Demon Border/Wall
No one knew why the Demon Territory exists in our world or why we humanoids can't enter it safely without risking ourselves changing into a demon. All we know is that it existed after the kingdom's destruction from the Goddess of Darkness's wrath and the sudden appearance of the demons from the remnants of the civilization.
Despite all of the mysteries behind the demons and their home, one thing we recognized was how we could co-exist. While most demons were willing to accept a peace treaty, there were several Wild Demons roaming about the territory and the mysterious force that changes any humanoid into a demon themselves. To ensure that force won't leak through the rest of Monochroma, the kingdoms erected a large wall between them and the Demon Territory. At the same time, both species agreed to guard the wall on each side as a sign of trust. Once the wall was formed, it had many names. The "Demon Wall", the "Wall of Peace"... But we just unanimously named it the [Demon Border].
What was surprising about the border was after it was erected, a new force was created inside the wall that somehow repels most of the Wild Demons away from it, avoiding any cases of breaches and stampedes that may break through the wall. No one knew how, but no one questioned it as long as the border served its purpose.
But without the border, Monochrome remained peaceful between demons and humanoids.
-Unknown Historian
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"Peaceful", my ass.
Whoever wrote that crappy last line in that book, I'm going to beat the living lights out of their heads.
Not only did the border guards arrest us, but some of the guards were treating us nothing but criminals when we didn't do anything but a certain idiot revealed ourselves on purpose. Some of them punched me when I let out a complaint about this kind of treatment and even when we tried to keep our mouths shut, they simply threatened us with slavery or a death penalty. Honestly, don't these people know the meaning of "equality"? What was worse was that they weren't willing to listen to us. They simply assumed we were nothing but freeloaders looking for a job. Another reason to blame Val for this mess.
After taking a few beatings, we were finally approached by the same general we saw from the village. By the look on his face, it seemed like our presence somehow soured his mood a bit.
"I never seen you blokes before," he said with venom in his voice. "Who the hell are you two and why are you in the border?"
"Isn't it obvious? We're here to become border guards!" Val declared with no shame. I'm mentally cursing myself at how he was willing to put up this crazy act.
"Unlikely story. You need to be recruited from the military academy to be a border guard. There's no way some mercenary or adventurer is allowed to become one without going through the hoops." He quickly raised his sword and pointed its blade at us. "You should start telling us the truth or you will be met by my own blade!"
At this rate, no one would live if either of them chose the latter. I should break this façade and do what we're here for before it could become worse.
"We're not recruits, but adventurers sending out a warning for everyone in the Demon Wall," I declared. "A Wild Demon is about to breach through the border very soon and if you don't act now, there will be casualties!"
"Hmph! You could have told me that in the first place." The general put his sword back in his sheath. "Although the part about a Wild Demon breaching through the wall sounds humbug. How do you know something from the other side of it?"
"Does it matter? You can question our identities all you like, but you're going to waste time on evacuating the whole brigade!"
Unfortunately, it seemed like the only response from that was a grumble under the general's breath. "Evacuate? Why do you think we're going to evacuate everyone here? The Demon Wall is the pride and joy of the monarchs and abandoning our posts meant mutiny! If you keep insisting on that order, then we will treat you like any traitor of the great Concordis!"
Dammit! I wish they listened and entertained themselves from my warning. But it seemed like these humanoids were too arrogant to take a mere adventurer too seriously. Humanoid or demon, these people couldn't tell which is which...
"Sir!" A guard suddenly entered the room and approached the general. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but the others are already waiting for you."
The general grumbled again and looked at us once more. "Dammit... Consider yourselves lucky... I would have executed you two for attempted mutiny on my men." He turned to the guard again. "Drag those two in the detention cells and keep an eye on them for any funny business."
"Yes, sir!"
Crap... He's leaving already?! Putting us behind bars was one thing, but he was too ignorant to know the consequences if he believed us or not. Not even his men were willing to play as a devil's advocate to reconsider his choices. In fact, one of them forcefully grabbed my wrists still tied behind my back and quickly kicked me out of the room literally.
"Hey! Stop it!" I yelled in desperation. "You're making a big mistake here! You're gonna get everyone killed because of your pride! Evacuate while you still have the ch-!"
Just as I finished my warning, I felt a sharp pain in my gut. It was so overwhelming to the point I fell unconscious while listening to their laughter of mockery towards us.
"Cass! Ca...s!! Y...u...b..."
Dammit... I was hoping for these humanoids to follow through after I warned them about the events unfolding behind the wall. But alas, it seemed like their discrimination against the weak and my blind faith in them were enough to seal their fates.
Even if Vander and the mercenaries could deal with the Wild Demon or not, these people might bring everyone in the wall to their deaths.
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"Chimera".
According to my former Master's notes, it's a type of creature that was an amalgamation of multiple creatures into one. There were several myths regarding a chimera and several reports of seeing one. However, there were no reports of seeing a chimeric Wild Demon. So the sight of seeing one might affect how this operation might play out considering how we haven't seen this kind of Wild Demon before.
Still, we're not sure how strong it was since as a recently discovered demon, it didn't have a rank to measure its strength. At the moment, all we could do was divert it away from the wall and hope that the force around it might activate to teleport back to its habitat.
So a plan was formed by me and Thurkith. Half of the volunteered mercenaries lure the demon away from the wall while the rest of them deal with defense. As for me, I have to be on standby for support due to my lack of experience. It was a bit frustrating, but as Casia said before, "I have to know my limits."
"Everyone is in place. It's not that much, but my men have already vowed to risk their lives to protect the wall." Thurkith turned to me next. "This is your last chance, young Master. You can always..."
"Do I need to repeat myself?" I interrupted. "Casia is still on the other side of that wall. Besides, I made sure my Spargle protected Gabriel from running away from the mansion and if I ran here, then no one could ever know the tale of the demon's rampage. I promise, if something happens, I will try to report everything to your superiors."
"Young Master..." He stared at me for a while before he smirked. "Well, it's not like I can convince the previous Master back then. Just make sure you keep close as usual."
"That's the idea."
Honestly, I kinda lied about fleeing and reporting after their deaths. But it's not because I'm using them as pawns. Rather, it's because I refused to let them die at the hands of a demon who seemed to want revenge on the people who abandoned him. If what I saw about his past life was true, then there's a chance where he wanted to go. I get Gabriel's past home was full of pricks, but I can't let them get killed by his wrath.
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"Alright! Men, prepare your arrows!" I watch the mercenaries raise their bows towards the large demon passing through us. "Ready... Aim..."
I huddled behind Thurkith as I watched them pull the bowstrings of their bows. The moment they released it, there was no turning back.
"FIRE!!!"
With that, everyone released their arrows and fireballs towards the demon and the moment it hit behind it, it finally turned its attention to us.
GROOOOOWWWWRRRRRR!!!
"Now run!" I yelled. "Don't turn back and stop!"
I quickly grabbed Thurkith's waist to hang on as he let his wolf flee away from the large chimera while the mercenaries on our end joined us.
"Frontline, keep firing! Don't let its attention back to the wall!" Thurkith ordered. "Backline, provide support!"
"YESSIR!!!"
While I'm playing the role of a support, I don't learn many Dark spells that could help the mercenaries except healing spells for them. I'm frustrated, but it was my fault for focusing too much on attack spells than support and defensive. Regardless, even if I'm useless with support spells, I could still make use of my role by coming up with on-the-fly strategies. Speaking of which, it seemed like the chimeric demon was starting to lose interest in us immediately. Too bad, I'm not letting him make it easy.
"Mental spellcasters! Use your allure spells on the demon! Defenders, taunt it as best as you can!"
To my surprise, everyone followed my instructions as some magic-abled mercenaries cast several mind-inflicting spells on the demon while the defenders raised their shields and smacked them a few times to produce enough noise to garner its attention back to us. According to Casia, mental magic is a bit rare for anyone to cast and not everyone including demons can use it. In all honesty, I'm starting to learn about that kind of magic. Unfortunately, I doubt my level of mental spells might work against that behemoth.
Back at the operation, I watched the chimeric demon continue its chase towards us as I continued holding onto Thurkith. Looking closely, most of the burns began to heal while the arrows that were stuck onto its body sunk into its skin. By the looks of it, that demon must have some kind of regenerative abilities. So a bunch of weak attacks might not be enough to slow it down.
"Thurkith, does anyone in your group can use high-level spells?" I asked.
"Only two who can learn [Fire Storm]. But it will take a while for them to cast it and we need to keep moving to divert it away from the wall completely," Thurkith answered. "So casting might be difficult for our mages."
I hate it when he's right. Spellcasting would take immense concentration and trying to cast one while on the move might disrupt it. Which meant I had to rely on other means to keep the Wild Demon's attention to us. "Sorry about this, sir. But can you hold onto me?"
I quickly stood up from my seat and opened my bag to take out a bow and arrows.
"What are you doing, young Master?! Get down from there! It's not safe!"
I know that. But this was the only option I had at the moment. From my brief observations from watching the demon being attacked by the mercenaries, I wonder if he could heal from other elements. While I couldn't learn other elements, it doesn't mean I could use them. In this case, most of the arrows I owned have custom arrowheads made of [Mana Crystals] I fused together in my spare time. While I tested some of them, I couldn't say the same with the rest.
"I should say the same with you, sir," I said. "I suggest you lay down and prepare to control your mount! I can't promise this attack will be safe for everyone in the vicinity!"
As soon as I said this, I charged the arrowhead crystal with my mana before I released the bowstring. Then I quickly sat back down and hung onto Thurkith as we fled from the area.
"Dammit! Everyone, retreat!" He yelled. "This better work, kid!"
I hope it will. I lowered my head and before we knew it...
BOOOOM!!!
I almost flinched the moment I heard the explosion behind us. When I looked behind us, I saw the demon roaring in pain as it held its head to the area where I shot it. Then, it turned to us and roared again before it continued chasing us.
"My... What kind of arrow did you shoot, kid?" Thurkith muttered.
"A crystal arrow made of my mixed Mana Crystals," I answered. "The one I shot is mixed with Fire and Wind. It's not much and currently in an experimental stage, but it should be enough to keep its attention back to us."
"Huh... I would have been mad at your reckless actions. But I trusted you with your decisions and that one saved us the trouble of distracting that beast once more."
I chuckled. "You can compliment me more once we deal with that demon. We're not out of the woods just yet."
When I looked at the demon once more, I noticed it started to wail its legs around as black tentacles suddenly erupted from its back. Looks like it was still pissed for my arrow from earlier. Thankfully, Thurkith responded by ordering his men to resume firing their magic and arrows to it. At this rate, we might able to drive it away from the wall long enough to...
"ARGGGGHHHH!!!"
W-What the hell?!
"Someone... Someone help me!!!!"
I turned to the source of the screams and to my horror, some of the mercenaries were attacked by fiends and other Wild Demons. A few were tackled by black and red fiends and two of them were eaten by a few canine and feline demons. How the hell did they get there?
"wHy..."
Huh? That wasn't one of the mercenaries...
"wHY aR3 yoU Di5turbING ME?! wHy ArE yOu n0T lettiNG mE go HOmE?!"
That voice... Was it coming from the large Wild Demon?
"i WaN7 tO gO hoMe... i waNt tO sleEp oN mY bEd aGAin... wHy Did my PaREnts Le@vE mE hEre? So WHy aM I HeRE?! WhY d0 thEy HatE me?!"
"O-Oh my..." Thurkith muttered as he looked at the demon. "I-I didn't know... Was that from that demon?"
I raised my eyebrow and asked, "You understand him?"
"You and I aren't the only one." He gestured to me to the surviving mercenaries. It seemed like they were also looking around in confusion after hearing a young boy's voice. "When you said he has a tragic origin, you weren't kidding. But why did it start to speak now?"
"I have a few ideas and I doubt he's letting us go that easily." As if I predicted the future, the demon roared in pure rage.
"i HatE yoU alL... I HAtE yOU!!! jUSt L37 mE G0 HOME!!!"
Before we could react, it raised its tail and swung it towards our direction. "Dammit! RETREAT!!!"
"You heard the young Master! Run for your lives! Defenders, protect the frontline!" Thurkith ordered. "Just keep going in the opposite direction! Whoever is still able, take care of the smaller fiends!"
I hung onto Thurkith as his wolf ran away from the demon as fast as it could. Unfortunately, I couldn't focus on hanging on for long as more fiends and smaller demons started chasing us. There was a chance it would remove one of us and kill on the spot, so there was no way I had to lower my guard so easily.
"Fire Ball!" I yelled as I fired the said spell at one of them. I might not be as strong as a normal demon mercenary, but my training with Casia might be enough to deal with a few weaker ones. As for Thurkith, we simply whacked and slashed the stronger demons with his large sword. Although, it was short-lived as more stronger demons started to join the first wave as they chased us and not even the might of a veteran was enough to handle all of them. "Dammit! Those jerks won't give up!"
"I doubt they're planning to let us go after everything we have done to pester him. But as long we got his attention, we..."
CRACK!
Wait... That sound...
I turned around and gasped to see a few smaller demons start attacking on the wall. Just like the chimeric demon, it didn't seem like it transported them back to their habitats. What was worse that we're far away to stop them from breaking through it!
"Th1s w0rLD... I hATe it HeRE...BuT iT lEts mE gO hoME wIth ThE pOwER iT gAve mE. iF yOu trY tO sToP mE aGaiN..."
Before I could respond to his mutters, we suddenly felt a rumble below us. Now that I thought about it, why did It fall for our trap so easily? A normal Wild Demon is supposed to have a one-track mind if their origins have a grudge against a certain place, object, or person. Unless...
BOOM!
Oh, crap. I quickly turned around again and to our shock, the wall started to show more cracks.
"What the hell?!"
"How is that possible?! The demon is far away from the wall right now!"
Of course! How stupid am I to believe the basic facts of a normal Wild Demon when we're actually facing one that was impossible to exist in the first place!
C-CREAK...
All this time... The territory wasn't malfunctioning in the first place! Rather, it's as if it lured the demon to its origin. All for fulfilling a grudge that caused him to be in this world in the first place...
...
Just as I made that realization, the demons stopped attacking and everything fell silent. Something wasn't right... I already realized what the demon was trying to do. And the sudden halt wasn't helping this turn of events.
"Is it over?"
CREAK...
"What's going on with the demons?"
CREAK...
"Did we scare them away?"
CREAK...
I looked at all of the demons who stopped attacking and started retreating. By the looks of it, they lost interest in us or realized some of us were much stronger than them. I would have sighed in relief. But I knew something wasn't right as we heard nothing but the leaves rustling from the wind and soft mutterings from the surviving mercenaries. The silence remained for a few seconds and just as I began to ask Thurkith...
"...tHEN I WILL KILL YOU ALL!!!"
CRACK!!!
Oh no... I quickly turned around to the wall and to my horror, the wall's cracks grew bigger as rubble started to rain from it. Then, the wall crumbled, opening the world outside the dark territory we called our home.
"No..." Thurkith muttered. "We're too late."
I wish he wasn't right, but we couldn't deny the sight we saw right in front of us.
The border between the light of humanity and the darkness of the demonic broke down and the Wild Demon slowly stepped through the cracks. We tried to protect it, but it was all for naught.
Because at this moment, this was the start of the chaos that would occur for many years in my lifeline.