Vol. 4 Chapter 18: Faint Whisper (Patreon)

As the group of demonic imps soar through the sky of the royal capital, the factions that sought what they had began to chase them down. One of the imps, Venzus, looked back and his eyes widened at the sight.

“Fucking shit!”

The most obvious of the ones chasing them were the Cursed Children. Several of them had ascended to the sky and went after them, and they were moving fast, slowly catching up to them.

“Why the hell are they so fast?!”

“Uh oh, they’re gaining,” Arashia casually said.

It was not just them. Running on the ground were three elves, and they appeared to be running at full speed. One group sought to retrieve the princess, while the other sought to execute. At any rate, they must not slow the demons down. But that was easier said than done, they were outnumbered. With the elves’ only goal was to kill the princess, and would be willing to give their life for their mission, it would be difficult to guarantee the princess’s safety. One mistake, and all will be over for the demons.

While the other, the Cursed Children, they’ll outnumber them in time. True that both could heal even the most extreme of wounds. But the Cursed Children were essentially monsters, and worst of all, they absolutely cannot die, even if the demons could ever manage to disintegrate them. Even the smallest of dust of theirs could restore them to full life. Such was their curse.

As the demons were closing in on the city wall, Rytus turned his head towards the female demon ranger.

“Arashia, slow them down.”

“Yes, sir!” She looked up at Venzus. “Hey, face them.”

Venzus turned towards the direction of the chasing enemies, but he kept on moving, of course, still flapping his wings quickly. Arashia clasped her hands together, and when she moved them apart, thin orange and glowing threads extended within her fingers.

“Infernal Entanglement!”

She extended her hands forward and what shot out in an instant was a wide burning net. It was more than fifty meters wide on all sides. And as it moved in the air, buildings that were hit in its way were blown through, setting small fires at everything it touched.

Caught off guard by the magic and deadly net, many of the Cursed Children were caught in it. For the net was made of magic, even their fog form cannot save them from it. The elves were also caught in the chaos. 

That being said, how long it would keep their enemies back remained to be seen.

“Why the hell would you shout your spell’s name?” Venzus asked with a disgusted wince.

“It’s my ultimate spell. Of course I’ll announce it.”

“Stop it, it’s stupid!”

Arashia deeply frowned. “No, it’s not! It’s cool.”

“Yelling out spells is definitely not cool.”

“Your opinion is crap.”

“The fuck?”

Sometimes Venzus just couldn’t believe her frequent idiocy. To him, yelling out a spell’s name was not only cringeworthy, but also would give away your next action. It’s like revealing your next move to an enemy, giving them an idea of how to respond. In battle, even a split second was crucial. It was always best to keep your actions a secret until it was time. He wanted to explain that to her, but decided not to, not at the current moment where they were still being chased.

At any rate, her powerful net did manage to slow the enemy down. However, a moment later, there was a giant rip at one side, and the elves emerged, quickly jumping between rooftops, glaring up at the demons.

“My net!” Her eyes went wide open, shocked to see how easily they cut through it. Not only that, the other Cursed Children forcefully clawed through the net, while the others flew around it. It pained her heart to see how trivial they made her ultimate spell be, it was her pride and joy, well, among others.

“Rytus! Should we fight them off?” Droz asked with a grimace.

Rytus pondered for a moment, glancing at the sleeping princess on his shoulder. He shook his head.

“We’re crossing the Elgion forest, anyway. We’ll take cover under the trees, while you slow them down.”

And with that, hope that the monsters would also slow down their tail.

“Got it.”

They flew over the wall and were closing in on the monster filled forest. Below them, the knights from both sides were still having their chaotic fight, both on the wall and on the city streets. It was hard to tell, but it would seem that the Wisterian forces were getting outnumbered. Unless there’s a miracle, the city will fall under the Empire’s control.

Once they arrived at the Elgion forest, the demons quickly descended into the trees, using them as cover and to lose the sights of their enemies. Their wings shrunk and returned to their backs.

Rytus turned towards his men.

“Arashia, Venzus, with me. The rest of you, slow them down.”

The three ran into the dark forest. Sounds of insects and beasts filled the surrounding area, high-pitched sounds, growls, shrieks, roars. They could feel the numerous gazes directed at them amidst the darkness.

A large black furred monster jumped in front of them, its eyes were of fierce red, glaring towards them. Its four feet had razor-sharp claws, and its teeth were protruding in great numbers. It appeared to be intending on devouring them.

“Arashia.”

The female demon cast her magic, and a whip made of flames extended from her hand. Without stopping, she drew back her hand and brought down the infernal whip upon the beast in a flash. There was a whipping sound as her magical weapon cleaved and burned through the monster’s neck with ease, ultimately killing it.

With the enemy monster eliminated, Arashia’s whip disappeared a moment later.

“Watch out for any monsters,” Rytus said. “Make sure none of them gets to me.”

Rytus could easily take care of the monsters here, but with the princess with him, they couldn’t risk it. They wanted her in a pristine condition considering that they have a long way to go before reaching the demon lands.

Another monster appeared in front of them, blocking their path. It was a tall and dark monster, it had furless, abysmal dark skin. A pair of long arms with elongated clawed hands. Four fierce red eyes, and needle-like teeth in its mouth.

It let out a loud shriek, and Venzus quickly struck it with his burning claws.

“Woah.”

Its skin was harder than he had expected. He dodged its claws as it swung to attack. Thankfully, it was way slower than him. Venzus quickly lashed his burning claws at its body several times, shredding its body into pieces. With that monster taken care of, he quickly rejoined Arashia and Rytus.

Considering that they faced such a monster, they were getting deeper into the forest. They should arrive at their destination soon. Fortunately, none of the enemies have caught up yet. If this goes on, they should finish this part of their mission without much trouble.

However, the princess’s face twitched without them noticing. And a short moment later, she slowly opened her eyes, although they still felt incredibly heavy, she merely forced it. For she sensed how rough they have been moving, which roused her from her supposedly deep slumber.

With narrow and sleepy eyes, she looked around with her blurry vision. In a moment, she instantly came to a realization she was away from home. She started squirming, pushing herself away, and Rytus turned his head at her with wide eyes of utter shock.

“She’s awake?!”

It shouldn’t have happened, she should not be awake right now. He almost couldn’t believe it. That sleeping dust did not have such a weak effect for her to be awake mere minutes after breathing it in, or even just touching her face.

Suddenly, there was a blue glow in her hands.

“Let me go.”

A powerful lightning shot out from her hands, blowing Rytus away into the trees. His clothes and skin on the chest were charred.

“Shit, hold her!” Venzus shouted as he charged at the princess with Arashia.

Estelia cast lightning from both her hands, sending them towards the two. The attack flashed brightly and struck like a true lightning strike. They were ready for such an attack, but they weren’t ready for the sheer strength within it. And they were blown away several meters. But she wasn’t done yet.

She raised her hands and conjured large pillars of ice and threw them at the two. Crushing and pinning them down on the ground.

“Ugh! Dammit!”

“Too heavy.”

“Melt it off!”

“It’s barely melting!”

Estelia looked around in confusion, she had no idea where she was. And thus, she quickly ascended into the air, the magic wind propelling her was faltering as she went. She reached above the trees and looked around, it was dark. But she saw a faint sight of the city, the glowing fires, the wall, and all.

She began flying back to the city, but a short moment later, her magic wind disappeared as she felt an intense sharp pain all over her body. And she fell from the air, hitting branches on her fall until she crashed back to the ground.

She panted with squinted eyes. And as she tried to stand, her legs trembled, and when she tried to walk, her steps faltered. She felt incredibly sleepy.

Need to go back… home.

That was the only thought in her mind. That was what she only wanted right now.

Wishing to go back home, she forced her legs to move. And she ran, clueless of which forest she was in. But she did realize the dangerous gazes directed at her. She forced her winds out, helping her move quickly on the ground. Just merely pushing her.

But she fell again, her arms and face dirty from the soil. Her body was so weak, and wanting to sleep. The inside of her chest was so tight, like she hadn’t slept properly in days. Body felt so heavy. But she forced herself awake with all her might, standing up again.

She continued on. But then…

“Sister?”

She paused and looked around. It was a distant, faint, and echoing voice. A feminine voice.

“What?”

“You’re there, my sister?”

She had no idea who that was, but it felt like it was talking to her. But it didn’t make any sense. She had no sister, only brothers.

“Sister… I’m here…”

It was a pained and longing voice, as though it was desperately reaching out to her.

It was then Estelia noticed several silhouettes walking out of the cover of the trees. They approached her slowly, they were tall with abysmal dark skin, claws for hand. And four glowing violet eyes. Seeing how intimidating and dangerous they appeared, Estelia warily stepped back.

Monsters…?

She didn’t know what to expect of these monsters, except that they were dangerous. They could attack her at any moment. However, they merely stood there, not a sign of aggressiveness or anything. It was bizarre.

But she had no time for this. She had to get back home.

The hell with this!

She was about to move on when Rytus found her.

“Princess!”

With gritted teeth, she conjured ice spikes at him, rising from the ground. However, it was either because his skin was so robust, or her magic was weakened, that her spikes broke upon touching him. At any rate, Rytus immediately got close.

Estelia threw hands, but with her miserable state, Rytus quickly drew them off and threw another handful of white dust at her face.

“No…”

Almost immediately, she faltered, her eyes opening and closing, but in the end sleep overwhelmed her. And Rytus caught her as she fell. The effect of the first dust was still there, it just wasn’t enough.

Venzus and Arashia arrived, facing the monsters to make sure they didn’t try getting closer.

“Holy shit, a handful is already enough to knock out a giant beast. And she just woke up from that…”

“Maybe she is bigger than a big beast.”

Rytus made sure she was deeply sleeping before securing her on his shoulder. They also couldn’t give her more sleeping dust, they don’t know what kind of effect that would do. Best not to overdo it.

“Let’s go. They’ll catch up at any second.”

The monsters suddenly shrieked, a large group of them aggressively advancing at the group. Their faces leaned forward as if hunting for prey, and their legs stomped heavily as they ran.

“Shit! Alright let’s go!” Venzus frantically fired a wave of flames at the crowding monsters before they quickly made a run for it.

As they were faster than the monsters and with the magic fire hitting them, they easily got away. That said, the enemies they were originally running from were now catching up behind them.