Chapter 138: Chapter 125: The nature of demons

Rolwen seemed pretty agitated. Levin couldn’t blame him for this. He was pretty disturbed by what they had just found out as well, although he supposed it shouldn’t be all that surprising considering they’d seen this level of callousness from these gnomes already.

Back when this raid started, they were killing off hostages in order to get him and Rolwen to come off the mage ship. Now, they were killing off all the townsfolk who had failed to find shelter under Miss Kiiria’s forest sanctuary which she erected around the temple. It was a horrific pattern of behavior they’d seen from these people before, but this time the intention behind the killing was entirely different.

Before, the death was being used as a tool. A weapon they were using against him and Rolwen. This time, however, they were just eliminating the towns people because they were in the way. Him and Rolwen were able to suppress their spirits to the point where it was hard to tell the difference between them and any above average human. In a crowded population like this, even that above average nature would be difficult to pick out of a crowd.

The gnomes were not killing as a tool of coercion this time. They were just using a brute-force method to find him and Rolwen in which they are trying to find a needle in a haystack by taking each piece of hay individually and destroying it, following every spirit signal in a brute force method and then removing the option from the list when it proves to not be what they were looking for.

This was worse than a hostage situation. If the gnomes intended to coerce them into revealing themselves by doing this, they would have made a loud announcement before they started their killing. No, they just started without saying a word. Because to them, human lives were nothing and could be easily discarded just for being in the way.

“This all just went to shit.” Levin muttered.

“It was already shit!” Rolwen growled. “It was shit before. Now we just sunk deeper into the shit, and then that shit pile got lit on fire!”

“This is why I didn’t want you to find out.” Tia said. “This does not change what we have to do at all, but it would have been easier for you guys if you hadn’t found out about this.”

“The hell it doesn’t!” Rolwen shouted. “Literally the only reason those bastards are out there slaughtering people right now is because they are looking for us! That means us continuing on with this hide-and-seek game is getting more people killed!”

“No.” Tia said in a very firm voice as she leveled her gaze at Rolwen. “You can’t start thinking that way. These creatures are demons. They are different from the demons of Earth, but they still carry one thing in common from Earth’s demons. They have an almost compulsive hate and desire for the destruction of the sentient non-demonic races. They would have just as likely gone on this same killing spree after they managed to catch you, just because they thought it would be fun. No matter what world you are on, demons are incarnations of the very concept of evil.”

“Yeah, incarnations of evil. Sure. Whatever. So, what you’re saying is that they’re that kind of bad, huh?” Rolwen said.

“No, I meant that quite literally.” Tia said. “Demons are creatures of spirit, just like the fey. They are formed in the same way. It took me a while to figure out what concept elves and fairies are born from, but since learning about the Hidan, it turns out that we are incarnations of rebirth. The concept that forms our bodies is the very idea of an afterlife. In the same way, demons are born from the concept of evil. It is what defines them as a demon.”

“Fey are compelled to act according to the concept that gave them life.” Tia continued. “Asaren and I are quite lucky to be born as fey born from the concept of an afterlife. We have effectively no real limit on our behavior. Demons, however, will always be compelled into committing acts of evil and cruelty by their very nature. The spirit energy that forms them has written it into their very existence. It is only because we were distracting them until now that they had not resorted to such cruelty already. They would be engaging in killing like this just for the fun of it. It is not our fault that they are acting according to their nature.”

“Yeah, I guess not.” Levin said as he pondered Tia’s words, feeling some of the tension inside of him release as the weight of guilt he didn’t even know he was feeling released it’s hold on him. But paradoxically, he only felt worse. Before, the guilt he was feeling was one of many complex feelings stirring around inside of him. Now, he was hit by only one pure yet indescribable emotion. A sick feeling over what was happening just a dozen or so streets over from them, and the desire they could do something about it.

“Yeah, but this really changes nothing about the fact that there’s a bunch of people dying right now because they’re going on a murder spree, and here we are as people with the power to stop them just hiding out and doing nothing!” Rolwen said, putting voice to Levin’s exact thoughts.

“No, you are wrong again.” Tia said as she stared him down. “You do not have the power to stop them, I do. And the reason I choose not to is because I have chosen to protect the two of you instead of all the people in this town. You are powerless easy targets for them. That’s why Asaren asked me to guard you, and that’s exactly what I intend to do. Those gnomes are fast enough that they could easily get you if I turned my back for even a second.”

“Yeah, but we also have to take them out anyway,” Rolwen argued. “These bastards are not going to let us get away. Running is literally not an option, and hiding is only delaying what we are going to have to do. We have to eliminate all of them or make them face losses large enough to make them give up. There is no other option. That means we have to confront them sooner or later anyway, it might as well be soon enough to save some lives!”

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“And how exactly do you suggest we manage that?” Tia challenged. “They are moving as units now. I am faster than them and have better magic, but in terms of strength they should be pretty close to me, and we already know they completely out-mach me in the toughness department. Pretty much my only viable attack against them is to use my speed to toss them into Asa’s clutches, but I’m sure they’ll be weary of that moving forward. I don’t know what kind of counter-measures they may have found against what we did last time, but we are going to have to move under the assumption they have found something.”

“Then we can move separately,” Rolwen said. “We’re the main thing holding you back, right? Well, Asa’s taught us a lot about moving with stealth. We just gotta hide while you go off and kick butt.”

“Your skill with stealth is exactly why that’s a bad idea.” Tia said. “As soon as we are separated, that will be it. There is no way I’ll be able to find you again. If those gnomes manage to find you in that time, I wouldn’t even know about it. They’d just disappear off underground with the two of you and them suddenly leaving would be the first indication I’d get that you were ever even in danger.”

“What?!” Rolwen said in astonishment. “You can’t go thinking like that! You’re like a helicopter parent treating us like children! We may look like kids, but we can handle ourselves! I was a member of one of the most elite military units in the world back on Earth! Levin may have been a real kid back on Earth, but he’s been through three years of me and Asa catching him up to speed with all he needs to know in order to handle himself! You… you…”

“I don’t care.” Tia dismissed Rolwen’s argument, simple as that. “I told you, I am choosing the two of you over this town. I don’t even know these people. Sorry, my sense of morality just isn’t the same as the two of yours.”

“Ahh… uhh…” Rolwen was left staggered with his mouth agape and a finger held up in the air uselessly as he tried to articulate a point that was cut short by Tia’s statement.

Levin, who had watched that entire exchange, was also a little lost for what to do with the situation now that Tia had laid down her objectives so clearly. From a certain perspective, it made perfect sense. Their primary objective is to keep themselves out of the clutches of those gnomes. Saving the townspeople is technically not even on their objectives list at all, it’s just something that him and Rolwen as good and proper people from Earth want to do. But, rushing off into it is a bad decision no matter how you cut it.

She’s right, too. There’s really not much that him and Rolwen can actually do, other than maybe just handing themselves over to the gnomes again in the hopes that they might stop. But, if Tia is to be believed, even that might not work. Plus, with this new information about the nature of demons in mind, it might really not be a good thing to be captured by them. Just because they don’t seem intent on killing them doesn’t mean there’s no real threat posed by them. Just being in those demons’ captivity could be a fate worse than death.

So, if they want to minimize the collateral damage here, they need to come up with a plan to persuade Tia into action. They’ve already established that she will likely have a hard time fighting on her own, and having the two of them in potential danger would just increase the risk.

This means the one thing they can do is come up with a good plan of attack. One that Tia will accept is a good way to handle this problem. From the beginning, the plan was for her to protect them while taking out the gnomes a few at a time. Right now, the gnomes are moving in such a way to make the two objectives impossible to achieve at the same time, and she’s chosen to prioritize protecting them. But, as Rolwen pointed out, the gnomes will be the winners in a battle of attrition. They need to take them out, and probably soon.

The problem is that him and Rolwen are weak targets. However, the reason they are being targeted right now is because Asaren, their real primary target, suddenly became an impossibly well-defended to the point that the gnomes couldn’t even hope to approach her.

That was it. Levin suddenly knew exactly how to manage this, and he was sure this was a plan Tia would like as well.

“How about if we go to Asaren?” Levin asks. “If we can reach her tree, she can protect us. Then, you can start taking out the gnomes with hit-and-run tactics until you can get them all.”

Rolwen’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when he heard that statement, but then that shocked expression quickly turned to pure elation. “That’s a great idea!” He declared. “Yeah, what Levin just said! You’ll know exactly where we are that way, and we’ll also be protected! Maybe we can even lure some of those bastards in on our way there to bring them in close!”

“Hmm…” Tia looked down in a thoughtful expression. “Yeah, Ok. I guess that one’s worth a try.” She said.”