Athoi looked around and gently held the elf who had been attacked. "Are you alright now?" she asked, concern in her voice.
The elf began to act strangely, her movements becoming erratic.
Nabil noticed this immediately and felt a sense of unease. "Athoi, be careful," he warned.
Suddenly, the elf's form twisted and distorted as she transformed into a demon, lunging at Athoi with ferocious speed.
Athoi swiftly raised her sword, blocking the demon's attack. Nabil, reacting quickly, rushed forward and struck the demon from behind, landing a fatal blow to its head. The demon collapsed, lifeless.
"Are you okay?" Nabil asked, breathing heavily.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Athoi replied, steadying herself. "But that transformation caught me off guard."
Nabil pulled out his stone shield and said, "This might help us now."
Athoi glanced at the shield and shook her head. "Wait, that shield won't hold up for long. I've got something better." She opened her inventory and found a stash of diamonds. With a swift motion, she crafted two diamond shields.
"Here, take this," she said, handing one to Nabil.
"Great, thanks," Nabil said, taking the shield and admiring its durability.
Athoi readied herself, holding the diamond shield in her left hand and a diamond sword in her right. "Alright, let's move."
Nabil, now equipped with an enchanted diamond sword, the diamond shield, and wearing his ruby armor, led the way. They crossed the bridge, and Nabil looked down into the void below. As they reached the other side, they found themselves facing a field surrounding the castle, filled with demons torturing and devouring elves.
Athoi joined Nabil, her eyes widening at the sight. "Are we supposed to clear this area too? I thought the mission only mentioned the rooms," she said, her voice tense.
"Maybe, but it looks like we'll have to deal with this too," Nabil responded grimly.
Suddenly, a loud, ominous sound echoed throughout the dimension. Athoi turned and saw part of the surface collapse into the void below. As the noise subsided, every demon in the field turned their gaze towards them, their eyes burning with malevolent intent. The demons who had been torturing the elves remained focused on their victims, while others began to rush toward Nabil and Athoi—some running on the ground, others flying through the air with leathery wings.
"It's do or die," Nabil muttered, tightening his grip on his sword.
With a serious expression, Athoi teleported directly in front of a flying demon, striking its chest with her sword. The demon faltered, trying to bite her, but Athoi teleported onto the back of another demon, continuing her attack. She moved with precision, teleporting from one enemy to the next, striking them down before they could react.
Meanwhile, Nabil fought on the ground, facing off against the demons that charged him. He dispatched them with ease, his movements fluid and instinctive. As he fought, his mind raced.
"Ever since I arrived in this world, I've learned so much without any formal training," Nabil thought to himself. "Using a bow and arrow, wielding a sword—it all feels so natural, as if I already knew how to do these things. Even when I first cut down a tree on the island, it was easier than anything I'd done in real life. But here, everything just... works."
As a demon attacked from behind, Nabil dodged with perfect timing and slashed its throat, decapitating it in one swift motion.
"Like that—I wanted to move, and my body just moved. I wanted to dodge, and I did. It's like my body knows exactly what to do," he mused, cutting down another demon with a single blow.
Nabil continued moving forward until he saw a male elf running from a demon. He sprinted to intercept, stabbing the demon in the head and saving the elf. The elf vanished, teleporting away to safety, and left behind a piece of pork.
Nabil was about to pick it up when another demon attacked. Athoi teleported just in time, decapitating the demon with a clean strike.
"We need to save the elves and take out these demons," Athoi said firmly.
"Are the other demons dead?" Nabil asked, glancing around.
"Yeah, they're all dead. Look behind you," Athoi replied.
Nabil turned and was stunned to see thousands of demon corpses littering the ground. "Wait, when did I kill all of them?"
"We've been fighting for about an hour," Athoi explained. "You took out all the ground demons that came after you. I handled the ones in the air."
"An hour? It felt like only a few minutes," Nabil said in disbelief.
"Forget it, we still need to save those elves," Athoi reminded him.
"Yeah, you're right," Nabil agreed.
They spotted a large group of elves trapped in a cage, being tormented by a demon wielding a trident. Without hesitation, Nabil charged at the demon.
The demon responded by hurling its trident at Nabil, who barely managed to dodge the attack.
Nabil countered, stabbing the demon, but the trident returned to the demon's hand like a boomerang, striking Nabil in the back with a heavy thud.
Nabil was knocked to the ground, the impact jarring his senses.
The demon loomed over him, viciously clawing at his armor, but the ruby armor protected him from harm.
Gritting his teeth, Nabil rolled to the side, dodging the attacks, and stood up, thrusting his sword into the demon's chest.
The demon staggered but didn't die, instead kicking Nabil away with a powerful blow.
Nabil hit the ground hard, but quickly recovered, drawing a stone sword from his inventory.
The demon pulled the diamond sword out of its body, its eyes burning with anger. It flew straight at Nabil, the sword shining in its hand.
Nabil quickly jumped back, barely avoiding the attack. He glanced around and saw Athoi fighting another demon in the distance.
Knowing he had to defend himself, Nabil grabbed a stone sword from his inventory. As the demon charged at him with the diamond sword, Nabil lifted his diamond shield just in time.
The swords clashed with a loud noise, and Nabil felt the impact push him back.
Nabil blocked the attack, but the demon grabbed the shield, trying to rip it from his hand.
Nabil quickly swung his stone sword at the demon, but the sword shattered on impact. The demon grinned, using its strength to yank the shield away from Nabil.
"We only manage to beat them because of our weapons; otherwise, they're stronger than us," Nabil thought as he started to run. But the demon was fast, catching up to him. Nabil struggled to free himself, and in a desperate move, he jumped high—nearly 18 meters into the air.
While airborne, he pulled out a bow and arrow, aiming at the demon below.
The demon flew toward him, but Nabil released the arrow just in time. The demon blocked it with the shield and countered, striking Nabil's chest.
The blow hit his ruby armor, knocking Nabil down. As he fell to the ground, the demon swooped down and attacked again, this time striking his chestplate and armor.
Nabil's armor absorbed the hits, but it was starting to crack. Protecting his eyes with his arms, he thought, "If this keeps up, both my armor and sword will break." Then he remembered he had a ruby sword in his inventory.
He quickly pulled out the ruby sword and pushed the demon away. The demon reacted fast, attacking Nabil again. Their swords clashed in a fierce battle, but after a few seconds, Nabil's ruby sword broke.
"Oh no," Nabil muttered, jumping back. He glanced over and saw Athoi still fighting off multiple demons in the distance.
"I shouldn't call her now," Nabil thought, realizing he was on his own. "I'll have to fight with my bare hands."
Summoning all his strength, Nabil punched the demon, sending it staggering backward. He noticed the demon's trident on the ground, grabbed it, and said, "Time to switch weapons."
Nabil attacked the demon with the trident, while the demon defended itself with the diamond shield it had taken from Nabil. Moving quickly, Nabil jumped behind the demon and stabbed it in the head with the trident, killing it.
He retrieved his sword and shield, striking the demon's head one last time to be sure. "They're stronger with our weapons. We have to be careful," Nabil thought, placing the trident back into his inventory. "It might come in handy."
Nabil then broke the cage where the elves were trapped. As soon as he did, the elves were teleported away, leaving behind strange items—a pantie, a potion, an apple, and a rope.
Nabil was shocked when he saw the panties. "What the... What's the use of panties? I thought they'd drop something useful," he thought.
"Wait… I almost forgot about Athoi. She's fighting multiple demons!" Nabil realized.
He looked over and saw that the number of demons attacking Athoi had increased. Without wasting time, he ran toward her and joined the battle.
"Nabil, aim for the head! These winged demons don't die unless you take off their head!" Athoi shouted.
"Got it!" Nabil replied.
Together, they skillfully killed all the demons. Athoi, exhausted, sat on the ground. "Thanks," she said.
"No problem. Are you okay?" Nabil asked.
"Yeah, just tired," Athoi replied, catching her breath. "I figured out that the winged demons only die when you take off their head.
When I was teleporting and killing them in the air, I stabbed some in the chest, thinking they were dead when they fell. But after rescuing those elves, those demons I thought were dead came back and attacked me."
"Oh no, I also killed some by stabbing them in the chest. Does that mean they'll come back?" Nabil asked.
"No, only the winged ones," Athoi explained.
"Did you save all the remaining elves?" Nabil asked.
"Yeah… but here's something weird. Those elves who engage in any kind of physical relationship turn into demons. I saw one demon doing something sexual with an elf, and it was clear the elf was enjoying it. When I killed the demon, the elf also turned into a monster.
Also, remember that monster we saw raping an elf? That elf turned into a monster too. So, it seems like elves who have sex or are raped turn into demons," Athoi explained.
"What the... That's really strange," Nabil said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, but we have to kill the elves too," Athoi replied.
"Elves drop weird stuff," Nabil said, still puzzled.
"Why? I got some useful things," Athoi responded.
"Oh… maybe I forgot to grab something useful. There was a potion," Nabil said.
"Where did you forget to pick it up?" Athoi asked.
"In that cage," Nabil replied.
"Wait, let me go get it," Athoi said and teleported there.
"Wait… there was also a pair of panties. I should've stopped her," Nabil thought, rushing toward the cage. But he was too late—Athoi had already taken the potion, rope, apple, and the panties too.
Seeing Nabil, Athoi asked, "What's weird here?"
"Um… nothing," Nabil stammered.
"Is it about the panties? They're useful to me, tho. "