hair as long as her diminutive height. She wears what seems to be a simple brown-grey one piece dress made out of rags, which I think is an odd choice for a demon princess.

"I knew it! I knew you'd go back, Onee-chan!" She smiles with an ecstatic joy. "And you bring with you another cute doll! Ooh, Onee-chan is the best!"

"...What is she talking about?" I ask in a deadpan voice.

"Do not lower your guard, Hero. She is the demon princess that has defeated me in the past."

"Really? That little kid?"

I look at the little girl again. Now, as perverted as I as a healthy teenager might be, I pride myself from the fact that I am not a lolicon. So no matter how cute a little girl might be--and this demon princess is pretty damn cute, I might add--I still can't have any lewd thoughts about her. However, if I'm told to fight such cuteness with my full force, well, that would be very hard to do indeed.

"But Onee-chan, you also bring an uncute one here. Shall I dispose of him?"

Before I know what is happening, she somehow sends out her hair towards me, extending them from their base.

"Watch out!"

Eleanore jumps in and uses her shield skill to block the hair. It succeeds as the hair is repelled by the barrier perfectly.

"Aaawww, why not? That doll is ugly. I don't even want to look at it."

H-hey, you're kinda hurting my feelings here.

"No more playing around, little brat! I'll make you pay for the humiliation you did to me at that day!"

And so, our fight with the Demon Princess begins.