Vol. 4 Chapter 17: Demonic Strength & Weakness (Patreon)

In the grassy plains, watching over the attack on the palace, was the elf archer all alone. The rest of the humans have gone. Being an archer, he was best if he was positioned far away to give his support. But considering how condensed his allies were at the palace, it would be troubling for him to attack. There will be a lot of collateral. Furthermore, his mana was terribly low. He couldn’t cast any powerful magic like before.

The bow in his hand was a magnificent one, quite valuable back in the world below, like Alruwin’s sword. Made of the same Arihaltium, but designed to be fitted with magic casting. It was indeed a powerful bow in the hands of the right person. And it was his.

Suddenly, he noticed figures soaring the sky high above the human palace. He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what they were. And amidst the showering moonlight, he noticed a glistening platinum hair.

“What?”

He knew of her, but not the group that was taking her away. They weren’t elves. He couldn’t understand what was happening, but he knew he should kill the offspring of that goddess. He pulled out an arrow and raised his bow, aiming for the princess in the hands of a man. He poured magic into the bow and arrow, and gradually, the arrow began to shine. He further advanced his aim ahead of the enemy, just the right distance to hit the target in time.

He was about to shoot when suddenly somebody kicked his hand in mid-air. It pushed the aim of the bow away to anywhere but the target, and the arrow flung off into the far distance. Feeling utterly annoyed, the elf quickly stepped back and glared at the perpetrator.

A dark winged man with long thin claws at his fingers.

Without a word given, the man charged at the elf with sheer swiftness. The elf instantly leaped back and immediately shot an arrow at him. It hit him in the chest, but surprisingly, he kept on going. So instead, the elf archer spawned thorny vines to attack and hold his opponent.

Flames coated the strange man’s claws and easily sliced off the vines. After being cleared of them, he casually pulled out the arrow in his chest. A brief moment later, the wound immediately closed and healed.

The elf’s eyes widened in surprise.

Flaming claws, rapid regeneration. Not a cursed child. Demon? Imp?

This was troubling. He had no holy magic of any kind to fight an imp. There were hardly any demons in where they’re from. Without the power of the divine, these imps were practically unkillable. Although, if one were powerful enough, perhaps they could vaporize them, but not this archer.

The best he could do was to restrain the savage imp. But even that he would be terribly hard-pressed to achieve. He was a range fighter, to send long range strikes. Directly fighting an opponent was not his job.

With a confident smirk, the demon lunged at him, his blazing sharp claws held out. The elf used his bow to block the claws and quickly grabbed the dagger strapped to his waist, swinging at the demon. The moment the latter took a step back, the elf drew back his bow before bashing it at the demon. He hit him on the side of the neck. The skin and muscle crumpled.

The elf was a bit surprised he actually reached him. Either because he was lucky, or that the demon didn’t even bother dodging, considering that he would just heal in a moment. At any rate, the elf was well aware not to underestimate the demon, it might be bait for all he knew.

Spawning thorny vines to lash out at his enemy, the elf swiftly dashed back to create a gap between them. He nocked a pair of arrows to his bow. After a quick draw of the string, the two glowing arrows pierced through the air, hitting the demon on both sides of his chest. And that was not all, magic burst out of the arrows, ripping out skin and flesh.

“AAAAHAHAHAHAHA!” What first sounded like a scream shifted to a hysterical laugh. “Fucking hilarious.”

The elf fired another arrow, hitting the demon’s leg, magic raging inside. However, the demon suddenly lashed out at the elf, swinging down his claw. Blood drew out of the elf’s chest, along with the smell of burnt flesh. He gritted his teeth in pain.

Just how strong is this demon?!

To be able to stand despite the state of his leg, this was no common demon.

The demon smirked at him.

“I’ve always wanted to kill an elf. I’ve been hearing a lot about you, you know. Talks about being blessed by the gods.”

Like a beast, the demon attacked the elf. Relentlessly swinging his burning razor-sharp claws. The elf was doing all he could to block and drive him off. But no matter how many vines he sent, how much he bash his bow, the demon wouldn’t settle down.

The demon slashed at the elf’s shoulder. “What really makes you so special, huh?”

“Shut up!” He fired a burst of wind at him, blowing the demon away.

The demon chuckled as he got up, the elf fired a pair of arrows at him again. His opponent didn’t bother to evade.

The elf glared at him. “Don’t you dare undermine me, you spawn of that dreaded corrupted god!”

“He made us despite already having you. You know what that means, right?” A more violent blaze engulfed his hands. “You’re so inferior that he made us. The better creations.”

The elf flared with anger. To imply that their god was so unsatisfied with the mystic race that he made his own. To imply that these disgusting creatures called demons were better was simply the heights of absurdity and blasphemy. The mystic race was better, significantly better than the humans that once dominated the world. And no way in all the world where the creations of an evil god were better than those designed by all the gods.

With a short laugh, the demon pounced on the agitated elf. They exchanged attacks, but gradually, the demon was wounding the elf more and more. The more blood the elf lost, the weaker he became. Unlike the energetic demon that was full of vitality despite how many wounds he sustained, or blood he lost — both don’t matter to such a creature.

And then, eventually, the demon pierced his claws into the elf’s heart. The latter groaned as he glared at the smirking demon in human form. He pierced his other hand into the elf’s stomach.

“See? You’re weaker.”

With that mockery, the elf became limp, dead. The demon pulled out his claws and watched the elf drop bloodied to the ground. He looked around, seeing numerous figures chasing his crew.

And then he looked at the dead elf’s extravagant weapon.

“Nice bow.” He smiled as his hands morphed, the claws gone and turned into normal human hands. After removing the projectiles that were still stuck in his body, he promptly grabbed the magnificent bow, checking it out. Impressed by the quality of the weapon, he nodded.

“I could use this. Or give it to Arashia.”

Perhaps it would be better to be given to her, not like he was ever trained for the bow.

“Can you please leave the loot?”

All of a sudden, someone appeared from behind him. The demon rattled and turned towards the voice. He didn’t even sense him coming.

“I would like to have that bow.”

It was a tall man with long bronze hair wearing casual clothing. He appeared to be human, and facing the demon with a nonchalant smile.

The demon morphed his one hand into claws.

“Who are you? Don’t you know who you’re dealing with?”

“I’m just a simple wanderer who also likes to collect the good stuff. And I want that pretty bow.”

The demon chuckled. “Are you serious? No.”

“Really? If you really won’t, I might have to kill you.”

“You can’t kill me, you fool.”

“Please, I insist. Give me the bow, or you’re going nowhere.”

The demon’s claws were engulfed in flames. “You’re not doing anything.”

In what felt like an instant, the demon reached the man and deeply slashed his neck. Blood spurted out like a fountain.

“Heh, can’t even defend yourself.”

The human was bleeding dead, and it was certain that he should have died with that, or writhing. However, the man’s mouth moved.

“You can’t kill me, you fool.”

The demon’s eyes widened in shock to see the wound on the man rapidly closing. Alerted, the demon quickly backed away.

“You! You’re an imp?!”

The man casually massaged his neck. “Nope. Just someone cursed to never die.”

“What…?”

“Now then, it’s time to kill you.” He cracked his completely healed neck, like it was never wounded at all.

“H-Heh.” The demon forced a smirk. “We’re basically the same. You can’t kill me, I’ll regenerate.”

“We’re absolutely not the same.” The man gave him a cold gaze. “You can die.”

A small dark hole appeared from thin air beside the man. With his right hand, he reached out inside it, pulling a beautiful green spear of jade. The green pole was shiny and slender, like a perfectly polished jewel of jade. The blade at the top was not only made with function, but also with form. It curved smoothly to a sharp tip, the center was carved with intricate patterns and triangular shapes. It was a masterpiece.

The imp’s eyes widened in both surprise and confusion. He didn’t know what was going on and how a weapon just appeared in empty space.

The demon gritted his teeth, glaring at the man. “Without the right element, you can’t make me die.”

“I know.”

Drawing his jade spear in, he touched the upper pole with his left hand. He slid his fingers all the way to the tip, and with the motion, a golden glow was left imbued on the surface of the weapon. Once he reached the end of the blade, it shone in the color of the golden holiness.

“What…?” The demon gulped.

“Holy element, right?”

“N-No w-wait!”

Utterly terrified, the demon frantically turned his back to run away. However, in an instant, the wanderer reached the demon and gracefully swung his spear upward. The blade tore through the demon’s skin with ease before a burst of golden light engulfed him.

“AAAAGH!”

He let out a final scream before he disintegrated. His fading echoing voice and dust was all that remained, blowing and lost in the wind. The wanderer glanced at where the demon stood as he playfully flipped his spear.

“Hm, sucks to be that strong only to have a fatal weakness tenfold.”

A black circular hole appeared beside him again, and he pushed the spear into it. After that, he casually grabbed the bow from the ground.

“Nice. In my inventory you go.”

He casually threw the bow into the same dark hole before it disappeared like smoke. Feeling a bit elated by a new weapon he finally acquired, he glanced at the fleeing people in the distance with a smile.

“Guess I’m following.”

Although he had no intention of intervening. He would merely watch. That was what he was instructed to do, after all. With that said, he still had no idea what his side wanted to do. Things have pretty much gone south.

Could it be…?

He had an inkling, but there was no point in dwelling on it at the moment. He was deliberating whether to intervene if the elves were to ever get their hands on her. Truth be told, it would be in his best interest to keep her alive and keep the prophecy going.

What are the dryads even trying to do right now?

They had not made contact with him or the princess at all.

What the hell are they planning?

He felt a presence, not in a specific direction, but it was anywhere, and it was familiar. Someone was observing, and he was making his presence known to him.

“You’re here… Meaning this is something crucial, huh? What do you have in mind, really?”

He asked, but there was no answer that arrived.