[Randall's POV]
… Now, I found myself on top of my former body.
A purple wrist-reaper with a pitch-black blade remained stuck in my former body's neck. With blood staining it… My eyes stared at me.
And so did everyone else's.
'.... Shit.'
Shit.
Shit shit shit.
Two large pieces of feathery flesh moved in my back once… Somehow, I think I understand them.
The hand of a woman with lavender skin trembled.
… I ran away.
Down the stairs in front of the pavillon, towards the large crowd.
"What…"
"The fuc-"
"Get that bastard!!"
Multiple gigantic clouds of smoke erupted in the field, clouding my sight. And probably everyone else's.
My body almost collided with a crowd of people, but it didn't matter. Most still pushed on, intending to get away from this place.
A turn led me out of the main "avenues", where the streets had less people. Granted, it was still a lot, but a tad more manageable now.
A majority of the houses and businesses had their doors and windows closed. People stomped on the decorations, as they desperately ran away from the chaos.
Now away from the cleared out pavilion, I had to think.
'I should be far away enough from the main plaza. Now, I have to figure out… What should I-'
A shiver cut off my thoughts, and my body dived straight into an alley. An inconspicuously dark alley, with some debris I used as visual cover.
I slightly peeked out, and spotted a group of four knights passing by. Sunrays bounced off the pristine silver armor worn by three of them, but the helmets concealed the human faces wielding the unique weapons on their hands.
"Damn it, where is that demon?!"
"Sir, we should split up and check the all-"
"Help!"
The knights turned behind. Seconds later, the knight wearing a doctor-like outfit spoke. "The Clans are attacking now?… Not only are there a bunch of runaway demons roaming the Capital, but we have to deal with them, too?"
"We need to go, sir." A knight wielding a large, spiked cross spoke.
"Right. Move out!"
They ran off in the direction where they came from, and I emerged from the alley. Of course, I made sure to peek out the alley before heading out.
'I can't even take off these clothes… Sneaking around will be a headache once I become known throughout Fegendale, for sure.'
Good thing I can cloak myself with other rags.
…
This continued on for a while. It took awhile, but a good part of the population was successfully evacuated into safe zones. As for those who kept adding fuel to the chaotic flames?
I saw how a majority of them were suppressed, and then tied down with a few slightly glowing chains. In terms of appearance, they resembled Violet's chains.
Despite their fragile appearance, any prisoners with those things chaining them down… seemed outright incapable of moving.
A few unlucky ones, both agitators and innocent civilians, died by the guards' hands.
'...'
As unfortunate as it was, there wasn't much I could do given my own situation. So I kept going from a hiding spot into another. This strategy allowed me to slip past a few "barricades", seemingly set by some generals from the human army.
Even William, the Royal Knight I met back in Danpold, took care of one such makeshift construction.
Humanoid dragons soared in the sky, providing aerial support for those fighting on ground whilst dodging anti-aerial fire.
Considering no one got to me yet, it looks like wearing rags on top of my clothes fixed the issue.
Fortunately, I've managed to "turn off" the pieces of flesh in my back. Which, for whatever reason, are supposed to be wings.
Like Icarus' wings… But real.
I would have loved to use them, but the situation didn't allow me to.
Really, not a good time.
… Luckily, I think I approached the walls of the Capital.
'Just a bit more and-'
I lost control over myself, as I felt everything crumbling down. The muscles in my arms dwindled, until only a mirage of their existence remained.
An abnormal energy within myself threatened to break free from my grasp… And my mind threatened to break in a literal sense. At any moment.
Then, a stranger's punch flung me a few blocks away.
'Wh-'
I crashed with something massive, and coughs left my mouth. Exhausted, pained coughs.
My limbs remained mostly unresponsive. I'm pretty sure both of my arms are dislocated, if not outright broken…
My sight slowly cleared up.
'The hell was… Oh, no.'
This can't be possible…right?
A lavender skinned, woman-like figure with an overwhelming presence stood a few hundred meters away. Yet, the clothing was unmistakable. Along with the lack of suppressing chains.
That was Violet. The demoness I was supposed to marry a few minutes ago… She was out to get me.
Like a shadow, she appeared mere steps away from me within seconds. The sheer amount of rage in her face flooded the environment around us, as her raised fist approached my face.
Is... is it over already?
That's what I thought, until I vaguely saw something blasting her away. While identifying what did it wasn't within my capabilities... It was something peculiarly fierce.
"Sorry, Queen Violet. But that can't happen," voiced a rather familiar voice, whose owner jumped off a roof, only to stand between me and the blown-back Violet.
The lavender skinned fiend struggled back up, letting out a couple normal coughs. And a bloodied one. "Verderift… What do you think you're doing?"
'Verderift?... That was Jean???'
"I'm stopping you from killing that demon."
Violet's face distorted even further. "Why?..."
"We need to carry out a fair trial, and an investigation."
It's confirmed. She's my hero.
Even with her back facing me, I could picture her serious expression.
"A trial? An investigation?... Are you fucking kidding me?! Everyone saw the aasassination, fuck, even you did!"
The human's body did not move.
"... I know. But we need to know who-"
"Who sent this sack of shit? I can give you names, locations, and everything that interrogating that demon would yield and more. Much, MUCH more… So step aside, and let me kill him."
A pair of void-like claws replaced her slender hands. The bloodthirst that she emanated did not cease to make itself known, for even a moment.
Jean's hand trembled. Yet, she did not move. Somehow.
"... Violet, calm down. Your mental state is far from stab-"
"Girl, I'm as calm as I can be," she spoke, while walking towards us really menacingly.
Calm, my ass. She's beyond furious.
"...So, will you give him up? Or do I have to deal with you, too?"
Jean's breathing reached my ears. And she took a step.
To the side.
'No…'
"Ah, the Demon Queen and the Flame Saint's daughter. Looks like you two found the getaway cockroach!"
A particular knight barged into the scene without any concern, with his hands clasped. The cheerfulness of his voice, unmatched by any of the present individuals.
With his hands crossed behind his head, he casually walked towards me. "So, you killed the Monarch's hidden heir… Yeah, you're not gonna have a good time."
"I can tell, I'm already having a horrible time…'
The newcomer approached me casually, as if nothing of interest happened around us. This caused Violet to clear her throat, irritated.
"Is there an issue, Demon Queen? If it's about the civilians, the Royal Knights and the guards should be done cleaning up and evacuating the townsfolk. They'll arrive here quite- Aha! Here they are."
After concluding his words, dozens upon dozens of yellow-clad knights and regular guards surrounded our position. They all had their weapons ready. All pointed at me.
"Night."
'What-'
I blacked out.