"Please come to your senses young master, Boros."
Charon pulled out his sword with a stern and hardened expression. It was his first time dealing with a demon, but he would not panic.
"That's not Balbaca, that's a demon."
They were their natural enemy as human beings. The Demons had tried to exterminate all of humanity back in the era of wars. The Doppelganger slowly lifted itself up. Boros' shaky eyes regained stability as he clenched his fist.
"…all soldiers take up your arms!"
Cha ja-jang!
The sound of the weapons being armed and readied, echoed out in the surrounding area. The soldiers held out their spears and pointed them at the Doppelganger with nervous expressions.
"That is not the Lord! That is a demon who has murdered this Empire's nobility and committed mass treason. He must be killed here and now!"
Boros coughed up a little bit of blood in his throat but held it down as he shouted.
"Kill him!"
"WOAHH!!!"
The soldiers seized the spear and rushed in as they yelled fiercely. They were obviously trying to corral their spirits, as they were fighting an entity so frightening and dangerous, and whose presence was only found in history.
– How dare you pick up your arms against your master?
"You killed our Lord you monster!"
A soldier threw out a spear as he yelled in fury at the Doppelganger. The Doppelganger laughed and waved his dark hand. The speartip that collided against it's hand that moved in a simple gesture, shattered on impact.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
The soldier who was stabbed by the shrapnel of his spear, rolled on the ground with a scream.
– I was born a pure-bred demon. Do you think you weaklings can honestly even touch me?
Doppelgangers were shaped like humans, but that didn't mean they were anything like them. They were among the lowest ranks of the Demon Species, but they were not weak by any means. Even the weakest of Doppelgangers, could easily kill an average human male.
The Doppelganger giggled creepily and enjoyed the sight of the soldier screaming in front of it as blood spurted from the man's wound. The soldier, who was rolling around on the ground, trying to crawl away, paled. The Doppelganger saw his expression and darted forwards. Grabbing the soldier's head, he laughed out maniacally.
– Ah your name was Bohem right? I always wanted to kill you anyways you dirty filth.
Quaddeuk.
The Doppelganger's hand crushed the soldier, Bohem's head, like a watermelon. Brain matter, pieces of his skull and blood splashed out on the floor. The soldier's body writhed and spasmed as if it weren't dead even after it's head was crushed.
"YOU FUCKING DEMON BASTARD!!"
The Doppelganger approached the soldier who shouted out in rage at his comrade's pitiful death.
– Ah it's you, Crone.
The dark hand smacked the soldier's chest and his armor was crushed into his chest. The soldier fell with a spout of blood spurting from his caved-in chest.
"Stop at once!"
Charon ran with the sword at the Doppelganger. The sword drew a diagonal line and the Doppelganger turned it's arm. With the sound of the steel sword clashing with the arm that felt like iron, both of them were pushed back slightly by a few steps.
– Oh? It's a proper human swordsman.
The doppelganger wriggled the demonic mana around it, and several arms sprouted from the ground. The arms lashed the air like a whip and shot forward at Charon. Charon took a deep breath as he saw the incoming arm movements. He tensed his nerves and narrowed his eyes, regaining his composure and focus.
Kaga-Gagak!
The sword moved swiftly and only afterimages were left behind as he slashed through the several oncoming arms made of demonic mana. Charon tensed his muscles, pulled his arms forward with the sword , and exploded forwards with his movement.
– What the hell!
Charon stabbed forward with his sword and pierced the sticky chest of the Doppelganger that was surrounded in its murky coating of demonic mana.
"I am the Loyal Knight, Charon of the Great Halvark Estate."
Charon was one of the most prestigious knights active in the Empire. Although he did not rise to the level of a hero, he was a talented and skilled swordsman of a certain level that was rare to see.
"You may be a demon, but you are not my match if that's all you have to offer."
Charon spoke with a confident and authoritative voice.
– Do you really think so?
Suddenly Charon's body was pushed back out of the blue. Charon barely reacted to the blow and his feet skid across the marble floor.
– You don't know anything. What we demons are, or why people are so afraid of us.
If the demonic species had beings without mana, they would just be called monsters that could be found in forests and subjugated. But, just by simply being able to wield mana, made them at least 5 times more powerful than the average monster. This was the same for the Doppelganger.
The Doppelganger shot out its claws at Charon, while Charon blocked and parried the sharp movements with a tense expression. Looking for an opening, Charon grabbed the sword and brought it down with a rough and vigorous movement. Quickly, the Doppelganger avoided the sword's trajectory and wrapped its arm like a snake around Charon's upper forearm.
It's not my fault.
Charon twisted out the Doppelganger's grip with speed and twisted his sword in a fluid movement and threw it up in the air. Rotating his body and catching the sword in the air with his other arm, he caught it in a reverse grip and slashed down at the Doppelganger's throat.
Kaga Gak!
Red blood splattered across the floor. The Doppelganger grabbed the cut and stepped back without any visible worry or panic on it's face.
It's not my fault.
– How futile.
Charon ignored the Doppelganger's murmurs and took a swing with his sword. The Doppelganger's arm was cut and red blood splashed.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm terribly sorry. I was-I was- I was… wrong. Please forgive me.