"Did you know that everyone in the territory is a demon?" Aldrich pointed his sword towards Mark. He knew he might not be able to defeat a peak 3-star warrior head-on, but if he took out everything in his arsenal, the victory might not be out of reach.
"Come in", Mark said, telling Aldrich to follow him.
Aldrich followed Mark into the cave, noticing the settlement his people had created within the cave system. There were small huts where warriors and their families resided, mattresses were laid out where warriors tried to sell their loot, and children were happily playing around.
"We didn't create it from scratch, this cave settlement always existed, and we are using it as a temporary home for now",
Mark and Aldrich walked near the deep end of the cave, and Mark stopped next to a hut bigger than the rest.
"You will find your answers inside, don't make a noise, and mind you, I will kill you if you try to harm anyone inside" Aura erupted from Mark's body as he opened the gate, entered the hut, and Aldrich followed him in.
Aldrich entered the hut, and a pungent smell hit his nose. He instantly recognized it as killing intent started seeping out of his body.
The room was full of warriors whose bodies had been partially transformed into that of a demon.
"Our healers have tried to slow down the process, but whatever is affecting them, it's too strong", Mark said as he walked towards a young woman lying on the bed.
"Since when is this happening? And why didn't you inform anyone in the empire? Or even ask the Holy Knights for help", Aldrich asked, examining the bodies of the warriors lying on the bed.
"the members of our group started acting strange a few days ago. They had gone down to the territory to buy essentials, but something had taken control over them when they returned. Slowly their body started to turn into that of a demon, and since then, they have been sleeping under the effect of our healer's spells."
"I don't know how long we can hold this out for. We had sent a request to the nearby Church, but there was no response".
"Malphas", Aldrich gritted his teeth, guessing the mastermind behind this plan.
"That Bastard, he enjoyed watching humans fall in despair as their loved ones turned into demons",
"I can't let him descend here; he will spread demons to half the empire."
He looked at Mark,
"let's make a deal."
"Everyone, leave the room", Mark announced, much to the surprise of the exhausted healers and the warriors helping them.
"But leader, the transformation will go out of control", one of the healers spoke up.
Even if they were exhausted, the suffering was part of their family. Hence they were hesitant to leave them alone.
"Don't worry, my friend has a plan to heal them. ", Mark said, pointing at Aldrich.
A few members recognized Aldrich from the fight the other day and left after listening to the leader's commands.
Only Aldrich and Mark were left in the room, along with the patients.
"Do you think this will work?" Mark asked.
"This is the only way", Aldrich stated as he took out a beautiful white sword.
"Lumi, you know what to do", Aldrich communicated to his pet, to which she nodded, understanding her role.
The sword started to exude a bright light, enveloping the entire hut.
"Holy Aura", Mark recognized it at once, curious about the young man's real identity.
"Don't forget your job", Aldrich brought him back to his senses as he brought the sword near one of the patients.
The Patient's eyes erupted open as it shrieked in pain, the demon inside him unable to its own against the Holy Aura.
Something flew out of the Patient's mouth, heading towards Aldrich. It was a demonic parasite, that was growing inside the bodies of the warriors, turning them into demons.
Mark took out his sword, instantly slashing the demonic parasite, killing it.
[Lumi has defeated a demonic parasite and gained 1 exp]
"How did it enter their body in the first place", Mark thought. The guys here were some of his best warriors, they would have definitely noticed something entering their body.
"Don't think about it, Demons have some peculiar ways, beyond our understanding", Aldrich said, as he looked at the patient they had just treated.
The Patient slowly regained their senses, before going back to sleep.
"He is back to normal", Aldrich said.
Mark couldn't believe his eyes; the young man had achieved in a few minutes what they had been trying to do for days .
With reignited determination, the two of them healed the remaining patients, with Aldrich pulling out the demon growing inside them and Mark ending their life.
"I didn't gain any exp", Aldrich thought, as the final kill was done by Mark. But Lumi gained a little bit of exp from this.
"You did good, Lumi; you should rest" Aldrich could sense that Lumi had overstrained herself treating the patients. The idea was given by Lumi herself, and Aldrich now knew he had a trump card when fighting against Demons.
"Going by that idea, would Noct be" Aldrich stopped his train of thoughts, as he had to quickly solve the current matter.
Aldrich and Mark left the hut, "Tell the healers to take care of the warriors. They are no longer affected by demonification.", Mark said, much to the surprise of the warriors.
They rushed in, happy to see their family members return to normal.
"Thank you",
"Thank you",
A lot of them kneeled in front of Aldrich, expressing their gratitude.
"It's okay", Aldrich said as he signalled Mark to talk outside the cave.
"I can't thank you enough for what you have done today", Mark said.
"Don't forget your part of the deal", Aldrich looked at Mark.
"I won't; my mercenary group will provide you complete support in taking down these demons"; Mark took out his sword.
"Do you think what you did there will work on the territory's residents?" Mark asked; he wanted to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.
"No, the people living in the territory have already turned into demons. Killing the demon inside them will automatically kill them."
Bloodlust started to leak from Mark, "Why would one do such a thing",
"You will execute your plan soon, right? Will you be able to hold on in the territory by then? You can stay here for today", Mark suggested.
"No, it's fine, I have some more matters to take care of, plus my teammate is still in the territory", Aldrich said, hoping that Remi would be alright.