Chapter 328
While dark elves held the line, the horde of demons fell into a stampeding charge into us. Tirnicia barked out instructions, and magical spells screeched past me. They bombarded the horde, shaving off a large number of them at a time. Some were outright reduced to ashes. When the demons got too close to fire spells, Tirnicia shouted for us to stop. Then came steel and shields. She held the line at the very front, and as demons were about to crash into the vanguard, a magical barrier erected around us.
Tirnicia's eyes widened with surprise and snapped in Elendir's direction, whose staff was glowing brightly from maintaining the spell. Demons collided with the barrier and hit their heads. Others clawed vainly with varying degrees of success. She quickly seized the advantage and thrusted her longsword forward, skewering a hound through the jaws.
The others followed her example. Their weapons passed through the barrier with no resistance. Demons, on the other hand, suffered massive casualties.
However, our good fortune was about to run its course. Elendir struggled to maintain the barrier with so many aggressors attacking it. Sweat drenched her face like someone poured a bucket of water over her.
"I can't hold it much longer…" Elendir's eyes blazed like the sun for a brief moment, and she forced the barrier outwards, knocking countless demons back before dissipating.
"Slay as many as you can while they're down! Every ten you kill is a free drink on me!" Tirnicia boomed.
Roused by the temptation of beer, dark elves charged head long into battle. Erma, with a short sword in hand, cut demons like a hot knife through butter. She put her combat sport training to good use, too, incapacitating creatures larger than her using grappling techniques.
Mio and I weren't going to be left behind in the dust. She laid heavy spells from above, lobbing explosions from behind their ranks. I scoured the battlefield with my eyes peeled and provided help to dark elves.
One had fallen on her back, holding the length of her sword in the mouth of a werewolf monster. I swooped in and bodied the beast, then blasted it with a freezing spell until frozen solid.
"Thank you!" The dark elf smiled.
I nodded in return.
Another dark elf got separated from the main group. Multi-armed creatures surrounded her. They were about to pounce until I charmed them to stand still, and she took the chance to break free before I ordered the monsters to slaughter each other.
"Many thanks, succubus." She bowed to me.
"Let's regroup with the others! It's too dangerous to fight alone when there are so many demons," I said.
The dark elf agreed, and I helped her fight back to the main force. Healers quickly administered healing magic on her, and defenders closed rank to protect their wounded. The demon force was thinning. Waves of them retreated back into the forest under spell artillery until a horn sounded within the town.
"Look at those bastards flee! We've won!" Tirnicia's voice rang out.
Cheers and relief spread contagiously across the fighters, then into the town. I caught sight of Tirnicia, her longsword buried in a demon's carcass on the ground. She was covered in bruises and cuts. Her leg prosthesis had broken at some point in the battle.
"Uh, wait! Please, put me down!" Erma cried.
A group of dark elves had picked Erma up and repeatedly tossed her into the air.
"Tirnicia, you're hurt!" Elendir raced up to her old flame and started casting healing magic.
"Save it for the others." Tirnicia shrugged her off. "I'll wear my injuries like a badge of honor."
Elendir sulked.
"Thanks, Elendir… For coming to our aid." The warrior picked up the broken piece of her prosthetic and hobbled off.
"It's a start, right?" I walked up to Elendir.
"I suppose so. I know I can't earn their forgiveness all at once. More importantly though, these demons…" Elendir stared at the countless still bodies strewn all over the field.
"I'm guessing it's not normal to see so many?"
"Most certainly not." She shook her head. "The Demon King subjugated creatures from across many different worlds and planes of existence to form his armies. There is no cohesion among them unless they have a master."
We were interrupted by a dark elf racing up to ask if we could help the wounded. Elendir put her worries aside for the time being to help her kin. Mio and I went around lifting dead demons away from Oakfall before they started stinking up the place.
As the sun set, the entire town celebrated successfully repelling the demons. Dark elves danced in the streets with beer in hand. Every alehouse, tavern, and inn was filled to the brim. A couple was getting freaky in the alleyway just outside of where we were staying.
Every dark elf wanted to get a drink with us. With Erma, too. It was like they completely forgot her skin was porcelain. Lucky for Mio, this gave her a chance to flirt with as many dark elven women as possible.
"This light elf's a real demonslayer!"
"She cut down six in a blink of an eye! I've never seen anyone move that fast with a sword before!"
"We got a tradition here in Oakfall. Any time there's a demon attack, we take a shot of rum for every demon we kill. How many did you butcher today, slayer?"
"I-I don't think I can drink that much…" Erma pressed a hand to her mouth and gagged.
I pushed past dark elves who were shoulder to shoulder with each other, refused drinks being shoved into my hands, and declined some horny women looking to get lucky with a succubus. Normally, I would have accepted. They were just going to have to fight over Mio tonight. I headed upstairs to my room and looked inside.
Kana was sitting in bed reading a book. At the foot of the bed, Nyra had passed out with her head on his legs and clutching onto the cat plush. I breathed a sigh of relief that they were okay.
"You're finally back! Nyra only fell asleep a little bit ago. There was so much screaming and shouts from the fighting earlier, and it was really bothering her. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just pulled out a book I brought and read it aloud," Kana explained.
"Thanks, and sorry for pushing her onto you. I really didn't want to risk you guys getting hurt. So, the fighting scared her, huh? Interesting…" I sat at the foot of the bed and stroked her head.
"Sounds like a real party downstairs right now. If I go downstairs to a bunch of drunk dark elves who haven't seen a guy in years, would I get lucky?" he asked playfully.
"Careful. You're getting full of yourself." I pinched his leg, making him yelp in pain.
A soft knock came to the door of my room. I went to check, and it was Tirnicia.
"If you're busy, I apologize for intruding. If you aren't, I'd like to speak with you in private," Tirnicia said and eyed Nyra.
"Sure." I stepped out with her, then poked my head back into the room. "I think Mio's trying to get into a threesome downstairs with some cute dark elves. You might be able to join her if you catch up~"
"Ehh. Maybe if I feel like it later. Reading got me tired, so I'll just take a nap with Nyra and watch her a little longer." Kana nodded to me, and I left the room to follow Tirnicia.
The dark elven general led me to her room at the very end of the hall. She invited me into a very nice living space, furnished with furniture from the finest carpenters, a wine closet, weapons rack, and a mannequin containing a full suit of glowing white chainmail armor. There was also a small bed for only one person that looked hard as a rock.
Tirnicia gestured for me to join her at a modest round table and pulled out two seats, then fetched a bottle of wine, and two glasses.
"Thank you for being willing to speak with me. Don't think I'm not grateful for what you guys did. I am. But Queen Saeko, I have a town to protect. I've lived here for years. Looked after fellow veterans who couldn't help themselves and buried some. I need to know if it will be safe here," Tirnicia explained solemnly.
"I… Yes, Nyra is— was the Demon King. But she's been reborn without any of the malice. I've been with her for a little over a week now. They really aren't the same," I insisted.
"So, my suspicions were correct after all." She sighed, then lifted her gaze back to me. "When it came down the grapevine that the Demon King had died, we celebrated. That meant the war was over. Didn't matter to many of us that we were defeated. Everyone was just so exhausted. You must understand how devastating that can be, finding out he had potentially returned."
I couldn't actually fathom. I only faced the post-war aftermath of it. Beatrice and Mio, many of the other succubi, were thrown into earth and caused a whole host of problems. But from little I learned about the war from them, no one really won. Everyone had come out of it worse, and the dark elves were only trying to eke out a life in Oakfall.
"No, I definitely get it. I'm sorry for bringing Nyra here and jeopardizing your peace. It wasn't my intention. We just came here to have a nice vacation from Earth," I said.
In actuality, Elendir had specifically chosen Oakfall to visit for her own personal reasons. I preferred to take full blame for bringing Nyra here. She and Tirnicia seem to have it hard around each other. They didn't need anything to complicate it further.
"I've pried enough. You aided us today and saved lives. That is something I will never forget. But I'd like to press upon you for help a little more," Tirnicia pleaded.
"Anything!" I exclaimed, eager to help and taking her by surprise.
"A demon horde of that size doesn't become that way without something or someone having subjugated them. I've deduced that it isn't you, and I'm leaning towards that it isn't Nyra either. Surely, you can see where I'm coming from with my concern. Your service today put to rest my doubts," she said.
"Oh. Well, thanks. I guess. If there is a leader controlling them out there though, controlling all those demons would make him powerful, right?" I asked.
Tirnicia furrowed her brows in thought.
"I can't imagine who among the Demon King's armies is still alive to lead. Tomorrow, I plan to take the best trackers in Oakfall with me into the forest to see where they went," Tirnicia said.
"And you want me to help you?" I read her like a book.
"Preferably with Mio and that light elf slave of yours," she explained.
"But no Elendir?"
The dark elf shook her head.
"I may have my qualms, but she is still Queen Elendir. It will be safer for her to remain in Oakfall," Tirnicia insisted.
"You know Elendir wouldn't mind helping," I said.
"That's precisely why. You must tell her to stay behind. Insist, if you have to." She sighed.
In other words, Tirnicia wanted me to charm Elendir if she tried tagging along. I agreed, only on the surface though. If Elendir wanted to come with, that was entirely up to her.
My gracious host lifted the glass to toast, then drank first to show that it wasn't poisoned. We didn't really talk much afterwards. I left before it got too awkward. The alcohol was finally getting to me. Even though I was still fresh in my 20s, I couldn't party it up like most around my age. Especially not after fighting demons.
I returned to my room and went right to bed. Eventually, the celebrations downstairs died down enough that the commotion lulled me into a slumber. Late into the after hours, I woke up to Nyra having snuggled up to me with the plush between us. She was having nightmares again, tossing and turning.
Could it be because we came to Elza where it was drawing up bad memories? This wasn't happening when we were back on Earth. I still didn't feel comfortable about diving into her dreams, but…
Swallowing my hesitation, I exerted my aura around Nyra and slipped in. Heat assaulted me from every direction. The sun blazed from above, and on the surface, thousands of demons marched across the sands. Succubi soared in swarms, and dark elves marched alongside the demons. Unlike the last dream, they weren't attacking a village. Just on a march to somewhere.
A succubus bumped into me and growled, then flew on ahead. I couldn't find Nyra anywhere. Hopefully, not down there. No doubt she would rather be anywhere than here though. A child's voice cried out. I followed the commotion to the right flank of the demon army, where a lumbering ogre broke off to chase after a terrified little girl— Nyra!
I swooped down to pursue them, but they disappeared into the forest. When I caught up, the ogre was lying on the ground with Nyra on top of it, tearing into the body with her claws. The butchering slowed down. She panted heavily, started hiccuping and sniffling, wiped her eyes with bloody arms.
Unable to let Nyra be alone, I landed behind and hugged her.
"Saeko!" Nyra cheered right up, spinning around to return the gesture. "Everything… scary…"
"Come on. Let's get you somewhere better." I exerted control over the dream again, shaping the landscape into my apartment on Earth as best as I could.
We took a bath, and I washed the blood off her. Cooked some food while she kicked her feet impatiently in the living room. I even created copies of Shadow and Snowball for her to play with. She was a lot more gentle with them this time around, but suddenly went quiet even as the cats nudged her.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Always… bad thoughts… can't stop…" Nyra frowned.
"Like, you want to hurt things?"
Nyra nodded.
"I know you're doing your best." I patted her on the head. "Sometimes, it's hard. If you ever have bad thoughts again, just think about the good things in your life. Like the toys Hatsumi and Mio gave you." I pinched her cute chubby cheeks and made her giggle. "Or me!"
My magic eventually gave out. I returned back to the real world. Nyra was still asleep but looking calmer than before.
In the morning after everyone had woken up, I went downstairs with Kana, Elendir, and Nyra. Well, not everyone was awake. Countless dark elves were drunk, and the ones unlucky enough to be awake were suffering from hangovers. Groans of pain filled the air, punctuated by the scent of beer and sweat.
"Whew. My tongue is sore from how much pussy I ate last night." Mio descended from the second floor yawning into her hand. "So, what's on the table today? Another quest?"
"About that…" I explained to them what Tirnicia had told me last night just as the dark elf herself had come downstairs.
Elendir shot her the stink-eye.
"Don't tell me… You told her?" Tirnicia groaned.
"Yes, because Saeko cares about what I think and how I feel. I will be coming with, and that is final." Elendir folded her arms.
"You can either take our help as a package or leave it," I said.
"Fine! Suit yourself." She threw her hands up and sighed.