35. May You Gain Notoriety
Twilight had fallen upon the mountain, and a colony of ominous black bats soared high in the dark sky. Down below on the ground, the Imperial Army and the barbarians, being experienced hunters, were looking at a huge demonic beast. The demonic beast was looking down at them from a cliff halfway up the mountain.
The soldiers who first spotted the beast screamed and informed their superior. The knights immediately looked for the Barbarians.
"It's the king of the demonic beasts."
Deep in the Gorgon Mountain Range, there were several demonic beasts strong enough to be called kings living in their respective territories. It was clear that the demonic beast the Barbarians were looking at was one of them. Having never before appeared outside the mountains range, even the Barbarians did not know how strong that demonic beast was.
If the demonic beast brought its pack with it, the Barbarians could not stop it this time. And the damage to the barely holding out Imperial Army would be severe. After contemplating for a moment, Oscar made a decision.
"Take back the defense line! Give up! We're retreating back to our living quarters!"
"Withdraw! Don't attack it!"
"Tell the city to repair the ramparts at once! The wooden barricade fence cannot withstand any more attacks. We don't know when they will come down, set up traps here and get out!"
The soldiers moved at once. The Barbarians' orders were like the voice of a commander to them.
"Call backup! Tell them to send as many as they can!"
"Which city is the closest?"
The Imperial Knights and the Barbarians gathered together and had a discussion. Oscar wondered what it would have been like if Demian had been there with them. He would have cut off the head of the demonic beast and held it in one hand. Then, he would descend from the mountain while grumbling that it was heavy. He would complain that he did not know why he had to carry something that could not even be eaten as the crowning glory. Then, he would proceed to put it down in front of Lampion to show off.
"Come on, you slow-witted guy."
Oscar murmured under his breath and turned to go to his comrades. Then, the archer, who had climbed onto the wooden barricade fence to find the leader, stared at the huge demonic beast and blankly opened his mouth.
"What are you doing? Come down!"
The soldiers beckoned to him, but he did not come down. Instead, the archer muttered with a pale face, as if he had witnessed something that he should not see.
"Saintess…?"
They thought they misheard him. Oscar and all the soldiers nearby thought the archer was talking nonsense.
"That's the saintess, right? Look closely! That hair. It's the saintess!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? Are you out of your mind? Why would the saintess be here?"
"There is no place in the Temple of Glory without portraits of the saintess. It's that face! Besides, I have seen her up close!"
"It must be someone who looks like her."
A sharp wind blew. The demonic beast, that was standing on the cliff halfway up the mountain, lowered its head and revealed its rider. Long hair fluttering under a black veil, white face, slender figure, and fancy outfits that were improper in the mess.
'Is it the demon lord?'
The sun had gone down completely. And the demon lord turned her back against the Barbarians, now facing the darkened sky.
The distance between them was so far that the demon lord's face could not be seen in detail. Even the archer was confused when no one believed him, he tilted his head before coming down from the wooden barricade fence.
Domino approached Oscar from behind and asked quietly so that only he could hear it.
"Did you see it?"
"Yeah."
"This is crazy."
Even if she could deceive the soldiers' eyes, she could not deceive the Barbarians. They saw clearly. That was Lara.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
The next day and the day after that were the same. The demon lord appeared with her huge demonic beast and watched the Imperial Army set straps all over the defense line. She did not send demonic beasts or randomly cast spells. She just stared at them.
However, because of the chaotic energy and ominous heat emitted by the demonic beast, fear of the demon lord fell on the face of the Imperial Army. Even the rumors of destruction also played a part, though it was unknown where the rumors had originated from. Now, people clamored that the demon lord had appeared in Gorgon and would destroy the world.
"We need to talk."
A few days after coming down to the residences from the entrance of the mountain range, a few Imperial Knights appeared with their superior.
Oscar watched his fellow Barbarians disperse in search of their families. He then turned to the Imperial Knights. The Imperial Knights regarded Oscar as a representative or a spokesperson for the Barbarians. This was because he was the only one they could communicate comfortably with.
"We have sent a messenger to the capital asking for reinforcements… But we don't know how long it will take for them to get here."
Those who had previously despised the Barbarians and treated them like slaves were now treating Oscar with due respect.
"We don't know what's going on in the East so we can't beg them to send more knights."
The knights were exhausted, so was the supervisor. Oscar understood them, hunting demonic beasts was different from war. Wars were fought against humans who could be reasoned with, so they were able to talk and negotiate. They could have planned a strategy or signed a ceasefire.
But there was no such thing for demonic beasts. They simply rushed day and night to appease their unfulfilled hunger.
"I heard that the situation in the East is roughly in order. That's also why we were sent here. As for the news from Dandelion, shouldn't you be the one to inform us?."
Oscar asked the knights. Then, the middle-aged knight who appeared to be in charge spoke reluctantly.
"The birds aren't flying."
"What?"
"The birds haven't been flying for a while. And because the carrier pigeons cannot be used, we have to send a messenger ourselves. So we also don't know much about the capital, and even the capital doesn't know how urgent the situation here is."
"What's with the birds?"
"It's because of the winged demonic beasts."
It was an understandable situation. All sorts of demonic beasts that no one had ever seen before appeared even on the ground. There was no way that the sky could be safe.
"First and foremost, we have to evacuate the people back to nearby cities. Now that the defense line has collapsed, it would not be long before demonic beasts can come down here. We also have never seen such a large number before. It'll be hard to stop them without any ramparts."
The knights agreed heavily with Oscar. They asked him carefully.
"Well, but is it true…that the saintess has betrayed us?"
Oscar could not answer.
The rumor had already spread. The saintess had betrayed God and joined the side of the demons. She called herself the demon lord and led the world to destruction. The great demon war would begin at the hands of the saintess.
"I don't even know what to call that woman now. Saintess? No, it's not enough just to call her a wicked woman. Demon, demon lord, the sinner who insults God… But then again, even the Barbarians are abandoned. You're the saintess' friends, after all."
The knights carefully offered words of consolation.
Oscar just shut himself up. He wanted to deny them but could not figure out what to say. If he defended Lara, he would have made people misunderstand her more.
The knights were anxious. It was even more so because it was the first time they had to retreat so helplessly. In front of them were packs of demonic beasts, destruction waiting on their back, and a demon lord on top of that. And now that they could not even properly get in touch with the capital, their frustration and fear doubled.
"Let's find out about it."
Eventually, Oscar nodded.
He had made up his mind. He would climb the mountain and figure out the identity of the demon lord, even if he had to do it alone.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
The Barbarians had retreated to the city, leaving behind the entrance of the mountain range that they have protected for a long time. Seeing the backs of the Barbarians walking away, Lara did not feel any comfort nor solace within her.
The Barbarians witnessing Lara was a deliberate occurrence. Rumors of her flew about in an instant. Now, the demon worshippers hiding in that city would be the first to approach Lara.
In that sense, it was such a curious matter. Lara could not have used this method if it were not for the fake documents that Vassago's black sorcerers spread out as a prophecy. Lara wondered if the one who made that prophecy had foresight.
"I'm back, Master."
Lara was wandering around with the giant of fire in her arms when Paimon approached and spoke to her. He went to the city first before the Barbarians did and had just come back. Behind him, Valac was back after climbing up the mountain, he was gasping for breath while carrying luggage larger than his body.
"What's that?"
"I bought clothes, shoes, and accessories that would look good on you, Master."
"What useless…"
Lara was almost sick of these demons' services. Why would she even need accessories in this situation?
But Vassago was always one step further than Paimon and Valac, while they were out shopping, Vassago burned the huge body of a demonic beast at a distance and chanted an incoherent spell. The spell was chanted in a gloomy language, and there was a damp laugh mixed in between his words. His pronunciation was not clear and sounded like a groan.
"That's annoying."
Lara hated it, she pointed at Vassago. Paimon nodded in agreement.
"He's raising undead."
"Why?"
"You said it yourself. You wanted a method where the demonic beasts can no longer fly and for no humans to be harmed, but at the same time, you wanted the humans to still be afraid and could no longer approach us."
"So?"
"A few undead will do us good. It's also a specialty of Vassago."
As soon as Paimon finished his explanation, the body of a fallen winged demonic beast staggered up and black smoke streamed from its eyes. It even squeaked and flapped its wings. It was a creepy scene. Even Valac, the demon, could do nothing about the goosebumps on his forearms.
Only Lara looked around at the undead with an indifferent face. She asked Vassago.
"Can it fly?"
"Of course. It can use almost all its abilities when it was alive."
"Then, let's use it to send messages."
"Oh, that's a good idea."
"Get in touch with the demon worshippers all over the world. Your true demon lord has come to the Gorgon Mountain Range, so come and bow your head down immediately. Since you have decided to worship demons, you ought to act like my slave."
"You are right."
At that moment, a rustling sound was heard from the back of a horizontal slope on the mountainside where they were sitting. It was a very subtle sound. If Paimon, Vassago, and Valac weren't demons, they would never have noticed.
Paimon and Valac flew at the same time and quickly found the intruder. They grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up to prevent him from running away. Then, the intruder uttered a silly voice.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"I surrender."
They just caught Oscar, who had raised both hands with a bewildered look.