Picking Up the Abandoned Healer (4): The Reek of Blood
A stench hit me. Blood. Coming from about two hundred meters away, roughly at the one o'clock position. Not demon blood—just ordinary beast blood. If I could smell it from this distance, the scene had to be soaked, a whole bucket of the stuff splattered around. They probably stole some livestock and tore into it right there. No Hunting Dog's Mark since it wasn't demon blood, but I'd pinned down the direction. That was enough to track it.
"Found it. It's not far from here."
"Then let's hurry."
I shook my head at the saintess's words.
"Just a bit longer, please. I'm temporarily blind while maximizing my other senses."
The priests started murmuring at that, spouting nonsense about "contracts with demons." Even the clergy, who should know demons inside out, apparently knew jack shit about demon hunters.
The moment my vision returned, I stood and pointed in the direction.
"That way. We need to get there before sunset—let's run."
I bolted ahead, and the priests scrambled to follow. Trees and jutting rocks kept blocking the path, making it tough to go full speed. I could've chugged a potion and bulldozed through, but that would've made it risky to down another when we actually faced the demon. Plus, I had to herd these frail priests along.
As we pushed through the underbrush, the faint blood scent grew thicker. Scanning around, I spotted splatters on the ground and branches. A bit farther, and there it was: the thing I'd been tracking.
A horse's bones, picked stark white clean. Barely a scrap of meat left.
"Huff... huff... I'm dying..."
The priests, wrecked from crashing through the dense forest, bent over with hands on knees, gasping for air. Even the saintess looked pale, wiping sweat from her brow with heavy breaths.
"Is this... where the demon is...?"
"No. Just a spot it stopped by."
I picked up a bone fragment from the ground and examined it closely. The number and shape of the tooth marks confirmed my guess: a mid-sized demon, over five meters tall. Nothing that big could hide near Schlessi except in these mountains. So where was it holed up? Definitely not here. Demons had enough brains to hate fouling their own lairs with prey blood and guts. It ate the horse here, then headed back to its hideout.
I considered Blind Vision again but nixed it. Back-to-back uses left too long a recovery window for my sight—could be trouble. No skills, then. Time to rely on experience. Places a mid-sized demon could hide weren't common. It wouldn't just sprawl out in the open; it'd be in a rock crevice or cave. Somewhere with natural rock formations big enough...
There.
A cliff glowed red in the dying sunset rays. Nothing notable around it otherwise, so high odds there. If not, we'd head down and stake out at the ranch. The pastures were huge; I'd hoped to chase the trail and finish it here.
For now, let's check.
"Alright, that way."
"Can't we rest a bit first?"
"If you wanna run into the demon at night, be my guest."
The complaining priests shut their mouths at my words. The saintess, who'd been wiping endless sweat from her brow, cleared her throat and spoke with resolve.
"Lead on, brother."
"Keep up."
I ran again, the priests wailing like they were dying behind me.
By the time we neared the cliff, the sun had fully set, darkness creeping in. Looking up, the western sky behind me was a murky purple, while stars peeked out in the eastern direction we headed. It was a path to hunt a demon, but damn, the view was beautiful.
A few hours from now, countless stars and a massive galaxy would drape across the heavens. Nights in the Grangtest Empire were always murky like spilled ink, dim and overcast. Coming to the Nant Duchy was the right call. Hiding a healing map like this in that fucked-up dark fantasy game was the devs' stroke of genius. Without it, my possession life would've been bleak as hell. A year in the Empire—with its constant fog, circling crows, and corpses everywhere—would've driven anyone mad.
Of course, demon hunters had Final Bastion, a passive mental defense skill. No insanity for us.
Wonder what the expansion pack's about. They'd teased a trailer and some concept art, but that was it. Everything beyond the Great Demon revival was unofficial—pure fan speculation. Maybe a new boss after the Great Demon? Like in famous game Deabolus, where the sequel crawled out with the Great Demon's brother and all sorts of shit.
Anyway, demon-hunting game means expansion means demons everywhere, which means my guild sits on a goldmine. We beat the shit out of the Great Demon, jack up prices on the small fry, and hunt 'em slow and steady. Gotta scout rogue demon hunters and prep in advance.
Lost in those thoughts, I reached the cliff base. Ah, there it is.
A massive crack in the lower cliff face. Wide enough for an elephant to stroll in. Perfect hideout for a mid-sized demon.
I hunkered down in the brush and beckoned the saintess.
"See that? Demon's in there."
But she couldn't answer properly. Sweating buckets, gasping too hard to speak. Why the hell was she sweating that much?
Then one priest stepped forward and blurted,
"Brother, step back now. We'll handle it."
Who the fuck? Oh, the middle-aged prick from the ranch who'd mouthed off to the saintess.
"Step back? What're you priests gonna do?"
"Slay the demon and bring justice to this world."
"Yeah? You'll just die going in alone. Talk to me first..."
"Step. Back."
The middle-aged priest emphasized every syllable. Huh? This asshole? Some random priest acting up in front of the saintess?
"Over... Overseer... Maybe listen to Brother Leonar...?"
As we glared at each other, the saintess cut in. Overseer? First I'd heard of that title.
"He's a demon-hunting expert. We should hear him out first, then..."
"Are you, Saintess, trying to foist our sacred duty onto a demon hunter?"
"No, that's not..."
Shockingly, the saintess bowed her head. A haloed saintess acting like that to a priest? Something felt off at the ranch, and yeah, there was definitely something here.
"Then rise and advance, brothers. Holy priests must stand tall before evil."
The other priests hesitated but shuffled out of the brush.
"Saintess! What the hell? Stop them! They'll all die!"
"I'm sorry, Brother Leonar... Leave it to us now..."
She staggered up too, heading for the cliff. What the actual fuck?
I jumped up to stop them, but the so-called overseer priest bellowed,
"Reveal yourself, foul demon! The ascetic holy priest order has come to purify you!"
You crazy bastard?
"Shut your fucking mouth, you lunatic!!"
But before I could charge, crimson flames erupted from the crack—and out came the demon.
Mid-sized, as expected. But way fiercer and more menacing than I'd thought. About five meters tall, broad shoulders, thick waist, massive claws glinting on its huge hands. Skin like dull liver, rough scales jutting everywhere, horns sprouting wildly, burning red eyes—intimidating as hell. And that long, serpentine tail ending in a knobby bone club. One hit from that, and you'd be pounded cutlet.
"Saintess! Holy barrier, now!!"
"Gaaahhh!!"
As I yelled, the lead priests got smashed by the tail, turned to bloody pulp.