Slayers - Volume 12 - Chapter 2

2: The Shadows Lurking in Gyria

“What’s that?” Jade whispered, turning his eyes to a narrow alley some distance away.

Yeah... Guess it’s a pretty bizarre sight to someone who’s never seen one of those before.

The figure, clad in a tattered black cape, was more or less humanoid... but anyone could tell that this thing wasn’t human. The skin that covered its haggard—rather, abnormally wiry—body had the darkening of a necrotic corpse. Its face had no ears, nose, mouth, or hair, just two exceptionally large, wide-open eyes gazing glassily in our direction.

“That would be... a pure demon, yeah,” I muttered in response.

Unlike demidemons—brass demons and lesser demons—which had to possess and transmogrify animals in order to manifest in our world, pure demons could manifest here entirely under their own power. Needless to say, that meant they were a heck of a lot stronger than demidemons.

“It’s warped space itself to trap us here,” I explained.

“Ohh. Very knowledgeable of you,” the thing said, impressed with—or perhaps mocking—me.

“Well, I’ve been around the block a few times. But you didn’t come here to make small talk, did you?”

“Certainly not. My business with you is even more trivial than that...” The bug-eyed demon began to walk down the avenue with a gliding gait. “I’d just like to ask you to die.”

“Get back, Jade. Normal swords can’t hurt this thing. And... be careful. It’s probably not the only enemy here.”

“Impressive insight. Come, you two!”

Two? As the bug-eyed demon called out, I felt a wave of hostility cast in my direction. One’s... above!

Before I could even look up, Gourry had his sword out of its sheath. Talk about déjà vu!

Zing! I heard a hard ringing sound over my head. A moment later, the attacker landed on the street in front of me, then leaped back to put space between us.

Shaman... I knew it! Indeed, I’d expected that much, but... another hostile aura was now emerging from an alley opposite where Bug-Eyes had appeared. It was about as tall as a human and held swords in both hands. It was all black, like Shaman, but it had an entirely different upstairs situation going on. It wasn’t that it had a different face—more that it didn’t even have anything resembling a face. Where a head would normally be, it instead had a set of long, thin protrusions, almost like serpent heads, each about as thick as a child’s wrist. It was like someone had transplanted a small hydra onto the thing’s neck.

“Three of them?!” Mileena shouted out in a rare show of nerves.

Bug-Eyes let out a low laugh. “Well, three superior beings does seem a bit much to take out a mere five human rats... but orders are orders.”

“Would those orders be from Sherra, then?” I asked calmly.

He narrowed his eyes. “Just who are you, scum?”

“Someone you prooobably shouldn’t be calling scum...”

“I don’t know how much you know... but it seems I really must dispose of you!” He swung his right hand as he spoke, producing spears of miasma midair—which he released in our direction! We all immediately scattered to dodge.

“Gourry, take Shaman! Luke, Mileena, you two get Hydra! I’ll handle Bug-Eyes!”

“That ain’t up to you!” Luke argued, albeit while following orders and dashing toward the demon I’d dubbed Hydra.

With a battle cry, Gourry slashed at Shaman. And then...

“My name is Rebifor!” raged the bug-eyed demon as I charged him, chanting under my breath. “I applaud your courage in facing me alone! But do not give me such a trivializing name!” His left hand flashed forward as he chastised me, sending a black blade my way!

I dodged to the side while unleashing my spell: “Elemekia Lance!”

“Fool!” Rebifor swept it away with his left hand. “You can’t harm me like that!”

Looking slightly shaken, I drew the sword at my waist, then picked up chanting and resumed closing in on my foe. I dodged another miasma spear he fired and dove in close, thrusting as I did! The strike sunk deep into Rebifor’s side. The demon’s eyes narrowed in the suggestion of a smile.

“Fool! Didn’t I tell you? That won’t wor—”

Before he could finish, I incanted, “Astral Vine!” The spell infused my sword with magic!

“Gaaaaah!” Rebifor screamed as he leaped back and away. I’d probably done some damage, but that wasn’t enough to kill him. “Curse you!” He glowered at me after gaining his distance.

Seemed he’d finally put it together. My initial simplistic attack, combined with my rattled demeanor, was all a ploy to get his guard down. I locked eyes with Rebifor, whose gaze was now cautious. While gauging distance and positioning, I began chanting again.

“Elemekia Lance! Luke! Mileena!” With my eyes still locked on Rebifor, I unleashed my spell—at Hydra!

Fortunately, my shouting was enough to get Luke and Mileena diving out of the way. Despite being blindsided, Hydra managed to evade too, but the act left the demon off-balance...

“Bram Blazer!”

“Fell Zaleyd!”

...allowing Luke and Mileena to blow it away with a good ol’ one-two combo!

“Gkh!” Rebifor shot a hostile glare in my direction. “Withdraw!” he cried, sliding backward into the alley. He must have realized he was at a disadvantage.

Shaman, still clashing with Gourry, also tumbled back in retreat at Rebifor’s call.

“They’re getting away!” Jade shouted.

“It’s not safe to pursue,” I said calmly in response. It would certainly save us trouble down the line to give chase and defeat them now, but... “We’re still inside their barrier, so we’d never be able to catch them. More likely, they’d divide our forces and pick us off.”

Rebifor and Shaman had been unlucky to lose Hydra out of the gate, but they wouldn’t be so cavalier the next time we crossed paths. We’d be the unlucky ones if we underestimated them.

“But then how do we get out of this barrier, Lina?” Gourry asked.

“It’ll probably dispel itself once Rebifor leaves it. The question is what comes after that. The next time we fight them, they’ll probably be more prepar—”

I was interrupted by the abrupt return of the hustle and bustle of the city. The avenue, empty moments ago, was suddenly brimming with people. It looked like Rebifor’s barrier had been lifted.

“Huh. Guess you were right,” Luke remarked.

“But we still have work to do,” Mileena added.

Though it should have looked like we’d appeared out of thin air to the people around us, nobody batted an eye. This stood to reason—they had bigger things to worry about. We’d driven Rebifor and his goons away, but there was still a whole demidemon horde to handle. We swiftly took off down the road, tearing through the crowd...

And then, all five of us came to a stop at once. We’d hit the plaza at the city’s northern entrance, lined with empty stalls and shops and otherwise devoid of people. Beyond the gate, we could see a writhing mass of figures pouring down the road toward town.

“No way...”

“Those are all...” someone said hoarsely as we stood there.

They were far enough away that I couldn’t say exactly how many there were, but it was definitely more than you could count on your fingers... and toes.

“Wh-What do we even do? I’m thinkin’ this crowd might be more trouble than those pure demons...” Luke whispered, staring blankly.

As for me, however... “Hah! It might mess up the road, but I’ll blast ’em all away before they even reach us!” I said, moving straight into a chant.

Thou who art darker than twilight

Thou who art redder than lifeblood

That’s right, time to whip out the ol’ Dragon Slave! Numbers were no object when it came to blowing up bottom-feeding demons with this puppy! Except...

“Hey, what’s that white thing?” Gourry suddenly asked.

Just then, I saw a flash. And in that moment...

“What?!” I cried, so alarmed that I dropped my chant. There was a flash in the distance, and all the demons around it went flying.

“What was that?!” Luke shouted.

“What happened?!” Mileena followed.

Gourry, who had the best vision of us all, could apparently see what was going down, but the rest of us were in the dark.

“I’m going to try to get closer!” I said, dashing out before anyone could respond.

While I was running, the light pulsed a second time, then a third. Each flash mowed through more demons. And then...

I don’t know how far I’d gotten before I finally stopped in my tracks, silent. By then, there was barely any of the demon swarm left to fight.

Kra-pash! Light audibly ripped through the air, and even more demons were blown away. The source of the blasts tearing up the ground and demons alike was...

“Is that... the white giant?” I muttered like a woman in a trance.

The villager we’d talked to earlier had described the white giant as a small mountain. That was clearly an exaggeration, but I couldn’t fault the guy for using the word “giant” when it was definitely a good size bigger than the already hulking demidemons. Its white body glowed with a dazzling light. Its general shape was humanoid, but its head was half-sunk into its shoulders. It looked a little like an alabaster golem, if one sculpted with a lot of artistic license.

“Say, Lina... you ever seen anything like that before?” Gourry asked.

“Nope. Not as far as I can recall,” I responded, still entranced.

The giant fired another blast of light from the palm of its outstretched right hand. More brass and lesser demons hit the ground. There was scarcely a sign of demon movement around us now. Without so much as a glance at its silently gawking audience (that is, us), the giant turned around and began to walk away.

“It’s... It’s leaving,” Luke whispered.

Nobody responded. None of us knew how to react to what we’d just seen. If the giant was polishing off demons, it didn’t appear to be an immediate threat. But that didn’t mean it was safe to assume it was on our side either. At last, as we watched it go...

“Huh?”

The white giant literally vanished.

“What was that thing?!” Jade shouted, but no one knew what to tell him. If not for the demon corpses littering the ground around us, I would’ve said we were dreaming or hallucinating.

“Well, regardless... standing around here won’t get us anywhere. Let’s inform the townspeople that the danger has more or less passed,” I proposed.

“True... Reassuring them comes first,” Jade agreed.

“But I’m gonna say that we beat the demons and snag us a nice reward!”

“Hey, great idea!” Luke was on board. But...

“How dare you!” Jade objected. “That’s fraud! We didn’t do a thing!”

“Oh, but we did! We watched encouragingly as the giant did its thing!”

“Which provided no help whatsoever!”

“Grow up, man,” Luke cut in. “Actions deserve rewards just as much as results do.”

“But we didn’t act! The fight was resolved entirely without us!”

“Sheesh... so argumentative.”

“No, you are!”

Luke and I tried our best to persuade Jade, but either out of integrity or sheer bloody-mindedness, he refused to relent. He turned to Gourry and Mileena for backup. “Surely you agree with me! Please, say something!”

“Huh? Like what?” Gourry asked.

“Platitudes will only get you so far in this world,” replied Mileena.

“Waaagh! Stop it!” Jade cried, cradling his head.

I could understand lamenting Mileena’s reaction, but it was definitely his bad for counting on Gourry.

“B-But I’m still a noble knight of Dils... I can’t be a party to such a sham,” he muttered, and at last stood up decisively. “Very well! Do as you like! However, I’m going to tell the people what really ha—”

“Sleeping.”

Thump! Zzzzz...

“Okay! With that settled, I’m gonna head back to town and spread the word!”

Leaving Jade in his magical slumber, I scurried off.

Cresting the hill brought into sight a metropolis surrounded by a wall—the capital of the Kingdom of Dils, Gyria.

“Home at last,” Jade said wistfully as he looked down at the distant city. He’d been a little testy since the demon attack for some reason, but the sight of his hometown was apparently enough to put him back in good spirits.

“Sorry to ruin the moment, but this ain’t the time to get nostalgic,” Luke said in a far grimmer tone as he stepped up next to Jade. “Makin’ it here means the real fight’s about to start.”

He was right. Rebifor and Shaman were undoubtedly acting on the orders of Sherra, who was here in this town. The fact that they hadn’t made a move on us since our last encounter suggested they were focusing their forces here in the city, ready to attack once we arrived.

Sherra alone was already a hell of an opponent to face. And while we were lucky to have made it this far, there was still no guarantee we’d come out on top. To be honest, part of me was still considering hightailing it outta here and pretending we’d never heard about any of this... But I knew that wasn’t a real option.

I couldn’t say exactly what was afoot, but if a General-class demon had her fingers in the pie, it was probably a lot scarier than your average kingdom hijack. If we passed on our chance to do something about it, there was zero possibility that it would just resolve on its own. We had to strike before it was too late.

I’d have appreciated some help, but the sorcerers’ council wouldn’t believe us if we told them. Two former traveling companions came to mind as potential allies, but one of them was way off in Saillune and the other was who-knows-where. We probably didn’t have time to track them down.

Well... guess we’ve just gotta do it, I thought to myself with a faint internal sigh as I and my four companions began heading down the hill... Down the road to Gyria City.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t allow you in,” the young soldier said awkwardly as he blocked our path with his halberd.

We’d just reached one of the gates set into the wall around Gyria.

“Wh-What are you talking about?” Jade asked, understandably stunned by this unwelcoming stance.

I probably don’t need to tell you that the purpose of having a big wall around a castle town like this was to protect it from outside invaders—rival kingdoms waging war, hordes of rampaging monsters, that sort of thing. Generally speaking, ordinary folk coming and going from a city didn’t undergo too much scrutiny. Enforcing excessive restrictions requires manpower, after all, and discourages trade and tourism, which creates stagnation in the economy. And indeed, even as the soldier blocked our way, we could see traveling minstrels, merchants, and others still pouring in.

Obviously, I’d expect blatantly suspicious characters and wanted criminals to be barred, but anyone who looked normal enough and had a plausible reason for entering the city should be good to go. Plus, at a time like this, I’d wager that even someone who did look kinda shady would still be allowed in as long as they claimed to be mercenaries responding to the call.

And yet we were denied entry, even with the local knight Jade in our company?

“This is absurd! I’m going to repeat myself... I am Jade Caudwell, knight of the second squadron of the Blue Knights of Gyria Palace, returning from a mission! I vouch for the four people traveling with me! Why is that not enough?!” Jade demanded, his voice rising.

But the soldier responded awkwardly, “Actually... I know who you are. That’s why I can’t let you in.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Those... were my orders.”

“Orders?”

“Yes... Regarding you and your brother Grya...”

“What are they?! Stop stammering and tell me!”

“Ah... well... you were stripped of your titles for going AWOL...”

“What?!”

“So... we were told not to let you in... even if you returned.”

Stripped of their titles and exiled?! That seemed excessively harsh, even to third parties like us, and the news was clearly an incredible shock to the man himself.

“Who... Who decreed that?!” he inquired.

“Well... it was...” The young soldier broke into a sweat under the gaze of the other soldiers around him. “General Allus...”

“General Allus?!” Jade sputtered angrily.

The soldier continued defensively, “Well, he said our liege authorized it... so I couldn’t exactly argue...” He was referring to the king, of course.

“Fine, then. It’s not your fault. If we can’t get in, we can’t get in... but could I ask you for a favor? Would you please pass on a message to my father, General Grancis Caudwell?”

“Well... actually...” The soldier fell into awkward silence again.

“What? Don’t tell me you were ordered not even to pass along messages on my behalf...”

“No, it’s just that General Grancis... He passed away... of illness.”

It was now Jade’s turn to fall into silence. He simply stood there, stunned.

The tavern that night was boisterous. The smell of alcohol filled the room, as did the bragging of drunkards, occasionally punctuated by raucous laughter. Our table was the only quiet one.

We were in the bar on the first floor of an inn in a small town next to Gyria. Its size was surprising given its proximity to the capital, but perhaps travelers rarely stopped in, instead choosing to make the last leg to the big city.

“So, I gotta ask...” Luke piped up around the time we finished eating our dinner, as if something had just occurred to him. “Just who is this General Allus guy? When his name came up this afternoon, you acted like you had a history...”

Jade took a sip of his radda wine, then responded, “He’s the leader of the Red Knights. I know it’s poor character to gossip, but I’ve never heard much good about him. They say he didn’t exactly come by his current position honestly, and he frequently locked horns with my proper-to-a-fault father. He’s also the one who first promoted Sherra and introduced her to our liege. Father believed he was trying to curry favor with the king.”

“Hmm... So a bad guy, is what you’re saying,” Luke summarized, taking a bite of fried pork. “What’s the plan now, Master Jade?”

“What do you mean?” Jade asked, his brow furrowing.

“You know. Dad gone, title gone, and now you’re locked out. Sounds like you don’t owe this kingdom nothin’ no more.”

Sheesh, dude! Have a little heart!

“All things bein’ equal, you still feel like you need to stop Sherra and fix things here? Even if it puts you in danger? I gotta be honest. Seems like it’d be easier to move somewhere else an’ find someone new to serve. How ’bout Zephilia? I hear good things about the queen there.”

Jade remained silent for a while, then downed the rest of his cup. “No... I still love my kingdom.”

“Gotcha,” Luke said, then poured Jade his next round.

“Moreover... I have my doubts,” Jade confessed after taking another drink. “For my father to die of illness at a time like this... That’s a little too convenient, don’t you think?”

“You suspect murder?” Mileena muttered. Jade nodded.

He had a point. General Allus was Jade’s father’s rival, and he’d also sponsored Sherra. General Grancis, suspicious, had sent his sons to seek the aid of local lords... and then kicked the bucket while they were gone. It was natural to suspect that either Allus or Sherra might resort to drastic measures to get him out of the way. And since the guy I pegged for Jade’s brother had been killed by Shaman, who was also presumably working for Sherra, I wouldn’t be surprised if his father had met a similar fate.

“If it’s true... then at the very least, I want to find out who did it.”

“All righty... Then our next step’s obvious. We gotta cook up a plan,” Luke announced.

“Yeah. We’re up against a pretty tough opponent, after all,” I said in agreement.

Of course, having a plan wouldn’t guarantee our victory. Silly name or not, Sherra was Dynast’s personal General. Now, when it comes to demons, sometimes there’s a wild disparity in strength between individuals sharing similar titles—like the Priest of the Beast having power equivalent to the General and Priest of the Dragon combined—but we’re still dealing with a totally different league than your average grunt-level demons. I’m talking “mountains to pebbles” different. Charging in with no plan at all would be suicide.

“First, let’s take stock of what we got. Three of us can use black or shamanistic magic. As for the other two...” Luke looked at Gourry first. “You guys said you were lookin’ for magic swords, right? Seemed like you found a pretty decent one in Solaria... Found a better one since?”

“No, he’s still using that one,” I responded for him. “It’s sharp, it’s durable, and it can deflect most spells. It also seems like it can do some damage to demons—but only some, so don’t expect any sure kills against a powerful foe.”

“Gotcha.” Luke thought for a minute. “Mine’s only on the upper end of decent, blade-wise, but it can absorb a single spell.”

“It can absorb a spell?!”

“Yeah. When I’m fightin’ normally, it’ll employ an effect similar to the spell it’s absorbed. So if you hit it with an Elemekia Lance in advance, that gives it the power to cut through demons.”

“That’s totally awesome!”

“I can also fire the stored spell. No need for a chant—I just will the sword to do it and it does. Pretty good for catchin’ someone off guard, but then it’s a normal sword again until it gets a new spell cast on it. That said, in either case, the spell’s less powerful than it would be straight from the caster’s mouth. The main problem is, I don’t have a great idea of how strong a spell the sword can really stand. So if I get desperate an’ cast somethin’ too powerful on it, it might just break altogether.”

“Hmm...”

“So, how about we split up the magic swords between the two non-casters?”

“Good idea.”

In other words, distribute our resources wisely. Without a blade capable of fighting demons, Jade had been sidelined during our fight against Rebifor. If we had to face greater numbers in the future, a helpless Jade would seriously weigh us down.

“Then how about if Jade takes Gourry’s sword, and Gourry takes Luke’s?” I proposed.

Mileena nodded in silent response.

“Er... you’re all making it sound like demons are all we’re going to fight,” Jade cut in.

Luke paused our sword-swapping discussion in realization. “Oh... right, we ain’t told him.” He thought for a minute, then scratched at his cheek. “Let’s see, how to put this... It’s kind of a long story, but, uh... I’ll be blunt. Sherra’s a demon.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Excuse me?” Jade asked, dumbstruck by this totally un-sugarcoated reveal.

“Like I said, she’s a demon. Follows that she’d be surrounded by demons, right?”

“But... she just looks like an ordinary woman...”

“The stronger they get, the more human they appear. They also get better at concealing their demonic presences.”

“Ah... is that how it works?” Jade asked vaguely, as if he didn’t entirely believe us.

“Anyway, our first task is to get into the city... which I guess means we’re hidin’ out at your place, Master Jade,” Luke proposed.

Jade looked unhappy about the idea. “But... my mother passed when I was young. If my father’s dead and I’m exiled, then it’s possible they’ve confiscated all my assets...”

“Oh, c’mon, it ain’t like they’d tear the place down overnight. Anyway, step one is gettin’ inside the city. We’ll spend tonight restin’ to build up our stamina, then really get rollin’ on the plan tomorrow. You with me?” Luke asked.

We all nodded in agreement.

The ruckus in the bar had died down some time ago. The hours crept by in the stagnant darkness.

“Ah! I can’t sleep!” I shouted as I leaped out of bed, probably sometime around midnight.

At times like these, a warm meal would send me right to dreamland. I doubted the bar/restaurant downstairs was still open, but I nevertheless got dressed, left my room, and headed for the first-floor eatery. Despite my expectations of disappointment, I found the lights on as well as a certain compatriot...

“Mileena?”

Yup. The silver-haired mercenary was seated at a corner table, nursing her way through a bottle of wine.

“What are you doing here by yourself?” I asked. “Oh, hey, innkeep. Got anything hot to eat?”

“I could warm up what’s left of the stew.”

“Sure, sounds great.” I put in my order and sat down across from the bar’s only other patron. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

“I suppose not...” she responded listlessly, taking another sip of her drink.

I couldn’t blame her. We’d be heading into Gyria City the following night, and since time was of the essence, we might end up going straight to the palace for a showdown with Sherra. Knowing we were about to pick a fight with the General of the Dynast, a serious business demon, wasn’t exactly conducive to R&R.

“Come to think of it... I don’t find myself in situations like this very often,” I admitted.

“Situations like what?” she asked.

“You know. Just us girls talking. Luke’s always with you, after all.”

“And Master Gourry is always with you.”

I scratched at the tip of my nose. “Well... he does call himself my guardian. That said, I’m the one who makes most of the money, so he’s more a gigolo than anything. You mind if I ask, Mileena, why you travel with Luke?”

Mileena was silent for a while, a smile hanging on the corners of her mouth. “Because I’m very awkward,” she replied enigmatically.

Um...

“You mean—” I started, then found myself turning around.

The dim restaurant interior, the lamp swaying from the ceiling, the dingy walls—everything looked exactly as it had before. I thought I’d felt a strange presence for a moment, though... Was it just my imagination?

“You didn’t imagine that,” Mileena interjected as if she’d read my mind. She then rose to her feet and put a hand on her sword. “The innkeeper has disappeared.”

I whipped around and saw she was right. The man who’d previously been visible beyond the counter in the kitchen was now nowhere to be seen. “Then do you think...”

She nodded in response. “We’re back inside a barrier.”

“Heh heh. You’ve certainly let your guard down. Or are you simply that confident?” A deep voice echoed through the dark room.

Where is he?! I looked all around and couldn’t see any sign of the intruder. I could sense his presence for sure, though.

“Heh heh heh... You can’t see me, can you? Humans are so pathetic. I wonder why Lady Sherra fears you so...”

Fwshhh... Accompanying the disembodied voice, I heard a sound like sand pouring in from somewhere.

Where is that coming from?! The center of the room...?

“The lamp!” I shouted.

Mileena looked up. The faint light cast by the lamp had begun to fall to the floor in a thin stream, like a ray of sun beaming down between clouds. As I watched, it started to expand and take a roughly humanoid silhouette. Two dark, empty eyes sat inside a head that seemed to be made of calcified luminescent moss.

“Do you see me now, humans? Remember my name. I am Gubagg, servant to General Sherra.”

So it was a demon working for Sherra! Still, knowing this guy’s employer didn’t change our top priority—and by that, I mean beating his ass!

I had no intention of waiting until the moss-man finished assembling himself, so I released my spell immediately. “Dynast Blas!”

With a furious crackle, my magical lightning blasted the luminous figure away! Nice!

“It’s not over yet!” Mileena cried.

For a minute, I didn’t understand what she meant. I looked back at the pale figure and...

I was stunned into silence. I watched as my raging magical lightning was sucked into moss-man’s gaping black eyes. Before long, the bolt was completely gone and Gubagg turned his gaze back at us.

“That won’t work.” There was a smile in his voice. “The eyes of Gubagg lead all things to void. As long as they work, you cannot defeat me... Do you see now?”

L-Lead things to void? Sounds like a certain golden-haired dark lord I know... But if Gubagg was on that level, he wouldn’t be running errands for Sherra. He had to be using some kind of dimension-warping trick to send the power that hit him somewhere else. Either way, though, this was going to be a tough fight.

“We’ve sent assassins after your friends as well, granting you the mercy of killing you all together. Now, let me show you... my other power.”

As Gubagg spoke—Rustle—something moved on the floor at his feet.

I looked in the direction of the sound and found myself at a loss for words. Gubagg’s moss-like body was spreading out from his legs, eating away at whatever it touched. Corrosion?!

“Soon I will expand until I devour this entire barrier... including the filthy humans within!” Gubagg pronounced triumphantly.

All the while, the corrosion continued to spread, blocking the staircase to the second floor and the way to the front door. Not that going up the stairs or out the door would do much good inside a barrier space anyway...

Corrosion plus spell nullification, huh? It was true that most humans wouldn’t stand a chance against this guy. Too bad I wasn’t most humans! I began to chant a spell. But—Whoosh!—before I could finish it, Mileena took off! She drew her sword and charged Gubagg.

What the heck is she doing?!

I didn’t have time to stop her. She thrust her sword into the white moss eating through the floor!

“Fool! That won’t work!”

Gubagg was right. The white moss wasn’t inhibited at all. Rather, it began to creep up Mileena’s blade. She quickly pulled her sword out and lifted it into the air, but sticky trails of the moss clung to it tenaciously.

Bad move, Mileena... Yet just as I thought that, Mileena made her next play! This time she jumped and rammed her sword into Gubagg’s eye.

That won’t work...

Gubagg was probably thinking the same thing. But before he could say it...

“Elemekia Flame!” A strike from close range enveloped his entire body!

Aha!

“Geh!” Gubagg let out a short scream.

Crick. There was a soft snapping noise at Mileena’s feet as she landed. Crick. Crackapop. Crickle. It continued intermittently, until at last—Ziiing!—with a sound like crystal shattering, Gubagg’s luminescent body collapsed in pieces.

Huh... nice one, Mileena.

She’d intentionally gotten part of Gubagg to cling to her sword, then shoved it into the demon’s eye. Hitting him with an attack spell then meant that if he absorbed it into his eye, he’d be sucking his own body into the void at the same time, allowing the spell to hit him that way. In other words, Mileena had set Gubagg up to take the spell no matter how he responded.

Guess Gubagg’s decision to intimidate us by monologuing about his abilities had been his undoing. Granted, I hadn’t done much myself...

Mileena turned to face me. “What’s wrong? You look disappointed.”

I mean... I was hoping to hit him with my Ragna Blade and go, “Well? How do you like the taste of real void?” But, you know, whatever...

“Ah... It’s nothing. Nothing at all,” I said, feeling a little deflated nonetheless. I shook it off and looked around. “Is the barrier still active?” I whispered, and Mileena followed my eyes. The kitchen beyond the counter was still deserted.

“Does that mean someone else put it up?” she asked.

I nodded. “He said assassins were after the others too, right? Let’s go, Mileena!”

We both nodded and made a beeline for the stairs, when...

“Excuse me! Ma’ams!” the innkeeper shouted from behind us.

Huh? We turned to see him emerging from the kitchen, holding a bowl of stew.

“It’s ready,” he called.

“Oh... um...” Mileena and I shared a glance. Did that mean... the barrier was down?

“Mileena!” Suddenly, we heard Luke shouting from the top of the stairs.

Ah, guess he made it out... But what about the others? Before I could put words to my thoughts, Luke tore down the stairs and seized Mileena in his arms. Uh...

“Er... Luke...” she mumbled.

“I’m so glad you’re safe, Mileena,” he sighed.

“Um, listen...”

“Were you hurt?”

“No, but... um...”

“Ahh, it’s lovely to be young. But keep it in your rooms, all right?” the old innkeep chimed in.

That finally snapped Luke out of it, and he released Mileena. “Ah! Sorry, couldn’t help myself...”

“Yes, you could. Now, where are the other two?”

“Oh, right... Yeah, they’re fine.”

“Hey, Lina.” As if waiting for that cue, Gourry and Jade peeked over at us from the railing atop the stairs. “Figured you’d be okay.”

He figured, huh? Well, I guess that’s a sign he’s got faith in me... But you could still show a little concern, Mr. Self-Proclaimed Guardian! At least there was no need to worry about him sweeping me into his arms.

“They sent a demon after us. It wasn’t that Rebifor guy, though. What about you guys?” I asked.

“Two of them. Master Gourry and Master Luke defeated one, and the other disappeared. Rebifor wasn’t among them,” Jade responded.

I wondered if Rebifor’s absence was because he’d yet to recover from the blow I’d dealt him. Or perhaps...

“Hmm... Then it’s possible they might attack again right away,” I mused.

“Right away? You mean tonight?” Luke asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. We’ve skated by so far because they keep underestimating us, but the minute they decide to take us seriously, they might just start sending waves of opponents to wear us down. I mean, it’s kinda weird that Rebifor wasn’t here for this little shindig, right? Makes me wonder if there’s a second, more powerful force waiting in the wings. If so, our best bet right now is to get moving.”

“Get moving? You’re suggesting—”

“That’s right,” I nodded, not letting Mileena finish. In other words, we were heading straight for Gyria.

Mileena looked at me for a long moment and at last nodded.

“I completely agree!” Jade said from over the railing.

“Okay! It’s decided! Let’s get going—”

“Wait a minute!” came a sudden interruption.

I turned to the source... and remembered the innkeep was still there.

“I’m sorry to repeat myself, but your stew is ready.”

“Hurry up, you guys!” I called encouragingly.

“You don’t get to say that!” Luke grumped.

After I’d eaten my stew, we’d packed our things, paid our tab, and departed the inn down the night road to Gyria City.

“How could you have stopped to eat stew?!”

“C’mon! I couldn’t just leave food on the table!”

“Still, is it safe to be taking the main road? If the enemies are en route for a follow-up attack, we might run into them,” Jade said, interrupting my argument with Luke.

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Pure demons wouldn’t exactly be walking the road to our inn. They just pop outta nowhere unexpectedly. The one that split earlier probably popped over to wherever Sherra is... I guess not-so-unexpectedly. But if a second wave is coming, they’ll also pop up unexpectedly at the inn. Which means the road to the city is probably safe for now,” I explained as we walked along in the faint moonlight.

I continued on, my voice carrying on the chilly night breeze, “These demons seem to be pretty confident in their skills, and they don’t regard humans as much of a threat. That’s their weak point in general, and it applies here too. Even if they can teleport, catching people who are on the move will take them as long as it would anyone else.”

“Teleport?” Jade breathed in near disbelief. I could understand how surreal the idea sounded to anyone who’d never seen it with their own eyes. “But teleportation suggests very fast movement. I wonder why there’s been such a delay between their attacks...”

“Hmm...” Dude had a point. From the time Shaman had first attacked us on the road to Rebifor’s ambush in the city, and from then to tonight’s raid... There’d been multiple days between each skirmish. Given that they knew we were heading for Gyria City, they could’ve been a lot more aggressive in their pursuit. “Well, I’m sure they’ve got their reasons. For now, let’s hurry on to Gyria City!”

“I told you, you don’t get to say that!”

Fortunately, we managed to reach Gyria before dawn. (I was still pretty sleepy though.) I took advantage of the dark to Levitate us over the wall and enter the city with the guards none the wiser. (I was still really sleepy though.) The plan was to sneak into Jade’s house, catch some Zs, then find a home base come dawn, but...

“It’s... gone,” Luke whispered.

“Indeed... it is,” Jade said emptily, just standing and staring.

Where the house should have been sat a pile of rubble. It must have been a mighty fine mansion before its untimely toppling, though. The grounds were vast, and though they were hard to see from here, the gardens appeared to be well tended. There just... wasn’t a house anymore.

Sheesh... Jade said something about them seizing his assets, but I didn’t think that would include destroying the house itself...

“So... what’s the plan?” Gourry asked with a yawn.

I snapped out of my thoughts. “Oh, good question! We can’t just sit around gawking, now can we? I guess it’s time to...”

“Time to what?” Luke prompted me.

I just stood there in silence for a while. The truth was... I hadn’t actually thought of anything.

Guh! My lack of sleep is giving me brain fog!

“Anyway, let’s... get moving! Jade, is there anywhere else around here we can lie low?”

“W-Well, I wouldn’t know much about places like that...”

“Then... we’ll have to walk around until we find something,” I said, starting off in a random direction. The others followed behind me.

Guh! When you’re looking forward to hitting the hay, missing it feels all the worse!

“How about an inn in the slums?” Luke suggested.

“Sounds good. Which way’re the slums?” I asked Jade.

“I’m sorry... I don’t really know,” he replied.

Such mind-numbing conversations continued as we traipsed around and the eastern sky began to lighten.

Haaahh... Dawn already?

More and more people started to appear out on the streets as we went. Merchants off to sell their wares, children up early, soldiers on their patrols...

Wait, soldiers?!

“Hey! You there!” Before I could follow that train of thought to its appropriate reaction, a small group of soldiers was already coming after us. One pointed and said, “You’re Jade Caudwell!”

“I am,” Jade responded, puffing out his chest.

Ahhh! He’s not thinking!

“I knew it! For entering the city in defiance of your exile—”

I wasn’t about to let him finish this time! “Let’s beat it, guys!” I said, taking off in a dash. Everyone else quickly followed suit.

“Hey! Wait, you!” The soldiers gave chase.

We zig-zagged down streets and alleyways until...

“Diem Wind!”

Whoosh!

“Gwuh!”

“Ack!”

The wind spell Luke, our rearguard, let fly stopped the heavily armored soldiers in their tracks. We continued to speed off, leaving our pursuers in the dust.

Okay! We’re in the clear! Yet no sooner had I thought that than—Fweeeee!—a high-pitched squeal rang through the area. One of the soldiers was blowing the whistle on us!

Not good! He’s gonna draw a crowd!

If we were dealing with demons, we could blow them away and no one would complain. But these were just ordinary folk following orders. We couldn’t off ’em like that. Which meant our only recourse was to run, but... where? That was the question.

“This way!” I heard a voice call from behind a building.

Huh? It kinda sounded familiar. We turned to look and saw a young man beckoning.

“Sir Jade, over here!” he called again.

“You’re—”

“Hurry!”

“Understood! Come on, everyone!”

On Jade’s urging, we followed after the young man. He took us through the back alleys, up a fire escape and...

“Here we are.”

Eventually, he brought us to a room on the second floor of a rather new-looking building. It was a bit cramped for six people, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Once we’d caught our breath, I indicated the young man with my eyes and asked Jade, “You know this guy?”

The young man answered for himself with a wince. “Well... we met yesterday, actually. At the gate.”

At the gate? Wait... Oh!

“You’re Gatekeeper No. 1!” I exclaimed.

“Um... I have a name. It’s Maias,” he said, wincing further.

“Who?” Gourry asked.

“You know! That guy! The unremarkable little toady who wouldn’t let us through yesterday!” I told him.

“Well... I wish you’d put it another way...” Maias grumbled.

“But why did you save us? I’ve been exiled, haven’t I?” Jade inquired.

At this, Maias lowered his voice. “Those were my orders and I’m still a soldier, so I didn’t really have a choice in front of the others. But if I’m honest... I don’t trust General Allus at all.” He let out a sigh. “The promotion of that mercenary woman, her getting the run of the place, and the report of General Grancis’s passing... It all felt, um...”

“You think he was murdered?” Jade asked.

Maias nodded. “I do. Rumor is spreading all across town. And if it’s true... the kingdom is finished! So, Sir Jade... I want you to find out the truth!”

“Why don’cha just do it yourse— Mmgh!” Luke began before Mileena clamped a hand over his mouth.

As reliant on us as our little toady was, the simple fact that he’d given us a place to hide out was a million times better than the alternative.

I wasn’t sure if he’d heard Luke or not, but Jade replied, “Listen... are you sure this won’t cause trouble for your family?”

“Don’t worry. I came from another city to become a knight here. And no sacrifice is too great if it means making our kingdom a better place!”

“Very well! I shall honor that dedication. We’ll expose the intrigues of General Allus and Sherra the mercenary to protect the people! Even if I’ve been stripped of my rank, I still have my pride as a knight! I’d gladly lay my life on the line to save the kingdom!”

“Sir Jade! You are truly the epitome of knighthood!”

“No, far from it. A true knight must—”

Yeah, I did not have the energy to deal with this chivalric rabbit hole.

“Anyhoo... let’s get some shut-eye,” I said.

“Good idea.”

“I’m just gonna lie down wherever.”

Ignoring Jade and Maias as they got lost in their own little world, the rest of us settled in.

We got a move on much later that day, sometime after nightfall. We’d awoken while it was still light out and discussed our strategy some, but there wasn’t a lot to say about the basic strokes of what we had to do: infiltrate the castle, find Sherra, and beat her.

Jade knew the castle’s basic layout, but understandably, not where Sherra herself would be or what the defenses were like. Our safest course of action thus would’ve been to gather intel first, but there was no guarantee we’d learn what we wanted to know. Moreover, reconnaissance was time-consuming. Every minute we wasted in town was another minute Sherra might be using to muster her forces or track us down, putting us in even hotter water than before. That left us with only one option—strike first, ask questions later! Yeah, it might’ve been absurdly reckless, but it was the only hope we had of catching the enemy flat-footed.

And so we left Maias to guard the fort, while Gourry, Luke, Mileena, Jade, and I made for the night-cloaked castle. The sliver of moon in the sky illuminated its dim stone walls.

“Welp, guess we’d better do this,” Luke said.

The group nodded in response. Our three casters then started chanting spells. I grabbed Gourry and Luke lifted Jade over the wall with a Levitation spell. Our destination was the guest lodging house on the castle grounds, which Jade claimed to know well enough. We flew along, letting him point the way.

Obviously, it was no sure bet that Sherra would be there, but it was as good an educated guess as any. If it turned out to be wrong, we could always tie up some guards there and get them to spill the beans on her whereabouts.

Soon enough, we touched down on the roof of the lodging house.

“So... how do we sneak in?” Luke asked.

“No need,” replied a voice that didn’t come from any of us.

In surprise, we all looked to see who it was. The source was a floating shadow, backed by the sliver of moon...

A demon!