'Demons!'
"Look, sister! We found him! It has to be that guy, right? There's no way that someone who looks like such a goodie-two-shoes isn't him!"
The large male demon was pointing in my direction, clearly showing that I was the one they were after. My whole body had started heating up when I saw the pair, as if something in my blood was telling me to slay them.
The big man who was wearing nothing but the lower part of a Gi could barely hold back his excitement, only to be admonished by the kimono-wearing woman.
"Calm down. Just get the thing out so we can get started."
As the four of us were still incredibly confused by the situation, none of us reacted when the man suddenly threw a red orb into the air, which instead of following the laws of gravity, suddenly etched itself above us.
*BRMMM!*
Blood-red webs of energy quickly isolated the whole field from the outside world, with us inside it with the demons.
"Sophie! Who are they?!"
Anna's worry finally became too much as she yelled at our leader to explain. However, before she got the chance, I interjected, "They are demons..." The face of our witch paled, as she realized what kind of situation we had gotten stuck in.
Raising her fists, Sophie tried to take control of the situation, making a level-headed decision while getting ready to fight.
"Get it together! Call for help instead of just standing there!"
"Ah... Yes!"
Just as Sarah pressed the button on her waist, the demon in front of us couldn't hold back his laughter. "Hahaha! No one will come to help you! This barrier doesn't only stop you from physically leaving, it also interferes with any mana signals from getting passed!"
*Slap!* "Ugh!"
Raising her hand, the female demon had slapped her colleague, annoyed that he kept acting like a thug. Afterward, she just calmly walked forward and bowed, "Excuse my little brother, he is still immature. My name is Ursula, and my brother's name is Grager."
"What do you want?!"
Sophie couldn't stand listening to the overly polite demoness who was clearly here to claim our lives, her face twisting in anger.
Raising her back, she put a hand on her cheek as she continued to explain the situation, "Oh, how impatient. I'll cut it short then. Give us that man over there, and you may leave with your lives intact. If not, you'll have to excuse us, but we will take him by force."
There was not a single one of my friends who were ready to give me away, as they all readied their weapons. Looking at the shaking Anna raising her wand and the brave Sarah lifting her staff, I felt my heart breaking.
At the same time, the surge of heat inside of me was still screaming at me to kill the demons in front of me, as if nothing else mattered. As long as I could bring them down, I wouldn't hesitate to give up everything.
Having recovered from the sudden slap, Grager also walked up to us, "Sister, it doesn't look like they are going to surrender! Does that mean I can have some fun?!"
His big face wore an even bigger smile, as he realized that he would get to swing his burly fists. Taking a second look, he was truly massive. Even taller than Sophie while at the same time being three times as wide, his body chiseled with explosive muscles, he truly looked like someone who would enjoy a fight.
In contrast, the woman was a lot smaller. With subtle, but elegant curves and a calm face framed by her long, black hair, it was hard to believe that she could be a demon. But to me, there was no doubt about it, even before she had opened her mouth.
"That does seem to be the case, Grager. I guess we have no choice then."
*BRMMM!*
Suddenly, she raised another orb in her hand, and just as I was about to dash forward to stop whatever she was doing, I felt a force push me to the side, with Anna coming with me. At the same time, Sophie and Sarah were pushed in the opposite direction.
"Sophie!"
When I raised my arm to try and reach out to her, the barrier around us suddenly erected a wall between us, a blood-red wall that was too thick to see through.
I and Anna were now stuck with the woman by ourselves, having gotten split up from our friends. Getting to my feet again, I quickly raised my sword, pointing it toward Ursula. Once again, she opened her mouth and started spouting disgustingly polite words.
"Sorry about that, but it would be hard for us to take care of you all if we didn't split you up. Also, I'm sorry for what I'm about to do. This might hurt."
Her body started to change, starting with her dainty arms completely falling off, and some sort of purple goo took their place. At the same time, the same process happened with her legs. *Gurglr!*
With a nasty sound, the goo suddenly took the shape of slimy, purple tentacles, which were continuously wriggling in the air and on the ground. Suddenly, one of the tentacles that made up her new arm twitched.
"Anna, get up!" *Boom!*
"What the fuck was that?!"
Having barely managed to grab my friend and dodge, we could now clearly see a big, cylindrical indent where we had just been. Simultaneously, Ursula was retrieving the huge tentacle she had swung out, shrinking as it got closer to her body.
Not letting her go with my eyes, I hurriedly tried to wake my friend up, knowing that the demoness in front of us was stronger than me. "Anna! We need to fight! Otherwise, none of us will get out of this alive!"
It hurt to admit, but I couldn't risk fighting her alone. Pride was worth nothing if one couldn't stay alive!
Although she was still trembling, she got up to her feet and raised her small wand. "Okay..."
****
[Sophie's Pov]
"Sophie!"
It all happened so fast. Before my mind could fully comprehend the situation, I and Sarah were already forcefully split up from Arthur and Anna.
"Hahaha! Finally! I will get to fight someone!"
Grager was so excited that could barely contain himself, his muscles already tensing in anticipation of getting to go loose. "Now get up! Stand up so we can fight!"
Following his orders, not because he said so but because we knew we had to fight, we rose from the ground. Turning my head, I put on a confident smile, "Sarah, stay back. No matter what, I won't let him lay a hand on you."
*Fwoom!*
Bright blue flames enveloped my hands and back as I transformed my body, getting ready to fight the demon. Suddenly, he started clapping his hands, "Oooh! That's cool!" Then, he gave us a cheeky smile, "But I can do that too!"
*Crack!*
As he spoke, his body started to change. Wooly hair quickly started to coat his body, as his legs snapped in half, just to rebuild with his knees in reverse. The big toes fell off, and instead got replaced with powerful hooves.
After his transformation had ended, he was now a bull standing on two legs, making me unconsciously blurt out a small conjecture, "A minotaur...?"
*Don!*
Slamming his hoof into the ground, the man wasn't happy with my words, "NO! I AM NOT LIKE THOSE DIRTY CREATURES! I AM A DEMON!"
Although I had no idea what difference there was between them, in my mind, they looked to be the same. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the face of Grager hadn't changed, and he didn't have any horns.
Still, I couldn't care less right now. My blood was yearning for a fight, seeing an opponent that could finally fill my newly acquired need for combat. Clenching my fists, I couldn't help but smile, an action that my enemy mimicked.
"I see... You are just like me, aren't you?! Human!"
And with that, we dashed toward each other, fists raised in order to beat each other to a pulp.
****
[James's Pov]
'Well, isn't this awkward...'
Sitting on the ground, in the form of ravens, with both of my bodies split up in the different parts of the barrier, I was spectating all four of my friends and their interactions with the demons.
Things hadn't gone exactly as I planned, as I had no idea that they would carry such an incredible item that could isolate us from the outside world. However, it wasn't all bad. Though I already knew that Sophie had become some sort of battle junky, most likely as a result of her Manual, it was enlightening to see Arthur's reaction.
His polite and cheerful figure had gotten completely replaced in an instant, now sending out pulses of bloodlust without realizing it. It was like seeing an animal getting consumed by its instincts, unable to make any sort of complicated or reasonable decisions.
'Maybe the hero isn't as useless as I thought... Still, what kind of purpose can he serve other than just being a weapon if he can't even control himself?'