I change back into Aeolus for the first time since the time I arrived. It's so weird how this form feels more like me rather than my actual body.
I open a portal from my pocket dimension that instantly transports me to the area underneath Aeolia, where the barrier is set up. No surprise, but it seems Damocles had been waiting for me. I figured he'd be ready to escort me.
"Master," He calls, taking light steps towards me, then kneeling.
I sigh, still feeling awkward about this. "Look, Damocles, you don't have to kneel or bow every time you see me, so you can stop now."
Damocles ponders it over for a little bit, hesitating before standing back up again. "Yes, master."
One thing I like about Damocles is that he doesn't hover. Even when he doesn't agree, or doesn't necessarily like it, he'll still do what he's told. Though, I think that trait might get annoying sometimes.
A presence behind us stops me from heading up with Damocles.
"Stop right there!" The voice of a woman orders from behind.
Looking over my shoulder, I see a number of five knights, all pointing their swords at us. Their leader looks to be the woman who spoke first. A female knight with long blond hair, and armor of a higher grade than the rest. The amount of mana I sense from her is also leagues higher than the other four.
+
Name: Iris Fawn Lentis
Age: 22
Level: 72
Job: Magic Knight
Titles: None
Mana: 26700
Strength: 121
Agility: 98
Vitality: 100
Sense: 80
Endurance: 78
Intelligence: 40
Magic Craft: Tier 3 Light mage
+
Level 72? That's the highest I've seen so far. Plus, she's a magic knight, and her stats are almost impressive. And the other knights behind her don't look too bad either. 56, 61, 63. I didn't think there was anyone higher than level 60 in Dorma, but it seems I just didn't know where to look. And now that I think about it, there might even be stronger professors I haven't met yet in school.
"Are you the monsters that broke the barrier earlier?" She asks, pointing her sword to me.
Even without looking, I can feel Damocles' anger levels rising. Even in the game, he's always hated it when a sword was pointed in my direction.
"Calm..."
Before I can finish my sentence, he clashes swords with her, striking her blade which sends vibration all the way from her hand to her spine. Well I guess I should make myself comfortable and enjoy the one-sided massacre about to go down.
"Watch were you point your blade human," Damocles mutters with a hard glare.
"There is no need for further words. Strike down these monsters at once," The female knight yells, urging her men to charge at me.
Damocles intervenes their path towards me and summons his blade, the sword in his hand changing form to a sharper ended sword.
Their magic sense obviously isn't high enough, because if it were, they'd fear the stance Damocles positions himself into, and not charge in so blindly.
Poor fools. Damocles isn't like any other creature in Elrev. He was a sword, which means his war driven. And now his stats are equivalent to a dragon slayers.
+
Name: Damocles
Age: ??
Level: 148
Job: Magic Sword
Titles: Subordinate of the Demon Lord, Dragon Slayer, Player Slayer, Guard of a Champion
HP: 200000/200000
MP: 124978/125000
Strength: 297
Agility: 289
Vitality: 265
Sense: 210
Endurance: 201
Intelligence: 204
Magic Craft: Tier 9 Dark mage, Tier 6 Summoning mage
+
Damocles leaves his stance, slicing through all four of their bodies cleanly with his swords release.
Yup. I literally didn't see that encounter going any other way. In fact, even I'm not confident going against Damocles in a sword match. They were doomed from the moment they drew their swords.
The female knight stood silently, gazing at the three disassembled bodies that lay on the ground, blood flowing from them, and their guts spewing out. If I was still normal I probably would've hurled the sandwich I ate earlier, but now I'm just upset that a drop of blood may have landed on my cloak.
A single tear trickled down her cheek before she glared at us with a vicious expression and aimed her sword at me again. "You... Monsters!"
"You might want to expand your vocabulary," I mutter, getting tired of being referred to as a monster. Although, I guess here Demons are classified under monsters.
"Argh!" She yells, as she charges at Damocles. Viciously striking her sword against his in a mad frenzy.
As Damocles tightens his grip on his sword, finally intending to get serious, I say, "Keep this one alive."
He doesn't argue and nods, obeying my command and only slicing her arm off, then grabbing her sword now flying in the air and using it to pierce her thigh.
"AHH!"
That should do. It's a tactic that's commonly used in historical wars by narcissistic tyrannical rulers. Leave only one alive so they can tell the tale. Cruel but effective. I'd like the country to know that there's a Demon Lord in the dungeon they've been attempting to raid for 10 years. By spreading my name, I can only imagine the amount of influence I'll gain, especially if in one night 'the demon lord's subordinate managed to slay five knights all above gold class'.
"Let's go," I say to Damocles, who sheaths his sword back in it's scabbard.
"Damn you! You... you ba-bastards! I'll never forget this! I will make sure you pay for this disgrace with your lives." The knight pants, greeting her teeth as she holds back her urge to cry from the pain as she curses at us.
Here we go. The classic 'I'll get you back for this!' line. Can't these fantasy people ever come up with something new?
"I swear it! I swear it on my life! For what you've done to my comrades, I'll kill you... with my own hands!"
Lady, you came at us first. Obviously if you try to kill me, I'll try to kill you too. It's only common sense. Blaming me for what happened to your friends is just trying to avoid your own weakness. But whatever, I'll play along. I'll also never forget you too.
"You will regret sparing me. I'll make you regret it! The next time we meet, you WILL die by my hands!"
Before we pass through the barrier, I stop and turn to gaze at her with a mischievous grin on my face as I say, "LOL."