Chương 25: Chapter 21 - History, Heroes, and Hardball

Through my throbbing headache, that I wasn't still clear on how I had one as a disembodied spirit, I worked through everything I knew about [Heroes]. Soon enough, I had a plan to deal with them, possibly forever, and ironically, being dead was the perfect time to put it all in motion. The first step was to get in touch with my subordinates, which would be the worst part of this plan. I have to entrust them with a lot of this BS. I thought. So, something will inevitably go terribly wrong. I gave a mental sigh.

Well, at least I'll be watching them through all of it so I can yell at them via [Messages] whenever they do something stupid, like try to take on a [Hero] without overwhelming odds. The first on the list would be Trickery. I had a feeling I would need him the most for dealing with the upcoming [Hero], whoever they may be. Also, I figured I might need him to finally go break Anger and Hysteria out of the Gram prison they put themselves in. Trickery first. I thought with a shake of my head. [Scry] Trickery.

I commanded the array.

"-push back, but it is well within our estimates," came a slightly muffled voice. I raised an eyebrow as I watched the dozen or so hooded figures, Trickery included in that number since the [Scry] had locked onto him, sitting at a table in a darkened room having a meeting. While I couldn't tell the race for a few of them, it was kinda hard to mistake the dwarves in attendance, of which there was a majority.

"Good. What is the progress with Gram and Dryadal?" Trickery asked. And.. it took me a second to realize that it was actually Trickery speaking. The last time I had seen him, he didn't really talk or sound like that, but I had to guess that he was playing a part.

"Their relations continue to decline as expected," a different voice answered.

"Their peace treaty shouldn't hold for much longer. I estimate another war within five years."

"Sooner if we give them some… encouragement," came a third voice, vaguely feminine. There were muffled noises of agreement after that. In other words, it didn't seem like I was interrupting much… and I didn't really care if I did. [Advanced Message] Trickery. No reply. I thought. Interesting little group you got there. Who are your friends? Trickery was wearing a hooded cloak over his face and was probably one of the best demons at hiding his emotions.

Even with all of that, I still noticed the slightest jump and the barest hint of panic entering him at my message.

"Meeting adjourned," was all he stated.

"But we still have several matters to discuss and-""Something more important has come up," Trickery stated.

"But-""Meeting adjourned," he stated again with finality. The others grumbled, but they all slipped away and eventually left Trickery alone in the dark room.

"Trickery greets you, your lowliness," he stated as he bowed low to the ground.

"Be not angry, your lowliness. I knew you were alive." He gave a soft, slightly unhinged giggle.

"It was the others. The others that believed you dead. That broke off. I had no choice, your lowliness, I-" [Advanced Message] Trickery. What the heck are you talking about? I started. This was hardly the first time I've died. Why would you be worried? Trickery looked at my message and paused.

"Your lowliness." He paused and seemed to be weighing whether he should continue. [Advanced Message] Trickery. Spit it out.

"You've been dead more than a century!" he blurted out.

"The others, oh yes, the others believed you dead forever, but I always knew-" He continued blabbering and throwing the other demons under the bus, but I mostly tuned that out. Frick. Was all I could think. Not just because of the news that I had already been dead longer than usual but because of the other System messages that I had gotten. System: Recovery partially succeeded after 115 retries System: Total time for recovery - 115 years, 230 days, 12 hours, 15 minutes, 43 seconds.

Estimated respawn time remaining – 80 years System: Warning! Errors detected resetting New Game Protocol All three of those were concerning, but the last one was most so. I activated the diagnostic mode that let me take a peek at things and gave the disembodied version of a grimace. Practically all of the channels are completely burnt out… or tangled beyond repair. I thought as I looked through them all.

And while I had a decent memory and had been the one that put all of this together under AltSys's guidance, there was only one conclusion. I could never repair this. Not if I had a thousand more years. I frowned. Well, frick. Not only am I dead for longer, looks like this is my last respawn. I thought back to the halberd that ended me in my last life and gave a mental scowl. Well, [Hero], looks like you might have been the one who was responsible for my final death after all.

"Y-your lowliness?" Trickery asked, still prostrate. I gave a mental sigh, then paused and decided to include the sigh in my [Advanced Message] along with the following. Well, since I've already been out for a century, give me the run down. What's been happening?

It turned out that Titus, "the Final [Demon Lord]," had been named such a bit prematurely by the annals of history. However, given that the [Demon Lord] who followed was… I've gotten ahead of myself. We'll cover the period of Titus' final incarnation in the next unit. Ehem. Now, where was I? Ah, yes, the inaccuracy of the 2 nd to last [Demon Lord's] title. It wasn't a title that was granted immediately by any means. Most people of that time likely assumed that he would return in 50 years as he had done previously.

Their first clue that this would not be the standard cycle of the [Demon Lord's] return was when the 50 years passed without a message from System. However, that was not too unusual. We still had the writings of [Scholars] and [Historians] who had lived in times when the [Demon Lord] had been delayed in returning to terrorizing the world again. It was simply assumed that the cycle was late once more. That belief could only hold so long.

After a decade, people were wondering if they had missed the message from System. After two, they were beginning to hope that it was finally over. After five, only the most stubborn of us refused to believe that everything was over for good. By a century, the title had been granted, and since there had only been a few other weak contenders, it was soon the one that history remembered. The irony being, of course, that this was not the last Titus we would see. However, as I mentioned, that's in the year 346.

For this unit, we will be covering the intervening years, starting with the collapse of the [Demon Lord] accords, the dwarven revolution, and the change in Gert's leadership. History lecture given in the yet-to-be-created Institute of Learning It turned out that in my absence, the other demons grew quite a bit bolder with their plans. I guess the thought process was that if there were no more [Demon Lord], no one would mind if they took over their own pieces of the world. Anyway, first up was Trickery.

With the newly liberated lands of Pumil ripe for the picking, Trickery stepped in to rule it from the shadows. They ostensibly had a [King] again, but he mainly was a mouthpiece for the shadow council I had just intruded on.

He was joined in his efforts by Tiredness… or at least… kinda. It seemed like Tiredness was willing to give Trickery the run of the show as long as Trickery didn't ask him to do much. As for why Tiredness chose Pumil, I have a feeling that it was because it was closest to the portal in the west. I really shouldn't have expected much from a sloth demon. The next big news was Wrath and Hysteria.

It seems that they finally broke out of prison, no thanks to any of the other demons, and they ended up dying and respawning, Anger first and Hysteria second. That slight lead was enough to let Anger lead a charge through the ashland wall, and he was out and free in the world once more… where he promptly traveled to the United North. And there, he proved he was a bit more cunning than I gave him credit for. Wrath demons aren't exactly the best at blending in, so he instead went with the direct approach.

He challenged the [President] of the United North to a duel. And, funny enough, they still had some old laws on the books where the winner of such a duel would become the leader. I blame both Gertrude and the fact that people are way too sloppy about cleaning up old laws that are no longer relevant. Either way, Anger became recognized as the leader of the United North, and surprise surprise, the [Berserkers] made a comeback. They often sent raiding parties into Pumil and Dryadal. Which irritated Trickery to no end.

As for Hysteria, being the slower one on the respawn meant that he was stuck once again beyond the wall, and as far as Trickery knew, he was still throwing himself and the other demons into it every year without fail. That lent more credence to every other demon's claims that only the madness demons were demons and that the rest were devils who would uphold a contract. A really stupid and pointless distinction, but when you are the source of evil I suppose you have to have a really good PR department.

Anyway, next up were Spite and Desire, the envy and lust demon leaders. They both set their sights on Gram, and as shapechangers, they were able to infiltrate and then influence up to the highest levels. Not even Trickery was sure who they were pretending to be, or who they were just using, but he was pretty sure that Gram's [King] was in their pocket either way. Next was Avarice.

Once he heard I was dead, he pretty much laid claim to Besti right away, which makes sense because they were a major exporter of gems and also had the treasure turtles. However, taking over an entire nation of [Martial Artists] and [Monks] isn't as easy as you might think. Instead, he took a more subtle route and started trading with them. While that wouldn't usually be bad, it turns out that greed demons are quite adept at getting what they want out of trade.

And I also set him up for that relationship because it wasn't exactly the first time Besti had dealings with a demon, or at least a [Demon Lord], so the historical precedent was there. So, his "rule" over Besti was more like cutthroat mercantilism, where Avarice got the primary payouts from Besti's exports. Which was bad, but honestly not what I was quite expecting from a demon… Until I figured out that his trade monopoly was because other trade caravans from Besti had a habit of going "missing."

Finally, there was Voracity. Voracity was missing. Trickery didn't have a clue where he had gone off to, and with Trickery's information network, he would have likely heard of the demon who kept trying to eat everything. I tried to find out, but [Scry] didn't work, which meant that Voracity wasn't in the main Placeholder dimension. I would eventually find out that Voracity had ended up in the Below. As for how… yeah, Voracity wondered what the "World Foundation" tasted like.

It turns out shoving your face to eat some rock that turns into a portal just about guarantees you're going to fall in. And while Voracity could have just died to go back, nothing was strong enough to kill him, and he didn't think about it. None of my lead demons had made a home in Dryadal, though. It turned out that the church had been really ramping up their anti-demon crusade. However, Trickery did notice that there were some… odd… teachings that were spreading through it.

That intrigued him a bit because he didn't have any deceit demons on the task of throwing the church into disarray. I wouldn't realize until later, but that was because there was one final demon that I had forgotten to account for.

"I do not want your excuses! I want those heretics dealt with!" [Archbishop] Phallenderel of the Dryadal church said as he slammed his fist down on his ornate desk.

"But sir-" his [Aide] stammered and then cut off at the [Archbishop's] glare.

"Your most excellent holiness." He corrected himself after a moment.

"Better." Phallenderel nodded in satisfaction.

"We lack the resources to wage war on three different sides-""Four. The cursed half-breeds to the east also have dealings with the enemy."

"Four then," the [Aide] sighed.

"Either way, the Church of the Sword doesn't have the manpower or the funds to-" The [Archbishop] looked away and waved him off.

"Then take more funds from the Church of System. Or have those useless [Governors] increase taxes again."

"But the people of Dryadal can't handle higher taxes! Please, your most excellent holiness, reconsider!"

"Enough!" Phallenderel shouted as he rose to his feet.

"I am the [Archbishop] of System. My words are as the very words of System! If you oppose me, that means..." His [Aide] paled.

"Th-that I oppose System. Forgive me, please."

"You are forgiven," Phallenderel replied magnanimously.

"Now go forth and do my will."

"Your will be done, your most excellent holiness," his [Aide] replied with a deep bow. The [Archbishop] waited for the man to leave the room and then a few minutes after. Then, when the coast was clear, he moved to the bookcase and activated the hidden switch that opened his secret room. Such subtleties were against his principles, but the unwashed masses wouldn't understand the complexities an [Archbishop] had to deal with. And so Phallenderel laid eyes on his prisoner...

an impish demon trapped inside a cage gilded with paladium.

"So you've come once more for my great wisdom!" came the shrill voice.

"Silence, demon," Phallenderel sneered.

"Or do I need to remind you of your place?" The Archbishop began pulling the mana for a [Restore], and the demon cowered. He had long ago learned that [Restore] didn't damage the demon, but they apparently found it distasteful enough to enforce... cooperation. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. The Demon prostrated before him.

"How can I help your most excellent holiness?" the slightly less shrill voice asked.

"You will tell me the same thing as always. What are the others of your kind planning with the other demon-loving nations..."

Self-Importance tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his smug grin. While being captured was less than ideal, his plans were coming together. Soon his corruption of the church would be complete, and then nothing would stop him from owning all the cities of Dryadal... and then the world.

Yeah, turns out pride demons aren't immune to their own delusions of grandeur. Anyway, blissfully unaware of Self-Importance's shockingly successful infiltration of Dryadal, I talked with other demons about how we would deal with our greatest threat. The [Heroes]. The first one to deal with was Lewis Burke. He was a human swordsman who had been given the class during a Dryadal raid on his border town. However, finding the identity of the [Hero] was much more complicated than expected.

With my assumed final death, the [Demon Lord] accords were officially repealed, so [Heroes] had much less reason to go public than before. Also, the number of fakes exploded. Since it would hurt the image of the church-dominated cities of Dryadal if it was found that the [Hero] was from another nation, that guaranteed that there would be at least one government-sponsored fake from them. And I think that Pumil figured out their game quickly because they weren't much behind in creating their own.

Gram took their own spin on things. Rejecting the System as having any intelligence or agency... which I guess they were technically right about?... they instead announced that the chosen [Hero] was merely a figurehead or a champion who was the strongest among them. Consequently, they created the [Champion] class and named their best 7 fighters to the number, which muddled things further. However, they couldn't trick me for long. I had nothing but time and an overpowered scrying array.

It was simple to keep a screen on every single person who claimed to be [Hero] and rule them out one by one. And then, once I had it confirmed, it was time for hardball. Lewis the swordsman was difficult to take down. I moved Hysteria and Anger (who was very upset about having to leave his lands in the United North) into position and even walked the [Hero] into an ambush thanks to fake messages from System and even making a counterfeit quest in the ashlands.

He fought his way through all of them and kicked Hysteria and Anger back to Hell for a year. Fortunately, that was just Plan A, which I doubted would succeed. Plan B, which was Trickery following it with a poisoned health potion, succeeded and the [Hero] was slain. If I had been alive, that would have been the last [Hero] for possibly decades. The OmniverseEngine seemed to have difficulty finding a [Hero] who could kill me, after all. However, I wasn't alive. And the OmniverseEngine knew it.

It was more than happy to pick just about any old [Hero]. Well, there were sometimes delays between selections, but nothing like the delay in selecting Thomas McKay... or Kilroy Jenkins, now that I think about it. Anyway, the [Heroes] went down one after another. They never died to plan A, but none were able to survive after plan D. Survive the ambush? Get poisoned. Survive the poison? Trickery had some really sharp knives that could be planted in someone's back. And for the one guy who survived that... Well...

Desire took care of it. And I don't want to go into more detail because I don't want to make my story into that kind of story. Suffice it to say that a naked [Hero] who foolishly let a woman disarm him of his Hero weapon isn't much of a fight when a bunch of demons come after him. And so, [Hero] after [Hero] went down. In the meantime, I was also working the rest of the deceit demons overtime because I had some organizations that I had to spin back up.

The Children of Flame needed to make a comeback, as did the Syndicate. The first because I figured I would need even more disposable pawns, and the second because I was going to be wracking up quite the expenses with the other plans that I had going. Yeah, I may have been dead, but that was probably the busiest I had ever been as an evil overlord. I had a lot of pans in the fire and had to make plans to kill off every [Hero] that we came across. Honestly, it was a bit…

frightening how easily the [Heroes] died off one by one. I was sure that some gross negligence by my minions would have caused something to slip through and leave us with a [Hero] who was stronger than ever, but nothing like that happened. Well… until it did, of course.

Alder Orinala was a horned [Monk] from Besti. Well, technically a [Martial Artist], but he was going to be a [Monk] soon, he was sure of it! He practiced his [Martial Arts] every day, and he was able to beat everyone his age in sparring! … Which meant that he only beat other 15-year-olds and was only level 3, but he was sure that he would win the lottery and get his chance at facing down the Cistern Guardian for his 10 th level soon enough!

Not all Bestians did the coming of age ritual at 15 anymore, and most no longer needed to be [Martial Artists] like Alder was, with many saying that it was an old relic of an ancient time when their nation was just beginning, but Alder didn't think that was the case. In fact, why wouldn't anyone leap at the chance to get stronger? In fact, being a [Martial Artist] was the best! He could go out into the desert on his own and even defeat sand wolves with a single [Air Strike]! Yes.

Alder couldn't fathom why more people didn't leap at the chance to learn to defend themselves… until he had to deal with reality. There weren't many jobs for a young [Monk] to take. He could try to hunt down sand wolves, but using [Air Strike] against them would mean losing their body and, therefore, no gold. Scorpions were an enemy he would likely have to run away from. And while he heard rumors of a giant treasure beast, he was sure that was a myth. However, there was one bright lining.

His father, Calix, was a [Merchant]. And while most [Merchants] were content to stay in one of the several cities of Besti, Calix saw for himself the revenue that the devil Avarice was bringing in with his trade, and he thought for sure that he would make some money for them and their family if only they had some capable bodyguards who could see them through the desert. Alder was more than happy to oblige.

Though, he was also glad that his dad bought the services of some other bodyguards since he didn't think he could keep their entire family, especially his three younger sisters, safe on the long trip all by himself. And so, they began the long trek to Dryadal to see if they could make their own fortune. Spirits were high, and Alder easily blew away the few sand wolves that attacked them without issue.

They wondered why more [Merchants] didn't use that trade route when, on the 10 th day, they had an unfortunate encounter…

"Greetings, citizens of Besti," a voice called out from in front of their caravan, jolting Alder out of his daydreams of becoming the strongest [Monk]. Alder looked out and saw a group of red, horned beastborn- oh, wait, those were devils, all sitting on camels.

"What brings you to this portion of the desert?" their leader called out. Alder's father called a halt to the caravan.

"What could Avarice be doing out here?" he muttered, just loud enough that Alder could hear.

"Just going on a journey to Drydal," Calix called back.

"Can't let you have a monopoly on trade that easily, eh?" he joked. Avarice's booming laughter echoed back. It sounded a bit forced… and sinister. Calix paled, and his hands trembled.

"Alder," he said under his breath.

"Get your mom and the girls and get ready to run. I don't think-" His orders were too little, too late. Faster than Alder would have thought, they were surrounded by mounted devils on all sides. Their leader, Avarice, dismounted and strode towards them.

"Now, now, I can't have you cutting into my trade routes," he chided Calix as he strode up to tower over him.

"That would cost me a lot of money, and we can't have that."

"I-" Calix started.

"But I'm a merciful and kind devil!" Avarice continued, completely ignoring him.

"If you simply swear the oaths that I require and give me everything in all of your inventories, I will let you limp along back to Besti."

"That would kill us!" Calix yelled as he finally found his voice.

"You would destine us to starve or die of thirst!" Avarice's face split into a wicked grin.

"I'm sure that supplies can be provided… for a price."

"No! I won't let my family be extorted! When [King] Besti hears of this-" Calix's complaints were cut off as Avarice backhanded him to the ground.

"There's always one who complains, but fools who stand in the way of my money don't last long," Avarice chuckled as he walked past Alder's prone father.

"Besides, there are others I can start with if you prefer," he continued as he walked to Alder's younger sisters.

"No! Not them!" Calix cried.

"Please!" Alder moved between the devil and his family. There was an insurmountable level gap, but it would be a cold day in Besti before he let anyone hurt his family.

"Move out of the way, brat," the devil spat.

"No," Alder replied as he settled into a fighting stance.

"If you want to get to them, you have to go through me." Unfortunately, the devil did, in just two moves. The first was the same backhand that had laid his father out on the floor, but Alder was ready and caught that with his forearm in an [Earth Strike] block. However, he wasn't fast enough to track the fist that crashed into his stomach right after, and as he doubled over, Avarice pushed him to the side.

"Wasting too much of my time and, therefore, my money," Avarice growled.

"Kill the father! Show them we mean business!" Calix had recovered his feet but lost them again as he backed away from the approaching devil in terror. It drew back its sword, and Alder felt like time had slowed to a crawl. He scrambled to his feet and sprinted towards his dad, a wordless cry on his lips. The devil's sword thrust down towards his father's heart. A look of pure terror was on his face… and Alder was too slow. He had no [Flash Step] or anything else that could reach across that gap and save him. …

until he did. He received several messages from System but ignored them, save the one that mattered at this exact moment.

"[Thunderstrike]!" he shouted. With a crack of lightning, Alder reappeared, slamming a lightning-covered fist into the devil's stomach and sending it tumbling across the sand until it finally disappeared in a puff of smoke. Alden was the new [Hero]. Normally, he would be ecstatic about that, the mithril armor that had appeared on him, or even more about the golden knuckles on the gauntlets that he could tell were his weapon. He didn't have time for that.

Even with his new power, he couldn't guarantee everyone's safety. He swiveled his head around, assessing the threats. The next devil to move would get it, and they seemed to be in a standoff… until Avarice broke it.

"Retreat!" he called out in a sour voice. The others started to complain, but he silenced them." Orders." He stressed. Alder stood watching them, still in battle stance with bated breath, until they finally crossed a dune in the distance. Then, he collapsed to the sand. His relief was interrupted as three small forms tackled him.

"You did it!" Rose called out.

"You showed that big meanie!" Rosa"Alder, Alder, Alder! You're the [Hero]!" Rosemary replied while shaking him. … Yes, the triplets were named that. While Alder thought his parents could have been a bit more original, in their defense, they were only expecting a single girl.

"Yep," Alder replied as he ruffled some little-sister hair.

"I beat all those big meanies back. They won't bug us anymore." His mom and dad both came by and said similar things with strained smiles.

"We'll talk later," his dad mouthed silently.

It was night, and the girls had been put to bed. That meant it was time for the adults and Alder to make some hard decisions. Wait. I am an adult. Alder thought after a moment. He was the [Hero]. And he had also completed the coming-of-age ceremony. His thoughts paused, and his stomach dropped a bit. I'm not sure I like that.

"I think we should turn back," Calyx stated.

"We all witnessed what Avarice was going to do and his threats. We should make our case to the [King] immediately." Then, he gave a bitter laugh.

"It's no wonder no one else runs this route. Has that greedy devil truly been killing everyone that comes this way?" Alder hesitated. He didn't want to turn tail and run away from people like Avarice, but he also wasn't sure the trade caravan would succeed. Fortunately, while he was still trying to get his thoughts together, Alder's mom, Dahlia, chimed in.

"Dearest, I'm not sure that's such a good idea." Calyx looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Why not? The [King] has to know about this! Who knows how many people that devil and his lackeys have killed?" Dahlia nodded.

"Precisely. And are you certain he could get away with doing so without the knowledge of the [King]? Or without at least some support from a [Prince]?" Calyx paled.

"The permits. I had to submit a travel plan before being granted the right to leave the city with the caravan. And out here in the desert with no roads, how else could Avarice have known where and when to find us?" Dahlia took his hand, but she was trembling a bit as well.

"Then, we can't go back." She seemed on the verge of tears.

"By the flowing waters of the Oasis, what shall we do?" It wasn't a rhetorical question, but the dead silence that greeted it meant that everyone in the caravan may as well have treated it like one. Alder knew what he had to do. He stood up.

"We go forward," he said, his voice cracking slightly. He coughed to clear both his throat and his embarrassment, and then continued when everyone was looking at him.

"We go forward," he said again.

"We continue on the way to Drydal and do our trading just like we planned. And, while we're there, we get help. I don't know who would be willing to help a bunch of lowly traders from Besti, but I'm sure I can find someone! I'm the [Hero]!" Alder held out his fist resolutely. … It shook slightly, and Alder was pretty sure that everyone noticed. His parents shared a look and then turned to him.

"Alder, this is a lot of responsibility," Calyx started.

"So, it's up to you. Do you think you can defend the caravan all the way to Dryadal? If not, we can turn back around. We'll probably have to lay low for a while, but I know some people and-""No," Alder said with a shake of his head.

"If I can't use my [Martial Arts] to defend my family, then what did I even learn it for?" Calyx and Dahlia shared another look.

"That's settled then, we keep moving," Calyx said, beaming with pride.

"My son, the [Hero], will keep us all safe." As those words tied a knot in Alder's stomach, he couldn't help but wonder if he had made a grave mistake.

Despite Alder's misgivings, the devils didn't come again in force like they had initially. They tried a few half-hearted night raids when Alder wasn't on watch, but as soon as he got up to face them, they ran away. And so, Alder got some time to incorporate his new status into his daily forms. And there was a lot to incorporate. First, the Hero's Knuckles, which were his primary weapon. They weren't that big and didn't extend his reach by that much, but it took a bit of getting used to them.

The most significant change with that weapon was that he couldn't kick. Well, he could, but then he wouldn't be using his weapon, and he was sure that whatever devils he faced would just laugh his low [Martial Arts] skill off. Second, and more important, was his armor. He knew the stories of the mythical armor that it could change its appearance, and it took him several days' worth of trial and error before he finally got it to disappear into his everyday clothes.

However, he still trained with it on every morning set in the mithril version. He wanted to get used to the extra weight, as slight as it was. More good news about the armor was that it seemed to be resistant to heat, so it was actually more comfortable to wear during the heat of the day than his usual clothing. Last, and the most shocking part, was that he had to get used to the levels he gained when he killed the devil attacking his dad. He had gained 7 levels.

He was at the cap and had to choose to advance his class. … Which was odd. It wasn't like he would choose something besides [Hero]. Why did he have to make that decision? Either way, he adjusted quickly to the changes and was ready for anything… except for nothing happening until they reached the border of Dryadal.

"Just beyond this river is the land of Dryadal," Calyx said as his family stared at more water than they had ever seen in their life.

"A-are they all rich?" Alder blurted out. Calyx laughed.

"No, no. Clean water is still important here, but it isn't quite the priceless commodity it is back home." Alder's mind was blown again when, just a few hours later, they reached the edge of the river, and some of the caravan members pulled boats out of their inventories. A wagon that you could take over the water? He thought in awe. Who would ever think of such a thing? His amazement extended right up until he bent out of the boat to get a small drink of water.

It was replaced by embarrassment as he fell in and had to be fished out by the others with their oars. That was a learning experience for him, but it solidified one thing in his mind. There's so much about this world that I haven't seen. He thought as he shivered next to a campfire that night. I want to experience all of it.

Alder was enjoying the new experiences he was getting daily. Getting to see a forest for the first time. The new animals and monsters that they came across. Even accidentally "swimming." That all changed on one night as they were just a few days away from their first Dryadal city.

"Attac-" came the cry from the guard on watch, but his scream cut it off. Alder was out of his tent and equipped for combat in 5 seconds. By then, the camp was already surrounded by the sword-wielding devils… and also an extra group that was armed with clubs. As for the guard, Alder was too late. He only got to see his last moments as Avarice withdrew his blade from the man's chest.

"You'll pay for that," Alder spat in Avarice's direction.

"It is true that I might very well pay," Avarice said slowly, but then a grin came over his face.

"But I'm sure you have far more that you would be losing in this transaction, no?" He gestured back at the camp, and Alder's heart sank. It was true. He might be able to defeat Avarice, but there was no way that he could defend everyone in the camp while he did it. And as he stood there frozen, the other devils were moving in.

"A duel!" Alder blurted out.

"As the leader of the devils, I challenge you to a duel to the death! If I win, the rest of your people have to leave my family alone!"

"And when I win?" Avarice asked his smile not lessening.

"Y-you can have my armor and my family," Alder stated. Avarice scowled.

"Why would I accept that? Your armor will disappear, and I already-" he trailed off mid-sentence.

"Accept the duel?" he murmured.

"Why?" Then Avarice's cocky demeanor vanished.

"N-no, of course not, your lowliness. I will do as you command." Then, a brief grin broke across his face.

"Oh, and that is clever. Of course, your lowliness." Then, clearing his throat, he addressed Alder again.

"We accept your request for a duel." The other devils formed a ring around him, and Alder stepped forward. He was waiting for Avarice to make the first move when he heard someone behind him.

"You brought me all the way down here to deal with a brat?" came the rumbling voice. Alder spun around and gaped in horror. Anger, the devil [King] of the [Berserkers]. He thought because he knew it could be no one else.

"Orders," was all Avarice said, and Anger grunted in response. Then, the two approached.

"W-wait," Alder replied.

"You said you would duel me." Avarice laughed.

"You challenged the leader of the devils, and I said we would duel you. Not my fault you didn't read the fine print." And then the duel was started. Without the Hero's Regalia, Alder would have been dead in seconds. Instead, he took almost no damage from the sword that Avarice thrust out, nor from the club that hit him on the side of the head as he was focused on the sword. Instead, he was bowled over, and Anger quickly pinned him to the ground.

"Get his armor off!" Anger shouted as Alder struggled against him feebly.

"I'm trying!" Avarice said as he yanked at Alder's boots.

"Get him to stop squirming!" Alder knew if they got his armor off, he would be dead. So, he did the only thing he could think of.

"[Thunderstrike]!" he shouted as he got a clear line on Anger's jaw. His fist flashed out with a crack of thunder and knocked Anger off him, but Avarice had him pinned before he could recover. And unfortunately, Anger wasn't down for the count either.

"Move!" the devil from the north shouted as he shoved Avarice away. Alder used that brief moment to try to roll to freedom, but it was useless. He was pinned again, and soon, the devil's fists were making contact with his face repeatedly. Thanks to the Hero's Regalia, it was dealing no damage. However, it still caused his head to whip back and forth, making him incredibly dazed and reducing his efforts to stop Avarice from stealing his boots off his feet.

Alder feebly punched at Anger, but with the demon's knees on his arms, he couldn't generate enough force to deal any damage. Soon, they would strip him of his armor, and then he and his entire family would be dead. He couldn't let that happen. He had to do something. He had to- His thoughts were interrupted by a hissing noise followed by an explosion of smoke. Alder coughed through the fumes, but the devils had it quite a bit worse.

"It burns! It burns!"

"Get it off!"

"Make it stop!" Even Anger stopped pummelling Alder to claw at his face, giving him a few seconds as an opening… But he didn't even have the time to take it. In time with the explosion of smoke, a shadowy figure tackled Anger off, and combat erupted around the campsite. Alder got back to his feet, but he could only watch in stunned silence as he saw shadowy figures facing off against the devils through the smoke. He saw arrows seemingly sprout from nowhere into demons.

He saw a figure with two shadowy swords cut through devil after devil. He saw the shadowy figure that had tackled Anger pull out a club and seem to yell in silent rage. But most of all, he saw one slender shadow who seemed to slip through battle as if it were a dance. Its knife found the back of devil after devil, and many who were struck didn't get back up. And all of it was surprisingly silent. The only sounds he could tell were being made were Avarice's side.

Alder was broken out of his awestruck reverie by the devil he was most familiar with.

"Retreat!" Avarice called.

"No!" Anger growled.

"We can't-"" Orders," Avarice stressed. Anger growled again, but he whistled loudly, and the demons retreated from the campsite. The shadows didn't follow. They instead all came before Alder. The [Hero] kept his fists up. He wasn't entirely sure if the shadows were friend or foe, though he was really hoping it was the former. And then, the smoke cleared. He was shocked that there were only 9 people, all in dark cloaks.

"Hail to the [Hero]," they intoned as one, and then all crossed their arms across their chest and dropped to their left knee. Alder was dumbstruck.

"Uhh… Thanks for the help… but… who are you people?" he asked. The leader at the front, a woman who had been the one wielding the knife, raised her head just slightly and spoke.

"We are your protectors. The ones who will stand at your side when all others fail. We are… the Hero's Shadow.