Chereads / The Demon Lords General / Chapter 3 - The Great Escape

Chapter 3 - The Great Escape

The Forgotten sat in the back of a horseless carriage, The Demon woman who had been talking to Hue and the Ram who had been introduced to him as Mimzy was driving it, having introduced herself as Clementine she had volunteered to both drive and keep an eye on the road, using looted supplied from the now dead Caravan runners she was hidden by a fair amount of cloth and using a hat to help hide her horn.

Her two Right eyes were stellar at being eyes, as she could spot the slightest shift in a shadow on the ground and find exactly what had caused the shift within a second of looking for it.

The Fairy Iron cages had been dragged far into the jungle by the Forgotten in the hopes that they to could share his title of being forgotten, the four other carriages were now packed full of Demons in hiding, with other Demons that could pass for Human if bundled up enough driving them.

Presumably, because they assumed he would go in guns a-blazing if left unchecked, which was an accurate assumption on their part, Hue, Mimzy, and the four super fan Imps had all joined the Forgotten in the front carriage since it was the only one that was going to enter the coast city, once the city was in sight the other carts would make their way towards Demona, it was well known the entire country had a massive wall between them and the Humans after one two many raids, that one too many was one by the Demon Lords count.

"It'll probably be a day's travel from the Coast to Demona," Mimzy noted as the Imps all tried to show The Forgotten their Blood tricks, squealing in delight every time he copied them, "So we might have to secure a few boats after the raid on the market, there will be Demon, Magical beasts, even other humans,"

"Other Humans?" Hue seemed confused about the concept and tried to rationalize, "Are there more than one type of Human?"

"No, Humans hate everything, including other humans, so if they can get away with it they will torment and kill other humans…just because," The Forgotten replied simply.

"You remembering that but not your name speaks volumes of the life you've have to live," Mimzy noted grimly.

"So I guess I can't just run in swinging and hope for the best," The Forgotten noted, "I'm here to free slaves, not just demons,"

"So first we need to sneak into the market, take out the guard, free everyone…" Mimzy let out a deep breath and Hue finished his thought.

"-And somehow get an unknown number of humans, Demons, and Beast onto a ship and just hope we can sail away on it," The two sighed at the impossible plan, The Forgotten was fully ready to just be a problem while the others freed the captives and got them out, but moving a ship was a hard task, and he could stall for a long time, but it had been a while since he had last eaten and while he was staving off starvation using the stolen Biomass of others as energy, fighting would quickly burn that away and he might just lose the energy to keep fighting.

"Look worst-case scenario, I cause a commotion, you all make a break for it on foot, and I get me a snazzy new electric collar, losing one guy in a big fight is a pretty big win if you think about it,"

"I'd rather not lose anyone," Hue replied simply.

"Well that's just not practical," The Forgotten replied with a shrug, "And there's a chance I can hold off a small army and escape, a small chance, but it is possible…maybe,"

With no other plan, and the only other option being to leave the Forgotten behind since he made it clear he was going in with or without them, Mimzy, Hue, and Clementine figured it was better to honor the one who had saved them by granting his last wish than leave him to die trying to make it happen alone.

"If you should fall, I will make sure you are not forgotten," Mimzy promised, earning a soft smile from the Forgotten.

"That's comforting, thanks,"

"I'll remember you," One of the Imps cheered, "If you die I'll make a statue of you out of the bodies of the ones who killed you," The other imps began jumping in and the Forgotten chose to enjoy having a fan club while he could.

The Sun was at its peak in the sky when they first saw it, the Costal city was big, though compared to the capital it was small, dozens upon dozens of ships could be seen in the bay that the city was set up in, making it a crescent shape, a Large Manor could be seen overlooking the bay, a massive area in the center part of the crescent stood out among the buildings, it looked like some sort of lavish stone park.

"That's the Market no doubt," Hue said as he looked at the city with a pair of stolen Binoculars from the Caravan, the rest of the group had bid them luck and were already well on their way towards Demona, If he squinted the Forgotten could just see them far down the road, almost gone from sight, despite their protest his Imps had been sent on their way, promising they would find him the moment he made it Demona.

"So," The Forgotten turned to his three allies in this daring heist, "I go in, make a mess, and you guys sneak everyone out? Because there are a lot of boats in those waters and I don't think you'll make it without a proper crew manning the flags or whatever you do with boats.

He felt mild judgment from his statement but no one called it out as they continued casing the joint.

"You'll have to destroy a few houses," Clementine noted, "the Market is closer to the bay than the outskirts of the city, and they probably offer hefty rewards for returning slaves so I doubt a massive hord of runaway slaves won't be assaulted by a mob of city folk trying to take one of two back for the sake of a good payday, especially since some definitely will just make a run for it instead of following us, there's always at least one guy who thinks he knows better,"

"I don't feel bad for messing up the homes of people who condone slavery," The Forgotten replied happily, "So I'll probably just level all the buildings between the market and the outskirts of town, should help a little I think,"

The Forgotten patted himself down and started walking towards the city, "You guys take your time, and don't forget gloves so you can touch Fairy Iron without losing your hands," Leaving the complicated process of sneaking a giant ran into a city to his new friends The Forgotten strolled up to the city, as he looked human he was met with no opposition, he thought they might mark him as an escaped slave but he was walking just confidently enough that he was mistaken for a Homeless guy looking for some easy food, a statement that certainly wasn't inaccurate.

Having not walked around a town in ages he enjoyed this brief respite before he got himself a notoriety level by looking at all the food stalls, the people manning them eyed him fiercely, probably prepared to beat him away if he made a go at their stalls.

He was just thinking of stealing some food to start his crime spree when he heard a man yelling angrily, he turned and watched as a bearded man with a broom ran out of a nearby building, chasing after five tiny men, the tallest was maybe pushing two feet in height, and saying the smaller was a foot tall might have been generous, the five tiny men all ran away with food in their arms, they had hair on their head, not enough to cover their scales but enough to notice they had hair, long noses, and rat-like ears and tails, though they looked more Human that rat at least when it came to their skin and matching little outfits that made them look like little purple ninjas.

One of the three medium-sized ones, maybe a foot and a half, was caught by the broom and sent flying, the man with the broom slid to a halt and made it clear he was about to end the life of the tiny man as he raised the broom with the intent to begin repeatedly striking it against the creatures small body. The other four threw their food to the wind to try and save their comrade, but before either party could make a move the Forgotten Ran past and plucked the tiny man off the ground, to the shock of all parties involved, the four men picked up their dirty prizes and rushed after the Forgotten, who laughed as the guy with a Broom swore at him.

"What kind of bum helps a Rattrick?" He demanded, calling the Forgotten many other words as he ran into an alley, the little men called Rattricks following after him.

After a few steps, he slowed down and set down the one he had saved, the second it was set down the others gathered around him and they all began making noises that sounded suspiciously like the word rat. Not one to judge another race's ability to communicate.

"You boys might wanna high tail it out of here," He told them, judging by their response they seemed to at least understand that his sounds were at least directed towards them. "I'm about to turn this place into a pile of rubble, Good luck with your eats Rattrick brothers,"

The Rattricks almost looked like they were dancing in response but he left them to do whatever it was they were doing and went back onto the street. He could see the broom man talking to a not-royal guard and walked up to him.

"-and then some bum in a mask ran by, scooped the vermin up, and the rest followed after him,"

"He probably trained them or something," The not-royal guard noted, "I've heard of homeless beggars training lesser Demons to get food, don't worry sir we'll have him in chains by week's end I promise,"

"I Challenge that notion," The Forgotten called back, "I don't look good in chains, trust me I've tried to make it work but I just look tacky,"

"That's him," The Broom man called out, "The Rattrick man!"

"Sir," The not royal-guard said firmly, "I am placing you under arrest, put your hands in the air and surrender your Demons,"

"Hmm," The Forgotten sighed, " You seem like a nice kid, do tell me, do you agree with the slave pit you got in the middle of your city?"

"What?" The not-royal guard seemed confused at the off-topic question, "Hand in the air or I will be forced to-"

The Forgotten crossed his hands and stared the not-royal guard down, "Do you agree with the slave pit?"

"What do you mean agree?" The Broom man demanded, "It's a grand monument to our nation's success, lesser creatures, and Demon sympathizers, all facing the judgment they deserve,"

"I was asking you, kid," The Forgotten said firmly.

"Who cares about slaves?" The not-royal guard asked as though struck stupid by the question, "I'm here to do my job, you have a problem with slaves go cry about it and see where it gets you, no one is punished who doesn't deserve to be punished,"

"The train of thought being Demons need to be punished for being Demons?" He asked curiously.

"This is your last warning," The Guard called out as he pulled out a stick that started glowing with magic, "Hands up or I'll take you to the slave pits and you can see how much your Demons care when you're the only thing they have to eat tomorrow!"

"I'm resisting arrest and your go-to threat is to feed me to starving demons?" The Forgotten let out a long whistle "I'd be lying if I said I'd feel bad for what I'm about to do later, but I would have felt at least a tiny bit like a jerk, thanks for making me feel better, now who wants to see a Magic trick?" He called the last part out loudly to get the attention of the few people who weren't already watching, "Watch as I turn this entire street into rubble!"

The not-royal guard approached with his magic stick only to fall back when a set of liquid arms burst from the Forgotten's chest, realizing what the arms were made of the man screamed and ran away, going the scare them away rout over just killing everyone too close to him the Forgotten got his desired result pretty fast as everyone ran away from him, he formed a bloody twister and set to work wrecking the buildings before stronger forces had a chance to be sent to get him.

Hue and Mimzy were tucked in the back of their stolen caravan wagon and could only listen, Clementine, however, could easily see their unnamed friend making his promised mess, drawing some but not all of the guards away from the marketplace.

Still provided enough of an opening for Clementine to pull the cart into the market and park the carriage.

"Shame we can't keep it," Clementine noted as she patted the carriage, "But we're looking at a hefty crowd and I doubt we'll be able to come back for it,"

Hue and Mimzy exited the carriage, having come up with the simple plan of being owned slaves with Clementine working as the master. Mimzy and Hue had a rope around their neck and handed the leads to Clementine, who led the way to the main building where the market started its merchandise. Taking cared to only use her left arm since her two right arms were small and only had four fingers each, even styling her hair to hide her extra eyes, planning to blame its color on hair dye and hoping her skin tone would go unnoticed with the layers of clothing that hide most of her body.

"That's a hell of a Ram," One of the guards noted at the entrance to the market's main building, "You selling or just wanted to show off a little?"

"I can do both," Clementine said in a false tone that was done well enough to get her inside, the Demons were being held in large open-aired areas, grouped by race Clementine counted numbers well past what she had hoped for, the smallest group was one comprised of fourth or so imps, more of her race than she could count, she even spotted man-beasts and orcs, though the latter two seemed to have a fate outside of slavery planned for them.

"I'm telling you, man, Orc cooked just right is to die for," Hue, who was himself a portly orc, looked like he was going to be sick at the realization he had been on a death march to someone's plate until their savor had busted them out

"You wouldn't think it based on their looks," the two laughed as they looked at the Orc pin, twenty or so Orcs that looked to have given up on life, having probably been forced to watch loved ones be taken away to be slaughtered and cooked, Clementine took count, despite the massive collection of demons and beast on display it seemed most of the guards where only interested in one cage, one filled far more than any of the others and filled to the brim with a myriad of humans, men, woman, and even a few children.

With most of the guards focused on one side of the large building, Clementine made her way to the cage holding her kind and looked into it, pleased to find they all seemed more than ready to be violent if anyone gave them an opening to get at them.

"Hey," she called out softly getting a several dozen of them to look at her, before they could respond she used one of her right hands to mess with her hair for just a moment, seeing her small four-fingered hand and two eyes on one side hostility turned into alarm at one of their race being free but so close to danger.

"You have to get out of here," one of them hissed as they made sure none of the guards could see them, "If they catch you-"

"I'm going to pen the door to your pen," She said cutting him off, "Tell everyone to get ready to fight, because my team is busting you all out of here, the distraction should already be…"

"Hey!" "A Guard screamed as he ran into the marketplace, 'Some sort of blood demon is destroying the northwestern district! Multiple guards are down, we need support now!" most of the guards moved out, only leaving a skeleton crew behind who seemed only interested in the human pin since all the demons were trapped in Fairy Iron pens.

"Ok stage one is done, stage two begins now," Hue and Mimzy took their leads off and Clementine stuck to the shadows as the two larger Demons B-lined for the Guards.

"Hey…hey wait," The Guards noticed the two bulking demons and took up a defensive stance, better armed than the Caravan, they had spears and shields of Fairy armor and began trying to push the two back, however as they did that Clementine snuck behind them and used her eye to spy a prize, each guard had a key, and using her gloved left hand she quietly snatched one up and went back to the pen holding her people, all of whom where at the ready as she clicked open the lock and opened the pen door before pulling the key out and moving to the next pin as a hoard of Demons began pushing out of their pens and towards the small group of guards, buyers at the market ran and soon every pen was unlocked and the Demon and Human Slaves where moving into the main market area.

The signs of destruction could be seen far and wide as the Forgotten continued toppling buildings, using blood twisters to cripple their bases, with only guards still in the area trying to take him out he looked over to the marketplace and could see a hoard of Demons filling the large open-air center that was probably used for holding massive crowds to bid on Demons.

"Hm," The Forgotten jumped onto the roof and began sucking his blood back up as he ran to the crowd, upon getting close enough he called out to them, " Hi guys," He sang out, Clementine waving back upon seeing him, "I've cleared out the citizens, Make a run for the outskirts and head for Demona, I'll hang back to make sure no one gets left behind, now run fools, run for that sweet Freedom we all crave!!!"

As it was a massive horde of scared Demons and a few people, being told to run to freedom and don't look back was an effective tactic to get them all to move out. He turned to get back to being a distraction when a fist wrapped around his throat, no amount of healing helped when air was absent from one's lungs so all he could do was get choked out by the guard who had caught him by surprise,

"Enjoy the free trip back to Hell you disgusting-" A sound that sounded suspiciously like a rat cut the man off as a drying pan hit his helmet, it didn't seem to do much but it was quickly followed by four more frying pans and that was enough to at least loosen his grip before the Forgotten could be freed the five Ratrick brothers jumped the guard and began beating on him with kitchen appliances.

That was more than enough for The Forgotten to free himself, and the Ratricks jumped ship when the guard, in his attempt to get them off, stumbled over the edge and plummeted back to the ground.

"Nicely done boys," He cheered as they all danced over the guards' grave, cementing their place as being liked by the Forgotten. "I gotta go keep the rest at bay, you five should probably join the group Demona, hit me up when you get there," As he couldn't speak their language they simply made noises at him before scuttling down the wall and disappearing down the alleyway.

"I like those guys," He decided before going about making sure no one got picked off during the panic.

From what he could see the Imps were the slowest group in no short part to being so small and having no larger counterparts to carry them as the children had. Several guards were already trying to capitalize on this fact and were trying to cut the imps off from the larger group, who were too busy trying to save themselves to help the slower imps.

One of the imps fell and the Imps at least proved they had a strong bond as the others chose to form a wall over leaving her behind.

"Alright," A Guard said as he pulled out his Fairy Iron Spear "Try not to kill too many of them," He took a step forward, leading the way to recapturing the imps, and was blasted away by a wall of blood that formed around the Imps, The Forgotten landed among them and began giving them a once over.

"You all alright?" The Imps just gazed at him mystified as his wall swirled around them, Hands began forming and picked up each of the Imps before he made haste, carrying the lot of them as he did so, "I can only take you to the edge of the city," He informed them, "Make sure to stick together and head to Demona,"

"Are you an artist?" One of them asked as she and most others inspected his blood hands carrying them.

"Oh, I guess Imps are just like that," He had assumed his Imp Fan club was just a little too happy to be saved, but it seemed Imps just found his use of Blood Magic to be nothing less than an art form, "I suppose so," Reaching the edge of the city he set them all down and sucked the blood back into him through his skin.

After a moment of being fawned over he had to remind the Imps they were in an active getaway and needed to focus on getting to safety, they all thanked him before running down the road he directed them to go down, hundreds of Demons could be seen running down it, most of the Human slaves seemed to have picked the jungle and he wasn't about to force them to follow the plan, but he did see a few humans chose Demona over the jungle.

"These numbers are too low," He decided as he turned back into the city and continued his rampage as he looked for more Demons to escort to the path of freedom.