The Invasion of Sepia (2)
A demon. Yet another new demon.
A companion of Tilia's? Had she come running because Tilia was dying?
I thrust out one hand in a hurry and cast a spell. A sphere of white lightning shot from my palm toward the demon with the broken horn.
"My, my. Rather impatient, aren't we?"
When the sphere touched his body, it simply sank in and was absorbed, as if the magic had never been there at all.
"Calm yourself, Tiable. I am not Tilia's companion."
A soft, mid-to-low voice reached my ears, speaking as if he already knew exactly why I had attacked. Only then could I rein in my agitation.
"My name is Deriel. As for why I've appeared before you—let me cut to the point."
"Even if you kill Tilia, those who have already become her thralls will not die."
"Isn't that why you're trying to kill her?"
How did he know all of that?
Unable to say a word, I avoided Deriel's eyes and simply stared at Tilia, who was still regenerating on the ground.
"I'll help you eliminate the thralls. Reasons later. A great many people are still dying as we speak, are they not?"
He was right. If killing Tilia wouldn't make the thralls disappear, I needed to finish this and return to Sepia as soon as possible.
Just then the unconscious Tilia opened her eyes. She seemed to have recovered considerably. Spitting the blood still in her mouth, she spoke.
"Keheh—I, I'm still alive?"
"Kihit, why haven't you finished me off yet?"
"You're really starting to piss me off. Now I'm going to seriously kill—"
Tilia propped herself up on both arms, supporting her trembling legs as she struggled to her feet, and fixed me with eyes that looked especially red. When her gaze shifted to the demon beside me, panic flooded her face. Her legs seemed to give out; she collapsed back onto the ground.
"De—De—Deriel? Wait, why are you—what are you—"
Deriel quietly raised the index finger of his right hand to his lips. Tilia kept trying to speak, but not a sound reached us.
"I'll take care of Tilia. Demons don't die easily, you see."
Tilia's eyes went wide. Unlike anything she had shown before, she was seized by absolute terror, her whole body shaking. From those blood-red eyes that had never seemed capable of tears, tears now streamed down. She was screaming something over and over, but her mouth only flapped open and shut; no sound reached us at all.
Deriel muttered under his breath. From the ground where Tilia lay, something resembling the mouth of an unknown black creature erupted and swallowed her whole. Where she had been, only bloodstains and scraps of flesh remained.
Brutal.
As if nothing had happened, Deriel spoke.
"Well then. Let's head to Sepia and deal with Tilia's thralls."
"Could you teleport us? I've never been to Sepia myself."
Suspicious. But I had no more cards to play. I had no choice but to rely on this dubious demon—Deriel. Going back alone, there was no way I could clear Sepia by myself.
I grabbed the hem of Deriel's clothes and muttered.
"Teleport."
"Hmm—"
As I murmured the spell, I felt Deriel's gaze on me.
Sepia.
The situation was still the worst it could be. If hell existed, this had to be it. Violet Bloody Dragons blanketed the sky, and Horn soldiers hunting their targets were stationed in every corner of Sepia's streets. Deriel's words had not been a lie. Tilia was dead, but the thralls had not vanished.
"De—Deriel,"
You said you'd help eliminate the thralls.
"Mm. Understood. Right away."
"-Y-J-J--h_-a-&-"
When Deriel cast his spell, a familiar flow of mana I had seen once before gathered around him. Then, above his head, an all-too-familiar black sphere formed—one that seemed to suck every color from the world around it. An all-too-familiar black sphere. Its size was far greater than when I had cast it myself.
The sphere writhed as if alive, and tentacles began to emerge.
If those attack any humans other than the thralls, I'll strike immediately.
"Don't worry. Mana manipulation is my specialty."
As if he had read my thoughts, he answered even though I had only been thinking. The tentacles stretched out to enormous lengths and began plunging straight down from the sky. Every single one struck Tilia's thralls with perfect accuracy. They didn't harm Sepia's buildings or any other people—not even by a hair.
The thralls' bodies, pierced through, crumbled to dust from the points of contact and gradually vanished. When I had cast it, the magic had simply punched clean through. Deriel's version was different. The sheer size meant the volume of tentacles was nothing like the spell I had used. Grotesquely, tentacles kept extending without end, and Sepia was gradually being cleaned up.
"Hmm. That should about do it."
"Y-yeah..."
As if it were nothing special, Deriel stopped casting, and the once-noisy Sepia quickly fell quiet. He and I walked across Sepia's ground, talking as we went.
"Who... who are you, really?"
"I already told you—Deriel. And looking at this horn, you can tell I'm a demon."
"Not your name. Why are you helping us?"
"Hmm. That doesn't seem like a story to tell while strolling along like this. We should finish clearing Sepia first, I think."
Then he shifted his gaze from straight ahead to the right. Without thinking, I followed his eyes, and there stood a destroyed house. He muttered something quietly, and the debris rose into the air and was moved aside. Underneath, an unconscious person was revealed. Their leg must have been pinned; it was crushed beyond looking at.
"A—a person—"
Deriel strode over to the casualty without a care, laid a hand on them, and muttered.
"H-_a--l-*-e"
This mana flow was healing magic. A green light rose from the person, and the ruined leg improved considerably—not perfect, but significantly better. Other injuries must have healed as well; when the light faded, the person seemed to come to and quickly opened their eyes.
Did this demon really appear just to help?
I never expected a demon to go this far. Even helping eliminate the thralls had been inexplicable enough. There was no such thing as kindness without a reason.
In a gentle voice, he spoke to the person lying there.
"I'm sorry. This is all I can do."
"Ugh... Thank... h-horn? A d-d-demon...!"
Unbothered by that reaction, Deriel stood and came back to me.
"Shall we continue on our way? Ah—did you have a set destination?"
I didn't. Wait—were Hugo and Hwia all right? Redrago, too. Now that I thought of it, maybe I should go see Hugo. I'd set up a protective barrier, so the house shouldn't have been destroyed.
"F-follow me."
I made an effort to walk a step ahead of Deriel so I could lead the way. When I rounded the last corner toward Hugo's house, a massive figure stood before my eyes. Red hair. Near Hugo's house. An enormous build.
Redrago.
"Redrago—!"
I called his name, and Redrago, hearing my voice, turned around. His body bore no small number of wounds, and he was still breathing hard—the aftereffects of a brutal fight, even now that things had quieted. He had turned with his gaze lowered to look at me—
"Haa... Tiable..."
The moment he spoke my name, he must have noticed the two feet behind me, because he slowly raised his eyes.
Tiable had done it.
She had used that magic that had slaughtered Horn's soldiers. Tentacles descending from the sky had pierced the thralls with perfect accuracy, and they had vanished at once.
We could protect Sepia. Thank the heavens. There would be a great deal of work ahead for recovery—
"Redrago—!"
Tiable's voice rang out right behind me. The voice of Sepia's hero, if anyone deserved the title. When I turned, I saw Tiable—and then the feet behind her. A man's feet, most likely—
I slowly lifted my gaze. The man standing behind Tiable was a demon. Dark hair with a brownish tint fell to his shoulders. He had the same blood-red eyes as Tilia, and one horn was broken. He was looking at me with a faint smile.
Despite the fatigue accumulated from continuous battle, my body moved on instinct. With one hand I shoved Tiable behind my back, and at the same time I drew my sword. A demon with horns meant a considerably powerful one. I would have to land the strongest blow I could manage.
The ground beneath my foot sank slightly as I drew in a breath, and then I began to draw out every last scrap of strength I had left. A slash that might well be my last.
"A demon—"
The earth under the foot supporting my body cracked with a sharp sound.
"—here—"
The ground under the other foot cracked.
"—why is one here?!"
I swung my sword.
Redrago seemed to have registered Deriel as an enemy. He pulled me behind his back and, in an instant, brought a tremendous slash down on Deriel. It happened so fast I had no time to explain.
The storm kicked up by the wind-splitting slash roared forward, and the massive cloud of dust from the debris made Deriel impossible to see. When the dust settled, there stood Deriel, having taken the slash head-on—with only a small scratch on his cheek.
Deriel extended his right hand and said something, and Redrago's massive body crumpled: both knees hit the ground, and his head hung limp.
Deriel had killed Redrago.
I couldn't help but think so.