"Time to kill them!" Kelvin growled, his haunches rising and his fur bristling. His claws gleamed and he got ready to pounce, but I hauled him back.
"Don't be an idiot!" I snapped at him. "There's at least an entire platoon of them! If you attack them now, you'll get killed!"
"Then what do you suggest we do?" he retorted. "Wait for them to arrive and kill us?"
"Violence is not always the answer," I replied.
"Are you suggesting we surrender?" Oswald asked timidly. "I doubt the humans will let us live."
"Even if they spare our lives, I would rather fight to the death than surrender!" Kelvin snarled. "My honor won't…"
"Honor is useless if you're dead," I cut him off. "Live and fight another day. That's more important than your honor. Put up with shame for now. Anyway, I'm not proposing that we surrender. Rather, I'm planning on some subterfuge."
"…huh?" both demons stared at me, bewildered. I smiled.
"Just play along with me."
Then I conjured a wall of ice around the corner. There was a few yells and several loud thumps as the soldiers desperately skidded to a stop, only to slip and fall or crash into the frozen barrier.
"Don't shoot!" I shouted from behind the wall. "We are not the enemy!"
There was a pause, and several barked orders. The moment I sensed a lull in movement, I stepped around from the wall, my hands raised.
"And you say you're not surrendering?" Kelvin scoffed under his breath. I ignored him and focused on the human soldiers before me.
"As you can see, we are not the enemy."
"Eh? But…" the leader of the platoon glanced at the dead dwarves. I felt sorrow, but no rage. The human soldiers were only doing their job. A few months ago, I would have done the same and impaled the enemy demons with icicle without any hesitation.
Then one of the older soldiers jolted up, his eyes wide.
"You…you are…?!"
"What, Garviel, you recognize him?" the sergeant asked, glancing at the older man. Garviel nodded dumbly.
"Aren't you Klein Pearson? From Hero Herman's party?"
Oh? He recognized me? That wasn't strange. Being in the Hero's party brought a fair amount of fame and prestige. I nodded slowly.
"Um…"
"I'm Garviel Loken, formerly of the 9th Regiment! I fought alongside your party once!" Garviel's eyes were shining. "We've met before. You probably don't remember, but you saved my men! At that time against an army of undead, you conjured a wall of ice to cover our retreat! And then you helped treat the wounds of several of my men!"
"Ah! The battle of Pollux Ridge!" I snapped my fingers, recalling the battle vividly. Then I grimaced. "We suffered quite the loss there."
"Indeed. The ninth regiment was broken up and merged with others because we have fallen way below fighting strength." Garviel seemed bitter for a moment, but he then lit up. "Nonetheless, because of your actions, most of my men survived!"
"That's great to hear. I was worried that my unorthodox treatments caused frostbite or gangrene."
"Nothing of the sort! It stopped the bleeding for long enough, so when the priests arrived with healing magic, they easily saved everyone's lives!"
"Oh! I've heard of him too!" another soldier piped up from behind. "You're the Kind-hearted Mage! Even though you use ice magic, your heart isn't as cold as your spells!"
"Uh…" that was cheesy as hell. Probably a stupid joke among soldiers, but nevertheless I was relieved that it allowed me to be recognized so easily.
The sergeant cleared his throat as more of the soldiers babbled.
"Sorry to cut short your reminiscing," he said. "But work first. What are you doing here, sir?"
"I was escorting prisoners," I explained, and then gestured for my two companions to come out. Kelvin balked at that and sent me a murderous glare, but Oswald was more than happy to shuffle to the front, his head lowered.
With a reluctant growl, Kelvin also emerged from hiding and lowered his claws, trying to look as defeated as possible.
"Eh? Prisoners?" The soldiers looked surprised. I nodded.
"For intelligence. I had been infiltrating the demon legions so that I can gather information on their movements."
"That makes sense. We'll need more information now that they've scattered and escaped all over the empire." Garviel was nodding. I inclined my head at that. Seemed like my guess was correct. The demon legions had retreated and abandoned the castle.
That could only mean one thing. The Demonic Emperor was defeated.
"Wait a moment!" one of the soldiers at the back raised a hand. He was staring at me inquisitively. "Something's not right!"
"What do you mean, Roland?" the sergeant asked.
"Klein Pearson…Klein Pearson…" Roland was repeating to himself. Then his eyes went wide. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?!"
"Ah, now that you mentioned it…"
"I did hear rumors about that…"
The soldiers began to look pretty uncomfortable, exchanging nervous glances. Roland pointed at me.
"That's right! Klein Pearson is supposed to have died in the first assault on the Demonic Emperor's castle a few months ago! He valiantly sacrificed his life so that his party could escape unscathed!"
"There were rumors that he betrayed Hero Herman's party and defected to the demons, and they were forced to kill him," another soldier added.
"But the soldiers…the ones from the 12th Regiment debunked that. They said that he was fighting the vampires to the last, until Mage Miranda sealed the exit. And they heard fierce fighting coming from within. They said that the kind-hearted mage fought until his last breath!"
"Yeah, but Hero Herman, Priestess Irene and the others claimed otherwise…"
"I've fought alongside Mage Klein Pearson!" Garviel said fiercely. "I can attest that he will never betray us!"
"Regardless…" the sergeant held up his hand. "It doesn't explain how he is showing up here alive after his death a few months ago." He glared at me. "Who are you?"
At his words, most of the soldiers raised his weapons and studied me suspiciously. Behind, Oswald paled while Kelvin bared his fangs. I stopped them with a raised hand.
"Obviously I didn't die. I defeated the lord of vampires, Vincent Lucard and managed to survive that battle."
"He's right," one of the soldiers whispered. "Intelligence said later that the lord of vampires died that day."
"If that's the case, then it makes sense that Klein Pearson survived," another added, lowering his weapon and staring at me in wonder.
"Yeah…but I was heavily injured and left for dead behind enemy lines. So I had to hide and infiltrate the demon legions. However, while being on the run, I was busily collecting information."
Kelvin tried not to snort, because he knew I had been in the dungeon this entire time. He covered it up with a grumpy bark when the soldiers glowered at him.
"I was also stealing their weapons." I gestured to the demonic weapons I had on me. As if to emphasize my point, I took the daggers from Arlen and Arnold's dead bodies, then tucked them into my own belt. "Better to deprive the enemy of their weapons so as to ensure they can't use them against us."
"That makes sense." The sergeant nodded.
"Now that I think about it, nobody actually saw him die," Roland admitted. "But intelligence confirmed the lord of vampire's death. So…"
The soldiers all lowered their weapons once again. I tried not to breathe out a sigh of relief. Placing a hand on the dwarf brothers, I closed their eyes so that they might be able to rest in peace. Behind me, Kelvin stiffened. He might not like the thieves, but they were still fellow demons. Oswald hung his head in sorrow. I felt similar, having sort of bonded with them during my imprisonment.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't shoot my prisoners before I can get any useful info out of them."
"Sorry about that," the sergeant apologized. "We didn't know they were your prisoners. We thought they were enemy soldiers. Can't be too careful, what with the battle and all."
"Oh, yeah. I understand. I'm not blaming you." I sighed and raised my hands. "I would have reacted the same way if I were in your position."
"Wouldn't we all?" the sergeant laughed. "The only good demon is a…"
I quickly interrupted him before he could finish his sentence, holding up a hand. I didn't want Kelvin to blow up and destroy our cover.
"Well, it's your turn. I was trapped behind enemy lines all this time and forced to hide myself, so I don't know what's going on. From what I gathered, there was another assault on the castle." I jabbed my thumb at my two companions. "That's how I secured my prisoners in the first place. They were part of the remnants fleeing from the castle. But I don't know the finer details."
"Oh!" Garviel's eyes lit up. "You will be delighted to hear this! Your former party, led by Hero Herman, has defeated the Demonic Emperor! After a long, grueling battle, they have finally slain him! The demonic legions broke under our assault and were forced to flee to all corners of their crumbling empire!"
"What!?" Kelvin roared in rage, causing the soldiers to draw their weapons and threaten him. I quickly intervened, placing a hand on his shoulder and forcing him down. Ice began crackling around his thick fur, encasing his limbs and preventing him from lunging at the smug human soldiers. "His majesty is dead!? Lies! That can't be true! His majesty can't die!"
"It is the truth," the sergeant sneered. "The reign of demons is over. Your emperor lies dead, trampled beneath the ashes of his throne. Hero Herman and his party made sure to raze everything. Even your revered divine generals couldn't withstand the might of the heroes, and they were forced to flee. I estimate that only five of them survived."
"That is…great news." I swallowed and plastered a broad smile. My fingers tightened on the trembling Kelvin's shoulder. "But don't get complacent. Our job is far from done. Until we hunt down the remaining generals, the demons will continue to pose a threat."
"Yes, sir!" the soldiers saluted.
"That's why I need to bring these guys to Command as quickly as possible, to get more info out of them." I then lowered my voice. "I'll also need you to keep my survival a secret. There are still enemies out there, enemies who believe that I'm dead. I'll be able to do my job of collecting information better if they don't know that I'm still alive."
"Understood." The sergeant placed a gauntleted fist over his chest. "We swear that we won't tell anyone of this matter. For Havan!"
I returned the salute. "For Havan!"
Then I led both Oswald and Kelvin away, leaving the corridor and toward the main gates of the devastated castle. The more outward we went, the more visible the damage. Large portions of the castle had been demolished, scorched rubble piled up over the ground. Corpses remained lying everywhere, some charred, many dismembered and in pieces, a few impaled, plenty of them crushed. There were both human and demon bodies, intertwined in furious combat seconds before they fell.
It was a sobering sight.
"We…really lost," Kelvin whispered.
"It's not over yet," I reminded him. "Live to fight another day."
He grunted and looked away, but didn't refute my words. We spent the rest of the departure in silence, walking through the cracked, wrecked main gate that served as the primary entrance to the once formidable fortress.
"Where should we head to first?" Oswald asked.
"The forest," I replied, having caught sight of Shadowmoor Forest just beyond the Demonic Emperor's castle. "We'll do our best to find the demonic legions, and then return you to them."
"Shadowmoor Forest might be a good start, but the demonic legions could be anywhere." Kelvin rubbed his head. He was still distraught at the news of the Demonic Emperor's demise. "They would have returned to their original bases of power…the personal fiefs or provinces of the surviving divine generals. I doubt there would be any significant forces beyond stragglers and deserters hanging around the forest."
That last sentence was said pointedly as he glanced at Oswald. However, I wasn't as judgmental. Instead, I had an idea.
"Oswald, you said you were trying to return to your village, right?" I asked, turning to him. He nodded hesitantly. I beamed. "Then let's head there first. Before we can find the scattered demonic legions, we're first going to need supplies and information."