CH 1

Chapter1 - Rescue

In this deep, dense forest.

The trees grew so thickly that visibility was poor even in daylight.

One would wonder how far he could go to get out.

While walking, one could feel as if being sucked into the depths.

The sun had already set, and the moonlight was dimly illuminating the area through thin clouds.

A slender, feminine shadow was scampering through the forest…

She was running away, dragging her leg, which seemed to be injured.

Dozens of small humanoid shadows were chasing the woman…

The clouds parted and the moonlight illuminated small shadows chasing the woman.

The figures were neither described as human or animal.

Individually, they were probably only a little over a meter tall.

Their faces were wrinkled like newborn babies, but they looked strangely mature.

They were extraterrestrial…grotesque demons that shouldn’t have existed in this world.

A strange voice escaped from one ugly, hung mouth, which was transmitted over like a ripple. Soon, horrifying cries rose from all of them.

「Apichayu-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u.」

「Gwabyu-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u.」

Could this be considered a decent human voice?

No, it was not even an animal sound.

It sounded like a voice squeezed from the bottom of the gut while making chittering, tongue-licking sounds.

It was a disgusting growl that only pushed to the forefront their desire to kill the prey they were targeting.

「AAH!」

The woman suddenly let out a muffled voice.

It could be taken as a sigh of despair.

In front of her was a sheer cliff, and the road that should have been ahead was partially gone, as if it had been scraped away.

「AWOOOOOOOOOO!」

Was this the joy of finally catching up with their prey?

The deformed demons howled in unison.

The moonlight illuminated the trapped woman as well as the deformed demons.

She was a young and beautiful woman.

Was she perhaps a little over 20 years old?

She was fairly tall, with blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes.

She possessed beautiful features with her straight nose, but her fatigue was evident in her face.

However, even under the circumstances, her calm and elegant demeanor, plus the sharp look in her eyes suggested that she was no ordinary person.

The woman muttered something and clasped her hands together, as if trying to make a last stand.

Then, 「Poof」, a white light appeared between her hands.

The dazzling white light eventually turned into a small fireball, which gradually grew larger.

Seeing this, the deformed demons also chanted unintelligible words and created a fireball that was even bigger than the one the woman had triggered.

Nevertheless, the fact that the fireball was triggered just a tad too quickly was proof that the woman still had some luck left in her.

She unleashed the fireball at the deformed ones with all her strength, and threw herself down the cliff before her opponents’ fireballs could land.

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「You’re awake?」

Came a young man’s voice.

The woman was regaining consciousness, but her eyes were still not opening properly.

After a while, her vision finally cleared up.

Then…

In the dimness, she could make out the figure of a man sitting on the ground.

The forest at night was chilly and cold.

Apparently, the man had built a fire to keep himself warm.

The woman hurriedly got up and tried to brace herself.

However, a wrenching pain shot through her whole body, and she weakly  collapsed to the ground with a groan.

She found herself covered with a dirty cloak whose owner she didn’t know.

The young man said with his back turned.

「I suggest you lie down and take it easy. You’ve just fallen off a high cliff. No matter how much magic you’ve cast to enhance your physical capabilities, you’re still too reckless. You’re damn lucky to be alive.」

「…………」

The woman remained silent and gave him a suspicious look.

…What did he mean, physical enhancement? How? How did he know I used that magic?

「You’re suspicious of me, aren’t you? Well, that’s reasonable. I learned magic from the person who raised me instead of my parents in my home village.」

As if he had read the woman’s thoughts, the man said without hesitation.

The woman felt a little curious about the man.

She wanted to see what kind of person she was dealing with, but the man kept his back to her, so she couldn’t see his appearance.

「Why?」

Why did he help her? The woman was about to ask, but then she remembered that she had not yet thanked him for saving her, or even told him her name.

「Thank you. I’m grateful for your assistance. My name is…」

「Wait!」

The woman was about to utter her name…

The man raised his hand to stop her and muttered, 「We’ll talk later.」

「They’ve been hunting you for a while now. And this magic wave aura… doesn’t belong to a human being.」

Hearing the man’s words, the woman was already prepared to die.

He saved her, but she wasn’t even sure if the man in front of her was an ally or not.

It was all but a dream, expecting that he might fight to save her.

Even if she were to assess calmly, her pursuers were a pack of deformed demons, while she was all alone. 

They were opponents that she couldn’t even match. On top of that, she has very little magic left.

She was wounded, unable to fight to her satisfaction.

She had decided to take her own life… if the need arose.

But it was puzzling.

The woman couldn’t detect that an enemy was approaching.

She desperately searched for the enemy with her remaining magic power…

Thinking about it, the reason they were in such a dire situation was partly because her search spell didn’t work at all. Thus, they were caught off guard.

While the woman was lost in thought, the man muttered to himself.

「Hmm, well, they’re not that big of a deal.  They’ll at least give me something to chow down for dinner. What do you say? You sure you want me to do all the killing?」

「Huh?」

The woman was stunned.

Not a big deal? Just to satisfy his hunger?

What did he mean? Has he spotted the enemy and knew what they were capable of?

「Whatever…Leave it to me!」

「Ah!?」

As soon as she heard those words, she was filled with nostalgia.

It was a phrase her fiancé, now deceased, used to say.

「Sir Reinhardt…」

The woman’s unintentional muttering melted into the darkness quietly…

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The young man stood there with his arms outstretched, protecting the frightened woman.

The raging bonfire made the man’s tall, thin frame stand out in the darkness.

The deformed demons surrounded them.

But the man showed no sign of timidity.

「Hmm, looks like the pseudolife product of some alchemist or necromancer’s fun – homunculus? It seems like you can do little magic too.」

A murmur escaped from the man’s mouth.

「Aaaaa-e-e-e-e-e a-a-a-a-a」

「Hyau-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-」

The deformed demons were chirping away at the man.

They have completely identified the man as the enemy and gave off a gloomy aura to kill him and the woman behind him.

「I was going to ask you a lot of questions if you were decent human beings, but that’s probably not going to happen…」

In response to the man’s muttering and shrugging, the deformed demons chanted what sounded like the same words as before, and a number of fireballs appeared above their heads again.

「What? How dare you come at me with fire magic?」

The man exhaled, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

A smirk appeared on his face.

The moment the deformed demons let out an unintelligible cry, a great number of fireballs rushed in at a tremendous speed.

Both the lives of the man and woman seemed to be on the verge of extinction.

But just as the fireballs were about to explode, everything suddenly vanished as if a giant invisible hand grabbed them.

「Kwao-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o」

「Hyae-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o」

The deformed demons howled in surprise.

「N-No way!?」

Even the woman, who was lying motionless, looked stunned.

It was a magical barrier!?

No, it wasn’t! It wasn’t a magical barrier!

Amazing! This was magic…magic negation!

「Aaaaa-e-e-e-e-e a-a-a-a-a」

「Hyau-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-」

The deformed demons looked at each other and shouted something.

Undeterred, they shot magical fireballs at him again.

However, what had just happened was neither a fluke nor an illusion.

Similarly, the fireballs simply disappeared in front of the man.

「Pfft, thanks for saving me from using my own magic. Right, Fire Salamander?」

Along with his mutterings, red flamed seemed to engulf his entire body.

It wasn’t that his body burst into flames.

The legendary spirit, the Fire Salamander, transformed into an astral spirit and rose, climbing on the man’s body. 

The woman lying down on the ground was spellbound.

「Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!」

The tables have turned too quickly.

The deformed demons were frightened.

Perhaps they felt the monstrous wrath of the Fire Spirit and were terribly frightened.

For the first time in their lives, they felt fear, as they have only ever relied on their numbers and tormented those weaker than them.

The man chanted a spell as if singing.

「O Fire Lizard! You are the vein of this earth and the great spirit of fire! O messenger of God, who gives people strength and grace to live! Strike down these fiends who misuse their power! Purge them with the power of your raging flames and wipe them from this holy land!」

A vortex of flames in the shape of a fire lizard appeared above the man’s head and soared.

「Fire Salamander! Destroy them with your fire breath, Fire Breath!」

KAAAAAHHHH!

The whirlpool of flames, which should be an astral spirit, roared with a tremendous roar.

It was impossible, but it definitely roared.

「Hyahhhhhhh!」

At last, the deformed demons couldn’t stand the fear and scrambled away screaming.

The fire lizard turned into a whirlpool of flames, soaring through the sky, raining down scorching flames without mercy.

Those who were exposed to the flames were in agony as they were quickly charred and shattered.

So…

In the end, the grotesque demons that had been chasing the woman were wiped out without leaving a trace.