Ep. 479 Return to the Kingdom Part 7 (Patreon)

Mericel goes quiet, I can only hope she is actually thinking about what all this means. A few minutes later the camp comes into sight and I spot Mercy pacing in front of her tent. Zamart is standing nearby just watching her pace back and forth.

Mercy only stops pacing when she hears the sound of my wings as I flap to slow down. As I land Mercy tackles Mericel, who is still in my arms, ending up with me sitting with them in my lap. They are both crying happy tears and laughing as they can finally hug each other again.

It is a touching moment and one I don't want to interrupt, so I sit there silently. Zamart is the one who interrupts but only because he comes over and hugs both of them. Even he has tears in his eyes as he looks at the now living Mericel.

Finally I can't take it anymore and I cough politely to remind them that I am there. Instead of getting off me the two sisters turn and start hugging me. Through the crying I can hear both of them thanking me and promising to never forget this.

Zamart says "Ash, you have done a wondrous thing this night!"

Mercy says "Yes, thank you, Ash! Our family will forever be in your debt! Thank you so much!!"

"You're welcome. Now can you get off of me?"

Mericel says "No!" and hugs me even tighter.

Mercy says "I am serious, Ash. I will make sure that my family knows just how much we owe you!"

"Not to be rude, but isn't your family just the two of you?"

Mercy says "I mean our kids, and their kids. This debt will be passed down until you are repaid."

"Mercy, the two of you will outlive me by far."

Mercy says "That may be true, but didn't you plan to be reincarnated? However long that takes, our descendants will be ready to repay our debt!"

"Well, yes, I do plan on choosing reincarnation when I die. However, I have no clue when I will be reincarnated or if I will manage to keep my memories."

Mercy says "I already thought of that. Zamart, is it ready?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have it right here."

Zamart walks over and grabs my hand, in his other hand he has a very ornate looking amulet. He does something to the amulet and it opens, inside there is a space with a needle in the middle. Zamart pushes that needle against one of my fingers, but the needle is unable to pierce my skin.

Zamart says "Um, Ash, a little help?"

Deciding it will be easier to just get it over with I use my thumbnail to pierce the tip of my finger. As soon as I do, instead of waiting for the blood to come out, Zamart jams the needle into the hole I made. After a few seconds the amulet glows white and Zamart pulls the needle out of me.

Za,art says "There, bound to his soul as you requested."

"Bound to my soul?!"

Mercy says "Yes, this way no matter what you look like after reincarnating this amulet will recognize you."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. You really did think this through! What would you have done if I failed to resurrect Mericel?"

Mercy says "Actually, I planned this a while ago for after you kill the king."

"How come?"

Mercy says "Because, with the kingdom in ruins I doubted my ability to properly reward you."

Mericel says "That is doubly true now that you have resurrected me!"

Zamart says "If you keep helping out the kingdom, at this rate only a royal marriage would suffice!"

Mercy and Mericel immediately turn and glare at Zamart, but I doubt they are mad at him for the idea. More likely they are plotting something and are mad at him for putting the idea in my head. I lift both of them to their feet so that I can stand up myself.

Mercy says "What's wrong, Ash?"

"Nothing, now that this is settled I still have shadow demons to kill."

Mercy says "Oh, alright. Just be careful?"

Mericel says "Don't worry, he finds them tasty!"

Mercy says "What?!?"

Leaving Mericel to explain her comment I throw myself into the air and fly towards the castle. Despite what Mericel thinks I don't plan on eating any more of the demons. Since they don't help my core it is just a waste, instead as I fly I take the naginata out of my pouch.

Once I clear the forest I start looking around outside the city for a small group of shadow demons. When I spot a group of five I decide that is good enough and swoop down and land in front of them. They immediately move to attack me but before they can even take a step I swing the naginata and kill the first one.

The naginata cuts through the demon like it is made of paper and it instantly turns to ash. Before the rest can react I step forward and swing two more times killing all four of them. It seems the naginata is even more useful against demons than I had hoped.

5 Rank 1 Shadow Demons defeated! 5,000 Exp gained!

'Oh! They are good exp! And there are plenty of them! I should be able to level up!'

"Inspect!"

*Minor Artifact*

Holy Lance!

Damage: 10 - 20 (Double to undead, Triple to demons)

Durability: Infinite

Special: Damage permanently increases by one point per rank of demon slain. (Currently absorbed: 5 Ranks.)

'It works! It really does get stronger by killing demons!'

If there is no limit then I can easily see the damage going up into the hundreds by the time I am done here. If I kill enough demons then it might even become strong enough to one shot a demon lord. I wonder if I can convince the goddesses to let me make more weapons like this?

Probably not, but maybe once I am stronger they will let me try it again. If I could equip a small force with these types of weapons, fighting against the invasion would be much easier. Especially if they are beastmen who can match up to demons already.

Putting that thought aside for now I return to the air and start looking for my next victims. Spotting a group of six I drop down in the middle of them and spin the naginata in a full circle. Only one of them manages to react in time and draws his sword to block.

Unfortunately, for him, the naginata shatters his sword and keeps going. All six shadow demons die in that one simple move, they stood no chance whatsoever. It almost feels like I am being a bully but I don't really care at this point as I go looking for another group.

Another group of five falls just as easily, not one of them has managed to attack me yet. Even when I take on a group of eight I still manage to kill them all without taking any damage. Of course, these are all rank one shadow demons, the higher ranks may be able to put up a fight.

19 Rank 1 Shadow Demons defeated! 19,000 Exp gained!

When I return to the air after the last group I notice all the other groups are running for the city gates. Looks like someone higher ranked finally noticed what was going on and called them all back. Not that that is going to stop me, I simply fly up and land on top of the city wall.