~
A young woman stood on the deck of a ship, her once blue deerskin dress now stained a dark shade of red. There were many puddles of water on the ship's deck, now discolored and saltier than seawater.
Spikes of ice rose from some of the murky red pools, many of their tips still burdened with the dead weight of their targets.
"Sorry... I'm sorry."
The silence was broken by a murmur from the girl's lips, and she began walking toward the captain's quarters.
After taking a few steps, her feet paused.
'There are three more in the cabin.'
The faint motions of the last remaining sailors' breaths betrayed them. It was unnoticeable to human ears or eyes, but not to the Danu's sense of the nearby water.
'I still have a lot of mana left... I should make it quick and painless.'
Huge amounts of mana flowed from the girl's feet, reaching down to the ocean water beneath the ship.
'Hopefully, if I'm not around next time, this can serve as a warning for any future sailors to turn back.'
Danu clenched her hands, and a massive pillar of water began rising under the boat. Terrible screeching could be heard as the boat's wooden underbelly failed to withstand the water and ice rising up.
The screams of the tearing wood were echoed by the men who were hiding within the captain's cabin, their voices raised as a huge spike of ice burst through the floor.
The entire ship began to surge up, carried from the ocean surface by the force of the massive spike. It burst through the top of the cabin, a trail of blood running down its side announcing the passing of the last of the crew.
Danu's heart twisted as she observed all the carnage around her. Over a hundred innocents, slaughtered by her hands.
'It had to be done. My entire village was wiped out by their illnesses... '
The previous group of sailors hadn't been hostile. Even still, their presence had still spelled the end of almost all of Danu's family members.
'And even without the illnesses... They would still bring chaos to this continent.'
Danu recalled the journal she'd received from the captain of the last group. Within it were interesting and new looks at spell theory. Just the random knowledge within it could be compared with the East's knowledge of spellcrafting to advance the field.
That wasn't Danu's biggest worry, though.
'Summoning...'
A half-completed spell aiming to call other creatures to serve as companions. Much of Danu's last year had been spent trying to understand the spell, and she was close to developing a working version of it.
'If that spell was released... wars would change forever.'
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Back in the dark red realm.
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Edol felt like jumping for joy. Sure, it took him twenty-one horrible, painful deaths, but he had finally landed a hit on this damn demon!
"Ha! Stupid demon, there's a lot mor-"
He looked at his enemy, who was rubbing its cheek with a look of anger. It raised its head, staring directly into Edol's eyes.
The horrible red eyes that had seemed to look down on him before were no longer filled with disdain. Anger, shame… and even a bit of admiration stood within its crimson gaze.
'And now this thing is mad at me. Ha, looking at it right now, it almost seems like one of those tsunderes I've read about. It would almost be cute if it wasn't a two-meter-tall demon thing that is probably about to kill me.'
Edol's assessment wasn't incorrect. Well, at least the last bit of it.
The demon expressed its rage in a pretty simple manner- sprinting up, then smashing its spiked hand into Edol's head.
A second later, Edol revived again.
"Hey Ugly, did that punch really rattle you that badly? Come over here again, I think I see a loose tooth!"
The demon obliged, smashing into him hard enough to turn him to meat paste.
Edol revived again.
"Psh. You hit like my little sister. Ugly demon, keep coming at me!"
Slice!
"Oh, did Ugly go back to using his sword?"
This time, Edol died the second after respawning. The demon, despite not understanding a word he said, seemed to know it was being mocked and whipped its sword at the respawning Edol.
Edol spawned once again, this time right next to the sword that was now laying on the ground.
"Foolish Ugly, you've made your last mistake! Now that I have a weapon, you're doomed!"
Edol hefted the bastard sword up off the ground. The sword was heavy, but not unmanageable, and the grip felt cool against his palm.
'Holding this feels so cool! If I'm careful, I can probably take out Ugly here and now!'
Edol charged towards the demon, swinging the sword just as he had seen in samurai movies.
Unfortunately for him, an untrained college student couldn't stand a chance against a strong demon in a one versus one fight.
Just as soon as he'd gained a weapon, he lost it.
'Damn it! That was my chance!'
He turned towards the demon that had killed him nearly forty times now, only to see it turning around… and squatting down?
The demon seemed focused, cupping its hands around something on the ground. After a moment of concentration, the demon's hands started to glow.
Edol was too taken aback by the developments to remember to assault his enemy in its time of distraction.
'What is Ugly doing now? Is this magic? Speaking of which, where even am I? I thought this was supposed to be some kind of congratulations ceremony, but instead I've just been fighting this demon.'
Edol looked around, but aside from the demon he'd been fighting, there seemed to be nothing else in this world.
The demon stood back up, drawing Edol's attention. It was indeed some sort of magic that the demon had been using- A small plant sprouted from the lifeless red dirt, then summarily started on fire. A delicious scent wafted up from the burning plant- it smelled like a potato.
'Food! It looks so good… but I'm not even hungry? I've been fighting Ugly for quite a while, but I still don't feel hungry or thirsty. Maybe because I keep dying before I have a chance to run out of energy?'
Edol unconsciously began wandering towards the campfire, attracting the attention of the demon once again. It stomped on the ground, and an earthen dome rose from the ground, forming an igloo shape.
'This thing is just going to relax and ignore me now? After killing me forty times? Like hell!'
Edol walked up to the dome and started pounding on it.
"Hey, Ugly! I'm not done with you yet! Get back out here, you coward! Before you used weapons, and now you are even hiding from me? Disgraceful!"
Promptly, a spike shot up from the dome, impaling Edol through the throat.
A second later, Edol respawned.
'Damn this thing, it can even attack me with magic from inside there? How am I supposed to beat it?'
Edol walked back to the dome, but this time its appearance was a bit different. A ton of tiny spikes were growing all along the dome, seemingly telling Edol to bug off.
'This thing is really just going to hide in here, huh? Well, it has to come out eventually, right?'
Edol's eyes drifted to the sealed entrance of the spiked hut as an evil plan began to form in his mind.
His mouth widened in a smile, but it wasn't one of those ones you make for school pictures. It looked like the smile of a demented killer about to take out another victim.