Chapter 28
Six armored guards faced off against Zeth and the demon, weapons drawn and at the ready.
Back behind his summoned fighter, Zeth hid in the foliage as the combatants stared each other down. Maybe he’d be capable of fighting these men if he’d had time to prepare—no, he’d be easily able to defeat six people with enough prep time. That was the strength of his Class, after all. Hellfire Ritual was truly a monster of a Skill. But he only had a single circle prepared on a leaf gripped in his hands. Not nearly enough to fight off everyone in front of him.
That said, he wasn’t too worried about that particular issue.
The demon took a step forward, and simultaneously, the six guards’ faces broke out into terror. Sweat beaded their brows, and they took cautious steps back. Seemed like the fear aura had taken effect.
One of the guards’ breathing became ragged. His voice cracked as he whimpered out, “D-demon?!”
None of the others could even find the nerve to respond. After a moment, it seemed like whatever spiral his thoughts had gone down arrived at the conclusion that the demon was unbeatable. Because he clenched his fists, screwed up his face, turned straight around on his heel, and sprinted away. He headed right back for town, releasing his grip on his weapon and dropping it to the dirt as he ran. Zeth could hear the faint shouts from him as he ran, crying out warnings of ‘demon!’ and ‘run away as far as you can!’
The remaining group steeled their resolve, knuckles turning white on the hilts of their weapons.
“So then, the five of you will be my opponents,” the demon said in a bored tone. “I am not dishonorable. If any more would like to flee, now would be the time.”
Zeth doubted this was any more than an act to scare them off—no way that thing would ever willingly spare a human’s life if it was really allowed to kill them.