Chapter 107: A Ruined World
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“Blood Thralls, huh?”
I quickly brought my two daggers out of my inventory, confronting the bloodthirsty pack of beasts head-on. Their humanoid shapes seemed slightly unnerving, especially because they seemed to have been people not so long ago.
If there are Blood Thralls, then there are Vampires nearby. Most likely, the big boss of this entire Dungeon is one, if I could give myself the privilege of guessing it.
“Gruoohhh!”
“Graaaah!”
“Gryyaaah!”
They all attacked uncoordinatedly and at the same time. Their movements were fast and precise, their leaps were strong, their claws were sharp, and they had quite hard canines, but my Holy Armor was quite good against demonic beings too.
Clank! Clank! CLANK!
Whenever they tried to bite through my arms or legs, their fangs would break apart. I didn’t put much effort into them this time; despite being B+ Rank monsters, they looked famished and desperate to eat.
The moment they managed to bite my armor, I swiftly moved my daggers, piercing their skulls one after another. Explosions of flames and frost covered their bodies, and three fell instantly.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The sound of their skulls being cracked and pierced and the vision of their brains splattering out made the rest of the pack afraid, their eyes still remaining with some sort of humanity within.
They instantly stepped back; I coated my daggers on the power of Sunshine as they did, and slowly, I walked towards them.
“Gryaaargh!”
With a scream filled with fear, they started running away without trying to fight anymore. I guess they still had some intelligence left over.
But if there’s any person still living in that ruined town, the Blood Thralls would eventually become a threat to these people.
I better slay them before they cause any other trouble.
FLASH!
By merely using my current Stats and the enhancement of my Physique, I rushed towards the last four Thralls and swiftly slashed their backs, each slash unleashing two cutting waves thanks to the Twin Cutter Skill.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
“Gryyaaarggh…!”
With pitiful screams, the Blood Thralls fell; although strong in their own way, they were too weakened to be an actual threat.
Ding!
[You have slain [Blood Thralls (B+ Rank)] x7!]
[You earned 175.000 EXP.]
[Level Up!]
[“You sure are heartless; those Blood Thralls were probably people that got turned into those by a Vampire!”]
“Yeah, I know…” I sighed. “Let’s just move on; there was no helping it. I didn’t want additional risks.”
[“I-Is that how a girl at your age would talk?”]
“Don’t tell me you’re just beginning to wonder why I am the way I am?” I facepalmed. "Also, you’re very talkative lately; did you finally become my friend or something?”
[“Hmph! There’s no helping it! What else am I going to do anyways?”]
Gram complained while being on his sheath as I walked towards the town amidst the forest of withered trees. I couldn’t find anything worth mentioning material-wise, so the way there was uneventful.
I covered myself with a coat so my appearance wouldn’t draw too much attention. As I stepped into the village’s entrance, it was unguarded but closed tightly.
I leaped over it easily and made my way inside; nobody was watching over me either.
“Are there really any people here?”
[“I can sense somebody there.”]
Continuing my walk, I reached the deeper areas of the village. The buildings looked ruined; most lacked their ceilings, and there was rubble everywhere.
Pieces of clothes over the floor, dried blood, and even broken, dirty stuffed animals here and there. If I had imagined this ruined place before, it might have been a decent-looking place.
But now, it looks like it was ravaged by something or someone.
[“Did you see that?”]
“I already noticed it.”
Someone was following me. It was trying to be very stealthy, but there was no way they could easily hide from my Mana Sense and Gram’s incredible senses.
I stopped walking and then faced the direction where they were hiding, glancing with a sharp glare.
“I know you’re following me. I don’t mean any harm; I just want to talk.”
Suddenly, a little person came from behind a large piece of rubble; it resembled a human child, around five years of age, but he had purple-colored skin, a tiny broken black horn on his forehead, and red eyes with white hair.
He was wearing nasty rags and was covered with scars; his body seemed malnourished, and he was trembling, his little feet covered with bruises and dirt.
A little Demon Child—I don’t know what kind of demon—but probably the low-ranked ones that were 99% of the Demon Realm’s population.
A victim of the Apocalypse that ravaged their world...
“W-Who are you…?” he asked, with a trembling voice. “T-There’s nothing here left… So please leave! We don’t have riches, nor food… nothing…”
“I don’t want anything from you,” I sighed, slowly trying to walk towards the child. “Are you hungry?” I took out a piece of bread from my inventory and a bottle of water and offered them to him.
“Ahh…!”
The child quickly stole the things off my hands as fast as possible, beginning to devour the large and fluffy bread and drinking the water until he started coughing.
“Cough, cough…!”
“Calm down! Eat slowly, will you?”
“Hmm…”
He slowly looked back at me, slightly less afraid but still keeping his distance from me.
“What happened here? I'm a traveler. I was sent here to defeat a certain evil being, someone who has done bad things,” I sighed. “Could you tell me what happened here? And are there more people?”
“A traveler from afar…” the child wondered. “Are you an Ivory Knight?! T-They finally came! My sister never believed me! But you came! A-Are you going to help us?!”
“Ivory Knight?” I wondered. “I am… not that, but I will help you if I can. Now, can you help me so I can help you out? What’s your name? Mine’s Anna.”
“Not an Ivory Knight…” he sighed. “Name’s… Isaac.”
What a human-sounding name!
“Alright Isaac, so-”
“Isaac! What are you doing?! Don’t speak with strangers!”
Suddenly, someone came running here, accompanied by a few more people. I guess there were indeed plenty of survivors.
The person leading them was someone similar to Isaac, with purple skin, a black horn, white hair, and red eyes, but it was a female around the age of my brother, covered in rags, and holding a rusty sword.
She was accompanied by Demons like her; some had green skin and scales, others had the heads of animals, but they were all unified as a group of survivors.
“Big sis! She gave me food and said she came to help. Eeek!”
Isaac’s long ears were pulled by his big sister as she dragged him behind him, where her allies protected her little brother.
She pointed her sword at me immediately after, her eyes flaring with distrust.
“Who the hell are you, and what do you want from us?! Are you one of Countess Blednica’s Blood Knights?!” she asked furiously. “Are you here to find more sacrifices after you’ve killed most of us?! How long will you thirst for blood, you monsters?!”
“W-Wait a second…” I sighed. “I am not related to her; in fact, look," I took off the coat, revealing my complete appearance. “I’m not even a demon, nor a Vampire, I have nothing to do with her.”
“T-That skin color…!”
“Those eyes!”
“What with that bright hair?!”
“T-That presence reminds me of THEM!”
The other demons panicked, stepping back in horror and unsheathing their weapons, pointing them at me. Isaac’s sister wasn’t any better, desperately summoning a black-colored fireball in her hand.
“Y-You’re a Celestial?! W-What do you want?! H-Have they finally found us?! How many of you are there?! A-ANSWER ME!” she stared trembling in horror, stepping back slowly.
[“Celestials… they mean angels, isn’t it? Haha! They think you’re one of those guys because you became a Nephilim!”]
“I am half angel and half human,” I sighed, without intending to hide my identity anymore. “I am a Nephilim, a revel that does not answer for the Celestials. I’ve been sent here to help you. If you don’t believe me, you may battle me to the death, and I will spare you after giving you a good lesson.”
“Half human…?” she wondered. “What sort of new trick is that, you damn winged bastards?!”
The girl instantly rushed to me, furiously swinging her sword without any sort of mastery over the blade. Her fireballs didn’t even hurt me; she was much weaker than the Blood Thralls, maybe comparable to an E Rank Hunter.
I subdued her quickly by hitting her arm, taking away her weapon, and gently twisting her arms behind her back. I feel like a dick doing this, but there’s no helping it…
“Argh! Let me go! Arrgh!” she groaned angrily, and I let her go.
“I told you that I wasn’t going to kill you," I sighed. “Enough? Or do you want to go for round 2?”
She glanced at me furiously, grabbing her sword again, but stepping back, she seemed just as untrustworthy as before.
“Why would anybody ever want to help someone else? What nonsense are you talking about? We’re complete strangers,” she sighed. “Do you think someone will ever believe you?”
“You don’t need to,” I sighed. “Let’s do a fair trade then; do you want food? In exchange, can you tell me what happened here? And who lives there?”
I quickly pulled out of my inventory large quantities of veggies, fruits, bread, sandwiches, water bottles, juice, and more I had saved for this trip. I still had tons more.
“F-Food…”
“C-Can we really take it?!”
“Just grab anything you want!” I smiled.
The demons went insane, rushing to me and grabbing everything desperately, beginning to eat the bread, fruits, and vegetables, and drinking the water.
There were some mothers with babies in their arms, which showed up from hiding spots I hadn’t noticed before, all feeding themselves.
“Big sis, she’s a nice person; she fed me and didn’t ask anything…” Isaac said. “Don’t you think that if she were a Celestial, wouldn’t she have already killed us? They never negotiate; they just kill... Like what happened to Papa and Mama…”
“Here,” I said, giving her a sandwich. "Eat; you must be starving.”
“…” she glared at the sandwich. “I-It could be all poisoned! Don’t just trust her- Agh, everyone ate already…”
Eventually, she grabbed the sandwich and started eating it, saying “fuck it” and “stupid bitch” while munching. She was really rude, but I can’t blame her; I was a dick to her.
After a while, nobody was dying, and everyone felt much better. Isaac convinced her that I meant no harm, and she sighed, nodding.
“I’ll choose to trust you for now,” she sighed. “I can’t help it; you've already won everyone’s hearts. I just… I hope you don’t backstab us; if you ever try to do something, I’ll cut your throat!”
She doesn’t have the strength to back up her words, but she’s surely brave.
“I promise, but I don’t know if my empty promises mean anything to you,” I sighed. “So let’s just call it hope; let’s hope that we both can be trustworthy. I am also risking myself by being so friendly with total strangers, you know."
“Tch… Come,” she sighed, as she led me with the rest of the demons to an underground passage, stairs leading to where people were actually living.
On the way, I saw many more demons in camps, starving children, mothers, the elderly, and even a few tamed beasts. There might be around a hundred people down here, for all I know.
“We’ve been hiding beneath the ground so that village looks deserted; thanks to that, they don’t come so often…” Isaac’s sister said, “Name’s Inferna, by the way.”
“By "they," do you mean the Blood Thralls?” I wondered.
“Yes… You’ve seen them?” She wondered. “I bet you ran away; those things are too strong... but famished; they can’t fight because there’s no food. They only live because they are half-vampires. But the failed ones.”
“I killed seven on my way here; no need to thank me.” I showed her the head of one from my inventory.
“Wha…?!” She muttered. “Y-You’re strong…”
“Duh.” I sighed. “Anyways, what’s going on in here?”
“I’m seriously incapable of understanding how you don’t know what’s going on in here; did you come from another world or something?” she asked while crossing her arms as we reached her small tent, where her brother ran inside, grabbing a little stuffed bat and showing it to me.
“Look, Anna! This is my stuffy!” he said, showing it to me.
“Oh, I see!” I giggled. “It is very cute. What’s his name?”
“Blackie!” he said while giggling. “Blackie says you’re a good person!”
“I-Is that so?” I gave him a head pat.
“…” Inferna glanced at us interact from behind, furrowing her eyebrows.
I could tell she was still gauging if I was a trustworthy person, but earning her beloved brother’s trust must have already been a big plus.
“Since the Heaven Fall incident, we’ve lost contact with other villages.” She sighed, sitting over a chair. “We’ve been scraping by eating bugs, dried grass, anything we could find… People die of hunger every day.”
“Heaven Fall…” I said. “Do you mean when the Celestials came?”
“Yeah, that’s how we call it.” Inferna sighed. “Those bastards destroyed our hometown; we used to be part of a family of sewers; we made clothes... Our parents were talented and honest people. All gone in a day. The light, the blinding light that took it all away... Even now, I remember it.” Her hands trembled as she recalled the ruinous past. “Their wicked smiles... their white, feathered wings, their long, blonde hair... Those monsters…”
“I’m sorry…” I sighed.
“Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything.” She said, looking back at her brother playing around. “We landed in this village a year ago. We thought it was paradise; there was food; there were people alive; they welcomed us and all. But it was all just bait.”
“Bait?” I wondered.
“From what we heard, this village used to be a peaceful place, ruled by two powerful High-Ranking Demon Apostles. However, eventually, one of them ascended into an Apostle of Death and disappeared; his sister went mad or something, and she started sending her knights here to grab “sacrifices”…” Inferna sighed. “You can imagine what happened... The Mad Countess constantly ravaged our village, and as people started disappearing, those things, the Blood Thralls, started roaming the wild.”
“Is she using them as sacrifices to ascend like her brother?” I wondered. “If they didn’t ask for sacrifices before, it can’t be just hunger; they would have done so before if it was just that."
“Most likely, but what are we to do? We hide like rats, hoping she just forgets about us…” Inferna sighed as tears started flowing from her eyes. “We live more miserably than ever before... As if the sh*t we went through wasn’t enough…”
“Not anymore,” I said, clenching my fists. “So her name’s Blednica, right?”
“…Are you really going to slay her? Can you?” She asked, her tears constantly flowing. “She’s a monster that you cannot even fathom; our strongest warriors were all slain by her. She’s not comparable at all with the famished Blood Thralls!”
“I’ve killed a Celestial King before.” I smiled. “Whatever chance there is, I’ll grab it. There must be a way for me to win, or I wouldn’t have been sent on this mission to begin with.”
“Anna…” Inferna sighed.
“Cough, cough…”
Isaac suddenly started coughing very strongly, as he felt like he had some sort of asthma-like disease.
“Ugh… My chest hurts…”
“What’s wrong? Is he sick?” I asked.
“He’s… well, most of us are.” Inferna sighed. “As if hunger wasn’t killing us enough, there’s a disease those Blood Thralls are spreading; it attacks the lungs and makes you get tired very quickly. Eventually, you can’t breathe easily, until you suffocate and die.”
“Is there some antidote? Any medicine?” I wondered.
“There was one... An old grandma made it, but she passed away.” She sighed. “We got the recipe, but... Not the ingredients, and nobody here is good at using Alchemy either.”
“Well, you got me.” I smiled.
Ding!
[A New {Special Quest} has been generated: {The Demon’s Last Hope}
[Rank: C]
[A deadly disease is slowly killing whatever is left of the Demon population in this small village. They said there’s a cure, but the one that could make it died some time ago, and nobody can go out there to find ingredients with the Blood Thralls wandering in the wild. Plus, nobody’s good at alchemy either.]
[If you truly want to save a few lives, find the ingredients and create an antidote remedy for the disease. Be careful, Blood Thralls wander in all the areas where these ingredients grow.]
[Completion Rewards]: [???]
[Failure Penalty]: [Favorability With Demons -1000]
[Time Condition]: [24 Hours]
[If you cannot complete the quest within 24 Hours, it will be automatically shown as a Failure.]
“Here’s the recipe and the ingredients…” Inferna brought the paper to me faster than I thought. “Thank you… I-I don’t really know what to say.”
“Don’t worry, save your thanks when I make the antidote.” I smiled. “I’ll get going now; be safe.”
“Good luck, Anna!” Isaac waved his little hand.
“I’ll be back quickly!” I said.
Alright, let’s do this.
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