Chapter 148

Night of Demons and Flayers

“Men! To me!” Akula bellowed.

Six large-bodied men in uniform retreated the moment they heard their leader’s order. They were being pushed back by a Demon with a face on its torso. If it was them a few weeks ago they would not have even dared to fight Demons, but now they have more confidence and were quite unwilling to obey the order. However, they had been whipped enough to have obeisance to their four-footed leader ingrained into their heads.

“Raaargh!” Akula nocked her bow and let loose an iron arrow that pierced the Demon’s leg, forcing it to kneel. Without missing a beat, she shot another one. This one penetrated the Demon’s mouth and brought it down.

“WOOOGH!!” The men beat their shields with the pommel of their swords.

“Akula! Akula!”

While they were doing so, Akula suddenly snapped around and shot an arrow that pierced the head of a Gelded Flayer that was trying to attack a wounded man.

Akula approached the dead body of the Gelded Flayer with her Sukheri in hand. When she poked it; it disintegrated.

Akula looked at the man she just saved and lifted an eyebrow. She recognized him as one of the men that had been kicked out of the Town’s Guards. The first man who took up arms against them when they announced the reformation. She could see that there was still a wound on his ear from the arrow she shot. It was red and swollen.

“Hoh, it’s you,” Akula frowned from behind her veil.

He was one of the most vocal in ridiculing the new Town’s Guards for following the orders of Beastfolks like her and Martell. She knew this after a few men complained behind her back because of the harsh training she made them undertake.

The man whimpered when he looked at her. Fearful that she knew what he had been doing.

To his bewilderment, Akula simply lifted him up from the rubble like holding a child and placed him aside.

“Can you run?”

“I…er, yes.”

“Alright! Then get out of here. We still have a job to do!”

As she was about to turn around, he could not help but utter a question. “W-why?”

However, he did not dare to continue the rest of his question for fear of retaliation.

“…Everyone deserves a chance,” the Centaur said as she began walking away. “But I can only give you one. Whether you take it or not, that’s all up to you.”

The man stood silent for a moment as he watched the Town’s Guards fulfilling what they were supposed to do. To defend the town and its people.

Since when did I lose that drive? The man thought. Since the first dirty coin fell into my palm when a Senior Guard told me to let a crook go? Since the day I feel unclean when I donned my uniform?

“Also, get that ear looked at,” she said, as she marched into battle followed by her men. There was no fear in their eyes. Only pride.

The man then gazed at the gallant back of the Centaur’s figure and thought.

If I follow her, can I also…become like them?

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On the other side of town, Illumca and Arryn saw two figures being surrounded by four of the misshapen creations. The former recognized both people and sent out three butterflies that burst upon contact with the enemies.

As the creatures let out inhuman shrieks, the swashbuckling handsome Elf pulled on his bow and let out an arrow that precisely hit its head. At the same time, the second figure made a jump and shouted. “Tomber!”

A beautiful crescent kick severed the creature’s head where it rolled a few times before turning into ash.

“Gelded Flayer. Half made things of the Demons. Filths and dregs of bodies deprived of spirits, born only to kill, and then die,” the callous and humorous Henri-Artur spoke with so much spite that spittle spurted out from her lips when she turned her head around.

“Baradin!” Illumca called from atop the roof.

“Ah! We meet again, Miss Illumca!” the Elf said with a friendly wave. He noticed the other person beside her and continued. “Is that one with you also a Dark Elf? What a day!”

“What are you doing here, Baradin?” Illumca asked as she jumped down from the rooftop.

“Caelin, please. I trust we have enough friendship to eschew last names, yes?” the Elf said with a great smile. “As for what I’m doing here, I was actually having a dialogue about recent local rumors with this lovely Minstrel here, when I was so rudely disturbed by these monstrosities.”

“Henri-Artur?! You again?” Illumca said in surprise.

The Beastfolk came forward, almost sheepish as she answered. There was no trace of her earlier spite when she described the half-made creatures. “Hello again. Funny how we seem to be meeting so often, isn’t it? Perhaps that is how heroes are, I suppose. They gravitate to dangerous places.”

“…” Illumca eyed the odd-eared Beastfolk, feeling a sense of incongruity from her.

Baradin saw the strange atmosphere between them and quickly said. “A-anyway, we tracked the Gelded Flayers to this building. We were about to investigate. Would you like to join us?”

Illumca glanced at Arryn, who nodded solemnly.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

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“There is no question that they were summoned here,” Caelin said when they saw the state of the inside of the building. The smell of blood was thick and cloying. There were bloody scratch marks on the walls made by inhuman hands.

“Hrrgghrrr…”

An unpleasant-looking creature with blood dripping from its large jaw crawled out from inside a dark room. Its jowl rumbled as it let out a deep purr.

“A Demon. No, two!”

Another one got down from a broken ceiling, its two bulging eyes swiveling madly as it unfolded with the ease of an unoiled hinge.

“RAAAR!!”

Illumca unsheathed her dagger while Arryn grabbed a short sword from a dead body. Illumca eyed her briefly before turning her attention at the Demons.

Suddenly, Henri Artur shouted when she felt her fur bristle. “An ambush!” She ducked just in time before a sickle-like-appendage of a Demon who suddenly appeared behind them managed to cut her head off. Caelin discarded his bow and took out his sword to attack the newly appeared Demon. Behind it, three more Gelded Flayers showed up.

At the same time, the large-jawed demon leaped at Illumca, but she used Shadow Step to evade it. In one move, she stabbed her dagger into the Demon’s back. The Demon roared in pain and flailed its tail.

She managed to step away just in time before it hit her. The Demon with two bulging eyes rushed at her, but with a quick move, she slashed across its chest. Green, murky blood sprouted from its body. But the Demon grabbed tight onto Illumca’s arms even as it died. Despite its size, she felt like her hands were caught in between two logs.

“Dammit! Imbue Fire!!”

The dagger began to burn, but it did not lessen the dead Demon’s grip.

The Demon with the large jaw used this chance to attack the defenseless Illumca.

But the Demon did not manage to reach her as a short sword had pierced through its head.

“Hihhumgha!!” Arryn shouted. “Haah…Haah houhoghay?”

Arryn took out the sword from its head and began hacking at the Demon’s arms. After a full minute, the arms came off and Illumca shook them off.

Arryn then offered her hand, but Illumca slapped it away and got up to retrieve her dagger from the Demon’s body.

The Dark Elf with severed tongue looked at her hand and felt a tinge of pain in her heart.

“Finished on your side?” Caelin said as he wiped his sword on a piece of a tablecloth.

“Yes,” Illumca said as she groaned. A strange, unpleasant feeling made her skin crawl.

Caelin saw the Dark Elf made a scowl. “Can you feel it?” he looked at the goosebumps on his thick arm.

“Yeah. I can feel traces of mana prickling on my skin,” Illumca walked purposefully to the room where the Demon with a large jaw came out from. Inside, the plain-looking room there was a false wall that seemed to have been broken through. And though that hole, they saw a hidden room with the remnant of a Gate. The Rune Circle had been broken beyond repair by several deep gashes that looked to have come from the Demon she killed just now.

She ran away.

“Dammit!” Illumca roared. “Dammit!!”

Illumca punched the wall in frustration. As she did, flame jumped out from her fist and began to singe the stone wall. “Did you know this?!”

Arryn quickly shook her head side to side.

In comparison to the Illumca who was frustrated from having missed the chance to take her revenge on Merida, Arryn just looked at the Gate, and then at Illumca.

I didn’t even know that we had a Gate here.

She alternated between them a few times as she was at a loss.

She wanted to comfort her, but she knew that it would just make things worse. So, all she could do was watch her from behind.

Illumca was feeling worst than ever, however, she was reminded of the breathing technique Connie taught her if she was having trouble with her emotions. As she took long, deep breaths, her head began to clear. She then looked at Arryn.

“You know where she’s going, don’t you?”

Without waiting for an answer, she then dragged Arryn away.

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After dealing with last night’s invasion, the town was on alert. People had gathered by the square on instinct. Afraid of being by themselves. All of them were stealing glances in the direction of the mansion that served as the current Mayor’s office.

Inside that very office, Connie was lounging on the thick chair behind the desk with her legs on top of the table. Despite the place officially being his place of power, Harrison could not fathom the thought of sitting on that seat when she was present.

While hearing the reports from his aide, he groaned. “Tell me the damage. Don’t bother with trying to soften the blow.”

The aide, a young man with round glasses and unkempt hair blinked. “Well, actually, Mayor Harrison. The damage was mostly on the town’s infrastructure. As for the number of victims, it was still within the acceptable range.”

“Acceptable?” Akula growled. “How many lives lost are acceptable to you?”

“M-miss Akula. Please calm down, he did not mean it.”

“I – I misspoke! Forgive me! I mean, it’s still less than the lives we lost last month,” the young man said when he realized what he just said, but for whatever reason still decided to push on.

“How about the Town’s Guards?” Harrison quickly asked Captain Davis.

“Thankfully, all of our members are still with us,” Said the Captain, whose armor was now quite battered, with his helmet dented on one side. The side of his cheek was also a bit swollen, and his arms felt so sore he could not lift it higher than his chest. But he felt so happy and refreshed for the first time in ages. “It was a fortunate thing that Martell had the idea of posting the Urgent Quest as soon as the battle started. Otherwise, we would have many more lives lost.”

Suddenly the door was thrown open and Illumca came in, followed by Arryn and Caelin. The elusive Minstrel was gone as soon as they took their eyes off her.

“Did you get that woman you were after?” Martell asked, when she saw her face, he whispered at the tired Nick. “Apparently not.”

“Connie. I’ve got something to tell you,” she said, wasting no time and getting to the point. She glanced at Harrison and Davis before meeting Connie’s eyes.

Upon knowing her meaning, Connie told Captain Davis, Harrison, and his aide to vacate the room.

“What about him?” Nick eyed Caelin, who was rifling through a book from a nearby shelf.

“Oh, right. Outsider,” the handsome Elf scoffed. “I’ll be breaking my fast in the Hunter’s Guild. Nice meeting you again, Lady Cornelia.”

Connie chuckled. “That’s one guy you can’t help wondering why he’s not dead yet.”

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With outsiders gone, Illumca began telling her companions of the cause of last night’s invasion and what it meant.

The looks on their faces became grave as soon as they realized the gravity of the situation.

“Outrageous!” Akula shouted angrily. “They…they were using this town as a farm? For food?!”

“I see. So, our actions had pushed them to the brink, and so they had to resort to desperate measures,” Martell added. “but with such meticulous planning, it’s hard to imagine that the Demon would resort to a crude method like last night.”

It’s because Ur-Nagud Bet-Zebek is attempting to fuse with another Ur-Nagud’s Essence Crystal.

And for that, he needed more humans. I overheard this while he was talking to his aide. For that, he forced Merida to go beyond her capabilities.

“Thus, the poorly-planned ambush last night,” Connie said as she pressed her head against the chair. “…the Demons, the Liban Clan, the Daydreamers, and Azure Dream. These are all connected. And by the looks of it, the deeper we go, the more likely it is that we are going to find out more unsavory things.”

The party members all looked at one another.

“What shall we do then, Illumca?” Connie then asked.

“I…” Illumca paused as she closed her eye. When she opened it again, Connie could see the flame of anger burning within. “I will have my revenge. And I ask you for your help, Connie.”

Are you mad? Merida is under the protection of Bet -Zebek! You don’t know how strong he is! He killed our best warriors within minutes when he took over our Clan!!

“And still…” Illumca turned to her. “It will be done. That’s what we do.”

“It’s eerie how like Milady Illumca has become,” Nick shook his head tiredly.

“Killing Demons? It’s something I won’t experience staying in my Clan. I’m looking forward to it!”

Arryn looked at them and wondered how they were not scared about fighting Demons. Strong Demons that could make humans their playthings.

She had refused to tell Illumca where they were for fear that it would jeopardize the lives of other Clan members. However, upon seeing the trust Illumca had with the girl named Connie, she could not help but want to try to grasp that thin ray of hope.

Arryn then took a paper from the desk, her face stony as she dipped the pen in the ink and wrote upon it.

If you are willing to fight against them, then I will tell you where we were hiding.

Who knew what ran in her mind when she decided to tell them the hiding place of her Master and her nightmare.

Untouchable Marshes.