I Like It Cold (3)
In this modern era, the relationship between demons and humans isn't particularly hostile.
“Around ten thousand years ago, due to a certain incident, the three Demon Gods turned upon one another. As a result, the vast Demon Realm was fractured into three parts. Even to this day, strife among the demon realms has never ceased, and their tactics almost exclusively involve all-out, total war.”
The gist of that lecture was simple: with three whole nations of their own, the demons were far too busy fighting each other to spare the luxury of invading the human realm.
At that moment, someone whispered in weary agreement.
“Quite right. Naturally so. Merely fending off the scoundrels of Eiros pushes us to our limits as it is...”
It was Sefirona, Princess of the Sethan Demon Realm.
“What am I supposed to do about those damn things?”
Come to think of it, I had never learned how to fight flying enemies. I racked my brains for quite a while, wondering how to deal with those pterosaurs, but no decent solution came to mind.
Ever since I froze the first one that lunged at me, the bastards had refused to get anywhere near me, bombarding me purely from a distance. Whether dropping boulders from the sky or spitting fireballs, none of the attacks were fatal on their own, but they were infuriatingly tricky to handle.
“I should've practiced archery or something.”
I knew how to throw a spear, but wasting one just to bring down a single beast felt like a waste.
"Still, you protected what needed protecting, didn't you?"
“That’s not the point. Just imagine if a swarm of winged Ice Queens came pouring down. I'd be utterly helpless.”
"There's no way that would ever happen..."
Just as Belba said, my original objective had technically been accomplished. Three little demon kids, barely clinging to life, covered in wounds after being pecked half to death by the pterosaurs. Supposedly, there had been well over several hundred of them at the start.
What a horrifying survival rate.
Enraged that their prey had been snatched away, the pterosaurs screeched shrilly as they circled overhead, gliding around me. At this rate, they had no intention of leaving even if days passed. This was only going to end when one side died.
Fine by me. I was absurdly strong in this kind of fight. Packed to the brim with cheat-like abilities, my body held an absolute advantage in prolonged battles against crowds.
Kieeeeeeek!
“That's it, come on.”
Unable to hold out any longer, one of the pterosaurs swooped in, and I shoved my spear straight down its open maw.
Squelch!
Ugh. Mistake. My face ended up inside the beast's mouth—right into a drool-dripping gullet. I felt like throwing up. A foul, nauseating stench surged up from the depths of its throat.
Guh.
A dry heave escaped me automatically. I would rather have taken a blast of fire straight to the face; that would've dealt less psychic damage. God, I hate this so much.
Gritting my teeth, I poured strength into my arms. Twisting the spear lodged in its gullet, I drove it upward with everything I had, thrusting the spearhead straight through the top of its skull.
Instant death.
At that exact moment, I absorbed the stats and skills the creature possessed. Done. This was why I couldn't lose. It wasn't a complete absorption, and because of the massive gap in our power levels, the stat increase was negligible. Still, it was more than enough to replenish my depleted stamina and mana.
“...Something's off.”
Thirty minutes had passed since then. After a display like that, it was high time for them to retreat, yet the pterosaurs were still wheeling around me. Is there something left for them to salvage? I couldn't quite wrap my head around it.
The dinosaurs I had encountered so far were remarkably quick and accurate at assessing situations. When attempting a hunt, they were chillingly thorough, but the moment things looked hopeless, they were creatures that immediately cut their losses and ran. Despite the clear gulf in our strength, the fact that they were still lingering meant there had to be a reason.
Just then, one of the demon children, who had been clinging tightly to my leg and trembling like a leaf, spoke up in a faint, crawling voice. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut, as if bracing for a scolding.
“W-we were hungry... s-so an egg...”
The child stuttered heavily, unaccustomed to speech. Naturally, I understood the gist, and the pterosaurs' behavior suddenly made total sense. Even among dinosaurs, if this was a species with exceptionally strong maternal instincts, their stubborn fury was understandable.
Unfortunately for them, looks still mattered quite a bit to me. I couldn't help but feel far more affection toward cute-looking kids than fire-spitting giant lizards. Besides, a dinosaur's maternal love was none of my business anyway.
“Just die already, damn it!”
These pests are seriously getting on my nerves. I'm definitely going to learn magic, no matter what it takes. I never realized how deeply inconvenient it was to lack a proper ranged attack. I should have realized this back when fighting the Ice Queen, but because I had won so easily through sheer fluke, I hadn't given any thought to what really mattered. What a mess.
First, parrying and dodging the fireballs and boiling mucous the pterosaurs rained down, I carefully escorted the children toward covered shelter.
Phew.
The flapping of massive wings still echoed vividly outside. The moment I stepped out, I'd come under fire again. Still, securing a place to rest right now had been the right call. Had this dragged on any longer, I might have been fine, but these exhausted children wouldn't have survived.
I quietly glanced around our surroundings. The narrow entrance had disguised it, but we were inside a surprisingly spacious cave. The ground was made of coarse red soil, and glittering amethysts hung from the ceiling like stalactites—quite lovely, really. This was more than good enough.
“It's surprisingly clean in here, isn't it?”
After making an ominously lighthearted remark with a smile, I laid the kids down on the ground one by one. One, two, three... and counting cute Miho, that made four. All accounted for, perfectly intact. A strange sense of pride welled up within me.
I looked down at the children, whose soft, rhythmic breathing suggested they had fallen asleep. It felt so bizarre. It had been far too long since I had seen anything resembling a human being. After all, the most I could ever see of a person was my own limbs or chest.
A weird sense of alienation washed over me. Maybe because I had spent eons fighting things that looked like monstrosities—which they literally were—this felt profoundly awkward. It felt like they might squirm and morph into tentacled squids at any second. I kept my guard up and waited patiently, but the children never transformed into interdimensional abominations.
Hmm... For real? That's really it? A demon: looks like a human, but with sharp little horns on their heads. That's all the explanation there is?
I couldn't believe it, yet I had to. No, I still couldn't buy it. Looks like I have no choice but to dissect—
"You absolutely cannot! I guarantee they're safe, so please just believe me for once!"
“It’s because I’ve been burned like this before. You know that.”
With every passing day, this world was evolving in an increasingly lethal direction. And the most dangerous part of it all was the monsters' camouflage, striking when least expected. I still remember the heart attack I nearly had when a dinosaur that was definitely a corpse suddenly leaped up and attacked me. Its stats weren't particularly high, but perhaps because my timing was off, that single strike severed my carotid artery. Had I encountered it earlier in my life, I would have died without a doubt.
Ever since then, I developed the habit of double-tapping in every conceivable situation. You could call it paranoia. This time was no different. No matter how safe something appeared, whether it could truly be trusted had to be investigated down to the marrow.
“You hear me, don't you?”
I literally just saw your toe twitch.
I lazily waved my hand over the children's faces. Every time I did, their eyelids fluttered faintly. You're awake, aren't you? All of you. Faking sleep was never going to work on someone like me, who could read mana wavelengths. The sluggish flow of mana during actual sleep wasn't something you could imitate at will.
I think I've scared them enough. Reaching into my sub-space, I pulled out an assortment of food and laid it across the ground.
“Get up now. While I'm still asking nicely.”
I possessed two particular skills: Intimidation and Domination. Their levels were too low to work against ferocious monsters, but against little brats like these, they worked like a charm.
The moment the words left my mouth, three bodies bolted upright. Wait, four. ...Miho, you're supposed to stay still.
I pointed toward the homemade dishes spread out on the ground and said:
“You want some of this, don't you?”
Every last one of them was something I had cooked myself—not that they tasted particularly good.
Emaciated arms, stick-thin legs. They looked so pitiful that if a charity foundation saw them, they'd recruit them as poster children on the spot. According to Belba, their appetites and desires were identical to those of humans, so there was no way they could refuse. Just as expected, overcoming their terror, the kids nodded their heads.
The carrot and the stick. Hope and fear. Nothing in the world was more effective when handling others. By now, my rank in the hierarchy of their little minds was as high as it could possibly get.
At last, it was time to question them. After promising that if they answered honestly, I would give them all the food they wanted, I voiced what I was curious about.
“Do you have names?”
I had forgotten to ask the spirit its name when we met. That was the result of my subconscious automatically assuming it wouldn't have one, but if my hypothesis was correct, these kids might actually have names. Names bestowed upon them by the Voice.
At my question, the children hesitated for a moment before admitting that they did.
Eiros, Sethan, Draud.
They sounded like classic fantasy names.
I blocked Sethan as he reached out a sly hand thinking the interrogation was over, then reset the serious mood. The children stared back at me with tense, nervous expressions. Now came the truly important question. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I saved these kids just to ask this. I was dead serious.
“Listen carefully.”
Slowly raising my hand to draw their absolute attention, I locked eyes directly with the children looking at me and asked:
“You see it right now, don't you?”
At that exact moment, the mana of one of the children violently surged. I had my confirmation.
The Voice definitely existed.