Chapter 185 - Vol. 3 - 58

Ash lost track of how much time she spent there, waiting for Kaori to wake up. Her Demon Form faded as Ash continued to watch. Kaori's eyes never opened. Even as demons began to pour into the street, eliminating the few remaining soldiers around her, Ash kept her eyes on Kaori, hoping she'd be back in a second or two. 

It was when a demon tried to claw her head off that she realized she couldn't stay here. A monster approached from behind, Ash turned around and dodged out of the way of a quick swipe. With gritted teeth, Ash transformed her gauntlets and tripped the demon backwards. 

Mounting it, she stabbed through its head and quickly went back to Kaori's side. 

... We can't stay here,  Ash thought, and she placed her hands under Kaori's legs and her back, and lifted her up. 

With that done, she started running straight back to the palace. Her heartbeat thumping in her ears, Ash didn't pay any mind to the fresh blood running down the street, or the cries of wounded people nearby. She looked ahead and hoped that Kaori had just been briefly rendered unconscious by something. And that when she woke up, she'd be herself as well. 

"W-What is that? Are those the Saviors?" A soldier asked as he saw her walking by. "Do you need help!?" He yelled from the other side of the street. 

Ash completely ignored him. Instead, her response was to move faster. 

A few wounded soldiers were laying on the stone to her right. Ash was jogging past them when they noticed her. 

"W-Wait, I saw her before, she can heal! Savior, please, help us!" One of them yelled. Ash didn't even glance in their direction. 

In her arms, Kaori's body flashed with violet and Ash briefly worried she'd wake up and go feral. However, the light disappeared, and Kaori remained unconscious.  What the hell is happening?  Ash wondered. 

She went through that moment in her mind again. Kaori had been picked up by the Nightmare, the demon presumably tried to turn her into a demon, and then Kaori activated her Champion of Lumina ability. 

Something happened at that moment, and it left Kaori unconscious. 

She'll wake up in a bit,  Ash thought.  It just... Put her to sleep or something. 

Her eyes subtly went to Kaori's horns, and her demonic hand. Ash pulled her eyes away and focused on the path back to the palace. 

"It'll be fine, it'll be..." She muttered to herself. 

... Please, just be alright,  she borderline prayed in her thoughts. 

Soon after this though, she came across a squad of soldiers. Knights and guards alike, each equipped with those insanely large crossbows, on their way to the fight that Ash had just left. One of their commanders pointed ahead and urged the soldiers to continue, but they stopped when they saw Ash. 

"Savior... Is she...?" The commander said. 

"No, she's fine," Ash replied curtly. 

"Ah, I see. Well, you can likely head back and rest now," the commander told her. 

"Why?" 

"The reinforcements have arrived. They're entering the city from the southern side, through the area with the portal that you closed." 

Oh, shit.  Ash thought. That was smart of them. Instead of taking on the enemies where they'd be the most buffed thanks to Niven, they chose the southern portion of the city where the demons had sieged earlier. 

"The tide of battle should turn in our favor... so long as the strongest of their demons has been dealt with. Has it?" He asked. 

Ash nodded. In truth, she didn't know if the demon survived its injuries or not. Last she saw, the demon was running away. However, she doubted that even if it did, it wouldn't return to combat so soon. 

"Yeah," Ash nodded. "It's dealt with." 

"Then, in that case," the commander turned back towards his soldiers. "Forward, men! To battle!" 

And, with a few battle cries, the soldiers went on their way. As for Ash, all she wanted was to put Kaori down on a warm bed and wait for her eyes to open. So, she kept going until she eventually reached the Grey Chamber. 

Eliza was sitting outside, on a wooden chair with two knights next to her. From here, she was watching the fighting below, and saw Ash as she approached the gates. 

"..." Eliza looked down at Kaori's body and raised a brow. 

"We won," Ash stated simply and quickly, moving past her as quickly as she could. 

As the gates were opened for her, Ash heard Eliza mutter:

"Is that all you have to report?" 

"Yes," Ash said, entering the building and leaving Eliza there. 

---

Keiko

So far, the night had stretched almost endlessly, and yet, Keiko hadn't had to raise her blade. She figured that was a good sign. However, Ash, Kaori, and Yumi, all of which went out to do battle, hadn't come back yet. It made her anxious. 

She'd spent most of the night laying in bed resting with her sword by her side. In the event that the demons reached this palace, she'd stand up, hope her sickness would subside for at least a few minutes, and fight. 

However, that hadn't happened yet. Metsumi was in the room as well, sitting on a chair with her head leaned back against the wall, singing something that Keiko could barely listen to thanks to her thoughts running wildly in her mind. 

Her stomach burned and for a moment, she feared she'd vomit again, but it went away as quickly as it came. 

Is this just going to be my life for the next nine months?  Keiko wondered.  It can't be... There has to be something I can do about this. I can't just sit out for so long. 

Suddenly, the door opened. Keiko, startled, flinched and raised a hand. Metsumi did the same, but both of them relaxed a little when they saw who was there. It was Ash, and she was carrying Kaori in her arms. She had a bad cut over her left eye, and both of them were just about covered in blood. 

"What?" Keiko muttered as Metsumi quickly stood up and jogged over to her. 

"Is she hurt?" Metsumi asked. Ash shook her head. 

The half-demon took a deep breath as she walked in and placed Kaori next to Keiko. The blonde smelled like blood, both human and demonic. 

"She... I..." Ash started, but she couldn't get any other words out. As Keiko looked over at Kaori though, she noticed something. 

"Wait, what?" Keiko said with disbelief lacing each syllable as she saw a pair of black horns on Kaori's head. She reached over, touching them to see if she was just imagining those things. Then, she saw that Kaori's right hand had been turned into that of a demon, and all she could do was look up at Ash for answers. 

"I... We fought the demon and... I couldn't finish it in time before..." Ash's voice broke and she paused. "The demon tried to turn her but... I don't know. Something happened and now Kaori won't wake up." 

"... Let's give it a while then," Metsumi quickly advised. "She's probably fine. Whatever it was just drained her energy, probably." 

Ash raised a skeptical brow at her, but she nodded. The half-demon sat down nearby and put her head in her hands. 

"... She went crazy," Ash said lowly. "She attacked me and... But then, she was her again and... I don't know. I don't know what's going on." 

Keiko glanced over at Kaori again. Her face seemed peaceful, but Keiko wondered if she'd see a pair of violet eyes looking back at her when she woke up.  Is Kaori gone? 

"All we can do is wait, it sounds like," Metsumi stated, though Keiko could see her hands trembling as she crossed them. "For now, just let her rest here. Get yourself cleaned up," Metsumi told Ash. "The night's done, right?" 

"... Yeah." 

"Then, yes, go ahead, take a shower, and maybe we can find a mage or two to talk about this with. Or something like that, but... Thinking of a plan right now is going to be hard since you only just came back. Calm yourself down, and maybe an idea or two will pop up." 

"Okay." 

With that, Ash stood up, walked over to the door, and gave Kaori one last look before leaving the room. 

"... If she was turned though," Metsumi said when Ash left, "we'll need to tie her up." 

"Huh?" Keiko asked. 

"If she's..." Metsumi breathed in, "if she's become a demon... She could be dangerous. I'm gonna go look for some rope or something. I'll be right back." 

And so, Keiko was left there, with Kaori's unconscious body next to her. 

Keiko hesitated before reaching over and touching the horns on Kaori's head. No... they're very real.  She thought. Gently, she turned Kaori's face towards her, something that left her hand stained with violet as Kaori's body was still drenched. 

.... There's no way she's not okay, right?