Chương 16: One-Horned

Kal's hand rested on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at any moment. The demon had both of his hands behind his back, holding the hilts of his daggers. They faced each other while occasionally glancing at the marvel the sky had become. Whatever was happening there was not something they should be witnessing. Kal was certain that, from the sheer exposure emanating from the peak, they should have died. Yet whatever was containing it was keeping everyone on the mountain safe. At least, for now.

Was that the Moonweaver? If it was, Kal wasn't sure what he thought of the creature. It was on a level he didn't expect to see in his lifetime and had only heard of in stories. It was a battle between two behemoths. The color of the mana continued to change constantly: blue, green, red, violet. There were too many colors to keep track of. Had the rewards from the symbols been far more valuable than he'd initially thought? The demon's hand shook slightly. Kal wasn't doing any better.

If he had the choice, he would already be running the hell out of there. The demon was young, that much was clear from the soft features on its face. At the same time, it was much different from the other demons he'd seen so far. They were more brutish, while this one had sharper features and a slimmer frame. It was around his height, perhaps even smaller. A single horn protruded from its head, unlike the two possessed by the demon tribes beyond the mountain.

Kal hadn't learned too much about the demon race as a whole, because there were too many of them. But he had learned enough about the demon tribes. This one didn't belong to any of them. From what little he knew, he was certain that this demon wasn't from any of the demon folk that bordered the human realm. Or at least not from their little corner of it. Perhaps it had something to do with the pact being broken. It seemed his Coming-of-Age was going to be filled with the secrets his family kept.

And if he wanted any of them answered, he could only get them once he descended the mountain.

"Hu an tik," it spoke. Kal shook his head. The demon stared at him for a few moments before his hands tightened and his muscles twitched. Kal moved his right leg a step behind him, getting ready to fall into a stance. His eyes darted from Kal to his sword before he took a quick glance behind him at the phenomenon that had almost covered the whole sky. As soon as his muscles tensed, Kal retreated a step and drew his blade.

The steel hissed in the deafening silence that had fallen over the mountain after the light appeared. The demon unsheathed his blades and fell into a stance. His back hunched slightly as he shifted his weight onto his front leg, holding the daggers in a reverse grip. Kal kept his blade over his shoulder as he fell into the balanced stance. He clutched the hilt tighter, getting rid of the shaking in his hand. The demon's eyes kept darting around. Kal waited for the demon to make the first move.

It was the first time he was going to face an opponent wielding two daggers. Most of his spars had always been with a sword, spear, and sometimes a polearm. The demon spoke again, but Kal didn't understand anything. Just as he was about to speak out, the demon moved. It closed the distance between them in a moment, one of his blades shooting forward in a stabbing motion while the other swung from below.

Kal stepped back, letting the lower blade pass just in front of him, while his own sword came down to intercept the dagger aimed at his chest. He twisted his wrist, redirecting the blade to the side, and immediately tried to follow with a counterattack. But before he could strike, the demon had already retreated. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Kal retreated as well. He needed to keep the demon at the edge of his blade and prevent it from getting inside his reach.

The demon was strong, but it didn't seem like anything special—at least not compared to the first one. It was fast and nimble, but it was around Kal's speed. It didn't look like an awakened, which was a scary thought. If he'd fought it before awakening, he was certain he wouldn't have even seen the blade that gutted him. Kal walked in circles around the demon, waiting for any opening before trying to end the fight and get as far away from this place as he could.

The demon kept glancing behind him, and as soon as their eyes met, it charged again, attacking with the same pattern as before, but with its dominant leg behind this time. Kal didn't take the bait; he held his ground and only blocked the blade coming for his throat. The demon retreated immediately after. It was testing him. His mind raced as he thought of the best way to approach the fight. The daggers had shorter reach. If he could keep the demon on the defensive, he could make better use of his own.

He adjusted his stance, his right leg forward while his left leg was behind. It was the offensive stance of Lunvale. It would allow him to strike faster, making retreating slower. He shot forward, swinging his blade in a vertical arc, aiming for the demon's hand. The demon retreated, but Kal didn't stop. He continued, only advancing enough that his blade would remain within reach of the demon's extended hands. That pushed the demon further up the mountain path.

It had the higher ground, but it didn't matter, as it lacked the reach to use it effectively. Kal fell into the rhythm for a few moments, but he was certain that he couldn't keep it up for much longer. For every advance he made, the demon retreated. His speed was equal to the demon's, but he wasn't used to it. Some of his swings carried farther than he'd expected, while others, after he tried to hold back, fell short and cut through empty air. Kal stopped after another one of his swings fell short.

The demon used the chance to glance behind it. The colors were growing brighter, and the explosions inside it were becoming much more frequent. Kal had been keeping an eye on it ever since the battle had started. If anything unexpected happened, he would have to capitalize on it.

"Leave tu nuen," it said, the first word spoken in the common tongue, while Kal didn't understand the latter. What did it mean? Leave? He wasn't even certain if that was the word it had used. It seemed that the demon noticed his doubt and motioned behind him with its chin. Kal allowed himself a brief glance, but there was nothing behind him. Did the demon want to leave? He wondered, but he didn't trust it. It didn't look like it belonged to the demon tribes over the mountain, but that didn't mean anything to him.

The other reason was that he was confident he could win the fight. All he had to do was tire it out. His awakened body was much more resilient, if nothing else. Perhaps the demon wanted to escape and bring back reinforcements, something he was sure he couldn't handle. His left shoulder moved, and his right hand tensed. Kal readied himself to defend as the demon's hand shot forward, throwing the dagger toward him. It was too fast to avoid, so Kal swung his sword, hoping to intercept it.

His sword collided with the dagger, pushing it to the side, and before he could even return his attention to the demon, it shot past him, running even faster than before. Kal turned as fast as he could, but he couldn't do anything. The demon had already crossed a few meters away from him. Should he give chase? What if it brought back reinforcements? He debated for a few moments, but before he could even make up his mind, it was long gone. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't catch up to it.

He would probably stumble over the debris and fall before he got anywhere near it. Perhaps he had overestimated how quickly he could adapt to the changes in his body. He was certain he'd left himself with dozens of openings during the fight, and yet the demon hadn't used a single one. After a few minutes of glancing in both directions, he fell into a slow jog down the mountain. Even though he didn't want to be anywhere near the phenomenon, he couldn't risk exposing himself to any demons on the mountain.

He was certain that if they learned he was still alive, getting off the mountain would be close to impossible. What of the demon he'd just let go? He cursed inwardly. Would it come back with reinforcements? After he covered enough distance to feel comfortable, Kal slowed down. He chose a path with enough rubble to hide behind. It was much more difficult than before, as the forested parts of the road—where he used to hide—were almost impassable.

Some areas were clear enough to use, but even those were filled with stones and branches that he risked stepping on. The further he traveled down the mountain, the less the demon's tracks seemed to stand out. It was almost as if it was actively trying to hide them. Some time later, they vanished completely. From there, Kal took things slowly. He didn't want to get ambushed by the demon. The further down he went, the warier he grew, but there was nothing. It was as if the demon had simply vanished.

After more than an hour, he finally saw the first demon folk. There were six of them, their gazes fixed on the sky as they watched the phenomenon. All of them were standing, with two of them facing down the path, ready to bolt at a moment's notice. They didn't look like they wanted to stay on the mountain, just like Kal.