Editor(s): Speedphoenix
"Oh, looks like Nell's gone and done the thing." I looked in the hero's direction as I heard a massive explosion, only to see it rain blood. Literally. Disemboweled monsters, or rather the remains thereof, fell from the sky en masse and dyed what was left of the terrain with their vital fluids. Ewwww. Yeah, I'mma just look away. Iunno about you, but I'm not exactly what I'd call a fan of gore.
"That was loud," said Enne, telepathically.
"Yeah. And totally awesome," I said. "That's just what you get when Nell and I combine forces."
"Mhm. But it'd be even stronger if we combined forces instead."
The sword stubbornly staked a claim at superiority. You know, now that I think about it, Enne really does like coming out on top in the end, doesn't she? She's almost kinda petty, in a way. I wonder who she got that from?
"Yeah, I'm sure it would," I chuckled as I continued to weave my way through the stunned horde.
I didn't bother defeating the enemies I passed by. That wasn't my role, not today. I had already relinquished the protagonist's crown and taken it upon myself to play nothing more than a supporting role.
While I wasn't planning on standing out or showing off, I had no intention of kicking back and leaving Nell to handle the situation on her own. There was no reason to put her through any sort of unnecessary stress. I simply couldn't stand the idea of seeing her suffer an injury as a result of my own stupidity. That was why I opted to dive deep into enemy lines.
Weakening the horde was, strategically, no different from weakening any other army. The most valid solution was, under any reasonable circumstance, to eliminate the enemy commander. An army without its command center was only as effective as an unruly mob.
Once I'd reached my destination, I undid my Stealth skill and looked towards the hulking titan that I'd marked as my objective.
"Hey big guy, how's the weather up there?"
The monster to whom I had directed my greeting was not particularly surprised by my sudden advent. In fact, he had seemed to notice me long before I had revealed myself, as both his eyes had been trained on me for as long as mine had been trained on him. Further evidence of his awareness came in the form of a calm vocal response, a couple low notes strung together into a series of grunts. While I wasn't able to parse his words into anything intelligible, I did at least understand that he had met my salutation in kind.
He was twice my size. Literally. Both his height and his width were double mine. His frame, which was covered from head to toe in large, bulky muscles, was only made all the more intimidating by the countless scars he sported. One of the two horns that protruded from the front of his skull looked to have been snapped in half, another injury likely acquired in battle. His weapon, a club as thick as a trunk, was about as long as I was tall. It was by no means well crafted. It looked like he had literally pulled a tree out of the ground and used whatever he had on hand to crudely carve it into its current shape. Getting hit by that looks like it'd hurt. Not that it actually would, but still. It totally seems like the kind of thing that could make a guy go splat.
***
Race: Ogre.
Class: Ogre King
Level: 72
***
Analyze's results confirmed what I had learned from both my map and my scouting efforts. He was their leader, as evidenced by both his level, which far outstripped any other's, and his title, which blatantly declared him to be the king of the most powerful race present. Unlike goblins, which were only thought of as hazards, both ogres and orcs were considered menace-level threats. That said, the two species were by no means equal. Ogres were higher up the food chain and generally regarded as far more dangerous.
Hearing the ogre king's voice brought the subordinates by his side back to reality. Goblins and orcs alike began squealing and screeching as they brandished their weapons and moved to engage the interloper. But they stopped before they could get in range. The gesture the king had performed, raising a fist such that it ran parallel to his head, had halted them in their tracks. And though they were far from being instilled with a sense of serenity, they did at least stop squawking. Wow. Now that's what I call a leader. The grip he's got on his men is tough as iron.
To most, his choice would have appeared unjustified. There would have been no better opportunity to swarm me and crush me beneath the weight of his horde. Had such a thing been possible. His army could do nothing to me. And he knew it, just as well as I did.
"Look man, I don't know why you're here or what you're after. And frankly, I could care less. I mean, I get it, you're probably doing this for some sort of a reason, and I'd wager it's probably a pretty damned good one at that. But it doesn't matter. This marching on the city thing? Yeah, that ain't happening." I didn't know if the ogre was truly capable of understanding me, but I kept talking regardless. "No hard feelings, bro. Just think of this as a case of bad luck."
I was met with a silent stare as I took a moment to pause for added effect.
"But enough talking. This is war, and we stand on different sides of the battlefield. I'm sure you already know exactly how all this works."
I lifted Enne off my shoulder and pointed her blade at the monster's nose.
He slowly closed his eyes and spent another moment in silence.
Suddenly, the aura about him began to warp. The moment his eyes shot open yet again was the moment he transformed from a ruler to a warrior. His lips, which had been sealed shut, twisted into a thrilled grin as he raised his club and readied himself for the fight to come. I suspected that this too served as an order, one that conveyed his will to his subordinates, as his men immediately backed off in order to create a ring wide enough to support a duel.
"You know, I've always wanted to do something like this." I smiled as I recalled the many historical dramas that had featured situations not all that different from the one at hand. "And by the looks of it, I guess I wasn't the only one after all."
We showed our hands—
He raised his club overhead for a heavy, downwards strike, while I took up a stance with Enne to my side, blade primed and ready to cleave through his torso.
—And as he roared, we played them.
***
"Good evening. Might I borrow a moment of your time?" A well-dressed man tapped one of the men that stood by the city's gate on the shoulder.
"Of cours—" The knight, one of Sengillia's most accomplished commanders, turned around, only to panic in a manner reminiscent of a flustered child as he caught onto the speaker's identity. "S-sir Raylow!? I-it is a great privilege to be in your presence, sir! T-to what do I owe the honour!?"
"I just so happened to be in town." The retired warlord, who had rushed to the battlefield immediately upon leaving Governor Nigel's manor, spoke as he gazed at the translucent bulwark that lay between the city's outer wall and the approaching horde. "Is this one of the hero's spells?"
"It is exactly that," said the knight. "The woman we believe to be the hero, created it not long before the fight began. It is nigh impenetrable and has kept my men far out of harm's way."
As Raylow lowered his gaze from the wall and instead directed it through the gate. The spell's caster immediately caught his attention. She was acting with all the might of a force of nature. Every monster that approached her was killed with a single, precise strike. She was, in all technicality, playing the role of a defender. Her goal was to protect the city and drive off its invaders. And yet, the way she shredded the enemy's lines made it appear as if she was the aggressor.
"It seems that there was no need for me to be so worried after all," muttered the governor. He paused for a moment before turning to face the knight once more. "I am not your commander, nor do I hold any sort of honorary position within Sengillia's forces, so I know that it is rude of me to ask this of you, but might you provide me with a quick status report?"
"N-not at all sir!" replied the flustered knight. "It would be an honour to report directly to a man as skilled in the art of war as yourself!" He took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. "The hero has put a stop to the enemy's advance." His tone still carried with it a tinge of nervousness, but he had at least composed himself enough to remain clear and concise. "She obliterated the first wave with a powerful spell and is currently in the midst of challenging the second. Thanks to her efforts, we have suffered no casualties whatsoever."
Raylow looked back up at the ramparts, where most of the soldiers stood. As they had been locked out of the battle, there was little they could do to contribute to the war effort but cheer. And cheer they did. Their voices were filled with fervour and excitement. They were enamoured. The old governor chuckled, then furrowed his brow as he realized that the man who should have been accompanying her was nowhere to be seen.
"Has she been alone this whole time?" asked Raylow. "I was under the impression she had a companion."
"We did see someone else down there with her earlier, sir," said the knight. "We were unable to determine whether this other individual happened to be a man or a woman. Nor were we able to estimate their age. However, the two certainly did interact, so I believe it is safe to assume that they were the companion you are referring to." The commander raised a hand to his chin. "You bring up a good point though, sir. I have no idea where this companion of hers went, but I'm certain I saw them outside the barrier."
Again, the governor furrowed his brows, this time, to lose himself in thought.
The demon lord had joined the battle. Of that, he was certain. There was no reason for a man capable of razing hell itself to run away from an army of low ranking monsters. That could only mean that he was intentionally keeping himself out of sight. Because he wanted to better the hero's status by letting her take the spotlight.
Raylow had no idea as to the exact extent to which the demon lord had planned ahead. But he was confident in two things. The first was his conclusion. There simply wasn't any other reasonable explanation for the situation at hand. The second was that the demon lord's plan had worked. A sense of admiration could be seen in every soldier present. The defense of Sengillia was sure to become a topic that would be discussed in every bar they visited. There, it would spread to the bards, who would take it with them on their journeys. It would take no time at all for the whole realm to know of her might and valour.
"I almost can't believe the balls on that man…" The governor brought a hand to the bridge of his nose as he sighed and pondered how boldly—and easily—the hero's fiance had turned a worst-case situation into a high level publicity stunt.
"Sir Raylow, might you have any suggestions as to what our next move should be?" The commander brought the governor back to reality with a well-intended question. "The men are ready to move at your command."
"I am fairly certain that I am not your commanding officer." Raylow breathed a sigh as he turned his gaze back upon the battlefield. "The hero is clearly overwhelming the enemy's forces, but the battlefield is an unpredictable place. You can never know how the tides might change." He continued to speak in spite of his own protests. "That is why it would be in our best interest to prepare for any potential eventuality to come. We must be ready to rush to her aid if need be." The ex-warlord smiled, provocatively. "She is strong. But I'm sure that you know as well as I do that no true warrior would ever leave a battle to be fought by a single woman. I don't know if it's possible for us to find a way through this wall, but let us at least try. Deploy a group of elites, one that can hold their own and prove to her that Sengillia's soldiers are men of valour."
"Right away sir," said the commander with a chuckle. "I can't back down from a challenge like that one. The warrior's blood in me is already itching to prove to you, the hero, and the horde that Sengillia's soldiers are as far from cowardly as can be!"
The knight saluted the old war hero before leaving to rally his men. His pace was brisk, filled with energy, vigour, and inspiration.
Seeing the excess enthusiasm radiate off the other man's body led Raylow to frown, anxiously.
"Was that really the best choice…?" He pondered to himself as he gazed upon the girl fighting outside the city's walls. He suspected that the answer was yes. It was important for the hero to demonstrate that she could work in a team. He felt that being amicable and working in a team would ultimately lead her to be more well-liked than if she were to stay a beacon of power whose kindness and humanity remained unknown. "I can only pray that all goes as planned."
"And that's game," I said to the ogre beneath me. "I win." He lay with his back against the ground and my feet against his chest. I lowered my hips and spread my legs in a classic slav squat as I pressed Enne against his neck.
After a moment of observation, the ogre let go of his club. It was over; he'd accepted the fact that he'd lost. Though I very well could have, I refrained from finishing him. I instead hoisted Enne back over my shoulder, stood up, and got off the oversized monster lord.
"Alright big guy, you've got two choices. One, you take your men and get the hell outta here." I jerked my jaw in the direction they'd come from. "Two, I kill every last one of you. I'm fine with either or, so the choice is yours."
Though I'd claimed impartiality, I was about as far from neutral as could be. The truth of the matter was that I'd only left him alive because I wanted him to avoid option number two. I highly doubted that it would be possible for me, or anyone, to take control of the ogre king's unruly mob if he was slain. The moment he died would be the moment they scattered. And I was not thrilled by the idea of going through the pain that was chasing down stragglers. That was why I very much preferred the first of the two options. Having the king retreat with all his men in tow would be as ideal as ideal got.
Fortunately, he was willing to comply. The wild warrior-like expression on his face was replaced by the calm gaze I'd seen him wear earlier as he pushed himself off the ground with his monstrously bulky arms and stood up. He looked at me, the forest, and then me again before nodding in understanding. Wow. He's pretty damn smart for some random monster. Are all ogres like this? Or is he just like a genius or something?
Observing his compatriots informed me that the first of the two options was much more likely to be correct. Unlike the orcs and goblins, who seemed to be senselessly screeching for blood, the ogres remained calm with their arms crossed. None seemed to bear even the slightest trace of agitation, rage, or blind bloodlust. I could tell that they were willing to honour the duel I'd fought against their boss and accept its outcome. So that probably means they've got some kind of warrior-like culture going on. I had no idea monsters were actually so… diverse. I've always just been kind of lumping them together. Huh.
The ogre looked towards the city's walls and shouted an order. At first, his men seemed reluctant to back down. The orcs and ogres, still thirsty of blood, filed complaints in the form of high pitched screeches and low groans. But they were silenced immediately. A second, less patient roar from the king drove them to wistfully turn around and initiate a retreat.
After seeing that he had fulfilled his end of the deal, the monster gave me one last look, a meaningful smile, as he turned around and marched away.
"Oh, yeah, just saying, I wouldn't worry too much about negative repercussions or anything," I said. "I'll handle all the shit that hits the fan on our end."
Rather than turning around and offering a response, the ogre did nothing but silently walk on with his horde in tow.
***
After confirming that the wave had truly receded, I headed back to the city, and in doing so, immediately caught sight of Nell. It was hard, if not impossible to miss her, or at least the group that surrounded her as soon as she had taken down her barrier. Each and every man was cheering wildly, repeating the word "hero" over and over with enough enthusiasm to be mistaken for zealotry. The girl in question was forcing a sheepish smile. She didn't seem to know what she was supposed to do about all the attention the soldiers were showering her with. Heh. All according to plan. I knew playing secret agent would work.
"There you are!" She called out to me the moment she saw me.
"Hey," I waved back as I waded through the crowd. "Looks like someone's clearly making the morning news tomorrow."
"Did you know that this was going to happen?" she asked.
"More or less," I said with a shrug. "I wasn't sure if everything would really turn out the way I hoped it would, but I figured there'd be a pretty good chance that they'd start to treat you like a hero if you do hero things."
"Oh, so this is all your fault…"
She pouted at me just long enough for me to be sure it was intentional before allowing her displeasure to melt into a bit of a half-miffed half-happy smile.
"Who might this be, milady?" One of the soldiers, specifically one whose armour was just a tiny bit fancier than everyone else's, stepped forward. Guess he's probably the CO around here or something.
"Oh, he's uhm…"
"Think of me as one of her subordinates." Nell began stumbling over her words, so I took over.
"Yeah. That." Apparently, she didn't like my answer, as she ended up giving me a clear look of dissatisfaction.
Oh, fine…
"And I'm also her fiance, just in case any of you were wondering," I said. "We're in the middle of heading over to the capital to take care of a bit of business."
"W-what!?" The commander did a classic double-take, his voice tinged with disappointment. "T-the two of you are engaged!?"
"Mhm." Nell nodded as she flashed a bashful smile.
Looks like she's happy now. What a cutie pie.
I crouched, grabbed her by the legs, hoisted her onto my shoulders, and lifted her into the air as I stood back up. The newfound, embarrassing position led her to eep in surprise.
"Take a good, long look, men!" I used my diaphragm to project my voice so I could be heard over the crowd. "This is our saviour! Our hero!"
"Oh my gosh! Yuki!! Let me down!!" She squealed in a voice too quiet for anyone but me to hear. "This is so embarrassing!"
"Woooooooo! Long live the hero!" shouted a soldier.
"Long live our saviour!" echoed another.
"She's so strong and beautiful she might as well be a goddess!" added a third.
A wide smirk appeared under my mask as the men cheered.
"And she's all mine!" I said with a cackle. "Get cucked, y'thirsty cocksuckers! I bet you're all jealous as fuck!"
"What!?"
"S-she's already taken!? This can't be!"
"Noooooooo!! I was just about to ask her out!"
The men, who had been roaring with excitement, twisted their cheers into jeers immediately. Many shouted abusive curses colourful enough to rival my own while others grumbled and resigned themselves to a hero-less life. Some of the most jealous individuals had even started kicking at my feet with a surprising amount of force. I was almost convinced they were trying to break my legs—not that they could. Humans were far frailer than demon lords, after all. I got revenge by cackling even more loudly, and pissing them off all the more in doing so. Almost everyone was making some sort of noise. The only one who wasn't was Nell, who had spent the entire time doing her absolute best to keep her cherry-coloured face covered with her hands.
As much as I wanted to relish in the lively atmosphere, it wasn't meant to last. A loud shout cut through the crowd and poured a bucket of ice water all over our post-victory celebrations.
"What a farce! You think the hero is our saviour!? That's bullshit!"
Turning my head in the voice's direction, I saw a man dressed in a set of merchant-like attire. And I wasn't the only one. Many of the knights joined me in shooting him an irritated glare.
So the serpent finally rears its ugly head. Great. Just great.
"I bet she's the only reason the monsters even showed up to begin with! It's clearly because they wanted that stupid bitch you call a hero dead!"
"You think that the stampede was the hero's fault? What nonsense!" shouted the commander. "Did you not see how hard she fought to drive it away!?"
Many others voiced their agreement, but their angry grumbles did nothing to dissuade the "merchant."
"So you're telling me that you think a massive horde like that just so happened to coincidentally come out of nowhere the day she arrives in town!?" He pointed a finger at her. "There's no way that's possible! None of the usual signs of a stampede like that were even close to being present! They clearly only came here because she did! She's the one responsible for putting us in danger!"
"I would never do an—"
"Shut up, wench!" Nell tried to defend herself but was cut off before she could even finish her first sentence. "You're nothing but a liar, a hypocrite, and a false idol! You're no saviour! You're just a walking threat to humanity! You don't deserve to be called a hero!"
The sensation of Nell trembling under the weight of his words ran through my shoulders. He was getting to her.
So this is what you were up to. No wonder you were just hanging around until the battle was over. I gazed at my surroundings and confirmed that, while most of the soldiers remained unswayed by his argument, some had started to cast suspicious gazes in Nell's direction. You know what, Fine? You wanna do this? We can fucking do this. I'll play by your rules. But know this, asshole. You've fucked with the wrong demon lord. If you think you can match me in rhetoric, you better think again. I win arguments against the goddamn Supreme Dragon every fucking day. So bring it on, I'll talk you into a hole.
And once I'm done, I'll even do you the favour of burying you in it. Because whatever you say, one thing's not going to change. I'm going to fucking murder you.