Chapter 38: Chapter. 38: Demon Or Elf, All The Same

The blood trail seemed to have attracted unwanted activity.

[You have killed: (E] Loa Vulpe. Lvl 8.]

An arrow through the face.

[You have killed: (E] Loa Vulpe. Lvl 7.]

One through the neck, piercing onto the ground.

[You have killed: (E] Everwood Moose. Lvl 9.]

Sliced legs, amputated head and horns. Festering wounds, left for dead.

An hour had passed, my mood and drive had vanished. Something about chasing after a trail bothered me, perhaps it was the silliness of it⁠—the fact that I could be going after the pillars, the fact that I could be doing something else. But instead, I simply chased, humans following after me. I wished to stay with them no longer, not with Matt constantly glaring at me with displeasure, not like I blamed him.

Sometimes the trail would be lost, and other times it would be hard to find. But thankfully it never truly vanished, however⁠ ⁠— as time passed and more Prophecies fell, or were claimed ⁠— the more I felt unsure about my decision to chase. It felt like I had come too far to quit, but… Didn’t that happen with the Boreal Kame too?

I came to a decision, if I didn’t find any trace of demon or elf within the next thirty-minutes then I would simply veer off to the nearest prophecy.

◇ ◇ ◇

When the time was about to finish, Matt raised his voice at me.

“This is too much, Blair!”

I raised my brow and turned with confusion. “What is?”

“Everything!” He stomped the ground, causing his companions to back off. “You’re just bringing us around as if we are some type of… Luggage!” he grumbled. “Our deal was just dealing with the demons.”

“And how do you propose to deal with that?” I asked, not quite following. “There really isn’t a way to go search for them.”

Matt opened his mouth and then promptly closed it. Making me shake my head. Yes, perhaps bringing them around like some sort of bag was annoying for them, but there wasn’t any alternative⁠—not one that I was willing to accept anyway. I didn’t want to accompany the humans with whatever things they wanted to do. That said, Matt had been annoying lately. Seeing his lack of response, I began to speak once more.

“We will continue tailing for another five minutes, after we go look for Prophecies. If we find one that is suitable for you, Matt.” I frowned. “Then consider our deal over.”

He paused. “That is not⁠—”

“Carrying you people on my back for free loot was not part of the deal either.” I interrupted, bringing the conversation to a close.

“Right…” He bit his lip. “Sorry.”

I shook my head, not really planning to try to argue with him. I closed my eyes, and spoke my truest thoughts to Matt.

“Stop trying to control my actions,” I said, turning around.

I heard a deep breath come from Matt, but no words. Beginning to walk again, Matt spoke. At that moment, the forest rumbled. I got to hear no more than my name, as a deafening roar exploded in the distance, a scarlet bloom encompassed my vision, bright and candescent. There was no heat, no ashes, and no fire⁠—the light vanished just as fast as it came, and silence descended upon us.

I turned around to see Matt, he shook his head and gestured towards the direction of the trembling. We both knew there was something happening over there, and it didn’t take long for me to sprint in that direction, Matt and the group following after me.

The closer I got to the source of the explosion, the more sounds I heard, they were faint whispers at first⁠—hoarse grunts, small squeals. As I neared the place, I heard the grunts devolve into more painful bellows. The wind howled through the forest, the trees became progressively more chaffed, damaged by arrows or sword cuts. Small chunks of wood missing. Eventually I saw a small clearing of fallen trees, leaves fell throughout and that’s where I saw people.

Two groups stood facing each other. Bloodied armored knights with broken stances, gasping and tired from battle, demons. The other side had elves, a full squad of them gasping for air, their leather armor sliced and damaged, but their bleeding seemed to have stopped. At the middle of the formation, there was an elder⁠—long white hair and flowing beard⁠—he had his arm at his chest, where a warm glow permeated the group. Magic like that did not exist in my world. It was a prophecy.

I stood at the edge of the trees, and raised my hand behind me to stop the humans from coming closer. The elves were Woodland elves, a dozen of them. In comparison, the demons' numbers weren't as strong with only about eight of them alive. The air seemed to come to a still with the staring between the two groups, and I was no different as my heart raced. I pondered on whether to sneak attack or not, at the same time I no longer felt the warmth or the impulsiveness, resentment was there but it was simply at the back of my mind. It felt off-putting to jump the elves. At least for now. With everything in mind, I made a decision.

To wait and see.

A second later there was movement from the side of the elves as the elder walked forward, his hand still lingering on his chest.

"You people sure are persistent," he scoffed. “Shouldn’t you people give up by now?”

A demon walked, he had a draping cloak and bespoke armor. He stood straight like a spear facing the elder.

“This is now personal,” he shook his head. “That said, I am honored to meet such fine warriors of another world. Let us enjoy this battle.”

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The elder scrunched his face in disgust. “Battle maniacs,” he snorted. “Die then!”

At his behest, the elves advanced, some wielding bows and some using shields, spears and swords. The demon ⁠— commander I assumed ⁠— stood there, and I almost felt as if he was grinning through his helmet, that said the slitted openings for vision said nothing but silence. At that moment, he rose his arm holding a single sword with a black blade.

“Attack!”

However, contrary to my expectations of formations, the demons just⁠— ran. They rushed like maniacal beasts. The elves quickly entered formation, and the elder began to chant things under his breath. War cries resounded in my ear drums at that moment, the demons bellowed with deep bloodied voices as they all rushed towards the elves. On the other hand, this war cry seemed to make the elves stiff.

In an instant, the demons collided against the shields and were pushed back, some stumbled back and others tried to claw their way through the formation. The armor being bashed ⁠— crushed, it sounded like tin metal being hit. The demon commander stayed back simply watching as his companions frenzied.

Swords clashed, demons were pushed back, the elves panted. The two commanders looked at each other, one completely alone and one being closely guarded by his companions. Seconds of battle passed, some elves fell, demons fell, and I couldn’t help but stare at the demon commander.

What was he doing? He had just been… watching. Watching as his comrades fell, but every time someone got cleaved; pushed back; cut, he just simply shook his head. The elves grew more and more tired, even though their wounds were non-existent they were visibly pale, and the elder bit his lip. I couldn’t tell what was going on between the two groups, the demons were losing and yet the elves seemed to be drained of all stamina.

I knew I had to do something⁠— it was an opportunity, but what kind? What kind of opportunity did I have? A vengeful one? One to ally myself with the demons? One to gain the favor of the elves? Not like I had any reason for their favor, but I just didn’t know what to do. Was it wise to help the demons? Wouldn’t this result in some kind of misunderstanding, or worse, possible backstabbing? A frown formed on my face as I watched from the nearby bushes. Penumbral Instinct told me I was safe, however the battlefield itself was a danger zone. Right behind the demon commander was blue, and everything else was a bright red. Something was happening…

I was growing accustomed to Penumbral Instinct, quickly becoming a sort of second nature to me, and the situation was simply odd.

The commander shook his head once more. This time however, he did something else, he slowly unsheathed his sword and moved it high once more.

“You’re finally acting, huh?” The elder spat.

The demon did not reply, he brought his sword down, planting it on the ground, palms atop its handle. Standing there like a lone figure, he spoke solemnly, his voice raspy and aged.

“My troops, I’ve seen you battle.” He breathed. “I command you all, to enter…”

“Siege State.”

The tone of his voice changed and black miasma engulfed his body. Head to toe, darkness came from the cracks of his armor, an expanding sea of black. It pooled like blood, and like an explosion; it bloomed forward, engulfing the forest, the elves and the demons. The darkness however had no effect on my feet, it was not even palpable. The elves too were confused, but the fallen demons slowly began to twitch on the ground, like ghosts they rose from their wake.

“Show them our might!” The demon roared, and soon the fallen demons screeched.

I felt my mind freeze for a brief second. What the⁠— The demons rushed once more, but every hit against the elven shields would cause ripples in the air, every hit would push back more and more elves. And once more I was at a crossroad. I had all my mana and about twenty arrows, and yet I didn’t know what to do.

The elder frowned, and reached for his chest once more.

“We too, have a Prophecy of our own!” As he said that, warmth bloomed from his body and enveloped the elves. “It’s pushback time!” He called, and with his booming voice the light shone on the elves. Soon they started to evenly match the demons in physical prowess.

But the demon commander simply stared.

As the battle unfolded before my eyes, my fists trembled. The both of them were using Prophecies to enhance their allies. I had to do something⁠— something. If the demons died there was no way to finalize the deal with Matt, if the elves died without me putting a finger on them I too would regret it in a different way. I never wanted to be with the humans for so long, at the same time I never wanted my chances of at least some semblance of vengeance to slip. My thoughts rushed to come to a decision. To interfere or to turn around? I didn’t know. If I helped the demons wouldn’t I be able to get a favor from them? Assuming they weren’t instantly hostile to me?

[Why not kill both?] Glim asked.

What?

[I see you debating.] It circled around me. [How about you kill both, if you kill all of them, every single one. You will hit level 15 at least! The demons are openly hostile towards anything it seems, and the elves took away your home. Why not do both while they are both distracted?]

Ha? I thought for a moment. It was different than that. A frown formed as I quickly sorted through my wants and dislikes, and came to a conclusion. It felt wrong to ambush people? It was akin to being a bloodthirsty killer, one without thought and only goals ⁠— unfeeling, uncaring. Just like The System.

The battle raged on while I had a moral struggle. The grunts and screams grew more and more desperate, occasionally some fell as things became more unhinged and disorganized. Distracted with my own inner struggles, the battle moved closer and closer to me as the elves tried their best to not be pushed back. Before I knew it, the battle was too close to comfort, at that moment I realized how stupid I was being⁠—how many times had I told myself that it was a new world? How many times had I tried to rid myself of such things? ⁠An elf was kicked in my direction by a demon, landing next to me.

In the end, I didn’t want to do it. I sighed and made my decision. The string was drawn, and an arrow was fired at the elf on the ground, its throat pierced, a face filled with nothing but horror.

[You have killed (E) Woodland Elf. Lvl. 8]

I quickly nocked another arrow, and prepared my spear on my right hand as I pulled the arrow. I looked towards the biggest group, where all of them battled⁠—where the elder was protected. I felt no emotions other than a weird feeling of spite for myself. In the end, I was too just a killer. The string overfilled with mana, the arrow soon followed as it overcharged for an Explosive Shot.

The elder had a weird moment of pause as he turned towards me⁠—perhaps from the unstable green mana⁠—his eyes widened meeting my gaze. He opened his mouth as I fired. The arrow raged forward with a verdant color, it collided with an unsuspecting elf to his side, the shockwave traveled through the trees. An explosion of pure green shook the forest, the wind howled along with it as a myriad of notifications resounded in my head.

Silence descended as all eyes turned to me.

Demons or elves. It didn’t matter anymore. If I kept doubting so much regarding sentient things, then ultimately I would end up losing my life.

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